Chapter 23: The Counterattack

Jiang Kai and his team had just killed four smugglers. This time, Jiang Kai learned from his previous mistake—he immediately seized the opponents' wristbands and weapons after defeating them.

However, all four kills were completed by Nuannuan, allowing her to absorb the experience points.

Jiang Kai and Yuan Zhu both agreed that Nuannuan should level up to Level 3 first. Her stats were too low, and leveling up would not only reduce unexpected risks during battles but also enhance the effectiveness of her Healer's Benevolence ability.

After leveling up, Nuannuan planned to distribute the wristbands and weapons to Jiang Kai and Zhuzi. Jiang Kai hesitated for a moment but ultimately refused.

"Everyone has their own role in the team. What's yours is yours; you don't need to share it with us," Jiang Kai said, then turned and walked into the forest.

Zhuzi, seeing Jiang Kai's refusal, also waved it off. "Nuannuan, we appreciate your gesture, but how could us big guys take advantage of you? Let's go; we need to leave this place first."

Nuannuan frowned slightly.

From previous observations, she could sense that Jiang Kai and Zhuzi were not well-off financially.

Especially Jiang Kai—he seemed particularly concerned about money. But just now, he had refused to accept the spoils of war.

And it even seemed like he was a bit angry, 'Did I do something wrong?'

That night, the team rested under a snake's nest. Zhuzi, as usual, slept soundly—after all, his mental strength was the lowest among the three.

While Jiang Kai was keeping watch, Su Nuannuan quietly came over and sat beside him.

Seeing Jiang Kai remain silent, Nuannuan placed her hands on her knees, tilted her face up to the starry sky, and let out a long sigh. "Actually, the night sky on Ghost Star is quite beautiful."

Jiang Kai glanced at Nuannuan and smiled faintly. "It is. If you ignore the beasts and smugglers, the environment here is much better than Earth."

Nowadays, Earth was mostly ruins outside of centralized cities.

Seeing Jiang Kai respond, Nuannuan looked at him with a smile in her eyes. "Are you mad at me?"

"Mad?" Jiang Kai asked, puzzled.

"When I offered you the spoils earlier, you didn't seem very happy."

Jiang Kai thought for a moment and realized his tone might have been too stern at the time, leading to the misunderstanding.

"Why would I be? We're friends, and you meant no harm. Why would I get mad?" Jiang Kai turned his head to look at Nuannuan and raised an eyebrow. "Am I that petty in your eyes?"

Seeing that Jiang Kai wasn't lying, Nuannuan truly felt relieved.

"Then maybe I misunderstood. But you didn't seem in a good mood earlier..."

Jiang Kai stared at the ground without focus and replied softly, "I was just reminded of something. It's not about you."

"Jiang Kai, be honest with me—do you need money?"

After a moment of silence, Jiang Kai sighed heavily. "Yes!"

"Then why didn't you accept the spoils of war?" Nuannuan asked curiously.

Jiang Kai glanced at her and chuckled. "Even if I need money, I won't earn it by taking what rightfully belongs to someone else."

"My brother taught me that."

"You have a brother? Is he on Ghost Star too?" Nuannuan tilted her head and asked with interest.

Jiang Kai smiled slightly. "No, he isn't."

As he smiled, Jiang Kai's eyes became a bit moist.

His brother wasn't on Ghost Star. At eighteen, his brother gave up his chance to join the trials and sold the qualification certificate instead.

Jiang Kai vividly remembered that day. His brother had excitedly bought roast chicken and brought it home. Back then, he and Yingzi fought over the food, eating with great satisfaction.

But the older he grew, the more he realized how much his brother had sacrificed for them over the years.

With a soft sigh, Jiang Kai pulled himself out of his thoughts and refocused on the newcomer trial.

This night marked their fourth in the trial zone, leaving only three and a half days before the deadline.

Even with their current strength, where Long-Necked Human Faced Beasts, Venomous Spike Boars, Ghost Star Panthers, and packs of Shadow Wolves were no longer threats, time was running out.

From their current location, it would take at least two days to reach Huaxia City. Of course, he couldn't leave only two days for unforeseen circumstances.

Thinking this through, Jiang Kai said, "Nuannuan, I've decided. Tomorrow morning, we'll see if we can kill a few more smugglers. But regardless of the outcome, by 1 p.m. tomorrow, we must head toward Huaxia City."

"We need to reach Huaxia City within three days."

Nuannuan nodded. "Killing smugglers to level up is efficient, but we really don't have much time left. Alright, it's decided then."

—

The next day, before dawn, Jiang Kai's team was already prepared.

Their destination: the riverbank where they first encountered the smugglers.

The black-haired smuggler had escaped then. If he returned with reinforcements, they might be tracking them from the riverbank.

So they'd launch a surprise counterattack.

After about an hour of walking, the sky gradually brightened.

When they were about 100 meters from the riverbank, Jiang Kai suddenly stopped and whispered, "Wait, there's firelight ahead."

Following Jiang Kai's reminder, Yuan Zhu and Su Nuannuan squinted and finally spotted faint firelight near the riverbank.

After burning all night, the fires had become embers. Combined with the dawn, they would have been easy to miss.

"There seem to be people there." Yuan Zhu squinted uncertainly.

"Yes. Nine of them. The black-haired one is indeed there," Jiang Kai said calmly.

"Wait, you can see that from here?" Yuan Zhu asked in surprise.

Jiang Kai rolled his eyes. "I have Ghost Eyes."

'Alright, having two class skills really makes a difference...'

Jiang Kai frowned. There were nine people—likely two smuggler teams. If each team had a Level 5 smuggler, along with the black-haired one, there were at least three Level 5 smugglers.

He had confidence in defeating one Level 5 smuggler, could fight two, but three? Even if he could handle them, the remaining smugglers might threaten Zhuzi and Nuannuan.

Given their last encounter, the black-haired one and his group wouldn't take them lightly this time. They'd likely aim to kill.

Their previous strategy of having Zhuzi stun three people at once wouldn't work here—these nine wouldn't group up like practice dummies.

"There are too many of them." Nuannuan said anxiously, looking at Jiang Kai. She clearly realized the danger of the situation.

Yuan Zhu nodded. "With nine people, I might only be able to repel four or five, and that's if they're clustered together."

"Maybe we should retreat..."

Jiang Kai narrowed his eyes. "No! We have to kill them, or they'll remain a significant threat to us."

"The black-haired one is here, which confirms their goal—to hunt us down."

"If we give them more time, they might gather reinforcements. We'd lose the initiative and face an even bigger threat."

Jiang Kai's words made Yuan Zhu and Nuannuan realize the severity of the situation.

Now was the time to strike; letting them live would be raising tigers to harm themselves later.

The people in the camp were casually packing up, preparing to move out. Time was running out for Jiang Kai's team.

After a brief thought, Jiang Kai said in a deep voice, "We'll change tactics this time. Zhuzi, you hide here. I'll lure them over."

Then he turned and stared at Yuan Zhu, speaking in an unusually serious tone. "Remember, you'll likely have only one chance. Make it count and repel as many as you can."

═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═

patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator

🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.

https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y