Chapter 6

After yesterday’s heart-pounding battle, it was no surprise that the Jianghu game forums were buzzing with player posts.

[Location: Imperial Palace. I’ve wormed my way into the job of a water-sprinkling eunuch. I can say for sure that eunuchs and palace maids in ancient times had the highest mortality rate of any profession. But thanks to my undying body, I’ve stubbornly clung to life this far! Dancing on death’s doorstep, I’ve eavesdropped on plenty of palace secrets. Heat: 700]

[The sky stretches vast and blue over endless plains—the scenery beyond the borderlands is something else. Click to see the gold-rated recipe for roasted lamb legs and yurts. Heat: 1000]

[Adventures of a level 1 noob from Jiangnan City: Fearlessly infiltrating the water bandit lair, protecting my bros, and heroically rescuing a beautiful girl from that den of devils. Heat: 40,000]

Interstellar Players were as brutally honest as ever.

The new post’s title was especially irresistible, teasing dark forces, pulse-pounding danger, heart-stirring brotherhood, and even a beauty. Countless netizens couldn’t resist clicking.

Five-Colored Mottled Black kept up his serialized saga today: [We’d been out gathering ingredients yesterday, loaded down with loot on our way back, when I suddenly heard a shrill, piercing whistle. I jolted in shock, and the fruits and veggies in my arms tumbled to the ground.]

[I knew exactly what that whistle meant better than anyone—it signaled my brothers, they, were in trouble!! Undaunted, I raced toward the sound. The first thing I saw was countless red-named bandits swarming my bros. They were covered in wounds, barely holding on. The sight set my blood boiling. A spring breeze rustled the bamboo grove, teasing my hair, but it couldn’t cool the rage burning in my chest.]

[I charged forward fists first, roaring, “You bold bandits, unhand my brothers!”]

[My punch struck the bandit leader dead-on. He clutched the back of his head, staggering as he stared at me, a flicker of pain and fear in his eyes. Just before he collapsed, I caught his incredulous mutter: “Impossible… How could mighty me fall to a level 1 player’s hand?” I ignored him—too chatty for a dying man—and turned to help the woman nearby.]

[Her name was Qianniang, this poor girl. In her eyes, I must have looked like a god descending from the heavens, dashing and heroic in my rescue.]

[From Qianniang, I learned that Smoky Water Stronghold terrorized the locals, enslaving wretches like her. There were over a dozen more inside—some in their fifties or sixties, others just a few years old. Righteous fury surged through me. A true hero acts for the nation and its people—who could stand by when injustice festers in the jianghu? I made up my mind on the spot: with her help, I’d infiltrate that stronghold atop the misty waters in broad daylight.]

[Watch as I snap my fingers and send the stronghold’s riffraff packing to oblivion.]

The story that followed was even more thrilling—tense stealth missions, clever disguises, and intricate details of freeing the poor villagers. Sure, it was padded with plenty of hot air, all centered on bragging about his fearless heroism and disregard for life and limb.

【Ding! This post has been reported and banned by hundreds of users. Reason: Excessive embellishment and deviation from the facts.】

The complaints were spot-on: “What do you mean ‘a level 1 like me infiltrated the enemy camp’? Add an ‘us’ after ‘me’—did you solo those hundreds of players or what?”

Linghu Xiao griped even harder: “I was the one up front commanding and tanking deaths over and over!” Somehow, in this tale, he’d been demoted to less than a background extra.

That said, Five-Colored Mottled Black’s latest installment was a rollercoaster of twists and peaks, perfect clickbait. Popularity soared, leaving the forum admins no choice but to restore it.

【Ding! Post restored due to overwhelming popularity.】

Spooked by the ban, Five-Colored Mottled Black backed off, ditching the over-the-top flair.

[After storming Smoky Water Stronghold, our first move was to inventory the spoils: ten bags of rice, a chest of silver, and a tiger pelt. Not a bad haul. As for the rescued NPCs—these miserable, world-weary villagers—we didn’t just abandon them. With Jiangnan City’s mountains and rivers nearby, and learning they hailed from local hamlets, we escorted them safely home.]

[The last one was Qianniang. As we reached the city gates, she burst into tears, hesitating. She’d take a few steps forward, then shake her head and retreat.]

[Everyone asked solicitously if the journey had worn her out, but she just shook her head, weeping harder.]

[In a crowd of oblivious straight guys and gals, only my keen intuition clicked: It had to be that fear of returning home after so long. With my gentle coaxing, she finally spilled the truth. We had me to thank—every player there triggered the follow-up to “Qianniang’s Plea Letter,” the quest to dig up info for her.]

[Qianniang explained her family lived in Gourd Alley, and she had a childhood sweetheart who was a peddler.]

[We tracked down the alley in no time and found the guy. How to describe this gaunt, emaciated man? His robes hung loose on his skeletal frame. At first, we were all touched, figuring he was a lovesick fool pining away for Qianniang’s return.]

[We were just organizing our words to break the news of her safe return when a young woman emerged from his home. The two were all cozy and intimate—clearly a married couple. The players were floored by the twist.]

[Further digging around pieced together a shocking truth: Back when Qianniang was abducted, her sweetheart had been peddling wares right across the water on the opposite bank. All these years she’d been missing, he’d never breathed a word to neighbors or officials. He feared they’d condemn his cowardice—witnessing his childhood love snatched away without so much as raising his voice.]

[Yet his conscience gnawed at him relentlessly. Unable to eat from the guilt, he’d wasted away to skin and bones, all the while hoping some kindhearted jianghu wanderer might pass by to help.]

[By the quest’s end, you didn’t even know how to judge the man. A pale sense of relief dawned on Qianniang’s face. Unwilling to linger in that painful place, we took her back to the manor. The Young Master himself said that staying at Heart Washing Manor would open a new chapter in her life.]

Who could’ve guessed the quest would end like that? Readers of the post let out sighs of astonishment. A hidden quest truly was something special. At least it scraped together a bittersweet happy ending.