Chapter 64: I Want to Know

Yue Qiang was literally going to blow his top.

From the beginning until now, every main quest felt like there was some conspiracy happening behind the scenes. He retraced his memories once in his mind, and discovered that he had never received any filler quests such as hunting ten wild boars, skinning diseased wolves and making wolf pelts, sending letters and running errands etc. It was as if there was an invisible string that tied every quest together.

It was only when he saw the female corpse's face that he realised that this string did not involve just the main quests, but the fitness coach he met in real life as well.

When Yue Qiang asked for the surname of the last generation's Juzi of the School of Mo, he already guessed that this female corpse had a connection with the fitness coach who taught him his skills.

The reason for that was likeness.

Luqiu Duanyi's appearance was uniquely beautiful, and she had a super recognisable figure to complement that appearance as well. It was very difficult to forget someone like her after the first meeting.

He could not say why, but the picture on the beast skin was extremely realistic and lifelike. It did nothing to conceal the female corpse's beauty at all. Both the female corpse and the fitness coach was extremely beautiful, but the problem was that they were too much alike.

So here's the question. Were they the same person? Could it be that anyone who died inside the game would escape into reality? Or

Yue Qiang felt that his brain was getting confused.

He asked Ai Qian, "This surname truly is rare alright. Can you explain it in detail?"

"Luqiu is a surname from Zou State. Zou State had not existed for long, and it was quickly eliminated not longer after it founded itself. That is why this surname is so rarely seen these days. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Yue Qiang answered casually.

It was now absolutely imperative that he accepts this quest. While it might seem that the mysteries he needed to solve had increased in numbers as the main quests progressed, he had acquired just as many new information as well. With enough information, it was only a matter of time until he deduced the whole picture.

This was just like solving a difficult Sudoku puzzle. At first, one could only fill in the numbers tentatively through calculation and deduction, but once a third or so of the blanks had been filled and confirmed to be correct, then it was simply a matter of finishing the rest of the blanks smoothly in one go.

Ai Qian continued to speak, "I've made ample preparations for this operation. I spent a lot of money and outfitted an entire squad of soldiers with the latest armor, and I paid them enough to deal with all sorts of unexpected circumstances when the need arises. Young sir Yue, you are a tiger hunting brave, and your strength appears to be much improved from the last time I met you, not to mention that you've actually been to the Great Camp personally. You are the core strength of the entire operation. For this, I've even hired many, many beautiful women from the streets. At first, they were unwilling and reluctant when I initially took them in, but they were quickly subdued by my charm the moment they saw me. Right now, I am feeling both physically and mentally great. We can go right away."

Yue Qiang glanced once at the disheveled bed behind Ai Qian. It would seem that a certain function of his was greatly improved after consuming all kinds of pills. He shook his head slightly and got ready to depart.

Behind him, Yin who had been quiet all this time suddenly picked up the exquisite beast skin picture from the table and said, "A School of Mo's disciple is both disciplined and frugal. According to my knowledge, they would not accumulate wealth. If I may venture a question, are you sure this information is correct?"

Ai Qian paid no heed to Yin at first.

Yin's current clothing was funny and completely out of place, and she was wearing the kind of helmet that could cover up her face entirely. She wasn't tall either, so she had no presence at all following behind Yue Qiang. But the moment she spoke, Ai Qian's eyes immediately lit up like a pair of light bulbs.

The first reason was because her voice was too pleasant to hear and attractive. The second reason was the sound logic behind her words.

The School of Mo might not be poor, but they were not a particularly rich organisation either. So where did this coffin filled with treasures that could rival a state's wealth come from?

"The information is absolutely authentic, and the location just the same. I can guarantee this." Ai Qian said, "As for the reason, perhaps the School of Mo had always been accumulating wealth in secrecy in preparation for some great movements? Of course this is just my guess, but there is no doubt that there is a treasure hidden inside the School of Mo's Great Camp."

"If you are this sure, then I will refrain from saying any longer. Now, my second question." Yin asked again, "Just why did you wish to obtain this treasure? You are already extremely rich. Obtaining this treasure is at best adding to what you already have in the first place. Moreover, in the process of obtaining this treasure, it is entirely possible that you will be met with the School of Mo's legendary traps and devices. You are a trader. Every choice you make is calculated on the basis of gains and losses. I wish to know the real reason that you would choose to do business at a loss."

Ai Qian was utterly shocked by her words.

At first, he was simply surprised to learn that the person following behind Yue Qiang was a girl. Then, he was surprised to see Yin deducing so much information just from his words alone.

"Alright." he said, "To tell you the truth, I'm just trying to find some excitement in life."

Ai Qian circled around the square table once and took a close look at Yin first. Her eyes were the only thing that was exposed outside the helmet, and it was even shut tight. After staring for a while, all he could garner was that her skin was tender, and her eyebrows were picturesque. Then, he circled to the opposite side of the table and said to Yue Qiang,

"Do you remember? I traded you for 50 Progress Points. Now that I think back, I really shouldn't have used it to unlock my memories. I might as well have exchanged for a few Libido points with the old man at the village." He shook his head and sighed with a rather regretful look, "It's a waste; it was all a complete waste. All there's in the memories were pain, and the more I recall, the more painful I felt. Now it has even developed to the point where it became an actual headache. In that case, I may as well seek out some excitement and do something grand before my memories are completely restored."

"Really, I just want to find some excitement in life." he concluded, "Right now, the only thing that could excite me is bigger wealth and prettier women."

He stretched out a hand and waved away the air in front of him as if he would chase off that painful feeling. He said to Yin, "Speaking of which, I am very curious about you. You are different from those normal people on the streets. In fact, you are rather similar to me. You seem to know a lot of things as well."

"And you." Ai Qian arrived in front of Yue Qiang once more and asked as if he was talking to himself, "You seem to be different from all of us. You give me a very strange feeling, and yet I cannot exactly say what it is that's so strange."

Yue Qiang did not say anything.

You feel that I'm strange? Well, that may be because that I am just a player.

Of course, he wouldn't reveal this on his own. After all, while Yin might be able to guess that he was from a world outside the game, it didn't mean that everybody else could.

"Before we depart, we need to consider carefully what we want to exchange from the village's old man. So let us meet up at the entrance later." Then, Yue Qiang led Yin away from the luxurious house.

Along the way, he asked the girl, "Why?"

"What why?"

"Why did you choose to come with me and explore the School of Mo's Great Camp? You have no reason whatsoever to go."

"What about you then?" Yin did not answer immediately and countered with a question.

Yue Qiang gave it a moment and answered seriously, "The world I'm in has undergone an extremely weird transformation. I'm sorry, but I would like to keep it from you a little while longer. Anyway, I found a clue about this transformation from the beast skin picture Ai Qian showed us. I want to know what's going on, and I want to know how to solve it."

He chose his words carefully and gave her his answer. Then he asked again, "So, what about you? You knew that it's dangerous, and with a head like yours, even if you can't recall what happened in the past, you should be able to live relatively safe and sound relying on your intellect alone."

"Just like you, I wish to know." The girl said seriously.

"It may be very dangerous, and I know that I may become as painful as Hui Shi, or slightly mad like Ai Qian. But I still want to know."

"I just, want to know." she said.

Firm determination leaked from her indifferent tone.

There was a lot to exchange from the old watchman.

Take equipment for example. Among them, Yue Qiang saw an extremely famous sword called the 'Zhanlu Sword', which was said to be forged by the master artisan Ou Yezi and was of peerless might, capable of piercing all defenses and inflicting wound damage with every hit. The Progress Points needed to exchange it was 500 points.

Although just like before, it did not have any attack power value, the special effect of inflicting wound damage with every hit alone was worth the price.

Since the game had employed a near realism combat system, if an attack by this sword hits a vital spot, then it might well result in an instant kill! An instant kill that ignored HP no less!

Previously, Yue Qiang had used this exact trick to kill a ferocious tiger. If this sword was really as it stated, capable of inflicting wound damage with every strike, then it was definitely more than worth its price.

Other than weapons of extreme power such as this sword, there were also more average weapons such as Bronze Sword and Ring-Sword, and there were all kinds of armors and accessories as well. After viewing for some time, he concluded that his iron rod might be free, ugly, and incomparable to those godlike weapons, but it was still much better than the average ones. One might say that it was extremely cost effective as well.

So he decided not to change his equipment for the moment.

Then he briefly glanced through skills several times. He immediately saw Yue Maiden's Sword Style at first glance, and the swordplay description was pretty domineering: This swordplay was a war type swordplay which the Yue State's Yue Maiden had learned while staying together with a white gibbon. It was used to kill generals and pierce horses, and was useful no matter what the circumstances. It would take 300 Progress Points to learn it.

Besides that, there were many more skills that existed only in legends. Most of them were extremely expensive, and they normally cost more than 100 Progress Points. God knows how many months or years would it take if he could only farm those Progress Points required from the Zhao Soldiers.

He even found the choice to level up Heart skills! However, Progress Points were not the only requirement to improve them. He needed the item 'Inheritance', and the option would only be available in half a year's time.

Yue Qiang etched the memory into his heart and continued scrolling downwards.

Suddenly, he discovered a very interesting skill.

Hunyuan Jin LVL 1: A fair and moderate skill. Hunyuan Jin allows the conversion of a particular gauge's points into another gauge. This includes the 'Life' gauge, the 'Rage' gauge, the 'Stamina' gauge and the '???' gauge. The conversion ratio is dependent on the gauge value and skill level. This skill requires the Wisdom attribute with a value of 12 and above. Total Progress Points required is 50 points.

It could neither increase one's stats, nor increase a gauge's max value. At first glance, it was nearly useless, and did not need much Progress Points.

However, Yue Qiang's eyes had lit up upon seeing it.

This skill fitted the current him just nicely.

To begin with, he now had two gauges, the Stamina and the Rage gauge that enabled him to use skills. However, he did not actually have many skills, and all of them depleted the Stamina gauge only. He did not even have a skill that uses his Rage gauge. So although Rage did enhance the effects of his skills, it was a little wasteful. But if he learned this Hunyuan Jin, then he would be able to fully utilise this Rage gauge.

More importantly, with Hunyuan Jin, he would be able to convert all of this gauges into HP!

This was a Healing skill in disguise!

Although he could guess that the conversion ratio of the other gauges to HP would not be too high, but any skill that could increase one's HP in the battlefield was an absolutely good skill.

If he acquired Hunyuan Jin, then his basic system of skills would almost be complete.

He would have multiple gauges, skill power buffs, healing, and rapid gauge recovery. It could be called a positive cycle where his combat power became 1+1 resulted in far more than just a value of 2.

Alright, let's get 'Hunyuan Jin' then!

Yue Qiang paid out 50 Progress Points.

There was neither a golden flash over his body, nor any kind of protective halos that surrounded his body. Just like when he learned the skill 'Cockroach' from before, there were no special effects whatsoever.

The old watchman left his recliner and walked towards him smilingly. Then, he extended a hand and slapped Yue Qiang's head once!

A system message quickly followed: You have learned the skill Hunyuan Jin LVL 0.

This way of skill learning was extremely odd. Also, why was it level 0?

Yue Qiang then read the message on the screen once more and opened the character screen. He discovered that the skill's technique was LVL 0 and not LVL 1. There were also something like a proficiency level behind the skill, stating that he could only level up this skill through repeated practice or combat experience.

He wasn't too worried about this though. He had accumulated quite a bit of combat experience after the previous few battles. It was just enough to level up Hunyuan Jin to level 1.

As you know, it wasn't easy to learn a skill in this game. Tan Xiong once said that he must train hard if he wishes to increase his strength, and if he somehow did it without harsh training, then he most likely ran into someone from Green Cow Village.

Wasn't this old man a watchman from Green Cow Village?

After casually passing down a skill to Yue Qiang, the old man then handed him a rectangular bamboo piece. The bamboo piece was thin, long and as translucent as jade. There were some patterns etched on the bamboo piece that he did not understand.

System Message: You have acquired the rare item 'Inheritance'.

Inheritance: A bamboo token used to authenticate one's identity. Using the key item 'Inheritance' will grant the player one chance to enter and study in Green Cow Village.

"You've returned this stubborn cow's nose ring, and although it rightfully belonged to me in the first place, I am not without blame for that incident. Now that I've given you an 'Inheritance' from the village, we no longer owe each other from now on." the old man said.

Yue Qiang put the bamboo token with great care into his backpack. When he reconvened with Ai Qian and his ten armored soldiers and then departed towards the School of Mo's Great Camp, he was still thinking about the old man.

The watchman of Green Cow Village Market, he said? He seemed to be nothing more than a trading NPC with an overly comprehensive trading content. But if there was one thing he did not understand, it would be why the system had not provided a more official-looking trading spot. If the NPC's existence was purely for the sake of providing a trading option to the player, then the developers could have put him at the starting village even if they chose not to omit this function from the system overlay, couldn't they?

Perhaps this old man wasn't under the system's jurisdiction then.

If that really was the case, then the fact that the old man could acquire so many equipment, rare attribute and items on his own meant that his strength must be immeasurable, not to mention that he was nothing more than a watchman. Just how powerful was the village behind him, Green Cow Village?

While pondering these questions, the group of people reentered School of Mo's Great Camp after a long march.

The second they entered the cave, Yue Qiang, walking at the foremost of the group, immediately paused on his feet.

The cave was different from he last remembered.

The time the duo came back and forth the cave did not exceed a day, and when they left, there were at least twenty or so bloodied Zhao Soldiers and female tiger littered around the area. The scene had been ugly to say the least.

But now, the entire cave appeared incredibly empty.

All of the corpses; both human and tiger were completely gone.

The cave was extremely clean.

Not only did the corpse completely vanish, even the dark red blood that flowed everywhere seemed to have grown a lot fainter. The blood traces on the ground was so faint that it was as if the slaughter had not happened yesterday, but ten years ago.

It was as if the corpses had been burned by some super high temperature flames and evaporated completely.

And this had all happened in just a day.

That was not all. When he went outside the cave again and checked the surroundings closely, he neither saw any corpses nor any marks that indicated that the corpses were dragged away.

Yue Qiang looked at Yin once, and the latter shook her head at him. The same question flashed across their hearts at the same time.

Where are the corpses?