In broad daylight! With everyone watching! Someone had actually lifted his money pouch right out from under his nose!
And that wasn’t even the worst of it! She was planning to use his money to pay off his debt!
If that didn’t count as provocation, then what did?!
Zheng San felt as though all the blood in his body had rushed straight to his head.
“How dare you! You wretched little thief! Just you wait—we’ll take you to Verdant Cloud Cave Heaven and have them judge this!”
As he shouted, Zheng San struck Wu Guanyue with one palm!
[HP -50]
Wu Guanyue: “??!”
She had thought she’d found the perfect solution and was secretly congratulating herself when an NPC suddenly lashed out and smacked her!
Why had she suddenly become a red-name target?!
And why on earth could you get killed by a random encounter the moment you walked out of the shop in a management sim? Were you Zheng San or the Tree Sentinel?!
No, that wasn’t the point. The point was—
The player’s health bar had already fallen below one-third!
Wu Guanyue had only one life. If this NPC hit her one more time, she would die on the spot, triggering the fastest Game Over in history.
No! Not like this!!!
Despite her shock, Wu Guanyue’s mind was racing. When she saw the NPC raise his palm and strike at her again, her years of gaming experience kicked in, and she immediately made her move—
[Using starting skill: Pickpocketing!]
The girl in front of him suddenly moved again.
Once more, she displayed that furtive, sneaky technique of hers. Zheng San saw only a lock of black hair sweep past his eyes. In the next instant, something had appeared in her hand.
And the thing in her hand looked awfully familiar...
[Obtained: 3 Roasted Chicken Wings]
[Roasted Chicken Wing: “Braised wings~ My favorite~” Restores 85 HP when consumed.]
Excellent! Food could restore health!
Wu Guanyue didn’t hesitate for even a moment. She ate the food and refined its energy in an instant!
Thus, Zheng San watched as the girl stared at him expressionlessly, suddenly tossed the chicken wings she had stolen from him high into the air, and swallowed them in a single bite.
Then she flipped her wrist and drew a magical treasure from her spatial pouch!
A three-foot-six-inch-long...
A long-handled mop suddenly appeared in her hand. She flipped her wrist again and gave the mop a sweep. Its ragged head fluttered in the sunlight, whistling through the air with frightening force!
Zheng San: “…………”
Zheng San: “………………”
The scene was simply too absurd. Zheng San was completely dumbfounded...
Zheng San might have been stunned, but the player was doing just fine! Wu Guanyue had no idea why the NPC had suddenly staggered, but taking advantage of an opening to finish off your opponent was the essence of player combat!
Wu Guanyue raised her mop and charged!
Zheng San was a level-two mob. His level wasn’t particularly high, but the game’s creator did seem to harbor a strange admiration for Hidetaka Miyazaki. When the player attacked him, it was like scratching an itch; when he attacked the player, each hit took away more than half her health bar.
Fortunately, Zheng San was carrying plenty of food. Stealing from him while attacking and healing herself was a perfectly viable strategy.
Zheng San felt like he was about to go insane.
He had come to collect a debt and hadn’t intended to use force at all. Yet this woman had humiliated him in front of everyone. He had only wanted to show off a little and save face, but she had started stealing his food while ramming that wretched mop into him!
Zheng San left himself open for the briefest moment, and the mop smacked him directly in the face!
As for why he had left an opening in front of someone who clearly had no martial training, that was because the woman had just stolen a guokui flatbread from his spatial pouch and eaten it...
That flatbread was bigger than her face! And she had actually tossed the whole thing into the air and swallowed it in one bite?!!
Zheng San was deeply shaken. He froze for a moment.
His mind thrown into disarray, he was struck several more times by the mop!
Then he clearly heard a belch.
“Burp!”
“So there’s a fullness meter too?”
The girl holding the mop frowned deeply, her expression solemn as she spoke.
Zheng San: “…………”
Zheng San: “………………”
Zheng San was tilted beyond reason.
“You! You chewing maggots and eating dung—”
“Zheng San, stand down.”
A voice suddenly rang out from farther down the street.
The curse Zheng San had only half-finished died in his throat. He swallowed it with difficulty, his face turning the color of liver, and silently retreated behind the newcomer.
Wu Guanyue raised her eyes and saw a middle-aged man approaching. He wore fine silk robes and had a pale, clean-cut face. However, because he was short and fat, he looked rather like a tangyuan wearing clothes.
The title above his head read: [Proprietor of Yongfeng Money House · Qian Shi'an]
Qian Shi'an clasped his hands behind his back and slowly walked over. He studied Wu Guanyue for a long while.
[Qian Shi'an, cupping his hands: “I am Qian Shi'an of Yongfeng Money House. May I ask your esteemed name?”]
[Please state your name]
This time, Wu Guanyue didn’t bother being eccentric.
Player: “I’m Wu Guanyue.”
She used her real name outright. It made the immersion stronger that way.
[Qian Shi'an, smiling amicably: “So you are Miss Wu. A pleasure to meet you. While Old Master Wu was still alive, he mentioned you to me as well. Seeing you today, I can tell that heroes truly do come from the younger generation... Miss Wu, you move with great agility. Might I ask which sect you study under?”]
[Please state your background]
Huh? She had to make up something like this too?
Wu Guanyue: “The Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect.”
Qian Shi'an’s brows furrowed.
The Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect? What sect was that? He had never heard of it!
The Nine Provinces and Eighteen Lands were rich in spiritual energy, and cultivation was widespread. Countless sects, both large and small, stood throughout the world. In Divine Firmament Province, the Divine Firmament Dao held supreme authority, commanding the Nine Peaks and Thirty-Six Cave Heavens. The Cloud Platform Realm, where Plum Mountain City was located, took its name from one of those Nine Peaks—the Cloud Platform Peak, home of the Profound Heaven Sect.
Below the Nine Peaks and Thirty-Six Cave Heavens were the local sects.
Although no local sect had produced a great immortal capable of ascending in several thousand years, anyone who underestimated them was sure to die without even knowing how it happened.
Qian Shi'an made his fortune lending money at exorbitant interest. If he wanted to keep doing so, he naturally needed to know who could be provoked and who absolutely could not. He knew every major and minor power in the vicinity of Plum Mountain City like the back of his hand, and he had never heard of any Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect.
Still, the less familiar a name was, the more cautiously it had to be treated.
[Qian Shi'an, laughing heartily: “So you are a distinguished disciple of the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect. I have long admired your sect—please forgive my earlier disrespect. My subordinate Zheng San offended you. I hope Miss Wu is magnanimous enough not to hold it against him.”]
Wu Guanyue kept her face composed and nodded with great reserve.
“Mm.”
【Qian Shi'an: “A debt must be repaid—that’s only right and proper. The IOU signed by Old Master Wu is written clearly enough, and your shop assistant, Wang Er, can testify to it. Even if this matter were brought before Verdant Cloud Adept, the facts would remain the same.
“However, Miss Wu, you’ve only just arrived, and demanding the shop and land right off the bat was indeed rather inhospitable. How about this? I’ll give you three months’ grace. At the latest, repay these one hundred taels of Tongxuan silver by the end of September. I won’t even charge you interest; consider it a gesture of friendship. What do you say?”】
Now this was how a normal debt-related opening was supposed to go!
Wu Guanyue still kept a solemn expression and nodded with great reserve. “Mm-hmm.”
Qian Shi'an smiled, and his fair, plump face looked just like that of a laughing Buddha.
【Qian Shi'an: “In that case, I won’t disturb you any longer, Miss Wu. I’ll take my leave… Farewell, farewell.”】
With that, he clasped his hands behind his back and turned to leave.
Zheng San followed behind him, and the whole line of black-clad burly men trailed after Zheng San, all of them walking away with their heads bowed.
Before long, the NPCs lining the street had dispersed as well.
***
After Wu Guanyue dealt with the Tree Sentinel—ah, no, after she dealt with Zheng San—the main quest was indeed completed.
【Main Quest: Prevent the Inn from Being Mortgaged (Complete!)】
【Quest Details: For some unknown reason, the owner of Yongfeng Moneylender has agreed to give you three months’ grace on your debt…】
【Reward: [Qian Shi'an’s Promise] ×1】
A new quest appeared right after that—
【Main Quest: Repay the Debt (NEW!)】
【Quest Details: Your grandfather owes Yongfeng Moneylender one hundred taels of Tongxuan silver. Basic common sense tells you that one hundred taels of Tongxuan silver equals one hundred thousand Shensiao copper coins. Within three months, you must pay off this debt… In short, start running the inn as soon as possible! Your shop assistant, Wang Er, will tell you what to do.】
【Progress: 0/100,000 Shensiao copper coins】
Mm-hmm. The beginner’s tutorial was finally about to begin.
Wu Guanyue walked over to Wang Er, triggering a cutscene.
【Wang Er (bowing deeply): “Shopkeeper, welcome! You arrived so late yesterday that I didn’t get the chance to explain everything to you, and I’m terribly sorry for frightening you. It was all my fault, all my fault.”】
After saying this, he even raised a hand and lightly slapped each of his cheeks twice.
【Wang Er: “From now on, whether it’s serving tea, carrying water, running errands, or doing odd jobs, just give the word, and I’ll take care of it!”】
Wu Guanyue: “What should I do now?”
【Wang Er: “You’ve only just arrived and aren’t familiar with the place yet… I’ll take you to the kitchen first and show you around.”】
Wu Guanyue: “Mm-hmm!”
Wang Er then led Wu Guanyue toward the back courtyard, even turning around to remind her to watch out for the threshold. He was being exceedingly attentive and cautious.
He had no choice but to be attentive… because he had a guilty conscience!
Old Shopkeeper Wu had always been in poor health, and over the past two years, his condition had worsened to the point that he could no longer manage the inn’s affairs. Seeing this, Wang Er had secretly begun selling off things from the shop. At first, he had shown some restraint, but as his nerve grew, he eventually sold off even all the furniture in the guest rooms.
As for the matter of Yongfeng Moneylender coercing the old shopkeeper into pressing his fingerprint onto the IOU… Wang Er had naturally made things convenient for them as well.
He had thought the old man was merely a sickly widower who could be bullied to death without consequence…
Who could have guessed that a granddaughter would suddenly appear from who-knew-where?
And this granddaughter was a cultivator—a prized disciple of the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect!
When Wang Er had watched Wu Guanyue toy with Zheng San just now, his very liver had trembled with fear!
Fortunately, the moneylender—the smiling tiger that he was—clearly had no intention of letting her off so easily. And she still knew absolutely nothing about the situation.
Wang Er figured that as long as he was careful and didn’t reveal anything, the moneylender would deal with her sooner or later.
With these thoughts in mind, Wang Er brought Wu Guanyue to the kitchen.
The kitchen was not large, but it was far from full. There was only a two-burner stove and a yellow-mud baking oven. A large wooden cabinet stood in the corner for storing ingredients, though it was empty now. Apart from that, the kitchen contained only two large flour jars—one filled with wheat flour and the other with buckwheat.
Naturally, this was also Wang Er’s doing. He sighed heavily and said mournfully, “The old shopkeeper was terribly ill toward the end, and our inn hasn’t been open for a long time. We haven’t even bought any supplies… Shopkeeper, shall we go take a look out front?”
The new shopkeeper did not suspect a thing. She merely asked, “What dishes can we sell right now?”
Wang Er secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Cultivators were obsessed with martial training and knew nothing about these mundane affairs. She really was incredibly easy to fool.
Wang Er put on a bitter smile. “The only thing we can sell is baked flatbread.”
The new shopkeeper continued asking questions. “How much does it cost?”
“Four copper coins each.”
I see, the player thought.
One hundred taels of Tongxuan silver was one hundred thousand copper coins. If each baked flatbread sold for four copper coins, then…
Suddenly, she clapped her hands in realization. “That means we only need to sell twenty-five thousand baked flatbreads to pay off the debt! Wang Er, hurry up and get to work!”
Wang Er: “…………”
Wang Er: “?!!”
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