"You're too kind, Village Chief!"
Wu Yu's expression changed. He immediately steadied the village chief and said solemnly, "I'm rather ashamed, actually! Some martial artists from my family happened to come investigate the attack!"
"When they heard about Evil Tiger Stronghold, they were furious. They took me along and wiped the place out!"
"But the bandit chief was too cunning. The moment he saw his men being killed, he fled. Even after being wounded, he managed to escape into the mountains."
At this point,
Wu Yu sighed and shook his head. "I was just lucky."
"There's no need to be so modest, Mr. Wu. Both you and your family members saved our lives!"
The old village chief nodded. The people nearby who heard this suddenly understood, their faces full of wonder.
"So he's a young master from one of those great families in the city!"
"Of course! When he first entered the village, someone noticed his clothes. They must have cost at least this much!"
"No wonder he knows spells and martial arts!"
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the village chief asked about Old Wu's situation.
When he heard that Captain Lu had been taken to Lostway Cave, his brows knitted tightly. For a moment, he was at a loss.
After some thought,
The village chief looked at Wu Yu and asked, "Mr. Wu, could you and your people rescue the innocent people in Lostway Cave?"
"To be honest, it wasn't just young Lu, our captain, who was taken. There were also important people from the merchant caravans. If they're eaten or turned into tiger wraiths, Redfang Village's supply routes to the outside world will be cut off!"
Hearing this,
Wu Yu feigned difficulty and shook his head. "Village Chief, it's not that I don't want to help! But I'm only a branch line descendant. Why would those lofty retainer martial artists listen to me?"
"Retainers?"
The village chief's eyes flickered thoughtfully.
"So they're retainers..."
"Very well!"
He pondered for a moment before saying, "If we're willing to offer enough compensation, might we be able to ask those retainers to act?"
"Well... I can't promise anything!"
Wu Yu thought for a moment, then said, "If it's just ordinary goods, they have no shortage of those."
"They even casually tossed me things like [Vitality Pills] and other treasures."
As he spoke, Wu Yu took out a [Vitality Pill] and a [Three-Treasure Vitality Pill] to show the village chief.
The latter frowned deeply, unable to make up his mind.
He looked at the villagers around him and finally sighed.
"Young friend, please come with me."
He turned to leave.
The villagers looked bewildered, but none dared block his path.
Wu Yu put the pills away and followed with long strides.
The village chief's home was also a brick house.
Unlike the buildings in Evil Tiger Stronghold, however, it was more refined, with decorative screens and hanging paintings lending the interior an air of cultured elegance.
"Please!"
The village chief led Wu Yu into the sitting room, invited him to sit, then hurried away.
Wu Yu remained calm. He took out a flask of spirit wine and drank a few mouthfuls, holding a small pebble in his hand as a Divine Bird Sigil slowly appeared on it.
A quarter of an hour later, the village chief returned with several exquisite boxes and carefully placed them on the table.
"I'm ashamed! I haven't even repaid your kindness, yet I must ask for your help again!"
The village chief sat to one side and sighed.
Wu Yu smiled faintly, picked up a cup, poured him some wine, and pushed it over.
"There's really no need to be so formal, Village Chief. Evil Tiger Stronghold attacked us, so we had to avenge ourselves! Otherwise, my family would lose face, and I'd be called to account when I returned!"
"Haha, that's true."
The village chief took a sip of wine, and his eyes immediately lit up.
"This wine... You truly are a descendant of a great family!"
"Only a branch line descendant. That's nothing special."
Wu Yu shook his head. "Naturally, the family doesn't mistreat us. But receiving their full support or commanding their martial artists? That's nothing but a pipe dream."
"Since we're asking for your help, Redfang Village certainly won't shortchange you."
The village chief stroked his beard and nodded. "One of these is a gift to thank you for destroying Evil Tiger Stronghold. Another is payment for your help! The last is payment for those esteemed martial artists!"
"We don't ask that they kill the Mountain Lord, only that they rescue young Lu and the others!"
As he spoke, the village chief opened the boxes.
The first box contained a ginseng root.
[Hundred-Year Ginseng] Type: material. Quality: purple. Description: rare wild ginseng of considerable age. Increases vitality, sustains life in critical conditions, and extends lifespan.
The second box contained a technique manual!
"Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers" Type: technique. Quality: purple. Description: a secret hidden-weapon technique. One strike, one kill!
The third box contained a bottle of pills.
[Yellow Dragon Vitality Pill] Type: consumable. Tier: transcendent. Quality: green. Description: a pill used by transcendent martial artists. A mortal who consumes it will explode.
Clearly, the village chief had carefully selected the contents of these three boxes!
The ginseng was a thank-you gift, the technique suited a mortal like Wu Yu, and the pills were intended to enlist the aid of transcendent martial artists.
Looking at the three items, Wu Yu was startled.
The classic hundred-year ginseng, but this came from the Secret Realm World. It's probably different from ginseng outside!
A purple-quality technique. Just what I need!
Green-quality pills... Wait, transcendent tier?
The ginseng and technique were undoubtedly things Wu Yu needed.
But the final bottle of pills surprised him greatly-not because of their quality, but because their stat panel actually contained an extra piece of information!
Tier... None of the previous item stat panels had included that!
Just as I thought. Besides quality and type, tier also determines an item's value!
Understanding dawned on Wu Yu, but he put on a startled expression and said, "Village Chief, these are far too valuable!"
"If they can save young Lu and the others, they'll be well spent."
The village chief stroked his beard and cupped his hands. "Please do what you can to help, young friend!"
"Very well..."
Wu Yu hesitated before finally nodding firmly.
"The village has shown me such kindness. How could I leave your people to die?"
"Don't worry, Village Chief. I'll head over after a short rest!"
"Thank you, young friend!"
The village chief smiled and pushed the boxes toward him.
Wu Yu accepted without ceremony. With a wave of his hand, he placed the boxes into his Inventory, each taking up one slot.
"Please rest, young friend. If you need anything, just ask!"
"All right! Where's the privy...?"
After watching Wu Yu disappear from view,
The village chief sat in his chair, holding his wine cup and staring blankly.
Just then,
A young man in green emerged from behind the screen and whispered, "Grandfather, you just gave him all those things?"
"What if he takes them and runs? Wouldn't we be...?"
"Besides, he keeps claiming he's from a great family, but he carries himself like some wandering adventurer from the backwoods!"
"He's clearly a fraud!"
At those words, the village chief's expression turned cold.
He glared at the youth in exasperation and scolded him under his breath, "Fool!"
"You're about the same age. If you had even a fraction of his intelligence, how could you say something so stupid?"
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