Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Plentiful Rewards

Black Wolf Machete (Fine)

Category: Blade

Requirements: 8 Strength

Damage: 5 – 7

PS: This machete contains a bit of black-iron. Needless to say, it’s very good at chopping.

Ye Cang and Zhang ZhengXiong who were tangled together stared blankly for a moment. They glanced at eachother and… “Rock, Paper Scissors!”

“Scissors!” Ye Cang.

“Rock!” Zhang ZhengXiong.

“Fuck!” Ye Cang was losing his mind.

Zhang ZhengXiong excitedly grabbed the machete from Lin Le’s hands. In his right hand was a machete, his left hand a handaxe. He said with a tranquil expression: “My life is complete…”

Ye Cang dismantled the werewolf’s body and obtained: black werewolf leather, Vyers’ wolf head, black werewolf meat, black werewolf heart.

“Brother Lil’White, we won’t be eating this thing… right?” Lin Le said feeling a bit nauseous.

“Depends on the situation. The path of a professional player isn’t so easy.” Ye Cang said seriously, as he recovered the corpse.

“…” Zhang ZhengXiong and Lin Le felt their scalps become numb.

Little Jesse felt things had calmed down outside, he slowly crawled out from under the roots. He saw the body of the monster and gratefully said: “Thank you everyone.”

Ye Cang humbly smiled and looked towards the ancient tree. “This is the tree?”

“Mm! It’s this forest’s oldest tree. It’s a symbol of health…” Little Jesse patted the dust off his clothes, held onto his handknit hat, and faced the ancient tree with his eyes closed.

Zhang ZhengXiong looked at Jesse who was frightened just a moment ago yet still wanted to help his grandmother by praying for her health. He turned his head to look at the absent-minded Ye Cang. Lin Le, who was also like a child, put his two hands together and prayed: “I wish the world will be peaceful. I wish Brother Lil’White and Brother Lil’Xiong can live healthy and happily. I wish that, during the next test, we can successfully bomb the command center. I wish…”

“…” Zhang ZhengXiong, seeing Lin Le enter his endlessly spouting wishes mode, gave a sigh as he faintly smiled.

Ye Cang looked at the falling leaves and recalled his own grandmother holding his hand as they went to pray at a temple.

“Buddha. Bless Little Cang so that he can find a beautiful wife in the future, and live happily…” She prayed for him among the dazzling gods. Back in the game, Ye Cang silver pupils followed the moonlight as it penetrated the foliage. He saw, hanging off a branch of the big tree, a 10cm large fruit. Despite it being just a fuzzy shadow, but when the moonlight slipped through, it revealed a glossy portion. Ye Cang aimed his bow.

“Shoo~!” The arrow slipped past the branches and hit the stem holding the fruit. He reached out and caught it as it fell.

Fruit of the Holy Oak Tree (珍品): The Holy Oak Tree only produces a fruit every 50 years. Exceptionally Precious. Edible. Eat it directly to permanently gain 1 Intelligence and Wisdom, and have a chance to learn a nature spell.

Ye Cang looked at the fruit in his hand and carefully put it away. He knew how precious attribute points were, this thing should be used carefully to maximize it’s value.

Zhang ZhengXiong didn’t say anything. Lin Le and Jesse were still praying.

“I’m hungry.” Jesse said when he finished his prayers. His little face looked towards Ye Cang with expectation.

“Perfect, Lele and Lil’Xiong need to heal a bit too…” Ye Cang walked towards the deformed metal pot and slowly picked it up. He looked at Jesse and smiled.

“Thank you big brother!” Jesse’s naive little face smiled back.

“…” Zhang ZhengXiong thought back to the werewolf’s reaction and that smell… his whole body went numb. Lin Le’s prayers became somewhat incoherent.

Even though the iron pot was deformed, but it was still useable. Ye Cang effortlessly threw together a meal.

“Don’t tell me this is what we’re eating…” Jesse looked at the ink green product in the iron pot, taking a few steps back and pouted.

“Little kids shouldn’t be picky!” Ye Cang held him and dragged him back.

“That’s right!” Lin Le said, putting his hands on his hip.

“You don’t want to know how it tastes when it gets cold.” Zhang ZhengXiong broke out in cold sweat.

“Grandma! Save me! Waaaa~”

“Ah~ So gross!”

“Ah~!!”

In the quiet forest, Ye Cang carried an unconscious Jesse on his back. Who knew if he had fallen asleep or passed out from the stink. The three of them walked back the way they came.

“I remember my sister use to carry me home like that…” Zhang ZhengXiong looked at Jesse and absentmindedly smiled.

Ye Cang didn’t reply, slowly continuing forwards.

“I saw your character’s name…” Hearing Zhang ZhengXiong’s words, Ye Cang shook his head. He scratched the back of his head and gave a little smile. “Don’t worry about me, brat…”

Zhang ZhengXiong nodded and didn’t continue speaking. That’s right… It’s already in the past. He wrapped his arm around Lin Le and showed of his ring. Lin Le pouted, angry.

“Qin… Xue… ¹” Ye Cang softly whispered.

Really New Village.

Waiting at the ranch, unable to sit still, was Rica. Seeing Ye Cang and the others and Jesse who was on his back, her tears began to pour out.

“Grandma Rica, we found Jesse!” Lin Le yelled, waving his torch from far away.

“Thank you all! Thank you all! I don’t know how I can ever repay you…” Rica took the sleeping Jesse, and continued to bow with tears in her eyes.

“Congratulations! Completed a mission unique to Really New Village: ‘Entrusted by Rica, Find Mischievous Child – Jesse’. You receive a random class specific skill, 500 experience, and your fame with Rica becomes revered.”

“Congratulations! You’ve obtained the class specialization – Heart of a Knight (Beginner Level – Passive): +1 to all attributes, crowd controlling effects are reduced by 15% with 5% chance to break free, movement speed +5%, reflex +3.”

“Bro, I got the specialization – I Feel Your Pain (Gain 30% of Constitution as Wisdom, Spell Focus +5). Now my wisdom isn’t too low!!” Zhang ZhengXiong excitedly said.

“Eh, mine is the arms dealer’s Knockoff Alchemy? Knockoff Alchemy? It sounds crappy…” Lin Le pouted. It didn’t even add attributes.

Rica brought the three of them back to the general store. She put Jesse down on a crude bed and tucked him in. She looked at the three of them gratefully. “Although I’m not rich, nor am I learned, but I know to return kindness and favors…”

Rica opened her cabinet and took out a coin pouch. In the shabby pouch was a few gold coins and some silver coins.

Ye Cang shook his head. “Thank you, however this is enough for a reward…” He reached out his hand and grabbed a batch of shoddy arrows. His other hand grabbed a new iron pot. Taking these, he walked out of the general store, turned back and said with a smile: “Remember to not let Jesse run too far, the forest is really dangerous…”

“I’ll take some spices then. It should make it taste a bit better…” Zhang ZhengXiong grabbed some salt, pepper, and chili.

“Then I’ll… I’ll grab some empty bottles. Granny, take care…” Lin Le stuffed some empty bottles into his bag, and politely called out to Rica before rushing to catch up to the other two.

Rica stared blankly. She looked at the empty grocery store and at the sleeping Jesse. She slowly put her coin pouch back. Her wrinkled face smiled and a tear twinkled in the corner of her eye. “Three fools…” She jogged out the door and saw the three of them disappearing into the distance. She yelled at the fading figures: “Remember to come here if you need to buy anything!!”

“Got it!!”

“20% discount?!”

“Will we get a membership card if we go again? I want to collect points…”

“Scram! You think you’ve spent enough?!”

The voices slowly became more distant.

Rica returned inside and saw Jesse struggling in his sleep.

“Grandma! Save me! The white haired guy is a demon!! Save me! I don’t want to eat that disgusting thing!!”

“…”