Chapter 135: Interception at the Valley Entrance

“It’s all because of me. If it weren’t for me, Sister Xue would not have gotten a Black Name and come to the Land of Exile,” Qing Tian said, looking down guiltily.

“What happened?” Chen Mo became interested. He had always wondered how a Priest like Qing Tian could get a Black Name. Qing Tian was a Priest who followed a healing path, so getting a Black Name was not easy.

“Sister Xue and I were originally members of the Beautiful Mood Guild in Eastern Sea City. The previous Guild Leader soon stopped playing the Genesis Game after it started because she had to get married due to pregnancy. She wanted Sister Xue to become the Guild Leader, but then problems occurred…”

Qing Tian spoke slowly, and Chen Mo listened beside her. He quickly understood what had happened.

Beautiful Mood was a guild that had existed for over three years. The former Guild Leader stopped playing after getting married due to pregnancy and thought Xue Ye Hua had the potential to make the guild stronger, so she planned to pass the leadership to Xue Ye Hua.

However, Xue Ye Hua had only been in the Beautiful Mood guild for a little over a year. Although she was well-liked, her social connections were not as strong as some of the guild’s veteran members. Among the veterans was a female player named Mei Li Zhi Yao, who had long coveted the position of Guild Leader. While the old leader was in charge, she had no chance to rise, but when the old leader stepped down, she thought she would become the leader and was secretly pleased.

But unexpectedly, the old leader intended to pass the position to Xue Ye Hua instead of her, a veteran. Mei Li Zhi Yao naturally felt resentful, but since the old leader had already stepped down, no amount of dissatisfaction with the old leader would help.

Not long after the old leader stepped down, one day when Xue Ye Hua was offline, Qing Tian was told by a female guildmate she usually got along with that there was a quest for her to take. Completing it would greatly benefit the guild’s development, but to take the quest, she had to kill someone and get a Black Name.

Qing Tian didn’t suspect anything. Killing to get a Black Name didn’t mean she had to kill other players; it was a fellow guild member who asked her to do it. She never imagined that a companion from the same guild would deliberately deceive her into getting a Black Name.

When Xue Ye Hua came online, Mei Li Zhi Yao confronted her directly, demanding that she hand over the Guild Leader position. Otherwise, she would kill Qing Tian and send her to the Land of Exile through death.

But before the negotiation even started, Qing Tian was instantly killed by an Assassin who used Stealth and was sent to the Land of Exile.

Xue Ye Hua learned that Qing Tian had been framed by Mei Li Zhi Yao because of her. Enraged, she slaughtered the relevant people several times.

Of course, this was Mei Li Zhi Yao’s deliberate plan. Otherwise, Xue Ye Hua would not have been able to kill so many people. By doing this, Mei Li Zhi Yao could accuse Xue Ye Hua of betraying the guild, and with Xue Ye Hua having a Black Name, killing her would prevent her from returning to cause trouble. Mei Li Zhi Yao could then securely take the position of Guild Leader of Beautiful Mood.

When Xue Ye Hua took action, she had already decided not to stay in the Beautiful Mood guild. Even with a Black Name, if she wanted to escape, Mei Li Zhi Yao and the others could not stop her. But in the end, she deliberately allowed herself to be killed and went to the Land of Exile to accompany Qing Tian and help her reduce her Crime Value. She knew that Qing Tian alone would find it difficult to accomplish anything in the Land of Exile.

This woman truly had a strong sense of responsibility and courage. Few men could act as decisively as she did, let alone women.

After hearing Qing Tian’s words, Chen Mo secretly admired Xue Ye Hua.

“Kid, come with me. Our Guild Leader wants to see you.”

At that moment, a Warrior player walked up behind Chen Mo and spoke coldly to him.

“Who is your Guild Leader?” Chen Mo asked, turning his head.

“Of course, it’s Guild Leader Six Paths! Don’t tell me you don’t know him!” The Warrior snorted coldly.

“Is he male or female?” Chen Mo asked again.

“Nonsense, of course he’s male! Are you deliberately stirring trouble?” The Warrior player showed a hint of anger.

In the entire Land of Exile, there were only two females: Xue Ye Hua and Qing Tian. This guy had seen Guild Leader Six Paths just a few days ago, and now he was asking such pointless questions!

“Sorry, I’m not interested in males. If it were a beautiful woman, I wouldn’t mind meeting her,” Chen Mo said leisurely.

“Kid, don’t be ungrateful. I’ll give you one more chance. Come with me now to see Guild Leader Six Paths. Otherwise, don’t even think about surviving in the Land of Exile. It’d be better for you to just kill yourself and start over!” The Warrior player confirmed that this guy was toying with him and threatened angrily.

“A mere Guild Leader thinks he’s someone important? If he wants to see me, tell him to come rolling over here himself!” Chen Mo said coldly. Did these people think that just because they had more numbers, they could do whatever they wanted in the Land of Exile?

“Fine, fine! You’ve got guts, kid. You’d better not step out of the safe zone, or you won’t even know how you die!” The Warrior player said furiously, then turned and left in anger.

“Brother Silence.” Qing Tian looked at Chen Mo with worry. She knew how powerful the two major guilds were in the Land of Exile.

“It’s fine. They’re just trying to scare people,” Chen Mo waved his hand, reassuring her.

Sure enough, in another cell in the lower level.

“Boss Six Paths, that guy’s attitude was terrible,” the Warrior player reported.

Six Paths Maniac nodded, his expression turning darker.

He had only sent this Warrior to test Chen Mo’s attitude and hadn’t actually intended to discuss anything with him. Now that Chen Mo’s attitude was clear, it seemed he needed to take some precautions for the quest.

A day passed, and the next day was the once-every-five-days opening of the Hunting Grounds.

At 6 p.m., the players in the Land of Exile gathered again. Chen Mo noticed that many members of the two major guilds were visibly excited, unable to hide their emotions.

This time, as soon as Morris appeared, the two major guilds rushed over first and were the first group to teleport over.

Chen Mo, Xue Ye Hua, and Qing Tian waited until the second group to teleport.

After teleporting and appearing at random locations in the Hunting Grounds, Xue Ye Hua first gave Qing Tian some instructions, then privately messaged Chen Mo: “How many more Crystals do you need? Is there enough time?”

“Almost enough. Just need to collect a bit more casually.”

“Really? How did you manage that?”

Xue Ye Hua found it hard to believe.

“What good would lying to you do? How did I do it? Of course by collecting them!” Chen Mo said impatiently.

Chen Mo wasn’t entirely truthful. When he returned last night, Jumeng had said he had gathered enough Crimson Crystals. However, Chen Mo decided it would be safer to collect a few more Crimson Crystals as backup while there was still time. After all, as far as he knew, the two major guilds also needed to collect some Crystals to release Aulde and the other NPCs.

He wasn’t worried about missing the two major guilds’ movements. He had already instructed Xue Ye Hua to have Qing Tian hide near the valley and report any news. He and Xue Ye Hua wouldn’t go too far, so they could rush back quickly.

“Hmph! This guy is definitely hiding something from me!” Xue Ye Hua was very displeased. He had taken advantage of her so much and was still deliberately keeping her in suspense. How infuriating.

The two major guilds were indeed desperately collecting Crystals. While gathering Crystals, Chen Mo encountered many members of the two major guilds. Under normal circumstances, Chen Mo wouldn’t mind killing them and sending them back to the Land of Exile, but now he refrained from taking action.

Although he disliked the two major guilds, their rescue of Aulde and the others would benefit his quest. If only Princess Peraldili was rescued, any pursuers would definitely chase only them. But if Aulde and the others were also released and escaped, it would divide the pursuers.

Chen Mo’s plan was good, but he didn’t know that Aulde had conspired with Dunis, and those pursuers would definitely not chase Aulde.

“Come quickly! The two major guilds are making a move!”

A little over two hours after the Hunting Grounds opened, Xue Ye Hua urgently contacted Chen Mo.

Without another word, Chen Mo rushed at full speed toward the valley.

Xue Ye Hua had already arrived before him, met up with Qing Tian, and hidden far away outside the Hunting Grounds.

“How long have they been inside?” Chen Mo asked as he hid beside them.

“Almost ten minutes. They haven’t come out yet. I wonder if something unexpected happened,” Xue Ye Hua asked worriedly.

She actually wanted to rescue Princess Peraldili before the two major guilds. However, as soon as the Hunting Grounds opened, the two major guilds stationed people at the entrance. It was impossible to rescue Princess Peraldili without them noticing. Once the two major guilds interfered, Xue Ye Hua didn’t think she and Chen Mo could handle the two major guilds alone. They could only wait and act after the two major guilds rescued their people first.

“I’ll go take a look,” Chen Mo thought for a moment and decided it would be better to check personally.

With the effect of Most Wicked’s Power of Concealment, the two major guilds’ members couldn’t possibly detect him in Camouflage state.

“No need, they’re coming out!” But at that moment, Xue Ye Hua grabbed Chen Mo’s hand.

Chen Mo looked over and saw Six Paths Maniac, Qi Se Yu Yi, and a group of people leading several NPCs out of the valley. They quickly moved toward the horizon opposite them and soon disappeared from their sight.

“Let’s go! It’s our turn!” Chen Mo stood up and quickly led Xue Ye Hua and Qing Tian toward the valley.

Aulde and the other NPCs who betrayed the Yuedora Kingdom had already escaped. If he didn’t hurry, by the time the prison reacted, there would be no chance to escape.

The three of them quickly ran to the valley entrance. Just as they were about to enter, one person after another emerged from the bushes beside the entrance.

They were members of the two major guilds! And there were many of them, over twenty!

“Xue Ye Hua, so you really are involved with this guy!” One of them looked at Xue Ye Hua and sneered.

“Who I’m with is none of your business!” Xue Ye Hua snorted coldly.

“Bitch, let’s see how proud you are! We already know about your quest from those NPCs. With us here, don’t even think about entering this valley, and don’t think about completing your quest!” that person mocked, glancing at Xue Ye Hua.

This woman was somewhat attractive, and he had wanted to pursue her. Unfortunately, she never gave him any favorable attention.

If she treated everyone that way, it would be one thing, but this woman was clearly involved with the guy beside her. What was so good about him? Just a low-level Hunter—he could take on ten of him!

“Brother Lin, no need to waste words with them. Let’s kill them all and be done with it! The NPCs only tasked us with stopping them from rescuing the two remaining NPCs inside, but if we kill them, the quest will naturally be completed,” someone suggested impatiently.

“Alright! Let’s attack!” That player didn’t want to risk delays either. With a wave of his hand, he ordered over twenty people to attack, planning to eliminate the three of them instantly.