27 We meet again....(Part 2)

Meanwhile in the forest far away,

Lin Fang who was center of the three people's talk in the capital was hiding behind a tree as he looked at the players on the road. His eyes were narrowed into tiny slits as he thought about his next move, something he learned from Flame Princess).

These people were the same guys he had met in the Greenwood Forst, the members of the Eight Handed Iron Guild. The players also included the guy he had tricked into thinking of him as a shapeshifter. Their camp was spread around the surrounding areas with green tents making it stand out in this forest of white.

Unfortunately, Lin Fang had forgotten to bring any clothes that protected from the cold. It had been easier to deal with it in the beginning when he was on the edges of the forest but as he moved closer and closer towards the center, he realized that the cold was becoming more and more unbearable. Thus, he decided to do what every rogue would do in his situation, steal.

It was pure coincidence that he ran into these guys again over here. By this point, he could feel his body start to freeze over so he decided to forget that they were acquaintances and steal from them.

According, to the steal your stuff guide, when stealing clothes, yes the guide does include a few pages on the topic of stealing clothes as it happens. So, when stealing clothes the best time was when the target was bathing, specifically if the target was female as they generally take a little longer time to bathe.

Lin Fang felt speechless when he read this wondering if the writer was a pervert of some kind. Well, in his imagination, a veteran rogue did look like an old drunkard so this might be possible.

Lin Fang forcefully stopped his imagination from running wild and came back to the problem at hand. Since it was so cold, he could give up on stealing them when these brawny men (no women present on sight) who looked like they went months without bathing went to bathe.

Since he had decided that he shouldn't PK until necessary and enjoy the game, he wouldn't start killing needlessly no matter how tempted he was. He started thinking about his plan when his eyes landed on the rabbit on his shoulder and they started glowing brightly.

The rabbit felt a chill go down his spine when he met his master's gaze.

"Aaah", It played smart and tried to escape, unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough and was caught in his master's evil claws.

The Eight Handed Iron Guild had left for this place the moment they came out of the Greenwood Forest. There weren't that many places of interest in the surrounding areas so it was easy for Lin Fang and them to meet.

Some of there weapons had been broken during the previous battles making the journey ahead harder. That is why they had sent a messenger back to get supplies as they stayed and surveyed the area.

"Dammit, it's cold. Isn't this game a bit too real.", One of the patrolling guards said to his friend next to him as he rubbed his hands together to generate heat. There was a change in the shift every fifteen minutes or so since it was still early in the game, none of the players were sleeping in the tents, they were protecting themselves for the cold. These weaklings he thought, I wonder how long till there is a change in the shift. I feel like I have been standing here forever.

He was about to continue complaining when he saw something white leap onto the road creating a contrast. He instinctively raised his sword to cut whatever had appeared, but his partner blocked his move before it could kill.

"Stop, its just an animal.", he said calmly as he looked at the shivering rabbit. When he looked at the rabbit's big eyes he felt his heart melting. TOO CUTE, he felt that there was a glow rising behind the pure white skin of the rabbit making it look even more beautiful. He really wanted to hug this little thing.

He gave into his urge and held the small rabbit in his hands and carefully rubbed its fur, so soft, I want a cushion that feels like this. The shivering of the rabbit in his embrace increased as he rubbed its fur. It's afraid, he looked with pity at the rabbit and threw a hostile gaze at his fellow guard, this guys must have scared him with that sword.

The other guard was struck dumb by the scene playing out in front of him. This serious, tall, buff and mean looking guy was smiling foolishly at the rabbit in his embrace and was even carefully patting him. If this wasn't enough, this man even sent a hostile glare towards him.

His lips couldn't help but twitch at the comedic scene playing out in front of him. Every man in this world has something he hides from the rest of the world, looks like he found this mans' secret. As he was planning to talk about this with the rest of the guys over dinner, the man looked at him coldly and said," If anyone finds out about this..." He didn't continue the sentence but instead, drew a line across his throat.

Sh*t, his plan was seen through, he thought as he felt a cold breeze blowing behind his back and decided to take this secret to his grave. When a man found something he liked, he would become a terrifying demon.

The rabbit suddenly jumped out of his embrace and ran into the white woods at a lightning pace. The tall man gave one last cold stare at the other guard before giving chase.

He followed the rabbit until it stopped little distance away from the camp. He moved towards it slowly as he was worried that he might scare him away.

10 meters...

8 meters...

5 meters...

2 meters...

He leaped towards the rabbit like a panther. It tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough as it got trapped in his hands.

"Yes", he screamed in his heart as a feeling of elation washed over him. A pity that this was the last thing he felt before he was knocked out cold. Lin Fang stood above him as he looked at this person with a surprised expression on his face, wasn't this the man I dueled with as a fake shapeshifter. This world really was a small place he thought as he stripped the unconscious person clean while a rabbit sat on one side, shivering, with a terrified expression on his face as he looked at the scene taking place...

A few minutes later, back at the camp,

The other guard had started feeling that something was wrong when this fellow didn't return, even after so long. Just when he was getting anxious, he saw a dark object getting bigger in the sky above the road. By the time he realized that the object wasn't getting bigger but falling towards him, it was already too late.

"AAAAAHHHHH", he screamed as the object hit him in full force. His scream made the other guards appear in front of their tents battle ready. They looked around, trying to find the enemy but everything was quiet. They moved out with confused expressions on their faces as they wondered what had happened.

The guard, buried under the object was finally able to push the object over. He looked at the projectile that had fallen from the sky only to realize that it wasn't an object. It was the man who had been guarding with him a while ago, except now he was only wearing underpants and was unconscious.

He looked towards the group of men walking in his direction and beckoned at them for help. They quickly helped him carry the guard inside as one of them went to report to the boss...

What Lin Fang didn't realize was that this little theft of his was the first domino in a series of events that would shake the whole Greenwood City to its core.