Chapter 4: Leaving the Ruins

Glanced at by Ironhead, Wang Daoyi nodded.

"Brothers, Big Sister and the others have been gone for three days without any new updates. It's getting increasingly dangerous for us here. Today, I suggested to Ironhead that we should leave the ruins to avoid being blocked by the Millelith."

"Gathering everyone here now is to ask for your opinions. Should we continue guarding the ruins, or should we leave now and return to the main base in Minlin?"

Minlin headquarters is the main base of the Liyue treasure hoarders. Because Minlin is mountainous with many fairy tales, it's seldom visited by the Millelith. Therefore, the treasure hoarders established its main base in Minlin, near the canyon close to the Bishui Plain.

For the treasure hoarders in the ruins to return to the main base in Minlin, the quickest way is to pass through the Wanshu Inn from the Guili Plain to enter the Dihua Marsh, and then take a boat to the canyon in Minlin.

Or they can go from Guili Plain and head towards the Luhua Pond, then directly proceed along the waterside towards Minlin.

Regardless of the method chosen, it's better than waiting in the ruins.

As Wang Daoyi spoke up, more than a dozen members of the treasure hoarders began discussing.

"Kid, what if we leave the ruins now, and later Big Sister holds us accountable?" shouted a middle-aged man from the treasure hoarder, and the other members stopped discussing and looked at Wang Daoyi.

Wang Daoyi glanced at Ironhead and saw his expressionless face, seeming unwilling to speak. Then he looked at several other senior members of the treasure hoarder, all of whom seemed indifferent. Wang Daoyi understood.

This middle-aged man from the treasure hoarder should be one of Ironhead's men, in other words, a pawn. This pawn will work with him to lead everyone to escape the ruins. If the plan fails or if there's too much loss of antiques, the blame will fall on Wang Daoyi's head, while this middle-aged man will either share the blame with Wang Daoyi or Ironhead's group will help him change his identity.

Understanding the thoughts of Ironhead and others, Wang Daoyi was not angry. Instead, he felt fortunate. Ironhead and the others wanted to use him as a retreat, as a scapegoat, but Wang Daoyi had no intention of returning to the treasure hoarder at all. His plan was to leave the ruins and go straight to the Liyue Port, change his identity, and start anew.

So Wang Daoyi cooperated with the middle-aged man's question and replied, "Big Sister will only hold us accountable if there is a significant loss of antiques. And Ironhead has decided to divide the antiques separately. Each of us will take a few treasures and escape separately. Finally, we'll meet in Minlin. This way, not only can we reduce the attention of the Millelith and avoid being easily caught, but we can also take most of the antiques with us, so that we won't be held accountable by the superiors!"

The members of the treasure hoarders actually didn't care if they would be held accountable by the superiors. In essence, they were peripheral members, and the Baoer's treasure hoarder was just one of the many treasure theft groups in Minlin. Even if the antiques here were completely lost, they could simply change identities and join another treasure hoarders. No treasure hoarders would reject too many peripheral members.

They stayed here partly to continue excavating the ruins and partly for the promised share of the treasure by the Baoer treasure hoarders. As for loyalty to the Baoer treasure hoarders, stop kidding, peripheral members didn't have such a thing.

Now that Wang Daoyi said Ironhead agreed to let them take the antiques and leave the ruins, these treasure hoarders members' eyes lit up.

Seeing the excitement of these peripheral treasure hoarders, Ironhead knew that the kid's simple plan had succeeded. As a senior member of the treasure hoarders, he understood these peripheral treasure hoarders too well. The enormous wealth contained in the antiques had blinded their vigilance.

Perhaps some of them still had doubts, but then Ironhead let everyone enter the treasure trove and take the antiques themselves, which dispelled the last bit of doubt.

In fact, after the selection by Ironhead and other senior members of the treasure hoarders, most of the remaining antiques were large items, and some small items were either damaged or worthless.

But the peripheral treasure hoarders didn't mind. To them, those scattered pieces were treasures. Moreover, these seemingly high-quality antiques...

Soon, all the antiques in the treasure trove were snatched up, and Wang Daoyi also came out with a large vase. Not only Wang Daoyi, but also Ironhead and several other senior members of the treasure hoarders symbolically carried a few large antiques.

"Alright, now that everyone has received their treasures, let's go back and rest. We'll leave the ruins when it's dark. After leaving, everyone will split up and finally meet in Minlin."

Seeing everyone coming out with antiques, Ironhead knew the plan had succeeded. Now, just wait for nightfall to leave this ruin. These greed-controlled peripheral members would attract the attention of the Millelith for them, while he and the other senior members would take the most valuable part of the treasure back to Minlin.

As for Wang Daoyi, heh, that kid would become his scapegoat, punished by those greedy old guys.

As for the reason for punishment, haha, the few antiques that the kid secretly hid away would be the best reason.

Thinking on one hand, Ironhead admired himself, unexpectedly coming up with such an excellent escape plan effortlessly.

On the other hand, seeing Wang Daoyi's smug expression, he also smiled knowingly and returned to his own mat. Now, the only thing blocking his path was tonight's final escape plan.

Time passed bit by bit, seeming impatient to witness the story of the night unfold. Soon, darkness enveloped the earth.

Wang Daoyi and others changed out of their treasure hoarder clothing and put on ordinary clothing of Liyue merchants.

As a versatile member of the treasure hoarder, it was normal to carry some spare clothes.

The approximate location of the ruins discovered by the treasure hoarders was slightly to the right of the center of the Guili Plain. This place actually had a very sad name, the place where the scattered people leave. Most people who came here were for the nearby treasures.

The once prosperous village now only had broken walls and ruins. It was also one of the most rampant places for the treasure hoarders, and where the treasure hoarders was rampant, there naturally was the Millelith.

Wang Daoyi emerged from the ruins. The vast land shrouded in darkness was extremely empty, with only the croaking of summer night frogs echoing, bringing the distant campfire light of the Millelith stationed near the One of the Seven God Statue.

The nearest large garrison of the Millelith to Guili Plain was near the One of the Seven God Statue, while the base on the Guili Plain side was just an ordinary outpost, with roughly thirty soldiers of the Millelith stationed there.

Obviously, Wang Daoyi's group of treasure hoarders could not possibly contend with a Millelith consisting of thirty soldiers.

Although the Millelith had now shifted from facing demons to becoming a normal law enforcement military force, their military strength was still not comparable to that of a group of thieves like the Treasure hoarders.

Soon, all the members of the treasure hoarders left the ruins and began to scatter, which was also part of the plan.

Although they changed into the attire of a merchant caravan, carrying vases and furniture one by one, they didn't look like legitimate merchants. It was somewhat unnecessary to try to enter the outpost with the identity of a merchant.

So, according to the plan, everyone would disperse on their own, bypass the Millelith outpost, and then head to Minlin.