Chapter 129: Prefer a Sneak Attack to a Head-on Fight

"Quite brave!" Ye Da curled his lips into a smile and said, "I admire you!"

"Thank you for your admiration," the woman replied, her red lips parting slightly. "I hope you can admire it just as much when you reach hell!"

"Master, shall I handle this?" Chu Ping stepped forward, eager to help.

But Ye Da reached out to stop him. "You are no match for her! Her skills are not only for ranged attacks, but she is also a master of close-quarters combat."

"Woof! Woof, woof!"

The two wolf pups also began to bark.

However, Ye Da said, "No, you two aren't her match either."

"Awoo~"

Xiaobai was unconvinced and let out a pained, whining sound. It seemed dissatisfied with Ye Da's assessment and wanted to step up and try its luck, but Ye Da still shook his head and refused.

"Heh."

Seeing this, the woman laughed. "It seems you have a good sense of self-awareness. Since you won't let your subordinates or pets interfere, are you planning to face me in a duel yourself?"

"With so many people at your disposal, yet you choose to fight me alone... I actually respect you as a gentleman."

"No, no, no, don't misunderstand," Ye Da said, wagging his finger. "I have never been a gentleman; I just don't want my subordinates to go to their deaths."

"Then what do you mean?" The woman grew wary. "Are you planning to have a group of you fight me alone?"

"Whatever! Whether it's you alone or all of you together, it makes no difference to me!"

With that, the woman pursed her cherry lips and spat out a long string of bubbles.

"Bubble, bubble, bubble~"

These bubbles were small, each roughly the size of a ping-pong ball, with some as small as marbles. Yet, as each one streaked toward Ye Da and his group, they whistled with the sound of tearing wind. It was clear their power was not as light and airy as they appeared.

"Queen Bee, fire!" Ye Da shouted as he took a half-step back.

The next second, the woman felt a sharp pain in her neck.

When she turned around, she saw a palm-sized bee that had appeared behind her, having just sprayed something at her fair, white neck.

"A poison dart?"

Feeling a hard object embedded in her neck, the woman realized she had been caught. This man had never intended to fight her head-on from the start; he had been planning a sneak attack from behind!

"Despicable coward!"

After spitting out those words, the woman fainted. At the moment she lost consciousness, the bubbles filling the air popped and vanished instantly.

Only then did Chu Ping finally understand. "Lord, you were stopping me earlier because you had already planned this?"

"Naturally. Why fight head-on if you can win with a sneak attack?" Ye Da shrugged. "Didn't she steal from me when I wasn't paying attention? I'd call this giving her a taste of her own medicine."

"Brilliant, my Lord!" Chu Ping couldn't help but praise him. He then looked at the woman's face, which was now covered in countless black veins, clearly indicating she was heavily poisoned. "But my Lord, how did you make her get poisoned without her noticing? I didn't even see you deploy the poison."

"I have my new pet to thank for that." Ye Da opened his palm, and the Queen Bee quickly flew into it. "She is the queen of the Poison Dart Bees. Her skill is firing poisonous darts. Her direct combat power isn't high, but when it comes to sneak attacks, she never misses. The results are incredible!"

Chu Ping's eyes widened in realization. "My Lord, you had already figured out how to deal with this woman before we even entered, so you kept stalling her with small talk just to let the Queen Bee fly behind her for an ambush?"

"Exactly," Ye Da nodded. "The Queen isn't small; if she had flown directly, it would have been obvious. So, I had her crawl along the wall of the treehouse to get behind her, making her much harder to detect. After all, this woman's bubble ability is quite twisted; it can block various attacks for defense, and judging by the sheer number of bubbles she released, she likely possesses significant offensive power as well. I didn't want to gamble."

"And besides, if you can win with strategy, why risk your life?"

"So... that's how it is." The woman's voice sounded again.

She had regained consciousness and had clearly heard Ye Da's explanation. "It seems I was careless. I shouldn't have felt even a shred of mercy. I should have killed you the moment you walked in!"

"Oh?" Ye Da asked, slightly puzzled. "Are you saying you didn't attack us the moment we entered simply because you wanted to let us go? You didn't want to kill us?"

"Yes." The woman looked as though she were on the verge of death, yet she remained icy. "I originally hoped you would retreat in the face of difficulty, because I don't want to kill people."

"Have you never killed anyone?" Ye Da asked.

"If you don't count those green-skinned monsters that look like people," the woman replied, "then no, I haven't. After all, we are all 'Tribulation Travelers' forced into this place; why kill each other?"

"And what if the other person wants to kill you?" Ye Da stepped forward and asked again.

The woman laughed at herself. "Isn't this the result?"

"I truly admire you." Ye Da gazed at her cold, beautiful face. "If you are willing to submit to me, I might be able to spare your life."

"Although I have killed, I admire your sentiment. We are all suffering people forced into this world to overcome trials; why make things difficult for one another? If the players could unite, our situation would surely be much easier than it is now."

"So... I'll give you one chance. Join me!"

Ye Da reached out a hand toward her.

The woman sneered. "Join you? You mean become your woman? I'd rather die!"

"The Lord didn't mean it that way—" Chu Ping tried to explain, but Ye Da raised a hand to stop him.

"Why?" Ye Da asked. "Because I'm ugly? Or because you prefer women?"

"I like men, but not men like you who enjoy forcing others," the woman said, her eyes filled with an indomitable spirit. "The partner I want isn't about appearance or wealth; it's about whether the other person can treat me with mutual respect, support one another, and move forward together!"

"Even in a place where the strong prey on the weak?" Ye Da countered.

"In any place, my answer remains the same." After saying this, the woman turned her head away, looking as though her mind was made up.