Single Player Only

Chapter 60: The Scholar, Hui Shi

The market"s old man sure had some long arms alright, having the responsibilities of guarding the door, appraising items and issuing quest rewards…

Right now, the streets were still pretty chaotic, and Yue Qiang invited the scholar into a shop to drink some tea. When he entered through the door, they just happened to run into a number of armor-clad soldiers who were searching for beautiful women coming out of the store.

The soldiers saw that both Yue Qiang and the scholar were males, and they were followed by a woman behind them. The woman"s head was lowered, and her eyes were shut. Her face was dirty and unclear, and her clothes were extremely filthy and ragged. So they let the trio in without troubling them.

Once inside the tea house, the scholar sipped his tea and asked, "Young sir Yue must have something to inquire of me?"

"That is correct. I would like to know… I would like to know if you sold out on your "Quotes of The Ancient Sage"?" Yue Qiang was still speaking circuitously.

Seeing that he had a new buyer, the scholar immediately turned spirited, "That is correct. The book"s original price is 500 knife coins, but it is now only 198 knife coins! It is only 198 knife coins, and you absolutely deserve it! If you can"t buy it with 198 knife coins…"

Yue Qiang cut him off, clicked open the trading system and tossed 500 knife coins to the scholar right away.

"Here"s 500 knife coins. I"ll be purchasing this book."

When the scholar saw this, he immediately beamed with joy, "Young sir Yue is a man of traditional etiquette and heroic chivalry. You are truly the model to our people."

The preliminary work should be enough now. The reason Yue Qiang had acted in such a roundabout fashion and gave out so much money for free was simply to increase the fellow"s favorability towards him.

"I am here to consult you on a certain matter, my brother. I wonder… I wonder if you"ve been feeling as if there is something you cannot remember?"

Finally, Yue Qiang asked the critical question he wanted to know. He had a premonition. If he could completely unlock the mysteries behind this Memory Unlock Rate, then he would be able to uncover the truth behind this game!

He waited quietly for the scholar"s answer after he finished typing the line.

Contrary to his expectations, the scholar did not hesitate at all and say, "Yeah, I have."

"Other than the things that had happened recently, I couldn"t remember almost everything from the past except for a feeling of great pain. I can only remember that my past life was extremely painful. Perhaps that is exactly why I chose to forget about it."

Extreme pain? Choosing to forget one"s past because of extreme pain? While considering his words and putting it together with the information he had collected in the past, Yue Qiang suddenly recalled the this fellow"s Memory Unlock Rate was at 2%. It was a number far better than Yin"s 0%, which indicated that she had forgotten everything. And so he asked again,

"But you must be able to recall something from the past. Maybe something like fragments of your past life?"

"I do remember some fragments, but the one I remember the clearest was still some ad messages. It would seem that I was a merchant in the past. I may not quite understand what these phrases mean even though I say them frequently, but they do come out of my mouth smoothly." The scholar grinned, "And they are useful, aren"t there? You, at least, spent 500 knife coins to buy my book."

Yue Qiang was unwilling to give up just yet. He was still thinking of squeezing more information out of the scholar, "So, what life fragments exactly could you recall?"

The scholar frowned, and slowly he began to wear an expression of recollection on his face. However, the more he reminiscent, the more sorrowful he looked. In the end, not only did his expression change, his back bent and his shoulders pulled unto himself, gradually curling into a ball. His eyebrows were tightly locked against each other. At first, he pressed his fingers painfully against his temple, and in the next instant began pounding his own head heavily with his fist.

He used quite a bit of strength, and there was a series of pounding "Dong! Dong! Dong" noise every time his fist connected to his head.

Yue Qiang never thought that a mere recollection could inflict so much pain to an optimistic and cheerful-looking man who was just cracking a joke a moment ago! The scholar"s transformation from joy to pain was so swift that he nearly had no time to react at all.

When the scholar raised his head once more, his eyes were swollen as if he was holding back tears, "Don"t let me remember them anymore, that… Cough cough… cough cough…"

He abruptly began to cough intensely before spitting out a huge clot of phlegm. Then, he drained all the tea before him before he finally and gradually regained his cool.

"Sorry, I truly do not mean to bring up the pains of your past."

The scholar waved his hands, "I did not in fact recall anything specific. It"s just that everytime I think about the past, I would feel a terrible and inexplicable pain that penetrates deep into my bones. Before I could recall anything at all, I already feel so unwell that I could die."

"It is no bother. I have caused you trouble, my brother." Yue Qiang was helpless. It would seem that he had come to a temporary dead end. Suddenly, he recalled that he still had a system function that he could use, "You and I seem to be kindred spirits, brother. Why don"t we become sworn bro… become friends?"

The scholar said, "Young sir Yue is a tiger killing brave, and I, your little brother very much admires you. We shall swear an oath and become swo… become friends."

Yue Qiang added the scholar"s name into his friend list. His name was called Hui Shi.

After Hui Shi bid Yue Qiang and Yin goodbye, he had basically regained his calm. Before he left, he said to Yue Qiang, "I am not sure if it is useful, but I believe that I should tell you this, brother Yue. I was feeling too unwell just now, but now that I"ve recovered, I did remember some things of the past. In the past, I seemed to live in a metallic jungle where there are big and tall houses at every direction tens and hundreds of miles away. The vast buildings could only be described as countless. Moreover, every one of these buildings were built with materials that were like the G.o.dly tiger hunting weapon you wield. This scene may last for only a split second in my mind, but it may be the truth, or it may just be an illusion that I experienced in extreme pain."

"I shall bid you goodbye then." Hui Shi said.

Countless buildings? Metallic jungles? Wasn"t that a modern metropolis? Yue Qiang fell into deep thought.

In that case, was Hui Shi a player then? Then what about Ai Qian? Was he a player as well? And Yin too? But shouldn"t a player be like him, sitting in front of a computer and playing through a mouse and keyboard? Also, what"s with that extreme pain that he revealed just now?

While he was thinking, Yin suddenly said softly from behind his back, "I have felt the pain Hui Shi has described before. When I first appeared in the cave, I do not remember anything from the past. However, there was an extremely terrible pain in my heart. It is a kind of pain that came from nowhere, and it is so terrible that I felt for a moment that even the decapitated corpses were better off than I am. It is only after some time had pa.s.sed that this feeling gradually faded."

Hearing Yin"s words, Yue Qiang suddenly recalled the first time they met. At the time, the girl of closed eyes had calmly a.n.a.lysed how the situation would turn out had he used her as bait. At the time, he had thought that she was just a girl of some eccentricities, but after seeing how painful the scholar Hui Shi was, to the point he could not wait to crack open his head and die, he finally understood just how amazing Yin was.

"Are you okay now?" He asked somewhat worriedly.

"I"m fine." Yin said calmly, "However, there is something that I need to remind you of."

Yue Qiang noticed the seriousness in her tone, "Tell me."

""Hui Shi" was a person who once existed in real history. He may not be too famous, but he was recorded in the history books. I just happened to recall him."

"Hui Shi was a knowledgeable and eloquent person, and he was a representative of the School of Names. The historical period that he lived in was… the Warring States Period."

After sending off the scholar Hui Shi, Yue Qiang was ready to discuss with Yin about the peculiar traits of the scholar. After all, they should be able to glean a lot of information from this discussion. However, the situation had changed, and yet another group of soldiers entered the teahouse to capture beautiful women.

This time, it was different from before in that these armor clad soldiers were no longer just setting their sights on beautiful women. In just a moment"s time, they had already marched away two unattractive and slightly plump women away.

He took a glance at Yin. The girl behind him had an elegant countenance, and even though her eyes were closed, her head was bowed, and her face was smeared with a couple of lines of black dust, her beauty was still too prominent.

While holding her hand, Yue Qiang sneakily led her out of the back door, "I wonder why these soldiers are searching for women wantonly. At any rate, let"s be a bit more careful. I think that spending money on a helmet that can cover the hair and the face completely would be safer."

The duo followed stream of people flowing through the streets, and they quickly found a store that sold equipment and armor.

Yue Qiang briefly browsed through the equipment sold at this shop. There were no weapons, although the variety of armor was more complete. There were leather armors, armguards, belts, long pants, boots, helmets and so on. A full set of equipment would cost him a thousand knife coins at best.

There was a problem though. None of these equipment gave stats.

They were all gray equipment, and their descriptions were more or less something like this: x.x.x provides a certain degree of protection to x.x.x body part. Not only did they not add to stats like Strength or Vitality, even their basic protective functions had turned into a kind of flavor text.

There was an equipment called "Shabby Leather Armor", and its item description was: Light, can increase a small amount of defense and reinforce the protection at the chest and the back area. Can effectively withstand arrow damage.

There was another equipment called "Boots", and its item description was: Can reduce the fatigue of long travel and stamina exhaustion. There was also a line of note that stated: Please choose a pair of boots that fits the size of your feet, or it will increase your fatigue instead.

The more Yue Qiang read, the more cringe he felt.

After browsing through all the items briefly, Yue Qiang asked the boss of this armor shop, "Don"t you have any better equipment to sell?"

Mentally speaking, especially from a gamer"s mindset, he would rather spend 2000 knife coins to buy a single equipment that could be used for a very long time, than a full set of very shabby equipment that cost only 1000 knife coins.

"Customer, what exactly do you mean by better equipment?"

"Of course I mean those green and blue* and… er, I mean those equipment of more excellent handicraft that enables a person to move their body freely." Yue Qiang attempted to use a way of speech that was more suited for this era, "Mm, the price is negotiable."

*In MMOs and Chinese-made games, equipment rarity and rank is usually cla.s.sified by color: Gray (Common), Green (Normal), Blue (Rare), Purple (Epic), Orange (Legendary).

He mainly wanted to check out of the game had any equipment that added to one"s stats at all. If there was, it was absolutely worth getting for a few thousand knife coins even if it was just a point or two.

In most games, money was almost always the most worthless item. On the other hand, combat prowess was the true root of it all.

"Customer, I do understand what you mean. However, my stall is small, and the equipment you wish for, I do not have. And not only do I not have these equipment, you will not be able to buy them in this market, or even the blacksmith stores of every trading zone in the entire Zhao and Yan borders either."

Not available, huh? Yue Qiang was not surprised. On the contrary, he was now even more attentive than before. Since the small trader had said that he did not have them, then there must be some other place that they could be bought.

"May I know where I can buy these types of equipment and armor then?"

"You are lucky, I suppose. There is just one person in this place who sells the armor that you speak off. Watch my hand gesture, and follow this path." The small trader answered him while pointing, "Turn a corner at the end turn left turn right go to the end and turn a corner again…"

"Slowly, slowly! How do I go again?"

"Customer, it"s fine if you do not remember. How did you enter the market just now?"

"From the entrance."

"Then you simply need to return to said entrance." The small trader said, "When you reach the entrance, find an old man holding a folding fan and iron b.a.l.l.s. You will be able to buy from him the equipment you ask for."

That old man again, huh?

He sure has a hand in everything…

"I"d like to add one more thing." The small trader said again, "The things he sell are very expensive, and he does not accept knife coins."

In the end, Yue Qiang bought a helmet that could cover one"s face, and a broad leather armor for Yin to put on. When the girl"s face and and body was completely covered up, she finally did not look much like a female any longer.

They returned to the entrance after making many turns through the market. The old man who accepted his 100 knife coins payment was still laying on the rocking chair, holding in one hand two iron b.a.l.l.s and in the other a folding fan. The iron b.a.l.l.s he kept turning in his hands, and the folding fan he fanned slowly as a leisurely aura a.s.saulted Yue Qiang"s senses.

Yue Qiang had Yin stand behind him before he walked forwards alone and greeted politely, "Good day, senior."

All the clues indicated that this old watchman was the true final boss of Green Cow Village Market, which was why Yue Qiang"s mannerism was exceptionally respectful.

The old man smiled at the duo, his gaze lingering a bit longer on the girl behind Yue Qiang. After examining them for a while, the old man said four words,

"You pa.s.sed the line."

Yue Qiang was confused.

"It costs 100 knife coins to enter the market each time. You have come out, but you will definitely be going in again later, so I"ll still have to take 100 knife coins as admission fee from you." The old man said, "Same rule. I"ll take only 68 knife coins from you."

This final boss is pretty interesting, I see.

Yue Qiang examined the old man from top to bottom once more. In every aspect, the old man fitted very well the image of a master hiding among the commoners. His beard was snow white, and his face was filled with wrinkles. A kind smile appeared often on his face, and from time to time, he would secretly glance at the beautiful girl behind him like an old pervert. No matter how you looked at it, he was the perfect image of a top cla.s.s master having retired to the common world.

After a moment"s hesitation, Yue Qiang ultimately paid 68 knife coins obediently.

"This young one has some questions to ask his elder." Yue Qiang obediently paid his respects the traditional way, and changed his way of greeting into an "elder".

"What do you want to know?"

Quite a lot actually. After some thought, Yue Qiang decided to take out the Ring of Earth first from his backpack. This item was absolutely one of, if not the most mysterious item of them all, and it wasn"t an item that needed to be appraised, but "explained".

From the village elder Chen Zi Han, Yue Qiang learned that this item could enable a normal person to acquire a basic level Heart Skill. A Heart Skill was a conundrum on its own, and the origin of this Ring of Earth was pretty mysterious to begin with. He especially wanted to know if this awesome-looking old watchman of the market could tell him anything about it.

"Please a.s.sist me in appraising this bracelet, elder."

Yue Qiang played a little trick and did not mention the name "Ring of Earth" directly. Instead, he described it vaguely as a bracelet basing off its shape to see how the old man would react to it. In other words, he wanted to see if this old man was the real thing.

"My lad, this is no bracelet." The old man continued to say smilingly, "As for its function…"

The old watchman fetched over a green cow from nowhere, before clipping the ring right onto its nose.

Pak!

"It"s just a nose ring."