The thicket ahead pulsed with a silence that felt heavier than the oppressive mist. Jian Feng’s order hung in the air, laced with malice: "Kai… you take point. Flush it out for us." Ren Jie looked away, Mei Xia’s impassive mask tightened fractionally, and Ming Hao’s surviving eye gleamed with anticipation from his flanking position, barely concealed by swirling vapour. An obvious, clumsy trap. Send the outsider in first, let the beast soften him up, and then… accidents happen in the confusion.
Kai met Jian Feng’s gaze, a flicker of understanding passing between them. Refusal wasn't an option. But blindly obeying was suicide. "As Senior Brother commands," Kai said, his voice even. He drew his carbon fiber bokken, its black surface seeming to drink the weak marsh light.
He didn't charge in. Instead, his free hand made a minute, almost imperceptible gesture. From his dimension storage, a tiny object materialized – barely larger than his thumbnail, shaped like a dragonfly, dull metallic grey.
[System Store Purchase: Micro-Drone Scout (Insectoid Camo - Basic Sensor Suite). Cost: 35 Points.]
[Balance: 40 - 35 = 5 Points]
With a flicker of Qi, he activated it, sending it hovering silently into the dense, misty thicket ahead, its system overlay making it appear like just another marsh insect flitting through the gloom. The drone fed basic sensory data directly to Kai's system interface: thermal signatures, rough outlines, Qi fluctuations.
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Almost immediately, the interface updated. [Target Detected: Mire Lurker (Large Quadrupedal Amphibian - High Aggression Signature). Location: 15 meters deep, stationary.] [Additional Signature Detected: Human Cultivator (Ming Hao - Hostile Intent Detected). Location: 7 meters left flank, concealed, Qi gathering for ambush strike.]
Confirmation. A natural predator and a human predator, waiting in concert. Jian Feng’s plan was clear: let the Mire Lurker engage Kai, and Ming Hao would strike Kai from the flank during the chaos, making it look like a beast-inflicted wound or a desperate friendly-fire incident.
Kai kept his face impassive, processing the data. Time to muddy the waters, literally and figuratively.
"Senior Brother Jian!" Kai called back, pitching his voice with just the right amount of feigned uncertainty. "The Qi signature is strong, definitely a large beast! Feels… vicious." He paused, as if straining his senses. "But there's something else… a secondary fluctuation? Weak, erratic. Near the beast. Could it be injured? Or maybe… guarding something valuable? A clutch of eggs, perhaps a rare Marsh Bloom?"
He deliberately introduced ambiguity. Mentioning an 'injury' or 'valuable item' might make Ming Hao hesitate or become overeager, potentially disrupting Jian Feng’s precise timing. It painted Kai as possibly misinterpreting Ming Hao’s hidden Qi signature, making his own position seem less threatening.
While speaking, Kai took a slow, deliberate step sideways, then another, subtly shifting his position relative to the thicket and Ming Hao's hidden location. He used the uneven ground and patches of thicker mist as justification for his movement. Now, if the Mire Lurker charged straight out, its path would intersect Ming Hao’s concealed position before reaching Kai himself. A small adjustment, easily missed by observers focused on the main threat, but geometrically crucial.
"Guarding something?" Jian Feng scoffed, though a flicker of interest crossed his face. Rare Marsh Blooms could fetch a high price. "Stop speculating and flush it out, Kai! Determine the threat!"
"Understood, Senior Brother," Kai replied. The bait was laid. The players were positioned. Now, it was time to spring the trap – just not the one Jian Feng had intended.
