Chapter 208: Drawing Lots with Leaves

Yun Qimu: Where did Little Daoist run off to watch those evil supporting female characters in dramas?

Would a cheeky brat like her really say something like that?

“You guys got the mission too?” Pei Yu was the first to break the silence, turning to Yuan An and Yun He.

Yuan An and Yun He looked excited and nodded in unison. “Yeah, we didn’t expect there’d be missions outside as well.”

Kui Hai, who had sharp ears, immediately turned his head at this. “You guys haven’t taken missions like this outside before?”

“Ah, right. We used to only get missions inside. And there weren’t any side quests like this either. Most of the time, we just hunted monsters on our own.”

Pei Yu didn’t hide anything about this. He just kept staring at the two lines of system notifications. He didn’t know what Nuwa was, or what ‘patching the sky’ meant, but he definitely recognized the words “divine artifact.”

Didn’t Village Chief Yun have a golden axe that could grow or shrink? That was a divine artifact—when enlarged, it could even withstand attacks from new energy cannons. It was seriously impressive.

Ever since he’d heard about it from Chief Masa, Pei Yu had been coveting that little golden axe. But Village Chief Yun was so domineering that he never dared to ask her for it. Of course, the main reason was that he was broke.

But now, two divine artifacts were practically being delivered to his doorstep. Someone as awesome as him had to have one to keep up appearances.

Zhong Teng, standing nearby, frowned and looked over. He asked in a low voice, “Mr. Kui Hai, what are you all being so secretive about?”

Dongfang Ji and Tang Liangjun also looked over eagerly, eyes full of curiosity.

But they quickly restrained themselves, glancing away in embarrassment—though their ears were still perked up, pretending not to listen while actually eavesdropping.

Kui Hai, however, just glanced leisurely in the direction of Xueshi and said with a refined smile, “Walls have ears.”

Zhong Teng and Dongfang Ji immediately perked up. Right, Xun Min had an A-rank auditory ability user at his side. Last time, Yun Qimu’s batch of miracle medicine had been leaked by those ears, leading to a huge auction.

Even though Yun Qimu made money and gained fame, you still had to be on guard.

So after exchanging glances, Zhong Teng and Kui Hai tacitly changed the subject, starting to discuss which entrance to use to enter Senmu Marsh.

Xun Min, face gloomy, turned to Gong Wei. “What did you hear?”

Gong Wei hesitated, but in the end didn’t mention the earlier conversation that had fizzled out. He only said, “Longteng chose to enter Senmu Marsh from the second entrance.”

“What about Yi Beimeng?”

Gong Wei answered with a complicated expression, “Yi Beimeng is drawing lots with leaves.”

Xun Min: …

Yi Beimeng really was as unpredictable and eccentric as the rumors said.

Five minutes later, as the entry phase began, Gong Wei finally got the latest update from that unpredictable Red Lotus Stronghold leader: Yi Beimeng had drawn a leaf and decided to enter from the second entrance as well.

“So they’re joining up with Longteng? Didn’t Lin Qiu say those two sides don’t get along?” Xun Min frowned and relayed this to Lin Qiu.

Lin Qiu grinned broadly. “Don’t worry, there’s no shortage of bad blood between Longteng and Red Lotus. Back in the day, Zhong Teng accidentally destroyed Yi Beimeng’s hidden nest of venomous insects, wiping out his nearly-formed army of Gu bugs. Yi Beimeng went berserk, and that’s how their feud started.

“Yi Beimeng is petty and vengeful. After learning that Zhong Teng was a doting older brother, he went after Zhong Qiu, nearly killing him. Zhong Teng arrived just in time to save his brother, and then Red Lotus and Longteng had another big fight, deepening the grudge. If those two end up together, ha, I might not even need to set any traps—they’ll probably tear each other apart on their own.”

Lin Qiu shot a sinister look in Longteng’s direction, eyes full of malice, as if wishing they’d start fighting right now.

Xun Min also showed a schadenfreude smile. “So which entrance do we take?”

Lin Qiu: “The first one. It’s close to the second, so we can keep an eye on them.”

Xun Min, eager to watch the drama unfold, immediately agreed. They decided to take the first entrance.

With a call of “The hunt begins,” the thirty-person teams from each faction set out.

They were currently standing at the first entrance to Senmu Marsh. The second entrance was half an hour’s walk north.

Longteng led his team north toward the second entrance.

Dongfang Ji asked suspiciously, “Why are we taking the second entrance?”

Pei Yu answered offhandedly, “Why else? It’s closest to Crescent Spring. Hunting berserk beasts is boring—most of them are contaminated with too much dark matter and can’t be eaten. The mutated beasts near Crescent Spring are the real prize. After hunting, we can even have some meat.”

Dongfang Ji’s eyes lit up. Damn, that makes so much sense!

Even people from other factions thought he had a point. Berserk beasts couldn’t be eaten, and even if you could, they tasted awful. What was the point of hunting them? Of course, they should head to Crescent Spring for the tasty mutated beasts.

So, one by one, those who’d originally planned to take the direct route through Entrance One quietly changed their minds and followed Longteng’s team instead.

Yi Beimeng watched their movements, lips curling into a faint smile. He jumped onto Shi Yong’s back, wrapped his arms around his neck, and laughed, “Let’s go, follow Longteng. Let them clear the dangers, and we’ll pick up the leftovers.”

Passersby: Damn, that’s deviously cunning.

But… they were tempted too!

In the end, they chose to follow their hearts. Instead of rushing ahead as cannon fodder, they slowed their pace and trailed behind Longteng.

The more timid and clever ones even followed behind Red Lotus Stronghold, so the risks would be even lower after the second wave of defenses.

Yi Beimeng’s phoenix eyes swept over the burly men shuffling along at a snail’s pace, a deeper smile in his eyes. At least they valued their lives.

But he didn’t mind being used as a second line of defense. He patted Shi Yong and kept just the right distance behind Longteng.

Up ahead, Pei Yu and Dongfang Ji, the two chatterboxes, had somehow teamed up and were furiously complaining about how shameless Yi Beimeng from Red Lotus was, trying to freeload off their group.

So the two of them made a pact to wipe out all the berserk and mutated beasts in front of them, determined not to leave any scraps for those following behind.

“Roar—”

Half an hour later, they arrived at the second entrance right on time.

This entrance was almost identical to the first: a stone gate built from stacked rocks. But both the stone gates and the stone walls surrounding Senmu Marsh had a containment effect. Legend had it that some SSS-level powerhouse, out of kindness, set up this defensive line before dying to prevent berserk beasts from escaping Senmu Marsh.

Whether mutated or berserk, any beast that approached these unremarkable stone walls would feel discomfort and wouldn’t dare get any closer."