Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The tall man was a little surprised by Bai Fuling's reaction, but he only paused for a moment before continuing to smoke. "Acting crazy? Playing dumb? That act won't work. Not on me."

"Mhm, mhm, mhm." Bai Fuling nodded, just like clicking through dialogue boxes in a game to advance the conversation.

His hands were still sorting through the items on the table. Since his 20-slot backpack was only two slots away from being full, after some consideration, he didn't take the useless kettle but instead took the sinew strips and wooden arrows from the table.

The room was dimly lit, and they were some distance apart. The moment the tall man's gaze wandered, some items on the table disappeared. He looked more closely, figuring the guy had pulled a fast one to temporarily hide them.

"Kid, there's no need to be so defensive," the tall man said in a low voice. "You're smart; you should know how this is gonna go."

Bai Fuling: "Mhm, mhm, mhm."

"To be honest, I have no grudge against you," the tall man tapped ash from his cigarette. "But some things are bigger than personal issues, you understand?"

Bai Fuling: "Mhm, mhm, mhm."

"I'm just getting paid to do this, that's all," the tall man said. "Let's lay our cards on the table. I won't give you trouble, so don't give me any."

Bai Fuling: "Mhm, mhm, mhm."

After three consecutive fixed replies from the other side that sounded like a bot, the tall man couldn't help but shoot Bai Fuling a look.

After a beat, he took a drag from his cigarette and added, "If you have any questions, ask your grandfather yourself after this is over."

Hearing this, Bai Fuling finally stopped with the bot-like responses. He was shocked: "What! I have a grandfather!?"

Whoa, whoa, how did he not know he had a grandfather? Was this a new story update? Bai Fuling's mind was racing.

Could it be that the game saw he was stressed about backpack space and was now planning to give him a secret heir plotline? Is such a genuinely kind, non-pay-to-win developer really out there?

Seeing this, the tall man went quiet for a second before saying, "You don't need to pretend here."

Bai Fuling hopped over to the NPC in three quick steps, bubbling with excitement: "Uncle, really? I really have a grandfather? Is he a millionaire?"

"I knew there was a billion-dollar mining empire waiting for me to inherit, hahaha, don't worry, I'm ready!"

The tall man: "..."

By now, he, Guan Jizhong, was finally starting to sense something was off—had he grabbed the wrong person?

No. That shouldn't be possible. Guan Jizhong pondered. He'd followed the old man's tracker to the letter.

According to that old man, the locator was discreetly implanted in the weapon dagger the kid often used; the kid himself didn't know about it.

So, where the locator was, was where the kid Liao Zhiqiu was. That couldn't be wrong.

To be safe, he had originally wanted to ask the old man for a photo. But the old man didn't provide one, which seemed to be the old man's thing—he didn't do photographs.

Guan Jizhong still remembered that old man.

The old man's hair was completely white without a single black strand, neatly combed. He sat on a carved rosewood chair, with silent subordinates standing on either side. He looked like an elegant old scholar, but Guan Jizhong knew he was an underworld kingpin.

An aging lion king was still a lion king.

The old man drummed his fingers on the armrest and said casually, "My grandson has a strange personality, too stubborn. He's had a beef with me over a cat for so many years, even holding a yearly memorial for that cat. It's absurd."

"In the years near the cat's memorial, I've kept him locked up on my side, and it caused too much commotion. And now, this kid has even bribed people around me—" At this point, the old man laughed and briefly praised, "Not bad."

"But I can't let him do such absurd things as holding memorials for a pet. So these next couple of days, you take him away, deep into the mountains," the old man said. "Teach him a lesson if you want. Tie him up, hit him, whatever. If he suffers, it's his own fault."

Guan Jizhong agreed.

But he didn't plan to directly tie the kid up too violently, since this kid was still the old man's grandson, and he needed a favor from the old man.

He said, "Alright."

He said, "After this is done, I want clues about the killer."

The underworld was his best bet for leads. They were usually very well-informed.

His home was plastered with newspapers about the Crescent Scythe Murder Case, while on another wall were photos of his younger sister smiling at the camera, holding sunflowers.

He would never forget the day his sister died.

Guan Jizhong was a Forest Ranger. He stayed deep in the forests year-round, just to earn a little more money to support his sister's education.

The night before, he was still on the phone with his sister, saying he would bring her some freshly picked mushrooms from the forest. His sister had laughed and said her brother was the best, and that she would bring him a cake too.

The next day, when he went into the city, his sister had become a small picture in the newspaper and a cold body in the morgue.

Guan Jizhong sat on the cold bench at the hospital for an entire day.

Then the only thought left in his mind was that he must avenge his sister.

It was just capturing a student, keeping him in the woods for a couple of days, and then he could get some clues about the killer. Of course Guan Jizhong chose to do it.

Now, seeing this black-haired youth cheerfully approach him, Guan Jizhong felt this didn't quite match the old man's description. He stopped smoking the cigarette in his hand, just holding it between his fingers.

Guan Jizhong frowned, the scar through his left eyebrow tightening. He wanted to confirm, so he asked, "Hey, kid. What's your name?"

"Fresh Cabbage."

Guan Jizhong: "I'm asking for your real name."

"Fresh Cabbage."

Guan Jizhong: "...I said, you don't need to play dumb."

"What's wrong? My name is Fresh Cabbage. Not satisfied?"

Bold NPC, daring to question the player's name! Bai Fuling widened his eyes. In theory, every character in the game should expressionlessly recite the player's every abstract nickname.

"..." The cigarette in Guan Jizhong's hand burned down to the filter. He casually tossed the butt aside and chuckled. "Make up whatever you want, kid. Anyway, you'll stay here nicely for these next couple of days."

He decided to trust the locator. This was a method given personally by that old man; the person before him must be Liao Zhiqiu—as for the personality, it's normal for someone to act differently in front of outsiders versus family.

People always hope things go the way they expect. Thinking this, Guan Jizhong stopped questioning further and pushed the door open to leave.

Bai Fuling stood where he was, waiting for a quest window to pop up.

But after waiting left and right, the tall man had already pushed the door open and left, and he still didn't see any sign of a quest.

...Huh, what does this mean? Bai Fuling pondered. The other person said to stay here for two days. Does that mean he has to wait two days to find out?

No way! He still needs to go back to school to farm.

Some seeds have seasonal limits, and the school doesn't have greenhouses. Taking advantage of the late summer, he absolutely must plant them early.

I'll leave this quest for now and stop here. I'll come back to continue after he finishes planting the seeds.

The door was locked, but this house had windows.

Bai Fuling pushed against the window, and it opened surprisingly smoothly. He climbed out through the window, feeling like he'd already become "the Window Hero."

Outside, Guan Jizhong was shouldering two buckets of water.

He saw Bai Fuling but didn't show any particular reaction, just said slowly, "Don't run around, kid. A word of warning: this is deep woods. You can't get out alone—and there are bears and wolves around."

Of course, Bai Fuling wasn't afraid of the deep woods. For a player, the deep woods was just a brand-new treasure trove to explore.

But based on his gaming experience, from what the NPC was saying, the surrounding environment was likely set as an infinite forest—the kind where you just go in circles and never get out without fulfilling certain conditions.

—The condition here seemed to be having a guide, because the NPC emphasized that [you can't get out alone].

Obviously, the guide was the tall male NPC right in front of him.

But the other party hadn't mentioned any quest either. Was the system lagging again?

Bai Fuling moved his character to approach, trying to trigger a quest option.

The tall male NPC moved forward, and he followed. The tall male NPC turned, and he turned too, sticking close by the whole time like a human pendant.

He followed all the way, but no new quest prompts appeared. Bai Fuling thought it probably wasn't a system lag—it must mean the trigger hadn't been hit yet!

Interaction was the most common way to trigger quests, so Bai Fuling wasn't just following anymore.

He had his character help the tall male NPC carry water for a while, then hopped around beside him. A few seconds later, he reached out to touch the tall male NPC's abs.

—No particular reason, the screen was just this big, and wherever he tapped on the character counted.

Guan Jizhong grabbed the other's hand just as the black-haired youth beside him reached for his abdomen: "...Knock it off. Just stay put over there."

After a pause, he warned, "Don't think I'm a pushover. If you keep this up, I'll tie you up and lock you in the house."

Bai Fuling: Huh? Is this a scenario that can appear? There was no prompt at the beginning!

He blinked, stopped controlling his character for a moment.

Seeing that the other party wasn't struggling and had finally quieted down, Guan Jizhong released his grip on Bai Fuling's hand.

He picked up the two buckets of water again, ready to pour them into the water barrel in the yard.

Watching the tall male NPC in front of him return to his scripted routine, Bai Fuling was convinced he hadn't triggered the quest. He recalled everything that had just happened, and it hit him.

Oh, he got it. The reason the quest hadn't popped up was because a previous step hadn't been completed yet!

As everyone knew, NPCs only gave quests to players after they got to know them. But during their earlier exchange, this NPC had never acknowledged his name.

Puzzle games were like this—if any step was missing, you couldn't proceed. This was when items came into play. Believing he had solved the puzzle, Bai Fuling clicked on the student ID in his backpack.

He knew it—this starting item wouldn't be used just once. The [Show] usage method on it must be useful.

Show, student ID!

Fresh Cabbage, making a grand entrance!

Bai Fuling clicked on the student ID, then tapped on the tall male NPC on the screen: "Uncle, let's get acquainted. Hi, I'm Fresh Cabbage. Hear that? I'm Fresh Cabbage."

The tall male NPC initially ignored him, only subconsciously glancing at the student ID.

The moment he saw it clearly, he suddenly snatched the student ID away, staring intently: "Your name... why... no, that's not right, you shouldn't be called that, you can't be called that—"

Bai Fuling: "What do you mean? If you're not satisfied with my name, I'll report you."

How dare this NPC! Still questioning the player's nickname!

Author's Note:

Bai Fuling: Fresh Cabbage is me, got a problem?