Chapter 121

"You're snatching it again." Bei Qiao pulled the cat off the cucumber, broke off a small piece for it, and held it in his hand so that it could stretch its neck and eat it.

Tangyuan was not picky about the size of the cucumber and just lay in Beiqiao's arms and started eating. After eating the cucumber, Tangyuan licked his mouth and rolled into Qiaolin's arms to act coquettishly. After a while, he started playing with his tail again, very busy.

Bei Qiao didn't watch the news much, so after finishing his cucumber, he went back to his room. Opening a drawer he hadn't used for a month, Bei Qiao pulled out a pack of brand new sticky notes. Remembering they were some he hadn't used up since winning the lottery, he quietly pulled out a few and stacked them together to use as a drain mat. He then used a penknife to cut off some of the stickers to make a journal page.

Bei Qiao: The daily consumption of making a notebook is endless. There are so many beautiful sticky notes that fill up half of the drawer. I can only try to find new uses for them.

After completing the daily task of consuming notes, Bei Qiao turned on the computer to review the "Shennong Bencao Jing". After a short rest, he logged on, left the inn, and wandered around the city.

This city didn't have an official player's chamber of commerce, only a local chamber of commerce. Bei Qiao had wanted to go in and take a look, but the guard at the door looked down on him. Since Bei Qiao wasn't wearing the most expensive clothes, he was shooed aside with a sour look.

Well, it seems that not everyone recognizes this fan... Bei Qiao, who was rejected for the first time, didn't care much. After being rejected, he changed direction and continued to move forward: Or it may be that the Qin family's name doesn't work here and he is too lazy to change clothes and slap himself in the face, so let it be.

The city's prosperity was somewhere between that of a county and a city, and it seemed to have developed rapidly only recently. Shiny high-rises were interspersed with a number of gray bungalows. The newest buildings stretched along several streets, connecting the city gates in different directions. The old and new city districts weren't separated by a wall, yet they felt distinctly distinct.

The government office in the city is located right between the new city area and the old city area. The walls are very old, but the bulletin board outside is very new, with a lot of notices posted on it.

Speaking of which, this city is called this, and I don’t know who named it.

Bei Qiao stood in front of the bulletin board, memorizing the faces on the wanted posters, ensuring he'd be able to react and flee in time if he encountered them in the future. Although he'd seen wanted posters in several cities, Bei Qiao had never encountered a single wanted criminal. He didn't know if this group of people were just too good at hiding, or if Bei Qiao's usual routes were too safe and cautious.

The bandits that Bei Qiao had encountered on the road: "Anquan, who are you scolding?"

In ancient times, when photographs were unavailable, the accuracy of portraits on wanted posters depended entirely on the artist's skill. For example, the wanted posters from this city show distinct facial features and a consistent style, likely representing the work of the same artist. Those who appear on wanted posters are typically criminals responsible for murder. Regardless of gender, age, or age, the depicted individuals all appear unremarkable and possess uniquely ugliness. It's unclear whether this is influenced by the artist's or the victim's personal emotions.

"Hmm? The painting style of this portrait is a little different from others, it's very beautiful..." Stopping in front of the last portrait, Bei Qiao confirmed the words written on the portrait again, confirming that this portrait was indeed a wanted poster: I don't know which painter did it, it seems like the magical painting technique of soft light has turned on, making the woman in the portrait look particularly beautiful, as if a filter has been added.

At this time, of course, there would not be an NPC responsible for providing information who would suddenly appear to talk to Bei Qiao and answer her questions. Bei Qiao's mumbling was not heard by many people, and the bailiffs guarding the gate of the government office would not have the leisure to chat with Bei Qiao and talk about this unique wanted order.

However, this did not pose a problem for Bei Qiao. This city did not seem indifferent, and there were always a few idle people who loved to chat.

This special wanted poster was no secret in the city. Bei Qiao randomly found a few friendly locals on the road. Just by starting a conversation, they very proactively began to explain to her the legend of this Shura beauty: "That's a bounty issued by a person on behalf of the government. If the person is captured, they still have to be handed over to the government."

"Beauty Shura, she is very powerful"

"She must be amazing, otherwise how could her portraits be so beautiful! Let me tell you..." The girls who were approached by Bei Qiao stood at the door of the shop they had just visited and nodded excitedly. The children who were helping the adults to watch the shop saw that there was something lively at the door, so they half-closed the door and sat on the threshold, looking at Bei Qiao and the others with their black eyes open: greet the customers first and wait until the customers really come!

The Shura Beauty was a legend in this city. While most criminals wore masks when committing crimes, this one always appeared uncovered, as if afraid others would forget her. The portraits of other wanted criminals were created based on the recollections of witnesses or survivors, with the artist repeatedly revising them. However, the Shura Beauty's portrait was painted in front of the individual, because...

"After the wanted poster was posted, the beautiful Shura herself felt the painter's portrait of her wasn't pretty. She went to the painter's house that night, put a knife to his neck, and demanded that he keep painting until she was satisfied." A middle-aged man who had forced his way into the conversation swung the bottle in his hand and made what he considered a decadently beautiful pose towards the girls talking to Bei Qiao: "Now that painter has been hired to paint beauties in another city. He's made a ton of money and even taken his children away... Tsk tsk, there are obviously many people who can paint better than her. She's so lucky!"

"Come on, uncle, what do you mean by good fortune? Everyone knows her family situation! Aren't you just jealous that she has more talent in painting than you? Although she is not as good as others in painting flowers, birds, fish and insects, she is an expert in painting beauties! Any daughter who doesn't ask her to leave a painting for her when she reaches the age of 15 would be doing herself a disservice." The girl who was speaking had also asked the painter to paint for her. She hung the most beautiful one in her bedroom to admire it every day. She would feel much better every time she looked at it.

"Those are just side paths. Landscape paintings are the best!"

"Stop bragging! Your landscape paintings aren't that good! You keep complaining about your talent being unappreciated, not having a single painting worth showing off, and having no money to buy a house or land, but spending your money on wine and women..."

"Isn't this a hooligan?" the child sitting on the doorstep watching the fun exclaimed.

"What nonsense are you talking about, little kid? I have a job and a house back home. I'm just a vagrant, not a hooligan!" The middle-aged man didn't think there was anything wrong with glaring at the child, nor did he think what he had just said was purely jealousy: "Back then, I..."

"Ah..." The child ran back to the store and closed the door mostly, only revealing half of his face to look at the other person: He is going to start bragging again. It has been so many years. Not only is he a loser, but he also has no new words to brag about. It's really embarrassing!

"Hey, you little brat still despise me!" The middle-aged man shook his head and took another sip of wine: "Ashura Beauty, huh, who knows if that painting was painted by someone else, and the same goes for that Ashura Beauty, who knows... Oh, let's not talk about it, the wine jug is empty." I don't know if he was afraid that Ashura Beauty would really come to his door, so he didn't continue.

If you don’t dare to say it, then don’t say it. Why bother talking about the empty wine jug... The girls rolled their eyes and pulled Bei Qiao across the street to continue talking, expressing their disgust with their actions.

The middle-aged man didn't follow them. He made a face to scare the child hiding in the door, then wandered off on his own. There was no point in chasing after them and continuing to annoy them. Although the middle-aged man didn't have much of an idea of ​​his appearance, he could read their expressions and knew that these girls disliked him. If he got any closer at this point, he would get a beating. Don't think that just because someone has slender limbs, they won't hurt.

The girls who had changed places continued to tell Bei Qiao the stories they knew about the Shura Beauty. What was interesting was that their understanding of the portrait was exactly the same, but their understanding of the Shura Beauty herself was completely different.

Girl A excitedly clenched her fists and said, "If you want to know the most amazing thing about Shura Beauty, it's that incident last month, right?"

Girl B objected: "Didn't the Shura Beauty stop appearing last month after the painter left the city?

Girl C looked around and said, "What are you talking about? Aren't the beauties all about persuading others with reason?"

"You are the one who convinces people with reason..."

"The Shura Beauty you are talking about, is it a person?" Bei Qiao, who was listening quietly nearby, couldn't help but complain: From beating up the madman to helping the old lady go to the clinic for emergency treatment in the middle of the night, isn't the span a bit too big? And aren't the examples given by those two people a coincidence in time? It is impossible for one person to appear in the east and south of the city at the same time, unless the Shura Beauty itself is just an identity, not a specific person.

"Yes!" the girls answered in unison, their expressions very serious.

Bei Qiao: “…Okay.” Actually, the answer to this question is not that important. Why are you taking it so seriously?

The girls didn't take it too seriously. What they knew was what they heard from different people. In the process of information dissemination, errors were inevitable.

"But Shura Beauty is Shura Beauty. That's the name she asked the artist to write on the painting. Everyone knows that."

"Oh, so that's how it is." But everyone has heard this news, hasn't they?

After chatting with them for a few more minutes and politely declining their invitation to go out together tomorrow, Bei Qiao returned to the inn and typed "Xura Beauty" into the forum to search for information from players. There wasn't much relevant content, though. The reason was that the bounty was too low and didn't involve any quests, so players weren't very interested.

Don't let the name "Xura Beauty" sound intimidating. In reality, even the locals thought it was a misnomer. The only crimes Shura Beauty actually had on record were a few instances of excessive self-defense during acts of bravery. The bounty was offered by the victim's family as a form of personal revenge. As for why the local authorities approved the arrest warrant...