“Hi…” The three greeted each other.

“Is there even a place to sit?” Gu Fei looked around. The room was so simple it was practically empty.

“Sit? Can’t you sit on the ground?” Lu Ke pointed at the ground with her foot.

Gu Fei didn’t necessarily need to sit, but he felt it was a bit comical and unnatural to come all the way to this place only to stand in a triangle formation and discuss things. But seeing that the other two didn’t mind, he didn’t say anything more. He casually leaned against the wall and got straight to the point, “Duan Shui Jian is quite interesting.”

“Jian Gui told me what you think,” Lu Ke said.

“Yeah, what do you think?” Gu Fei asked.

“Duan Shui Jian is capable and has character. Many people in the guild admire him, that’s not a secret. But for you to be so suspicious, tsk tsk, your mind is very dark!” Lu Ke said.

“Hey hey… you two really are old friends!” Gu Fei said.

“Of course,” Lu Ke said.

“I have to state that, because of this person, he became the target of Jian Gui’s daily assassination task. I’m speculating from the perspective of the game’s operation, believing that the system wouldn’t create tasks that require players to PK for no reason. Given that I previously PK’d a guy who killed over 1600 players in a very similar task, I’m not hesitant to assume the worst about the target of Jian Gui’s task. Whether or not this person is Duan Shui Jian is not the key,” Gu Fei said.

“So you’ve met Duan Shui Jian. What’s your immediate impression?” Lu Ke asked.

“Thick neck, waist, and thighs. A typical power-type player. In combat, he’s probably good at flexible footwork. His punches are explosive, and his head can take a lot of hits,” Gu Fei said.

“What’s he saying?” Lu Ke asked Jian Gui.

“Professional assessment…” Jian Gui said.

“Too professional… but those aren’t the key points. The key point is his intention! He’s so popular, but does he really have some kind of ulterior motive?” Lu Ke said.

“There’s no way to know that easily. We need to follow him and observe him!” Gu Fei said.

“Follow him? Wow, you’re really sneaky!” Lu Ke exclaimed.

“This was Jian Gui’s idea…” Gu Fei said.

“You’re learning bad habits.” Lu Ke looked at Jian Gui with heartache, “I told you not to associate with shady people too much!”

“Don’t joke around…” Jian Gui said.

“Alright! Let’s do that first. I’ll find out his location, and you guys secretly observe him. Learn more about his actions and behavior, and then we’ll make further deductions,” Lu Ke said.

“Do you want to come with us?” Gu Fei asked.

“Me? I think I’ll pass, I’m too conspicuous,” Lu Ke said.

“You can put on makeup!”

“I’ve said it before, right? I’d rather die than paint my face like that,” Lu Ke said.

Women! Gu Fei sighed inwardly. Even at important times, they still cling to trivial things.

“Then hurry up and go! Find out his location as soon as possible,” Jian Gui said.

“Wait for my news.” Lu Ke nodded to Jian Gui.

The two were about to leave when Jian Gui suddenly turned back, “By the way, who are this Fan Tang and Bai Sha? Won’t it be suspicious?”

“Don’t worry, although these two guys joined our guild, they haven’t arrived in LinYin City yet. I’ve already told them not to rush over,” Lu Ke said.

“You’re recruiting people from other main cities? What for? Opening a branch?” Jian Gui asked.

“Why do you care so much! Gossiping. Go do your job. A daily task? It’s going to take you a week? Embarrassing!” Lu Ke said.

“Also, take this, almost forgot!” Seeing the two about to leave, Lu Ke thought of something else and handed them each something.

The two took a look and saw that it was indeed the emblem of the Extremely Cold guild. The official emblem issued by the system was made of an unknown material, but this pirated version was carved from wood and then colored. There were indeed hidden talents among the players, as this was good enough to pass for the real thing.

“Take it, if anyone suspects you, show it to them. Try not to wear it, it’ll be exposed for sure if someone uses Appraisal,” Lu Ke warned.

“Really?” Upon hearing this, the two immediately used Appraisal. Sure enough, the object identified was “a piece of wood.”

“Let’s go!” After putting away the fake emblems, the two left the small thatched house, covered their faces, and walked towards the forest. On the way, Gu Fei suddenly made a new suggestion, “I think we should get Gongzi to come too. That guy is good at figuring out other people’s intentions.”

“That’s true, but, with his face painted like this, do you think he’d be willing?” Jian Gui gestured at Gu Fei’s face.

“No, I mean after we investigate the situation, we can let him analyze it too,” Gu Fei said.

“Let’s finish our work first then!”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

The two entered the forest, then changed into camouflage, and walked towards the training area of Extremely Cold. As they gradually approached, Gu Fei suddenly felt a shift in the surrounding atmosphere, just like the first time they came. Several people suddenly stood up from behind the trees and bushes, holding bows and arrows, all aimed at them.

“We’re on your side!” Gu Fei waved in all directions.

“What’s going on?” Jian Gui whispered to Gu Fei. Jian Gui was in a state of guilt, and he would immediately suspect that he had been exposed at the slightest disturbance. He simply didn’t have the talent to be a bad guy.

“The emblem, quickly put on the emblem.” Gu Fei had a thought and figured that was probably the case. While sending a message to Jian Gui, he already took out the emblem and put it on.

“Fan Tang, Bai Sha, recently joined,” Gu Fei introduced himself and Jian Gui to the surrounding players, while opening his camouflage and showing everyone the emblem hanging in front of his mage robe. Jian Gui followed suit and showed his emblem as well. The two opened their clothes and spun around, like male models on a catwalk.

As for whether this fake emblem would work, neither of them was sure. But thinking that Lu Ke went to great lengths to get it, she should know their guild’s habits. If it was useless, she wouldn’t have bothered to put in so much effort.

As Gu Fei was thinking this, the group of people put away their bows and arrows and hid again as if nothing had happened. Only one person waved at the two, indicating that everything was fine.

The two breathed a sigh of relief and continued forward past the guarded area.

“They’re pretty well-defended,” Gu Fei said, “Are they afraid that strangers will come in and steal military secrets?”

“What secrets could they have! Mostly, they just don’t want anyone to wander into their practice area and cause trouble!” Jian Gui had been messing around with A Yi and the others for a long time, and he knew that it was indeed annoying to have someone who didn’t know the situation step in when they were practicing their ambush formation.

The location coordinates of Duan Shui Jian that Lu Ke inquired about were quickly sent over, and the two immediately headed in that direction.

“If we stay ten meters away, will we be able to hear what he’s saying?” Jian Gui remembered that Gu Fei had said to stay ten meters away, which was enough to avoid being noticed by Duan Shui Jian.

“That guy speaks with a lot of energy, so ten meters away, if it’s quiet enough, we should be able to hear clearly,” Gu Fei said.

The two walked and talked, occasionally seeing other Extremely Cold players in the same attire as them. But since they were already in the inner area, no one jumped out and pointed bows and arrows at them anymore. Even if they met, everyone just gave a casual smile and brushed past each other.

“Look, he’s over there.” Jian Gui suddenly pointed. In the area ahead, about ten players were gathered, and Duan Shui Jian was among them, holding something in his hand and gesturing to the people around him.

“Let’s go this way!” The two circled around, and they simultaneously realized that it was quite difficult to approach Duan Shui Jian to within ten meters without being noticed, because he wasn’t alone. There was a circle of people around him, with eyes watching in all directions.

The two, who had only mingled with these players for a day, didn’t yet have the ability to quietly move through the bushes and grass like Yin Xing Cha or A Yi. In the end, Jian Gui went into Stealth, while Gu Fei used Instant Movement to make several spatial jumps. The two finally arrived behind a tree behind Duan Shui Jian.

“What’s he holding?” Gu Fei asked Jian Gui, who was hiding behind the tree. Jian Gui, relying on Stealth, was standing outside, boldly looking in that direction.

“A piece of paper.” Jian Gui answered. At the same time, Duan Shui Jian’s voice clearly reached their ears.

“You see, this place. Thief, when you lead the enemy over, no matter which direction, these three entrances are enough to cover you. And the way to move after entering the three entrances is exactly the the same, so you don’t need to memorize too much, and it’s easy for the brothers laying traps to grasp. But when it comes to actual combat, we must fully respond based on the number of opponents. If there are only two or three people, there’s nothing to say, with our twelve people, there’s no need to lead them into the trap at all, we can directly surround and suppress them with numbers. We really need to make full use of the trap formation when the number of people on both sides are equal, or even when we are weaker than the enemy. As long as we can lead the enemy into our trap formation, then it’s not just twelve of us fighting. Every trap set on the ground is a partner on standby. So Xiao Xing, your role is very crucial. You are the guide of this entire battle. Every step you take is related to your teammates’ next action. Everyone is following your lead. You must be familiar with the location of every trap, the location of every teammate. Every step you take, you must know what impact it will have on the battle. Because the turning point of victory or defeat often lies in this step of yours.”

“Wow, this guy is really talkative!” Gu Fei exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Jian Gui not only said it, but he could also see it. He clearly saw that the “guide of the battle” that Duan Shui Jian was focusing on was a thief. Because of the face paint, Jian Gui couldn’t see his current emotions, but he could imagine that the thief must be feeling an indescribable sense of pride.

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Strange, these past two days, I always type away, and before I know it, it’s a whole chapter…