The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

No Bottle opened his mouth, and the entire chat zone immediately erupted into a chaotic mess.

A crowd rose up to attack him, hurling insults and disparaging remarks, though a few others joined him in the rebuttal.

The people from District 66 watched on, completely bewildered.

A similar situation had occurred in District 66 back at the very beginning, stirred up by Heart Without Darkness and Daoist Number 323.

But after Cave Master had slaughtered a batch of them, that trend of inciting trouble was immediately suppressed.

It had been a long time since the chat zone had been this noisy.

No Bottle: "@everyone, people of District 33, if it weren't for the Daoist, would you even be alive right now? Is there really not a single person left who dares to speak up for him?"

The Daoist he referred to was the former top-ranked player of District 33, who had met an untimely death three days ago.

The chat zone was arguing incessantly.

Meanwhile, quite a few people in District 66 received a private message from Zhu Jiusi.

"Use a Dao Discussion Card to reach Monkey immediately!"

Sword Seven, Scholar, White Beard... a total of five or six Path Seekers who had collaborated before all received the message from Zhu Jiusi at the same time.

White Beard: "Little Friend, I don't have any Dao Discussion Cards left!"

His luck was mediocre; he had never opened anything decent—he hadn't even managed to open a single piece of food.

Zhu Jiusi traded a Dao Discussion Card over to him.

He didn't have many cards left either, all of which had been given to him by Sword Seven; once these were used up today, he would have none left.

But now was not the time to be stingy.

Having survived the Journey Survival for three years, he had forgotten many things from the previous cycle, but the information from the very beginning remained deeply etched in his memory.

Last time, they had also merged with District 33. But the top-ranked player of District 33 had been a Daoist!

The kind of existence who was a genuine Daoist in the real world.

His Daoist name was extremely easy to remember: Ox Nose!

After the merger, that Daoist had even held the number one spot two or three times. Now, however, there was no such person in District 33.

The credibility of what No Bottle said was extremely high!

Moreover, Zhu Jiusi remembered one thing.

Before the merger last time, the number one of District 66 had been killed by Filial Respect to Mother.

The most powerful people during the merger were the original number two and number three.

After the merger, the people of District 33 had also been arguing like this, a complete mess.

Just as District 66 was watching the show, suddenly, the original number two and number three turned into black avatars one after another.

People like River Suppressing Marquis and Cloud Traveler from District 33 had used the arguments in the chat zone to distract everyone, and while District 66 was off guard, they had started killing directly.

The top few on the rankings were wiped out clean that very night!

District 66 had been caught completely off guard.

But no one knew about this; even Ox Nose hadn't known what was happening.

He had even tried his best to calm the conflicts between the two districts.

It wasn't until this group got together with Filial Respect to Mother and plotted to kill Ox Nose that the truth finally came to light.

Zhu Jiusi's original plan had been to use a Dao Discussion Card to reach Ox Nose immediately after the merger, and then join forces with him to reach others, letting Ox Nose see for himself the quality of his own district.

Zhu Jiusi had held that old Daoist in high regard. He had a kind heart but wasn't a pushover, and his character was solid.

He hadn't expected that this time, the old Daoist wouldn't even make it to the merger.

Dao Discussion Card bound, path joined.

The scenery in front of Zhu Jiusi changed, and he had arrived on the road of Monkey Has Iron Rod.

This guy's ranking was built entirely on wealth. He was the most likely target for those people from District 33.

As soon as he landed, he bumped into Sword Seven Doesn't Learn Sword; the female swordswoman's face was frosty, and she looked like she was about to kill someone.

Zhu Jiusi was startled. Looking past the swordswoman, he saw Monkey standing on the roof of his vehicle, stark naked and swinging his "bird" in the breeze.

He probably hadn't expected that someone would suddenly appear on his road for no reason.

And not just one person!

In the few breaths since Zhu Jiusi arrived, the scenery on both sides of the road changed one after another.

One Path Seeker after another appeared in all directions around his vehicle.

For a moment, he didn't even know where to hide.

In his panic, he did a backflip off the vehicle and scrambled into the cabin through the rear window.

A moment later, he walked out wearing a flashy outfit.

"Yo! Everyone's here! Have you eaten?"

He acted as if they had just met, as though nothing had happened moments ago.

Sword Seven glanced at him, her cold gaze carrying three parts disdain. Eventually, her stare made him feel uneasy.

Monkey Has Iron Rod gritted his teeth and pointed at Zhu Jiusi, acting like a rogue: "That's just a personal hobby of mine. Look at him, he never wears clothes and runs around swinging his five limbs all day. Why don't you talk about that..."

Zhu Jiusi: "?"

Zhu Jiusi shot him a look, and Monkey Has Iron Rod shuddered instantly, swallowing the rest of his words: "That... why aren't you big shots watching the show instead of coming over here? Look, the people from District 33 are about to start a fight."

Everyone looked toward Zhu Jiusi in unison; it was Zhu Jiusi who had notified them, though they didn't know why.

They saw Zhu Jiusi's eyes narrow slightly: "They're here. Scatter and hide!"

Not knowing what was happening, everyone dove into the mountain forest simultaneously.

Only Monkey Has Iron Rod was left on the mountain road, blinking in confusion.

Before Monkey could figure out the situation, the environment that had just stabilized changed once more as figures flickered all around.

Six people appeared in succession right beside him.

He didn't recognize these six people!

They had all hidden their names, but they were clearly two separate groups; upon appearing and seeing each other, they were visibly stunned.

"How did you get here?" both groups asked simultaneously.

One of the people asking suddenly attacked Monkey Has Iron Rod: "Never mind that, let's make this quick. Deal with him, then head to Sword Seven!"

A beam of light struck, sealing Monkey's mouth, while another person spoke: "Release all the supplies in your pack, and we'll spare your life. If you dare to livestream or call for help, we'll kill you immediately!"

Monkey blinked, his face full of bewilderment.

But behind that bewilderment, there was no fear, only a gaze that held three parts amusement as he watched the six people opposite him.

The six were instantly unsettled by his look.

One of them held a dagger and thrust it forward toward the base of Monkey's neck.

"One-third of the resources is enough to split!"

He thrust the dagger down suddenly, but his hand did not feel the sensation of cutting through flesh.

Instead, there was a crisp sound, and his entire arm went numb from the shock.

A graceful figure had appeared beside Monkey at some point, holding a thin sword that blocked the strike at the base of Monkey's neck.

Sword Seven's eyes were icy: "Kill him to come find me?"

Did these people think she was weak and could be slaughtered and looted at will?

The man's expression changed: "Attack!"

Actually, there was no need for him to shout; the moment Sword Seven appeared, the others had already charged out.

It wasn't that their two teams had mistaken their target by coming to Monkey Has Iron Rod; it was that these two were in cahoots and happened to be together!

That made it perfect to deal with them all at once!

The group's plan was beautiful, but things did not go as they wished; the two fastest had barely charged out.

A flash of blade light swept from the roadside grass, aiming straight for one man's neck. The man suddenly froze, hurriedly leaning backward, barely dodging the strike.

The blade, however, forcibly shifted its momentum, hacking into his shoulder blade and cleanly severing his arm at an angle.

With a scream, the man looked toward the roadside.

He saw a sharp, steady man suddenly appear. The man was neither fat nor thin, and just by standing there, his military bearing was unmistakable.

Before the first strike had even finished, the second blade was already descending.

The man's face changed drastically; ignoring the excruciating pain, he turned and ran.

(PS: There is one more chapter, please turn the page)