Chapter 12

"Hey? My internal energy?" Xu Guohan was about to unleash his power, but he suddenly felt weak in his limbs, unable to muster any strength, and his internal energy was also unresponsive!

At that moment, an arm locked around Xu Guohan's neck, and a dagger was pressed against it!

"Old Xu, if you move, my dagger won't recognize you!" It was the old hunter, who had already restrained Xu Guohan and had him under control!

"Internal energy dissipated... Did you drug me in the wine?!!" Xu Guohan finally showed a look of panic and said to Su Peng and the others.

"Do you think... if it wasn't for the drug, would I be wasting my breath with you?" Su Peng rubbed the place where he had been hit by the wine glass; it hurt, but it wasn't serious. Xu Guohan's martial arts were quite good, but after taking the unique dispersing powder from Doctor Han, the old hunter had taken the antidote in advance, so there was no problem.

"Bind him!" Doctor Han shouted, and the few strong young men behind him, who had been eager to act, stepped forward and tied Xu Guohan up with thick hemp ropes.

Doctor Han walked over and searched Xu Guohan, finding three thin booklets, a piece of gold weighing about three taels, and a small, fist-sized monster mask, the purpose of which was unknown.

"Lock him up in the village prison, and you two watch him." Doctor Han instructed the young men...

...

Su Peng, Ji Ming, the old hunter, and Doctor Han returned to Doctor Han's house.

"This time, it's all thanks to Little Friend Su for uncovering the plot. I, Han, am grateful on behalf of the hundreds of people in the village." Doctor Han bowed to Su Peng, who quickly helped him up. Doctor Han stood still, took out the three booklets and the piece of gold from his pocket, and said, "Little Friend Su, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have obtained these things. Now, I will give them all to you."

Su Peng felt very pleased. The reward for this hidden quest had finally arrived. He took the three booklets and saw that they were titled "Rain Transformation Technique," "Flower Rain," and "Land Flight Technique."

He flipped through them and saw that the Rain Transformation Technique was an internal energy cultivation method, Flower Rain was a throwing technique, and Land Flight Technique was a lightness skill.

"I may not be good at other things, but my judgment is still reliable. The Rain Transformation Technique is a fairly good internal energy method, and Flower Rain and Land Flight Technique are also quite good. Although the martial arts taught in the Jiangning County martial arts school are not inferior to these, they don't have these specific techniques," the old hunter said to Su Peng.

Su Peng was delighted. These three martial arts manuals were definitely rare in this period.

Su Peng had heard from his team leader Lei Ming that all items in the game were divided into nine levels: gray, white, light blue, dark blue, silver, gold, dark gold, diamond, and sun.

Among them, gray was the most common, white was ordinary, light blue was relatively hard to obtain, dark blue was quite good, silver was produced only by small bosses, and gold, dark gold, diamond, and sun were increasingly rare.

These three martial arts manuals were already at the light blue level.

The butchering technique that Su Peng had learned from slaughtering pigs was only at the gray level.

Su Peng put away the manuals and looked at the old hunter and Doctor Han, sensing something.

"This piece of gold should also be given to you, Little Friend." Doctor Han said, and then divided the three-tael piece of gold to Su Peng.

Su Peng took the gold with a smile and said to the village chief, Doctor Han, "Chief, is there anything else you need me to do? Just say it, no need to be so polite."

"Haha, Little Friend is indeed perceptive." Doctor Han laughed, then gradually became serious and said, "The bandits from Qinglong Mountain are so determined; they must have some ulterior motive. I feel they won't easily disperse. If they attack our Green Mountain Village regardless of casualties, I fear I won't be able to resist... Little Friend Su, can you please go to Jiangning County tonight and ask the Black Water Army to come and suppress the bandits?"

When the village chief said this, a prompt suddenly appeared in the lower left corner of Su Peng's screen: "Hidden Quest: Green Mountain Village's Messenger of Aid. Accept? Yes/No."

Su Peng listened and looked at Ji Ming, who was still in the room. At that moment, Ji Ming seemed to envy the three manuals Su Peng had obtained and was staring intently, thinking about something.

Su Peng's heart stirred, and after some thought, he said, "Chief, I'm afraid I can't complete this task alone. I want to find a few companions to help."

"As long as you can bring the Black Water Army for assistance, it's fine. But too many people might attract the attention of the bandits from Qinglong Mountain, who are hiding somewhere. The number of people accompanying you should not exceed five."

"Alright." Su Peng nodded, turned to Ji Ming, and walked over, saying, "How about it? Want to come along?"

"What's in it for me? Like your internal energy cultivation method?" Ji Ming blinked and asked Su Peng.

"That... might not be possible. To be honest, I don't plan to share these three manuals. These light blue techniques are hard to come by in the early stages, but I can share some of the gold. Of course, I also ask you to keep this a secret and not tell others about the items I obtained," Su Peng said.

"Alright, but I don't want the gold. If there are any special rewards from the Green Mountain Village quest, I want to get them first," Ji Ming said to Su Peng. Su Peng was a bit surprised; it seemed Ji Ming was financially well-off but was more interested in future rewards.

"Alright, but I will only share the rewards that are meant for everyone, not the ones I deserve," Su Peng said to Ji Ming.

This hidden quest was triggered by Su Peng, and he was likely to receive more rewards than others when the items or other rewards were distributed.

"Alright..." Ji Ming thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "You're also planning to ask Fu Kang and Sun Shijia to join, right?"

"Why not?" Su Peng said, "More people will make the task easier."

"Sure, no problem. But one thing: after the task, if the reward is money, it should be divided into six parts, and Fu Kang and I should get four parts," Fu Kang said after some thought.

"Are you more handsome than others?" Ji Ming said from behind Su Peng.

Fu Kang glared at Ji Ming and said angrily, "It's you who came to me!"

He was somewhat unattractive and not tall, and these words hurt his pride.

"Haha, Brother Ji, Brother Fu didn't mean anything. He's just trying to level up his blacksmithing skill, which requires a lot of money, so..." Sun Shijia, sensing the tension, quickly tried to smooth things over. On one hand, he was used to playing this role, and on the other, he was excited about the hidden quest but also had a loose alliance with Fu Kang, so he didn't want to waste this opportunity over a meaningless argument.

"Fu Kang, I might not have been clear. We're all in this game together, and Su Peng thinks this task isn't too difficult. He estimates the reward will be something like increased reputation, which can be shared. That's why he invited you, not because we can't do it without you. So, your request for four parts out of six is not acceptable," Ji Ming said, looking at Fu Kang.

Su Peng also looked at Fu Kang. Since the incident with the meat, Fu Kang had been distant, and although the incident was minor, it seemed Fu Kang had a small heart and harbored resentment towards Su Peng.

But hearing Ji Ming's words, Su Peng immediately understood his meaning and said, "Let's compromise. Fu Kang and Sun Shijia need to level up their skills, so giving up some benefits is fine... but not for free. We can each get one part of the reward, but I can lend you my share, and you'll have to pay back 20% more when you return it."

Actually, Su Peng didn't care about the 20%, as he had already obtained the three manuals and three taels of gold. But he didn't like giving up things for nothing, so he offered a symbolic compensation.

Sun Shijia was already interested. His farmer was already level 10 and could advance to a spearman in the village, but he couldn't afford the training fees. If he got some startup funds, he was confident he could level up his skills quickly, and paying back the money would be easier.

Fu Kang was also interested. Although he had to pay 20% more, the value of money in the early game was high, and once his strength increased, paying back the money would be easy.

Sun Shijia seemed to be persuading Fu Kang, who was only concerned about saving face. After Sun Shijia's persuasion, Fu Kang agreed, and the four of them reached an agreement: Sun Shijia and Fu Kang would borrow Su Peng's future reward at an interest rate of 15%.

"Such a petty person... he won't amount to much," Ji Ming said coldly, watching them negotiate.

"Haha..." Su Peng smiled and led the group back to the village chief's house.

In the village chief's house, Doctor Han gave Su Peng a letter he had just written to his nephew, who was a centurion in the Black Water Army, and instructed Su Peng and the others to return quickly.

"Chief, there's one more person in the village we need to watch out for..." Su Peng leaned in and whispered a few words to Doctor Han, who was surprised and said, "Him? Impossible, he has contributed a lot to the village..."

"Better safe than sorry," Su Peng said, and Doctor Han nodded, looking puzzled.

Su Peng and the others then bid farewell to the village chief and set off on their journey to Jiangning County as the dusk fell.

...

"There are two routes to Jiangning County. One is the main road through the plains, but it requires crossing a large river, which takes two days. The other is through Qinglong Mountain, a shortcut used by many merchant caravans. They regularly pay tribute to the bandits of Qinglong Mountain to ensure their safety and reach Jiangning County in just a few hours... Which route should we take?" Not far from Green Mountain Village, Ji Ming took out a rough map and asked the group.