87: Fight with wisdom and avoid the sharp edge

Before the rumors could subside, new trials came one after another.

On this day, the New Recruit Camp announced a new round of team collaboration trials.

When the list was announced, Li Dong—no, now “Mu Feng”—was assigned to a squad led by Captain Wang Zhen of the Metropolitan Governor's personal guard camp.

Wang Zhen was He Tianzheng's confidant; Li Dong had seen his name on the System's character relationship chart.

There were also a few familiar faces in the team, precisely those who had been pointing at him and actively spreading rumors in the cafeteria and in the shadows a few days prior.

“Hey, isn’t this Brother Mu Feng? Being on our team, your luck is pretty good!” A candidate named Zhao Kai greeted him with a fake smile, his eyes, however, held ill intentions.

Li Dong still maintained his honest and simple appearance, scratching his head: “Yes, it’s my good fortune to be on a team with you, Big Brothers. Please take good care of me.”

“No problem, no problem!” Wang Zhen spoke indifferently, his gaze lingering on Li Dong for a moment, “For this mission, we are to go to the abandoned Green Jade Mine Cave in the Western Hills of Jingjiao to investigate any anomalies and recover any useful materials that might have been left behind. The situation inside the cave is unknown, so be careful.”

The team set off for the Western Hills. The closer they got to the abandoned mine cave, the more Li Dong felt a faint, sweet, cloying scent permeating the air.

“System notification: High concentration of ‘demon-attracting incense’ residue detected. Multiple Yao Beasts are affected and on the verge of berserking. The internal structure of the mine cave is complex, with unstable rock layers in many places, and traces of artificial modification exist, making it extremely prone to ambushes. Danger Rank: High.”

Li Dong understood in his heart: “It’s this kind of underhanded trick again. It seems there’s a good show waiting for me in this mine cave.”

Upon arriving at the mine cave entrance, a cold, damp aura assailed them. Wang Zhen waved his hand: “Two people per group, investigate separately, and stay vigilant. Mu Feng, you, Zhao Kai, and Sun Ming are a group, responsible for the left passage.”

Zhao Kai and Sun Ming exchanged glances, a subtle smile appearing at the corners of their mouths.

“Alright, Captain!” Zhao Kai responded readily, enthusiastically calling out to Li Dong, “Brother Mu Feng, over here, over here! I once heard my great-uncle say that in old mine caves like this, the nooks and crannies are the easiest places to hide good stuff!”

Sun Ming also chimed in: “That’s right, maybe we can find a top-grade green jade that wasn’t fully mined, then we’d be rich!”

“Re-really?” Mu Feng’s eyes lit up, a hint of greedy foolishness on his face, “Then, then we really have to search carefully!”

He “didn’t suspect a thing,” following the two into a narrow, deep passage on the left. The light in the passage was dim, with only a few luminous stones for illumination emitting a faint glow.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Zhao Kai suddenly pointed to a half-collapsed rock crevice ahead, barely wide enough for one person to pass: “Brother Mu Feng, look! There seems to be light inside! Is it some kind of treasure?”

Sun Ming also leaned over, lowering his voice: “I feel it, Spiritual Qi fluctuations! It must be something good!”

Mu Feng peered in, a curious yet somewhat fearful expression on his face: “Then, then shall we go in and see?”

“Of course! Fortune favors the bold!” Zhao Kai said, squeezing in first, with Sun Ming following close behind.

Li Dong sneered inwardly; his Spirituality perception had long since surveyed the surrounding environment clearly. Behind this crevice was a larger cavern, but the rock layer above was riddled with cracks, and several huge, precarious rocks were teetering, clearly having been tampered with.

He pretended to struggle to squeeze through the crevice, and as soon as he poked his head out, Zhao Kai let out an “ouch,” his foot slipped, and his body “accidentally” bumped into Li Dong.

“Brother Mu Feng, watch out!”

At the same time, Sun Ming on the other side suddenly kicked a loose supporting stone pillar nearby.

“Boom—!”

The huge rocks above fell in response, and the entire cramped space was instantly enveloped by falling rocks and dust.

“Oh no!” Mu Feng exclaimed. In that split second, instead of frantically rushing forward like an ordinary person, he tilted his body backward at a strange angle, while pushing off with his feet, seemingly clumsily retreating backward.

The Black Scale Armor had already silently covered his entire body; a few The rubble fell on him, not painful or itchy.

And in his “flustered” retreat, his arm “accidentally” swung violently, hitting Zhao Kai squarely in the kidney area, just as Zhao Kai was trying to retreat in the chaos.

“Ah!” Zhao Kai only felt a great force in his waist, stumbling forward a few steps against his will, right into two red-eyed, drooling demon wolves that rushed out from the dust behind the collapse.

“Brother Zhang, hurry and dodge!” Mu Feng’s voice was tearful, as if he was scared witless, using both hands and feet to scramble out of the crevice that was about to be completely sealed.

The two demon wolves, thoroughly enraged by the demon-attracting incense and the collapse, roared and pounced on Zhao Kai as soon as they saw him.

Mu Feng, in the nick of time, subtly circulated the Spiritual Qi within his body, and a trace of the suppressive Concept of the Heavenly Pill Rifting Demon Seal quietly spread. It wasn't the complete Cultivation Technique, but merely the oppressive aura emanating from the depths of his Soul.

The demon wolves, which had originally intended to rush out of the crevice, suddenly froze, a flicker of confusion and apprehension in their crimson beast eyes, as if they had encountered a natural predator. They merely roared at the outside but dared not cross the line easily.

“De-demon beasts! Captain! Help! There are demon beasts inside!” Mu Feng crawled and scrambled to Wang Zhen, his face pale, still shaken.

When Wang Zhen and the others arrived, the crevice had already been completely blocked by fallen rocks, and they could only hear Zhao Kai's shrill screams and the roars of the demon beasts from inside.

“What happened?!” Wang Zhen’s face was ashen.

Mu Feng pointed at the crevice, gasping for breath, his voice tearful: “Ca-Captain… Brother Zhao, Brother Zhao said there was treasure inside, so I, we went in… Then, then it collapsed… Brother Zhao, to push me away, was, was hit by a rock, and, and there were Yao Beasts…” As he spoke, he even squeezed out a few tears, looking utterly pathetic.

Sun Ming next to him also had a pale face. He hadn't expected Li Dong to react so quickly, and even “conveniently” trap Zhao Kai inside. For a moment, he was speechless and could only echo: “Yes, yes, Captain, Brother Mu Feng was lucky and escaped a calamity.”

Wang Zhen’s face was grim as he looked at Mu Feng. This kid always managed to “get lucky” and turn danger into safety at critical moments, and this time he even “implicated” Zhao Kai. To call it a coincidence was too much of a coincidence. But Mu Feng’s overly frightened, cowardly demeanor made it impossible for him to find any fault.

“Useless!” Wang Zhen could only finally curse, not knowing whom he was scolding, “Can’t even handle such a small matter! Others, be on alert!”

He tried to attack the fallen rocks blocking the cave entrance a few times, finding them extremely solid and difficult to clear in a short time, so he had to give up for now. Zhao Kai’s screams had gradually weakened.

“You kid, you’re quite tenacious.” Wang Zhen glanced at Mu Feng, his tone complex.

Mu Feng shrank his neck and said foolishly: “My, my mother said I was blessed with good fortune… Since I was little, whenever I encountered danger, I always somehow managed to avoid it…”

The mission naturally ended hastily. Back at the camp, Wang Zhen immediately went to report to his master.

“General, that Mu Feng… is truly bizarre.” Wang Zhen whispered, “Today in the mine cave, Zhao Kai and Sun Ming acted according to plan, luring him into the pre-set collapse trap, but… the collapse did happen, but Mu Feng was unharmed. Instead, Zhao Kai was ‘accidentally’ pushed by him, right into the Yao Beasts attracted by the demon-attracting incense, and died on the spot. Your subordinate checked, the collapse was arranged flawlessly, for him to escape is simply unbelievable.”

The Silver-Armored General, who was by He Tianzheng’s side, lightly tapped his fingers on the table: “Another ‘accident’? Another ‘stroke of luck’?”

“Yes, General. And those Yao Beasts seemed to… fear him? They only roared but didn't actively attack him. Afterward, his terrified appearance also didn't seem feigned. This child… is truly strange. To say he’s stupid, yet he always manages to turn danger into safety; to say he’s shrewd, yet no flaws can be seen.” Wang Zhen was also completely baffled.

The Silver-Armored General pondered for a moment: “It seems ordinary probes are useless against him. Keep an eye on him, and increase the difficulty and unexpectedness of subsequent assessments. I refuse to believe he can keep being ‘lucky’ forever!”

After this incident, the discussions about “Mu Feng” in the New Recruit Camp intensified.

“Did you hear? Captain Wang’s team lost a man at the Western Hills mine cave, the same guy who was an accomplice of Qian Pi, who provoked Mu Feng last time!”

“Really? What happened?”

“Apparently, there was a collapse. That kid Mu Feng was lucky again and escaped, but that unlucky fellow named Zhao Kai got trapped inside.”

“Tsk tsk, this Mu Feng is really uncanny! He looks silly, but why is it always the people who go against him who suffer?”

Some candidates who had originally disdained Mu Feng now looked at him with a mix of scrutiny and apprehension. Could this guy truly possess some extraordinary ability, merely keeping it hidden?

In a corner, Chu He silently listened to everyone’s discussions, his gaze falling on Mu Feng, who was sitting alone in a corner, still maintaining his honest and simple appearance. A subtle curve appeared at the corner of his mouth: “Interesting, is he pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger? The waters of this Capital City are getting more and more fun.”

Late at night, Li Dong sat cross-legged.

“He Tianzheng, your methods are nothing more than this. The probing is getting more and more direct. Are you at your wit’s end, or do you think I’m about to reveal my true colors?” he thought to himself.

“System notification: Host successfully resolved targeted trap. Target character Zhao Kai has been eliminated. He Tianzheng’s faction’s assessment of the Host’s true strength has a significant deviation. Suspicion Rank has increased, but deceptive disguise remains effective.”

“This is exactly the effect I want.” Li Dong smiled slightly, “Let them guess, let them be suspicious. The real show begins when they think they’ve seen through me.”

He could feel the invisible net gradually tightening, but at the same time, he was also finding more exploitable nodes within this net.

“Slowly, no rush. Let’s see what other tricks you have.”

The moonlight outside the window seemed a few shades colder than usual.