Facing Li Nian's inquiry, a plain-clothed man riding a tall horse emerged from the lead of the distant, stationary convoy, cupping his hands and speaking in a clear, loud voice.

"We are indeed from Gu Town heading to Willow Town. May I ask who you are, young lady?"

Li Nian stepped forward unhurriedly. "Golden Fortune Escort Agency, Willow Town branch. By our boss's order, we've come to meet and assist our brothers."

Li Nian cupped her hands, then flipped her palm to reveal a small, gleaming gold knife-shaped token.

Seeing this token, the plain-clothed man seemed to finally relax.

"So it's the brothers from Willow Town," the plain-clothed man said loudly. "However, you've come quite a long way out."

"We just happened to have delivered another shipment nearby," Li Nian replied loudly again. "The road to Willow Town hasn't been easy lately. We happened to hear that brothers from the same escort agency were on a delivery, so our boss sent us to lend a hand."

"That's excellent, truly thank you!"

The plain-clothed man also cupped his hands, reined in his horse, and made way for a path.

Li Nian turned around, showing Flying Knife and Lin Yu a triumphant expression.

"So, what did I tell you? I said it would work!"

The three of them walked towards the convoy. Lin Yu lowered his voice. "How did you figure out which escort agency these people are from? And where did you get that token?"

"I couldn't tell," Li Nian said matter-of-factly. "I just stole that man's own token... it says 'Golden Fortune Escort Agency' on it."

She lied without batting an eye. Lin Yu nodded in admiration.

"That's pretty impressive."

However, Flying Knife appeared even more nervous. As they approached the convoy escorted by the Golden Fortune Escort Agency, Flying Knife didn't dare utter a single word, looking extremely tense.

The three of them walked into the midst of the convoy, and the plain-clothed man allocated three horses for them.

Li Nian and Flying Knife were clearly not riding for the first time, easily climbing onto the horses' backs.

Although this was Lin Yu's first experience, thanks to his formidable physical fitness and coordination, he didn't reveal any flaws or telltale signs.

After all three were mounted, the plain-clothed man spoke again. "Even if you're just passing by, you've been a great help... Please convey our sincere thanks to your Chief Cai!"

Just as Li Nian was about to reply, Lin Yu suddenly interrupted her very loudly.

"What nonsense is this? What are you blabbering about?!"

Lin Yu instantly drew his Bone Blade, holding it protectively in front of him. "Are you a demon in disguise?!"

Seeing Lin Yu's reaction, Li Nian quickly followed suit—even though she didn't know why Lin Yu was doing this, in her view...

"Zhu Ming must have her reasons for doing this, so follow her lead!"

Li Nian then also drew a small knife, speaking warily. "Indeed, what's going on with you?"

As for Flying Knife, although this guy was always suspicious and paranoid, when faced with this situation, he surprisingly understood the priorities clearly.

Seeing his two teammates display hostility, he also quickly pulled out his weapon—a folding stool—holding it protectively in front of him, putting on a united front against a common enemy.

And Lin Yu's reason for doing this was, of course...

To strike first!

Although Li Nian hadn't noticed it just now, based on his observation of micro-expressions, Lin Yu had clearly sensed that the leader of this escort team did not completely trust Li Nian's story.

True, Li Nian had taken his token and returned it... but precisely because even Li Nian could obtain the "token" so easily, in other words, the credibility of this "token" was actually not that high.

Therefore, when that sentence that sounded a bit like making conversation, a bit like deliberately leading the topic, was spoken earlier, Lin Yu immediately judged...

The other party was testing them.

As for which part was the test, Lin Yu didn't know—his understanding of the Prison Mountain Realm was still too limited.

But as long as he knew the other party was testing them, Lin Yu had a countermeasure.

He just needed to turn the tables and blame them first!

Sure enough, seeing Lin Yu's reaction, the other party instead relaxed.

"Brothers and sisters, my apologies for the offense earlier—I am Yue Zhenqiao, head of the Golden Fortune Escort Agency, Gu Town branch," the plain-clothed man said, cupping his hands. "I am not a demon in disguise."

"How can you prove it?"

Lin Yu said coldly.

"Naturally, because I know the Willow Town branch head's surname isn't Cai, but Zhang, with the given name Langzhi," Yue Zhenqiao said with a smile. "Earlier, I was just testing you to guard against the possibility that you three were demons."

Seeing Yue Zhenqiao's sincere gaze this time, Lin Yu cupped his hands again. "My apologies, Chief Yue... It's just that times have been unsettled lately, so I couldn't help but be extra vigilant."

"Indeed. The Fire Hell has always been chaotic, and now they say several powerful demons from the Sand Hell have newly appeared near the Nine-Fold Mountains close to Willow Town," Yue Zhenqiao sighed. "Coupled with bandits becoming increasingly rampant these days, one really has no choice but to be on guard and careful."

"So, your timely assistance is truly like rain after a long drought!"

As Yue Zhenqiao spoke, Lin Yu nodded in agreement. "That's only natural."

And after this exchange, the three of them smoothly integrated into the half-core circle of this escort team, following the convoy as it continued on its way.

Their destination, naturally, was the initially set "Willow Town."

Flying Knife, having witnessed Li Nian and Lin Yu take turns showcasing their social skills—especially Lin Yu's final act of seeing through Yue Zhenqiao's test—couldn't help but feel a bit optimistic.

"It seems the money spent was quite worthwhile!"

If they continued blending in like this, considering the "clear condition" was simply to reach "Willow Town"...

Then Flying Knife felt that achieving this "clear" was surprisingly quite attainable.

However, Flying Knife's rare optimism didn't last long before Li Nian reminded him once again of the cruelty of the [dungeon].

"Just as I suspected," Li Nian whispered to Lin Yu and Flying Knife as they mingled within the group. "This [dungeon] is indeed a Competition dungeon!"

"Our initial appearance at such a rendezvous point was precisely to let us infiltrate the escort team of the delivery side, using the team's identity to smoothly enter Willow Town."

"After all, if just anyone from the wilds could enter the town, then all human gathering points would have perished long ago!"

"And the remaining three players in our [dungeon], I estimate, have already infiltrated the 'rob the shipment' side."

As Li Nian analyzed, Lin Yu understood her meaning.

"I see... You mean, although the passing condition is 'reach Willow Town,' before we can get there, the threats we'll encounter, besides all the various chaotic elements of this world itself, also include... the other players who are robbing the shipment?"

Li Nian nodded.

"Correct. Since the opposing camp also has three people, they are likely similar to us in strength and Rank..."

"But there's no need to worry. We now have a unique advantage—we have already established a very mature trust relationship with the people of the escort team."

"I don't believe those three players have already reached a point of mutual trust with those bandit NPCs robbing the shipment!"