Update Time: 2014-02-12
"Shengun Gege!" With a shout, Xiao Meng and Youxi appeared in Lin Zheng's line of sight. Seeing Xiao Meng appear, Lilith couldn't help but exclaim "Yi!" Lin Zheng's hearing was excellent, and he heard it, and he couldn't help but think, 'Could it be someone she knows again?' Hmm! Looking at Lilith, she's only about 20 years old, so she should still be a high school student, and it's really possible they're schoolmates. According to Xiao Meng, Youxi is quite famous in Dragon Garden, so it's not surprising that Lilith knows them!
"Good evening! Shengun Gege!" Xiao Meng said with a giggle. Lin Zheng nodded with a smile, then looked at Youxi again. Communicating with Youxi was really simple; one look was enough! Lin Zheng dotingly stroked Youxi's head, then introduced, "Let me introduce you, this is the Priest I just invited, named Lilith. Lilith, these are my two little sisters, Mengmei Guardian and..."
"Changsun Youxi!" Lilith said for Lin Zheng, clearly recognizing Youxi. Lin Zheng wasn't surprised, as he had already guessed that Lilith knew Youxi and the others. Xiao Meng, however, was very surprised and asked, "Sister, do you know Youxi? Are you also a student of our Dragon Garden?"
"Yes! Zhang Xiao Meng, fellow student!" Lilith blinked and smiled at Xiao Meng. Xiao Meng was instantly confused; Lilith even knew her! "Sister, who are you? Why don't I recognize you!?"
"Hehe!" Lilith proudly spun around, "Aren't I your family's Glasses Sis!"
"Ah!—?" Xiao Meng was greatly, extremely, utterly astonished! Instantly, an image popped into her mind: a big sister with dry hair, two braided pigtails, thick glasses for nearly 1000-degree myopia, and a 'retro' outfit. This was the Glasses Sis, the scholarly genius in her impression! But the person in front of her had smooth, flowing long hair, a youthful and beautiful face, and a devilish figure that made her so ashamed she wanted to find a crack to crawl into! She was practically every pervert's dream girl! Could this stunning beauty, who made her feel somewhat inferior, be that Glasses Sis?!
"Are you really Glasses Sis?" Xiao Meng still found it hard to believe. Seeing Lilith nod, Xiao Meng immediately rushed forward with a "Woo~~~", punching Lilith and crying out, "Sister, you're too much! It's enough that you're so smart, but you're also so beautiful! Boohoo! I don't want to live anymore!!"
"There, there! There, there!" Lilith patted Xiao Meng's shoulder to comfort her, but no matter how she looked, she had a smug expression. Lin Zheng couldn't imagine how big the contrast between Lilith's in-game and real-life appearance must be to make Xiao Meng lose her composure like that! What would she look like? Just as Lin Zheng was imagining Lilith's real-life appearance, Yang Qi also arrived.
"Hi—beauties, hello everyone!" Yang Qi greeted them with a Liu Mang-like tone as soon as she arrived. If it were a man, the others would have slapped him by now, but this person happened to be a great beauty, so the outcome was different. The girls just felt that this girl was a bit too unconventional! Very manly!
"Here—let me introduce you, this female Liu Mang is Hong Chen Yan Yu. Don't be polite with her, just call her Liu Mang!" Lin Zheng said with a curl of his lip.
"Don't listen to this little Linzi's nonsense!" Yang Qi rolled her eyes at Lin Zheng, then smiled at the three girls, "Sister, I'm just a bit enthusiastic and uninhibited. You'll understand my character after spending some time with me! Sister, I'm definitely a good person!"
Indeed! Lin Zheng nodded in agreement, convinced. That's right, after spending some time together, you'll know just how much of a Liu Mang she is!
“I believe in Sister!” Xiao Meng, this Ben Niu, was completely captivated by Yang Qi's appearance. “As soon as I saw Sister, I felt Sister was an enthusiastic good person!”
"That's right! Hehe! Little sister, you really have good taste!" Yang Qi said very proudly. Then she reached out and hooked Lin Zheng's neck, whispering in his ear, "I say, your taste is really good, kid! How come you always run into pretty girls!? Tell me, which one are you eyeing?"
"Go on!" Lin Zheng bumped Yang Qi's head and said exasperatedly, "Don't think of me as a Liu Mang like you!"
"How is this being a Liu Mang!?" Yang Qi said righteously, "It's natural for men to like beautiful women, isn't it?!" Then Yang Qi pretended to shiver, showing a frightened expression as she looked at Lin Zheng and said, "Do you like men?! No wonder! A great beauty like me lives with you, and you're not even tempted!"
Lin Zheng likes men? Lilith and Xiao Meng immediately looked at Lin Zheng with surprised eyes. Seeing this, Lin Zheng almost spat out a mouthful of old blood! He said exasperatedly to the two, "Do you two actually believe such nonsense?!"
"But Sister Hong Chen makes a lot of sense!" Xiao Meng said, blinking, "Sister is so beautiful, and you two live together, any normal man would have thoughts, right!"
"That's only if she's a normal girl!" Lin Zheng glanced at Yang Qi exasperatedly, "I had some feelings at first, but they were all destroyed by this female Liu Mang!" That's right, if he were a man, how could he have no feelings at all for a great beauty!? There was clearly a reason!
"Hehe! Little Linzi, you finally admit you're interested in Sister, huh?!" Yang Qi laughed proudly, "Don't worry! Since your sexual orientation is normal, Sister will give you a chance. Go ahead and boldly pursue Sister!"
Listening to Yang Qi's words, even a Ben Niu like Xiao Meng felt a bit off. This Sister Hong Chen, she seemed a bit unreliable! Hmm! Not just a bit, but very unreliable! Lilith, on the other hand, stared at the two of them, looking back and forth, occasionally letting out chuckles that only she understood. As for Youxi, her gaze remained fixed on Lin Zheng's face, seemingly unconcerned about anything else except Lin Zheng!
"Go dream your pipe dreams!" Lin Zheng reached out and tapped Yang Qi on the head, deciding not to continue this topic with Yang Qi, otherwise, even more outrageous things would come out of her mouth!
"Be serious! Let me introduce these few to you first!" Saying this, Lin Zheng pointed to Youxi and the other two, "The Mage is my little sister Youxi, this Ben Niu is Xiao Meng, and the Healer is Lilith! They're all top students from Dragon Garden!"
"Nice to meet everyone!" Yang Qi said with a smile, "Say no more, let's add each other as friends first!" Yang Qi generally doesn't add people as friends; she's a lone wolf, coming and going as she pleases. Of course, acquaintances are an exception! It was clear that Lin Zheng and these three beautiful girls would definitely be intertwined from now on, so his acquaintances would naturally become Yang Qi's acquaintances! So Yang Qi very readily added all three to her friends list!
After adding each other as friends, Lin Zheng briefly introduced the quest, enabled quest sharing, and then opened the map to check the quest location.
"My heavens! It's so far! We can't get there in less than an hour!" Yang Qi exclaimed, looking at the map.
"What's wrong with an hour? Are you not going then?" Lin Zheng said.
"Who said I'm not going! I'm just sighing!" Yang Qi said, giving Lin Zheng a charming glance, "Let's talk seriously! This quest is very difficult! So, we need to make ample preparations first! Lilith, do you have enough mana potions?"
Lilith looked at her inventory and said helplessly, "I only have two small blue bottles, the kind sold in stores! I don't have money to buy more! Potions are too expensive!"
"Two bottles are definitely not enough! Let's go! We'll head to the square; there are many players selling potions there. We need to make sure we have enough consumables!" Everyone agreed with Yang Qi's words. For an A-rank difficulty quest, how could they proceed without sufficient preparation!
"Freshly made Level 1 Spirit Recovery Pills, great for instantly restoring 200 mana! 20 silver coins each! Don't miss out!"
"Selling Level 1 cooking! Yogurt that restores 800 mana in 20 seconds! Only 10 silver coins each! Mages, come take a look!"
"Selling bread! Restores 1000 HP in 20 seconds, essential for grinding and PK! Everyone, come buy!"
...
"It's so lively!" Xiao Meng said, her eyes wide.
"Of course, all the stall vendors in Tianshuang City are here, so how could it not be lively!" Yang Qi laughed.
"Liu Mang! These potions are making too much money! A single Level 1 pill is 20 silver coins, it's robbery!" Lin Zheng said in surprise, listening to the players' shouts.
"Don't be so surprised, do you think life skills are easy to level up?" Yang Qi said, "Materials are very hard to find. Don't look at how expensive they're selling them for; each person isn't selling many!"
"I knew it!" Lin Zheng finally understood the situation. "If it were easy to make, everyone would be selling potions and getting rich quickly!"
"Of course! However, once players have their own Plantations in the future, potion production will increase, and high-level life skill players will still be very popular! Enough about that, let's hurry and buy potions!"
Since Lilith was a Healer, they could buy a bit less in terms of red potions. Lin Zheng and Yang Qi, who would definitely be on the front lines, each bought 20 Level 1 Ganlu Pills that instantly restored 400 HP, and 30 pieces of bread. The demand for blue potions was much greater! These were mainly for Youxi and Lilith. They bought 100 yogurts and 50 Spirit Recovery Pills, spending over 20 gold coins in total, which made Yang Qi's heart ache because she was the one paying for most of it!
"What's there to feel bad about? Isn't it all my money?!" Lin Zheng said grumpily. Indeed, he had given Yang Qi 40 gold coins. "At most, I won't ask you to pay it back, okay!"
"That's great then!" Yang Qi immediately started laughing, earning a harsh look of disdain from Lin Zheng!
"But seriously, selling potions really makes a lot of money! After this quest is done, I'm going to learn it too! I'll definitely be the one ripping people off, not the one being ripped off!" Lin Zheng said fiercely! This time, he had been ripped off badly too! He had psychological trauma!
"Great! Great! Then all our potions will be entrusted to Shengun Gege in the future!" Xiao Meng clapped her hands and cheered. Lin Zheng couldn't help but roll his eyes. Well, he hadn't even learned it yet and was already being exploited! He really had to consider whether or not to learn it!
Potions were plentiful! Equipment durability was checked and all full! Everything was ready! They could set off! So, the group left Tianshuang City and headed towards the quest map. However, as soon as they exited the city gates, Lin Zheng felt something was off. He quietly turned his head for a quick glance, then looked back at Yang Qi, and their eyes met. No doubt about it! They were being watched!
"What? We're being watched?" Xiao Meng asked, a little nervous.
"Yes!" Lin Zheng nodded. "I guess I was spotted when I accepted the quest. Damn it, they're really patient! Sticking with us until now!"
"Let's go! Ignore them, this Granny has never put such nobodies in her eyes!" Yang Qi said confidently. Indeed, as one of the top five experts in Tianshuang City, Yang Qi had that much confidence! Lin Zheng shrugged. He was also someone who feared nothing, so how could he put a few petty thieves in his eyes! Youxi was as unreadable as ever, and Lilith was also very calm. Xiao Meng, however, was scared to death; it seemed she hadn't experienced a PK incident before!
To reach Frost Crystal Cave, they needed to pass through the Tianshuang Forest north of Tianshuang City. Along the way, Xiao Meng also relaxed, ignoring the players trailing behind them, and chatted and laughed with Lin Zheng and the others. But after about 20 minutes of walking, Lin Zheng and Yang Qi stopped. It was time to deal with the trouble behind them! Otherwise, if they followed them to the quest map, it would be a pain in the ass! There was no one else around here, making it a good place for a silent kill!
Seeing Lin Zheng and his group suddenly stop, the players behind them knew they had already been discovered. They no longer hid and all rushed out. There were quite a few of them, actually 21 people!
"Damn! They really think highly of us! There are so many people!" Yang Qi said, a little surprised. Although she knew there were quite a few people following them, the number was just too high! "This is a bit tricky, damn! Why are these Pride Sword bastards again? This is endless! What should we do? Fight or run?"
"Fight!" Lin Zheng said firmly! It wasn't that he was being reckless; on the contrary, he decided to fight precisely because he considered the consequences! The other side had quite a few Archers and Musketeers. If they had managed to get out of their sight before being provoked, it might have been possible, but not now. If they ran and were chased, they would be finished! At least, Youxi and Lilith, the two cloth-armored professions, wouldn't be able to escape, so they had to fight!
"Clang!" Yang Qi drew her Black Crow Sword and whispered to Lin Zheng, "First, deal with their Archers and Mages, otherwise, if they unleash a volley, we'll be in trouble!"
"Xiao Meng, protect Youxi! Lilith, I'm counting on you for healing!" Lin Zheng said!
"Get ready! 3! 2! 1! Go!" As the countdown ended, Yang Qi instantly charged out, moving in a serpentine pattern, making it difficult for the enemy Archers to aim and shoot at him! Lin Zheng followed closely, taking advantage of Yang Qi's initial charge attracting most of the attacks, and quickly closed in on the enemy. The Pride Sword warriors immediately reacted, swinging their swords and blades at Lin Zheng. Unfortunately, Lin Zheng had already leaped to the side as their weapons were raised, avoiding the warrior's human wall. With a turn, he rushed behind the warriors! This exposed Pride Sword's ranged professions directly in front of Lin Zheng!
Seeing Lin Zheng rush up to them in no time, the Pride Sword Archers and Mages were both surprised and annoyed! "Damn it, one person thinks he can challenge so many of us! Are you looking down on us?! Brothers! Take him down!"
"How about another one?!" Yang Qi's playful voice suddenly rang out. Everyone just felt a blur in front of their eyes; this guy actually appeared in front of Lin Zheng, less than three yards from an Archer! This distance could be considered the ranged profession's Cordon ; without an attack range exceeding three yards, ranged professions facing melee warriors were like sheep facing fierce tigers! Facing the suddenly appearing Yang Qi, the Archer panicked and retreated, but a black light flashed across his throat, dealing 850 points of weak point damage, an instant kill!
"Damn it! When did this guy get over here?!"
"He used a skill, damn it, it was as fast as a teleport!"
"Why are you standing there stunned?! Go!"