Scourge Messenger

Chapter 267 Assassin’s Creed
The sun sets in the west, and the moon rises above the branches.

The city walls were brightly lit, with braziers every five steps and sentry posts every thirty steps. Guards carrying iron lanterns patrolled in a crisscross pattern, as if the town's flames could scorch even the night sky. The city gates had long been closed, and a moat surrounded the town. Closing the gates would lower the drawbridge, making it difficult to infiltrate during the day and even more heavily guarded at night.

As expected of the number one military town in Qi, in Yan Qing's limited knowledge, only Xuanwu Lake Military Town can be compared with it.

With the same strict discipline and abundant resources, we will maximize all available resources and spare no effort to achieve even a small improvement.

'Night Four' and 'Banquet Eleven' emerged from the shadows and crouched behind an abandoned house fifty paces from the city wall.

This is the maximum distance that can be approached, because there is no cover within fifty paces of the city wall, and the lights on the city wall can barely illuminate fifty paces. This is obviously intentional on the part of the Tombstone Garrison. Once a stranger steps into this 'warning range', according to the style of the Qi State's Hundred Guards, he will probably be hit by a hail of arrows.

Yan Qing was not afraid to fight against the Qi State's Baibao. Even if he did fight against the Qi State's Baibao, he was confident that he would achieve his goal. At worst, he would go on a killing spree and smash the entire military town with one punch.

There's no need to create unnecessary trouble and cause more bloodshed. It's better to put in as little effort as possible. Just like in Assassin's Creed, you can charge into a stronghold and kill everyone, but sneaking in and completing the mission can be just as fun.

However, before infiltrating, Yan Qing needed to do some preparatory work.

[Immortal Journey] activated!
Twenty-five seconds later, Yan Qing opened her eyes and found herself outside. The moon and stars were sparse overhead, and the surroundings were filled with the chirping and rustling of insects, reminiscent of the summer rhapsody in her childhood home.

But this place wasn't as peaceful as his rural hometown; a faint stench lingered in the night air. Yan Qing turned his head and noticed details he hadn't seen before: wild dogs were scavenging for food around, splattered dirt remained at the doorways of the houses, crows were flying overhead, most of the houses were intact, and there seemed to be something resembling fingers on the ground... Clearly, this village had only recently been abandoned, and these houses probably contained corpses that hadn't completely decomposed yet.

This isn't exactly a great spot for a day trip; Yan Qing much prefers the bustling, vibrant, and tranquil atmosphere of Jiangnan County. However, since he chose to come here tonight, he can't go to Jiangnan County for a late-night snack; he'll just have Niu Xianke pack some for him.

Yan Qing took out a rope and tied 'Night Four' and 'Yan Eleven' together. This operation was too special; there was no similar command in the game, so he had to do it himself.

For Yan Qing, the greatest significance of the [Immortal Travel] skill is that it provides an option to directly interfere with reality. The one-day cooldown is really useful. Yan Qing will even teleport to Niu Xianke's place and take a stroll in Jiangnan County.

Just walking among ordinary people, thinking to himself, 'Hmph, you probably don't know that you just brushed past me, the master thief of the Thieves' House, the holder of the Bingzi Pepper Forest, the successor of the Natural Disaster, and the third-level messenger,' Yan Qing felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

After tying it up, Yan Qing immediately returned to the Thieves' House. Thinking about it carefully, he realized that this was a real waste. The [Immortal Travel] skill, which can teleport regardless of distance, was only used to tie a rope. But a team skill with no cost and only a cooldown is ridiculous. It can only be said that the convenient settings for players in the game violate the law of conservation of energy in reality.

With Night Four carrying Banquet Eleven on his back, and in the instant he was out of sight on the city wall, he pushed off with both feet and glided more than thirty steps in a flash!

"Ronin Rain Boots"!
Do you remember when Yan Qing once searched for treasures in the royal treasury of Liang Kingdom? The "Wanderer's Rain Boots" were one of his spoils. Shang Xinlei used to call them water-walking boots. Their core function was fast gliding. Yan Qing even practiced with them for a while, but later he obtained the three-tier rare item "Lingbo Boots". Naturally, the "Wanderer's Rain Boots" ended up gathering dust in a corner.

It wasn't until he reunited with his alternate account, and could hand over the loot to his alternate account to launder and store, that the "Ronin's Rain Boots" saw the light of day again.

Although you can't attack while gliding, and you might trip or even fly off uneven terrain, the "Ronin's Rain Boots" are definitely a great tool for traveling on foot. As the guards looked out of the city again, "Night Four" had already silently leaped across the moat and climbed onto the city wall.

Arcane Technique: Spider Walk!
This is a rare juggling technique completely unrelated to combat, but it's not obscure. On the contrary, Yan Qing knows more about this juggling technique than the proper strategy guides in "The Messenger," because he occasionally comes across videos on websites like "Level 39 No Damage to Level 69 Yama Lord," "Defeating Yama Lord with Only Items," "Second Memory - Not a Messenger," and "A Complete Guide to Winning Against Yama Lord in the Dog-Feeding Group." Most of these videos utilize juggling techniques and items to exploit loopholes and create unimaginable effects in specific environments.

Take the Spider Walk technique for example. At first glance, it seems that you can only crawl in the shadows. But Yan Qing once saw a video where a level 30 player used Spider Walk and a poison water token to kill a level 60 pure melee boss by urinating in a cave.

However, as a trade-off, these kinds of tricks severely pollute the player's class pool. Classes that could have yielded legendary classes are now impossible to obtain; classes that could have yielded legendary foundations are now only capable of yielding rare foundations at best.

To achieve the theoretical limit of strength, players must meticulously plan every step, leaving little room for error. Therefore, players jokingly refer to nurturing a perfect character as "raising a child," and when a perfect character accidentally learns skills outside their chosen career path, they call it "going astray," becoming cybernetic parents at a young age. However, considering Yan Qing's intention to build himself into a "perfect character," perhaps "Night Four," "Jiang Ten," and "Bunny Girl" are... the parents?
Yan Qing shook his head to clear his mind of these random thoughts, equipped 'Night Four' with "Goldfish Goggles", and activated the effect 'Transparent World'!
In the blink of an eye, all the colors on the screen disappeared, leaving only a black background and white lines. Yan Qing could clearly see the figures behind the city walls and inside the houses; the entire Tombstone Military Town was laid bare before his eyes!

"Goldfish Goggles" was used for reconnaissance, and Spider-Man was used for movement. With these two gadgets, Yan Qing was like someone with a full map cheat and a wallhack. He managed to find flaws in the seemingly impenetrable security structure of Tombstone Garrison. Almost the instant the guards looked away, "Night Four" leaped over the city wall. Even if the guards noticed the wind and turned their heads, they couldn't see anything.

Compared to the city walls, the patrols inside the military town are undoubtedly much weaker, and it is not under military control. However, the infiltration of 'Night Four' is not easy, because there are too many people inside and the city is too big!

Just like Pingcheng, Tombstone Military Town also separates residential areas from military camps. The residential area has a large population, roughly estimated to be no less than 500,000. Not everyone can live in houses; many live in thatched huts, pigsties, or gatehouses, where they both sleep and watch out for the night. The only good news is that many places in the town are unlit, allowing 'Night Four' to conceal themselves in the darkness.

After walking a few steps, Yan Qing took off most of the clothes and equipment of 'Night Four' and 'Yan Eleven', keeping only the most basic black cloak and "Wanderer's Rain Boots", otherwise the sound of her footsteps caused by the weight would be too loud.

When they arrived at an open space, Yan Qing couldn't help but stop.

In the center of the open space stood a large banyan tree, a place where nearby residents would relax and enjoy themselves. But now, several dozen corpses hung from the tree, not yet fully decomposed, indicating they had only been dead a few days ago. Blood dripped from their ankles, staining the soil near the banyan tree a dark red. The intended message of terror was self-evident.

Yan Qing felt as if he had returned to the two days after he transmigrated, when he entered the newbie village affiliated with Nevernight in his alt account. He was easily killed by the Hundred-Guard Knight after taking only two steps. The whole world was filled with a bizarre atmosphere that was almost like a horror game.

Later, this feeling faded more and more, not because the world became more friendly, but because he became stronger.

As they approached the military camp, "Night Four" encountered patrolling guards in a narrow alley. The moonlight was bright, and climbing over the wall would definitely be seen. Retreating might also attract attention. There might be other ways to hide, but Yan Qing was too lazy to think about it.

Yan Qing was in a pretty good mood today. He had lunch with a beautiful girl and played the Stone Sinking Creek Secret Realm five times in the afternoon. But ever since he infiltrated Tombstone Military Town, Yan Qing has felt an inescapable sense of oppression, like having to get up to go to school on a rainy day. He wished a typhoon would come and destroy the school so he could find an opportunity to vent his anger.

'Night Four' grasped Bingzi Jiaolin and hid in the shadows. The patrolling guards drew closer, the light from their iron lanterns like a giant tongue, almost licking Night Four's figure.

When they passed a fork in the road, the patrolling guards suddenly turned onto another fork and did not encounter 'Night Four'.

Yan Qing discovered that the guard was just a young man, not wearing a demon mask, and yawning as he walked. He looked like an ordinary person just going through the motions... He didn't know that he had just brushed past the grim reaper with a bad temper.

Even though the guards had left, Yan Qing did not take any further action, but instead waited quietly for her emotions to subside.

What a cruel spiral, Yan Qing thought to himself. He had already realized that he was being influenced by the atmosphere of Qi State, and he couldn't wait to find an opportunity to go on a killing spree to cleanse the demonic atmosphere. This was certainly the right thing to do, and Yan Qing also planned to do so, but killing was not the means, but the end.

Yan Qing wasn't so saintly as to believe that 'the innocent cannot be harmed.' Apart from the first mission, which had a bit of a righteous aspect, weren't the second and third cases all about knocking down the guards and forcibly taking the treasures? If someone blocked their way, even if innocent people were harmed, there was nothing that could be done. Yan Qing had already prepared herself for this.

But the world doesn't only have two options: 'must kill' and 'cannot kill'. What wavers between the two is his dwindling conscience.

Although it seems a bit fussy, and he doesn't sound like a principled righteous person, nor a complete villain, he still thinks and hesitates before killing someone. But Yan Qing still cherishes this hesitation. When he loses even this hesitation, he will be no different from the evil ghost Bai Bao.

Yan Qing suddenly remembered Ying Rushi, that naturally beautiful but tired-looking girl. He had heard the news a couple of days ago that she had been granted the title of Prince of Lanling.

Someone like her must have a very difficult life in the State of Qi, right?

(End of this chapter)