A Legendary Thief - Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Fleeing
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Thieves had a powerful output and were not inferior to mages in this regard. However, their bodies were as fragile as glass when compared to some of the other classes. The most they could do was deal with three monsters of the same level at the same time; it would be challenging to face seven of them all at once. That would be a task comparable to a suicide mission.
The five sand salamanders on the left looked peaceful and quiet, but the two on the right were dangerous because they kept moving back and forth. If he were to be discovered by any of them, the seven of them would besiege and attack him all at once. By that time, his chances of surviving would only be one out of nine. Even if he could escape, he would still have to pay a steep price for it, a price he was in no way willing to even consider paying.
Xiao Yu moved forward very slowly and very carefully by using stealth travel in fear of revealing his whereabouts.
The sandy wind kicked up from time to time around him. The sand and dust in the air reduced visibility, but it offered him an opportunity to hide from his bloodthirsty foes.
Xiao Yu paid close attention to the positions of the seven sand salamanders. Judging by his own eyes, he was less than ten meters away from the bloody grass. As long as he could pass through the seven sand salamanders, he would be able to hide under the rock and collect the bloody grass. After that, he could return by following the same route after the stealth travel skill cooled down.
Xiao Yu hoped to reach the site safely. But what ended up happening was not something he wished for. He had to halt his steps because he found a sand salamander crawling toward him. Xiao Yu grew very nervous; he was in between a rock and a hard place. The seven sand salamanders formed an oval, with him in the middle, potentially able to overtake him. If he were discovered by one of them, his life would be in danger.
Xiao Yu stopped short, remaining in the same spot and not daring to move an inch.
This was the best strategy—staying in the same spot to have the maximum effect of stealth. Xiao Yu didn’t dare move again.
“I’ll fight with all I have. I hope my luck won’t be too bad.” Xiao Yu hunched his body over as much as possible to make himself look smaller. Seeing the sand salamander crawl toward him, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but sweat a little.
Three meters… two meters… one meter. The sand salamander drew nearer. Xiao Yu felt that his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
He exhaled slightly and calmed down a bit.
The sand salamander suddenly stopped short, looking around with its greenish eyes. Perhaps it had smelled something.
“Damn! I might be discovered.” Xiao Yu held his breath and didn’t dare move an inch, cold sweat almost flowing down from his temples.
His heart was beating hard along with the movements of the sand salamander as he was in a life-or-death situation. It was at this moment that Xiao Yu could truly feel death breathing down his neck.
The sand salamander looked around for a while but didn’t find anything. It continued crawling forward and brushed past Xiao Yu.
Seeing the sand salamander crawl past him and miss him, Xiao Yu gradually calmed down. The luck god seemed to have taken good care of him. However, he soon found out another pressing issue: he only had five seconds of stealth travel left.
In five seconds, he would reveal and ultimately expose himself.
He had to leave this place as soon as possible!
He closely watched the sand salamander that had just passed by. As the sand salamander crawled two meters away from him, Xiao Yu sped up abruptly and ran toward the rock.
He distanced himself from the sand salamander as the stealth travel ran out. His full body gradually materialized.
Xiao Yu felt relieved when he reached the bottom of the rock. Sitting under it, he took a brief rest. He was extremely nervous earlier because that was a really dangerous situation.
Xiao Yu lowered his head to look at the bloody grass after he recovered.
This bloody grass grew in a crack on the rock. The crack on the rock was slightly more damp than the other places, which offered a favorable environment for the bloody grass to grow.
Xiao Yu collected the bloody grass gingerly.
Bloody grass: an ordinary-level medicinal plant, applicable to mystical pharmacology.
One bite of bloody grass was equal to one instant health potion—or in other words—life. Xiao Yu could easily figure this out.
“Hehe, I finally got it.” After having collected the bloody grass, Xiao Yu felt triumphant. He put it in his bag and patted it.
After that, Xiao Yu turned to take the same route to leave after he waited for the stealth travel skill to cool down.
He could see the positions of all seven sand salamanders clearly.
Xiao Yu found a safe path and headed toward the gap between the seven sand salamanders by using stealth travel.
By the time he came to the middle of the seven sand salamanders, they suddenly became restless, which confused Xiao Yu.
Were these sand salamanders mad? Or was he discovered?
“Damn!” Xiao Yu found that two of the sand salamanders were crawling in his direction.
What should he do?
If he moved, he would definitely be discovered by the two sand salamanders, but if he stood in the same spot, the sand salamanders would bump into him and reveal his body because he was in their path.
“Damn! I can’t wait for my life to be taken,” Xiao Yu thought. When the two sand salamanders were still far away from him, Xiao Yu suddenly, without hesitation, ran with all his might.
The stealth travel state was canceled, and the seven sand salamanders discovered him and began to pursue him.
Xiao Yu ran a little more slowly than the sand salamanders, and the distance between him and the salamanders was gradually getting smaller.
“Damn! These guys are truly troublesome.” Xiao Yu tried his hardest to climb a tall sand dune. Looking down, he could see the endless desert with rising and ebbing sand dunes; there was a flowing black river amid the sand dunes.
It was the Black Holy Spring, the life source of the Spirit tribe!
Seeing the seven sand salamanders drawing closer, Xiao Yu dashed toward the Black Holy Spring while telling himself with gritted teeth to take a risk.
The seven sand salamanders were crawling in a pattern resembling the letter S, shooting out their blood-red tongues with a hissing sound. It sounded like the call of a death god when Xiao Yu heard that.
As he was getting closer and closer to the Black Holy Spring, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.
He had been bitten by a sand salamander.
“Damn! I’m poisoned again.” Xiao Yu slowed down. His speed grew slower as the six other sand salamanders got closer to him.
Xiao Yu turned around. His back was facing the Black Holy Spring as he defended himself with the dagger.
The seven sand salamanders were assaulting him incessantly, and his health was rapidly decreasing.
“I hope I won’t be finished here.” Xiao Yu kept waving the dagger in his hand as he backed up. He was getting closer to the Black Holy Spring.
After checking his health, Xiao Yu found he had 23% left. He stepped back to twist his body sideways and dodged the attack of a sand salamander. Then, he jumped backward and plunged into the inky water of the Black Holy Spring with a plop.
Many ripples appeared on the surface of the river that had previously known only tranquility.
