Chapter 50: Ambush
On the second day of the finals, Su Hao no longer paid attention to it. Instead, he focused on optimizing the "Radar" function. For example, he added a green ring for familiar friends, a gray ring for strangers, and marked enemies directly as blood red.
After the fusion over the past few days, the network formed by his perception runes slowly began to show its effectiveness. Not only did his basic perception range increase to two hundred meters, but he also mastered the control method of the perception "Radar."
He could control the flow of qi within the runes along a certain route to enhance his perception range. Through experimentation, with his current strength fully exerted, he could perceive qi within a range of one thousand meters at most. Of course, the farther the distance, the more blurred the perception.
However, once Su Hao no longer actively controlled the qi, the perception range would revert to its basic two hundred meters.
"I made the right choice. This is a life-saving technique! With this, my survivability will greatly improve!"
However, Su Hao couldn't help but envy the beast patterns stored on the third floor of the Lingyun Library. He wanted to include all of them in his system for research. But there was an old man guarding it, and he couldn't sneak in unnoticed and take a look at each rune. The key point was that he didn't want to get into conflict with the academy staff.
The reason he coveted other runes was that he had always been puzzled by why runes could produce such strange effects and what secrets were hidden within their complex structures.
Without understanding this question, his mind felt like a hand constantly scratching, making him itch.
Although he now had a perception rune, he couldn't extract useful information from the complex lines at all.
"I still need to collect more runes. As long as I have enough sample data, I will definitely be able to decipher the hidden secrets."
Su Hao firmly believed that even if runes were mysterious, they would still follow certain laws and principles of the universe. Special effects wouldn't occur without reason. As long as he continued to learn new knowledge, he would eventually be able to unravel their mysteries.
First, Su Hao took stock of his remaining money: 2 gold yuan and 35 silver yuan.
Then he left the academy and wandered around the streets and alleys of Lingyun Town. Thinking of Wu Yuntian's worn-out clothes and how they leaked wind every winter, making him feel chilly, Su Hao went to a clothing store and picked out two sets of clothes for Wu Yuntian—one for summer and one for winter. He bought the good quality ones, spending a total of 20 silver yuan.
After some thought, he also purchased a bedroll, spending another 10 silver yuan.
He went to a weapon shop and bought some maintenance oil and repair tools for weapons and armor, costing him 35 silver yuan.
Finally, he bought a lot of cooking spices and salt, along with a barrel of fruit wine, spending another 10 silver yuan.
In total, he spent 75 silver yuan.
When he returned to the Warrior Academy, the huge package on his back was nearly three times the size of his body.
...
The next day, after preparing everything, Su Hao carried the giant package and met up with Xiao Pang and He Qingqing outside He Qingqing's dormitory.
When Xiao Pang and He Qingqing saw Su Hao with such a large package, their mouths dropped open. Xiao Pang exclaimed in surprise, "Xiang Wu, what are you carrying? Are you moving?"
Xiao Pang and He Qingqing also had packages, but compared to Su Hao's, theirs seemed insignificant.
He Qingqing said, "Xiang Wu, is your package heavy? I have fewer things, let me help you."
Su Hao tilted the package, adjusted its center of gravity, and smiled, "No need, it's just some daily necessities I brought for my father. This weight is nothing."
Indeed, the weight of the package was insignificant compared to Su Hao. He could even run several laps around Lingyun Town with the package on his back without breaking a sweat.
Xiao Pang immediately felt embarrassed and scratched his head. He walked over to Old Li, looking a bit shy, and said, "Father, can you tell any difference in me?"
Old Li patted Xiao Pang's head with a wave of his hand, took the package, and jokingly scolded, "What else could it be? You're still your old man's seed!"
Xiao Pang became anxious, "Can't you see any changes? I'm already an intermediate ordinary warrior!"
Then his head was slapped by his father again.
On the contrary, Su Hao appeared relatively calm.
Su Hao approached with a joyful expression and said, "Father, has everything been smooth this year?"
Wu Yuntian looked at Su Hao, still wearing his usual dull look. He carefully examined Su Hao and saw his son, who was not even as tall as his shoulder, standing energetically in front of him. He nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad."
Saying that, he reached out to take off the giant package behind Su Hao.
Su Hao immediately stepped aside and said, "No need, I can handle it myself. It's just some beddings, not heavy."
Wu Yuntian nodded.
When He Qingqing saw that Su Hao could carry the package himself, she thought, "If Su Hao can do it, why can't I carry my small package?" She immediately grabbed her package from He Jianyong and said, "Father, give me back my package. I'll carry it myself!"
Xiao Pang felt a bit embarrassed and scratched his head, imitating He Qingqing, "Father, I'll carry it myself too!"
Su Hao was speechless. They could even make carrying a package into such a big deal. The existence of humans in this world was truly terrifying.
He Jianyong looked helplessly at his empty hands, exchanged a glance with Wu Yuntian, and shook his head. "Let's go!"
The group of six left the city gate, took a final look at the towering city wall, and then continued along a small path towards the Chashan Outpost without lingering.
After gradually moving away from Lingyun Town, the three warriors immediately became more vigilant, guarding against any potential sudden appearances of ferocious beasts. Although it was still within the range of Lingyun Town, elite-level ferocious beasts would occasionally wander nearby to search for food, resulting in the deaths of ordinary people.
Suddenly, Su Hao's brow furrowed. The "Radar" displayed ten unfamiliar sources of qi, stationary and positioned two hundred meters ahead on both sides of the road.
No, not all of them were strangers; two of them had previous records.
Su Hao quickly checked the information. One was Dan Sui, an intermediate ordinary warrior, and the other was a passerby he encountered outside the academy, a high-level elite warrior.
They were coming for him! A month ago, he had exposed Dan Sui's false claims, so now they were undoubtedly seeking revenge. Based on their posture, they intended to ambush and assassinate him in the wilderness.
Su Hao immediately checked the information on the other eight individuals. They were all high-level elite warriors.
"What should I do?" Su Hao slowed his pace and pondered a strategy.
If it was just him alone, he could charge in and kill them with a single slash. But
now there were two defenseless individuals, Xiao Pang and He Qingqing, which complicated matters.
Under the attack of high-level elite warriors, they wouldn't stand a chance of survival.
Although he had no problem with fighting and killing, he also needed to take care of Xiao Pang and He Qingqing at the same time. With his current combat experience, there was no guarantee that he could handle it perfectly.
Wu Yuntian noticed Su Hao's anomaly and asked, "What's wrong, Xiang Wu?"
translated be & edited begs ;)