Chapter 397: Zhang Daoyi
Chapter 397: Zhang Daoyi
September 25, 2017
Luoyang, in a study within a courtyard.
A young man stood before a desk, his mind focused and his spirit calm, practicing calligraphy with each stroke and line.
Although the young man's posture was impressive, and his writing was round and full, it gave off a chillingly sinister aura, which was quite peculiar.
Suddenly, the pen in the young man's hand paused, and his eyebrows lifted slightly, "You're back?"
As he spoke, another youth in a black martial suit pushed open the study door and entered.
The youth in black glanced at the calligraphy and scoffed, "Zhang Daoyi, you're such a schemer, even your writing carries a sinister aura. I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to befriend a natural-born scoundrel like you. Why is it that when we accept a task, all the hard work falls on me while you leisurely write and paint like some pretentious intellectual?"
"If you can come up with a detailed action plan, I wouldn't mind switching roles." Zhang Daoyi put down his pen and looked up at the youth in black with a playful expression.
The youth in black rolled his eyes, "I don't have that ability. I'm just a simple guy with some martial arts skills. I'm probably one of those idiots in TV shows who get used and discarded by schemers like you. Why am I always so unlucky?"
"Don't worry, with your high martial talent, you're at least a high-ranking piece, not the kind that gets used once and thrown away. I guess you're good for a few more uses." Zhang Daoyi said with a mischievous smile.
Although these two verbally sparred, it was evident that their bond was strong, more than just a casual friendship. Their mutual roasting indicated a deep connection.
Both were members of the Yellow Turban Sect, but they were somewhat unique within the organization. They followed the path of solitary wanderers, Outsiders who had no interest in establishing their own power base.
Zhang Daoyi was a registered disciple of Zhang Jiao, and the youth in black was Taishi Ling, though he had no relation to Taishi Ci, despite the similar name.
Zhang Daoyi and Taishi Ling were both initially unlucky, starting as beggars. Coincidentally, they were paired up at the beginning, supporting each other through the most challenging early stages, forming a bond stronger than most brothers.
"You're here, so you must have finished your task?" Zhang Daoyi teased him.
"Yeah, Ma Yuanyi and Feng Yi have made contact, but they've probably only met a couple of times and haven't reached an agreement yet." Taishi Ling replied.
"That's enough. They don't need to meet too many times; twice is sufficient. Now we should start preparing for action. Since we've accepted this task, we might as well go big." Zhang Daoyi's lips curled upward, revealing a bright smile.
But for some reason, when Taishi Ling saw Zhang Daoyi's smile, he couldn't help but shudder, silently praying, "Please don't overdo it this time. I might not make it out alive."
...
Bingzhou, Qiangyin, Endless Labyrinth.
While others were planning grand schemes, Lu HaiKong was being chased by several automaton beasts through the maze.
Who knew why these beasts, seemingly made of wood and metal, moved so swiftly? How did they lock onto Lu HaiKong's location? Despite Lu HaiKong's numerous turns and detours, they still caught up. Was this even a maze anymore?
"Looks like saving energy is out of the question."
Lu HaiKong turned into a side path, stopped running, and turned back to face his pursuers.
In a narrow passage, Lu HaiKong faced five Automaton Beasts with a strength of 80 each. It was a challenging situation, but he couldn't engage all of them at once. With his Wilderness Axe, he unleashed a powerful strike at one of the beasts, aiming for its head.
To his surprise, the Automaton Beasts were incredibly sturdy, and his attack only left a three-inch-wide gap in its head. Undeterred, Lu HaiKong quickly followed up with a few more blows, finally taking it down.
Taking advantage of the terrain, he spent some time disabling the remaining four Automaton Beasts. After defeating them, Lu HaiKong eagerly searched their bodies and was expecting a decent reward. Indeed, he found five puppet-like objects, each the size of a fist, similar to the Ironclad Automaton Tiger he encountered earlier.
"Five Automaton Beasts at once? I guess my luck isn't that bad after all," Lu HaiKong said with a smile. He cast an Identification Spell to examine the attributes of the puppets.
Automaton Beast
Strength: 75
Defense: 400
"Damn, why did these things have a strength of over 80 when they were chasing me? Now that I've defeated them, their strength has dropped to just 75?" Lu HaiKong immediately felt the world was conspiring against him.
As he pondered this, a sudden sensation made his scalp tingle, and his body instinctively rolled forward. The next moment, an arrow pinned the spot where he had just been standing.
"What the hell?" Lu HaiKong looked up and saw a warrior approaching, fully clad in armor, holding a bow and arrow, and carrying a large sword on his back.
Lu HaiKong quickly cast another Identification Spell, but before he could discern the warrior's attributes, he was startled by their strength value of 89. He quickly got up and ran for his life.
With a strength value of 89, this warrior was likely beyond his capabilities at the moment, especially with the distance of about thirty meters between them and the warrior's proficiency with the bow and arrow. Lu HaiKong decided that retreat was the best option for now.
"First the Automaton Beasts, and now a warrior with a strength of 89? Is this dungeon attracting all the high-level monsters to me?" Lu HaiKong wondered if his bad luck was attracting the most formidable creatures. While this might be a possibility, it was undeniable that he had the worst luck among his team.
As Lu HaiKong was being chased around, Gao Shun, who had entered the dungeon with him, had already opened three or four treasure chests. Although none of them contained exceptionally valuable items, they were still worth something.
Of course, the items Gao Shun obtained paled in comparison to the puppets Lu HaiKong acquired from the Automaton Beasts. However, the crucial difference was that Gao Shun had discovered a door.
In the endless labyrinth, the most precious rewards were often found behind doors. Not every door led to treasures, but without them, finding anything valuable was highly unlikely.
Gao Shun, who had some knowledge about the endless labyrinth, hesitated for a moment before the door and then pushed it open and stepped inside.
Almost simultaneously, two others also pushed open the door and entered. One was the simple-minded Dian Wei, and the other was Pan Feng, carrying a Demon Mask Axe with a menacing aura.
It remained to be seen which of these three individuals would have the better fortune.
(End of Chapter)
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