Chapter 104

Zhou Yaqi: It’s hard to say. If he hadn’t exposed himself today, you might not have discovered it was him.

Player G: That's right. So, does anyone want to hang out and see if there's a quest? I think he might be able to find a way out of the prison, and there might be a treasure quest there.

The Otherworldly Treasure quest is a favorite among players. Due to the influence of merit, players cannot simply visit the homes of evildoers to "punish evil and promote good." Because players are outsiders, interfering in other people's karma without authorization may affect their fate.

Treasure quests are different, as they allow players to punish evil and promote good in a targeted manner. In the process of punishing evil and promoting good, everyone can appropriately fill their own coffers, as long as their actions are not excessive.

By the way, the standard of whether it is excessive or not has not been figured out yet, so people usually stop when the system prompts that they can no longer take it. More cautious players will throw away one more thing to be safe.

Players A, B, C, and D: We have to go! It's a treasure quest!

System Announcement: Due to a large number of players surnamed Tan in Luodan City being suspected of betraying their companions to the locals, their accounts have been locked. A quest has been issued, asking players to assist the staff in recovering items from the Tan Mansion.

System announcement: This task is a treasure quest. Players can take the task items except the account books and items in the warehouse. Scraping the walls and digging deep into the ground are prohibited.

Player A: Holy crap! There really is a treasure quest!

Player A: Wait, what's the Tan Mansion for? Isn't it the Cen Mansion?

Player Geng: Now that the system announcement is out, I can say it.

Player Geng: The ones who hired the native constables to arrest the player were from the Tan family, but I didn’t know that the entire family had been locked out.

Player A: Wow, that's the whole family of villains, tsk tsk.

Player B: They are the ones who backstabbed us, tsk tsk.

Player G: You guys are still...quite calm?

Players A, B, C, and D: Of course, cursing isn't worth it right now. If I accidentally say something too much and get locked up in the black room by the system, I won't be able to take on the treasure quest!

As soon as the treasure quest appeared, all the players in Lordan who were reading the forum pressed the application button.

To prevent the natives from noticing any anomalies, this mission is divided into time periods. Players can request a time that suits them. Each person can only participate once, and teams are allowed. There is a maximum number of participants in each time period. If the number of participants exceeds the limit, the system will pop up a window asking if the player is willing to be transferred to a nearby time period. If the player does not accept, the application will be deemed unsuccessful.

Players: In a second, we are back to the day when we applied for college in our senior year of high school. Why do we have to make adjustments just to play a game?

Bei Qiao also applied to participate in the treasure mission. As she had just arrived and did not have many social activities, any time period was convenient for her.

So, unless you're a socially adept protagonist, how could you possibly find a sibling with a different surname in a foreign land? As for a romantic encounter, forget it… Thinking this way, Bei Qiao pressed down on the backpack at her side, carefully avoiding anyone trying to talk to her. She stepped over two fans, three handkerchiefs, and a jade pendant on the ground without bending down to pick them up or stopping.

The indigenous men and women who tried to make friends with Bei Qiao: Are you a piece of wood or a blind man?

Bei Qiao: Sorry, I don’t like you.

Bei Qiao didn't want to stay up late, so she chose the time between nine and ten. There were a lot of people on the streets at this time. As long as she didn't get spotted on the way, she could find an opportunity to climb over the wall to enter or exit the Tan residence. After completing her mission, she could go out and plunge into the crowd. She didn't even need to establish an alibi. The crowd was the best tool to destroy her tracks.

That's right, it's climbing over the wall, not entering through the main gate. In the other world, few players can't climb over the wall, because the gates of many mission locations are not open to players.

After circling the road for a few times, Bei Qiao found a corner, put on a mask, and climbed over the wall from the designated position on the back wall of the Tan Mansion at nine o'clock. After landing, he found a table by the wall with several stacks of paper on it with a simple map of the interior of the Tan Mansion.

Bei Qiao took a piece of paper and read it as he walked. The fact that the Tan Mansion could generate treasure quests was enough to show how inhumane this family was. According to information previously shared in the group chat, after settling in Luodan City, the Tan family did everything they could to establish connections with the Cen family. For the next few decades, they relied on the power of the powerful, relying on the little wealth that slipped through the Cen Mansion's fingernails to prosper... Of course, that was impossible. To maintain their relationship with the Cen family and gain their protection, they paid a heavy price.

After paying so much, how could they maintain their extravagant lifestyle? They chose to abandon their conscience in the face of wealth, and it was this choice that landed them in the situation where their accounts were locked by the system and they were judged to have triggered the treasure quest. In a sense, it was precisely because they had squandered all their merit points that they had fallen into this misfortune, trying to drag other players down with them but ultimately falling into a trap themselves.

The walls of the Tan Mansion were very long, and many players had arrived on time to complete quests. After landing, everyone took their maps and quietly dispersed. The courtyard was large, and the time available for searching was limited. Aside from those players who were ready to give up before completing their quests, everyone else was seizing the opportunity to act.

Comparing the map with the nearest building, Bei Qiao found it and peered inside. The first players to arrive were already rummaging through the building. Those who hadn't gotten a chance to open a chest were banging on the walls and pillars, while others were turning tables over, trying to find a hidden compartment that didn't exist.

Seeing that there were quite a few people inside, Bei Qiao turned and left, intending to search the courtyard first. The group of players who had arrived before sunset had already lit lanterns at the entrances of the various courtyards. The courtyard wasn't particularly dark, but it certainly wasn't bright either. Fortunately, there were so many people in the courtyard that it didn't seem too eerie.

Under an unknown tree in the yard, Bei Qiao dug out a small sachet with a small note inside. The note described a young girl's thoughts in pure vernacular, full of complaints, and the language was very aggressive.

"It's reasonable that ordinary modern people can't recite or compose poems after traveling through time." Bei Qiao used a small stick to poke the note back into the sachet: "The Tan family insisted on doing this backstabbing. It's probably because they are desperate and want to fight with the government." The Tan family used to rely on the Cen family to get started, but now that the Cen family has fallen, the Tan family has no way out and can't face the future of being eaten away by others, so they just jump into desperation. It's really not surprising.

Finding nothing in the courtyard, Bei Qiao continued his search in another area. The treasure quest was like a detective game for the players, with masked players crawling around the Tan residence, searching inside and out.

From beams to rockeries and cellars, there's no place players can't explore or imagine. After all, who hasn't watched a few episodes of detective shows these days? If it weren't for the system's restrictions on taking things and not destroying them, and the time limit for exploration, players would definitely dig deep, even leaving behind a passing earthworm.

As the search deepened, more and more players couldn't help but criticize the Tan Mansion, saying it was all show and no substance. Despite its sprawling courtyard, aside from the grand gate and the reception hall directly opposite, the rest of the complex was sloppily constructed, practically unsuitable for human consumption. At first glance, the buildings near the hall appeared resplendent and imposing, but closer inspection revealed them to be mere showpieces. The buildings further away were even more unremarkable, with only the items in the warehouse appearing genuine.

The first player to find the cash box in the warehouse couldn't handle the shock and dumped it out in the yard for everyone to see. Despite its heaviness and sheer size, the box was filled with nothing but IOUs. At the bottom, there was even a roll of IOUs with only the borrowed item and the date written on them. The only missing piece of paper was the borrower's signature. The sheer level of foresight was enough to make the players' scalps tingle.

"I borrowed the Sun family's lanterns for the Lantern Festival, the Li family's New Year paintings and God of Wealth statues for New Year's Eve, and the Hu family's chef for the whole year. The stone lions at the door are also borrowed. I plan to change to another family this year... Holy crap..." The players who read the unsigned IOUs were all shocked. So, the things they used for the holidays all belonged to someone else? And they still have the nerve to complain about them, and even plan to change them once a year?

"The Sun family has lanterns and the Li family has paintings, they really know how to choose..." Local player Hou An is quite familiar with the local good things, but this is the first time he has seen such an operation of replacing stone lions.

"They know how to pick, so we are in trouble." Hou An's teammates carried the spoils they had found before and placed them next to the box.

"What kind of trouble is this? Can the Tan family still come back online and stop us?"

The teammate waved his hand lazily: "What does it have to do with those bastards of the Tan family? The trouble is the ownership of the spoils! When doing a treasure quest, you can only take things that belong to the quest object. Borrowed items do not count, even if they are borrowed indefinitely." The treasure quest triggered in the Tan Mansion has the Tan family as the corresponding quest object. Even if the owner does not want those borrowed items back, the ownership of them does not belong to the Tan family.

"Damn! I remembered!" Hou An scratched his head and looked at the big box on the ground: "This is troublesome. There is only one chance to settle the task. How can I possibly read all these IOUs?" He finally found a few good things. If he can't take them away because of the ownership issue, then this trip would be in vain, right?

"What are you thinking? Even if you sit here all night, you won't be able to sort through all the IOUs." A teammate squatted on the ground, picking and choosing. "I'm just giving you a heads-up. If you find something you like but can't take it, don't be upset. It's useless anyway."

"Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. We're teammates after all."

Their bickering gradually turned into a duet, drawing the attention of passing players. Hearing the noise, Bei Qiao came over, flipped through the IOU, and then picked it up to lift it. It was quite heavy, like a brick, and lifting it with one hand was quite strenuous.