Chapter 35: Do You Dare To Steal Something
The quarter pump chump looked towards Yue Qiang’s direction and said to him, “Come over and chat, will you?”
The two Zhao Soldiers guarding the door hurriedly lifted their halberds, “The prisoner is not allowed to move around unauthorised!”
But the quarter pump chump waved his hands to indicate that all is fine while staring fixedly at Yue Qiang. It was as if he noticed that he had something good on him.
“What have you called me over for, my lord?” Yue Qiang said honestly. He was standing under low eaves right now*, so why not take the opportunity to flatter the other party.
*A variation of the Chinese saying, ‘You have to bow your head under low eaves’, meaning that one should submit when he is under another’s authority.
“I have a feeling that you carry a heavy responsibility with you. Let me think. If I have not guessed wrongly, that this quest should involve escaping Yue Village, am I right?”
Yue Qiang’s heart skipped. The village elder’s unopened letter was with him right now, and it was true that the quest ‘Escaping Yue Village’ could be activated after he had read said letter. It was a main quest even. In that case, how did he found out?
“Don’t worry.” the quarter pump chump said carelessly, “I have a quest for you to perform as well.”
“You came out earlier, so you must have seen everything that happened while I was inside the house. Yes, that’s right, this is a little embarra.s.sing to speak of; after all the time I lasted is a little short.” the quarter pump chump did not appear to be embarra.s.sed at all. In fact he wore an incredibly proud expression, “My hard work allowed me to increase the duration by 50%, but since the base duration is too short the effects aren’t obvious – the total duration has only risen by a second… that is why I would like you to help me.
There is a pill beside General Zhao that can increase its user’s libido. I would like you to help me steal it.
In return, the quest reward I will give you is this: I will a.s.sist you in escaping Yue Village.” the quarter pump chump continued, “There are now hundreds of Zhao Soldiers crawling on this one fifth acre of a village. If you are without my help, then there is absolutely no way you can escape this place.”
Suddenly, the situation had turned a little interesting.
First, this suddenly appearing quarter pump chump was incredibly silly. He openly publicized the fact that he lasted in bed for only three seconds, and even that it was upgraded from the original two seconds. Next, his status was very high. The fact that he could carry with him three or four women in a military camp filled with men was by itself a symbol of his status. Then, it would appear that his relationship with General Zhao Yan wasn’t too friendly, or he would not have issued a quest to steal from Zhao Yan and help Yue Qiang escape.
“So? Have you considered?”
“Can you tell me why you’re doing this? I am just a captive, and you are a high-ranking official in this camp.” Yue Qiang typed and asked.
“I am not a high-ranking official. I am just a trader. My name is Ai Qian (T/N: The characters are not right, but you can read it phonetically as ‘Love Money’. Very appropriate).” The quarter pump chump Ai Qian said, “He fights his war, and I do my business. We may walk together, but we have no relations to each other whatsoever. However, I have been watching out for that pill of his a long time ago. I used everything I can think of but he is just unwilling to trade it to me. I can’t trade it with my items, nor is my Progress Points of any use to him either. So I had no choice but to use this approach.”
“If I am discovered while I steal the item, I will be killed, won’t I?” Yue Qiang asked again.
“Of course.” Ai Qian answer was very straightforward, “You’re a captive anyway. There’s no telling when Zhao Yan will be in a bad mood and kills you anyway, and he is always in a bad mood. Therefore it is better for you to cooperate with me.”
Yue Qiang did not answer immediately. Instead he clicked Ai Qian’s avatar again and checked his stats. Ai Qian very obviously detected Yue Qiang’s peeping, it’s just that he very generously waved a hand and allowed Yue Qiang to read to his heart’s desire.
Character: Ai Qian
Cla.s.s: Trader
Strength: 10 (Ordinary)
Vitality: 9 (He has always had some minor illness. Never major, but ailments constant)
Incomplete Charm: 29 (The Man-G.o.d in women’s eyes, the Diaosi in men’s eyes)
Wealth: 81 (Rich enough to rival a State)
Libido: 1 (You don’t need me to tell you this)
Skill:
?? : ??
Keen Eye LVL 1: Able to identify the true value or usage of an item.
Talk Nonsense: Advanced Skill of Dialogue System LVL 2
?? : ??
Greed Clouded Heart LVL 2
?? : ??
?? : ??
Unlocked Memory Rate: 3%
There were a lot of suspicious points on Ai Qian. All of his actions and manners were completely disjointed from the army camp’s atmosphere, almost as if he had appeared out nowhere. Moreover, while it was normal for an army camp to be outfitted with a quartermaster, it was incredibly strange to select a trader who obviously had a certain level of intimidation on the soldiers.
Besides that, Yue Qiang had also caught on to some particulars: One was the concept of ‘Progress Points’ which the trader had mentioned just now; two was a ‘Greed Clouded Heart’ that was very likely a Heart skill and at level two no less; and finally, the most suspicious ‘Unlocked Memory Rate’ which did not have any system explanation whatsoever.
Yue Qiang did not spend too much time thinking about these information. Right now, the most important thing to consider was still his next step at the moment.
The villagers had told him to escape to Mo Family’s Great Camp, but they did not say exactly how to. Obviously, the NPCs in this village could hardly defend themselves right now, so even if they could help him their a.s.sistances would be very limited. On the contrary, this Ai Qian had given him the opportunity at just the right time!
“How are you going to help me escape?”
“You will know when the time comes.” Ai Qian said confidently, “That aside, I seem to notice that you have a blackish iron rod with you?”
This guy; he could identify my quest, and he could identify my weapon as well. What a useful pair of eyes he has. Wait a second, I seem to remember that the doctor Ming Que also told me that this iron rod is not quite as simple as it seems, did he?
Ai Qian said again, “I have an ability. I can identify broken items and return them to their original form, and I feel that the stats of your iron rod should be pretty good. If you complete your quest, then I will give you a complimentary reward and help you identify this iron rod.”
Keen Eye LVL 1! He sure knows quite a lot of things. In that case… let’s do this!
“Alright, issue the quest then.”
“Yep, off you go.” Ai Qian said.
“Huh? Aren’t you going to issue me a quest?” Yue Qiang asked curiously. After all, this Ai Qian’s appearance was way too suspicious, not to mention that he also had a skill called ‘Talk Nonsense’. If he said that his quest reward or even the whole thing was bulls.h.i.t, then that would be terrible. Yue Qiang still felt that the quest window provided by the system was more reliable.
“I am incapable of issuing a quest.” Ai Qian said, “Don’t worry, I will definitely keep my promise. I am waiting for that pill that can increase one’s libido, you know.”
“Alright.” Yue Qiang did not have much of a choice now anyway. He listened to Ai Qian explaining things to him in detail, “Zhao Yan is already asleep at this time. Once you have entered the house, you may search around his big sword. The small box holding the pill should be right beside it. I have gone into his house to search for it once, which is why I know this.”
“Why didn’t you steal it yourself then?”
“Because I’ll be executed if I was found out, duh.” Yue Qiang watched the dialog box that popped above Ai Qian’s head and felt his heart to grow chilly.
Ai Qian led Yue Qiang to the front, and before he left he did not forget either to give a short explanation to the two Zhao Soldiers on watch, “I am taking this captive to witness our Zhao State’s rigorous military discipline. We will be back right away.”
Once finished, the duo quickly arrived at the entrance of the house the village elder Chen Zi Han once lived in. The oil lamp inside the house was lit, and there was a small gap between the door. An on and off snore resounded from within.
“This is the house. Go quickly, I will keep a lookout for you.” Ai Qian said with the trace of a wicked smile.