Investigate the Mysterious Ancient Tomb

"Following Wind, we got loot!"

I Want to Become Immortal said excitedly. He had not held out much hope for the Ghost Servant dropping anything. In other games, quest monsters like this generally did not drop anything good, at most a quest item.

He had not expected much at all.

But in this game, killing monsters in the wild was far too difficult, and there were only a few monsters to fight in the village. So even a piece of trash would count as profit. He had not expected an actual drop.

He was instantly overjoyed.

Although it was only a quest item, a quest meant rewards, and a quest meant opportunity.

In games, difficulties were not scary. What was scary was not even being given a chance to overcome them.

"Take it. You earned it," Xiao Jie said.

Just then, Hunter's Wife's voice came from the bed.

"Honey, what happened to me? I feel weak all over, like I've slept for years. Oh, I'm so hungry. Could you get me something to eat?"

"Alright, alright. What do you want to eat? I'll make it right away."

"I just want the meat soup you stew."

Yang Baichuan excitedly went to stew meat for his wife.

Xiao Jie stared at the familiar scene before him, feeling somewhat dumbfounded. The NPCs in this game had always seemed like real people to him.

But now that he was seeing yesterday's dialogue repeat itself, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of dissonance.

Fine. It was still a game, after all.

System Notification: Quest completed: [Expel Evil Spirits]. Your reputation in Ginkgo Village has increased by 80 points. Current reputation: 280/300, Friendly.

After Yang Baichuan finished stewing chicken soup for his wife, Xiao Jie was finally able to speak with him.

"Master Yang, the evil spirit has been eliminated. Your wife will be fine from now on. By the way, my friend picked this up while eliminating the evil spirit."

After Xiao Jie finished speaking, I Want to Become Immortal hurriedly handed the Talisman to Yang Baichuan.

"Uncle Yang, please take a look. I picked this up when I killed the evil spirit just now."

"What? Such a thing happened? Let me see it!"

Yang Baichuan looked at the talisman paper, and a grave expression suddenly appeared on his face.

"I've seen this symbol!" With that, he began reminiscing slowly.

"That was three years ago. While hunting in the forest, I accidentally discovered a sneaky fellow digging up graves on East Mountain. As a Hunter of Ginkgo Village, it was my duty to safeguard the village. Seeing how suspiciously that person acted, I followed him all the way to an ancient tomb deep within the valley. The mysterious person slipped into the ancient tomb and vanished, and there was a symbol just like this one on the tomb's stone door.

But it was already dark at the time, and I had no idea what dangers might be inside that ancient tomb. I did not dare investigate deeper by myself.

I had originally planned to gather some people and investigate it a few days later.

But the next day, my wife fell ill. For the next three years, I was busy seeking treatment for her and forgot all about it. Ah, seeing this thing finally reminded me."

After hearing this, Xiao Jie thought, Damn, this triggered an important storyline.

Three years ago—wasn't that when the game launched? In other words, no one had triggered this quest until now.

Following the principle that the harder a quest was to trigger, the better its rewards would be, the follow-up content of this quest definitely had plenty of value.

He immediately chimed in, "Clearly, that ancient tomb is hiding some secret. Perhaps this Ghost Servant was sent by that mysterious person."

I Want to Become Immortal hurriedly added, "Yes, yes, yes, it must be so."

Yang Baichuan's face darkened as well. "Damn it! If that's true, I won't let that bastard off!"

But then he looked troubled and turned to I Want to Become Immortal. "Brave warrior, my wife has only just recovered, and I cannot leave her side for the moment. Would you be willing to help investigate this matter?"

I Want to Become Immortal immediately accepted the quest. "Leave it to me."

At the same time, Xiao Jie heard the system notification.

[System Notification: Your teammate has triggered the quest [Investigate the Mysterious Ancient Tomb] and shared it with you. Accept? Yes/No.]

Xiao Jie decisively accepted, but Ye Luo unexpectedly declined.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in investigation quests, so I won't be joining."

Xiao Jie thought, Seriously, miss? You're passing up something this obviously good?

"The rewards for this kind of quest are definitely generous. Opportunities like this are hard to come by. Let's form a party so we can watch each other's backs."

But Ye Luo shook her head. "Sorry, I have my own gaming habits. I don't really like teaming up with people." As she spoke, she stepped aside, clearly showing that she did not want to participate.

There was nothing Xiao Jie could do about that. This girl had high Perception and a high level, so she would certainly be useful for an investigation quest like this. Unfortunately, she was a lone-wolf player.

Still, it did not matter. This quest had no time limit. At worst, he and I Want to Become Immortal could go grind monsters and level up first, then tackle it once they were stronger.

They had already accepted the quest when Yang Baichuan suddenly seemed to remember something.

"This time, it was thanks to the three—uh, two of you that the evil spirit was eliminated. Yang thanks you both."

Xiao Jie said, "What about becoming Hunters?"

"Naturally, there is no problem. From now on, you are my disciples. You may come seek my guidance anytime."

"Then, Master, when will you teach us how to become Hunters?"

"No time like the present. We'll do it today. Follow me." As he spoke, he led the two of them outside.

Xiao Jie thought that this game really was still a game. Though it looked incomparably realistic, there were still patterns to follow.

Yesterday, because he had not completed the quest, Yang Baichuan had refused to teach him no matter what, claiming that he needed to care for his wife.

Today, the moment the quest was completed, he immediately stopped caring about his wife.

Yet when he had issued the investigation quest just now, he had again claimed that he needed to care for his wife and could not leave the house. He really was all about changing his tune whenever it suited him.

But that only made Xiao Jie feel more at ease. He was far too good at games that operated according to game logic.

If it truly operated entirely according to real-world logic instead, he would probably feel rather uncomfortable.

As they spoke, the two had followed Yang Baichuan to the archery range in the backyard. Ye Luo had not left either and watched from afar.

Yang Baichuan (Hunter): "To become an outstanding Hunter, the most important thing is archery. Today, I will teach you the techniques of using a bow.

The first key to archery is a steady hand. Only with steady hands can you shoot where you aim. If your hands are unsteady, you cannot shoot accurately, so after drawing the bow, you must release the arrow before your strength runs out.

Second is aiming. Shooting may seem simple, but learning how to aim is no easy task. An arrow does not travel in a straight line when fired; it follows an arc. Therefore, you must judge its trajectory in advance.

Third is strength. The stronger the bow, the more strength is required to draw it. A strong bow naturally fires powerful arrows. If you wish to kill fierce beasts, great strength is essential.

Come, fire a few arrows and give it a try."

[System Notification: Learned Bow Weapon Mastery (Beginner). Obtained temporary weapon [Training Bow], [Training Arrows ×10].]