Chapter 71: A New Discovery

At the entrance of the passage, the watery curtain had already ruptured. A short-statured human squeezed inside, wiped his face, and muttered angrily to himself, "What kind of damned place is this…"

A human? How could there be a person here?

Judging by his attire, he was undoubtedly an NPC, but this was simply absurd—could he be a mummy buried under the water?

In the records of this treasure from his previous life, the discoverer never mentioned an NPC lurking here!

Lu Kuan was momentarily dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed at the old man, who looked back at him with squinted eyes. For several seconds, they studied each other until Lu Kuan finally got a good look at the stranger’s face.

He was a bald, wiry old man dressed in a black cloth robe, with a sly and shifty appearance. Heavy bags hung beneath his narrowed eyes, giving him the look of a weasel that had grown wise with age.

Encountering such a figure in an ancient underwater chamber sent a chill down Lu Kuan’s spine.

“Haha, kid, you’re pretty lucky to have found this place,”

The old man seemed delighted, his gaze fixed greedily on the pearl nestled within the shell. He waved at Lu Kuan with casual indifference. “Leave now, and I won’t trouble you.”

Lu Kuan frowned at that, drawing his hunting bow and quiver, his eyes narrowing as he coldly demanded, “Who are you? Why are you following me?”

The old man’s impatience was obvious; he simply strode forward.

“Stop!” Lu Kuan barked, drawing his bow in warning.

But the old man paid no heed. Knowing this stranger was likely no ordinary NPC, Lu Kuan wasted no more time. He aimed at the old man’s right leg and loosed a concussion arrow.

“Whoosh!”

“Ping!”

The arrow shot out like lightning, but rather than the expected blood and injury, Lu Kuan saw a blur—the old man vanished silently, the arrow hitting nothing but air.

“Boss!?”

The thought flashed reflexively through Lu Kuan’s mind. He was alarmed, his hair standing on end. But before he could react, something jabbed his back, and his body instantly went numb, collapsing limply to the ground.

“Your archery’s not bad, kid, but you’re still far too green to harm me,”

A cheerful voice came from behind. Without needing to look, Lu Kuan knew the old man had somehow teleported to his rear.

Now utterly paralyzed, Lu Kuan’s system prompt in the lower right of his vision read: “You have been hit by an unknown target’s ‘Penetrating Force,’ losing ability to act. Duration: 30 seconds.”

Penetrating Force?

That was a monk’s skill! And that teleport—very much like the advanced monk class “Arhat’s Phantom Step.” But what level must the old man possess, to move so fast Lu Kuan couldn’t even see it?

Damn it, could he have stumbled on a legendary boss?

Lu Kuan never imagined that searching for a small treasure could land him in such dire straits.

While Lu Kuan was grumbling to himself, he heard a clattering behind him, followed by the old man’s surprised “Hmm?” Then he asked, “You’ve already opened the treasure?”

“Of course,” Lu Kuan replied irritably, but suddenly remembered something that made his mood brighten. “So, you can’t open it now, can you? Haha!”

Back at the troglodyte camp, Lu Kuan had hinted to Ellie that all treasures in the game were meant for adventurers; no matter how powerful an NPC, they could not claim them unless it was a scripted event.

Now, it seemed the old man was facing the same problem. He crouched beside Lu Kuan, adopting a gentle tone. “Adventurer, I only need the gemstone inside. The rest of the pearls are yours. What do you say?”

“Impossible.” Lu Kuan shook his head vigorously. It was a blue-tier item, after all—how could he give it up so easily?

The old man sighed, stood up, paced in place, then seemed to come to a decision. He helped Lu Kuan up and placed him before the shell.

“Pack up your things. I’ll take you somewhere,” the old man said calmly.

Lu Kuan wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip by; with a sweep of his hand, he stowed all the items in his bag and breathed a little easier. He eyed the old man warily, asking, “Where do you want to take me? And for what?”

“You’ll see when you get there,” the old man replied bluntly.

Lu Kuan tried to protest, but the next moment, the old man’s right hand flickered, and the system prompt for Penetrating Force appeared once more in his vision—he was knocked down again.

Then, from who knows where, the old man produced a bundle of rope, tying Lu Kuan’s hands and feet securely.

… Was there no such thing as human rights, no law here? Just because he was high-level, could he do whatever he pleased? Most crucially, Lu Kuan had absolutely no power to resist!

“You… Ah, damn it…” Lu Kuan started to complain, but the old man simply grabbed the rope binding his hands and hoisted Lu Kuan up with one hand.

“Hey! I can walk by myself!” Lu Kuan protested feebly.

“You’re too slow,”

The old man replied nonchalantly. “But you were pretty lucky getting through the passage earlier. I took a few wrong turns and almost lost you.”

Lu Kuan rolled his eyes. So, he’d been bluffing all along… Heaven must be blind—how did those traps in the branching passages not kill him?

The old man carried Lu Kuan effortlessly, plunging straight through the watery curtain at the entrance. In the darkness, Lu Kuan felt his body sink, then shoot forward rapidly, as if a giant fish were pulling them along at breakneck speed.

By then, the effect of Penetrating Force had faded, but the old man’s ropes were expertly tied; after several attempts, Lu Kuan couldn’t break free and had to give up.

Within half a minute, Lu Kuan’s vision brightened—they had left the stone cave. Looking up ahead, Lu Kuan was stunned.

Before them swam a giant fish, as long as two Lu Kuans put together. A rope was tied to the fish’s dorsal fin, the other end held by the old man, who was being pulled along with Lu Kuan through the water at incredible speed!

No wonder it was so fast…

Lu Kuan’s first thought was that this old man had skill points to spare—had he even learned the Druid’s “Animal Affinity” skill?

Granted, at a certain level, cross-class skills could be learned, but at triple the usual skill point cost; most people could never afford it.

Oblivious to Lu Kuan’s wild speculations, the old man guided the giant fish onward, soon reaching the lakeshore.

By now, Lu Kuan had calmed down, carefully replaying the entire incident in his mind. It seemed things were not as simple as he’d first thought.

To encounter an NPC in such a secret underwater treasure was nearly impossible. More likely, the old man’s appearance was a fixed event scripted for this treasure.