“Grandma, when is the food ready?” A little girl with black pigtails tried to stand on her toes while peeking at her grandmother making food.
“Soon, take the plates for me; thanks, sweetie.” An elderly woman handed her granddaughter several plates and then returned to making food.
The walls had many photos of her family, including an elderly farmer, a beautiful middle-aged woman, malnourished-looking middle-aged man and the little girl.
The square windows showed a wooden barn and fields of wheat and corn. It was excellent weather for farm work and a picnic.
“Working hard, I see.” A gentle laugh came from the entrance of the kitchen. The beautiful black-haired middle-aged woman leaned against the wall while watching her adorable daughter put plates on the table.
“Lily, mind looking out for food? I have to go invite the farmer to eat!” The elderly woman took off her apron and gave it to her daughter. Her daughter smiled and stirred the food while gently smelling the scent of delicious food.
The elderly woman took her slippers and put them on. She had her sights set on the front door, and was planning to go invite her husband for the dinner.
Knock, knock—a sound of hurried knocking reverberated across the house.
The beautiful woman stopped stirring the pot. Her face turned pale as she turned to look at the front door.
“F-father wouldn’t knock, right?”
“G-get your daughter and Mick. Use the back door.” The elderly woman grabbed a sturdy-looking baseball bat and approached the front door.
“Mom, what about you?” Lily grabbed the hand of her daughter and moved with her in a hurry upstairs.
Her daughter looked confusedly around, wondering why she was being dragged away before she put all the plates on the table.
“I will be fine…” The elderly woman showed a weak smile and then turned to the door. She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.
There was a black-haired young man standing outside. He was relatively tall with a toned body. It was clear that he was powerful! 𝑜𝒱𝓛xt.𝐂𝔬
“W-who are you?” The elderly woman asked while clenching the baseball bat behind her back. If needed, she would sacrifice herself to buy time for her family to escape.
“You don’t know me, but I visited here yesterday, asking for directions. I met an elderly gentleman here.” Ambrose said and removed his hood, revealing his face to the elderly woman. “I am bringing dire news.
“I visited Tonshen Village, and the players who had occupied that place are coming here.”
“W-what?!” The elderly woman shook in her slippers. It was the worst possible news for them.
“It takes them at least an hour to reach this place.” Ambrose said and looked around the indoors but couldn’t see anyone. “You should leave before they come. They will raze this place to the ground and kill everyone.”
“M-my husband is working on the fields!” The elderly woman took a step out of the house, planning to rush to her husband, but then Ambrose grabbed her by the shoulder.
“I will go get him. Gather all the stuff you can carry and then leave.” Ambrose turned around and began walking towards the far-away fields.
A distant sound of shouting rang in his ears as the family living in the farmhouse began to gather their belongings and prepare to leave.
Ambrose climbed up a small hill and saw the large fields that covered an area of several hundred meters.
In the middle of the fields, an elderly man was busy checking out the condition of the tomatoes.
A while later, the elderly man heard approaching footsteps.
At first, he thought it would be his wife, inviting him for dinner, but when he turned around, he saw someone he didn’t expect to see again.
“Y-you, why have you come back? You couldn’t find Tonshen?” The elderly man slowly rose to his feet. It looked difficult for him, as he wasn’t at his peak years anymore.
“I found it, and I am bringing some bad news.” Ambrose said and sighed. “The players who massacred the villagers of Tonshen are coming here.”
“W-why?” The elderly man took a step back out of shock.
“For territory, and I suppose everything on these fields would give a large amount of profit for them.” Ambrose said.
The larger groups were more in need of silver than solo players.
“T-this farm has been with my family for generations!” The elderly man looked around the fields with an unyielding gaze. “I-I can’t abandon it just because of one threat.”
“Is the farm worth dying for?” Ambrose frowned deeply. “You are a man. It is your duty to protect your family. You want to abandon them or die with them? It’s not worth it!”
“I-I…” The elderly man looked at his trembling hands and shook his head firmly. “No, I won’t let them die!”
“They are already packing their belongings and preparing to leave. However, I know for a fact that your wife wouldn’t leave with you.”
The old man’s eyes filled with tears. “I-I understand; I will leave with them.”
Ambrose nodded and followed after the old man as they left the fields and returned to the farmhouse.
The old woman had already prepared a wagon for them with a brown-maned horse. Lily, Mick, and their little daughter were filling the wagon with all the important items.
After seeing the old man return to the farmhouse, his wife immediately hugged him and shared whispers. They both didn’t want to leave, but the other option was death.
Ambrose gave a helping hand with the heavier items.
Soon, the wagon was nearly full, with only a few spots for them to sit.
The old man took the reins and took the driver’s seat while his wife sat beside him.
Lily, Mick and the little girl sat inside the wagon.
The old man looked towards the black-haired young man. If he hadn’t come for them, they would most likely have faced certain death. Their first experience with players was the incident at Tonshen Village.
It left a sour taste in their mouths, as they thought all the players were murderous with zero remorse.
This proved them otherwise.
“What will you be doing?” The old man asked.
“I will be leaving shortly.” Ambrose replied with a small smile.
The old man sighed in relief and nodded. Then he asked. “What is your name, young man?”
“Ambrose.” He replied with his in-game name.
“Ambrose… I will remember that.” The old man then shared a glance with his wife and nodded.
He used the reins, and the horses began slowly moving down the dirt road. They were heading in the opposite direction from Tonshen.
There were several nearby towns where they planned to take shelter and find out where they should go next.
After the wagon was out of sight, Ambrose walked into the farmhouse and saw ready-made food boiling in the pots. He moved the pot off the stove and turned it off.
Taking a small spoon, he tasted the food and exhaled silently.
“Delicious indeed.” Ambrose then placed the spoon back down and glanced at one of the pictures on the kitchen table.
The family had grabbed most of the family photos, but it looked like they missed one.
“They are coming here…” Ambrose bit his lip and looked around the house with a thoughtful expression. “They are definitely going to be cautious. But they can’t possibly be expecting me.
“If they aren’t idiots, they would be using the party to their advantage. I wouldn’t be able to ambush kill them, but there are other ways of eliminating them.” Ambrose rubbed his chin and smirked. “Hmm, I had a good idea.
“It could work, and I still have plenty of time before they arrive.” Ambrose laughed, as he had a wicked idea on his mind. “First Zahhak, now them. I am making a lot of enemies these days.”