"We'll do things based on what you said. I'll rotate killing that extra cavalier with Chen Kai.
"Chen Kai, you can kill the next one first. I'll watch by the side."
Perhaps it was because Chen Kai's name was too similar to Chen Kaixin, which was why she cast an additional glance at Happy when she spoke.
A new rule was formed.
The Mongolian cavaliers did not drop anything, and the party of four went on their way once more.
Since they were very close to the enemy's camp, the four continued to move forward while crouching down. Their attention was fixed solely advancing while relying on the terrain around them providing them cover. At the same time, they paid attention as to whether there were signs of enemy forces around them.
"Yu Yan."
This was the first time Happy spoke to Xu Xin face to face in the game.
When she heard Chen Kai call her, her reaction made her look as if she was somewhat affected by him calling to her. She turned around and looked at him with a hint of puzzlement and confusion in her eyes. Bloody Lake and Xu Jun also became attentive to their conversation.
Yu Yan's strength in the party had caused them to treat her seriously. They were still not very certain of Chen Kai's true strength, and they did not know whether his ability to kill that Mongolian cavalier in one go was by luck or by pure sheer, because they had not been able to see how Chen Kai attacked clearly.
Right now, Chen Kai, who had been keeping quiet all this while, suddenly spoke, and it naturally attracted their attention.
"It's nothing important, but I just wanted to remind you to stop for a moment and put on a disguise for your outer clothes, or else it'll be too eye-catching, and it'll be easy for the enemy's reconnoiterer to discover us."
Happy reminded her calmly.
Even though Yu Yan was strong enough that she could survive in this place, she was still not well prepared when it came to certain details.
It was only then that the trio came to a realization. On the boundless plains, the bright light yellow dress was indeed rather eye-catching.
When they were in an environment where they could be discovered at any moment by the enemy forces, this sort of attire was very dangerous.
"You're right. We'll run into enemy reconnoiterers at any moment. If we're discovered, the situation will be bad for us." Xu Jun nodded.
"I got it."
Xu Xin cast a puzzled glance at Chen Kai, who looked away. She agreed to his request and quickly brought out some medicinal liquid from her Universe Bag before she poured it on her clothes.
The light yellow dress quickly faded in color, and it was no longer as eye-catching as before. From the distance, she looked like a small gray dot, and if no one paid attention to her, it was difficult for anyone to notice her.
They resumed their journey.
The party of four had been moving forward silently for more than ten minutes, and they noticed that the frequency in which patrolling teams appeared around them had gradually increased. In fact, the terrain around them seemed to have been tampered with, and they could even occasionally see some crude looking traps in the area.
All this made the party of four instantly become even more cautious. They knew that they were now very close to the enemy's main camp, because there were similar items near the Chinese army.
Xu Jun deliberately lowered his voice, but he still managed to send his voice in Happy and the others ears. "Very good, we're at our destination. The map the system gave us has already begun automatically recording the situation. We just need to circle round the area once, and we'll basically complete the second quest. Be careful. This segment of the quest takes up a rather high portion of the progress bar. Don't expose yourselves."
They nodded, held their breaths, and became even more cautious of their actions. They moved at an even slower pace than before, and they will stop and observe their surroundings once every 328 feet.
Happy took some time to cast a glance at the map. It now showed about one-tenth of the region, and if they continued progressing this way, in half an hour, they will be able to complete the most important part of the reconnaissance quest.
"Heh, this reconnaissance quest isn't that hard…" Bloody Lake could not help but say and sneered at the back of the party. He looked up in a contemptuous manner and revealed a small part of his head from above a slope.
"It'll soon be dark. Why don't we stop and move when night arrives?" Happy looked at the sky and suggested.
"This place isn't a good hiding spot. Let's continue moving forward." Xu Jun pointed at an area ahead. It was a concave slope. The terrain there was rather bumpy, and people could hide there.
"That place?"
The entire party peeked out of the slope, and a problem instantly fell on their heads.
Whoosh!
Dust suddenly stirred up right at the spot where Xu Jun pointed, which was the bumpy area in the distance. Several men in black crawled forward with dexterous movements, and at the same time, a piercing red signal shot out from one person's hands. It rose to the air 656 feet away. With one loud bang, it exploded, and all those within a circular area of three miles could see it clearly.
The party's expressions changed drastically.
'Oh no! Enemy reconnoiterers!'
Xu Jun's expression turned dark. He did not expect that the system will also take a fancy of the place that caught his eye, and it had even exposed their identities and positions.
"Kill them!"
Happy was the first to react to the situation. He shot out of the slope. "Once they release the signal flare, the patrolling soldiers nearby will soon come over, but if we don't get rid of those reconnoiterers now, they will keep following us! By then, even if we run to the ends of the world, we won't be able to shake them off!:
The alarm in Xu Jun and Bloody Lake's eyes instantly turned into resolution and killing intent. They followed closely behind Happy and charged out of their hiding place, increasing their speed instantly to the limit.
Once the three-man recon squad noticed Happy and the rest, they did not leave after they fired the signal flare, because they could already tell that these four came from the plains, and they were in charge of reconnaissance. Their job was to keep an eye on these four spies while they waited for the patrols to come over.
But unfortunately for them, they were clearly too optimistic.
Chapter 809 - Avoid the Main Army
The strength of those reconnoiterers were not as great as the Mongolian cavaliers. The three reconnoiterers did not even have a place to run to when they faced four powerful martial artists from the Chinese plains, and they died in a pool of their own blood.
The system notification arrived.
"Ding!
"Completed mission to kill enemy reconnoiterers. Current progress of Reconnaissance Quest: 30%."
But that was not all to the notifications from the system.
"Ding!
"The enemy reconnoiterers have released a signal flare. The patrols are rushing over here, and the main army is prepared to mobilize a large group of cavaliers to surround the area to search for you! Your progress in drawing the map will temporarily come to a stop.
"Quickly leave this troublesome place and avoid catching the army's attention. You must also avoid entering the patrols' sights."
All four people received the warning at the same time, and Xu Jun's expression changed.
"We're currently in enemy territory. Where are we supposed to run to in this kind of time?"
As someone in the party spoke, all four of them heard the faint sounds of horse hooves traveling over from afar.
'This is bad!'
Bloody Lake had even stated that the reconnaissance mission was not difficult at all just now, but right then, his expression turned incredibly sour. Patrols had appeared from the east and north at the same time, and all of them appeared in groups of five.
And the party could clearly sense the group trembling faintly. The
ir expressions turned pale.
A large group of cavaliers!
If they only had to face a few Mongolian cavaliers, they might be able to handle them, but when a large group of cavaliers rushed over, only Happy alone was confident that he could get out of this unscathed.
"Why are you still daydreaming?! Run!"
Bloody Lake hastily brought out his Horse Plate, but Xu Jun stopped him. "And where do you think we can run? If we summon our steeds at this moment, it'll basically be the same as telling the enemy our location!"
"Then what should we do?! We can't just wait here for our deaths!" When he saw the cavaliers drawing closer to them and their figures becoming clearer, Bloody Lake swiftly cast a glance at the area around him, summoned his Hoof Shadow, and jumped on it.
"You—"
They were in grave danger, and there was no way Bloody Lake could care about the other people in his party. He swung his whip and headed to the opposite direction of the enemy camp.
But Happy, Xu Jun, and Young Yu Yan all knew that once he exposed himself like this, Bloody Lake will definitely be targeted by the patrol squad, and with the Mongolian cavaliers' speed on the plains, he might not be able to run.
It had to be known that even though there were not many of these Mongolian cavaliers, this small party had to be incredibly careful and exploit the element of surprise when they attacked the patrolling squads they ran into on their way here. They ambushed them so that their attacks were effective!
In other words, they had never confronted them head on before…
Under the trio's gazes, the two patrolling squads who appeared in their sights did indeed have their attention captured by Bloody Lake. They quickly changed their direction and chased after Bloody Lake.
Happy resolutely looked away and said hurriedly, "Since he left, we don't have to bother about him. Based on the tremors from the ground, the main cavalier unit is still a distance away from us. I intend to risk it and try avoiding them."
"I agree!"
"But other patrols might appear in other directions. If we move now, we might be discovered by them…" Young Yu Yan reminded them worriedly.
"We don't need to move." Happy smiled faintly. He walked to the spot where the three reconnoiterers disguised and hid themselves before he lifted a pelt that was covered in grass and dirt to reveal a huge cave, and it was perfect to hide three people.
"This is a pelt for disguise! Wonderful!" Xu Jun was delighted.
"We can't afford to delay matters anymore. Let's hide."
With Happy's reminder, the trio quickly put on a camouflage for the pelt before they laid in the hole and spread the pelt over themselves.
Happy used his spiritual senses to examine their disguise. Once he was certain that there were no flaws, he became at ease. They were in a place with a bumpy and complicated terrain, and they will not be stepped over by the main cavalier unit.
"It's a pity. If Bloody Lake had not left…" Xu Jun sighed softly in the hole.
"If he didn't leave, we'd have died." But Happy just threw some words at him aloofly, and Xu Jun was instantly rendered speechless.
What he said was true.
This hole, which had been prepared by the enemy reconnoiterers beforehand, could only hide three people, and if no one had attracted the patrols' attention, they will still have the danger of having themselves exposed.
When he saw Xu Jun falling silent, Happy continued giving orders softly, "Let's not talk anymore. It'll be less than half an hour before night falls. At that time, the patrols' field of vision will be limited, and it'll not be difficult for us to deal with them. When it's dark, we'll head out and continue with our mission."
"Okay."
No other sound came out of the hole. To the world outside, this place was a desolate plain of grassland, and there was nothing abnormal about it.
But during the final half an hour, the main cavalier unit rode past with loud rumbling sounds, and it was very close to the trio's hiding place. The rumbling sounds practically made the trio faint.
Fortunately, they left just as quickly as they left.
The armored cavaliers rode past without ever stopping.
But since it was not dark just yet, the trio still did not move, and they did not dare to, because they were not certain whether there were still any patrols behind them.
Just as expected, faint sounds of horse hooves rose, and squads of cavaliers rode past them one after another. It was only then that the sky gradually darkened.
*****
Whoosh!
At the moment the pelt was lifted, the trio shot out of the hole at the fastest speed. They formed a triangle, and they quickly looked into different directions with wary gazes.
The faint breeze at night blew through the quiet plains, and it was only then that the trio heaved long sighs. This time, they were truly safe.
The system notification arrived.
"Ding!
"Completed mission to hide your tracks. Current progress of Reconnaissance Quest: 40%.
"Completed mission to disguise yourself and avoid being discovered by patrols. Current progress of Reconnaissance Quest: 50%.
"Completed mission to avoid being captured by the main cavalier unit. Current progress of Reconnaissance Quest: 60%.
"You are now out of danger. Topography function will be activated once more. Current progress of drawing the map of the enemy territory: 20%... 21%...
"Current unfinished missions of the quest, drawing the map and searching for the supply route."
The continuous stream of system notifications caused the trio to fall silent for a period of time.
Xu Jun approached them and cast Happy and Xu Jun a glance before he said, "The system just told me that I still have two segments left in my quest."
As he spoke, he tried to control his voice so that his voice will only be transmitted among the party.
"Here's what I'm thinking. We should be able to complete drawing the map at night, and at that time, we can get more than an 80% completion rate for the quest. This quest can get us one thousand points, and everyone can get at least eight hundred points for an 80% completion rate."
"Are you saying that you don't intend to find the food supply route and complete the last segment of the quest?" Happy could tell that he intended to back down.
Xu Jun smiled wanly. "What else would I be implying? The situation right now for us is a little better because it's nighttime. We won't have a problem in drawing the map, but you saw what happened just now. Those damn reconnoiterers actually know how to put on a disguise and hide themselves. If we're discovered, what should we do?"
He stopped talking for a moment, and he continued with a solemn tone, "We're very close to the enemy camp right now, and that means there'll be even more reconnoiterers. The risk of us being discovered will be greater as well. As for the supply route, we have absolutely no clue where it is. Instead of taking a risk over here, it's better to go back and hand in the quest. Eight hundred points is already pretty good."
"If you want to leave, you can go. I'm not leaving. It took us so much effort to sneak here, and we haven't even the chance to kill many enemies. It's too much of a waste to leave right now." Happy stated his stance calmly, and his gaze landed on Young Yu Yan.
"What do you intend to do?"
Chapter 810 - Two-person Party
They spent more than half a day on this quest and finally reached this place after creeping over cautiously. If they just went back after drawing a map, then this will naturally not be befitting of Happy's personality.
But what Happy did not expect was that Young Yu Yan seemed to have also had the intention of entering deep into the enemy rear since the start. She chose to stay without hesitation and continue searching for the supply route.
Xu Jun could only smile wanly in response to Happy and Young Yu Yan's choice. He was not at all surprised by this, because they were indeed stronger than he was.
With their strength, they coul
d do a lot of things at the back of the enemy lines, especially Chen Kai, whom he had ignored at the beginning. He had managed to notice the fact that lowering the brightness of clothes could reduce the rate of them being discovered, could think about only carrying out their quest at night, and even discovered the pelt that everyone else ignored to be used as their disguise.
Xu Jun did not suspect that if he followed Chen Kai, he will be able to find the supply point and obtain even more points.
But Xu Jun also knew clearly that with Chen Kai and Young Yu Yan's skills, even if they could not fight against the enemies at the enemy rear, they could rely on their skills and equipment to break out. It will be worth it for them to take the risk, but if Xu Jun stayed, he will just be marching to his own death.
Once day arrived, the chances of being discovered was as high as the sun rising when morning arrived! The chances of him dying was just as high!
Once he died, his points will return to zero.
On this night, the trio parted ways.
Xu Jun stayed behind and waited for the map to be completed.
Happy and Young Yu Yan formed a temporary team. They took care of each other and continued moving forward.
At this moment, Happy still had not revealed his real identity.
There was no other reason for it. It was because he knew that once he revealed his identity, Young Yu Yan will definitely become a little dependent on him. This will go against her original goal, and it will be difficult for her to display her real strength.
But now, both of them did not have a deep understanding toward each other. They were only strangers who had just exchanged names and were party members. She still did not believe him and was wary of him. Naturally, when she fought, she could bring out their full power, and it will be easier for her to stimulate the potential hidden deeper within her.
*****
On the plains under the starry sky, two figures quickly moved about sneakily. They will occasionally travel quickly, and sometimes slowly. Sometimes, they walked, and sometimes, they stopped. The map had been completed while they were traveling.
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