Chapter 117: Hint

The stones moved, and it couldn't have been blown by the wind.

The manifestation of the highly concentrated magic particles in the Mist Forest is the grey-white mist permeating the air, not extreme and harsh natural disasters like hurricanes or rain of fire.

The overall environment is still stable, and there is rarely such a strong wind force.

The best case is that ordinary animals living near the cave passed by, were frightened by the movement of the squad fighting the Goblins in the cave, and accidentally triggered the trap.

A slightly worse case is that monsters in the forest, because they smelled the blood coming from inside, were attracted to the vicinity.

But if this is really the case, according to Edwinna's understanding, at least on the outskirts of the Mist Forest, there are very few monsters that can suppress the desire for blood food and have the patience to wait for them to leave the cave before launching a surprise attack.

As for the worst case...

Then there is only one left,

——People.

"You mean, someone might be ambushing outside?" Xia Nan's brows furrowed tightly, turning his head to look at the empty cave entrance in front.

"Not sure." Edwinna shook her head lightly, sticky blood dripping from the metal one-handed hammer hanging at her waist. "But the possibility cannot be ruled out."

To this, Xia Nan was very agreeable in his heart.

After all, being in a dangerous wild place where people rarely visit, even if it is finally proven that they are just a false alarm, one cannot ignore any possible dangers.

Being cautious is never a bad thing.

On the side, the archer "Berg" holding a longbow stared intently at the exit not far away, his body tilted slightly, his nostrils flaring, as if feeling the information hidden in the weak airflow pouring into the passage from the outside world.

Abi's performance was much more flustered, fitting his identity as a newcomer adventurer.

The joy from the unexpected harvest was instantly washed away, and the ups and downs of emotions between great joy and great sorrow even made him become sensitive.

Urgently and fearfully asked:

"Then what should we do, just rush out directly?"

To this, Edwinna didn't answer immediately.

Instead, she thought carefully, and after pondering for a moment, she spoke slowly again:

"It has already been checked before, the lair has no other exits."

"If you want to go out, there is only this one road."

"Perhaps we can wait for a period of time inside?" Berg also put forward his own idea at the right time. "Let the people outside lose patience and take the initiative to expose themselves?"

"Too passive."

As soon as the words fell, Edwinna directly rejected it.

Clearly, she had already had such a plan in her heart before.

"Not to mention how long our supplies can support, the thick smell of blood gradually spreading in the cave may also attract more difficult and dangerous monsters."

Berg's proposal was almost entrusting their lives entirely to other factors.

For the vast majority of adventurers who don't care about life or death but yearn to control their own lives, it is an unacceptable plan.

In Edwinna's view.

At this time, if there really are hostile adventurers ambushing outside the cave, waiting for them to go out and launch a surprise attack.

Then, to sum up, there are actually only two situations.

One, these adventurers don't know the identity information of their squad, they just discovered this lair during the adventure, and heard the movement of their squad fighting the Goblins inside.

Therefore, greed arose, and they wanted to take the opportunity to earn some extra money.

Two, they are adventurers with a clear purpose, specifically targeting them and following them here.

The former is still okay, both sides don't know each other's background, and the uncertainty is relatively strong.

It might just be a few greedy ordinary adventurers, seeing that their group is not easy to deal with, and after weighing the pros and cons, they will take the initiative to retreat.

But if it is the latter, then it is troublesome.

Being able to take their squad as a target and follow them all the way to block them here.

For adventurers engaged in this line of work, they clearly had already figured out the strength of their squad.

The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light, which is not easy to handle.

The only variable in the entire team is probably Xia Nan, who just joined the squad.

Edwinna glanced at Xia Nan, who was holding a sword beside her, her expression blurred, not knowing what she was thinking.

A sturdy arm stretched out, pulling Abi, who was full of worry in front, and instructed:

"Regardless, since they didn't choose to enter the cave directly, but waited outside to ambush, it means that these people don't have full confidence that they can easily take us down."

"Abi, listen to my instructions later, as long as..."

If it finally proves to be a false alarm, then at most it wastes a little time and energy; for adventurers walking on a tightrope, for the sake of life safety and fighting with the air, no one will feel embarrassed because of this.

But if it really is as Edwinna predicted, and it comes to the worst situation.

Then her cautious approach will also benefit the entire team, reducing damage to a great extent.

The breeze blew, blowing layers of green waves on the surface of the lush canopy, and the branches swayed, making a "rustling" sound.

The pale mist permeated with magic particles floated leisurely, making the insect chirping in the forest blurred.

Hidden deep in the bushes, it was a small, pitch-black cave.

One could faintly smell the unpleasant stench and faint smell of blood emanating from it.

"Whoosh!"

Accompanied by the sharp scream of tearing the air, a long and thin arrow shot out from the cave suddenly.

Extremely accurate, falling exactly on the small open space in front of the passage entrance.

Bang—

The strong pushing force released by the bowstring tightening and shrinking caused the sharp arrowhead to almost instantly penetrate into the soft mud ground.

And a leather pouch tied to the arrow shaft also burst under the impact.

Turning into a large cloud of brown dust sufficient to cover the entire cave entrance.

Immediately following, under the cover of dust, a thin human figure that could only see a blurred outline flew out from the cave entrance instantly.

It was the corpse of a slightly larger Goblin.

There was no excessive camouflage, but it was enough to distract the attention of possible enemies.

Then, four figures rushed out from the cave entrance almost at the same time, rushing together.

And rushed toward four different directions respectively.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Panting heavily, Abi's expression was nervous, and he used all his strength to move his steps.

In order not to affect the running, the one-handed sword had been put into the scabbard by him.

But the iron-inlaid wooden shield was still held in his hand to guard against emergencies.

Heart beating violently, his brain was blank.

He just followed Edwinna's instructions and ran with all his strength toward the dense forest near the entrance.

At the same time, he struggled to spare a thought to pay attention to the movement in other directions behind him.

No roar, no sound of fighting.

"The plan seems to be going very smoothly."

And as the lush shrubs in front got closer and closer, he still didn't feel any special movement.

In Abi's heart, a touch of celebration gradually arose.

"The boss should have guessed wrong, there is no ambush."

A short thought flashed in his heart.

And just as he intended to slow down his pace slightly and turn his head to confirm the situation of other teammates.

Not far from his side, hidden in the shadows of thorns and tall grass.

Hum—

Cold light flashed suddenly.

The sudden attack made Abi's pupils shrink, and he only had time to subconsciously raise his shield.

"Clang!"

It was the crisp sound of metal sharp objects colliding with wood.

Wood fibers cracked, and powder splashed.

The lower right side of the shield surface stained with a little dirty blood instantly dented.

Abi only felt a huge force suddenly coming from his left arm holding the shield.

Making most of his arm feel as if it had lost consciousness in an instant.

The whole person fell sitting on the ground backward.

At the same time, on the other side.

Xia Nan, after leaving the cave, also ran toward the dense forest in the north direction according to the plan.

But unlike Abi.

Just when he was a few meters away from the lush shrubs in front and about to escape danger.

Xia Nan's expression suddenly stalled, as if he had noticed something, and he stopped his steps abruptly.

His right hand wiped behind him, and the decapitation longsword had already been unsheathed, held horizontally in front of him in a defensive posture.

About a few breaths passed.

With a "rustling" shaking of the shrubs, two fully armed adventurers who had been ambushing in them also revealed their figures.

"Kid, quite sharp."

"Considered a smart person, let you suffer less later."

The two didn't do anything, just blocked the road from left to right, seemingly waiting for someone's order.

Xia Nan didn't reply.

The iron-grey sharpness refracted by the sword body reflected his pitch-black eyes.

His gaze subconsciously swept over the fragile neck between the chest armor and the chin of the two.

"Ke Ge Er, it's you!?"

"Berg," who had arranged manpower around the exit and ran in the other direction, naturally also encountered obstruction.

And coincidentally, the person blocking him was exactly the thin, gloomy man they had met at the Adventurer Association before.

Originally wanted to join the squad through the path of his "old acquaintance" Berg, but the captain Edwinna didn't like him.

Therefore, he fell out with Berg and extended his resentment to their entire squad.

"Hunting Day happens every year, is it necessary to be so absolute, brother?"

Berg glanced at the direction of the other few people in the squad and said with a wry smile.

And Ke Ge Er opposite him just tossed the dagger in his hand, a sinister smile on his face.

"Compared to those strange adventurers whose background I don't know, for you, I am indeed more familiar."

"It's all business, my 'old friend'."

Knowing there was no room for maneuver, Berg's face turned iron-grey.

At the same time, at the very front facing the cave entrance.

It was also theoretically the most dangerous position.

Edwinna held the double hammers tightly.

Standing in front of her were three adventurers wearing fine armor.

One of the sturdy men who looked like the leader was grinning at her, revealing a mouth full of yellowish rotten teeth.

"Bo, boss, what should we do now?"

Abi crawled over, still carrying his damaged wooden shield, looking quite embarrassed, and came behind Edwinna.

Above his pale face, it was full of sweat secreted due to fear and pain.

Signaling him not to act rashly with his eyes, Edwinna glanced at Berg and Ke Ge Er on the other side of the field.

And looked at "Buck-tooth" Bennett in front.

In her heart, she roughly guessed the cause and effect.

Her refusal to let the man named "Ke Ge Er" join the squad caused him to fall out with Berg, and even extended his resentment to their entire squad.

Ke Ge Er, who was friends with Berg and knew the strength of Edwinna's squad from his mouth, and joined "Buck-tooth" Bennett's team by chance, naturally chose them as targets.

Right now, there are six enemies on the surface.

And their side, even counting herself, is only four people.

Among them, Abi is still a newcomer, having no experience in fighting with people.

It is a complete disadvantage.

But not doing anything directly means the other party has scruples.

"What do you want, just say it."

"Good! Worthy of being 'Green Blood', refreshing enough!" Buck-tooth grinned and laughed. "I like your personality, not like a woman, not sloppy at all."

The eyes flashing with fierce light turned, and the gaze swept over Berg and others, and paused on the fine chain mail on Xia Nan's body.

Raised his index finger and said slowly:

"Two-thirds of the spoils, and let your little brother hand over the equipment on his body, and I'll let you go today."

Fart!

Listening to the other party's request, Edwinna couldn't help but curse in her heart.

She knew Buck-tooth's personality and style too well.

Right now, not doing anything directly was because she discovered the ambush, and the surprise attack plan failed.

In a situation of fish dying and nets breaking, fearing that she would fight to the death and take a few of them with her, he pretended to be generous and was willing to let them leave.

But if she agreed, letting the squad members take off their armor and weapons, the other party would probably turn against them in a second.

Must find a way!

Her brain turned rapidly, and her palms gripping the hammer handle were full of sweat.

She subconsciously scanned the surroundings, trying to find a possible breakthrough.

"Where? Where is the opportunity?"

"Regardless of damage, I should be able to drag the two people in front for a while, then there are still four enemies left."

"Berg is mainly good at long-range combat; if he is approached by others, I'm afraid it will be difficult to hold on for long."

"Abi is a newcomer, basically has no experience in fighting with adventurers, and is not the opponent of these people at all."

"Xia Nan..."

Edwinna thought, subconsciously making eye contact with Xia Nan on the side.

Strangely, although she was just thinking about how to break the situation, she did not attach any extra meaning to her eyes.

The other party seemed to understand some non-existent hint.

Nodded imperceptibly.

Then walked straight toward the direction where she was.

The steps were slow and steady.

Making it so that even though he held a longsword, he couldn't see any aggressiveness at all.

Making both "Buck-tooth" Bennett and Edwinna herself think that he, like Abi, was just coming over to discuss the next decision with her.

Buck-tooth even persuaded the other party:

"Kid, talk to your boss properly."

"Money can be earned anytime, but you only have one life!"

Knowing in her heart that agreeing to Bennett's conditions was jumping into a fire pit.

Without the blessing of equipment, only a dead end was left for them.

But right now Buck-tooth was standing in front, and in front of the other party, it was not easy for her to make it clear to him.

Just tried her best to stop Xia Nan with her eyes, not to let him come over, and she would think of a way herself.

Steps didn't stop.

One step, two steps...

Seeing that Xia Nan still didn't seem to understand what she meant, Edwinna couldn't help but look a bit anxious.

She didn't care about anything, turned around, and opened her mouth to shout.

And just at this moment.

In her line of sight, the figure that was walking slowly at a gentle speed.

Suddenly blurred for an instant!

Disappeared in place in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh—

Accompanied by a sharp explosion like a wolf's howl, the biting wind brushed her cheeks.

Behind her, the stagnant sound of a blade entering the body came.

(End of chapter)