“What’s your take on the bandit problem in the Tian Nan Mountain Range?”
Ye Shuangluo asked casually while polishing his beloved sword.
“Ah… I think there are just too many bandits and robbers in the Tian Nan Mountain Range. The emperor could have sent troops to wipe them out long ago, but he hasn’t done anything. It’s really…”
His voice trailed off because he knew criticizing the emperor was a capital offense.
Seeing Ye Shuangluo’s calm expression, he sighed in relief. He was quite afraid of this boy who seemed a year or two younger than him.
Having followed his teacher to practice medicine and save lives, he had met many powerful figures in the martial world and could tell the difference between someone who had killed and someone who hadn’t just by their aura.
So, he was always cautious and polite when talking to Ye Shuangluo, fearing that one wrong move might get him killed.
But Ye Shuangluo didn’t care about his words. He wasn’t a native of this world and didn’t harbor any patriotic sentiments.
He stared blankly at the quest panel in front of him, lost in thought.
[Side Quest: End Killing with Killing
Quest Description: The Tian Nan Mountain Range is plagued by rampant banditry, with numerous bandits entrenched there.
For 20 years, countless civilians and merchants have perished, turning the Tian Nan Mountain Range into a forbidden zone.
Even merchants who dare to enter must pay exorbitant tolls, and less than one in ten make it out alive.
Bones have piled up into a mountain, and countless restless spirits wail every night, seeking redemption in vain.
To confront evil, you must be more ruthless than it. If they love killing, let them become part of your killing spree.
Use absolute violence and slaughter to stop their killing.
Minimum Completion Requirement: Kill at least 1,000 bandits, and slay at least one of the Sixteen Kings.
Quest Reward: Based on the number of bandits killed.]
…
This quest was undeniably difficult, and he struggled to find a solution.
The minimum requirement was to kill at least 1,000 bandits.
That’s 1,000 bandits! He didn’t have any area-of-effect skills and could only kill them one by one.
Even if it were 1,000 defenseless pigs, it would take him a long time to kill them all.
Ye Shuangluo shook his head. The game system really overestimated him by issuing such a side quest.
He looked at the endless, towering Tian Nan Mountain Range in the distance. Should he go in?
He was conflicted. He couldn’t forget that he had a main quest to complete. If anything went wrong and delayed the main quest, it would be disastrous.
Thinking of this, he asked, “Lin Xingchen, how many days until the emperor’s birthday?”
Lin Xingchen quickly replied, “Today is the fourth. The emperor’s birthday banquet is on the nineteenth, so about half a month.”
Half a month, huh?
Ye Shuangluo fell into a long silence. Seeing this, Lin Xingchen quietly stepped aside, not daring to disturb him.
“Sigh… the usual method.”
Ye Shuangluo took out a coin from his space backpack, a keepsake from his late father.
He tossed the coin into the air, recalling his father’s words.
“Ah Luo, if you ever face a difficult decision, why not flip a coin?
It’s not because it will make the right choice for you, but because in the moment you toss it, you’ll know what you truly want.”
Ye Shuangluo caught the falling coin, and the hesitation and confusion in his eyes vanished.
If he hesitated here and didn’t dare to accept the challenge, what right did he have to call himself a master of his own fate?
Although he had decided to take on the side quest, he wouldn’t rush in blindly. He needed to understand the situation first.
Thinking of this, he began to search for Lin Xingchen. Since Lin Xingchen had advised him to take a detour, it was clear he knew something about the situation inside.
“Miss Bai, here’s the dew I collected. Please drink some!”
Lin Xingchen handed a gourd filled with dew into the prison cart. Before the silver fox girl could move, the white fox girl grabbed the gourd and threw it out forcefully.
“Get lost! Who wants your dirty water? I wish I could drink your blood and eat your flesh!”
Lin Xingchen knew the two had grown up in the mountains, drinking dew and eating fruits since childhood.
Seeing the twins hadn’t had water for a day and looked listless, he had spent an hour climbing high to collect a gourd of dew.
It took two hours to collect, but only three seconds to spill.
Lin Xingchen smiled bitterly, picked up the gourd, emptied the dew, and said to the twins in the prison cart:
“Miss Bai, Second Miss Bai, you haven’t had water for a day. You can’t go on like this…
Second Miss Bai just reminded me that you might not be interested in dew anymore. What you really want to drink now is probably my blood.”
Hearing Lin Xingchen’s words, the silver fox girl in the prison cart suddenly opened her eyes.
She watched as Lin Xingchen used a dagger to cut his arm, letting his blood drip into the gourd.
Ye Shuangluo, watching from a distance, had a complex expression. He didn’t know how to react.
The cut was deep, and the blood quickly filled the gourd.
When Lin Xingchen handed the gourd back into the prison cart, the white fox girl didn’t throw it away this time. Instead, she eagerly grabbed it and drank deeply.
In her haste, some blood even trickled down her lips.
After drinking about half, the white fox girl paused and looked at her sister. Seeing her sister shake her head, she continued drinking.
Ye Shuangluo had thought the white fox girl was all talk, but she actually drank her enemy’s blood as she had threatened.
Human blood was so metallic, yet she drank it down. But then, she was a hybrid of human and beast; maybe her taste buds were different and she found it delicious.
Lin Xingchen, seeing his blood being drunk, was worried.
“Miss Bai, you should drink some too, or your body won’t hold up.”
“No need. I’ll drink the water the bodyguard gave us.”
Lin Xingchen wanted to say more, but Ye Shuangluo called him over, so he had to go.
Standing before Ye Shuangluo, Lin Xingchen nervously watched the boy sitting by the fire.
The boy’s hand rested on his leg, fingers tapping rhythmically on his knee.
“When I asked you about the bandit problem earlier, your answer was decent.
Now, tell me, what’s the situation inside the Tian Nan Mountain Range?”
“You are a bodyguard. You should know the situation in the Tian Nan Mountain Range better than I do. Why ask me?”
As soon as he said this, he regretted it. Since the other party asked, he should have just answered honestly, not dared to question back.
Ye Shuangluo didn’t speak, just looked at him coldly. In that moment, Lin Xingchen felt a sense of danger and quickly corrected himself.
“But since you asked, I’ll tell you what I know!”
He quickly squatted down, not daring to let the young bodyguard look up at him.
“The Tian Nan Mountain Range is plagued by rampant banditry, with many factions, but the real power lies with sixteen leaders.
They are known as the Sixteen Kings in the martial world, said to be towering giants with blue faces and fangs, and three heads and six arms.”
“Stop!”
Ye Shuangluo interrupted him, looking skeptical.
“Are you sure they all have three heads and six arms, and blue faces and fangs?”
Questioned by Ye Shuangluo, Lin Xingchen stammered, “Uh… that’s what the rumors say.”
Rumors, huh? Not very reliable, but not completely dismissible either. What if they really did have three heads and six arms, and blue faces and fangs?
Better be prepared. Ye Shuangluo’s tapping on his knee quickened as he asked again:
“How many bandits are there in the Tian Nan Mountain Range? Do you know?”
“Uh, not exactly. Every year, people who can’t find food or are fleeing crimes go in. Probably tens of thousands.”
Hearing this number, Ye Shuangluo fell silent. Although he had mentally prepared himself when he saw the minimum requirement of killing 1,000 bandits,
he was still silent upon hearing the actual number.
He suddenly understood why Lin Xingchen had some resentment towards the emperor when mentioning the bandit problem in the Tian Nan Mountain Range.
Tens of thousands of bandits, tens of thousands of desperados. How could the emperor let them grow unchecked?
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