Thinking about all these possible outcomes, Ice Seal World’s face darkened even further. He absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen!
"Xiaoyao, there’s no need to defend the city anymore! You lead the interception team and, upon receiving the system’s coordinates, head towards a location roughly seven to eight minutes to the left of the coordinates; Qian Nian, you lead another team to intercept to the right of the coordinates." With one and a half hours left until the Level One Guild Warrant expired, Ice Seal World, under immense pressure, remained calm. He knew that blindly chasing the coordinates would only result in Piaoling’s escape.
"Brothers, I regret that such an unpleasant event occurred tonight. As your guild leader, this is my failure! Regardless of Piaoling’s reasons, she had no right to steal the hard-earned wealth of our three thousand brothers! Even as an inadequate guild leader, I absolutely cannot tolerate selfish actions! Nor will I let her succeed! I humbly request the assistance of my brothers to fully pursue Piaoling!" Ice Seal World said sorrowfully in the guild channel, knowing that Piaoling had great prestige among the guild members. Unless he rallied their support and dispersed the forces for encirclement, the chances of catching Piaoling within the limited time were slim.
Ice Seal World’s words were incredibly moving, finally swaying the majority of the uncertain guild members. This was just a game, and no one owed anyone else. If you dared to touch my cheese, I’d fight you to the bitter end!
Ice Seal World sensed the shift in the guild members’ emotions and quickly made arrangements. Apart from leading a small squad of dozens of the fastest members, the rest were scattered to surround her.
On the other side, Xiao Hua listened to Piaoling’s matter-of-fact yet emotionally charged account, moved by the woman’s dedication.
"Over a year ago, the girl met Ice Seal World online. At that time, the Ice Seal Guild was just a small guild. Ice Seal World knew that the girl came from a wealthy family and specifically invited her into the guild. With the girl’s help, the Ice Seal Guild rapidly expanded, and her relationship with Ice Seal World grew closer.
One day, after repeated requests from Ice Seal World, the girl agreed to video chat. After the video call, Ice Seal World found her less attractive than he had imagined. With the guild stable, he felt the girl was no longer useful and began distancing himself from her. How could the girl not notice? She tried to talk to Ice Seal World multiple times but was met with coldness. Eventually, she left heartbroken."
"Deceiving a young girl’s feelings, it seems this guy has a beastly heart hidden beneath a human façade. No wonder he could become the leader of a guild with thousands of members despite lacking funds." Xiao Hua nodded. A guild without sufficient financial backing would struggle to sustain itself, especially in a game like Second World, where establishing a dominant guild required significant investment.
"I hate those who deceive others’ feelings the most. If I knew who he was in reality, I’d ensure he wouldn’t be able to reproduce!" Piaoling said through gritted teeth, filled with hatred.
What a fierce woman! Indeed, appearances can be deceiving, especially in a game! Xiao Hua thought with a sense of awe. Just from one sentence, he had a good idea of Piaoling’s true character. It was remarkable that she had managed to suppress her temper and remain undercover in the Ice Seal Guild for a year.
"Poor thing, it’s been tough on you." Xiao Hua couldn’t help but gently pat Piaoling’s head, as if consoling a wronged child.
"Scram!" Piaoling seemed to despise being treated like a little girl.
"Hehe, don’t get worked up. We’re far from safety yet." Xiao Hua laughed it off.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"What do you mean?"
"I think you should also realize that if Ice Seal World isn’t too stupid and you aren’t extremely lucky, with thousands of people dispersing to surround you, it will be difficult for you to escape."
Piaoling fell silent, aware of the problem. If some of the Ice Seal Guild members stayed in the city and the rest chased her in groups, she could probably escape. However, once they dispersed, her range of escape would shrink, and even without a pursuer, her mount was slower than the fastest in the Ice Seal Guild. With bad luck, if someone spotted her, she would have little chance of escape. The archer and the assassin had managed to catch up to her solely because of their faster mounts!
More importantly, her puppet card-resurrected mount had a time limit! If she was still within the encirclement when the time ran out, she wouldn’t be able to escape.
(Puppet Card: Using this card turns a non-boss, non-elite creature that has died into a mobile puppet, doubling its HP. The effect lasts for three hours. If used on a mount, the mount’s loyalty decreases by 10 points.)
Piaoling had kept the Puppet Card as a backup, but she hadn’t expected her mount to die so early, forcing her to use the card prematurely. After the Puppet Card’s effect wore off, she would need to hide for another hour, which would be extremely challenging. Piaoling felt that, once again, human plans could not match fate. If Xiaoyao had logged in ten minutes later or not at all, her plan would have been flawless.
But what hadn’t happened did occur, and dwelling on it would be fruitless. Finding a way to escape and not letting a year’s worth of effort go to waste was the priority.
"Do you have a solution?" Sensing that Xiao Hua wouldn’t just speak without a plan, and hearing his tone suggesting a solution, Piaoling couldn’t help but ask.
"Of course! I can ensure that the items you stole won’t be taken back by Ice Seal World!" Xiao Hua said confidently.
...
"Guild Leader, I spotted Piaoling! She’s alone, without a mount!" With only one hour left, the encirclement was tightening, and Ice Seal World was growing increasingly anxious. At that moment, a member reported a piece of news that lifted his spirits immensely!
"Follow her, don’t lose sight of her, but don’t get too close either, be careful not to be killed by her! Report the coordinates, I’ll bring people over immediately! Everyone else, maintain the encirclement formation and speed up!" Ice Seal World instructed loudly, then swiftly led dozens of people toward the location reported.
Her mount is dead? Hehe, even the heavens are helping him! Ice Seal World sneered inwardly. This time, he wouldn’t let Piaoling escape!
As the encirclement shrank and her mount was unusable, Piaoling was eventually spotted.
"She entered Riven Spine Ridge."
Upon hearing the report from his subordinate, Ice Seal World was overjoyed. Riven Spine Ridge was essentially an impassable ravine. Apart from the entrance, the other sides were cliffs riddled with jagged ridges, offering no means of escape! He had feared pushing Piaoling into a high-level monster spawn area, where high-level monsters posed a threat not just to her but also to his large force. Engaging in combat with monsters would likely give Piaoling an opportunity to escape, although the more likely outcome was her death at the hands of the monsters. However, if she had a bit of luck, she might escape from the high-level monster zone.
Twenty minutes later, in Riven Spine Ridge.
Inside Riven Spine Ridge was a rocky terrain, large enough to accommodate three or four football fields. Due to the surrounding cliffs, few snowflakes reached the ground, revealing a blackish-red rock surface. Piaoling stood alone on one side of the area, appearing solitary and defiant amidst the occasional white snowflakes. On the other side, Ice Seal World stood with two or three hundred people, three meters away.
Ice Seal World was in no hurry; with over thirty minutes left, Piaoling couldn’t escape from the watchful eyes of these three hundred people without a mount.
"Piaoling, do you have anything to say?" Ice Seal World spoke sorrowfully, seemingly giving Piaoling a chance to explain. He needed to consolidate his position within the guild at this moment.
"There’s nothing to say. I lost. Whatever you’ve done, I know. I don’t need to explain myself to others. Xiao Bo, come out. You killed me earlier, now you can kill me again as compensation." Xiao Bo, who had been killed by Demon’s Curse, was among the crowd. Piaoling removed her equipment and addressed the archer.
The archer looked at Ice Seal World, who nodded.
The archer raised his bow and shot ten arrows in quick succession. The arrows hit Piaoling, who was without her equipment, causing ten damage numbers to appear, and she turned into a beam of white light.
A golden treasure chest appeared and dropped to the ground upon Piaoling’s death. Ice Seal World smirked inwardly but displayed a sorrowful expression, slowly walking towards the chest to pick it up.
However, before Ice Seal World could take two steps, the chest vanished into thin air!