“Hello, granny — here are the wolf eyes you wanted.” Beneath the crook-necked tree, Ye Tianxie traded the ten wolf eyes into the strange old woman’s hands, and the quest-completion chime promptly sounded in his ears… but that “mysterious” quest reward nearly made Ye Tianxie curse out loud.
“Ding… You have completed the quest ‘The Sealed Old Woman’s Request.’ Quest reward gained: 10 experience, 1 silver.”
Ten wolf eyes, and all he got was 10 experience and a single silver coin. Ten wolf eyes would fetch 2 silver even sold to a shop… Ye Tianxie badly wanted to ask: Old woman, could you possibly be any stingier?
“Thank you, young man. These wolf eyes will be a great help to me. Young man, I can see you’re very warmhearted, and very brave — would you be willing to gather 100 more wolf eyes for me?” The old woman lifted her face, dry as tree bark; though her mouth spoke formatted words of praise, there was not a shred of praise in her eyes, only a near-hollow indifference.
“Ding… The Sealed Old Woman asks you to help her gather one hundred wolf eyes. Quest type: Ordinary. Time limit: None. Quest reward: Unknown.”
“Accept.”
The old woman’s second request actually put Ye Tianxie’s mind at ease. Clearly, this was a chain quest, and the reward for a chain quest’s first stage was often stingy enough to ignore, while the rewards climbed higher and higher as the chain went on. If this was a multi-stage chain, would the next one ask for two hundred wolf eyes? And after that? Three hundred?
Ye Tianxie couldn’t be bothered with idle talk and headed straight back into Fierce Wolf Valley to go on slaughtering fierce wolves. The moment he set foot in the fierce wolves’ territory, the wolves that caught the scent of a stranger came swarming up en masse — then, under two sweeping strikes of the Hour of Eternal Fate, turned into a ground full of dead wolves.
Two strikes, invariably fatal — and area-of-effect over a two-meter range at that. Even a six-man leveling squad averaging Level 5 couldn’t match Ye Tianxie’s attack efficiency right now. Gradually, after ten-odd minutes, the fierce wolves that had swarmed in packs became ones that lunged at him one at a time; another ten-odd minutes, and Ye Tianxie was charging at the fierce wolves loitering in the distance; another ten-odd minutes after that… the surrounding area was already empty, not a fierce wolf to be seen, and the one that finally managed to respawn was cut down by Ye Tianxie before it could even find its footing. He’d single-handedly booked out the entire not-so-small valley.
“Ding… Your level has risen to Level 3. HP +10, MP +10. You have gained 5 free attribute points.”
Counting the three hundred-some fierce wolf eyes in his backpack, Ye Tianxie at last stepped out of Fierce Wolf Valley once more — and, most unfortunately… or rather, most unfortunately for the Red Leaf Pact, they ran headlong into him yet again.
The same five as before. The Huaxia Region had a hundred thousand novice villages in all, and given the Red Leaf Pact’s original player count of over a hundred thousand, having even five of them assigned to the same novice village was no small coincidence. Red Leaf Iron Wall, at the head, composed his expression and stepped up to the blank-faced Ye Tianxie. “Xietian, we’ve gathered the full 100 gold. Once the deal’s done, we’ll throw in a Level 3 two-handed weapon as well — and our Red Leaf Pact will recognize you as a friend.”
100 gold — a figure nothing short of astronomical to them right now. To ward off any complications from dragging things out, they’d paid an enormous cost to scrape together the hundred gold in the shortest possible time, then rushed here first thing. Fortunately, to their relief, they’d found Ye Tianxie right away.
“Red Leaf Pact? Are they supposed to be impressive?” Ye Tianxie grinned, his voice and expression not bothering in the least to hide his contempt.
Red Leaf Iron Wall’s expression darkened, then smoothed over at once, and he said mildly, “Our Red Leaf Pact may not measure up to the Divine Domain Pact or Wings That Shroud the Sky, but we’re not people the average person can provoke either. We have a hundred-some thousand brothers who stick together through thick and thin — even Divine Domain and Wings That Shroud the Sky, we’ve never once feared. Before long, we’ll trample them underfoot!”
Ye Tianxie had naturally heard of the Divine Domain Pact and Wings That Shroud the Sky. He stepped forward twice, right up in front of Red Leaf Iron Wall, and held out his right hand. “100 gold. Hand it over.”
Red Leaf Iron Wall stood unmoved, saying coldly, “Money and goods change hands together. Our Red Leaf Pact has never had the habit of paying first.”
“Neither have I.” Ye Tianxie drew his hand back, eyeing him from half-lidded eyes. “Your Red Leaf Pact’s credibility and conduct leave me without the slightest desire to trade with you at all. Either hand over the money, or get lost.”
That biting mockery and disdain darkened all five Red Leaf Pact members’ faces. Across their past gaming careers, when the words “Red Leaf Pact” were spoken aloud, who wouldn’t yield a little in envy and deference, or even flee at the mere sight of them? When had they ever been so scorned… And what’s more, the other side was just one man, while they were five.
The Apprentice Warrior had already raised his two-handed sword, only to be stopped again by a gesture from Red Leaf Iron Wall. Their first priority right now was to obtain that strange weapon Pact Master Red Leaf Raging Wind wanted — this was no time to act on temper… If they could, they’d have long since chosen to simply cut him down and loot every piece of gear off him — but in their earlier clash, all four of them had been dealt with by this one man in the space of ten seconds. To complete the task their Pact Master had assigned, they could only endure.
“Fine…” Red Leaf Iron Wall drew a long breath and said slowly, “It’s true we were in the wrong earlier. We can pay you the gold first. Xietian, I trust you won’t make the unwise move of setting yourself against our entire Red Leaf Pact. Strong as you are, with the strength to take on all five of us alone — behind us stand a hundred thousand Red Leaf Pact brothers. Whether to be friends or enemies, we trust you’ll make the wisest choice.”
After the concession came an enormous threat — a threat backed by the Red Leaf Pact’s hundred thousand players. A threat like that was enough to cow nearly any player… but this time, he’d plainly picked the wrong target. Some people are born unafraid of threats — on the contrary, they’ll take one as the perfect excuse to kill.
Red Leaf Iron Wall stepped up and traded the hundred gold to Ye Tianxie. When the deal-success chime sounded in his ears, a hundred glittering gold coins promptly appeared in Ye Tianxie’s backpack. The smile on Ye Tianxie’s face turned markedly brighter. He half-turned away and said offhandedly, “All right, I’ll take the money. You can get lost now.”
(End of Chapter 20)