Traps and Snares (4200)

Traps and Snares (4200)

Luo Jun's four-person team moved through the jungle of the Lower District.

Cheng Yan took the lead. Not only could he sense vibrations in the ground to scout for enemies, but his tall frame also gave him great strength, making him the best suited to handle sudden emergencies.

Su KeKe followed behind him. The girl was somewhat weaker in combat, but with her sense of smell and Cheng Yan up front, she could detect nearby activity at the first opportunity.

As for Luo Jun and Chen Ran, they protected Su KeKe from the left and right rear flanks.

Chen Ran was confident in his explosive power and preferred close-quarters fighting by nature. As for Luo Jun, everyone considered him the most agile, so the two of them were well suited to bring up the rear.

Luo Jun was happy to let them misunderstand. Since he could not reveal his cultivation technique, he had planned to reduce head-on fights anyway. Using Lightness Skill to rely on agility and maneuver around opponents was a fine cover.

"Hmm?"

As they neared the Middle District, Cheng Yan suddenly frowned and signaled for the others to hide. He crouched down and sensed the ground. "Fifty to a hundred meters ahead, there are people moving... Their footsteps are rather chaotic. There should be no fewer than three of them."

Su KeKe raised her nose and sniffed. "There really are people, and I haven't smelled them before. The scents are mixed up. They probably aren't examinees."

"A group of three or more prisoners?" Chen Ran looked ahead. "Isn't that roughly the boundary between the Middle District and Lower District? Could they be prisoners from the Middle District?"

"I'll take a look!" Luo Jun leaped onto a nearby tree. Nimble as a monkey, he climbed to the top in a few quick movements and looked down from above.

About seventy or eighty meters ahead, three prisoners wearing collars were sneaking about. They were close to the boundary, but still within the Lower District.

Luo Jun made a hand gesture toward those below to indicate he had spotted prey, then held up three fingers and gestured that they were from the Lower District.

"Three Lower District prisoners..." Chen Ran was excited. "Perfect. We have the numerical advantage. Let's go take them out!"

"Wait, look at Luo Jun!" Su KeKe pointed up at the tree. Chen Ran looked up and saw Luo Jun waving for them not to act rashly.

Something's wrong.

Luo Jun watched the three prisoners in the distance and felt that their movements were strange.

Normally, examinees searched for prisoners, and prisoners should also be searching for examinees. In a complex jungle, everyone ought to move cautiously and avoid lingering in the same place for too long.

But these three prisoners were different. They were moving back and forth within a range of roughly ten meters. It looked as though they were circling in place.

If they were tired, they should have rested where they were. If they were searching for examinees, they should merely have been passing through and left soon afterward. What did it mean to neither rest nor leave, but keep wandering around in circles?

After thinking it over, Luo Jun could come up with only one possibility.

They were deliberately making just enough noise to lure prey in!

It was a trap!

With that thought, Luo Jun signaled for those below to wait for him, then opened his Hundred Treasure Box and took out a fleshy tentacle.

Ogre's Tongue. It was a reward he had obtained during his Last Time mission.

The collars sealed the prisoners' Hundred Treasure Boxes, but the examination grounds imposed no such restriction on examinees. In other words, using Treasure Tools was permitted.

After all, for Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Realm and above, Treasure Tools were also part of their strength. Moreover, the more advanced the Treasure Tool, the more Vital Energy it consumed to use. Depending on its function, it often came with certain side effects as well. If one's own strength was not sufficient, one could not wield high-level Treasure Tools. Therefore, the school did not worry that some examinees would pass the test by relying on advanced Treasure Tools gifted by their elders.

But the school probably had not expected someone with a White Wristband to obtain a Hundred Treasure Box ahead of time.

"What's he doing?" Su KeKe asked curiously. "It looks like he took something out. Could it be a Treasure Tool?"

"Impossible!" Chen Ran waved his hand. "People in the Body Refinement Realm don't have Hundred Treasure Boxes. Besides, even if he really brought a Treasure Tool in, using one at our current level would be far too much of a burden."

It was like handing a large-caliber pistol to a six-year-old. Even if the child could pull the trigger, he would not be able to withstand the recoil.

But before he finished speaking, Luo Jun on the tree flicked his hand toward the front. A tentacle shot out and struck a large tree more than twenty meters away. Luo Jun leaped from the treetop and, carried by the retracting force of the tentacle, swung through the air with a whoosh and landed on that tree.

"It really is a Treasure Tool!" The three below were stunned.

Landing precisely on the tree, Luo Jun pulled the Bone Spur from the trunk.

To be honest, he could have crossed twenty-plus meters on his own. But first, the force would have been difficult to control, and accuracy could not be guaranteed. Second, the branch he landed on might not have been able to bear such force. Using this tongue allowed him to position himself accurately and make less noise. It was more convenient than jumping over himself.

As for being discovered possessing a Treasure Tool, he was not worried. The matter of being pulled into a Chaos Mission had been officially recorded, and Sha Sha had even turned it into a post that made the headlines. Quite a few people in their circle knew about it. He had not hidden the fact that he had obtained a Hundred Treasure Box either, so taking out any Treasure Tool now was perfectly reasonable.

Now closer to the three men, Luo Jun observed them carefully and finally noticed something.

Above the spot where the three prisoners were circling, something seemed to be hidden amid the dense canopy. From this angle, he could not see it clearly.

Luo Jun compared the positions, picked out another tree, and raised his hand.

When Ogre's Tongue was used, its fleshy base covered Luo Jun's hand, making it look as though they had grown together. As long as he infused it with Vital Energy, it could shoot out. Its force increased with the amount of energy infused. One shot consumed a maximum of ten breaths and a minimum of two.

Luo Jun infused it with Five Breaths Vital Energy. The tongue shot out and struck another tree fifteen meters away, the Bone Spur sinking completely into the trunk.

Its power was already not far from the Cannibal Ogre's attack back then.

After confirming that it was secure, Luo Jun swung over again. This time, he not only closed the distance but changed his angle as well. At last, he saw clearly that what was hidden in the canopy was a Giant Stone suspended in midair!

The Giant Stone was roughly egg-shaped, though its narrow end had distinct angular edges. It was over a meter wide and about a person's height tall. Several vines were tied around it and connected to nearby trees, suspending it between the canopies with its pointed end facing down. By rough estimate, it weighed at least two or three tons!

How had they gotten such a huge rock up there?

A second-layer Body Refinement Realm Cultivator, even with the aid of Vital Energy, was only four or five times stronger than an ordinary person. Three of them would have the strength of a dozen or so people. Even pushing a two-ton boulder would be difficult, let alone hoisting it so high.

There had to be accomplices!

With that in mind, Luo Jun used Ogre's Tongue to return to the tree above Chen Ran and the others, then Crawled Down nimbly.

"Damn, what was that thing you just used? Where did you hide it?" Chen Ran was very curious about Luo Jun's Treasure Tool.

"Never mind that for now. Those three are bait, trying to lure us in." Luo Jun explained what he had just discovered.

"Also, those three have never gone directly beneath the Giant Stone. I looked carefully. That area is covered in weeds and fallen leaves. There's probably a pit underneath. Once someone falls in, they'll drop the rock!"

"From the looks of it, they have at least six people," Chen Ran analyzed. "Three act as bait outside, while several more lie in ambush. If few people come, they all come out and surround them. If many people come, or if there's an expert, they use the trap. At the very least, they can cripple one person..."

"That's way too vicious!" Su KeKe grimaced. "Fall into a pit, then get crushed by such a huge rock... They'd be smashed into meat paste..."

"This trap probably wasn't meant for us," Luo Jun analyzed. "That place is at the boundary between the Middle and Lower Districts. It could very well attract Green Wristband examinees or even stronger ones. Examinees can only submit one Score Plate. I don't know whether prisoners have a limit, but if they Wiped Out high-level examinees, they should get a larger sentence reduction."

"They're very well prepared," Cheng Yan said with a frown. "What do we do?"

"Looks like we can only give up," Chen Ran Shook his head. "Even without considering the trap, we don't have the advantage in numbers."

"I think we can give it a try!" Luo Jun offered a different opinion.

The three all looked at him. Luo Jun gave a wicked grin and glanced at Chen Ran's T-shirt. Around the hem of the white shirt was a ring of purple striped decoration.

"I'm telling you, we've been circling around here for ages and haven't even seen a single person..." The tallest of the three prisoners beneath the Giant Stone began complaining.

"Maybe there are too many of us, so no one dares to come over?" The bald prisoner beside him scratched his head. "I say we leave just one person here."

"Didn't the boss say no?" The third man, who had a small mustache, said, "We went through so much trouble to set up this trap. How could catching a few small fry be enough? If we're fishing, we fish for something big! Best case, we get a Green or even Blue Wristband. That could cut several more years off our sentences!"

"No rush. The exam has only just started. If nothing else works, we still have Plan B." As he spoke, the mustached man looked at the sun. "It's been more than half a day. Shouldn't it be time to switch shifts?"

Before he had even finished speaking, a tentacle suddenly shot from the woods and struck the mustached man's shoulder with lightning speed!

The tentacle was fast and fierce, with a barbed Bone Spur at its tip. It instantly pierced through the mustached man's body. Before he could cry out in pain, it suddenly retracted and dragged him into the woods!

"What was that?" The other two jumped in fright. Before they could even react, one of them had vanished!

Before they could assume fighting stances, another tentacle shot toward them.

This time, they were prepared and immediately dodged. The tentacle passed between them. But then it suddenly whipped to one side, striking the tall man squarely and wrapping around him in the process. It yanked hard, dragging him deeper into the jungle.

"Help me!" The tall man cried out loudly. The bald man wanted to go after him, but he was afraid of the tentacle's power.

At that moment, four people sprang from the brush on the other side and chased after the tall man. But the tentacle was too fast, and it still dragged him into the woods.

Then came a muffled thud, and his cries for help Abruptly Stopped.

The five men stood in the clearing, staring at one another, yet none dared approach.

Who knew how many people were hidden in the jungle? And that tentacle was far too bizarre. Could it be a Treasure Tool?

As they hesitated, the tentacle shot out again!

This time, everyone was on guard. Whether it stabbed or swept, it failed to catch anyone.

"Who the hell are you? Hiding and attacking people with a Dark Arrow?" The leader of the five was a Scarface man, who shouted at the bushes.

"Heh heh heh heh... Attacking people with a Dark Arrow? A bunch of criminals, and you have the nerve to accuse others?" A soft laugh came from the woods. Then, a Young Man who Looks Like he was not yet twenty Walked over. His right hand was fused with a bizarre tentacle.

"Did you do this?" The prisoners were fully on guard. The Scarface man put on a fierce front despite his fear. "Who exactly are you? Is that tentacle a Treasure Tool? How can someone in the Body Refinement Realm have a Treasure Tool?"

Luo Jun chuckled. "Who said I'm in the Body Refinement Realm?" As he spoke, he brushed back his hair and casually revealed a flash of purple on his left wrist.

"A Purple Wristband?" The prisoners were shocked. "This is the Lower District. How could a Purple Wristband appear here?"

"I'm not a prisoner." Luo Jun chuckled. "What place on this mountain can't I go?"

"Brother, there must be some misunderstanding..." The Scarface man swallowed and displayed his Score Plate. "We're all worth one point. Taking ours won't do you any good..."

When low-level examinees entered higher-level areas, their wristbands gave warnings. But when high-level examinees entered lower-level areas, there was no warning. The prisoners had taken advantage of this, hiding their Score Plates to lure in big fish. But they had overplayed their hand. Instead of catching a big fish, they had attracted a crocodile...

"Who said I'm after Score Plates?" The smile on Luo Jun's face gradually turned twisted. "I already have my four-point plate. For the rest of the time, I just want to enjoy the thrill of hunting!"

As he spoke, he swung the tentacle, lightly whipping the ground as he slowly approached the four men.

A Purple Wristband meant at least the third layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Against several second-layer Body Refinement Realm prisoners, it was crushing power. Yet as he approached them, the prisoners secretly exchanged glances.

Keep walking. Just a few more steps, and he'll reach the trap!

The Scarface man was still gesturing behind his back. They had not all come out; one teammate had remained behind to watch the mechanism, ready to release the Giant Stone at any time.

Five, four, three, two...

Just as Luo Jun was one step from the trap, he suddenly stopped.

He Turned head toward the Middle District and muttered to himself, "There's movement over there. Seems like more interesting prey."

"Forget it. You little fish and shrimp can wait. I'll come back and deal with you later." With that, Luo Jun calmly turned and left.

"Whew..." The four prisoners all Breathed a sigh of relief. Though they were confident they could use the Giant Stone mechanism to kill this Foundation Establishment Realm expert, if he somehow dodged it, the few of them would definitely not be enough for this lunatic to slaughter!

It was best if they could leave each other alone.

The Scarface man turned and ordered, "Let's get out of here quickly. It'll be trouble if that lunatic comes back! Go call Third Brother!"

They hurried to find the teammate watching the mechanism, but when they entered the woods, they found someone lying beside it.

Their ambushing teammate had been knocked unconscious at some point, and his Score Plate had been taken!

The Scarface man's eyes darted, then he slapped his thigh. "Damn it, we've been fooled!"

"That brat isn't a Purple Wristband at all. He was after the Score Plate! He was just bluffing to draw our attention while his teammates circled around to launch a sneak attack!"

"What do we do?" The men looked at one another.

"Isn't it obvious? We chase them!" The Scarface man gritted his teeth. "If they don't dare face us head-on, it means they aren't our match. As long as we watch out for that tentacle, we can take them all out!"

With that, he led the others out of the woods. After only two steps, they saw a muscular middle-aged man with a face full of stubble walking toward them.

"Gentlemen, I'd like to ask something." Stubble Face took out a photograph. "Have you seen this kid?"

Thanks to reader 20200513

End of Chapter