Before returning to White Orchard village, he sold the two horses, along with the dozen or so sets of armor and weapons loaded on them, as a package to the merchant at Woesong Bridge.
"These horses are no use to me even if I buy them. I might even have to hand them over to the Nilfgaardians."
The unscrupulous merchant drove the price extremely low. These were effectively military supplies, and he was certain Chen Xu had acquired them illicitly and could not sell them openly.
"That's too low. Every one of these suits of armor is completely intact."
In wartime, a human life was worth less than the armor on its body or the sword in its hand. Chen Xu had slit their throats when he struck, leaving their equipment entirely undamaged.
After some haggling, they finally settled on 167 crowns, with a few Gwent cards thrown in.
Coming to The Witcher 3 without playing Gwent was as good as not coming at all.
Chen Xu had taken the rogue soldiers' Gwent cards, but their quality was terrible. Without the merchant's [Decoy] cards and siege unit cards, he would not even have been able to assemble a legal deck.
Back when Gaunter O'Dimm had stopped time throughout White Orchard, it had taken tremendous willpower to resist looting the tavern patrons' Gwent cards.
With 221 crowns earned in a single night, Chen Xu was thoroughly satisfied. He led his horse away, ready to go home and sleep.
Carrying such a fortune, everyone looked like a thief to him. It seemed he would have to sleep with his gold coins under his pillow tonight.
Few people remained on the streets. Only the tavern was still brightly lit.
By Blue Star time, it should have been around 10 p.m. A drunk dressed as a farmer staggered out of the tavern and braced himself against the wall to retch.
Even in this world, the nightlife was only just beginning.
He suddenly felt a little more connection to this incredibly real world, and the sight of the rogue soldiers' gruesome deaths abruptly surfaced before his eyes.
Perhaps the rogue soldiers he had killed had parents too. Perhaps they had once raised their weapons to defend their homeland and made promises to the girls they loved before marching off to war...
No, since when did I get so sentimental?
Chen Xu shook his head. The tavern seemed far too quiet tonight!
He realized something was wrong with both his mind and his surroundings. A sudden chill swept through his whole body, and instinct froze him in place.
"Pop!"
Something flew past, grazing his forehead.
[You have been affected by [Charm] · Haunting Illusions. Reaction reduced by 20% for 5 seconds.]
Searing pain shot into his brain. That sounded just like a suppressed pistol on Blue Star. Was someone shooting at him with a firearm?
The sound had come from the tavern. He immediately rolled backward to dodge, only for the retching farmer to flip his hands over and lunge at him with a dagger in each hand!
[The Detection target is a Chosen and is under protection. You have obtained incomplete information:] -------- Chosen: Sethis Lodakhar Race: Navian wood elf Classes: Merchant Lv.5 (max), Assassin Lv.4 Attributes: Constitution 5, Strength 8, Reaction 7, Soul Quality 6, Spirit 3, Willpower 6 Dark Energy: 12 Talent: ? Specialties: Basic Dagger Proficiency, Basic Nature Affinity Skills: Assassination, Disguise Lv.2, Stealth Lv.1 Rank: Mortal Tier High Stage Elves, nature's favorites. --------
Sethis rushed him as swiftly as the wind. With 8 points of Strength, his explosive power was nearly twice Chen Xu's.
His twin daggers danced in an impenetrable flurry. Though Chen Xu could see their trajectories clearly, his body could not keep up with his mind!
He barely managed to swing his steel sword out and deflect the dagger stabbing toward his throat. Tremendous force surged through the blade, nearly knocking Gram from his hand!
The other dagger slashed across his waist. Though the leather armor impeded it slightly, it still drew a spray of blood!
This was the best set of armor he had stripped from the rogue soldiers, and Chen Xu had kept it for himself. He had never expected it to save his life so soon.
As the two fought at close quarters, no further shots rang out. Penny Burns walked leisurely out of the tavern with a black pistol in her hand.
They were going to teach this ignorant newcomer a lesson.
Sethis's eyes were bloodthirsty, his daggers weaving like cold, venomous snakes. In the blink of an eye, he had already opened several bloody cuts on Chen Xu's body.
[Experience -350. Current Master Detective Lv.2. Constitution +1, Reaction +1, unallocated attribute points +1.] [You used an Advancement Card. Your [Dodge] has advanced to mastery!]
As he absorbed the knowledge pouring into him, Chen Xu used exquisitely precise body movements to evade the twin daggers from all manner of unbelievable angles.
Enduring the explosion of information in his mind, he began shouting for help, trying to scare off these two wanted criminals.
After several failed attacks, Sethis used Detection in bewilderment. His eyes instantly widened: a total level of Lv.7 already!
How had this ungrateful bastard progressed so ridiculously fast?
He tried to close in and grapple, using his superior attributes to restrict Chen Xu's movement, only to watch Chen Xu feint with his sword and slip under his arm, into his blind spot.
His momentum made it difficult to stop. The steel sword swept past, opening an extremely deep gash at the top of his thigh.
The Strength attribute he was so proud of had instead become an aid to his opponent. Had his physical capabilities not been overwhelmingly superior, he suspected he would already have lost a leg.
"Move!" Penny had also noticed something was wrong and aimed at the two fighters. Sethis cooperated seamlessly, immediately throwing his hands over his head and scrambling away at the warning.
Now Chen Xu faced the muzzle head-on, less than four meters away!
"Pop!" The instant flame spat from the suppressor, a faint prickling sensation came from his chest. Staring fixedly at the muzzle, he twisted instinctively, and the bullet grazed his left ribs.
[You have gained the specialty [Ballistic Analysis]!]
The blood flowing down immediately soaked the hem of his clothes.
His mind raced. In Chen Xu's vision, a red laser seemed to extend from Penny's muzzle. He tried to misdirect that deadly red line with rolls and evasive movements pushed to their limits.
Three shots later, Penny had emptied her magazine without managing to hurt Chen Xu again!
"Whew-again!" Adrenaline surged wildly, and Chen Xu felt his entire body trembling.
This was the aftermath of pushing himself to his explosive limits-exhaustion. Yet his imposing air had not diminished in the slightest. Dodging bullets was not only thrilling to the extreme; it also gave him a sense of accomplishment from overcoming a firearm.
"Impossible!" Penny shrieked, quickly changing magazines and aiming again. Her gun hand was actually trembling slightly.
This firearm had been her greatest haul from the previous battlefield. To obtain it from another Chosen, she had not only traded sexual favors but also spent all the points she had accumulated across two worlds.
As a veteran Chosen, she could not even afford the points for a special identity.
Having paid such an enormous price, she now could not even deal with a newcomer. Penny's Dao heart nearly shattered.
Gritting her teeth, she used [Charm] on herself, forcibly rallying, clearing away distracting thoughts, and forcing herself into her best condition.
Eight consecutive shots emptied the magazine!
This time, Chen Xu seemed even more composed. He had already identified the pattern in Penny's predictions and no longer relied on repeated, sweeping rolls to confuse her aiming habits.
Recognizing patterns, resisting patterns, and exploiting patterns-he was already on the third level.
For bullets aimed slightly off target, he merely turned sideways to evade them. What mattered was judging the moment she pulled the trigger.
This almost counted as an unconventional form of bulletproofing.
Penny swallowed involuntarily. She seemed to have run out of ammunition and, for the moment, lost the desire to attack.
But to Chen Xu, the situation was still far from promising. He had barely any stamina left, while his opponents could still fight.
Fortunately, these two seemed wary of his astonishing performance and did not recklessly attack again.
"You're both wanted criminals. If you can't take me down quickly, aren't you afraid of alerting the army?" Chen Xu took the opportunity to steady his breathing and launched a psychological offensive.
"How about we each go our own way?"
Penny and Sethis exchanged a glance. The shock on their faces gradually subsided, replaced by mocking smiles.
"Looks like you've reached your limit."
She inserted another magazine and took aim.
...I said the wrong thing. Chen Xu realized where he had gone wrong.
His formula for dealing with people was already out of date. These people were true desperadoes, and they thought differently from ordinary people on Blue Star.
When these two had been imprisoned, he should have exploited their disadvantage, sparing no cost and using every means available to seize the chance to finish them off. It was kill or be killed.
He braced himself, only for pink light to suddenly flare in his opponent's eyes!