SWDnovel Chapter 47 The Price of Greed
Chapter 47 The Price of Greed
Jiang Ming leaned back on the ground, checking his status bar.
[Weakness Curse: 09:45 remaining]
Fortunately, it's just a temporary situation that lasts for ten minutes.
"Fortune favors the bold. Do you think we could have gotten that axe without taking some risks?" Jiang Ming pointed at the Blazing Battle Axe in Wang Yang's hand, his tone displeased. "You guys probably got a lot of experience from those two thugs, didn't you?"
Zhao Yanzhi was momentarily speechless.
Indeed, although the previous wave was very dangerous, several of his members leveled up, and even his own experience bar increased significantly.
"What do we do now?"
Xu Shishi pulled Su Xiaoxiao over, her brows furrowed.
"We can't break through if we don't deal with those two shamans."
"Wait," Jiang Ming uttered a single word.
"Wait until my curse disappears, wait until their buffs end."
"Are we just going to wait and see?" Wang Yang was somewhat unwilling.
"We haven't even touched those many corpses on the riverbank yet!"
The mention of the spoils of war made everyone's eyes light up.
I ran too fast just now, and apart from picking up some dropped weapons, most of my loot is still on the spot.
Zhao Yanzhi's eyes darted around.
He glanced at Jiang Ming's current state and then looked around at the surroundings.
A bold idea popped into his head.
"Um...Ah Wei."
Zhao Yanzhi waved and called over the fastest member of the commune.
"President?" Ah Wei was a skinny guy who had run away in a flash.
Zhao Yanzhi lowered his voice and leaned close to Awei's ear.
"Take a few people and take the long way back."
"Why go back by taking a long detour?" Ah Wei's eyes widened.
"Are you stupid!"
Zhao Yanzhi tapped him on the forehead.
"Those goblins are all looking for us here now, the camp must be empty."
"Go to the riverbank and loot those corpses, especially the armor on those two goblin thugs. Hide anything good you find."
Ah Wei hesitated, "This...is too dangerous, isn't it?"
"Don't you understand the saying 'Fortune favors the bold'?" Zhao Yanzhi returned Jiang Ming's words verbatim.
"Of the things you touch, you can choose 30% first."
Upon hearing "select 30% first," Ah Wei's Adam's apple bobbed.
The wages of avarice is death.
He knew that in this godforsaken place, the better the supplies, the more precious they were.
"Fine! I'll go!" Ah Wei gritted his teeth and found three boys who were usually on good terms with him.
The three of them crouched low, using the bushes as cover, and quietly crept to the right.
Jiang Ming kept his eyes closed and rested, seemingly unaware of everything.
But his slightly trembling ears betrayed him.
His perception attribute, which was as high as 8 points, allowed him to hear Zhao Yanzhi's whispers clearly.
"Heh." Jiang Ming sneered inwardly.
Greed is the original sin.
Since those two shamans can cast buffs, their intelligence is definitely not low.
Do they really think their little tricks can fool those two old guys?
"Brother Jiang, are we really just going to wait here?"
Wang Yang leaned over, reached into his pocket, and handed Jiang Ming a bottle of water.
He also noticed Zhao Yanzhi's subtle actions.
"Why should we stop someone who's willing to be a stepping stone?" Jiang Ming took the water and gulped down a mouthful. The cool liquid flowed down his throat, taking away a bit of the heat.
He glanced at the status bar.
Five minutes to go.
"Old Wang, put your axe away, the light is too bright."
Jiang Ming offered a reminder.
Wang Yang's Blazing Battle Axe was like a bright light bulb in this forest, making it too easy to reveal their location.
"Oh, oh." Wang Yang quickly laid the axe horizontally.
Just then, a piercing scream suddenly came from afar.
"ah--!!!"
The sound was sharp and piercing, as if something had ripped his throat apart.
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Zhao Yanzhi suddenly stood up straight, his face turning deathly pale. It was Awei's voice.
Then came two more short, mournful howls, followed by complete silence.
The woods were eerily quiet; even the chirping of insects had vanished.
"W-What happened...?"
A girl from the archery club covered her mouth and trembled all over.
Jiang Ming slowly opened his eyes and stood up from the ground.
"It seems those two old shamans weren't as stupid as we thought."
He dusted off his backside and picked up his black iron longsword.
"Prepare for battle." Jiang Ming's voice was soft, but it struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.
"They deliberately created openings to lure us into scattering so they could wipe us out all at once."
The voice just fell.
There was some new commotion in the surrounding area.
The goblin warriors who were originally searching the mountains in the distance had silently crept up and surrounded the rocky forest.
"How is that possible..."
Zhao Yanzhi stared intently in the direction from which Awei's screams came, his knuckles turning white from gripping the bow so tightly.
Ah Wei was on the school track and field team, and he could run the 100 meters in under 11 seconds. How could he have died so quickly?
"Nothing is impossible."
Jiang Ming coldly added insult to injury.
"Since those two shamans can command so many goblins, it means they are intelligent. Do you think they are just wild beasts that can only howl?"
"They sent their main force out to chase us, while leaving a few stealth units at the camp to guard the corpses. That's basic tactic," Li Bin added quietly from the side. "President Zhao, your guys are probably out delivering takeout."
"Shut up!"
Enraged, Zhao Yanzhi turned around and glared fiercely at Li Bin.
But his trembling lips betrayed the fear he felt at that moment.
"Alright, stop arguing!"
Xu Shishi interrupted their argument, already wearing brass knuckles on her hands.
"Regardless of whether they're dead or not, we're in big trouble now."
The surrounding bushes made a rustling sound.
The encirclement is slowly shrinking.
The goblin warriors did not rush to attack, but waited.
They are waiting for the shaman's instructions, or for their prey to reveal a weakness.
"Jiang Ming, do you have any other ideas?" Su Xiaoxiao leaned close to Jiang Ming, her voice trembling.
She gripped a homemade spear tightly in her hand, her fingertips trembling.
Jiang Ming glanced around.
There were about fifteen or sixteen goblin warriors, and two big guys that we hadn't seen before.
Those were two goblin warriors wielding giant tower shields, their figures even more robust than the thugs, like two moving hills.
"So this is the backup plan of those two goblin shamans?" Jiang Ming narrowed his eyes.
I didn't see those two goblin warriors on the riverbank earlier. It seems they were kept there specifically for ambushes or other special purposes.
"Wait a little longer."
Jiang Ming flexed his wrists.
The Weakness Curse has two minutes remaining.
The ground trembled slightly with each step the two goblin warriors, each wielding a giant tower shield, took.
They did not rush to attack, but instead, like two slowly advancing iron walls, gradually blocked all escape routes.