Ch. 14 - Trap Expert

"Damn it, you—"

Jackal's cheeks burned red with urgency. He couldn't help but move forward, wanting to rush up to Tang Qi's face.

But Black Snake held him back with one arm:

"He saved your life!"

Despite his frantic anger and all the strength he mustered, Jackal still couldn't break free from Black Snake's single arm.

In his frustration, Jackal could only grumble defensively:

"Without him, I could've dealt with that kobold just fine—I hadn't even thrown my sword yet!"

"Why don't you guess which would've arrived first, your sword or the stone?"

Stonecrusher had clearly seen that Jackal was only focused on running away and showed his companion no mercy whatsoever.

"I understand now. You weren't trembling from fear—you just didn't want to harm your own kin, right, Lord 'Jackal'?" Tang Qi added mocking emphasis to the name.

"I—"

Jackal was both furious and flustered, about to let loose a string of curses, but Black Snake abruptly cut him off:

"Enough! I don't care what grudges you had before—swallow them all back down right now. Everything can be settled after we get out!

Kobolds are naturally cunning. I don't want to capsize in the gutter!"

He picked up the torch from the ground and tossed it upward, finally seeing that the apparatus suspending that enormous boulder was a system of pulleys and levers built on the ceiling, anchored between two elevated slopes at opposite ends.

It had relieved the rope of a considerable portion of the weight, allowing it to remain safely concealed in the darkness.

Tang Qi pondered:

"At this height, those cone-shaped stalactites would be more than sufficient to skewer any intruder straight through—far more suitable as a trap.

Why would they go through the trouble of hoisting up such a massive boulder?"

Kobolds were natural trap experts, which allowed them to create simple traps using whatever resources they had at hand.

But pulley systems and lever devices should still be somewhat beyond the scope of their race.

"And their nests wouldn't be dug out this spacious either—something's not right about this cavern."

Black Snake agreed, kicking aside the bone chair in front of him.

He pulled out the crossbow bolt from the kobold's chest and returned it to Tang Qi, who had hurried over.

They weren't some well-off team that could afford to be lazy about recovering ammunition.

The dwarf used his rough, broad palm to give Tang Qi's butt a hearty slap:

"Kid, your aim's pretty good too. Don't tell me you really are a ranger?"

"The academy taught us these things," Tang Qi replied.

To travel this dangerous world, you always needed some means of self-defense.

There weren't many courses on 'practical effectiveness,' but *From Poet Beginner to Archery Mastery* had always been used as a core textbook, and actually became one of his predecessor's most proficient skills.

"Quick, tell me what else they taught at the academy?" Stonecrusher was quite interested.

"Similar things, like... *Standard Surrender Postures and Corresponding Phrasing*?" Tang Qi searched through his memories.

"Surrender needs to be taught?"

"Some people can't swallow their pride—

[When you realize you're at your wit's end, try lifting your ass]. Those are the exact words from the textbook."

Tang Qi shrugged.

"I think it's actually useful.

If you can't resist, trying to enjoy it is a rare and precious kind of optimism."

The dwarf burst out laughing, then gave his butt another slap:

"I take back what I said about bards being useless. With you around, at least the adventure won't be boring.

But you need to know—I keep slapping your ass not because I'm interested in you."

"It's because you can only reach my ass, Master Dwarf."

"Ha ha, I like you, kid!"

Black Snake sighed, his brow relaxing slightly:

"That alarm bell probably echoed through the entire nest. We need to move quickly."

If it was just a bunch of starving kobolds who'd stolen some starberries, there really wasn't much to fear.

But the adventurer's instinct told him things wouldn't be that simple.

Tang Qi picked up the torch and wandered around.

Under the firelight's reflection, he could vaguely make out that about a hundred feet ahead stood an enormous stone door, at least fifty feet high, as if built for giants. The door was tightly shut—impossible to push open by human strength alone.

Combined with this clearing so spacious that even water droplets would echo...

Rather than a cavern, this place seemed more like...

Ruins?

On the stone walls to either side remained several narrow openings distributed in different positions.

The two kobolds from earlier must have stealthily emerged from there.

No more figures were visible at the moment, but that didn't mean they wouldn't continue their assault.

Even the resentful Jackal could realize this point.

The sense of urgency from the unsafe environment temporarily overrode his earlier cold mockery, making him behave reasonably well:

"So we're going into the holes?"

Black Snake didn't really want to answer his stupid question, his tone somewhat cold and hard:

"There's no other way. Stonecrusher takes point, I'm second, the poet follows me, Jackal brings up the rear."

"Can I be last?" Tang Qi pointed at himself.

First, he wasn't ready to lift his ass yet, so he feared Jackal might secretly stab him with a sword.

Second, if they really ran into trouble ahead, he could be the first to run out.

Black Snake sneered:

"If you're not afraid of kobolds from other tunnels surrounding us, you can certainly do that."

Tang Qi blinked and looked around at the silent, deep openings, finally understanding Black Snake's formation strategy—

The tunnels kobolds dug were always cramped, forcing them to proceed in single file.

If they entered one tunnel while pursuers poured out from the others, Tang Qi at the very back would only end up turned into a pincushion.

"Then I have no objections."

Jackal noticed his worry and deliberately lifted his longsword, licking his lips with a savage grin:

"You better watch your ass."

He feared Black Snake, so he wouldn't start an internal conflict now.

But just verbal threats were enough to make Tang Qi panic.

Jackal enjoyed this emotion.

Tang Qi could only nervously confirm that his crossbow was loaded before crouching down and following the mercenaries into the tunnel.

This was a cramped passage specifically for kobolds to traverse. Winding and twisting, the damp earthy smell filled his nostrils, and occasionally he could glimpse skeletons scattered throughout the corridor.

Many of the bones showed wear, as if corroded by something.

All these signs made the bent-over, crouching Tang Qi feel even more oppressed.

"Thunk, thunk—"

The advancing party instantly halted at the sound.

Tang Qi saw that under the firelight's reflection, the broad shadow on the earthen wall now had two additional arrows.

That tower shield nearly covered the entire narrow corridor, causing the arrows to lodge in the gaps between the shield, unable to advance even half an inch.

"Just as I thought—an ambush!"

The dwarf roared, his legs bulging with solid muscle. All his load seemed like nothing as he charged forward like a bull that had spotted a red cloth.

"Shield Charge!"

The impact force seemed to solidify into reality, splashing up mud and sand from beneath his feet, crashing into the kobolds lying in ambush within the corridor.

Their small stature had allowed them to stand side by side.

Now, however, along with the arrow-shooting companions behind them, they were all sent flying in disarray, tumbling and crashing into corners and pits. Their scrawny bodies became twisted as blood buried them in darkness!

"Ooh-ha!"

Seeing this, how would the one or two remaining accomplices dare to show off? They scrambled and crawled, fleeing deeper into the tunnel.

As lawful evil creatures, their kinship ties could be called cold.

When circumstances favored them, they could temporarily rely on teamwork to form a formidable force.

Conversely, so-called companions weren't worth mentioning.

The tower shield blocked his view, preventing Tang Qi from shooting arrows in pursuit.

But he could see that with these two mercenaries' skill level, taking a salary to guard an orchard was really a waste of talent.

After his charge, Stonecrusher gasped for breath, not forgetting to laugh back at them:

"If kobolds count as dragon descendants, then we must be dragon-slaying heroes!"

"Alright, save your energy."

Black Snake followed close behind.

"Dealing with a few kobolds, was it really necessary to use combat techniques? The village doesn't have enough meat for you to replenish your energy."

"Ha! I haven't adventured like this in ages. Just getting back the feeling from the old days—what's wrong with getting carried away for a moment?"

Stonecrusher straightened up again, though his breathing hadn't evened out yet.

"Besides, the caravan arrives tomorrow. Catherine will definitely have pork chops ready to treat us."

"First make sure our employer doesn't kick us out for dereliction of duty."

The priority was still finding the stolen starberries.

"You in the back, keep up!"

Stonecrusher's charge was swift as a bull, and in the blink of an eye he'd put considerable distance between himself and Jackal bringing up the rear.

Tang Qi glanced at the weapons dropped by the kobolds—still a bone hammer—and pondered in secret.

Hearing Black Snake's call, he hastily quickened his pace to follow.

But a disturbance by his ear suddenly sharpened his alertness—

"There's another trap!"

The soil above suddenly loosened!

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