Chapter 243: No Tears Before the Coffin (Bonus for Ally Muyun Chenxi, and Request Monthly Tickets)

"Has the notice been sent?" Liu San asked at that moment, his back turned to the main entrance. In his hands, he held a set of blueprints depicting a sword of a somewhat peculiar style. Upon its blade were inscribed four strange characters, though the original markings had long since faded into illegibility. At present, they had been replaced by several characters used for the drawing of talismans.

"It has!" replied a cultivator clad in black garments. "That lad Xue Si happens to be short on coin, and with Old Ghost Du Gan and his lot involved, I trust that after this venture, the boy will be more than willing to pay."

"Mhm. Then we shall pay another visit tomorrow." Liu San scrutinized the drawing in his hands for a long moment.

"Boss Liu, this drawing is..."

"Sent down from above. They said that so long as we find the sword in this picture," Liu San remarked, "or even if we merely provide a shred of information, there will be a bountiful reward!"

"Could it be that this sword is some sort of precious treasure?"

"What treasure?!" Liu San snorted coldly. "There is no need for you to know of this matter. Be careful not to provoke the Great Boss, lest he hurl you into the crucible to refine blood pills!"

...

Meanwhile, a middle-aged man draped in a great black cloak stroked the goatee upon his chin. "Where is Li Huangquan?"

"Dead... dead!" the bald cultivator replied in a trembling voice.

"What?!" The middle-aged man in the great black cloak stared icily at the bald cultivator before him, resembling a terrifying demonic beast sizing up its prey. "What happened?"

The bald cultivator hurriedly recounted the events of that time in full detail, omitting nothing.

"Heh... Hahahaha!" The middle-aged man in the black cloak erupted into wild laughter. "How long has it been? It has been a very long time since anyone dared to be so arrogant before me, Tie Xinmo! I shall give you an opportunity now to redeem your sins through merit! Go and discover where this lad's faction is established!"

...

Fortunately, Huang Shan and his companions had finally managed to find some wild wolves, mountain goats, and similar beasts that were easily vanquished, allowing them to hunt for wolf and goat meat to supplement their provisions.

Though they could not rob others, at least they would not be robbed by anyone else either. By behaving themselves peacefully, the experience gained was quite substantial, allowing them to scrape by well enough.

Initially, the speed at which one increased their cultivation in this game was exceptionally swift, but as time went on, the pace naturally slackened. Yet, to Huang Shan and the others, it remained remarkably fast.

At this hour, while the three experienced no trouble on their end, the younger generation of the Huang family on the other side had run into a plight!

A crowd of thirty to forty people had blocked five or six youths of the Huang family just outside the village gates, while the remaining members of the family dared not show their heads at all!

"Brother Huang! Our men outside can no longer level up!" Daoist Tie Shi wore a look of bitter distress. "What is the meaning of this?! How did so many people suddenly arrive?"

"They claim to be some manner of Jiuhua City Guard..."

"Where is Jiuhua City...?" The three men looked at one another in mutual bewilderment. "We have never heard of it!"

"There is no such place in the Morning Star Sea Region!" Only then did the three recall the other shop the owner had mentioned previously. "Where on earth is that other shop located?"

On the opposing side.

"Deputy Commander Gong, they claim to be from the Huang family of the Morning Star Sea Region," an officer murmured as he leaned in close. "I hear there are quite a few great cultivators over there. Could this invite trouble?"

"What trouble could it invite!" The memory of his large backpack filled with chicken and venison being plundered made Gong He's stout flesh tremble with fury. His dark countenance was so grim it could almost flake with ice as he bellowed, "If they have the ability, let their Huang family crawl out from the computers and slay me! Cut them all down!"

"Ah—!" A chorus of wretched screams echoed!

"Can we summon any more men?!" Daoist Tie Shi, who was leveling up in this area, bore a darkened expression. "What Jiuhua City?! What City Guard?! A wretched place I have never even heard of, yet they dare provoke us—they seek death!"

"But all the available men of our Huang family are already here..." Huang Shan spread his hands helplessly. "Unless we leave the city and return to the clan to search! Distant water cannot quench a nearby fire!"

"What are we to do then!"

"Brother Huang! Why don't we..." Zha Gu spoke up, "go find Brother Tao? Is he not your friend?"

"What friend? Merely commercial dealings," Huang Shan replied. "Though asking him for a few men poses no great issue... yet this..."

He cast a glance toward the shop. How could such a marvelous thing be disclosed to others?

He had even entertained the thought of claiming the shop's contents for his own. However, he was an outsider and remained ignorant of the shop's true background. If the proprietor held no regard for them whatsoever, would he not make a fool of himself and forfeit his life for nothing by playing such tricks?

A mighty dragon cannot suppress a local snake, and moreover, he was no mighty dragon. He instantly abandoned the notion.

"Forget it. Since this shop is established here, it is unlikely that we are the only ones who know of it," Huang Shan remarked as he struck a wolf with a fireball spell. "We might as well strive for greater benefits while the number of people who know of it remains small."

"Uh... Has the time limit arrived?..." Huang Shan listened in a daze as a prompt echoed in his ear.

He suddenly remembered the rule written upon the small blackboard: a strict limit of six hours per person each day.

Previously, he had grumbled in his heart about the shop's atrocious attitude, wondering how it could survive while daring to impose a time limit. Yet now...

Huang Shan: "Owner, could you let us play a little longer..."

Fang Qi: "No!"

Huang Shan: "We shall pay double!"

Fang Qi: "Tenfold would be useless!"

Huang Shan: "Owner, I am a businessman myself. Do you not know that conducting business in this manner will leave you with no customers!"

Fang Qi: "Play if you wish, or get lost if you do not!"

A standard, unyielding trifecta of quality responses left Huang Shan entirely speechless.

"What should we do..." The three gathered to deliberate.

"We leave first! We shall summon more men and return later!" Huang Shan declared. "Since everyone is limited to six hours, those people will not gain the upper hand either!"

The youths of the Huang family, currently blockaded and unable to venture out to level up, were likewise told to log off.

Just at this moment, several cultivators were seen walking through the door.

Huang Shan paused in his tracks.

The newcomers also halted, eyeing Huang Shan with a measure of vigilance.

"A few youngsters at the early stage of the River Spirit Realm?" Huang Shan knitted his brows. He observed one individual clad in a blood-red robe; his face was pale, yet his lips were crimson, as though they had just been stained with blood.

On the other side, the leader of the group possessed a stooped frame, his entire body enveloped within a massive robe. His hands, however, were as withered and blackened as dead twigs, and several cultivators in black garments followed behind him.

The black-robed cultivator scanned Huang Shan up and down. "An outsider cultivator? I advise you best not to meddle in the affairs of this shop."

"Oh?" Huang Shan instead crossed his arms, making a gesturing motion. "After you."

Naturally, he would not interfere. On the contrary, he was eagerly hoping for such reckless fools to test the strength of this establishment!

"Who is the owner?" the man in the blood-red robe demanded in a sinister tone.

"Ow... Owner..." Zou Mo sensed that the situation was amiss and hurriedly went to inform Fang Qi.

Fang Qi had naturally noticed the commotion at the entrance. However, at this moment, he and Jiang Xiaoyue had arrived near the Ginkgo Village, merrily slaying venomous spiders. "Xiao Mo, if they come to play games, the process is on the blackboard. If they come to cause trouble..."

"Cause trouble?" The man in the blood-red robe sneered. "We merely wish to borrow some coin from the owner to spend."

"Xue Si! This old lady warns you not to stir up trouble here!" Ruan Ning emerged from the shop, brimming with exasperation.

"Yo, so it is Miss Ruan. You had best not interfere with the rules of this street!" The red-robed man appeared entirely unconcerned.

"You—!"

Fang Qi sighed softly. "This city is actually fine in every aspect; the people possess more coin than wits. But there is just one flaw. Xiao Mo, read them the rules regarding troublemakers."

Ruan Ning glared at him fiercely. "What do you mean by 'more coin than wits'?!"

Those words felt as though they insulted her as well!

"Oh..." Zou Mo read aloud according to the small blackboard. "Their cultivation shall be stripped entirely, their legs broken, and they shall be cast out."

Having cleared the surrounding monsters, Fang Qi removed his virtual reality headset with a hint of helplessness. "After all, this owner particularly dislikes taking lives."

Huang Shan's face darkened. This was far more wretched than killing them! One must know that among those who survived in this place, who did not harbor enemies? To have one's cultivation stripped and be cast out onto the streets?!

Then our enemies will track us down, and anyone with half a brain can foresee how that ends!

By that time, death itself would be a mercy!

Xue Si'er, Du Gan, and the others sneered in unison, "So, you won't weep until you see your own coffin, is that it?"

.

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