David Harris was feeling dazed when suddenly a player struggled in from outside the hall. As soon as he entered, he immediately pulled out a longsword and held it high: “I found Hero Yang’s sword!!!”

The crowd instantly erupted again, but this time the NPCs were extremely calm. Master Zi He sat unmoved, while the other three walked forward together. They didn’t bother with the handover process this time; Hero Yang of Xiangzhong directly took the sword.

This player clearly didn’t know what had happened here. His face was full of excitement, looking just like David Harris had half a minute ago. But half a minute later, he immediately looked just like David Harris did now.

Yang Huai announced once again: this sword is also a fake...

David Harris couldn’t hold back any longer. He opened Edward Thompson’s name in his friends list and sent a carrier pigeon message.

“Did you make the fake sword?”

“What a coincidence! You got it?”

David Harris immediately tore Edward Thompson’s reply to shreds and quickly reported this information to several NPCs.

The NPCs looked grave. The three Wudang members immediately asked Hero Yang Huai if he had a way to tell real from fake. Yang Huai immediately explained in detail, and David Harris, listening on the side, felt a chill in his heart. The method to distinguish them required getting the sword first and then examining it closely. By the time the sword was in hand, the players would have already fought each other to the death, and Edward Thompson would have long since disappeared in the chaos.

In the end, players could never be like NPCs, fighting for the reputation of their sect; they were only in it for their own gain. They couldn’t unite. Even if the sect leader’s order told everyone the sword could be fake, no one could escape the trap Edward Thompson had set.

“Edward Thompson!!” David Harris gnashed his teeth. All his panic, nervousness, joy, and excitement—everything—was just a setup by this guy. Although the trap was clearly just to help Edward Thompson escape and not aimed at anyone in particular, David Harris had fallen right into it, and even managed to offend James Allen in the process. Could anyone be more unlucky than him?

Yes.

That person was himself. At this moment, David Harris still hadn’t fully realized just how unlucky he was.

Falling into the trap set by Edward Thompson made David Harris furious, but he still hadn’t given up. The trap was just too hard to break. Even though players now knew the sword could be fake, the huge reward at stake meant they’d rather kill the wrong person than let someone get away. Whether the sword was real or fake made little difference.

This Edward Thompson really understood the players’ mentality. Thinking of this, David Harris felt that unless Edward Thompson ran out of fake swords, there was no way to break the trap.

But this was just a game. The player’s inventory was like Doraemon’s pocket—practically another dimension, able to hold an extraordinary amount of items. Edward Thompson’s plan was clearly well-prepared. David Harris figured it was impossible for him to run out of swords.

What to do?

At this point, it seemed Edward Thompson escaping from Wudang was a done deal. So where should he go to find him next? As he thought about this, David Harris hurried out of the reception hall, sending a carrier pigeon message to his classmates who had come to help from the foot of the mountain.

“Damn, Edward Thompson is probably going to escape down the mountain with the sword,” David Harris wrote in his message.

“How is that possible? There are so many Wudang disciples and NPCs sealing off the mountain. How could he possibly get out?” The reply came from Mark Evans, one of David Harris’s closest friends in the martial world, along with Andrew Carter. Of course, he wouldn’t be absent at a time like this.

“That guy used some tricks to distract all the players. How many NPCs could there be? They definitely couldn’t really seal off the whole Wudang Mountain,” David Harris replied.

“But there’s no way he could get out through the main road. Are there any other small paths on Wudang Mountain?”

“No, if it’s a small path, there are probably NPCs guarding it too. I think he’ll have to go down somewhere there’s no path, but you can still get down.” Mark Evans sent another message, then realized something was off and quickly sent a follow-up. He was the brains of the trio, often coming up with ideas, which was why David Harris mainly messaged him.

But after sending those two messages, David Harris didn’t reply for a long time. Mark Evans sent two more, but still got no response.

“Did something happen?” Mark Evans wondered, not knowing that David Harris was already so nervous he was sweating.

While discussing with Mark Evans, David Harris was about to rush out the sect’s main gate when suddenly a figure appeared in front of him, blocking his way. David Harris had been focused on messaging and wasn’t watching where he was going, nearly bumping into the person before he realized. In his current mood, how could he be in a good state? Frowning, he looked up, ready to curse, but when he saw the cold eyes of the person in front of him, his soul nearly left his body.

James Allen!

David Harris really hadn’t expected to run into James Allen so soon. It really wasn’t his lucky day.