You are the True Birth

After gathering her emotions, Bai Fu crossed the road and approached An Ya and the two thugs.

"Are you guys okay?"

An Ya shook her head. "Boss, what about you?"

"I'm fine, but..." Bai Fu turned to the two thugs. "I have some bad news for you. On my way out, I saw your boss cornered by those Outsiders in a dead end. I didn't linger because I was worried about what might happen."

She let out a long sigh.

"Your boss is probably in serious trouble. Speaking of which, how did you even provoke those Outsiders?"

Upon hearing this, the two thugs immediately started complaining.

"Who could have known? We usually... No, Boss has done too many bad things to count."

"If these Outsiders dare to kill our boss today, I can't imagine what they'll do tomorrow."

"Sister Fu, we can only rely on you now."

The two bickered back and forth, giving Bai Fu a headache.

She quickly waved her hands. "What about your other two companions? Where did they go?"

Thug B's voice trembled. "They're dead. Their injuries were too severe, and they died on the way out."

"What?" Bai Fu's eyes widened. "What a shame, such a shame. How could good people just... sigh, it's all those Outsiders' fault."

If only she had gotten out sooner, if only the players hadn't been so heavy-handed, she might have gained more experience.

Her reaction reassured the two thugs.

When Bai Fu sighed at the news of their companions' deaths, they were certain she wouldn't hold their previous grudges against them.

Great!

Now that they had relaxed, all they wanted was a good, deep sleep, the kind where you don't dream at all.

It wasn't that they were tired, but they had been traumatized. Just thinking about what happened made them tremble all over.

Those Outsiders were too brutal. They were beaten to the point of nearly being cut in half, yet they were still laughing and saying they would kill them all. Even the cult horror movies from the old era weren't this terrifying.

"Follow me."

Bai Fu called out, and the two thugs quickly followed.

They seemed to be a bit chatty, as they discussed their psychological treatment while walking.

"I heard Dr. Lin in Hui Shui Bay is a psychologist. We should go see him in a few days."

"Do you think it'll work? What if we spend money and it's useless?"

"We have to do something, right? Do you want to be haunted by nightmares forever?"

"Who the hell wants that? But even if we get better this time, if we run into those Outsiders again, won't we have the same problem?"

"I... This is truly a sin. Who on earth brought those Outsiders here?"

After a long sigh, the two fell silent.

What else was there to say? The thought of potentially needing a lifetime to heal from the trauma inflicted by the players made them feel depressed.

"Actually," Bai Fu, who was walking ahead, broke the silence, "if you trust me, I can help you."

The two thugs froze. "Huh? Sister Fu, you?"

Bai Fu smiled confidently. "I'm a Spiritual Energy Priest, after all. Treating psychological problems is a piece of cake for me, isn't it?"

That made sense, didn't it?

The two thugs' eyes lit up.

"Yes, yes, yes! How could we not trust you, Sister Fu?"

Bai Fu pointed at Thug D, who was closer. "Let's start with you. An Ya, cover your eyes."

Although she didn't understand what Bai Fu meant, An Ya obediently covered her eyes.

Bai Fu walked towards Thug D with satisfaction. When they were only two steps apart, she suddenly raised her right hand.

Her slender fingers struck Thug D's neck with lightning speed. Under the impact of immense force, Thug D was slammed directly against the wall behind him.

BANG!

Along with the jarring sound of his head hitting the wall, blood splattered everywhere.

The next second, Bai Fu held a dagger in her left hand and mercilessly plunged it into Thug D's chest.

'-5' '-24!'

Lethal strike.

[You have killed Thug (Normal), gaining 120 experience points]

Only then did Thug B react. He trembled and said, "Sis... Sister Fu, didn't you say you were going to help us with our treatment?"

Bai Fu pulled out the dagger. "I only said I'd help you with your treatment, I didn't guarantee you'd survive. Now he doesn't have to worry about being tormented by nightmares anymore. Tell me, did I cure him or not?"

Thug B's face contorted in terror. He made a move to grab An Ya, who was still stunned nearby.

Bai Fu had already seen through his escape route.

If she hadn't been afraid of one of them escaping while fighting two, she wouldn't have needed to sneak attack with her current strength.

Her Agility was the same as the thug's, 3 points, but the thug was injured, and his stats had dropped.

She chased after him and used a Barbarian Charge to knock the thug to the ground.

The thug rolled a couple of times on the ground, enduring the pain as he pulled out a dagger hidden in his clothes. As Bai Fu approached, he suddenly turned and roared, stabbing the dagger towards Bai Fu's abdomen.

This was a sneak attack, and he was sure Bai Fu wouldn't be able to dodge it.

With Bai Fu's current reaction speed, she couldn't dodge it and could only use her right hand to block.

Thwack!

It hit.

The dull sensation of the blade piercing flesh that he expected didn't appear. The thug's eyes widened. He clearly saw the dagger stab Bai Fu's hand, yet it didn't even break the skin, only drawing a little bright red.

Catching a blade barehanded!

"Impossible, you couldn't even block the boss's punch two days ago, why now..."

"Surprised? Shocked?"

Heh, that's the charm of maxing out Constitution and the Hardening buff!

Bai Fu extended her other hand, grabbed the back of the blade, and easily pulled the dagger away.

The thug saw Bai Fu step forward, looking down at him, blocking his entire field of vision.

It was the first time he realized that Bai Fu, who was much shorter than him, could seem so tall. He felt extreme fear, but he no longer had the chance to scream. Bai Fu stabbed a knife into his throat.

"Gurgle..."

The thug clutched his neck, unable to believe Bai Fu had become so powerful even as he died.

Damn it, there are actors!

[You have killed Thug (Normal), gaining 120 experience points]

The experience gap was now filled.

"After leveling Spiritual Apprentice to Lv5, I wonder if adding all the attribute points to Constitution will let me block bullets from those low-quality handguns barehanded."

Bai Fu looked forward to it.

She walked over to An Ya.

Two deaths were common in the chaotic Abandoned Cooling Plant, An Ya wasn't scared at all. She just nervously grabbed Bai Fu's hand to check.

"Boss, I'm so glad you're okay."

"What could happen to me? Let's go home."

An Ya hummed and asked curiously, "Boss, how did you know that Outsider could call a large group of companions to surround those old geezers?"

Bai Fu said, "It's a secret."

"Oh, okay." An Ya quickly shifted her interest to another matter. "Boss, although these Outsiders are quite strong, they all look crazy, not even afraid of death. I think we shouldn't interact with them anymore in the future."

Bai Fu explained, "Don't worry, they might act crazy, but it's different from the kind of crazy you're thinking of. Their craziness is just a way of expressing their emotions. They are inherently kind, at least their moral standards are higher than the average here."

An Ya opened her mouth.

Boss, we're already at rock bottom. "Higher than us" doesn't sound very reassuring.

"Moreover, they are extremely diligent. As long as you give them a little benefit, they'll work harder than oxen. If you smile at them while ordering them around, and say a few words of praise like 'brave warrior', they might even work for free and give you gifts."

"Ah?"

An Ya was a bit dazed.

Paid to work? Do people like that really exist in this world? Should I try finding some Outsiders next time?

"As for not being afraid of death, that's even easier to explain. They are immortal. They can revive after death."

The death penalty in Above the Stars was actually quite high. Players would lose a certain percentage of experience based on their level upon death, and there was also a resurrection cooldown time that increased with the number of deaths, ranging from 0 to 6 hours. The resurrection time would reset every Monday.

This effectively curbed the bold ideas of some players.

However, this mechanism was not a problem for new players who were only level 1. If you lose experience, you can't lose experience that's already 0 and become negative, right?

"Ah, immortal?"

An Ya was stunned.

She found it hard to believe, but if this were true, then all their words and actions would make sense. It also made sense that the Outsiders were worth far more than the bounty Wildfire Gang had offered.

"Boss, we might be rich!"

"Hmm?"

An Ya said excitedly, "Boss, look! Those Outsiders can revive, right? We can cooperate with them, send them to Wildfire Gang to claim bounties. After we get the bounty, we'll split it 50/50, no, 70/30! One Outsider is worth 200, so with a hundred Outsiders, we can earn... fourteen thousand!"

Her eyes began to sparkle.

With so much money, they could completely take a special car and leave this place, heading to the nearby super-large settlement, Lynn.

Bai Fu was shocked.

She thought back to what she had done these past two days, feeling like she hadn't been a good person at all.

After all, she was constantly thinking about how to boss around the players, and she never expected An Ya to have quietly progressed to the triangular trade version.

An Ya, so you're the real prodigy!

P.S.: Thank you to book friend 20190608201400729 and Jièpōu Yòng Jiǎ Rén for the reward.