Chapter 123

In Qingshui Town.

The light of the teleportation array lit up, and when it dimmed, a figure appeared in the middle of the circular magic circle.

Xia Qing stepped out of the teleportation array and was about to look for Xia Ruihe. When she glanced around, she called out in surprise, "Mom, why are you here?"

"I heard from them that Guangming Town had sent a teleportation request, so I knew you were back, so I came to pick you up."

Xia Ruihe exuded an aura of majesty just by standing there, but when she saw her daughter, a faint smile immediately appeared on her face.

Xia Qing ran over and held her arm, "I brought back some great news - but please tell me first, what was the urgent matter you mentioned before? Why did you rush me here in such a hurry?"

Xia Ruihe led her out and said, "The Lords' Conference will be held in a few days. This time, I want to take you with me."

The lords of about a dozen small towns around Guangming Town and Qingshui Town would gather once every six months or so to exchange some official information.

The name "Lords' Assembly" is just a habitual name, and its scale is actually far from that level.

If possible, Xia Ruihe and others would certainly like to call more people over. If they could gather the lords of all the towns on the map together, they would know more about the game information.

But the more people there are, the harder it is to organize them. Moreover, the development levels of different territories vary. Some territories have a lot of resources and experts, and they simply don't bother to deal with them.

So over time, barriers formed between different regions. The so-called Lords' Conference is actually just a local meeting.

"In half a year, the game will enter its eleventh year. At such an important milestone, we are worried about what new changes will happen to Doomsday Game."

Xia Ruihe frowned deeply, but as if she had caught a glimpse of her daughter's worried expression, her expression quickly returned to normal, and she said comfortingly, "You don't have to worry too much. We are just preparing for a rainy day. It's not certain that something will really happen."

"However, because the topic is quite serious, there should be a lot of people going this time. I plan to take you with me, so I asked you to come back early and make some preparations."

Xia Qing muttered, "Is that so... I understand."

Although she was a little uneasy when she heard the news, she felt surprisingly calm when she thought of the warm hot springs.

Even if something really happens... the worst that can happen is that I can take my family and friends and hide in the protective shield of the hot spring. The boss will definitely take them in.

There are also several storage boxes in her home in the hot spring, which contain the supplies that Xia Qing had looted in the hot spring these days. They are set so that only she and her mother can open them.

The B&B can set up an admission list, which is safer than her home in Qingshui Town. Xia Qing has recently moved a lot of things there.

Relying on those supplies, they can survive for a long time even if something unexpected really happens.

Xia Qing's thoughts turned over a few times before he calmed down again.

At this time, Xia Ruihe smiled and asked, "I have finished my topic. What about you? You were so excited just now. What did you gain from the hot spring?"

Xia Qing has been staying in Nuannuan Hot Spring almost all this time. Apart from leveling up there from time to time, some of the affairs in Qingshui Town that she was originally responsible for have been temporarily handed over to others.

The other senior executives in the town had no complaints about this and were even happy to share the work that belonged to her.

They all agreed that having a good relationship with Shu Mo and getting information about the hot springs as soon as possible was more important than anything else.

In addition, Xia Qing always brought back a lot of good news and hot spring specialties every time she came back, so everyone became more enthusiastic towards her than before.

If Nuannuan Hot Spring is like a large resource point far away, then Xia Qing is like the player who is sent out to collect in traditional games, or a cat search team or something.

Every time she comes back, she can bring back a varying number of collectibles, and sometimes there are some surprises. Compared with this, doing some work for her is nothing.

However, when Xia Ruihe asked the question, he didn't actually have such high expectations in his heart. She subconsciously felt that it had not been long since she last left Nuannuan Hot Spring, so there shouldn't be any major changes.

But unexpectedly, she still underestimated the upgrade speed of the hot spring.

Xia Qing leaned close to her ear, whispered a few words, and explained the matter of the teleportation array clearly.

Xia Ruihe couldn't help but open his eyes wide when he heard half of it, "Are you serious?"

"Of course, and the first place the boss chose for the pilot project was Qingshui Town." Xia Qing nodded vigorously. Thinking of the situation at that time, his heart couldn't help but pounding. "...We are so lucky this time."

Xia Ruihe murmured: "Yes..."

Being the first to establish a transmission channel with Guangming Town, it already enjoys too many advantages over others. If the future cooperation performs well, this transmission channel will most likely be fixed.

The teleportation array has a time limit, and the number of teleportations that can be made each day is also fixed. To put it another way, even if you are willing to spend points to reduce the cooling time, the number of visitors that the hot spring can accommodate each day is limited.

On this basis, being the first to occupy a fixed passage leading to the hot spring means that Qingshui Town has already won the competition.

The welfare of residents has been greatly improved. After Guangming Town, Qingshui Town may become the next place that players will scramble to settle down.

The enviable situation before suddenly fell on my head in an instant.

Just thinking about it, Xia Ruihe couldn't calm down, and he felt the blood rushing to his head for the first time in a long time.

After coming back to her senses, she calmed down and said, "Since the boss trusts us, we must take it seriously and let her see Qingshui Town's sincerity."

His brain was working rapidly, and Xia Ruihe had come up with several promotional plans in a blink of an eye, and walked out quickly.

Xia Qing hurriedly caught up with her mother.

*

Xia Ruihe was extremely efficient. Xia Qing arrived in the morning, and just after noon, a new advertisement appeared on the bulletin board in Qingshui Town.

This bulletin board is actually a type of territory facility, just like the teleportation array, city walls, markets and other buildings.

Because of the nature of intelligence exchange, most people would choose to unlock it at the beginning of territory construction.

Bulletin boards in different places are basically the same in terms of size and location. Players have a similar attitude towards the bulletin board, just like a daily newspaper. They take a stroll over after dinner and stand there to read for a while until they have read all the latest news in the town today - new updates and advertisements, and then they slowly walk home.

For ordinary players, this is almost their only entertainment in a day.

Yu Hang is one of the members of this "idler" team.

He is seventeen years old. His parents used to be players of the Qingshui Town pioneering team. However, three years ago, they both died in a duel with the same boss. As a result, Yu Hang received compensation from Qingshui Town - a tax-free cottage where he could live for life.

He chose to live in one room by himself and rented out the remaining bedroom of about four square meters and the living room. From then on, he lived a life of leisure by relying on the rent.

Yu Hang didn't have any hobbies and was too lazy to go out and fight. The only habit he maintained was reading the bulletin board.

That day, he slept until noon as usual, had a simple meal from two cans of food, and then walked out of the door with a messy black hair.

When he walked to the bulletin board, Yu Hang suddenly found a circle of people gathered there. The noisy voices could be heard from a long distance away.

He walked over silently and heard someone shouting in dissatisfaction.

"Why hasn't this bulletin board been updated today?"

"It's already past noon, what's going on?"

Yu Hang took a quick glance and found that most of the content on the board was from yesterday.

The bulletin board in Qingshui Town is usually updated at noon every day. There will be a special person in charge to clear out expired content from the previous day and replace it with new ones, so many people have been waiting here for a long time.

But today, for some reason, after waiting for a long time, the player responsible for changing the content has not yet shown up.

"Why did I hear that the town has stopped accepting submissions today?" someone suddenly whispered.

The person next to him heard this and asked curiously, "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I just heard about it from someone else." The man shook his head. "A friend of mine wanted to hire a temporary home nanny. He went to submit a written application this morning, but the other party said they didn't accept any jobs in the past three days."

The bulletin board is an extremely huge board, which can easily accommodate thousands of submissions. From the establishment of Qingshui Town to now, we have never heard of a case of rejection of submissions. It is suspended for three days at once. They are preparing to cause trouble.

Everyone's curiosity was aroused.

The players who originally wanted to go to the market on the way simply stopped to watch the fun.

They waited and waited, and finally the staff responsible for cleaning up the submissions arrived.

The crowd automatically parted and watched him accurately take down the outdated manuscripts on the bulletin board, and adjust the positions of the remaining manuscripts until a striking space was created in the very center of the board.

"What's going on?" The onlookers whispered, "This is a big place, it could hold hundreds of submissions, why is it just empty?"

Before he finished speaking, they saw the staff member take out a piece of paper that was more than one meter long and several dozen centimeters wide from his backpack. After spreading it out, he nailed it hard on the bulletin board.

Looking at the huge poster, the crowd was suddenly in an uproar.

"Where did this big boss come from? He is so rich, how much will this cost?!"

"No, look at the logo in the upper left corner. It seems to be an official promotion of the town..."

Given the eye-catchingness of this poster, even people standing at the outermost edge of the crowd can easily see it at a glance without having to move forward.

It can be said that it gives enough face.

They did not dare to neglect the news and quickly took a careful look.

[Important Notice: The official transmission channel from Qingshui Town to Nuannuan Hot Spring is open! 】

——There is this line of big words in the center of the poster.

Below the title, like the blackboard newspapers of the past, there is a separate column that explains the purpose of the teleportation array to players who are unaware of the situation.

Among them, emphasis is placed on the cost of a single transmission.

"Using the teleportation array to go to another town actually costs an ore?"

Some players skipped through the reading and saw this line first, and couldn't help but exclaimed.

"I've never touched ore in my life!"

"Me too. Last time a piece of Demonic Sparrow Stone appeared at the market, I remember it was sold for 1150 points each. Even if it was shared equally among 10 people, each person would get 115 points."

The others gasped and started discussing the matter.

"115 points, that's almost four days' salary for me."

"I have to spend such a precious ore just to teleport once..."

What kind of rich man's game is this?

They may not have understood the mechanism of the teleportation array before, but when they heard it now, they subconsciously felt that it was such a waste.

Every time an ore appears in the market, the news spreads and even high-level and elite players have to compete for it, which shows how rare the ore is.

As for ordinary people like them who only earn 30 or 40 yuan a day, they don’t even have the qualifications to participate in the competition.

This transmission probably has nothing to do with them.

In fact, whether it is Guangming Town, Qingshui Town, or the surrounding territories, the teleportation array has almost never been made public among ordinary players. After all, the cost of teleportation is indeed not something that ordinary players can afford. Telling them this information will not make any changes to their lives, but may cause additional trouble.

At this time, Qingshui Town suddenly made this information public, which immediately sparked a lot of discussion among the players.

They continued reading in shock.

"Wait, keep reading." Someone was sharp-eyed and saw a line of bold and bordered words below, "...Because Nuannuan Hot Spring provides a large amount of ore, players are now allowed to use the teleportation channel at a low price. The single price is only 50 points... 50 points?!"

He screamed.

Compared with the 115 points mentioned earlier, this is a significant drop.

Jumping from three digits to two digits immediately gives people the impression that it is cheap.

Some people even used their own salary to calculate: Isn’t this equivalent to saving more than two days’ salary if rounded off?

This feeling is just like watching TV shopping commercials. Even though you clearly don’t need those things, when you hear the host shouting on the TV, “Don’t pay 998, don’t pay 998, you can take it home for only 398,” you still can’t help but be tempted.

It would be a loss if you don't take advantage of such a big bargain.

What's more, the price of an ore depends not only on the transaction price, but also on the added value it enjoys as a rare resource in the game. Nuannuan Hot Spring is willing to provide a large amount of ore at a price of 50 points per time, which not only means saving them money, but also helps Qingshui Town save the cost of finding and mining ore.

Not only the players are grateful, Qingshui Town is also grateful, which is why they cooperate so hard in the promotion. I would rather lose tens of thousands of points of income on the bulletin board than let Wenquan see my sincerity.

"It's a good deal, but do we really need it..."

Once someone is tempted, they start to hesitate.

Only now did they realize that they had not paid attention to the destination of the transmission channel.

My eyes returned to the large title at the top.

"Nuannuan hot spring... hot spring?"

Xia Ruihe was very clever and wrote the teleportation location directly as Nuannuan Hot Springs instead of the real destination - Guangming Town.

In their opinion, this is a matter between them and Nuannuan Hot Spring. Guangming Town is at best a middleman, so naturally they cannot attract more attention to them during publicity.

Just write that it is the teleportation array to Nuannuan Hot Springs. This way of promotion is the most clear.

However, they also marked it clearly below. There is still some distance between Guangming Town and Nuannuan Hot Spring. Advanced players can choose to walk, while ordinary players need to spend 30 points to take the bus, which only takes one hour one way.

In this way, you can spend 80 points to take different "transportation tools" from Qingshui Town directly to Nuannuan Hot Spring. Compared with the original journey of several days, it is safer and faster.

At this time, the players who were watching in front of the bulletin board felt that these four words were so unfamiliar, and even gave them a sense of fantasy.

Although players from nearby towns have been rushing to the hot springs recently, most of them are elite players. This group of people only knew the news because the mayor of Guangming Town gave gifts to lords from all over the place, and the news was passed on to them.

Most of this information is limited to the social circles of this group of elite players. For ordinary players, the hot springs are still little known.

The scene when Nuannuan Hot Spring advertised in Guangming Town was repeated, only this time, Qingshui Town adopted a simpler and more brutal way of persuasion.

Before the players could express their surprise or doubt, the player in charge of posting the notice quickly took out a table from his backpack and placed it heavily in front of the bulletin board.

The crowd pushed aside a few steps in confusion and watched him take out three special containers. It was obvious that it had just been cleaned, and there were still some water droplets on the surface. The man kept moving and took out a few more things. Before everyone could see the words on the package clearly, he had already torn open the bag with a "hissing" sound and poured the contents into the first container.

The red chili oil wrapped around beef slices and beef tripe splashed into the container, and the spicy aroma wafted away. The color was bright red, and the meat slices were garnished with sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, and coriander leaves, which made people salivate at the sight.

It is the cold dish that has been very popular in Nuannuan Restaurant recently, Fuqi Feipian.

The player poured ten packets into a transparent container, put on the dust-proof lid, and then took out a box of pineapple cakes that Xia Qing had bought from Lao He's bakery and neatly stacked them in a second container.

They picked out a piece, cut it open and placed it on a small plate. The cross section revealed a deep honey-colored filling with some golden residue falling off. Everyone seemed to have imagined the sweet taste of the crust and couldn't help swallowing it together.

Into the third container, he also poured ten bowls of rock sugar, white fungus and snow pear soup and stirred it. A few red wolfberries floated on the light yellow soup, which looked very beautiful.

After doing all this, the staff member spoke calmly under the fierce gazes of the crowd.

"Starting today, we will be offering tastings in front of the notice board for three consecutive days. Each person is limited to one serving, and must bring their own container. The quantity is limited each day, and will be distributed while stocks last. Please inform your relatives and friends and come early to claim yours."

"All samples come from Nuannuan Hot Springs. If you feel that it is not enough, you can go to the town hall. We have opened the ticket window in advance and will accept reservations for the transmission channel from today. You can set off as early as tomorrow."

"Nuannuan Hot Spring provides one-stop services including catering, accommodation, bathing and entertainment. For details, please see the notice board behind me."

Large-scale advertising + free tasting, this is Qingshui Town’s complete publicity plan.

As soon as the sample was served, no one doubted the authenticity of the hot spring anymore.

After the words were spoken, there was silence for a few seconds, and then a huge uproar ensued.

Onlookers: “??????”

It took them two seconds to react, and then they suddenly rushed forward like a tide.

“Don’t push!!”

"I'm the first one here!"

"Line up!" The town had anticipated this scene. A few burly players came out from nowhere, with loud voices like bells and stern faces, and they quickly maintained order in the team.

The players stood up impatiently, looking around frequently. Yu Hang was pushed several times. When he finally stood firm, there was already a long queue in front of him.

He cast his gaze towards the bulletin board again, and his eyes trembled as he read the content on it.

Yu Hang thought about it, turned around, sighed at the endless team, and prepared to join.

Suddenly someone called him from a distance, "Xiaohang, you are here."

Yu Hang paused and turned around, and a middle-aged woman in armor came over with a smile.

Yu Hang recognized that she was a member of the Qingshui Town Reclamation Team and also a former comrade-in-arms of his parents. He subconsciously pursed his lips and lowered his eyes.

"I just went to your house and the tenant said you were out, so I guessed you were here." The woman seemed not to notice his abnormality and stuffed something into his arms, "This is for you."

She didn't say what it was, but Yu Hang understood what she meant.

Qingshui Town would distribute relief items to the families of deceased official group players every once in a while. Sometimes it was a few rare herbs, sometimes it was weapons and defensive equipment that ordinary players could equip, and sometimes it was simply a direct point transfer.

Yu Hang had received quite a few before, but he didn’t like going out and had no use for them, so he piled them all in his bag and rarely took them out to take a second look.

But this time the gifts seemed a little different.

He glanced down and saw that it was a beautifully packaged box.

The woman patted Yu Hang on the shoulder and said, "This time the teleportation channel is open, and I have reserved a free teleportation spot for you. You can set off at any time. Xiao Hang, you have been in Qingshui Town for three years, right? Do you want to go out and take a look?"

She stopped talking, smiled at Yu Hang, and turned and left.

The players in the team nearby didn't hear the conversation between the two, but they caught a glimpse of the gift box of pastries in Yu Hang's arms and cast envious glances at him.

Yu Hang held the box, was silent for a while, and then opened the packaging. Picked a piece out from it.

There happened to be a piece of pineapple cake in the gift box, which was exactly the same as the one placed on the table as a sample, with a light sweet and sour taste.

Yu Hang clutched the piece of cake, left the bulletin board, found a secluded corner, and stuffed the pineapple cake into his mouth.

The crispy outer skin melts in the mouth, the rich sweet fragrance spreads between the lips and teeth, the filling is sweet but not greasy, the acidity of the pineapple stimulates the taste buds, and inadvertently evokes memories.

He remembered that when he was young, his parents would always bring a box of snacks when they returned from business trips.

That was once the best memory of Yu Hang’s childhood.

…He almost wolfed down the pineapple cake in his hand and choked to the point of almost crying.

My nose felt sour, but my dead heart seemed to start beating again.

Boom, boom.

One by one, powerful and clear.

Yu Hang tried hard to swallow the snack, smoothed his chest, and looked in the direction of the town hall.

"Warm hot springs..."

He repeated the name silently and felt a strange throbbing in his heart.

For the first time in three years, Yu Hang wanted to leave Qingshui Town and go out for a look.

…

On the other side, the line was getting longer and longer, and the staff in front were very busy. Qingshui Town quickly sent another person to help prepare meals.

The player at the front of the line took his own plate, left the line, and looked at the sample food on the plate, his eyes red with excitement.

He couldn't even wait to get home, he impatiently found the chopsticks and picked up a piece of beef tripe with great care.

The beef tripe was covered with chili oil, soft, tender and elastic, and the rich aroma stimulated his saliva. He chewed it for many times and swallowed it reluctantly this time.

Although Xia Ruihe asked the staff to prepare more than ten packets of Fuqi Feipian for tasting, but to share it among so many people, no matter how many packets there were, each person would get only a limited amount, which only occupied a small corner of the plate, with about two whole slices of meat, and the rest were some crushed peanuts, coriander leaves and so on.

The player chewed the food slowly, bite by bite, and ate it all with great care.

Even the chili oil on the edge of the plate was not spared.

The players who didn’t get a chance to play nearby almost cried with envy.

They swallowed saliva frantically, their eyes were green, and they glued to the plate like hungry wolves.

One person murmured, "For the first time in my life, I actually want to eat coriander..."

"No, I'd rather starve to death than eat coriander!" The person next to him expressed his determination without much confidence, and then muttered, "But besides coriander, the sliced ​​meat and tripe look delicious... Why can each person only get that much?"

He was very anxious.

As he spoke, he recalled what the staff member had just said.

Can I buy Fuqi Feipian if I go to Nuannuan Hot Spring?

There is no need to compete with others or queue up for this small sample. After finishing two bites, you can still feel unsatisfied while licking the plate.

As long as you pay some money for the journey, you can untie your belt and eat as much as you want...

His stomach made a loud growl.

The player's face flushed. He thought for a moment and grabbed the arm of his companion in front of him. "Let's not queue up. Let's go directly to the window of the town hall to buy tickets?"

"If you go too late, the tickets may be sold out."

"Yeah, but it's only 80 points, 160 points round trip, but it's worth it for such a bite!"

The two made up their minds and quickly left the team.

There were many players who had the same idea as them, especially some high-level players with strong financial strength, who came here early.

There was also a queue in front of the town hall, but it wasn't as long as the one for the food tasting.

Seeing this, they did not dare to delay and quickly joined in.

"Hello, please book two round-trip tickets to Nuannuan Hot Springs."

After a long while, it was finally two people's turn. They bent down impatiently and spoke to the window.

"Okay, I'll make an appointment for you to be transferred at 9 a.m. tomorrow. The return trip will be the day after tomorrow."

After collecting the payment, the staff handed over a paper receipt with his signature at the end, and then reminded, "Players who need to be teleported, please come to the town hall ten minutes in advance. There will be someone to take you to the teleport point. Don't be late."

The transfer time was written on the desk in front of the employee. The two took a look and found that the outbound transfer was only open once a day. In addition, there was a return transfer at 6 pm.

A maximum of 50 people can be transferred at a time. Since there is only one trip per day, you should try to gather 50 people before setting off.

At the very least, it has to be a multiple of 10.

There were already more than twenty players who had purchased vouchers before them. At this rate, they would probably be able to gather fifty people in the near future.

As for those who arrived later, they could only wait until the next day to set off.

They exchanged glances, and suddenly thought of a question. They asked the staff nervously, "By the way, we haven't been to other territories yet. How can we find the hot springs after we go there?"

What should I do if I can’t find the place, get lost, and have no place to stay?

Even getting lost in the wild...that would be terrible.

The more they thought about it, the more uneasy they became. When they thought about the transportation fee they had just paid on impulse, they felt a little distressed.

Isn’t this too irrational?

The employee raised his head and smiled when he heard this, and handed over a booklet. "Just follow this guide. There is a bus that goes directly to the hot springs at the entrance of Guangming Town. Don't worry, you won't get lost. The place is very well developed, so you just need to enjoy it."

The two of them were stunned as they held the booklet that Qingshui Town had spent the whole afternoon to produce.

What do you mean by very maturely developed… Has this hot spring really become a tourist attraction?

The sudden appearance of such a scenic spot in the doomsday is incredible enough. What is even more bizarre is that Qingshui Town seems to have regarded itself as a travel agency. Not only are its publicity and services unusually well-placed, but even the travel brochures have been produced with great diligence.

...When did the outside world develop into this? ?

They were stunned by what they heard.

It was not until they left the team in a daze that the two-day and one-night hot spring trip gradually began to feel real.

"Come to think of it, the last time I traveled across towns was more than ten years ago..."

"Who isn't? I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

“Are you an elementary school student?”

One person complained with a smile, but when he touched his chest, he could hardly contain the surging emotions in his heart.

Just like the first time they went on a long journey as children, the two of them felt nervous and excited when they thought about tomorrow's trip.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

*

Thanks to Qingshui Town’s diligent publicity, news about the Nuannuan Hot Springs and the teleportation channel spread like wildfire.

The next morning, the players who had grabbed the first batch of spots gathered at the town hall.

The staff counted the number of people, brought them to the teleportation array, and lit up the panel.

[Please select your destination: Guangming Town (the only designated teleportation point for Nuannuan Hot Springs)]

The previously preset location popped up, but the notes had changed quietly at some point.

Staff: “…”

The corner of his mouth twitched.

The only designated teleportation point or something... isn't this just blatant bragging?

Isn’t it just closer to the hot springs? What's so great?

The staff member, who was dazzled by the show, pressed the confirmation button in grief and anger.

【Application for payment has been sent】

【Waiting...】

[The other party has approved your application!] 】

The page refreshed and the numbers changed.

[Currently owned resource points: 50]

It means that Guangming Town has paid the transmission fee worth five pieces of ore on their behalf.

Everything went very smoothly. The staff of Qingshui Town nodded, exited the teleportation range, looked at the players who were crowded on the teleportation array and were nervous, and smiled in the sudden strong white light.

"Then I wish you a pleasant journey."