Chapter 160: Different Objectives

Surely, he wasn't doing anything troublesome…

...right?

***

"H-hey, why did you suddenly run inside the dungeon!? I didn't even notice that you were gone!"

Sima Bu chased Ling Ling inside the dungeon as soon as he realized that he was already talking to air.

"Sorry, my body moved by instinct", Viel said as he shrugged his shoulders. As soon as he heard that they could go inside the dungeon, he almost forgot that he had a mission because his curiosity got the best of him.

"Your instinct is to enter a portal without even thinking?", Sima Bu almost pulled his hair out in frustration, they were supposed to be a team and yet Ling Ling left him as soon as not even a minute of teaming up, "You should stick close to me, there are a lot of dangerous creatures inside the dungeon"

"There's nothing here", Ling Ling said as he once again shrugged nonchalantly.

Sima Bu looked around. There were a lot of houses made of wood, but most were shattered into pieces. So the portal connected them in the middle of a destroyed village? Sadly, there no longer seemed to be any sign of life here anymore.

Sima Bu could not help but sigh. What if they entered before clearing out the creatures that were outside, would they have been able to save the people that were on this side? Sima Bu shook his head, it would have been too late either way.

The creatures that were killed outside were small, and although they were somewhat weak, their numbers were almost countless. Due to their somewhat humanoid form, they also seemed to have a bit of intelligence as they were using weapons.

Sima Bu then turned his head upwards.

[Objective: Kill the Goblin Necromancer King!]

That's a long name, Sima Bu thought.

"Oi!"

A shout then resounded, coming from the portal, "Why did the two of you go ahead!? Don't you know there's a hierarchy to this? This is why I don't like when there's a newbie in the team!"

One of the men that were sneering at Viel entered the portal, and soon, the rest of the group entered from behind him.

Viel looked at each of the people that entered, but none seemed to look suspicious enough to be members of the Heaven Bamboo sect. He could not help but sigh, this mission of his was going to be longer than he thought.

"Oi! Are the two of you even listening?", the scruffy man harrumphed as he took heavy steps towards Viel, but before he could approach Viel, Sima Bu blocked his path.

"Let's all calm down", he said as he raised his hands, "He's just a newbie, there's no use in being mad at him"

"You-"

"The guy is right, Lu Man", another man approached them and grabbed the scruffy man's shoulder, "We came here for the dungeon, not to bully some kid wet behind his ears".

The other people seemed to also agree as they hummed their thoughts, even those who were sneering and mocking at Viel earlier also seemed to be in agreement. They were in the dungeon now, there was no use in instigating each other anymore.

If they weren't careful, the only thing that will welcome them here is death.

"Tch", the scruffy man called Lu Man clicked his tongue, "I will be the leader for this Expedition, if you do not like how I do things, then you better get out now while the portal is still there!"

Some of the men wanted to argue, but judging by Lu Man's equipment and stature, he seemed to have the most experience amongst them, and was obviously stronger. So they all just clicked their tongues in defeat and looked away.

"That's right", Lu Man smirked in satisfaction, "Now you two, on the back!", Lu Man pointed at Viel and Lu Man, "You will be our baggage boys for today. Kakakaka!"

"But-"

"!!!"

"I am not going to ask again!", before Sima Bu could rebuke, Lu Man's tone turned cold as he swung his huge axe towards Sima Bu.

If it wasn't for Ling Ling pulling him to the side, he would have surely lost an arm.

"T-thank you!", Sima Bu quickly bowed towards Ling Ling.

Viel, however, only nodded at him as he casually walked to the back of the group. "Wait for me!", Sima Bu shouted as he followed Ling Ling.

"Tch", Lu Man once again clicked his tongue seeing, but after a few seconds, he looked up.

"Oh? Goblins again?", Lu Man scoffed, "This should be easy boys! Just follow my lead and we will be out of here within the day!", he shouted and raised his axe in the air.

"Yoo!"

"Gaa!"

The rest of the people also raised their weapons in the air as they released their sonorous war cries. Everyone was shouting in the air, except for Viel, Sima Bu, and four other people.

Viel quickly took notice of the four people that didn't raise their hands. The four weren't beside each other, as a matter of fact, they were in four separate teams, but Viel did not fail to see their obvious glances to one another.

This could only mean one thing, these four were members of the Heaven Bamboo sect. They could also be just bored and lacking excitement, but at least Viel now has an idea who the Heaven Bamboo sect disciples are.

'Got you', Viel thought as he continued to stare at the four men.

Now all he needed to do was wait for the four to take action, and he would proceed to the next phase of the plan that his sister Xing Cai came up with.

***

"What are you doing!?"

"I can't! My feet hurt, mommy!"

Two people could be seen breathing frantically in the thick dark woods.

"You can do it, son. Just run!", the woman said as she tried to drag her son by his wrists. But her son seemed to be tired of running as he shook his head repeatedly.

"I can't, mommy!", the boy flinged his mother's hand.

The mother could not help but release a sigh of frustration, but even so, she approached her son and proceeded to lift him up.

"Kukh.. M...mommy will carry you, okay?", she winced in pain. But even so, she carried her son and started to run, not minding the blood that was gushing from the gaping wound on her back.

Her village was attacked by a goblin horde. Fortunately, most of them evacuated before the attack started, but unfortunately for her, she and her son were separated from the group.

Just a few more. She was sure that the village that her people evacuated to was near. Just a few more steps and she would see its walls already. But once again, sadly for her, a group of goblins were blocking her path.

"N...no…", she muttered as she tried to run the other way.

"Kikikiki!"

But she was already surrounded. The goblins smiled as they slowly circled her and her son. Their sharp and crooked fangs revealed themselves as they giggled. Their tongues were sticking out as they looked voraciously towards the mother.

"It's… okay, son", the mother crouched on the ground, covering her son with her body, "C-close your eyes, okay?"

The mother could not help but take a deep breath as one of the goblins started approaching them. Its pale and gray skin was obvious even in the dark. Its green blood, disgustingly pulsating on its numerous visible veins.

"This… will be over soon? Okay?", the mother whispered in her son's ears, "Just stay quiet and don't do anything… and once they are gone, you run, okay? Promise mommy that you'll run"

Her breathing turned heavier as she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She gritted her teeth, trying her best to endure the pain that was about to come.

"Tamen Zai Nali!!"

However, before she could feel any pain coming from behind her, she heard a weird shout. She couldn't understand what it said, but she was sure of it, it came from a human.

And then, the next she heard were the screams and cries of the goblins.

"!!!", she quickly opened her eyes and stood up. And there, she saw the goblins being killed, no, massacred by a group of people that were dressed in a way she hasn't seen before. But knowing that she and her son were now safe, her vision started to blur as her legs lost their strength.

But before she could fall to the ground, someone caught her. It was a black-haired… kid?

"Ni hai hao ma?", the black-haired kid spoke to her, but once again, she couldn't understand anything.

"Who… are you?", the mother said in a weak tone.

Hearing her words, the black-haired kid quickly retrieved something from his pocket, it was a weird looking stick with a stone on it. The stone lightly lit up.

"Are you alright?", the black-haired kid once again spoke, but this time, she could finally understand it.

"Don't kill them all, boys! Leave some so they can lead us to the target!"

"Hooo!"

She could also finally understand what the other people were shouting.

"T...thank you…", the woman's tears started to fall from her face as her whole body relaxed, gently hanging on the black-haired kid's arms.

"No worries", the black-haired kid whispered, "...I will try to keep you safe later as well"

"...Later?"

The woman was confused. Weren't they already safe?

So what exactly did this black-haired kid mean…

...by later?