First Mission Reward

First Mission Reward

Ten Mile Slope was neither particularly far nor particularly close. An ordinary person would need over an hour to walk there, but the Wine Sword Immortal naturally did not need that long. Before long, Li Wei had returned to the village.

The moment he entered the village, Li Wei hurriedly brought out the Yellow Paper and checked it.

This Yellow Paper was truly miraculous. Aside from Li Wei, even if it were placed right in front of someone else, they would not be able to see it. Thus, Li Wei was not worried about anyone discovering it.

"Mission: Kill the Lantern Ghost. Completed... Reward: item 'Lantern of the Vengeful Soul' and 50 points... ID 1987. Current total points: 50."

Of the two missions on the Yellow Paper, Li Wei had already completed one. The other was to kill Black Miao Tribesmen. Those tribesmen should have already taken up residence at the inn run by Li Xiaoyao's Aunt, and were heading in groups to nearby Spirit Snake Island.

This was all based on Li Wei's understanding of the game's plot. Originally, the best opportunity to kill the Black Miao Tribesmen would have been to join Li Xiaoyao, who would later learn the Sword Control Technique, and Zhao Ling'er, who possessed immortal arts, in fighting them together. It could be said that this was the safest method.

Moreover, Li Wei now possessed the item, the Lantern of the Vengeful Soul. It would be useful in battle as well.

"Lantern of the Vengeful Soul, D-Rank item... 'A lantern that never goes out. Within its ghostly blue flame are imprisoned the souls of the dead.' The owner can release the imprisoned vengeful souls to fight. Duration: 15 minutes. Cooldown: 5 hours... Cannot be taken out of the scenario world. Can be exchanged for 1,750 points."

Li Wei had already witnessed the power of the "vengeful soul." Ordinary people would absolutely be unable to resist the attacks of such a ghost. It was an extremely useful item, and with it, he was even more confident in dealing with the Black Miao Tribesmen.

But now that the Wine Sword Immortal was beside him, Li Wei decided to change his strategy.

Going against convention often produced surprising victories. Though it entailed a certain degree of risk, the rewards were also enormous. Li Wei was undoubtedly an adventure-loving fanatic of that sort.

The instant his feet touched the ground, Li Wei deliberately stumbled, then pretended to be too exhausted to continue and fainted.

He had already been seriously injured, so it was only natural for him to lack the strength to carry on.

"You are, after all, only flesh and blood. Fine, you and I are fated. I'll help you once more!" The Wine Sword Immortal beside him suspected nothing. He hoisted the motionless Li Wei onto his shoulder, then leaped away. His movement technique was far faster than even that of a top martial arts master.

It was Li Wei, pretending to be unconscious, who suffered for it. The rapid jolting sent wave after wave of dizziness through him. Before long, his consciousness truly began to blur. He was indeed exhausted, and combined with his severe injuries, even though the Wine Sword Immortal had treated him, he had still expended too much energy. Soon, he genuinely passed out.

When he awoke from his deep sleep, it was already broad daylight.

Shaking his head, Li Wei looked around. He found himself in what appeared to be a guest room. Though the bed and chairs were somewhat old, they were very clean, clearly having been regularly tended to.

"Where is this place?" Only after thinking for a long while did Li Wei suddenly realize.

Wasn't this Li Xiaoyao's home—the inn run by his Aunt?

With a swish, Li Wei sprang up from the bed and checked his clothes. The Wraith Lantern was still there, and the injured parts of his body had been bandaged with gauze. Clearly, he had received meticulous care last night.

For someone who had suffered severe burns to recover to this extent overnight, the Wine Sword Immortal truly possessed extraordinary abilities.

What should he do now? He had pretended to faint in the first place because he wanted the Wine Sword Immortal to remain by his side. From the looks of it, though, that objective had not been achieved.

Without the Wine Sword Immortal's formidable combat strength to support him, the danger of killing the Black Miao Tribesmen would undoubtedly rise considerably. Although he could abandon this mission at any time, his final evaluation would surely suffer greatly.

A cold smile appeared on Li Wei's lips.

"This is more interesting. Although I nearly lost my life before, it proved one thing..." Picking up the lantern burning with ghostly fire, Li Wei narrowed his eyes.

A mass of black shadow slowly emerged from the lantern and quickly formed into a figure. It was the terrifying female ghost that had nearly killed Li Wei the previous night.

But now, all the ferocity in her eyes was gone. Only obedience remained. With a thought from Li Wei, she turned back into a cloud of black mist and slipped into the lantern.

"All the rewards are real. This truly is a wondrous world... In that case, I definitely can't give up this novice mission so easily!"

Li Wei remembered clearly that the Yellow Paper had said the reward for this novice mission would be assessed according to his degree of completion.

As for the other reward, points, Li Wei did not know how they could be used. Still, they were probably some kind of currency. They were simply of no use to him at the moment.

That meant that all he had left to do was kill at least one Black Miao Tribesman to complete every mission issued by the Yellow Paper.

Just as Li Wei was lost in thought, the wooden door was suddenly pushed open. Immediately afterward, a woman who looked like a middle-aged housewife barged in.

Wearing a coarse floral blouse and a large, stain-covered apron, she began shouting at the top of her lungs the moment she entered.

"Where did that poor Taoist run off to? He drank so much of my wine and didn't pay a single copper coin! Kid, you're finally awake. Hurry up and settle the tab that poor Taoist ran up!"

Aunt Li, who had entered with a gust of cold wind, swept her gaze over Li Wei. She shook the iron wok in her hand, planted one hand on her waist, and looked as fierce as a demoness.

A layer of cold sweat immediately formed on Li Wei's forehead.

Aunt Li was no easy person to deal with. Leaving aside her status as Li Xiaoyao's Aunt, her own strength was unfathomable. In particular, her deliberately concealed ultimate skill, the Cloud Piercing Palm, was overwhelmingly powerful. Back then, she had killed the Black Miao Leader with a single palm strike. Her strength was evident from that alone.

With such a person blocking him at the bedside, one could imagine the pressure Li Wei felt.

Li Wei could roughly guess what had happened. The Wine Sword Immortal must have arranged for him to stay at Li Family Inn last night, but had no money to pay for the room. Once he saw that Li Wei's life was no longer in danger, he had slipped away first, leaving this mess behind for him. It was completely in line with the Wine Sword Immortal's temperament.

After cursing the man's female relatives in his heart, Li Wei had no choice but to face Aunt Li's fury.

"What? No money? You old and young swindlers are trying to eat for free... Come on, we're going to the county office to settle this!" No matter how Li Wei explained, it was useless. Yet he also did not "dare" to fight this hidden expert.

At that moment, Aunt Li suddenly rolled her eyes, swayed, and collapsed to the floor, startling Li Wei badly.

Li Wei quickly reacted.

In the game, Aunt Li seemed to have contracted some strange illness, which was why Li Xiaoyao went to Fairy Spirit Island to seek immortal medicine, leading to the later plot. Could Aunt Li be suffering a relapse now?

Li Wei hurriedly got up and carried the unconscious Aunt Li to the bed. He checked her breathing. Thankfully, she had merely fainted.

Looking at this middle-aged woman on the bed, it was hard to imagine that she was a peerless master hiding her true abilities. The passage of time had brought her nothing but age.

At that moment, the Yellow Paper appeared before Li Wei.

A passage of text left Li Wei stunned.

"Random mission: 'Meticulous Care.' Care for the seriously ill Aunt Li as thoroughly as possible. Mission time limit: 15 hours. Mission reward will be assessed according to Aunt Li's favorability. Current favorability: -5..."

-5?

Li Wei's head immediately felt twice as large. It seemed that the misunderstanding about him "eating and drinking without paying" had made her deeply resentful of him. After thinking for a moment, Li Wei brought up the explanation for random missions.

So-called random missions were missions that appeared randomly while experiencing the plot. Unlike main missions, random missions were not mandatory. In other words, even if such a mission was not completed, it would not affect the final outcome, much less incur any punishment.

In short, it was an inconsequential mission.

Besides, rather than spending more than ten hours caring for a patient who would definitely recover, he might as well figure out how to deal with the Black Miao Tribesmen. The Black Miao Leader was an exceptionally formidable existence. That blade energy capable of carving deep crescent-shaped trenches into the ground was no mere decoration.

Having made his decision, Li Wei prepared to leave. It would be best to tell Li Xiaoyao about Aunt Li's illness, then follow him to Fairy Spirit Island. That was the optimal plan. Perhaps he could even learn a few immortal techniques to protect himself.

Just as he reached the doorway, a fit of coughing came from inside the room. Li Wei could not help slowing his steps and turning back to look at Aunt Li, whose face was pale as she remained unconscious.

A memory that had lain silent for a long time surfaced from the deepest part of Li Wei's mind, and no matter what, he could not take another step.