Mei Mei and Shen Yue looked at each other and then Shen Yue explained, "How we ended up in jail… Hmmm… This… We also don't know what exactly happened."
"One second, the trainers were standing around, chatting with us and were very friendly but the next second things escalated quickly and they started calling us swindlers and cheaters."
"Without any sort of explanation, they immediately called for the guards and asked for us to be taken away."
"They were also very angry. Seemed genuinely angry."
"Hmmm… " Liam was speechless again.
What Shen Yue described seemed very unlikely to happen. Why would anyone go to the extent of imprisoning them without any sort of trigger? Especially, the training hall elders?
These people in the city had a different behavior than the trainers in town and only rarely interacted with players, but to get angered and punish them for no reason?
This did not sound believable at all.
"Was this really what happened?" Liam asked again, this time looking at his sister.
Mei Mei quickly nodded her head up and down. This was indeed what happened and they had not left out any details.
"Ok. It looks like we have nothing to worry about then." Liam relaxed a little. He had a small idea of what this might have possibly stemmed from.
Shen Yue's 'Charm' was a unique attribute. It probably had several advantages that would give her a lot of benefits compared to other players.
This was also perhaps why she was able to learn all the trade skills so easily. The NPCs were literally charmed by her presence.
But at the same time, something like this would have its own set of disadvantages as well.
So when the charm wore off, things changed. What these people experienced was probably some sort of backlash for seducing the trainers unknowingly, or well knowingly.
Liam did not want to give them a concrete explanation without first confirming this, so he didn't say anything for the time being.
"Let's first get out of the city and then have a detailed chat." He reached out into his inventory and took two long black cloaks, handing one each to the two girls.
"Henceforth, I think it's best if you both cover your faces when walking around."
"Ah… do we have to?" Mei Mei checked the weight of the cloak on her hand and did not look pleased.
"Yup. It's better this way. I recently made some enemies and you guys also seem to have some special ability to attract trouble. So this should at least give one layer of protection."
The two nodded their heads and wore the new longer cloaks.
In the beginning, they were not too happy with it but when they saw that the cloaks were rare items that gave a good boost to their attributes, their eyes lit up and they happily donned them on.
Their carefree attitude made Liam sigh and he chuckled helplessly. He did not want to linger around the prison any longer and started walking away.
"Ok. Let's get out of here. I have some gifts for you both."
"Huh? Gifts? What did you bring brother?" Mei Mei's face beamed. It only took her a second to forget the past several hours of misery.
Liam smiled and patted her head. "Not here. When we are outside, I will show it to you." Mei Mei nodded with a smile and the two of them walked side by side.
Shen Yue as well walked behind them, her gaze fixed on the man's sturdy back, eying him curiously.
His clothes seemed extremely worn out and there were smudges of blood and soot littered on them as if he had participated in several tough battles and struggled hard.
Just what had he been up to? She wondered while a small shy smile surfaced on her lips. For some reason, the person in front of her felt extremely attractive right now.
He gave the feeling that he was a sturdy mountain that she could depend on no matter what.
Shen Yue immediately became embarrassed. She put aside these kinds of thoughts in her mind and caught up to the two of them.
The group did not stop anywhere else in the city and directly headed outside to the forest area. However, the outskirts of the city were still pretty crowded.
So Liam continued walking until they reached the closest high-level area, the verdant plains.
There were several ferocious beasts that roamed in this territory and all of them were in the level 30 to 40 zone.
So not many people dared to come here even though this area was quite close to the royal city. Liam as well chose this area for this exact same purpose.
Also because of the hills scattered around amidst the lush greenery, he thought that this place was very ideal for his demonstration.
"Ok. This should do it." Liam hummed contently.
"Why did we have to come so far, brother? This place is seriously making me nervous. I feel like I am being watched by something in the bushes."
Mei Mei nervously looked around, using her both arms to hug herself.
But her big brother did not look too concerned about that. In fact, Liam casually ruffled the girl's head and smiled. "He He. It's good. You should hone these senses. They will be very helpful."
"Eh! How are you joking in this situation? What if a bunch of Level 40 beasts surrounds us right now? We will all be dead in a second."
Mei Mei looked around anxiously.
Because of Liam's repeated warnings about dying, a subconscious fear had been instilled deep in her heart and she absolutely did not want to die.
"Brother, how about we go back a few miles? I saw a bunch of crocodiles. They are only Level 20 beasts." She tried to plead with him.
In reality, both of their Levels were still under 10, but Level 20 crocodiles were better than Level 40 panthers. So she suggested this.
"Hmmm… I didn't know that you were such a scaredy cat. You don't even trust your brother? You don't seem to be interested in your gifts also?"
Liam continued messing with her. This was a normal feeling every low-leveled player had when standing in a higher-level zone, so he didn't worry too much about it.
"Ah. I want the gifts." Mei Mei hurriedly tried to take back her words, but Liam was faster. "In that case, I guess I will just give Shen Yue the gifts."
He took out one of the cursed rings from his inventory and casually passed it on to Shen Yue who was standing silently by their side.
She curiously opened her palm and saw what Liam had given her, only to be immediately shocked.
A ring? Shen Yue's breath hitched in her throat.
On her palm was a small metal ring. It was just a simple ring without any gems or engravings or any special luster to it.
However, to her, it looked very special.
She gulped and looked up to see Liam's expression but he was calm and relaxed as usual, continuing to mess around with Mei Mei.
Was he proposing to me? Her mind became restless and she stood still, blankly staring at the ring.
Seeing her like this, Mei Mei hurriedly asked. "What is the gift, sis Yue?" She tip-toed and walked over to her to take a look as well.
And as soon as she did, just like Shen Yue she also became shocked.
Both of them were in similar wavelengths and had jumped to the same conclusion. They stared at the ring as if they were seeing a ghost.
"Huh? Why are these two reacting like this?"
He hadn't even explained anything or taken out the main item and their reactions were already like this?
Liam wrinkled his nose and snapped his fingers in front of the duo.