Fifteen minutes passed, and after chasing and hacking, Leiter's HP had dropped to just over 6,000, but the exit of the sewer still seemed far away. During this period, Xiao Hua repeatedly tried to tempt Leiter, using the Steal skill three times, but to no avail.
"Guardian Leiter, just one item, give me one item, and maybe I'll be moved enough to let you live. Don't you want to try?"
Leiter cast a spell that forced Xiao Hua back a step and continued running forward. Watching his HP dwindle, Leiter gritted his teeth and rummaged through his pocket again.
"That's more like it, Guardian Leiter. This time, I won't disappoint you!" Xiao Hua secretly rejoiced, thinking that the old man was finally wavering. After all, in the face of death, material possessions were secondary. Leiter, as a cunning old fox, surely understood this principle!
Leiter pulled out an item from his pocket but did not hand it to Xiao Hua. Instead, he threw it forcefully behind him! He had figured out that handing anything directly to this despicable young man would mean losing it forever!
This old man isn't stupid, knowing how to buy time! However, heh, you have your tactics, and I have my countermeasures!
The illusion would be instantly killed, so Xiao Hua hadn't used it. Now was the perfect time to use it to pick up the item!
Xiao Hua chuckled inwardly, intending to summon the illusion, but changed his mind and decided to follow Leiter's lead, leaving Leiter behind and personally running to retrieve the item.
Despite looking frail, Leiter had quite a bit of strength and threw the item over thirty meters away. Xiao Hua knew that going back and forth would give Leiter plenty of time to recover HP. However, since Leiter had finally started to throw items to buy time, using the illusion right away might cause him to stop throwing items altogether. Xiao Hua thought it best to give him a little hope. Besides, there was still a long way to go in the sewer, and letting Leiter regain some HP meant more time to torment him.
Seeing Xiao Hua leave to retrieve the item, Leiter was overjoyed and ran even faster. By the time Xiao Hua reached over thirty meters away, Leiter had successfully put nearly sixty meters between them!
System Prompt: You obtained the "Cedar Staff"!
Cedar Staff (Purple Gear): Physical Attack 120-155, Magic Attack 243-277, Level 35 required to equip.
Agility +10
Intelligence +22
Spirit +20
Damn! A piece of junk Purple Gear! Why did you carry such trash?
Xiao Hua saw the ancient magic staff in his inventory and shouted in frustration. In the game, among the same tier of equipment, there were superior and inferior items, and Purple Gear was often the easiest to identify. Superior Purple Gear would have special text descriptions and additional skills or effects, whereas inferior Purple Gear lacked these features, essentially equivalent to a superlative Blue Gear.
Indeed, this Cedar Staff was the least valuable item Leiter had. However, Leiter had used it since his adventuring days and continued to use it as the City Guardian to cast Mirage, showing players a miniature version of Snowfall City. After using it for so many years, he had developed sentimental attachment to it and wouldn't have discarded it unless forced by Xiao Hua.
After picking up the item, Xiao Hua took nearly two minutes to catch up to Leiter, spending a total of about three minutes going back and forth. Just as he was about to catch up, he used Appraisal and saw that Leiter's HP had recovered to over 9,000!
Damn! Such fast regeneration!
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
He needed to start hacking at this old man immediately. Without the continuous damage from poison, Leiter would soon be fully healed.
At this moment, Leiter pulled out another item and threw it even farther behind him, several meters further than before!
In the darkness, Xiao Hua saw a shimmering white light flash overhead. A gem?
Illusion!
Xiao Hua's eyes lit up, and he summoned the illusion without hesitation.
As soon as Leiter threw the item, he saw Xiao Hua split into two. One ran back towards the item, while the other came at him with a dagger.
"Dark Fireball!" Leiter, no fool himself, aimed to eliminate the one behind, knowing that the greedy follower would turn back to retrieve the item.
Xiao Hua was prepared. Seeing Leiter raise his staff, he smiled and shifted slightly, blocking the path of the Dark Fireball, which exploded on impact.
"You deceitful bastard! Scoundrel! Despicable and shameless wretch! You said you'd let me go if I gave you something, but you're still lying!"
"Ah, Guardian Leiter, how can you say that? I remember saying that if you gave me something, I'd let you go. The issue is that you simply discarded an item you didn't want, and I picked up an unowned item. How can that be considered a breach of faith? How about this, Mr. Leiter, give me something, and I'll prove to you that I'm not a liar!"
"Go to hell, you despicable wretch! I'd rather die than fall for your tricks again!"
Hmm, looks like he's reached his limit. In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless!
Shadow Assault!
Leiter's speed slowed, and Xiao Hua charged forward, stabbing his back repeatedly. Poison, injury, blindness, steal... he used all available skills on Leiter.
System Prompt: You obtained the "Alpha Gem"!
Over twenty seconds later, the illusion retrieved the item Leiter had thrown. Indeed, it was a gem. Xiao Hua glanced at his inventory and saw a shining white diamond-shaped gem.
Alpha Gem: A gemstone of unknown purpose, appears valuable.
Of unknown purpose, Xiao Hua had never heard of such a gem, but this didn't affect its value. Its color and luster indicated that it was no ordinary gemstone!
The illusion finished picking up the item, and Xiao Hua recalled it. The illusion couldn't fight Leiter but had another important use. In the heat of the chase, Xiao Hua had momentarily forgotten this tactic, otherwise, Leiter would have resorted to throwing items much sooner.
Soon, after cutting Leiter's HP by nearly a thousand, the illusion caught up.
Shadow Assault!
Leiter's speed slowed, and Xiao Hua ordered the illusion to pass by Leiter, while he slowed his pace.
Self-Destruct!
An order to self-destruct was issued, and the illusion executed it, taking away 500 of Leiter's HP!
Xiao Hua chuckled and charged forward again. Leiter, losing nearly 500 HP, was shocked. Just as the slowdown effect ended, Xiao Hua pounced from behind, plunging Leiter back into the agony of continuous poison damage.
Time ticked by, and although Leiter knew he was getting closer to the sewer exit, he began to feel despair, realizing he couldn't escape this despicable pursuer. His HP was almost depleted, and the exit was still at least twenty minutes away! Suddenly, Leiter felt a sense of lightness and realized that a gem in his pocket had vanished!
System Prompt: You obtained the "Alpha Gem"!
Another Alpha Gem! Xiao Hua wasn't fussy and continued chasing Leiter contentedly. This was his seventh attempt to steal from Leiter, finally succeeding.
"You despicable thief!" Even facing imminent death, Leiter was enraged by Xiao Hua's theft.
"Guardian Leiter, compared to the residents you've killed, what am I but a small thief?" Xiao Hua retorted dismissively.
Leiter's aged face turned pale, and he fell silent, using his last bit of strength to keep running. If he could reach the sewer exit, he could turn the tables!
Under Xiao Hua's relentless pursuit, Leiter's HP kept dropping and soon fell to just 150. Xiao Hua controlled his output, preparing to slowly steal from Leiter. With 150 HP, one explosion from the illusion would be enough to finish off Leiter, ensuring he wouldn't escape.
Feeling his life draining away, Leiter's face turned ashen, growing older by the second. Despite running for a while longer, the pursuer behind him didn't kill him, which puzzled Leiter but gave him a slight glimmer of hope. As long as there was a chance, he wouldn't give up; otherwise, he would have died countless times during his adventuring days!
Steal!
System Prompt: You obtained the "Unhatched Egg"!
Unhatched Egg: An egg of unknown origin, its contents remain a mystery until hatched. However, this black egg emits a strong aura of misfortune!
Feeling lighter, Leiter finally understood why Xiao Hua hadn't killed him. This despicable thief wanted to strip him bare!
With this realization, Leiter suddenly stopped and glared at Xiao Hua with hatred!
With such low HP, the success rate of Steal had indeed increased significantly. Xiao Hua was elated by the continuous successful steals. Looking at the black egg in his inventory, he was speculating about its purpose when he suddenly noticed Leiter had stopped!