The Little Bird Inn was a relatively luxurious building in Little Bird Town.
A bronze bird with its wings spread in flight hung above the inn's entrance, gleaming faintly beneath the lights.
"Come in~"
"Hello, how may I help you?"
The receptionist at the Little Bird Inn was a middle-aged woman, slightly plump, with a sallow complexion and a faint trace of worry between her brows.
Although she concealed it well, Zhou Heng still keenly noticed it.
In the world of Boundless Endless, players had always called the native inhabitants NPCs, but that was merely because everyone was used to playing games, and after ten thousand years, people simply could not be bothered to change it.
If you truly treated these native inhabitants like the NPCs in online games, you would not even know how you died.
"Ma'am, I'd like to book a room. How much does it cost?"
Zhou Heng smiled as he took 1,000 copper coins from his backpack and pushed them toward her.
"Ma'am, sorry for the trouble, but could you tell me if a female player from the Longevity Family is staying here?"
The woman instinctively wanted to refuse Zhou Heng. After all, this involved the Longevity Family. But at the sight of the little mountain of copper coins pushed toward her, she hesitated for a moment, glanced around to make sure no outsiders were present, and spoke quietly.
"Young man, why are you asking about that?"
"Ma'am, look, I'm handsome, and I'm over 180 centimeters tall. I want to see if I can get close to her. After all, as you know, it's far too hard for ordinary players like us to get ahead."
Hearing this, the woman felt Zhou Heng had a point.
Class divisions in the Sakas Empire were now severely entrenched. All kinds of resources were controlled by the Sakas Empire and those terrifying players of the Longevity Family. Ordinary people and ordinary players like them truly had little chance of rising in the world.
"All right. You seem like a decent fellow, so I'll tell you."
"A girl from the Longevity Family did come here. She's absolutely beautiful. She's staying in room 606 on the top floor."
A sharp glint flashed deep in Zhou Heng's eyes. Smiling, he took out another 1,000 copper coins and pushed them over.
"Ma'am, sorry for the trouble."
With that, Zhou Heng headed straight for room 606 without even booking a room.
The girl sat upright at the head of the inn's pale blue bed, holding a scroll, her eyes shining with a faint blue glow.
This was a skill book of "complex" quality called "Ten Thousand Jun Thunder." Once unleashed, it could summon ten thousand jun of thunder to deliver a saturation lightning strike within a three-meter radius. The skill also had a passive effect: when she suffered a sneak attack or similar assault, it would trigger automatically, striking the enemy with a bolt of lightning and briefly delaying their attack.
It could be said that once she learned this skill, she would have a foundation for survival in the early stages and would no longer need to fear sneak attacks.
After the family's conversion and modification, this skill no longer required her to fulfill its "complex" learning requirements. She only needed to put in the time.
She only needed to hold Ten Thousand Jun Thunder and study it closely for six hours to learn it.
However, just as she was fully absorbed in studying "Ten Thousand Jun Thunder," her skill "Alertness" suddenly activated, forcibly interrupting her focused study.
A fierce, icy gleam shot from her eyes as she stood and surveyed her surroundings.
Just then, a dull thud came from the doorway. The door panel shattered, and Zhou Heng strode inside.
"It's you!"
The girl's pupils widened in a rare display of surprise. She had considered many possibilities, but never this outcome.
She, a player of the mighty Longevity Family, had actually had an ordinary player come right to her door. And judging by his menacing approach, he had likely come to kill her.
But why had he come after her after such a short interval, and how had he located her so precisely?
A traitor?
The girl's thoughts raced as she considered many things.
But she knew this was not the time to think about such matters. She had to flee.
She was no fool. He had found her in such a short time, timing his arrival for when she was learning Ten Thousand Jun Thunder. She would never believe he had come without any confidence in killing her.
He must have used the "Extreme Long-Range Shooter" class scroll she had dropped and completed his class change.
She already had little chance of winning against Zhou Heng with his "Burning Rage," let alone after he had changed to the powerful "Extreme Long-Range Shooter" class.
Without hesitation, the girl turned and leaped out of the window at the head of the bed.
With a crash, the glass shattered. The girl rolled and landed on the street outside the Little Bird Inn.
The surrounding players: ???
What was going on!
Why had someone suddenly jumped down from upstairs?
Amid their astonishment, the players took a closer look and went pale with fright.
The person who had jumped down was actually a Longevity Family player?
What on earth was happening? Why had a Longevity Family player jumped down from upstairs, and through a window at that?
Zhou Heng's expression was murderous. The more decisive she was, the stronger his desire to kill her became.
Once someone like her grew stronger, she would definitely become a major threat to his development.
Besides, if he could not even handle this seemingly ordinary Longevity Family player, what right did he have to talk about confronting the Longevity Family? He might as well find a wall and smash himself to death against it.
Jumping down from the tall building right after the girl, Zhou Heng drew his bow, aimed at her, and loosed an arrow.
Extreme Long-Range Tracking, activate!
Whoosh!
With a whistle through the air, the arrow streaked across the sky toward the girl.
The girl gave a muffled grunt, took an item resembling blood from her backpack, and swallowed it in one gulp.
The next second, her speed surged, and she shot into the distance like lightning.
Zhou Heng's expression tightened. Without hesitation, he activated "Burning Rage" and gave chase.
One second later, a new arrow formed. Zhou Heng drew his bow again and loosed another shot.
Seeing this, the girl cursed, "Damn it," and fled through Little Bird Town with all her strength.
The two raced through Little Bird Town, one fleeing and the other pursuing.
"My God, am I... seeing things? An ordinary player is chasing a Longevity Family player down to kill her?"
"This... has to be fake, right?"
"I must be crazy. Definitely crazy! I've never heard of or seen anything like this!"
The passing players who realized what was happening were shocked beyond measure.
They had heard of Longevity Family players being killed in ambushes or assassinated, but never of one being chased down in the streets of a town.
This was no longer merely looking down on a single Longevity Family player. This was completely disregarding the Longevity Family's fearsome reputation.
Whoosh~
Zhou Heng fired another arrow. In just seven seconds, there were already seven arrows tracking the girl through the air.
But strangely, every time they were about to hit her, for some unknown reason, her figure would suddenly flicker and reappear farther ahead.
As she watched the arrows multiply, anger appeared on the girl's cold face.
She had never imagined she would find herself in such a miserable predicament after logging into the world of Boundless Endless.
She had already received her family's resources. With just another five hours, she could have dealt with him however she pleased.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
The charges on the girl's blinking item ran out. Before she could escape, Zhou Heng's arrows caught up with her. Three arrows pierced her skull, head, and chest respectively, dealing 100, 80, and 60 damage and killing her instantly.
"You've got some nerve!!"
"I'll remember you!"
"Don't let me find out who's behind you, or... I'll make him unable to live or die!"
The girl turned incorporeal, glaring fixedly at Zhou Heng as he strode over, and spoke harshly.
In her view, an ordinary player like Zhou Heng could not possibly know her movements.
So there was only one truth: someone had betrayed the Longevity Family, or those Longevity players who were at odds with her had sent him.
This matter could not possibly end just like that.
Zhou Heng did not answer her. He crouched down and pulled the skill "Ten Thousand Jun Thunder" out from beneath her body.
At the sight, the girl's expression involuntarily changed. "Ten Thousand Jun Thunder" had dropped...
Before you continue