Scourge Messenger

Chapter 239 is tied for first place.
"What? Commander Li Long is dead?"

"What? There's a hidden dungeon in the Chang'an military headquarters?"

"What?! The dungeon's secret realm contained the Dragon-Locking Bodhisattva's treasures, and they've already disappeared!?"

The first general to hear the news fainted immediately, and no amount of slapping could wake him. His deputy could only take over the command with a mournful face. Then, the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Chang'an Military Prefecture went completely mad and set the entire city of Chang'an on fire.

All the painters were dragged out to copy the four wanted posters at the city gate, which were only outlines. All the hunting dogs were herded to sniff around everywhere. The Anguo Temple Pagoda, the last place where the thieves disappeared, was razed to the ground. All the Buddha statues were smashed, every brick was lifted up, and no place where people could hide was spared.

At this moment, faith and religion are no longer important. If they don't take advantage of this last period to show their stance, they can expect to be burned to ashes by the wrath of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Tonight, Chang'an is destined to be a sleepless night.

However, the culprits showed no remorse for their wrongdoing. Instead, they sat in their seats with anticipation, like a group of children waiting for a reward after finishing their chores.

"Following the rule that the greater the difficulty, the greater the reward, the reward this time must be amazing," Shang Xinlei said expectantly. "I took down nine people! Nine!"

“Unlike the previous two times, this time the constables from the Divine Marquis's Mansion are causing trouble, forcing us to reach the target location in ten minutes. That alone makes it twice as difficult as the last mission,” Ying Rushi added. “Not to mention we encountered at least two peak-level third-stage cultivators, far beyond what retired clerical third-stage cultivators like Shang Xuanwen could match—”

"Well, you can't say that!" Shang Xinlei retorted, "Shang Xuanwen was able to hold out against you for so long with that kind of token configuration. If his tokens were fully equipped, you might not have been able to snatch the Heaven Sword. This shows that his tokens weren't good enough, but his own strength is still very strong."

Ying Rushi glanced at Shang Xinlei with a strange look. Although she didn't know why Shang Xinlei was so concerned about this, she didn't mean to belittle Shang Xuanwen. So she went along with Shang Xinlei's words: "Indeed, apart from a very few individuals, most third-stage cultivators are heroes among men with extraordinary skills. As long as they are equipped with suitable tokens, they are formidable enemies that are difficult to defeat."

Yan Qing blinked. If Shang Xinlei or Yaoshiyuan had said this, he would definitely be implying something about him. But he wasn't sure about what Baihu said—Baihu probably hadn't seen my actions, right?
"In the end, even the Chain Dragon Bodhisattva made a move."

The pharmacist wasn't as happy as they were. She said in a low voice, "Actually, we couldn't have completed this mission at all. If it weren't for..." She glanced at Yan Qing and chuckled.

"Yeah, we've already fought a Foundation Establishment cultivator remotely this time, what are we going to do next time?" Shang Xinlei was also having a headache: "Next time, are we going to just steal the opponent's attack right in front of a Foundation Establishment cultivator?"

“I think there should be a way to avoid being discovered by Foundation Establishment cultivators this time,” Ying Rushi said meaningfully, glancing at Yan Qing and Yao Shiyuan. “It’s just that we couldn’t do it perfectly.”

Yan Qing's heart stirred, and she understood the subtext of Ying Rushi.

It's true that Master Suolong laid a trap in the rare iron, but they were operating in the dead of night. Even if Master Suolong likes to stay up late, how could she possibly be aware of the rare iron's condition at all times? Moreover, the timing of the rare iron trap's activation was also strange. It didn't happen in the secret realm or the military headquarters, but rather a few minutes after they came out of the secret realm.

If they were discovered by Master Suolong immediately after stealing the rare iron, why didn't he trigger the trap the moment they left the secret realm? They were still in the military headquarters at the time, with virtually no way to escape.

There is only one truth: Master Suolong did not discover the theft of the rare iron immediately; she was awakened by something else.

As for what it was... Yan Qing and the pharmacist exchanged a glance, both realizing a possibility.

Bunny Girl's Golden Lock!

Although it was in a secret realm, it was ultimately a divine power personally set up by Master Locking Dragon. When the Pharmacist was willing to destroy the golden lock, even if Master Locking Dragon didn't know what had happened, she would clearly feel that one of her senses was missing. Once she realized that there was a problem in the Chang'an City dungeon, she would naturally pay attention to the situation of the rare iron.

"The power of Foundation Establishment is beyond our comprehension." Although he knew this possibility, Yaoshi Yuan did not intend to accept the accusation: "Since the Dragon-Locking Bodhisattva had already made arrangements for the rare iron, the military government must also have her spies. After discovering Li Long's situation, they immediately sent a message... When we break out in battle with Li Long, we are destined to be unable to avoid the attention of Foundation Establishment True Persons."

Ying Rushi subtly blamed them for causing the trouble by rescuing the Bunny Girl, and the Pharmacist immediately shifted the blame onto everyone, saying that the plan had gone wrong from the start. Anyway, everyone was speculating whether it was the destruction of the Golden Lock that triggered the chain reaction, or whether the military government had leaked the information; both were possible. "Big Brother, don't even mention Second Brother."

"It's true that we can only share hardship, not wealth," Yan Qing thought to himself.

Is the white fox a bad person?

Of course not. If she were a bad person, she wouldn't have tried to put the rare iron into her storage ring, which resulted in her being tied up as well. As a teammate, White Fox is impeccably excellent.

But the white fox and the black wolf are the same type of people—those who want to be leaders. It is said that when a group of ordinary people get together, a leader will naturally emerge, and everyone else can only be a follower. The problem with the Thieves' House is that there are too many leaders and not enough followers.

Could it be that the white fox really wants to pursue the matter of Yaoshi Yuan and Yan Qing?
No, they've already done it, what's the point of pursuing it now? Besides, the Pharmacist didn't come without extra sacrifices. From the moment the plan was formulated, she chose the most dangerous task—retrieving rare iron from the lava pool—as compensation for everyone. White Fox didn't object at the time. But White Fox's words could make the wolfhound feel guilty, even self-doubting. Those who have done wrong will subconsciously believe that the critic is wiser. If they ever clash in the future, the seeds sown at this moment will take root and sprout, making the wolfhound lack confidence and even back down. In this way, the power of the Thieves' Family can gradually be concentrated in her hands.

This probing was so subtle, but the apothecary was like a ferocious beast whose territory had been invaded, and immediately retaliated with the fiercest counterattack.

Even though they had just shared life and death, as soon as they returned to safety, they immediately began their open and covert struggle over who was the boss. Thinking about it carefully, the reason this mission was so quiet in the early stages was because Yan Qing had temporarily suppressed Yao Shiyuan. Now that Yao Shiyuan no longer had to put up with Yan Qing's arrogance, she naturally wanted to reclaim her rightful voice. Simply put, it meant, "You all have to listen to me!"
Yan Qing didn't care who was the senior or junior, since they were all part of the same team anyway.

Moreover, Thieves' Guild still uses the DKP distribution system, so Yan Qing isn't afraid of them stealing her equipment. However, judging from their confrontational attitude, they probably won't even know who's in charge before Thieves' Guild disbands.

He glanced at Shang Xinlei, who immediately noticed his gaze and pointed to her left hand. Yan Qing showed her his left hand; the teeth marks were still there. Shang Xinlei's eyebrows curved into a smile, her eyes slightly narrowed. Even with the mask on, her smug smile couldn't be hidden, a touch of allure flowing from her brows. She raised her hands in a tiger pose, blinking as if to say, 'I'll bite again next time.'

"Sigh, everyone else is vying for the right to speak, how come you're so pathetic, acting like a child." Yan Qing gave her the middle finger under the table. Although Shang Xinlei didn't understand what it meant, she could tell from the gesture that Yan Qing was being provocative, so she immediately returned the middle finger. Then Yan Qing gave her a thumbs up. Shang Xinlei blinked, still keeping the middle finger—Do you think I'm stupid? I'm incredibly smart!
Suddenly, a screen of light descended from the ceiling in front of everyone. Unlike the previous two cases, the first step was not to appreciate the legendary artifact, but to calculate each person's thief points. After all, this legendary artifact was custom-made, and it would only be given a form by the Thieves' House after its owner was determined.

"The Theft of Rare Iron"

"Task Difficulty: Normal"

"Task completion: A great effort (evaluation from low to high is not worth mentioning, beyond my ability, a great effort, extraordinary, and a great achievement)"

"Quest completion reward: 30 Thief Points"

"Thief points can be accumulated and can only be used at the Thieves' House. They cannot be traded. Once you lose the right to enter the Thieves' House, your thief points will be reset to zero."

It was still a lot of hard work, which surprised Yan Qing himself. He thought he would definitely be 'not up to the task' or 'not worth mentioning' this time.

After all, they not only engaged in multiple battles this time, but also clashed with Master Suolong from afar. Their escape caused a sensation in half of Chang'an City, almost as if they had stormed into Chang'an City. Calling them thieves would be an insult even a family of thieves couldn't bear.

If this is acceptable, then what would be considered insufficient or insignificant? Was the quest item destroyed? Or did a teammate die?
Then the light screen continued to change, and Yan Qing realized that her performance this time was not bad:

Yellow Dog's Mission Completion List

"Killed a constable from the Divine Marquis's Mansion: 15 points"

"Killed jailer: 5 points"

"Brilliant Disguise Infiltration: 10 o'clock"

"Rescue Teammate: 10 o'clock"

"You gain an additional 40 thief points."

As expected, killing jailers in the dungeon does not count as killing them in the main city, and therefore they are not included in the [Suspect] milestone.

As for the "brilliant disguise and infiltration," Yan Qing simply ignored it as if he hadn't seen it. How did he infiltrate? He couldn't remember, only that Shang Xinlei was massaging his legs, and that he would order the Red Serpent Technician next time.

"what?"

Shang Xinlei suddenly exclaimed in surprise. Everyone looked up and quickly realized what she was surprised about—

Yellow Dog, 100 Thief Points.

Black Wolf, 100 Thief Points.

Tied for first place.

(End of this chapter)