Chapter 296: Chapter 238: Tied for First Place

"What, Commander Li Long is dead?"

"What, there’s a hidden dungeon Secret Realm in the Chang’an Military Mansion?"

"What, the dungeon Secret Realm holds the treasures of the Locking Dragon Bodhisattva, and they’re already gone!?"

The first general who learned this news immediately fainted, and no matter how others tried to slap him awake, they couldn’t. His deputy had to take over command with a mourning face, and then, over ten thousand Mansion Soldiers in the Chang’an Military Mansion went completely mad, igniting the entire Chang’an City.

All the painters were summoned to reproduce the four warrants at the city gate which only bore outlines. All the hounds were sent out to sniff everywhere. The last known location of the thieves, the Buddhist Pagoda of An Guo Temple, was directly leveled to the ground. All the Buddha statues were smashed, every brick was turned over, and no place where someone could hide was left unchecked.

At this moment, faith and religion were of no importance. If they didn’t seize this last chance to show their stance, they might as well wait to be burned to ashes by the flames of the Foundation Establishment Zhenren’s wrath.

Tonight’s Chang’an was destined to be a sleepless night.

However, the culprits showed no shame for their wrongdoing, instead, they sat expectantly in their places, like a group of kids awaiting rewards after completing chores.

"According to the rule that the greater the difficulty, the larger the reward, this time the rewards should be excellent." Shang Xinlei said expectantly, "I took down nine people! Nine!"

"It’s different from the previous two times, this time we had the interference of constables from the Divine Marquis Mansion, forcing us to arrive at the target location within ten minutes, which alone doubled the difficulty compared to last time." Ying Rushi also said, "Not to mention we encountered at least two Peak Third Transition individuals, who were nothing like Shang Xuanwen, a retired civil Third Transition—"

"Hey, you can’t say it like that!" Shang Xinlei retorted, "With that kind of Legendary Token configuration, Shang Xuanwen could keep you all at bay for so long. If he had a complete set of the Token, maybe you couldn’t have snatched the Heaven-Swaying Sword, which means he’s just lacking in Tokens, but his actual skill is still quite strong."

Ying Rushi looked oddly at Shang Xinlei, though she didn’t understand why Shang Xinlei was hung up on this point, she didn’t mean to belittle Shang Xuanwen originally, so she went along with Shang Xinlei’s words: "Indeed, except for a very few individuals, most Third Transition individuals are heroes among men, with extraordinary skills, and if properly equipped with the right Tokens, they are formidable enemies, difficult to deal with."

Yan Qing blinked. If these words were spoken by Shang Xinlei or Pharmacist’s Wish, he would assume it was a sarcastic remark towards him, but since White Fox said it, he wasn’t sure—Has White Fox seen my maneuvers?

"In the end, even the Locking Dragon Bodhisattva made a move."

Pharmacist’s Wish was not as happy as the others, she said in a low voice, "Actually, we couldn’t have completed this task, if it wasn’t..." She glanced at Yan Qing without finishing her sentence.

"Yeah, this time we even fought against a Foundation Establishment Zhenren from afar, what about next time?" Shang Xinlei also felt a headache, "Next time, will we directly steal in front of a Foundation Establishment Zhenren?"

"I think this time’s task could have been performed without being detected by a Foundation Establishment Zhenren," Ying Rushi glanced at Yan Qing and Pharmacist’s Wish, hinting, "We just didn’t manage to do it perfectly."

Yan Qing felt a jolt inside, understanding the subtext of Ying Rushi’s words.

It’s true that True Man of Locking Dragon set traps in Exotic Iron, but they were acting deep at night. Even if True Man of Locking Dragon enjoys staying up, how could she constantly perceive the state of the Exotic Iron? Also, the explosion timing of the Exotic Iron trap was odd, not when they were in the Secret Realm, not in the Military Mansion, but a few minutes after they exited the Secret Realm.

If they had just stolen the Exotic Iron and been discovered by True Man of Locking Dragon, why didn’t she trigger the trap the moment they left the Secret Realm? They were still in the Military Mansion at that time, with no escape.

The truth is singular: True Man of Locking Dragon did not discover the theft of Exotic Iron immediately; she was awakened by something else.

As for what that was... Yan Qing and Pharmacist’s Wish exchanged a glance, both realizing a possibility.

Rabbit Heroine’s Golden Lock!

Though it was within the Secret Realm, it was ultimately the Divine Authority personally set by True Man of Locking Dragon. When Pharmacist’s Wish destroyed the Golden Lock, even if True Man of Locking Dragon didn’t know what happened, she’d clearly sense a loss of one of her senses. Once she realized there was an issue with the Chang’an City dungeon, naturally she’d focus on the state of the Exotic Iron.

"Foundation Establishment Divine Techniques are beyond what you or I could fathom." Although aware of this possibility, Pharmacist’s Wish didn’t intend to take on the blame: "Since Locking Dragon Bodhisattva already had arrangements for the Exotic Iron, the Military Mansion surely had her operatives too, who sent messages over as soon as Li Long’s situation was discovered... Once we clashed with Li Long, it was destined that we couldn’t evade the attention of a Foundation Establishment Zhenren."

Ying Rushi subtly accused them of rescuing Rabbit Heroine causing extra trouble, Pharmacist’s Wish immediately spread the blame among everyone, for mistakes, the plan was flawed from the start. Anyway, they were all speculating; whether it was the chain reaction caused by breaking the Golden Lock or the Military Mansion sending out messages, both were possible, so one shouldn’t point fingers at the other.

Truly, they could share hardships but not wealth, Yan Qing thought.

Was White Fox a bad person?

Of course not; if she were a bad person, she wouldn’t have just tried to put the Exotic Iron into the Storage Ring, causing herself to be trapped too. As a teammate, White Fox was excellently unassailable.

Yet, White Fox and Black Wolf were the same type of people—the kind that aims to be leaders. It is said that when a group of ordinary people get together, a leader naturally emerges, while the others can only be followers. The problem with Thief’s House is that there are too many leaders and not enough followers.

Is White Fox really trying to hold Pharmacist’s Wish and Yan Qing accountable?

It’s not a big deal, they’ve already done it. What’s the point in pursuing it now? Besides, Pharmacist’s Wish didn’t just sit back; she picked the most dangerous task from the beginning, {retrieving Exotic Iron from the Magma Pool}, as her compensation to the team. At that time, White Fox didn’t object.

But by saying this, White Fox can make Wolf-Dog feel guilty and even start doubting herself. People who make mistakes instinctively consider the critics wiser. Once they have disputes in the future, the seeds planted at this moment will take root and grow, causing Wolf-Dog to lose confidence and even proactively concede, thus allowing Thief’s House’s discourse power to gradually concentrate on her.

This probe is so subtle, yet Pharmacist’s Wish instinctively retaliates fiercely as if her territory has been invaded.

Even though they’ve just gone through life and death together, once back in a safe place, they immediately engage in open and covert fights over who is the real boss. In hindsight, the initial quietness of this mission was because Yan Qing temporarily suppressed Pharmacist’s Wish. Now that Pharmacist’s Wish no longer has to endure Yan Qing’s authority, she naturally wants to reclaim her rightful voice. Put simply, it’s: you all must listen to me!

Yan Qing is indifferent about who is the leader; after all, it’s all one team.

Additionally, the Thief’s House has a DKP allocation system. Yan Qing isn’t afraid of them hoarding gear. It’s just that seeing their confrontational attitudes, it’s likely they’ll break up the Thief’s House before sorting out the hierarchy.

He glanced at Shang Xinlei, who quickly noticed his gaze and pointed to her left hand. Yan Qing held out his left hand to her; the teeth marks were still visible. Shang Xinlei’s eyes curved with amusement, squinting slightly, and even with a mask, her proud smile couldn’t be hidden—a trace of allure gracing her brows. She raised both hands, mimicking a tiger’s pose, blinking as if to say ’I’ll bite next time too’.

Ugh, while others are fighting for dominance, why are you so slack, as immature as a kid? Yan Qing gave her a middle finger under the table. Shang Xinlei didn’t understand what it meant, but she sensed Yan Qing’s provocation from the gesture, so she returned the middle finger. Then Yan Qing gave her a thumbs up, and Shang Xinlei blinked, still holding the middle finger—You think I’m dumb? I’m super clever!

Suddenly, a light screen descended from the ceiling in front of everyone. Unlike the previous two cases, it wasn’t the Legendary Token appreciation segment first, but the individual Thief Points settlement. After all, this time the Legendary Token is custom-made; it only takes shape once the winner is determined by Thief’s House.

"Exotic Iron Theft Case"

"Task Difficulty: Ordinary"

"Task Completion: Diligent Effort (ratings from low to high: Inconsequential, Inadequate, Diligent Effort, Exceptional, Remarkable)"

"Task Completion Reward: 30 Thief Points"

"Thief Points can accumulate, only consumable at Thief’s House, non-tradable. Loss of access to the Thief’s House results in points resetting to zero."

It’s still Diligent Effort, Yan Qing was surprised himself. He thought for sure it would drop to ’Inadequate’ or ’Inconsequential’.

After all, this time was full of battles and even distant confrontations with Suo Long True Man, escaping causing half of Chang’an City’s stir, practically like marching into Chang’an City and calling them thieves; Thief’s House couldn’t afford that reputation.

If even this is qualified, what scenarios would render ’Inadequate’ or ’Inconsequential’? Task item damage? Or teammates’ demise?

Then the screen continued to change, and Yan Qing found his performance wasn’t too bad this time:

"Yellow Dog’s Task Settlement List"

"Killed Divine Marquis Mansion Constable: 15 points"

"Killed Prison Guards: 5 points"

"Brilliant Disguised Infiltration: 10 points"

"Rescued Teammates: 10 points"

"You gained an additional 40 Thief Points"

Indeed, the guards killed in the dungeon weren’t considered main city kills, so they weren’t listed in the {Suspect} milestone.

As for "Brilliant Disguised Infiltration," Yan Qing skipped over it pretending not to see. How did he infiltrate? He can’t remember, only recalling Shang Xinlei massaging his leg, maybe asking the Red Snake Technician next time.

"Ah?"

Shang Xinlei suddenly let out a surprised cry, everyone looked up and quickly knew what shocked her—

Yellow Dog, 100 Thief Points.

Black Wolf, 100 Thief Points.

Joint first place.