Golden Lotus Flower

Jianye City!

Chen Feng had already had his suspicions when he saw the child selling buns. Now he was certain—the child was Fei'er, the invisible tycoon who had collected who knew how much bun money from players in Jianye City.

"Young Master? You look unfamiliar. Did you just arrive in Jianye City? Then you can't miss this East Sea Giant Frog. The East Sea hasn't been peaceful lately, and no fishing boats have gone out. This giant frog's meat is tender and delicious—once you miss my village, there won't be another shop like it." The fisherman showed no suspicion toward Chen Feng's sudden appearance and immediately began hawking his goods.

"Thank you, but no." Chen Feng turned down this unfamiliar man. Still, that wasn't strange. This was a real world now, not an online game. Anything could happen.

The rejected fisherman didn't press the matter and simply waited for more customers. Chen Feng, meanwhile, went to the small river nearby and looked at his reflection in the water.

Chen Feng was now dressed in white, looking every bit like a refined and handsome Young Master.

Chen Feng nodded in satisfaction. After entering a Reincarnation World, the Reincarnation Sacred Hall would randomly alter everyone's appearance, sometimes even giving them identities. First, it helped them blend into the world better. Second, it protected the identities of Reincarnators.

A good face definitely earned points when dealing with the natives. Relying on his handsome looks, Chen Feng asked someone for directions and ran toward the center of Jianye City.

On the other side of Jianye City, seven figures appeared together. They were the group that had signed a temporary alliance under the witness of the Reincarnation Sacred Hall.

"All right, we'll follow our previous plan and split into three groups to look for clues. I'll go alone, while the six of you will split into two groups of three." After hearing the system's mission, Xiu immediately gave the others their orders.

Before long, the other six split into the two groups they had discussed beforehand. Each group chose a temporary leader and headed in different directions to search for clues to this mission.

After watching his company's subordinates leave with the others, Xiu immediately went to ask around as well. However, he wasn't asking about clues to completing the Main Quest, but the fastest way to reach Chang'an.

That's right, Xiu hadn't come to farm the Fantasy Westward Journey world alone this time. His father had obtained a letter of recommendation from an Elite Grade Fantasy Westward Journey world, allowing someone to join the Great Tang Official Government for cultivation and study. The moment he encountered a Fantasy Westward Journey world below Normal Grade, he rushed over.

Two ordinary employees from his company had come with him. Their job was to delay the completion of the mission so Xiu could successfully join the Great Tang Official Government.

He carried a Thousand Mile Sound Transmission Talisman obtained from another world, planning to notify his subordinates as soon as he joined the Great Tang Official Government.

Jianye City was simply too vast after becoming a Reincarnation World. Chen Feng asked three people along the way and spent nearly three hours traveling from Fei'er's bun stall to the cloth shop in Jianye City.

He had only rested outside the cloth shop for a short while when an exclamation came from the distance. "What?! You want 2,500 taels for one Bear Gall? Are you robbing us?"

A burst of noisy arguing followed, and three people were thrown out of an apothecary. One of them cursed as he passed in front of Chen Feng.

"Enough nonsense. Find the others and regroup. Figure out how to earn money to buy Bear Gall and cure Sister-in-law Wang's husband. Then we'll get the Roast Duck from her. No one in this Reincarnation World has any money—we've got this in the bag." A tall man dressed like a farmer tried to calm his companion as they hurried toward their agreed meeting place.

Bear Gall? Sister-in-law Wang? Roast Duck???

Those three keywords instantly perked Chen Feng up. He concluded that the three people who had just passed him were three of the seven Reincarnators. It seemed their mission was the same as his.

This mission was extremely famous in Fantasy Westward Journey because every newcomer had to do it. It was the main storyline—The Merchant's Ghost.

It was a chain mission. Under the normal process, one first accepted the mission from Old Man Sun, then found the Taoist Priest Wang Dadan. However, that guy craved Sister-in-law Wang's Roast Duck, while Sister-in-law Wang's husband was sick and needed Bear Gall. Only after obtaining Bear Gall in exchange for the Roast Duck would Wang Dadan give you the Soul Calming Grass to bring to Old Man Sun. Then Old Man Sun would give you the next step of the mission: find Li Shanren.

But Li Shanren wasn't easy to meet. He was ill and needed Hell Ganoderma as a medicinal catalyst. In all of Jianye, only Ma Quanyou had that medicine, but it had to be exchanged for a Sea Caterpillar. Only after getting the Hell Ganoderma could one obtain clues about The Merchant's Ghost from Li Shanren.

The very thought of Ma Quanyou made Chen Feng grit his teeth. Back then, he hadn't known he needed to rename his pet, so his four-skill Sea Caterpillar with Advanced Fatal Strike, Night Battle, Poison, and Fire Weakness had been taken away. In its place was a wild Sea Caterpillar with only Fire Weakness, sitting there as though it were mocking him.

But he later heard that, after the game had been updated with who knew how many patches, a seven-red-skill giant frog that hadn't been renamed but had item lock, time lock, and equipment had been bought by a Seafood Purchaser. Chen Feng had already quit Fantasy Westward Journey by then, but he still felt a burst of satisfaction.

Setting aside the time and effort required for this entire chain of missions, Chen Feng estimated that The Merchant's Ghost itself wouldn't be easy to deal with either. After all, this was a Simple Grade World. Most people who entered were nobodies or a small number of E-Class Reincarnators. They had no means of dealing with ghosts and could only keep thinking of other ways.

Chen Feng had no way to deal with ghosts either, but he knew the plot well and intended to take a gamble. Even if he failed, he could still get a Sea Caterpillar to exchange for the ganoderma and stay one step ahead of the others.

With that in mind, Chen Feng stopped resting and quickly arrived at a stone bridge in front of the cloth shop. A beautiful woman in a red dress, carrying a flower basket, stood quietly on the bridge and gazed at the river below.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Xiao Hua?" Chen Feng tidied his appearance slightly before stepping forward and asking softly.

"That's me. May I ask what business this Young Master has with me?" Xiao Hua turned to look at Chen Feng, asking in confusion.

A handsome face really was reliable. Chen Feng had only learned that Xiao Hua came to the bridge every day recently because of his good looks. If he had the face of a thug, he would probably be drinking tea at the yamen by now.

"I heard that you possess a golden lotus flower. I wonder if you'd be willing to part with it?"

"Golden Lotus?" Xiao Hua lowered her head to look at the flower basket in her hand, then took out a withered golden lotus pod.

"Ever since my parents said that no feelings were as real as money and decided to introduce me to Young Master Ma, the Golden Lotus Flower gradually withered. It's no longer of any use in my hands, so I'll give it to you, Young Master." As she spoke, she handed the withered Golden Lotus to Chen Feng.

"Then thank you, Miss." Chen Feng accepted the withered Golden Lotus, secretly delighted. Half of what he needed to do was already complete. The rest depended on fate.