Pursuit

Tap! Tap!

Almost the instant the two separated, Ruixiuli and Jielusi landed heavily beside Bowers like meteorites, their footsteps leaving tiny cracks in the solid ground.

At the same time, the air currents surged, and Su Ming and Zijin's figures gracefully floated into the air.

"Ruixiuli, Jielusi, Bowers!" Zijin's gaze swept quickly in the direction the two figures had disappeared, and she commanded rapidly, "The three of you, go after that goblin apprentice immediately! Capture him alive!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the three of them Ruixiuli in unison, their figures vanishing instantly. Following the faint scent and traces left by the young goblin thief, they swiftly pursued him in a flanking maneuver.

While the goblin thief was indeed unpredictable and slippery, the three members of the Ruixiuli were no pushovers either. With the three of them working together to capture him, it would be virtually impossible for him to escape!

"What about us?" Su Ming withdrew his gaze from the direction they had disappeared and turned to Zijin to ask.

"Let's go after Saxon!" Zijin took a deep breath, her gaze fixed on the dark alleyway where the sorcerer had disappeared, her tone calm. "Let's do our best and leave the rest to Destiny!"

Su Ming immediately understood Zijin's tactical intentions. As a master of trickery who had stepped into the threshold of the Saint Rank, it was reasonable that Saxon could not defeat them when they joined forces, but capturing this old hand who was proficient in illusion, escape and disguise was almost an impossible task.

Their role at this moment is to actively pursue and apply pressure, distracting the sorcerer Saxon and buying time for Ruixiuli to successfully capture the goblin apprentice!

****

In the instant the conflict suddenly broke out at the port, Bowers, Ruixiuli, and Jielusi, with their extraordinary perception, had already roughly located the Magic Power fluctuations on the goblin apprentice.

Although it was impossible to pinpoint the location of this slippery target, its general direction and area of escape were as clear as ripples in water.

The three of them instantly and in perfect unison, like three large nets spread out, cutting into the intricate streets and alleys from different angles, trailing behind the goblin.

This young goblin was named Bulukka.

In fact, he was not young. Bulukka had been training with the sorcerer Saxon for a full forty years. It was just that he had a baby face, and humans were not good at recognizing the age characteristics of goblins, which gave them the false impression that he was "young".

Seeing that he was being relentlessly pursued, Bulukka immediately began a dazzling performance. He moved swiftly, frequently using disguises, sometimes hiding in the shadows, sometimes disguising himself as an ordinary goblin laborer passing by, doing his best to confuse his pursuers and slip away from this invisible encirclement.

This bizarre tactic indeed caused considerable trouble for Ruixiuli and his companions. This place was the Green Thorn Port district, and as far as the eye could see, there were only dark green goblin figures.

For humans, it's already difficult to distinguish between goblins, let alone identify a specific target from this crowd of "green-skinned" people.

However, each time Bulukka changed his identity and blended into the crowd, it took time and Magic Power for him to do so, and his actual escape speed was far slower than he had hoped. If there was only one person chasing him at this moment, he might have already successfully escaped.

Unfortunately for him, he was now surrounded by three experienced and powerful individuals!

The chase quickly turned into a test of endurance. Bulukka couldn't completely shake off his pursuers, while Ruixiuli and the others could only pinpoint his movements within a general area, unable to immediately close in and capture him.

The two sides maneuvered through the crowded streets, and Bulukka gradually, intentionally or unintentionally, led the chase towards the darker side of Green Thorn Port —the Lower Town.

In stark contrast to the relatively clean and orderly scene in the upper district, this is a shantytown built of garbage, filth, and despair. Twisted, rusty, and huge pipes, like the intestines of a monster, connect dilapidated houses built of scrap iron and rotten wood, seemingly on the verge of collapse.

Beneath our feet lies foul-smelling, greasy, and slick sewage, flowing wantonly and converging into filthy streams.

But the three remained inseparable, and even began to grow closer.

Bulukka's heart sank, and anxiety tightened around him like vines. If this continued, he would eventually be forced out of the city. Once he entered open terrain and lost the cover of the complex terrain, he would have nowhere to hide!

The three men hot on his heels were clearly not merciful. He began to resent his teacher, Saxon —why did he have to provoke these tough guys?

Why not just steal from easy targets and quietly make a fortune?!

But since things had come to this, Bulukka gritted his teeth and decided to take them to a nearby hideout.

He meandered through the alleys, the route becoming deeper and more secluded. The number of goblin figures he could see ahead dwindled until only empty, dilapidated alleyways remained.

Finally, Bulukka stopped at the end of a dead end filled with the wreckage of huge, dilapidated alchemical machines.

He forcefully lifted a heavy metal cover that looked rusted solid and almost blended into the surrounding corroded pipes, revealing an extremely low, narrow, sloping passageway entrance that could only accommodate one person at a time. Even a short goblin had to hunch over deeply to squeeze in.

Bulukka turned around, his back against the dark entrance of the passage, facing the three figures that were following him like shadows, rushing towards him swiftly. The tension and fear on his face during his escape vanished instantly, replaced by a playful expression that was a mixture of smugness and provocation.

He's absolutely safe here!

"If you're so capable, then try and catch me in!" he silently shouted to the sky in his heart.

Above, a cold glint flashed in Ruixiuli's eyes, and without any warning, his arm suddenly swung out! The long, narrow bone blade, formed from stark White Bone, shot out like a poisoned arrow, accompanied by a piercing sound, aiming straight for Bulukka's face!

Bulukka was prepared and reacted quickly, taking several steps back and instantly shrinking into the low, dark passage.

The bone blade followed closely, about to pierce the cave entrance!

Buzz--!

A powerful energy surged from the cave entrance, and a semi-transparent shield of light, shrouded in complex runes, instantly appeared, colliding violently with the incoming bone blade! The goblins' defensive installations at their hideout had been activated!

Boom!

Blinding light and violent energy fluctuations clashed and clashed fiercely at the cave entrance, producing a teeth-grinding cutting sound!