A Bountiful Haul

"Please, sir, save me!"

The Fortune Teller turned pale with fright. He clutched Li Ran's hand and begged him repeatedly.

The sight left Xiao Yi and the others speechless.

They'd seen something similar just a short while ago, but back then, it had been Qiu Zhongji begging for his life.

In just a few minutes, the tables had turned so suddenly that no one could have seen it coming.

The Fortune Teller, who had killed Qiu Zhongji, was now kowtowing and begging Li Ran.

What had Li Ran done to him?

"Fine, I suppose I can give you a way to survive," Li Ran said.

The One-Eyed Swindler was deeply moved and hurried to thank him.

"For the next fourteen days, you're not allowed to set up your stall and swindle people. Just stay home like a good boy, and you'll get through this calamity. If you dare set foot outside, not even the gods could save you!"

"Master, can I come back out and make a living this way after fourteen days?"

"Yes. Your deadly calamity will come during that time. Once you've passed it, you'll be fine."

Li Ran maintained his air of a sage, and the One-Eyed Swindler believed every word he said.

"I understand, I understand. I'll pack up and go home right now. I'll never swindle anyone again."

The One-Eyed Swindler hurriedly packed away his stall, his face full of fear.

He'd been a fake who'd met the real deal. What rotten luck. His true colors had been exposed, and now he was so ashamed he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

Li Ran reminded him, "You haven't paid for the reading."

The swindler looked troubled. "Your reading was spot on, Master, but I gambled away all my money yesterday. Could I pay you later?"

At that, Li Ran flipped his hand over, and the eyeball vanished from his palm as if by magic.

The swindler panicked at once.

"Master, I may be broke, but I have a few antiques. Take a look. If you like any of them, they're yours. I just ask that you give me back that eyeball."

"Oh?"

Li Ran raised an eyebrow, putting on an air of mystery.

The swindler pulled several old items from his robe and laid them out in front of Li Ran.

[Item: Aged Enslavement Reins]

[Effect: Putting the reins on a target allows you to enslave them temporarily. Duration: ten minutes.]

...

[Item: Wooden Horse Toy]

...

[Equipment: Ancient Hairpin (Excellent)]

[Restriction: Female players]

[Attribute: Mysterious Power +10]

...

[Weapon: Thunder Dagger (Fine)]

[Attributes: Mysterious Power +20, Agility +20, Strength +20]

[Effect: Attacks inflict the Thunder Mark effect. On hit, paralyzes the target for 0.5 seconds.]

...

Li Ran quickly scanned the items and took in all their attributes.

Not far away, Xiao Yi and Chen Jiabin both looked surprised.

Song Linjia clasped her hands together in prayer, looking envious.

Li Ran wasn't greedy. The task notification had said he could receive one weapon.

He'd taken one look at the Thunder Dagger and immediately picked it. It would give him a major boost to his attributes.

It increased his attributes beyond just Mysterious Power.

That was exactly what he wanted.

If he only increased his Mysterious Power, he wouldn't stand a chance against B-rank or A-rank monsters with the same amount of Mysterious Power.

He needed to make up the difference in other ways—with other attributes, top-tier equipment, or powerful skills.

Aside from the dagger, he was also rather interested in those reins.

Still, he followed the rules and didn't dare take anything extra.

"I'll take this one."

Li Ran picked up the Thunder Dagger, then handed the eyeball back to the swindler.

The swindler thanked him profusely, blew on the eyeball, and popped it into his empty eye socket.

"I... I can see! I can see everything!" The swindler looked around excitedly.

Li Ran was at a loss for words.

What the hell? Could he just stick the eyeball back in?

What was this, a spare part?

[Task complete: Fortune Telling]

[Reward: Mysterious Power +20, 200 points, Fine Weapon *1]

[You successfully reformed the swindler. Task completed perfectly. You may claim an extra reward.]

Just then, that cold voice sounded in Li Ran's ear.

Before Li Ran could react, the swindler hurriedly shoved several items into his arms.

"Master, I'm so happy! I'm not disabled anymore. I'll treasure what I have from now on, and I'll never swindle anyone again. I have no use for these anymore, so they're all yours."

With that, the swindler bounded off toward the residential complex like a child reborn.

"I can see! I don't have to pretend to be blind anymore!"

His voice drifted back to the group from far away.

"What an unexpected haul." Li Ran looked at the things in his arms.

[Aged Enslavement Reins][Wooden Horse Toy][Ancient Hairpin]

Xiao Yi scowled in the distance. He pushed up his glasses, muttered, "Fate decides life and death; fortune is in the hands of heaven," then walked away.

Chen Jiabin didn't understand what Xiao Yi meant, but he still hurried after him.

"Li Ran, you've really impressed me."

Song Linjia stepped forward to congratulate him, genuinely happy for him.

"I just got lucky."

Li Ran gave the same answer as before, offering no further explanation.

"Was it really just luck?"

Song Linjia's eyes widened as she curiously studied Li Ran with her bright, dark eyes.

"There's something mysterious about you. It's impossible to see through you."

"There's nothing mysterious about me. I'm just a little quick-witted."

But the more dismissive Li Ran was, the more curious Song Linjia became, and the more she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"You don't happen to have some kind of Golden Finger or cheat, do you?"

Li Ran stumbled and nearly lost his balance.

Come on, miss. Could you not be so spot-on with your guesses?

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding. Anyway, it's getting late. I should head back."

"That hairpin seems to be for female players. I'll trade you something for it. Is that okay?"

Li Ran took out the Ancient Hairpin and thought, It's player equipment. My NPC wife probably can't equip it, right?

Besides, it was restricted to female players, so he couldn't use it himself. He might as well do her a favor.

"I'll trade you this for it."

Song Linjia handed Li Ran a Sandalwood Box.

Li Ran accepted it without hesitation and gave her the hairpin.

After saying goodbye, Li Ran began to tally up what he'd gained that day.

"What a bountiful haul."

He equipped the Thunder Dagger right away, and with the task reward, his attributes increased again.

Li Ran

Mysterious Power: 100

Agility: 20

Strength: 20

Points: 460

Active Skill: Shadow Escape

Passive Skills: Thunder Mark, Focus (Immune to mental attacks)

With his attributes boosted, Li Ran suddenly felt an explosive surge of energy well up inside him.

He could easily beat his son up now.

He wouldn't even be afraid to fight Su Bingyao, a B-rank, in the bedroom.

In other words, his ex-wife and son could no longer pose a threat to him.

Li Ran looked up at the sky. "I've been out for a while, and it's getting late. I'd better hurry back and make dinner."

On the way back, Li Ran took out the Sandalwood Box Song Linjia had given him.

"Can't I open it?"

Li Ran tried to pry the box open with both hands.

With a click, the box opened easily.