Chapter 11
Of course, there was no rickshaw in the wilderness, and it was not convenient to enter and exit the town in broad daylight, so An Rou had to walk back.
Even in high heels, walking more than ten miles could be fatal. If An Rou hadn't been imagining the bright and glorious future of the farm, she felt she would have died on the way.
But the closer she got to the town, the more anxious she became.
Something is wrong in Zhongsu Town today.
She realized it—players. There were many more players on the street, many with screens open. A quick glance at the interface revealed it to be a forum.
An Rou wanted to take a rickshaw home, but she quickly changed the idea. With her dusty appearance, riding in a rickshaw would only attract attention.
An Rou glanced around, took off her high heels and kicked them in her arms, then took the broken bowl of a dozing old beggar on the street, her movements smooth and flowing - she begged all the way, and it took her half a day to return to the Smokeless Alley.
She happened to meet Sister Hong walking towards her and quickly lowered her head.
Yesterday he was showing off in front of her in a luxurious silk dress, but after just one night he looked like this. If she recognized him, wouldn't she burst out laughing?
Besides, if I go back to the bun shop like this, my father will chase me and ask me all kinds of questions.
Fortunately, Sister Hong had her eyes on top of her head and she always disdained to be offended by beggars. She twisted her waist and went to the hair salon.
An Rou rolled her eyes, looked around, and noticed a sign: Hongyun Bathhouse.
Before and after paying, the front desk lady had completely different expressions. An Rou didn't argue with her and even gave her some money to help her buy a set of clean clothes.
After a nice bath in the women's area, An Rou didn't dare linger too long and changed into a navy blue cotton cheongsam. Of course, it wasn't new, the style was ugly and didn't fit her well, so the only thing left was "clean".
50 gold for errands, 100 gold for clothes, she is so mean to be fooled with such stuff.
If it weren't for this outfit, the old lady at the front desk would have almost failed to recognize An Rou when she passed by, and her eyes would have widened in surprise.
Such a pretty and fair girl, is she the little beggar from before? She thought that he had stolen money from somewhere and was having fun here!
Next, there was a guilty expression, with everything he was thinking written all over his face.
An Rou's mouth twitched, and thinking that the other party was just an NPC, she was too lazy to bother with her, and walked out of the bathhouse with her head held high.
I was just thinking about how to phrase my stay-out-the-night routine when I realized my bun shop was closed. It wasn't completely closed: the door was open, the steamers were stacked as usual, but the warm steam and fragrant dough aroma were gone.
As soon as An Younian saw her, he hurried over and grabbed An Rou's hand.
"Rou Rou, where have you been? You didn't come back all night..."
An Younian's skin was dark, but the dark circles under his eyes were still obvious, and his upper eyelids were swollen, probably from staying up all night. He carefully looked An Rou up and down, and only when he saw that she was not injured did he breathe a sigh of relief and stared at An Rou's clothes.
"Rollover, your clothes..."
An Rou was about to speak when she saw a few players passing by and looking at her. She subconsciously covered her face with her long hair.
She pulled An Younian into the bun shop, facing away from the door, and then explained, "Dad, I'm fine. I played mahjong with the mayor's wife all night, and the clothes... I had bad luck and lost both my money and my clothes. This one was a gift from the mayor's wife to me."
"Oh, I see." An Younian didn't care about the money at all. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad you're okay. Your hair..."
He turned to look at An Rou's long hair, which was half dry, and smelled the soap scent on her body.
An Rou stuck out her tongue playfully and said, "I borrowed the bathroom at the mayor's house to take a shower to get rid of the bad luck."
"How can this be possible!"
An Younian said, pulling her upstairs and stuffing a dry towel in her hand. "If you go out in the wind without drying your hair, you'll easily catch a cold. Hurry and dry it."
The towel seemed to be warm, bringing a sense of warmth to Anrou.
As she wiped her hair, she asked with a smile, "Dad, do you think I've ever been sick?"
An Younian suddenly got stuck, and after a while he stammered, "...it seems that there really isn't one."
As expected, An Rou thought. She had walked all over town, but she had never seen a pharmacy or clinic. Perhaps in the NPC world, there was only birth, old age, and death, no illness. Even if there was, a low-level life potion for 10 gold coins at the pawn shop would cure it.
She kind of fell in love with this virtual world, even though she once hated it.
As long as she protects An Younian, protects the bun shop, and slowly manages the abandoned small farm and becomes self-sufficient, she will no longer have to worry about losing her loved ones.
An Rou's silence left An Younian feeling somewhat bewildered. He was very busy all day, rarely having a moment of silence with his daughter. For a moment, he didn't even know where to put his hands.
An Rou resolved his embarrassment at the right time: "I see there are a lot more destiny people in town. Dad, aren't you going to open the shop? Business should be good these days."
"Oh, open, open, I'll be there right away."
An Younian's haste made An Rou feel a little guilty, as if she was a parasite urging her parents to work harder.
However, it was a good thing that the bun shop continued to operate. Closing it suddenly would only arouse suspicion and might even become a clue to some quest. After all, An Younian was indirectly connected to the sudden wealth through her.
Begging all the way home, An Rou gathered a rough idea of the situation from the casual conversations of the players she met. The increase in the number of players in the town was indeed related to her.
——That second-tier blue weapon, everyone came for it.
A beautiful woman disguised as an NPC snatched this priceless item from the Oli Guild. As for what the item is, no one seems to know yet.
An Rou looked at the dagger in her hand.
It was only palm-length, silver, and engraved with intricate and exquisite patterns. It was called a dagger only because of its size; its specific shape was more in line with its name.
Seven Souls Sword.
Maybe it can grow bigger and longer like the short stick in Wild Flower's hand?
The farm was in a state of disrepair and would cost a fortune to repair and reclaim. An Rou considered selling it at a pawnshop, but that would prevent her from selling it.
Who knows how many players are waiting at the door of the pawnshop? If it were her, she would definitely not miss such an important place.
For now, I can only keep it for self-defense, which is fine. Firstly, as an NPC, An Rou's openly carrying a weapon would arouse suspicion. The Seven Souls Sword is small, but has high damage, making it perfect for carrying around. Secondly, there's no telling how obedient Bao Fu will be. Will he suddenly go berserk like the other crazy-changing ghouls?
When she was really forced to do so, An Rou could only kill it with the Seven Souls Sword.
After all, it ate wild flowers and slippery roads one after another, and in a sense, it has been regarded as a piggy bank by An Rou.
No, it is parasitic on the players' sudden wealth. Newbies may not have much wealth, but even a little money is still meat.
An Rou thought for a moment and walked to the wardrobe, took out another white cheongsam she had bought yesterday, paused, and hung it back.
Beautiful NPC... What if the king had described what she was wearing at the time, and she went out wearing a white cheongsam again, wouldn't she be walking into a trap?
*
Three miles north of Wuyan Lane is Zhongsu Town Square, where a large and magnificent mansion faces north and south.
A thin man of medium build walked out of the vermilion lacquered gate and paused slightly under the porch, as if to determine the direction.
He carried a curved sword at his waist, his identity as the Chosen One obvious. The security guards on either side of the gate glanced away in tacit agreement, not daring to look directly at him.
The housekeeper followed him out and respectfully reminded him, "Mr. Chiqian, walk three miles along Zhongsu Street, turn left two blocks and you will reach Wuyan Lane."
Chiqian Yiming glanced at him lightly, said nothing, lifted his left foot, and appeared ten meters away.
Although they were not surprised, the two soldiers were still secretly shocked.
This is the unique magical power of those who are destined to be kings. Even if you give them ten muskets, they probably won't be able to hit even a corner of their clothes.
A soldier curiously asked the butler, "Mr. Shakuzen, who is this?"
"He's amazing," the butler gave a thumbs-up. "He's one of the top 100 masters on the Destiny Ranking. Even the master has to give him some respect."
Lengbing City was vast, with the Ci'an District alone comprising 216 towns, of which Zhongsu was merely the most remote. The soldiers had been gatekeepers for years, but this was their first time seeing one of the top 100 masters enter or leave the mayor's home.
The soldier showed an expression of amazement and asked, "What does he want from our mayor?"
The housekeeper sucked his teeth and was also surprised: "He gave a large sum of money to the master as a filial gift, saying that he was looking for someone."
"Who are you looking for?"
"There are so many beautiful women in town, one isn't enough. They even asked me to write a list."
"Beautiful women?" The two soldiers exchanged glances, and one suddenly said, "No wonder you mentioned Wuyan Lane. I don't know what the local culture is like there, but the girls there are all so pretty. Especially those two beautiful sisters, and Boss Hong..."
"What? Let me see, An Rou, the girl from that bun shop, is the prettiest, but she's a little bit..."
Another soldier retorted, suddenly realizing that the Chosen One's request seemed a bit subtle, and looked at the butler, "You wouldn't include An Rou in the list, would you?"
The housekeeper spat at him, "What are you talking about? What kind of person are you thinking of me? That girl was already pitiful. She was so scared after watching her mother turn into a ghoul. If anything happens again, her father... Oh, I won't say anymore."
The housekeeper waved his hand, walked into the door, and leaned out again: "You two, do you know what's going on?"
The two soldiers bit their lips and nodded hurriedly.
No matter what the purpose of that destined person was, it would be shameful to tell others that the mayor personally "sold" the girl.
The butler nodded with satisfaction, then took out two purses from his sleeves and threw them over.
*
When An Rou went downstairs, An Younian was kneading dough, and the dough hit the chopping board with a loud bang.
Hearing the noise, An Younian turned around and said, "Rou Rou, you didn't get any rest last night, why don't you sleep more…"
He ran over and wanted to touch An Rou's face, but stopped because his hands were covered with flour.
"Rou Rou, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so bad?"
An Rou's face was as white as snow, and the edges of her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were slightly red, but there was a dark circle under her eyes.
She was about to explain that this was makeup to avoid being "beautiful," but she stopped herself. NPCs don't lie, and letting Dad know too much wouldn't be a good thing.
An Rou immediately revealed a haggard smile: "Dad, I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well. I couldn't sleep either, so I thought of coming down to check on you."
An Younian wanted to say something, but An Rou touched her stomach and said, "Dad, I'm hungry. I want to eat some big meat buns."
“But the dough hasn’t risen yet…”
"I like dead bread, too."
"Okay, wait a minute, the meat will be ready soon. The porridge is almost done, wait a minute."
An Younian rushed back to the chopping board, but before his hands touched the dough, two figures appeared at the door of the store.
An Rou frowned. What were they doing here?
The two beautiful sisters put their hands on their waists and looked at people out of the corner of their eyes. It was obvious that they were not friendly.
"Uncle An, you haven't paid for the flour you bought on credit yesterday. Dad sent us to collect the money."
An Rou understood.
The two sisters still remembered the money they lost playing mahjong before, so they came to cause trouble.
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