Thought You Were an Expert

"Wake up, stop sleeping. It is your turn to keep watch tonight."

In his dream, Mu Xiangli felt himself being kicked. He thought the long-haired project manager had discovered him slacking off during overtime and came to remind him. Consequently, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw a tall, burly man with a long scar on his face, carrying a saber and looking down at him.

"What are you looking at? Move, move." The burly man signaled him to move aside.

Mu Xiangli stood up in a daze, only to see the burly man walk to the branch he had just leaned against, sit down, hug his saber, and begin to sleep.

A gentle breeze blew, causing Mu Xiangli to shudder. He looked around; it was a dirt road deep in the forest, with many people lying asleep on both sides, each clutching a weapon. A few were awake, carefully noting the surroundings.

While everyone rested, two carriages stopped on the road, carrying several sealed large chests, looking somewhat mysterious.

Mu Xiangli felt his mind was blank. He supported his forehead, trying to understand the situation.

He knew his name was Mu Xiangli, twenty-two years old, having just graduated and joined a game company. Last night, while working overtime, he had chatted merrily with a beautiful female colleague. She had even praised him for being handsome and having a nice name, saying it was very suitable for the company's ancient-style project, and that he could play a role and become an important character.

*Could it be that her words became a prophecy?* Mu Xiangli was, after all, a modern youth with strong adaptability, so he did not let himself panic for too long.

The current environment did not look much like the project he was working on at the company, but he still tried gesturing with his hands while whispering, "Open control panel, display items..."

Nothing happened. Before he could try again, Mu Xiangli felt something cold resting against his neck. He cautiously glanced at his shoulder; a saber was placed there.

"What are you doing?" The speaker was a cold female voice.

Mu Xiangli unconsciously wanted to hold his head with both hands, but fearing she would think he wanted to resist and send him on his way with a single slash, he raised his hands, quickly stopped, and explained, "What can I do? I didn't sleep well, and it's so cold. I was just complaining a bit."

Perhaps for concealment, no fire was lit around them, and the moonlight tonight was very dim. Mu Xiangli's movement just now indeed did not look like he was sending a signal. After a long moment, the saber on his neck was withdrawn.

Only then did Mu Xiangli turn his head to look at the woman who had spoken. This woman wore official uniform, indicating she held some sort of official position. When he looked around earlier, he had seen a few others wearing the same attire as this woman, but more people were dressed very casually. Before he could speak, the woman scolded, "If you serious offenders had not been given this opportunity to atone for your crimes, you would have been beheaded long ago. Yet you still complain?"

"Serious offenders?!"

Mu Xiangli was stunned, trying to recall something, but unfortunately, his mind remained blank.

He could not help but curse in his heart. The previous owner of this body had cleaned up so thoroughly, leaving not even half a memory for him.

He pondered how to obtain more information, finally choosing to probe, "Atoning for our crimes?"

Surprisingly, the woman before him actually said a few more words: "Was it not made clear before we set out? As long as you transport the carriages safely to the destination, you will not only be declared innocent but also be credited with merit. What, you do not believe it?"

Mu Xiangli pointed at the chests on the carriage. "Are these chests very important?"

The woman warned him, "Of course they are important. You had better be honest and not harbor any ill intentions."

Mu Xiangli shook his head, finally feeling something was amiss. "That is not what I meant. I mean, if the items are so important, why let serious offenders like us transport them? Could it be that we possess extraordinary skills?"

"Extraordinary skills?" The woman sneered, filled with contempt. "Using you is merely to deceive the world. Who would care about the life, death, or movements of serious offenders like you?"

Mu Xiangli fell silent. Of course, they, as serious offenders, did not possess extraordinary skills requiring special markers, so he already had a guess in his heart.

Feeling this woman did not yet understand the situation, he simply spoke frankly, "No one cares about the movements of serious offenders like us, but someone cares about the items in the chests, right? If they are truly so important, why would you..."

Mu Xiangli looked around, counting those in the same attire as this woman. "Why would a dozen of you lead over twenty of us serious offenders to transport these things? Are you not afraid we might escape midway or seize the goods?"

"Just based on you?" As the woman spoke, she took half a step forward, her gaze sharp. Mu Xiangli instantly felt a powerful pressure crash down, his body feeling as if submerged in water, completely unable to breathe.

*Indeed, this is no ordinary ancient era!* Mu Xiangli thought.

The pressure lasted only an instant, and the woman looked at him with contempt.

But Mu Xiangli still felt something was wrong. If these guards were strong enough to protect those wooden chests, there was no need to bring serious offenders like them along.

Simply to pad the numbers as decoration? Highly unlikely!

"Have you offended someone?" he could not help but ask.

The woman's expression changed slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Are we not cannon fodder?" Mu Xiangli pointed at the carriages. "The wooden chests are clearly piled on the carriages. Not only is there no cover, but there is also no straw to conceal them, not even a tarpaulin. Do you not find this highly absurd?"

"Impossible. My lord trusts me the most. Do not spread rumors here." The woman barked at Mu Xiangli, but before she could finish, she seemed to detect an anomaly and suddenly looked toward the deep forest.

Mu Xiangli followed her gaze. Before his eyes could see clearly, a whistling wind echoed in his ears, and the forest before him bent to both sides, as if making way.

Whoosh... Bang!

Something flew past Mu Xiangli. When he turned his head, he found the woman who had just spoken to him pinned to the carriage by an arrow. The arrow pierced through her left chest, securing her tightly.

Her eyes were still wide open, her pupils dilated with disbelief, before completely losing focus. There was no need to check; she had stopped breathing.

*I f*cking thought you were an expert!* Mu Xiangli almost cursed aloud, and after cursing, he could not help but complain in his heart, *I knew transmigration couldn't happen without trouble. When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a man...*

The sound just now had startled everyone awake. The opponent's undisguised arrow made it clear they did not care whether they were asleep or awake.

Mu Xiangli thought only a fool would stay and fight. Crucially, he had no capital to fight with. At this moment, he dove under the carriage, lying flat to find a way to escape.

Seeing the woman's saber fall to the ground, he reached out and dragged it over. With a weapon in hand, his sense of security increased slightly.

Unfortunately, this sense of security was wiped out a second later by black-clothed assassins rushing out of the forest. The serious offenders and guards who had just startled awake faced the sudden attack with absolutely no resistance, falling one by one in pools of blood.

Thinking that most of these people were targeting the goods on the carriages, Mu Xiangli knew hiding under the carriage would not save him from death. But he truly did not know how to escape. Just then, a guard leaped onto a horse, squeezed its belly, and swung the reins. "Giddyap!"

Seeing this, Mu Xiangli quickly reached out to feel under the carriage, indeed finding a place to hold onto, and gripped it tightly.

The carriage sped off, but before it could go far, arrows arrived. Two consecutive arrows—one pinned the man, one pinned the horse. The horse fell and the carriage overturned, the chests tumbling out, and Mu Xiangli was also thrown out.

Fortunately, the carriage overturned toward the direction the arrows came from, providing cover for Mu Xiangli. Moreover, the carriage had slid quite far, and no assassins pursued him to where he was thrown. Daring not to miss this opportunity, he quickly slipped into the forest.

Unfortunately, his tracks were still spotted. On the ridge above, a man dressed in Ming-style attire with wide sleeves and an extraordinary aura stood. Pulling the bowstring with his thumb, he drew the bow like a full moon, looking toward the fleeing Mu Xiangli with a faint smile. No matter how the prey struggled, it was in vain.

However, the moment before he released the arrow, someone beside him suddenly cried out, "My lord, look!"

This shout during his concentration prevented the man from releasing the arrow. His anger flared, and he was about to berate his subordinate, but his gaze swept to where the subordinate pointed, and his brow furrowed slightly. It was another carriage, and the wooden chests on it had been opened, revealing only a pile of boulders inside.

"Hmph!" The man curled his lips, looking not too surprised, only slightly annoyed.

Before coming, someone had warned him that this convoy was likely one of the decoys, but he felt that the real and fake were intertwined. Such a clumsy decoy might actually be the real one. Unfortunately, he had overestimated these people.

Since the goods in the chests were fake, he had no need to remain here. That boy running like a rabbit into the forest was an interesting prey, suitable for venting his frustration.

"Clean up the aftermath properly, and return directly once finished." Leaving these words, the man carried his bow and pursued the direction of Mu Xiangli's escape!

"Understood, my lord," the subordinate hastily replied with a bow.

As for how to clean up the aftermath, naturally, it meant leaving no one alive!