"So what do we do? We already accepted the quest."
"Accepting a quest doesn't mean we have to do it, anyway there's no failure penalty, we can just abandon it. The freedom in this game is so high, we totally don't need to follow the quest route to play.
The current situation actually has two paths we can take.
One is to believe Ginkgo Fairy's words, take a gamble, and rescue her. If it really works out, maybe she'll give a super awesome reward, and who knows, maybe it'll directly unlock a magic class. But if Ginkgo Fairy is a bad guy, maybe there won't be any reward at all, and we might even get wiped out by her directly.
Even if she doesn't wipe us out, those villagers in the village might wipe us out, provided Ginkgo Fairy hasn't slaughtered the village.
Besides, the difficulty of this quest definitely isn't low; in case we can't finish it, it's very possible we'll bite the dust.
The second path is to report this matter to Village Chief Huang Shi Dao. Huang Shi Dao will definitely give us some rewards, but they definitely won't be as exaggerated as what Ginkgo Fairy promised.
I figure they'll just be average equipment, skills, and coin rewards."
I Want to Become Immortal asked doubtfully, "Then which one do we pick?"
"Duh, of course we pick the second one.
If this were an ordinary game, we could consider the first one. Just in case we win the gamble, we'd take off.
But we're playing a death game. The biggest trap of playing this kind of hardcore mode game is wishful thinking. Never gamble with your life. Winning ten or a hundred times doesn't matter, because as long as you fail once, there's no show left to run.
So our top priority is to seek safety. Let's go, let's go report to the village chief."
Hearing this, I Want to Become Immortal felt a bit reluctant. "But, but... What if Ginkgo Fairy is telling the truth? What if she really can resurrect my big brother?"
Xiao Jie was speechless. He had explained things so clearly, why couldn't this kid understand?
Right, this fellow was wet behind the ears, probably hadn't experienced the beatings of society yet, and was still quite naive. He might even still be a student.
"Like this, you transfer me one hundred thousand yuan, and I have a way to directly turn that one hundred thousand yuan into ten million."
I Want to Become Immortal didn't believe it. "You're lying, right, Brother Following Wind? How could such an outrageous thing be true?"
Xiao Jie chuckled. "It is a bit outrageous, huh, but what if it's true? Why not take a gamble? If you win, you can get ten million, and if you lose, you've only lost one hundred thousand anyway. So why not transfer one hundred thousand yuan to me and give it a try?"
I Want to Become Immortal fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "I get it. Let's go, let's go find the village chief."
Xiao Jie thought to himself that it was alright; he wasn't beyond saving.
A few minutes later, at the village chief's house—
The two recounted the sequence of events to Old Village Chief.
Upon hearing this, Huang Shi Dao was immediately taken aback. "What! There is such a thing! I never expected that legend from five hundred years ago to actually be true..."
Old Village Chief wore a look of shock mixed with nostalgia. Xiao Jie thought to himself that they really had dug up a big secret.
"May I ask, Old Sir, what is going on here?"
"Sigh, everything must start from five hundred years ago. There has been a legend passed down from generation to generation in Ginkgo Village. Legend has it that five hundred years ago, an immortal once came into this valley. He told the village chief of that time that a great disaster was about to descend upon the world, and if they wished to protect the local villagers from calamity, they had only to act according to his methods.
He planted a ginkgo tree right in the middle of the village, and said that this ginkgo tree was an immortal seed brought down from the heavens. Once grown, it would be able to protect this tiny plot of Ginkgo Village, and when the great disaster arrived, it could keep the villagers safe and sound.
However, once this ginkgo tree left the environment of the Immortal Realm and was tainted by the Mortal World Turbid Qi, after a hundred years it would surely transform into a demonic pestilence and bring disaster. Therefore, he reinforced a seal with talismans to prevent it from breaking free, and had the villagers tend to it day and night.
Only a few years after that immortal left, a great disaster truly befell the world. The gods fell, all living things withered, people lost their souls and turned into soulless walking corpses, and beasts lost their wits and turned into demon beasts and demons.
Eight or nine out of every ten villages and towns everywhere were destroyed as a result.
Yet our Ginkgo Village, thanks to the protection of this immortal tree, preserved a shred of vital energy.
Now several hundred years have passed.
The fairy the two of you encountered in your dream must be that demonic entity the ginkgo transformed into, setting up a deception in order to escape the seal.
The two of you must by no means listen to or believe that demon's lies and commit a grievous error."
Hearing this, Xiao Jie thought to himself, So that's how it is. That Ginkgo Fairy's words weren't entirely lies; she really did come from the heavens.
However, the rewards she promised were obviously all bullshit. She was merely a tree demon and not even an immortal herself; how could she possibly help him become immortal?
If they really let her out, nine times out of ten she would slaughter the village.
Old Village Chief continued, "The ginkgo tree on the mountain must be a clone spawn of the ginkgo tree in the village, used as a tactic to cling to life. If this tree demon breaks the seal, our Ginkgo Village will likely face a catastrophic disaster. For the two brave warriors to be able to report this matter to me is truly commendable."
Xiao Jie said, "So that's how it is! What should we do next?"
I Want to Become Immortal, however, wanted to speak but hesitated.
Old Village Chief smiled and said, "No matter. Now that we know its scheme, it naturally becomes easy to handle. We simply need to chop down that ginkgo tree spawn on the Back Mountain. Would the two brave warriors be willing to make a trip? If you can accomplish this matter, there will surely be a heavy monetary reward.
Since that ginkgo tree is a spawn catalyzed by the tree demon's spiritual energy, it will definitely yield some top-grade materials upon harvesting. If the two of you can bring the materials back, this old man is also somewhat versed in artifact-crafting techniques and can forge a magical artifact for each of you."
System Prompt: Triggered serendipitous encounter quest [Old Village Chief's Request].
Quest Description: Old Village Chief recounted the origin of Ginkgo Fairy to you both, and asked the two of you to go chop down the tree demon spawn of the ginkgo tree in order to prevent future troubles.
Quest Objective: Slay the tree demon spawn.
Quest Rewards: 1,000 copper coins, Wood Attribute Magical Artifact × 1.
A magical artifact! This reward was really quite good, but...
Xiao Jie looked at himself and I Want to Become Immortal, thinking to himself that the two of them were level one and level two respectively; taking on a quest boss made the difficulty a bit high.
"Old Sir, I wonder if this tree demon spawn is dangerous?"
"No need to worry. That is merely a puppet evolved from the tree demon's roots, not even counting as a clone. At most it possesses a tiny bit of demonic power, making it no different from ordinary trees. The two of you might just be able to fight it.
If you aren't confident enough in your own strength, I can also personally write a letter and dispatch a few militiamen to accompany the two of you. But an emperor doesn't send starving soldiers to battle; militia participation also requires a reward, so the two of you's remuneration will probably have to take a discount.
Of course, if the two of you truly are unwilling to take that risk, I can also have Captain Tie take charge of this matter. For the two of you to provide this intelligence is already commendable, and afterwards there shall naturally be a heavy monetary reward, but as for this magical artifact, I'm afraid..."
A dialog box suddenly popped up in front of Xiao Jie's eyes.
Option 1: Old Village Chief, there's no need for trouble; the two of us are enough for this matter.
Option 2: Old Village Chief, it would still be best to dispatch a few militiamen to go with us, just in case.
Option 3: The two of us have already done our utmost in this matter. This is of great importance; Old Village Chief should still send Captain Tie to lead people and handle it.
Before you continue