This Man Will Easily Get Beaten Up If Let Out

On the way to the Forge Room, Lu Bei was over the moon, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from curling upward.

When good fortune struck, the spirit soared. Everyone looked pleasant, and everything brought joy.

The sky seemed bluer, he himself seemed more handsome, and even the philosophical aura of the grunting and shouting from the training ground had become more alluring.

Being able to accept quests was tremendously significant to Lu Bei. It directly affected how he planned the rest of his life: would he grow stronger by relying on himself, or by clinging to a rich woman's thigh?

Granted, he could continue refining pills, leveling up with experience to obtain Skill Points. Once his Alchemist level rose, he could advance to Advanced Alchemist, Grandmaster, and Great Grandmaster, refining higher-grade pills and gaining even more experience.

But doing quests was the fastest way to gain experience.

Still a novice account, Lu Bei already had a Main Profession, a Secondary Profession, cultivation methods, skills, and countless other bottomless pits that consumed Skill Points. It could be imagined that relying solely on experience gained from pill refinement to fill those holes would be like a cup of water trying to put out a cartload of fire—a narrow goat trail with no end in sight.

Quests were the broad road to prosperity.

At this moment, Lu Bei was walking the righteous path. How could he not be ecstatic?

As expected of a major county under prefectural rule, a future player's Novice Village. Coming here had indeed been the right choice!

No wonder the general told me to keep an eye on him and not let him run around. This guy doesn't seem very smart.

The guard saw Lu Bei's foolish look of taking two steps, lowering his head, and secretly chuckling three times, and silently passed judgment. Once they reached the Forge Room, he found a bearded blacksmith and explained the situation.

The bearded blacksmith was tall and powerfully built, with curly whiskers and a bare upper body. His bulging muscles were dotted everywhere with countless little scars.

He was the blacksmith responsible for repairing damaged armor and weapons in the camp. He had four apprentices and belonged to the logistics department, so he was very courteous toward the guard.

When he heard that Lu Bei was Wei Mao's relative, he thumped his chest loud as a drum and declared there was No Big Problem. Before long, the general's tender-skinned, delicate-fleshed cousin would obediently return to his room and sit still.

It was a familiar scene. Lin Bohai had also sworn the same way back then.

The difference was that Lin Bohai had accepted red envelopes, while Wei Mao's army had none of that filthy business.

Going through the process a second time, Lu Bei regained the feeling of playing a game. Ignoring the NPC bearded blacksmith, he rummaged through the room and found a copy of Basic Blacksmithing Skill.

Experience ↓

Skill ↑

New Secondary Profession acquired.

Blacksmith Lv.4 (10/8000)

Keeping his experience reserve above two hundred thousand, Lu Bei rubbed his hands together and picked up the Blank Slate iron hammer by his feet, clanging away at a rough blade blank.

The Hundred Refinements Blade, as its name implied, had to be hammered at least a hundred times.

That was what Lu Bei thought. With the Blacksmith profession's bonuses, he quickly got into the groove.

His practiced stance and precise movements left the bearded blacksmith and the guard looking at each other in dismay. It seemed they had misunderstood something. General Wei's Pretty Boy cousin was not living off soft rice—at the very least, he could make a living as a blacksmith.

Ding!

Lu Bei tossed aside the hammer. After cooling the blade blank, he hammered on the hilt and handguard, then finally sheathed the blade and held it out before the guard.

"???"

The guard looked at the steel saber before him, blinked, then shook his head. "No need. You misunderstood. I was just saying it casually. I didn't intend to ask for another saber."

"I know. Just hold onto it first."

"..."

Under Lu Bei's insistence, the guard accepted the steel saber and drew it with a clang. Seeing its cold, dazzling gleam, he could not help but nod.

"Good saber!"

Its quality was superb, just right for replacing the new saber he had only gotten the year before last.

Then suddenly, his hands were empty.

"Since you don't want a second one, I'll keep it."

"I didn't..."

After receiving the quest completion prompt, Lu Bei took back the Hundred Refinements Blade and turned and left with flair, leaving the guard standing there in utter disarray.

No wonder the general told me to keep an eye on him and not let him run around. This man will easily get beaten up if let out.

On Lu Bei's side, he put the first steel saber he had forged into his Qiankun Bag, opened the notification, and read it with a grin from ear to ear.

[You completed one forging. Based on the product's grade and quality evaluation, you gained 500 experience. As this was your first true forging, an additional 2,000 experience was awarded.]

[Hundred Refinements Blade forged. Gained 500 experience.]

Five hundred experience was very little. In terms of cost-effectiveness, forging a Hundred Refinements Blade was inferior to Lu Bei running five pill furnaces at once to grind experience. Still, this was undoubtedly a wonderful beginning, more meaningful than the two hundred thousand-odd experience he had farmed in the Alchemy Room.

"That's worth celebrating. Having a drink wouldn't be excessive."

Lu Bei left the Forge Room and headed back the way he had come. Looking toward the guard beside him, he said, "Brother, where's the wine cellar? No, wait, where does the old military physician live? Please take me there so I can pick up a jug. When they put it on the tab, write down my... Eldest Cousin Wei Mao's name."

So you never intended to pay in the first place!

The guard pursed his lips and shook his head. "Drinking is forbidden in the army. Those are rules set by General Wei. Anyone who disobeys will receive thirty strokes and lose half a month's pay."

"The rules cannot be broken. As my Eldest Cousin's younger cousin, I can't make things difficult for him."

Lu Bei nodded in deep agreement, then changed the subject. "Then how about this? Take me outside and I'll treat you to a drink. That way, it won't count as breaking the rules."

The guard said nothing and directly shook his head in refusal.

Afterward, he avoided every route with walls and led Lu Bei straight through the training ground, cutting off any thought of scaling a wall and escaping.

Lu Bei was deeply shocked. He had never imagined that an ordinary NPC soldier could be so quick-witted, not honest and simple at all.

Because he was in such a good mood, Lu Bei resigned himself to entering Solitary Confinement. He had the guard pass a message to Wei Mao: he missed his days in the Alchemy Room and strongly requested to return there to continue his studies.

Unable to endure Lu Bei's endless chatter, the guard had someone pass along the message while he himself held his post, planted at the door like a nail without moving a single step.

Before nightfall, Wei Mao arrived and took Lu Bei out of the military camp.

"Senior Disciple Brother Wei, you agreed to let me return to the Alchemy Room tomorrow?" Lu Bei asked in the carriage.

"No."

"Then why did you suddenly take me out of the camp?"

"My official business is finished. Tomorrow is my day off."

"Going for a drink?"

"I quit drinking."

"Listen to some music?"

"Your Senior Sister does not allow it."

"..."

Lu Bei rolled his eyes wildly. No matter how hard he racked his brains, he could not understand how someone as lively as Zhu Yan had fallen for Wei Mao in the first place.

Did they make up for each other's weaknesses and complement each other perfectly?

What was so special about that? Any random man could do it. Wouldn't that be better than Wei Mao, who could not be beaten into letting out a fart with three sticks?

After pondering for a long time, Lu Bei could only conclude that Zhu Yan had chosen Wei Mao because he was honest.

Before Wei Manor, the carriage departed, and servants opened the gates to welcome Wei Mao.

Just then, an exquisitely decorated carriage slowly came to a halt. A young man pushed aside the curtain and greeted them with a smile. "General Wei, Brother-in-law Wei, it has been a long time."

"You are... Ah, Young Master Kui."

Wei Mao raised his hand in salute. "It has been so long that I did not recognize you at first. I hope Young Master Kui will not take offense."

The young man was named Zhu Kui. He was tall and broad, with dignified features. From his name alone, it was obvious that he was another royal descendant far removed from the Zhu Clan's center of power.

"No matter. Brother-in-law, you are burdened with official duties. The fact that you still remember your younger brother is already an honor to me."

Zhu Kui leaped from the carriage and returned the salute. He nodded to Lu Bei and politely said, "Greetings, brother."

"Too courteous, too courteous," Lu Bei replied with a smile.

"By the way, Brother-in-law, is my Sister home?"

"She returned to her family home these past few days. She is not here."

"Then I really came at the wrong time..."

Zhu Kui sighed at his bad luck and spoke frankly. "Some time ago, my family's trading company began cooperating with the Alchemy Room and Artifact Room at Dasheng Pass. I heard that Sister was in charge of the Alchemy Room, so I thought I would come cultivate our relationship and ask her to look after her younger brother in the future."

"She will return in half a month. You may come again then."

"That may be true, but I've prepared a modest gift. I can't exactly haul it back again, can I?"

Zhu Kui said awkwardly, "Yesterday, I sent someone with an invitation and specially prepared a banquet. Brother-in-law, did you not receive it?"

"No."

"..." x2

The two fell silent. One was Zhu Kui, who had tried his utmost to claim kinship and curry favor, only to find Wei Mao as impenetrable as water poured over stone, truly difficult to deal with. The other was Lu Bei, who lamented that the warmth and coldness of human relations were nothing more than this. When he had been a lowly office clerk, no wealthy relatives had ever come knocking.