Arrival in Chang'an

Yan Qing naturally did not receive the game-player privilege of choosing one of three classes to change into. He could only change into either a Martial Dao Herald or a Scholarly Dao Herald, just like the people of this world.

If one went by growth potential, the Scholarly Dao Herald was slightly better than the Martial Dao Herald after the fourth class advancement. The Martial Dao's primary attribute, "qi and blood," and its related basic skills became less and less useful in the later stages. However, from the first to the third class advancement, the Martial Dao Herald's combat power completely overwhelmed that of the Scholarly Dao Herald. Besides, Yan Qing did not have a secret realm for changing into a Scholarly Dao Herald, so like the vast majority of people in this world, he could only take the Martial Dao Herald as his starting point on the path to transcendence.

Only a handful of geniuses and nobles wealthy enough to squander Scholarly Dao mastery manuals could blindly pursue the highest theoretical power like game players.

The reason he had waited until today to change classes was that the Martial Dao advancement had two strict requirements: level ten and any max-level basic body technique. Yan Qing had possessed max-level Footwork for a long time, but max-level Footwork had only raised him to level five or six. He still needed at least one more max-level skill to reach level ten.

Three days ago, "Night Four" had dropped a Basic Saber Technique manual from the secret realm, but Yan Qing had other uses for it, so he had planned to wait for the next manual. He had not expected that waiting would take three days. In the following days, the drop rate in the Suppressor of Three Mountains secret realm had been abnormally low. Aside from spirit jades and supplies, it had dropped nothing at all. Fortunately, a Basic Saber Technique manual had finally dropped this morning. Otherwise, Yan Qing would have had to participate in this trip to Chang'an with the strength of an ordinary person.

Although a first-advancement Herald was still a negligible weakling in this world, for Yan Qing, this was the moment he truly stepped onto the path of transcendence. Surging qi and blood, spiritual power that moved as easily as his own arm—nothing could make Yan Qing understand more deeply that he was no longer in his original world, that ordinary, mundane world without a single miracle!

The weakling's paradise had become the strongman's jungle.

Yan Qing tightened his grip on the White Iron Straight Blade and looked at his reflection in the blade.

From this day forward, there would only be the blade in his hand.

Before the cold iron's edge rolled and dulled, who could cross the long night?

"Time to go."

Yan Qing casually spun the blade and sheathed it. For someone with max-level Basic Saber Technique, a mundane trick like this was as simple as breathing. He picked up the game console and made one final check that none of the contingency plans arranged under "automatic evolution" contained any oversights. There would certainly be unexpected developments when the time came. All he could do was minimize their impact on the plan as much as possible.

The sound of a chair being dragged came from outside. It was not time yet, but clearly someone could not wait any longer and had gone to take their position ahead of schedule. However, before meeting up with his "thief friends," Yan Qing still had one final thing he had to do.

Inside the Thieves' Den, everyone had different thoughts.

Since they would soon descend onto Vermillion Bird Avenue in Chang'an City, they could not continue wearing masks. If their masks attracted attention on the street, it would only defeat the purpose.

Disguises were inevitable. Yet from anyone's perspective, the other two people were difficult to look at.

Yaoshi Yuan's disguise was the most thorough. From her figure to her face, not a trace of her original appearance could be seen. At first glance, she simply looked like a rather refined young man.

Ying Ru Shi's disguise was the most clever. She had disguised herself as a peddler selling masks and wore half a fox mask, so no one would find it strange to see her wearing a mask.

Shang Xin Lei's disguise was the most perfunctory—she wore a pair of black sunglasses that looked like exquisite goods hand-polished from gemstones.

No, this was even worse than wearing a mask. People from the north had at least seen masks, but no one had ever seen anything as novel as sunglasses!

Besides, the sunglasses did nothing to conceal her appearance!

Just as the other two were secretly criticizing Shang Xin Lei's awful disguise, they suddenly heard the door open. They turned their heads, then froze in unison.

After three seconds of silence descended over the hall, Shang Xin Lei's laughter finally broke the quiet.

"Pfft—hahahaha! Yellow Dog, what the hell is that?" Shang Xin Lei clutched her stomach and laughed wildly. "Did you hit your head?"

Indeed, Yan Qing's method of disguise was simple, crude, and effective. He had wrapped his head tightly in a large amount of bandages, leaving only his eyes, nose, and mouth exposed. He looked like a bandage monster who had suffered severe burns.

Yaoshi Yuan could no longer hold back. "If you didn't have time to disguise yourselves, you could have asked me for help! Do you even know what a disguise is? A disguise is meant to keep you from attracting attention. Look at yourselves! You'd be better off wearing masks!"

Ying Ru Shi tried to smooth things over. "All right, all right. Maybe it's their first time, so they're not used to it..."

Yaoshi Yuan gritted her teeth. "Don't 'all right, all right' me. You're hardly any better than them. Who goes around selling masks without even carrying a cart, with a pile of masks strapped to their back? More importantly, what if someone wants to buy one? Compared to those two, you're even more likely to be pestered by other people!"

"We're going to Chang'an to steal Bingzi Jiaolin. Could you three take this a little more seriously?"

Yaoshi Yuan was furious. She had finally made up her mind to complete this mission and claim Bingzi Jiaolin for herself, only to find that all three teammates were more outrageous than the last. She was beginning to despair. Could she really fail on her very first mission and still have to trouble Father to rescue her?

If that happened, what right would she have to criticize her father for acting against all reason? What qualification would she have to restore the glory of the Yaoshi family?

"Take it seriously?" Shang Xin Lei checked her belongings. "Oh dear, I forgot to bring snacks. What a pity. The kitchen prepared crab-meat rice-flour pastries in a steamer today..."

Yan Qing felt his mouth water uncontrollably. Ying Ru Shi asked curiously, "Rice-flour pastries?"

Shang Xin Lei explained, "They're a little like dumplings, but the filling has shrimp, fresh pork, barbecued pork, bamboo shoots, and crab meat, so they taste incredibly fresh and sweet..."

"Enough!" Yaoshi Yuan slammed the table. "You three, take off the masks, sunglasses, and bandages. Simply showing your faces would be better than descending into Chang'an in such an attention-grabbing way—"

"Confirming that all members have arrived."

"The mission will begin in five seconds. Descent point: Vermillion Bird Avenue, Chang'an City. Five, four, three..."

That unfamiliar yet familiar narrator's voice rang in everyone's ears. Before they could react, the five-count vanished in an instant. Their vision went black, and before they even opened their eyes, the clamor of footsteps and the hubbub of a distant crowd had already rushed into their ears.

From the moment the countdown began, Yan Qing had kept one hand on the hilt of his blade. His body tensed as he opened his eyes while retreating, discovering that the four of them had appeared at the end of a narrow alley. They would have to pass around a corner to reach the main street, so the people outside could not possibly see them appear.

"This is behind Tongrentang." Ying Ru Shi looked around and immediately determined their location. "Let's go. Anguo Temple is about half a li from here."

Yaoshi Yuan was unconvinced. Even as a native of Chang'an, she had not recognized which alley this was. "How do you know?"

"There are four alleys like this in the Sand Table. The buildings around three of them don't match, so the answer is naturally the alley behind Tongrentang." Ying Ru Shi said, "The Thieves' Den couldn't have sent us somewhere outside the Sand Table."

"You memorized the Sand Table?"

"We had five days. Isn't memorizing the Sand Table only natural?"

With that, Ying Ru Shi headed outside, and Yan Qing followed close behind.

Shang Xin Lei glanced at Yaoshi Yuan and patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry. I didn't memorize it either. I guess Yellow Dog didn't, too. Only White Fox is a genius. Hmph, let's band together and ostracize her!"

"Didn't we agree not to approach each other recklessly?" Yaoshi Yuan forced herself not to shake her off and glared at her.

"Big Sister, you're so hard to please. White Fox is a genius, Yellow Dog has information, and we two little weaklings should stick together for warmth." Shang Xin Lei shook her head and sighed, then briskly caught up with the other two.

Who are you calling a little weakling?

Yaoshi Yuan thought through clenched teeth. But then she suddenly felt alarmed. Had Red Snake discovered that she was a woman? Impossible! She had disguised herself so well!

The four of them walked along Vermillion Bird Avenue, and as expected, they attracted plenty of attention. Passersby kept turning their heads.

Fortunately, it was only half a li. Before long, they reached the market near Anguo Temple. The streets were crowded with people rubbing shoulders as they passed. Even mixed into the crowd... they still stood out painfully.

The combination of a bandaged monster, a masked merchant, and sunglasses was simply too avant-garde for Chang'an City.

"Let's go there first, order a bowl of noodles, and claim a spot," Yan Qing suddenly said.

The place he pointed to was a noodle shop called First Noodle.

Yaoshi Yuan frowned. "Why are we eating noodles? Time is tight. We only have half an hour. We need to..."

"I want to eat too!"

"I want to taste Chang'an's local flavors too."

Shang Xin Lei and Ying Ru Shi interrupted Yaoshi Yuan at the same time.

Only after Yaoshi Yuan's face darkened did Yan Qing explain:

"When we come back out, we'll have to remain on Vermillion Bird Avenue for another quarter of an hour before we can return. If we don't claim a spot now, we'll have to wander the street then, which is riskier."

After saying this, Yan Qing simply walked over. Clearly, he was informing them, not asking for their opinions.

Yaoshi Yuan felt deeply stifled. At other times, who besides her father would dare reject her suggestions? But in the Thieves' Den, she had lost count of how many times Yellow Dog had rejected her opinions. He had even devised the entire plan, and she could not find out the details.

Watching the three people ahead of her, Yaoshi Yuan's anger piled up.

White Fox was presumptuous and had mocked her for not memorizing the Sand Table. Deserving of death.

Red Snake had seen through her disguise and mocked her as a weakling. Deserving of death.

Yellow Dog ignored her opinions and seized her authority as leader. Even more deserving of death!

No, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. I don't want to pretend anymore. I'll summon the Divine Strategy Army of Chang'an and crush you all right now!

"Black Wolf! Black Wolf!"

Yan Qing suddenly shouted from ahead. "Our table was taken!"

Yaoshi Yuan focused her gaze and saw that two burly men had beaten them to the table and sat down.

One of the men shot them a sidelong glance. "Taken? I was obviously here first. If you walk slowly, then line up properly—"

Yaoshi Yuan walked in front of them and looked at them expressionlessly.

The burly man remained disdainful. "What, you want to fight? This is Chang'an. You think this is somewhere your bumpkin lot can run wild—"

Thud!

Yaoshi Yuan reached out and grabbed their collars. She had an excellent figure, with long legs and long arms. Although the two men were slightly taller than her, she still lifted both hundred-kilogram brutes like dolls! Their legs dangled helplessly, knocking over the chairs.

Before they could resist, she flung them away, sending them crashing outside the noodle shop.

Faced with such a fierce woman who could lift them with one hand, they naturally knew she was a Martial Dao Herald. Although Chang'an's protection meant they would not be injured, the burly men did not dare offend a Herald. Without saying another harsh word, they scrambled to their feet and slunk away.

"Good thing we have you, Black Wolf."

"Yeah, Black Wolf. Your qi and blood must be very high, right?"

"We'll probably have to rely on you to break through obstacles later, Black Wolf."

Yaoshi Yuan's expression remained calm, but perhaps because her qi and blood had surged, her face was considerably rosier. She sat down and said evenly, "Hmph. I knew you couldn't be relied on."

Yan Qing, Ying Ru Shi, and Shang Xin Lei exchanged a covert glance.

As early as the second meeting, they had vaguely sensed that Yaoshi Yuan's mood could swing wildly. When her mood kept falling and falling, she would simply flip the table—for instance, by abruptly ending the second day's meeting.

Yet Yaoshi Yuan also loved making suggestions and even issuing orders. If they disagreed with her, she would secretly become displeased. Once that displeasure accumulated, she would easily explode. Normally, someone like that would be extremely troublesome, but Black Wolf was unexpectedly easy to handle: as long as they let her gain the upper hand, she would return to her normal state.

Without coordinating beforehand, they all knew they had to give Black Wolf appropriate opportunities to show what she could do.

When the waiter came over, Yan Qing asked, "Four bowls of Fresh Meat Wonton Noodles. How long will it take?"

The waiter did not change expression at all upon seeing the table's assortment of strange customers. He replied with a smile, "Sorry, honored guests, but there are quite a few customers right now. You may have to wait one quarter-hour."

"One quarter-hour? That's fine. Start cooking them, then. We'll go to Anguo Temple to retrieve something and come right back."

"Certainly."

Yan Qing raised his head. The sun hung high overhead, and the sunlight fell almost vertically. Standing still, one could barely see one's own shadow.

It's time, he thought.

At the same time, Charity House behind Anguo Temple received three uninvited guests. A menial monk who was mopping the floor saw three identical people pull open the main door and enter the vestibule. He asked blankly, "The three of you are...?"

"An Qi."

"An Ba."

"An Jiu."

From now on, the first chapter will be updated at noon.