Serial Player-Chapter 574 - 249: Before Killing Him

This was a desolate wilderness, where the earth and trees were generously covered in a thick layer of snow, as soft as goose feathers. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

In the pitch-dark night, the snowy vista was as enchanting as an attractively dressed maiden.

As a southerner, Li Changhe had never seen such a snowy scenery before.

But now was not the time for him to wax lyrical.

The moment his hand touched the object that had caught onto his leg in the snow, Li Changhe knew what it was.

A momentary spatial fluctuation flashed in his hand, and he took out a shovel.

He Feng had suggested they bring it along, as they might need to impersonate tomb raiders. He had benefited from it when they excavated the Dragon Tomb.

When Li Changhe shoveled the snow away, what he saw was a rock-hard corpse.

The corpse had a strange smile on its face, with a sturdy build.

He appeared to be about 20 years old, dressed in a sky-blue padded jacket, holding a leather suitcase in his hand.

His left thigh was split open by a ghastly wound, it had been hastily bandaged.

His left hand was bent, caught onto Li Changhe’s leg.

Li Changhe glanced at the corps’ frost-laden face and slowly shook his head, "Poor guy, frozen to death."

The first local person he met in the Great Tang turned out to be a pitiful frozen corpse.

He did not know whether the deceased encountered a wild beast or bandits. After escaping danger, he died pathetically in the wilderness.

He hadn’t been dead for long, judging by how quickly the heavy snow covered him, he probably could have survived if he was found an hour earlier.

"Forgive me for my intrusion." Li Changhe hesitated before opening the leather suitcase.

He hoped to find some map or something similar in order to determine his location.

In this heavy snow, even if he were to release the black hawk, its visibility would be very low.

What he saw at the top of the suitcase was a wooden plate with several envelopes below it.

The wooden plate was covered in numbers and Chinese characters, which looked like some kind of code.

The envelopes contained recruitment notices.

"Urgent assistance needed at the border? Auxiliary Army recruitment? Yuezhou City?" Li Changhe looked down at the young man who had died. He was probably on his way to participate in the recruitment in the so-called Yuezhou City.

The urgent assistance at the border could be understood. Players had already witnessed the horrifying scene in the preparation space.

He just didn’t know what the situation was currently in the Great Tang.

He wasn’t sure whether Li Er and his cheap godfather were still alive or not.

Does the Auxiliary Army refer to those common soldiers without steam mechas? Maybe, he could blend in.

However...

"Where is Yuezhou City?" Li Changhe couldn’t find Yuezhou among the 360 prefectures of the Tang Dynasty. Although Yuezhou did exist.

Nobody knew how much territory the Great Tang had actually expanded to.

Historical data wasn’t available for reference anymore.

"I hope it’s not too far." Li Changhe thought and planned his next move.

First, he would assume the identity of this man to enter Yuezhou City. He would deal with the recruitment when it happened.

He then contacted his comrades in the [Friends] list.

"Unless something unexpected happens, I’ll be heading to Yuezhou City. Those who are nearby can try to rendezvous."

There was a quick response from his [Friends].

"Oh ho! Big man, I’m already in Yuezhou. I teleported directly there and have rendezvoused with a teammate," Moon God replied. "I’ll get some money first and find out about the situation in Great Tang. Let me know when you get to the city."

"Damn, you’re really lucky." Li Changhe replied to the good news, "How do you plan to make money?"

"You wouldn’t know, I am the King of Thousands!"

Next, the lass replied, "Mmm, I’ve managed to infiltrate a merchant caravan with two colleagues. We will inquire about Yuezhou City later. From what we’ve learned so far, although the teleportation was dispersed, players are still relatively concentrated within certain areas. Be careful."

This was useful intelligence. Li Changhe released the black hawk to scout for other players nearby.

Box: "Thanks for the invite. I’m in the North Desert. There’s not even a single tree."

The North Desert...we probably won’t meet during this mission.

Xiang Wu: "Don’t count on me. I’m surrounded by desert, who knows where I am?"

Old Xiang probably won’t meet up either. He and Box are probably closer.

Bai Luohe: "Alright. Little Black has already caught Mo Mang’s scent. Once we meet up, we will determine how far we are from you."

Mo Mang: "Bai already told you, didn’t she?"

These two meeting up meant that they would be safe for the time being. As for location, that was uncertain.

Earth Knight: "It’s...still evening here."

Li Changhe looked up at the pitch-black sky. Evening...that’s several time zones away.

Apparently, there’s no chance of meeting Earth Knight either.

Just then, Yun Ting warned him in his mind.

"Be careful! There’s trouble at twelve o’clock!"

Almost at the same time as the warning, Li Changhe took out his Abyssal Whisper mechanical bow and an odd arrow with an eyeball on it.

He turned instantaneously, pulling the bow to full draw.

Using the Hawk Eye Magic Eye to its fullest, he sighted a vague silhouette on a tree a few hundred meters away.

The pair of golden pupils seemed especially eye-catching in the darkness.

"A player? Or...a Chaos Monster?" Li Changhe squinted slightly, ready to activate his Hundred-Headed Shooter ability.

Simultaneously, his black hawk, soaring high in the sky, was also making its way in that same direction through the snowy wind.

What he saw was a young woman in her twenties with a ponytail and an attractive face.

She was dressed in black, with a red cloak on her, holding a bone bow similar to a human vertebra.

An archer too...

As if she sensed Li Changhe’s vigilance.

The woman just shook her head, let go of her bone bow, and revealed her identification tag to show that she was a [Player], not an enemy.

LV9 [Hunter of Thousands · Bai Wang]

In this situation, revealing one’s tag.

Generally, is a friendly gesture among [Players].

At least, it could show that she had no ill intent.

Li Changhe also lowered his mechanical bow but did not reveal his [Player Nameplate] in return.

Without Yun Ting’s sharp senses, he would not have discovered her.

Furthermore... Li Changhe had an inexplicable feeling of disgust.

Normally, Li Changhe wasn’t a judgmental person about appearances.

Feeling disgust at someone he just met for the first time, this was the first such occurrence.

Moreover, that woman was pretty attractive. Although it was likely not her real face.

Just like how Li Changhe now had a square-shaped face.

Next time, he would customize himself to look like Wu Yanzu.

Suppressing the weird feeling in his heart, Li Changhe raised his hand as a greeting. He didn’t intend to reach out further.

Bai Wang didn’t seem to mind, she nodded up at the black hawk circling above her and then quickly ran off into another direction.

Li Changhe did not command the black hawk to follow her. That player had already noticed the hawk that had Aura Concealment, so there was no need to follow.

Carrying the poor frozen corpse, Li Changhe left in another direction.

"That’s one dangerous person! A Champion Level?" Li Changhe thought, "I hope she’s not an enemy."

"Bai Wang, where are you? Don’t tell me you’re going solo?" Someone inquired in the [Friends] channel, "Don’t forget about our main plan."

"I just ran into a mysterious handsome young man, just greeted each other." Bai Wang chuckled, "I wouldn’t dare act rashly before... killing him."

"Before... killing Li Ba!"