Chapter 139
The village chief couldn't confirm whether the other party was related to the umbrella seller, but he could only conclude that they had ill intentions. Although the umbrella seller had confessed everything he knew, the person he was dealing with was just a small-time thug. The existence of a mastermind was a hypothesis based on information obtained during the interrogation. Whether this person existed or what they looked like remained unknown.
"It's possible that there is no mastermind behind this, and everything is just a coincidence; it's also possible that there is more than one mastermind behind this, and if one is killed, another will pop up. But no matter what, this group of people have already swaggered to the village entrance. Even if this matter has nothing to do with them, they themselves are not innocent." The village chief glanced at the catapult next to him: You want to eat up the novice village? The place under the fourth disaster plate will only break your teeth!
"The village chief has already informed all the natives to stay at home and not come out."
"Okay, everyone else take your positions and implement plan one for now. Your own safety is paramount." Plan one for the defense of Yuanshan Village: players pretend nothing has happened, hide sharp weapons on the side, lure the thieves deeper, and wait for an opportunity to attack.
"Okay, village chief!" The constable quickly got into the simple tent next to him and sent a message to all the village players.
What a joke! Asking the village chief to send a message is like that. The village chief is busy giving orders now. The situation outside is changing rapidly, and the commander cannot be distracted by trivial matters.
Outside the village, the bandit leader, under scrutiny, suddenly frowned and turned, looking around. Constable Chen quickly crouched down, binoculars in hand. The village chief beside him quickly lowered his head, hiding behind a tree, occasionally observing him with his peripheral vision: "He's a very perceptive person, but why is he so reckless? Is he just a muscle-bound idiot with a well-developed intuition or disguise?"
Perhaps noticing anything unusual, the bandit leader turned back and continued speaking to his men. Worried about the glare from the telescope, Captain Chen waited a few seconds before resuming his position, attempting to visually detect the other party's lip movements. The conversation had left him somewhat speechless, and while recounting it, he couldn't help but internally complain.
The bandit leader slapped his subordinate on the back of the head in frustration: "What should we do? Just attack! Do you need my instruction? They are just a group of villagers living in the mountains, what can they do to us?"
Captain Chen: What's wrong with villagers? We are villagers. It's just that the village is safer for players and it's easier to falsify household registration information. Where do you get the sense of superiority from as a bandit leader to look down on us?
The bandits shrank back, "Of course they can kill us, boss!" A sneak attack at night would be fine, but charging in broad daylight—did they expect to be slashed with hoes? The peasants digging for food in the fields were no less powerful than they were, swinging their hoes and carrying poles with even more ferocity than when they were robbing with swords!
Captain Chen: Not really. We advocate surrendering your weapons but not killing you. We can make some money by handing you over to the authorities. It would be a waste not to make money if we can.
"Defense missions, ugh..." Yu Qian, who had been assigned to stay home, sighed as the bandits lingered at the village entrance. The defense missions were open to the entire village, but some had skill level restrictions. Yu Qian's martial arts and Qinggong skills weren't high enough, so she couldn't participate in many missions, and couldn't even get by as an extra.
In Plan 1, players need to pretend not to notice anything unusual and act as if they're going about their daily lives. Street vendors will remain open, and some players will pretend to be customers, wandering between stores. Players can choose any method to participate in the mission, but the prerequisite for accepting a mission is to ensure their own safety. Those with less strength, like Yu Qian, can only stay at home to avoid being taken hostage in the chaos.
Of course, the safest way is actually for a large group of people to gather together and hide in a safe place, but if you do that, you won’t get any rewards after the mission is over. At least if you stay at home, you can get a participation reward.
System: Pretending not to notice anything unusual at home is also a form of pretense. If there is no one alive anywhere in the village, but the shops are bustling with people, even a fool would think something is wrong.
"Safety first. Once the threat from the bandits decreases, you still have a chance to catch up and mop up the bandits." Fearing that the bandits would have a stress reaction after seeing the escort agency, Bei Qiao temporarily took down the escort agency's signboard, closed the door, and pretended that his home was just an ordinary villager's residence.
As for herself, because of her good skills and high level of martial arts and light skills, she was arranged to go to the inn pretending to be a guest, and work with Aunt Ding to protect the outsiders who are still living in the inn in the village, and to monitor whether there are any bandits among them.
"Yes, yes, it's all my fault. I was lazy during martial arts training." Yu Qian painfully took out a pen and paper: "You go now, I suddenly had a burst of inspiration, and I'm going to close the door and save the manuscript... Remember to call me when you want to finish it!"
"I understand. Go back to the basement quickly. The yard is not safe." There are no safe zones in this other world, and bandits may break in through the door. It is safer to hide.
"Okay, okay, I'll go right away." Yu Qian nodded randomly as she walked back. When she entered the door, she almost tripped over the threshold: "Oh my god... Where was I writing just now?"
After locking the escort agency's door, Bei Qiao took a detour and entered the inn from the back, avoiding the sight of the bandits at the village entrance. Aunt Ding, who had been waiting at the back door, handed Bei Qiao a room key and arranged for her to go downstairs and sit by the window. From this position, she could not only see out the window, but also the entire hall clearly. As for the safety of the residents on the second floor, that was the waiter's responsibility.
"Guest, here are your snacks." In front of everyone, Aunt Ding treated Bei Qiao as a guest staying in the hotel and prepared a set of snacks for her.
"Thank you." Bei Qiao took out a cover-up notebook from his sleeve, put on a reading posture, and looked out the window over the book: Oh, the person is finally here.
"Boss, can we just come in like this?" The bandit who failed to convince the boss trotted behind the bandit leader, with the big knife in his hand, which was neither hidden nor not hidden.
"What are you afraid of? They don't know we're here to destroy the village. Why don't we just pretend we're here to do business? Hold your head high and show your style! Don't be a coward!"
"Yes!" Upon hearing this, the bandits straightened their heads and chests, with the machetes in their hands flashing coldly in the sunlight. At first glance, it really looked like that.
"Auntie, what dishes do you have today?" Several guests were woken up by the noise outside and came down from upstairs yawning: "Wow, why does the food smell so good today!"
"When has my cooking not been delicious? This morning we have freshly baked buns, flower rolls, and fried dough sticks. What would you like to eat?"
"Let's have some steamed buns, and a bowl of meat porridge. I can smell it." The people here are really honest. The ingredients used are much more than those in small restaurants in the city, and the prices are cheaper.
"Okay, here are your steamed buns and meat porridge, and some side dishes for you."
"Thank you, auntie!"
It was a little after nine in the morning, and the inn had about the right number of guests, but not too few either. There were always a few who liked to sleep in and get up late, and they were just now coming downstairs to eat. Since there were still guests still up, the waiter was cleaning upstairs a little more slowly.
The guests, who had just woken up, ordered breakfast and sat down in the hall to eat. The bandits, smelling the delicious food, felt hungry and were about to head in with their knives in hand. The bandit leader, in the lead, kicked them over and said, "Why are you leaving without asking for my permission? Are you rebelling?" It was outrageous. If he hadn't inadvertently turned his head, these idiots might have simply left him, their leader, and walked away!
"Boss, we're going to eat!" The bandits got up from the ground in a mess: "We've been traveling all night and we're starving!"
"Boss, let us eat first! Only after eating can we have the strength to rob... and work!" It was a close call, he almost exposed his identity as a bandit.
“That’s right!”
"Let's go, Boss!"
"Can we have a meal?" The bandit leader laughed angrily, pointing at the subordinate who was shouting the loudest and asked: "What about the meal money? You give it to me or you give it to me?" He pointed at the people who were jumping around the most happily one by one, and wherever his fingers pointed, the subordinates admitted defeat... That was impossible: "Boss, when do we have to pay for meals?" Why should bandits pay for meals? It would be a blessing from their ancestors if they didn't take people's lives.
"Oh, I told you to just rush in, but you didn't listen and insisted on pretending to be ordinary people. Now that you smell the food, you've forgotten who you are? What a bunch of good-for-nothings!"
The bandits: "...What's wrong with being a glutton?" As long as the glutton stays there, he can have enough food every day. Being a bandit is worse than being a glutton!
"I really do owe you guys being the boss in my past life... Then let me ask you again, do you want to just charge in, or stick with the original plan?" The bandit leader pressed the throbbing vein on his forehead. "I'm not angry, I'm not angry. Didn't I already know what these guys were like? It's just that my brain has been hypnotized and I'm more prone to tantrums..."
“…”
"What do you mean by not talking? You guys don't all want it, do you?" I'm going to give you a big spanking if you have a seizure.
“…”
"Fuck! You guys really think highly of me!" Are you guys crazy or you just eat? You are really a bunch of gluttons!
"Aunt Ding, where are the bandits now?" The players in the food street waited for the bandits for a long time, and asked about the situation in the group one by one. Xinji, who was far away, silently peeked at the screen, and Xianyu, who was concentrating on lying down, simply did not go online.
Aunt Ding, who had just finished her work at the front, said: "He's blocking the door of my inn and performing crosstalk."
Other players: "Huh?"
"Village chief, they stopped at the entrance of the village."
"It seems Aunt Ding isn't just looking for the participation reward today... Got it. Keep watching. If they really enter the inn, assign a few constables to keep an eye on them to prevent them from causing any trouble."
"Yes, village chief!"
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