Chapter 144 - The Return Of Enemies From The Tree

The sword pierced the woman in the same place again.

She hissed at the pain.

She turned towards her attacker with a glare. "You! Don't you see that he doesn't want to leave?"

Cheng Xiu scowled. She turned towards San Zhe who was looking down at her in a daze.

Brother San? Are you not coming?"

"I don't want to leave," he said in a dull voice.

Cheng Xiu stilled. She could recognize that he was being manipulated.

"Let go of him!" Cheng Xiu said with a hiss in her voice.

The woman smiled. "If you have the ability, take him away by gaining his consent."

Cheng Xiu scoffed. He was being controlled, and it was obvious that he would do what the NPC wanted him to do.

There was no way that he would come with her willingly now.

But there was no reason to ask for his consent in this regard. She could get him away from the woman and the skill effect of the NPC should wear off on its own.

Almost as if the woman had heard her thoughts, she laughed. "Let me see you try."

Cheng Xiu's vigilance was instantly raised. There had to be a reason that this woman was so confident.

Cheng Xiu ran towards the two of them, hopping from one branch to another.

Her eyes moved about, waiting for something or the other to happen.

The woman brought out her whip again.

Cheng Xiu's hold on her sword got tighter.

The girl was stunned at the NPC's next action.

She whipped the tree, breaking off the wood from it instead of attacking her.

There was a rumble under her feet and she found creatures crawling out of the sturdy trunk of the tree.

They had the face and body shape of people, but their body was made completely from the same rough texture as the tree they crawled out of.

Their movements were unstable.

Their focus was completely on Cheng Xiu who had raised her weapon higher and held on to the hilt of the sword tighter the minute she had seen their movement in the trees.

The creatures screamed at her in a guttural voice.

Cheng Xiu gaped.

She knew what these creatures were better than most of the people in this game. She had seen them before. She had fought against them before. She had killed them before.

Demonic Treemen.

The creatures that she had fought with during her first journey towards the Rat Pit.

They were the minions of that Emperor Monster.

Cheng Xiu felt her heart tremble. She looked around just to be sure that there was no sudden rise of the boss around her.

Why was it these things? And why was this NPC able to call upon these creatures? Weren't they supposed to be summoned by the boss? Did that make this woman someone at the level of the boss?

Cheng Xiu shivered. The boss was only weakened last time due to the attack of 10 Level 70 players. It was the only reason that she was able to defeat the creature by throwing Immortal EverHill's weapon.

No. It was not possible. Though the woman was powerful she was not powerful. She did not have the aura that the Emperor Monster did.

Cheng Xiu calmed her mind.

According to San Zhe, the Demonic Treemen were Golden Core Realm creatures and far too difficult to kill.

But that couldn't be right. The system notification at that time said that the creatures were 2 levels above her at Level three. If the difference was that, then she, at Level 3 now, should also be at the Golden core realm. But she wasn't. Her Level was called Qi Sensing.

So were the creatures in front of her at Golden Core Realm?

Cheng Xiu just realised that she did not know the Realm Names of this game. Since she was at the Qi Sensing III at the moment, that must mean that Qi Sensing was the first Realm of the game and the Demonic creatures she fought first at Qi Sensing Realm. So…where did that put Golden Core at? Was it the next realm? If it was, then it would put her and the creatures at a 10 level difference. If it wasn't…then it would mean that the level difference between her and the creatures were more than 20.

And that was summoned by the Boss back then.

These were summoned by the NPC who should be weaker than the Boss, and so should, in theory, be weaker than the ones that she faced at the clearing before.

But that would mean that the creatures were at Level 2 or Level 1. Which was also not a possibility. The NPC would not summon such weak creatures to deal with her.

Cheng Xiu did not think she was being narcissistic when she thought this. Well aware of her strengths, she was sure the NPC would not take her lightly. And that meant that these creatures were not at her level or lower. They had to be higher.

Cheng Xiu raised her sword and dashed towards them.

She wondered if she could kill these creatures she was able to kill the ones in the clearing, by cutting off the roots of the creatures.

Cheng Xiu did not know if it would work. But she was willing to try.

In the deep forest, a group of men stood in the shadows, waiting for a good opportunity to attack Cheng Xiu. The people had blue crystals on their heads to indicate their identity as players. Their body and their weapon were battered and damaged. And most of them looked worse for wear.

"That NPC looks so sexy," one of the men said with drool on his lips.

The others nodded.

"It is too bad that the masked player has to face off against those creatures," another said. "What are they anyway?"

"Creatures that are a speciality of the Southern Continent," a bulky man with only his crotch covered said. The war hammer in his hand was broken at places. "They are known to be powerful. They can even reach the Golden Core realm."

"Wow. Now I feel really bad for the masked beauty."

"How do you know she is a beauty?" a man asked his comrade.

"Isn't she a girl?" the man said as an answer. "As long as she is a woman she is beautiful."

Many in the team nodded in agreement.

Ren Dao glared at them all. "Shut up. Wait for a good opportunity. When the girl is overwhelmed by the creatures we will rush in to save her at the nick of time. It should be enough for the girl to gain a favourable impression."

The others nodded in excitement and prayed for the Red and White robed girl to fail faster.