After Feng Bujue’s group passed Ye Hai, they walked down the road for about half an hour and reached the entrance to Chang Lin Town. Along the way, Feng Bujue had been analyzing the situation within this scenario and discussed how to deal with it with his teammates.
In terms of power… based on the fighting prowess of that blue-robed elder, the martial experts in this scenario were undeniably very strong. If the players got into a fight with them, they would have lives to lose. But the players had their own advantage as well, like skills and equipment. These things were probably supernatural items in this world. Even for experts like Ye Cheng or Xie San, being shot by a gun without wearing an armor would lead to certain death.
But it was Feng Bujue’s belief that under normal circumstance, it was best not to cause any altercations and exposed their advantages too early. Because this was a scenario generated in sleeping mode, the time required to complete this scenario might be very long, so the players would need to spend their time there for a very long time.
Undeniably, the key to this scenario was still the ’fight’. The scenario would not have ended this momentous fight before it even started. Bai Dian mentioned ’the fight in three days’ in the introductory cinematic, and this was an obvious hint. Players who noticed that would take note of it.
They waited for another three hours, and the sun came up. The ’first day’ officially started. The day of the fight fell on the third day. Assuming that Ye Cheng and Xie San planned to have the fight at 7 pm on the third day and would not do anything before that, there were still around sixty-five hours till the fight.
That night, after Feng Bujue exited non-sleeping mode and lay down in the gaming hub, the time was about 00.10 am. Not counting the time needed to prepare the scenario, it was about 2 am then in real time. According to the situation of the scenario, if they wanted to complete this scenario, it would end at around 7 am in real time. If there were no accidents, they would be playing this one scenario throughout the night.
“So… it has been decided. I am the master of Broken Sword Chahitsu, and you are all my guests.” Feng Bujue walked to the town entrance and confirmed the setting one last time. “Try not to get into arguments with anyone, and do not pull out your guns unless necessary. Modern weapons are our trump card. If we use them once and are witnessed by others, people will know how to evade the gunshots.”
By then, the five reached the ruins of an old wall built from wood and bricks. The town entrance looked very simple. It was built next to a cliff, and three large words were carved on the mountain wall—Chang Lin Town.
The words were written vertically, and the tallest point was several meters from the ground, and the lowest point was at one’s eye level. The characters themselves were about a meter long and as wide as a person’s shoulder. Those with martial prowess would know with one glance that the characters were not gouged out with tools or carved using blades, but they were written using a finger as a pen. Essentially, Qi gathered around the finger, and the writing was completed in one stroke.
The three words were straight, concise, and upright. It exuded a presence of vigor and boldness. The senior who had written this must have been a powerful character, so powerful that the two blade masters might not even be their match.
Of course, this was written at the age when Chang Lin Town was first built. The senior would have passed away, but their feat was left there to inspire future generations.
“Oh, we’ve arrived.” Xiao Tan borrowed the moonlight and noticed the name of the town on the cliffside. “This is strange. Didn’t the introduction say that this is just a small town? Yet, the carving of the town’s name is so eye-catching and inspiring.”
“What, did you think only an illegal armed organization like Hua Guo San Sui Lian Dong (From Journey to the West) could have their name carved on the mountain side?” Feng Bujue joked.
“Even though I don’t get all that…” Atobe-sama interrupted, “these words don’t look like they’re carved, right? Could it be that they were the work of an expert gouging them out with their blade?”
“Eh! Now that you mention it,” Xiao Tan concurred, “perhaps it was one of them who came to witness the fight purposely left this at the entrance to scare the other members of the martial world who arrived here.”
“No.” Passing Rain denied that calmly, and she was still as succinct as always. Xiao Tan and Atobe turned to her, but it did not look like she was going to explain at all. She turned around and used the back of her hand to touch Feng Bujue’s shoulder.
“What? Do you have social anxiety?” Feng Bujue looked at her.
Passing Rain used a chilling gaze to zero in on Feng Bujue. There were no emotional changes to her face, but that only worked to increase the pressure on others. “No.”
Laughing Soul seemed to have noticed something, and she burst out laughing.
“Fine, I’ll explain it.” Feng Bujue shrugged before turning to Xiao Tan. “The words on the cliff are definitely not recent. Look at the cracks on the stone and the moss. They are both proof that this is from some years back. And regarding why they’re carved here… perhaps that person is the one who gave this place its name?”
He paused like something just dawned on him. “Hmm… interesting, perhaps… it is not because of this fight that Chang Lin Town became so crowded but due to the secret hidden at this town that this fight was decided here.”
“Hey, someone over there seems to have noticed us,” Laughing Soul suddenly said and used her finger to point at the village entrance. The group turned to look that way, and around thirty meters from them, they saw a person sitting on the ground. It was Feng Bujue who led the way. After all, he was the most proficient with his words, he had the quickest reaction, and he was the most effective during negotiation.
After walking through the broken gate, the five officially entered Chang Lin Town, and the system announcement came.
“Current quest changed. Main quest updated.”
In the menu, ’enter Chang Lin Town’ had a tick next to it, and the new quest appeared. “Investigate the truth behind the duel.”
Seeing this quest, a curse immediately burst inside Feng Bujue’s heart. F*ck!
For him, this was far more troublesome than ’go to the old temple on the northern side of town to get to the bottom of the truth’ because ’the truth behind the duel’ could mean anything. Perhaps it was related to the government or the haunted occurrences at the village. Perhaps Ye Cheng was an alien or Xie San and Ye Cheng were a couple…
Who knew what kind of conspiracy was at work? Since the direction of the quest was so vague, it technically depended on the players on how to advance.
When he was thinking, Feng Bujue had already reached the person sitting on the ground. At this distance, he could see much clearer. It was an old beggar, about the same age as Ye Hai. There was dirt on his face and holes in his shirt. In one hand was a piece of meat, and he held a gourd filled with alcohol in the other. He drank and ate while watching Feng Bujue’s group. When Brother Jue got near, he opened his lips to say, “These few days, quite a number of people came from the small road, but this old beggar recognized all of them.”
He burped and munched on the meat, “But today is a strange day. I don’t recognize any of you. Haha… Ye Hai, that old fart, why would he allow you bunch of babies to come in here?”
“I am his illegitimate son,” Feng Bujue said seriously.
“Pfft!” The old beggar almost choked to death. He coughed so violently that tears burst from his eyes. When he recovered, he widened his eyes and asked, “What did you say?”
“Haha… I was just joking with you, senior.” Feng Bujue gave the standard greeting. “I am the master of the Broken Sword Chahitsu, Feng Bujue, and these are my friends. They…”
“Haven’t heard of you before.” The old beggar cut him off. “Seeing as you still know your manners, I’ll give you some advice. Go back now. Don’t enter the town to get yourself muddled in these brackish waters.”
Feng Bujue naturally would not leave. With a smile, he politely asked, “And senior, you are…”
“Oh?” The old beggar showed a confused expression, “You don’t know who I am?” Then, he waved the gourd at Feng Bujue. It was a red gourd and the pinkie of the beggar’s right hand was missing.
Feng Bujue thought [Hong Qi Gong? But that impossible… Hong Qi Gong’s gourd is much bigger and the broken finger should be the index finger…]
“Erm… Junior has a weak memory. I don’t leave my chahitsu often and forgive your junior’s offense…” Feng Bujue was interrupted again. “Ha ha ha…” The old beggar guffawed. “You bloody kid really doesn’t know me! Ha ha ha!”
The old man was naturally not Hong Qi Gong but he was the leader of Beggar Clan. People called him the King of the Beggars, and his name was Meng Jiu. seven years ago, Meng Jiu lost to Xie San and had one of his fingers cut off, everyone knew about that. Some of the ’diviners’ claimed that Meng Jiu [Jiu= 9] had the disaster of nine and that battle was a proof of that. The worst thing was this claim… gained wide approval and traction, it was as if people didn’t know how to think… because if one was to follow this logic, Xie San [San =3] should only have three fingers.
As the leader of the biggest clan in the world and his battle with Xie San, there was really no one on Jiang Hu that didn’t know him. According to rumors, some beggars chopped off their own pinkie to scam others by taking on his identity.
“If you’re not acting dumb, then…” Meng Jiu suddenly stopped laughing and grabbed Feng Bujue’s wrist. He placed his fingers on Feng Bujue’s arteries. The old beggar’s previously blurry eyes had a flash of sharpness. “Hmmph… You do not have inner energy flowing through you at all. How did you manage to pass Ye Hai? Speak… How did you get here? Did you discover some hidden track?”
Just as he finished, a flash of cold steel occurred and the blade was on Meng Jiu’s neck. Just as Meng Jiu made his move, Passing Rain who was closest to them made the reaction. She thought Feng Bujue was being attacked so the alerted girl instantly unsheathed Holy Seal and lunged forward. The blade glinted and shone dangerously.
“Let him go.” Her words were short but powerful.
Meng Jiu appeared unfazed on the surface but internally he was shocked, he did not anticipate this at all. If he was prepared, he wouldn’t end up in this state. Meng Jiu thought, [This girl is so young but she moves so fast, she is probably even faster than ’Blade of Falling Plum’ Lu Qingning who is known for her Qing Gong. But… from how I see it, none of them appear to possess internal energy. Their breathing is no different from a common person, they are supposed to be weaker than the weakest disciple at the Beggar Clan…]
Of course, he was not privy to the presence… of a ’player’. Passing Rain didn’t need to master internal energy or Qing Gong, she could achieve this speed based on her physical quality, so how old she was, and whether she had internal energy was not that important.
Feng Bujue captured something in Meng Jiu’s expression and he came to a conclusion. “Senior.” He still kept the same smile on his face. “We can talk this over peaceful, please do let me go first.” Then he turned to Passing Rain and shared a look. The latter hesitated before moving the blade away.
“Hmm… now this is interesting.” Meng Jiu’s eyes on Feng Bujue had changed. Feng Bujue’s smile now became something that hid knives in Meng Jiu’s eyes. “Looks like I’ve misunderstood…” Meng Jiu let go of Feng Bujue and slumped back down to the ground before adding, “It’s false that you do not possess internal energy but you hide it very well.”
Feng Bujue was very talented in his observation skill and memory. Even the smallest action would not escape his gaze. “You flatter me, senior… Even though I don’t know you, but…” Then his eyes moved downward.
Meng Jiu didn’t assume his earlier lazy pose but sat with his legs crossed underneath him. Feng Bujue used his eyes to point this out and added, “I’ve heard a thing or two about Beggar Clan’s kung fu. They combine the best of every school’s lower body technique and came to a kung fu of their own.” He then turned to Meng Jiu’e face. “Since senior refers to himself as ’an old beggar’ and didn’t possess any hint of shame when saying that, combining that with senior’s appearance… forgive your junior’s stupidity, but I believe even if you are not the leader of the Beggar Clan, you’re at least one of the clan elders.”
Even though Meng Jiu didn’t grasp what Feng Bujue was saying completely, he still looked at Brother Jue with an understanding expression. He slowly put down his drink and food and put his hands together at the young man before him. “Erm… Chahitsu master, I am King of the Beggars, Meng Jiu, current clan leader of Beggar Clan.”
“Oh! Your name precedes you! This is my honour!” Feng Bujue said shamelessly. It was clear that he had not heard of this name before or else he would have recognized the old man earlier.
It would be impolite for Meng Jiu to take offense after all, he did underestimate Feng Bujue earlier. Furthermore, Feng Bujue so far hadn’t said anything that was truly offensive. At least on the surface, he sounded polite and gracious.
By then, Meng Jiu already treated Feng Bujue as an impressive character and the basis for that was two: One, since Feng Bujue managed to pinpoint that he was assuming a defensive pose from a changing of his sitting stance, then it meant that he knew kung fu and an expert that was familiar with powerful kung fu.
Two, the female warrior had shown quite a mastery of the blade and it was achieved at such a young age… Either she was a natural genius or she had mastered some kind of powerful mantra, but she listened to the man’s order. So this proved that Feng Bujue was also an expert or he was her husband.
“This old man has misspoken earlier…” Meng Jiu began. Now it was Feng Bujue’s turn to interrupt him. “Aiz~ Senior, you shouldn’t have said something like that.” He waved his hands. “It’s your junior’s fault for being so limited in knowledge so of course it is not senior’s fault.”
Luaghing Soul who was several meters away sidled to Xiao Tan and whispered, “Our leader sure is shameless, from beginning until now, there was not even a single word that was sincere but his expression was still so natural…”
Xiao Tan’s lips twitched. “Huh… You think he’s being shameless now? You haven’t seen nothing yet…”