189: Chapter 189 Shadows Deliver Secret Report, Qing Yan Tryes to Escape

Over at Luofeng Village, because Xiao Jin hatched, the world channel was still frantically spamming.

Over at the Dragon Domain, due to the 100,000 dragon crystal welfare and the mining competition, the Vanguard Army was also mining in full swing.

On one side was the adorable dragon mascot.

On the other side was the dragon crystal wealth.

The popularity of the entire server was about to explode.

But Lin Zhe stood on the high ground of Wanlong City, his gaze not falling on the mine.

The aura deep within Black Wind Valley was not right.

Qing Yan had been too quiet lately.

Quiet enough that he didn't seem like someone driven to a dead end.

Ao Ningshuang stood beside him, her silver eyes scanning the distant main camp, her voice cold: "Three seals are all broken, and the periphery is about to be cleared out, yet he can actually still shrink back and not move."

Qing Yu said in a low voice: "Sir, should we send someone to scout again?"

Lin Zhe hadn't spoken yet.

In the shadow of the city wall, a dark shadow suddenly appeared silently.

"Swoosh!"

The shadow landed and knelt on one knee.

It was Shadow Seven.

He was wrapped in a shadow cloak, his breathing suppressed to the extreme. As soon as he appeared, he presented a palm-sized black-gold secret box with both hands.

"Sir."

"The Pavilion Master has sent the latest top-secret intelligence."

As soon as the sentence fell, Ao Ningshuang's gaze froze.

Another of Pavilion Master Ye Ling's people.

And looking at Shadow Seven's appearance of traveling through the night, this intelligence was clearly not small.

Lin Zhe raised his hand and took the secret box.

Seven shadow secret patterns were locked on the surface of the box; an ordinary person touching it would cause it to self-destruct.

But as soon as his fingertips landed on it.

"Click! Click! Click!"

Seven secret locks popped open at the same time.

There were only two things in the box.

A roll of black secret report.

A row of neatly arranged small bottles of potions.

Qing Yu's gaze swept over, her breath pausing slightly: "Stealth Potion?"

Shadow Seven lowered his head and said: "One hundred bottles, all top-tier Stealth Potions."

"After taking it, it can significantly weaken aura fluctuations and footstep traces, lasting for thirty minutes."

"The Pavilion Master said that this batch of items is just right for the Vanguard Army scouts to block the way."

Block the road.

Ao Ningshuang's eyes immediately turned cold.

"Whose road are they blocking?"

Shadow Seven did not answer immediately, just lowered his head and said: "Please look at the secret report first, Sir."

Lin Zhe unfurled the black scroll.

The content on it was very short.

Yet it was enough to make the atmosphere of the entire Dragon Domain front line sink.

Qing Yan had no intention of defending the main camp to the death at all.

He had long ago quietly dug a secret path leading to the Abyss Border behind the Black Wind Valley main camp.

The entrance to the secret path was hidden under an abandoned black stone tower in the northwest corner of the main camp.

There was a camouflage slab at the bottom of the tower, connected to an old mine tunnel below, and then directly leading to the periphery of the Abyss Rift Valley.

The entire secret path was three meters wide, enough to transport treasures and a small number of personal guards for a quick evacuation.

The markings on the scroll were extremely detailed.

Entrance location.

Number of forks.

Which section had landslide camouflage.

Which section had hidden sentries.

Even the number of guards was clearly written.

Forty-six permanent guards.

Among them were twelve Black Dragon personal guards, eight elite death soldiers, and the rest were all trusted aides responsible for moving treasures.

The most crucial line of text was circled individually by Pavilion Master Ye Ling with dark red ink.

Qing Yan planned to evacuate amidst the chaos after the general offensive began.

He would not defend to the end.

Once the front camp fell, he would immediately take his private treasures, dragon crystals, and core trusted aides to escape to the Abyss through the secret path.

The estimated evacuation time was within half an hour after the start of the general offensive.

After Ao Ningshuang finished reading, her face instantly became extremely ugly.

"This beast!"

"The Dragon Domain was harmed by him like this, and he actually still thinks about running off to the Abyss with the treasures?"

Qing Yu also said in a deep voice: "No wonder the aura deep within the main camp has been changing these past two days. It turns out he wasn't preparing for a fight to the death, but for his life."

Shadow Seven continued to report with his head lowered: "The Pavilion Master's people have been watching for three days."

"The things in Qing Yan's private treasury are being moved bit by bit under that black stone tower."

"The treasury key patterns, dragon crystal boxes, dark mineral materials, and several boxes of war supplies that haven't been transported out yet are all there."

"Additionally, there are reinforcements near the secret path exit."

"If he really escapes into the Abyss Border, it will be difficult to catch him again."

The air suddenly turned cold.

The wind on the city wall blew past, carrying a faint dark aura from Black Wind Valley.

Qing Yan had talked big before, saying something about defending to the end.

As it turns out, behind everyone's backs, he had even dug out an escape route.

He even wanted to run away with the treasures of the Dragon Domain.

If the world channel knew about this, they would probably laugh him to death.

Lin Zhe's expression remained calm.

After reading the scroll, he only asked one question calmly.

"Is the time confirmed?"

Shadow Seven immediately nodded: "Confirmed."

"Our people have already figured out all the times of his last three treasure transports."

"The shift changes inside the secret path occur every six hours."

"The escape timing is set for the most chaotic moment of the battle."

"This is his last resort."

Lin Zhe closed the secret report, a trace of coldness flashing in his eyes.

"He thought of everything quite thoroughly."

Ao Ningshuang sneered: "He treats everyone as fools."

"If Pavilion Master Ye Ling hadn't sent this intelligence, it would have been truly disgusting to wait until the general offensive began and Black Wind Valley was taken, only for the chief culprit to have escaped."

Shadow Seven lowered his head and did not respond.

But he also knew in his heart.

This intelligence was sent very timely.

It didn't just expose Qing Yan's final trump card.

It also pinched off the last escape route for the Dragon Domain.

Lin Zhe put away the black scroll, his gaze falling on those one hundred bottles of top-tier Stealth Potions.

The potion swayed slightly in the black bottles, emitting a very faint gray-blue luster; one could tell at a glance it wasn't ordinary goods.

This time, Pavilion Master Ye Ling didn't just provide intelligence.

Even how to use it had already been halfway prepared in advance.

Lin Zhe raised his hand, and a strand of pale golden Power of Rules landed on Shadow Seven.

"Buzz—"

Shadow Seven's body shook violently.

In the next second, he only felt his eyes, limbs, and breathing rhythm all seemed to have been recalibrated.

The most obvious was a sharp, numbing sense of explosive power.

System-like buff patterns appeared directly at the edge of his vision.

Permanent Critical Strike Rate +10%.

Shadow Seven's pupils contracted, and then he immediately prostrated himself.

"Thank you for the reward, Sir!"

This was no ordinary reward.

For the Shadow lineage, a critical strike is life.

An extra ten percent, in many cases, wasn't just wounding the enemy, but direct decapitation.

Almost at the same time, a cold system prompt also sounded in Lin Zhe's mind.

[Ding! Detected that top-tier female NPC Pavilion Master Ye Ling's favorability toward the host has increased to 35!]

[Ding! The progress of the eighth bond trigger has increased!]

[Current progress: 8%!]

Lin Zhe's eyes moved slightly, but he didn't say much.

Pavilion Master Ye Ling's move was very accurate.

The intelligence was ruthless enough.

The items sent were also practical enough.

And Shadow Seven could clearly no longer suppress his joy at this moment, his voice becoming a bit more steady than before.

"Rest assured, Sir."

"The Pavilion Master said that if Qing Yan has any other hidden paths, her people will continue to dig them out."

"As long as he dares to move, traces will surely be found again."

Lin Zhe nodded calmly: "Go back and tell her that I have noted this favor."

"Yes!"

Shadow Seven saluted again, his figure flickered, and he submerged back into the shadows of the city wall, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The city wall was quiet for a moment.

Ao Ningshuang gripped the dragon blood sword in her hand and said coldly: "Doesn't Qing Yan want to escape?"

"Then let's make it so he can't even walk out of the secret path."

Lin Zhe looked at the secret report and the hundred bottles of Stealth Potion in his hand, his gaze passing over Wanlong City and falling toward the northwest direction of the Black Wind Valley main camp.

That was exactly where the black stone tower was located.

The wind blew from there.

Carrying a hint of panic that couldn't be hidden.

Lin Zhe tucked the secret report into his sleeve and only uttered one sentence calmly.

"Since the escape route has been found."

"Then let's watch the door first."