Chapter Forty-One: The Boxer Rebellion NPC

Lin Xiaofeng and his companions were also in the southern part of the city, waiting for word from Mo Yu. When they received the message by carrier pigeon, Lin Xiaofeng smiled and said, “It’s settled. Mo Yu said he found an expert with a combat skill over forty. That person will join us soon.”

“Combat forty?” Liu Zixuan looked skeptical. “The highest-level player right now is only level ten. Is it even possible for someone in-game to have a combat skill over forty?”

“There’s always someone better out there.” Lin Xiaofeng shook his head. “Mo Yu has always had a great reputation in previous online games. He wouldn’t risk it over a single quest for us.”

Liu Zixuan chuckled. “If it really is someone with a combat skill over forty, those seven silver dollars we spent are totally worth it. I wonder what such a master looks like. I’ll have to admire them properly this time…”

The four of them had hired Mo Yu as a broker, paying five silver dollars for the job and another two as a commission. They had scraped together every last coin they had. As long as they could complete Podolsky’s quest, the expense would be justified. Although every kind of firearm was starting to appear on the market, the classic Mauser pistol from Chinese history had never been dropped by a player. It could easily sell for over a hundred silver dollars.

Before Liu Zixuan could finish her sentence, she spotted the man they’d run into earlier walking over. Even though his words had proven true, she still disliked him. She just couldn’t stand people who always seemed so calm and collected.

As Chen Hao approached, she greeted him coolly, “You’ve got some nerve. We already said we wouldn’t work with you. What do you want this time?”

Chen Hao shrugged innocently. “I didn’t really want to come, either. But I accepted a commission from Mo Yu. It looks like the job is to help you guys take care of four Yihequan members.”

“What?” Liu Zixuan’s mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ as she grumbled, “How could this happen? How is this even possible…”

Chen Hao smiled faintly. “The fee is five silver dollars. Mo Yu already advanced me three. If you insist on not letting me help, that’s fine by me, but I can’t just make the trip for nothing, right? I won’t be returning those three silver dollars.”

Watching the man’s air of complete control, Liu Zixuan ground her teeth in frustration. The entire team’s silver had gone into hiring help for this quest. If they refused to work with this annoying guy, their early progress would be severely hampered.

If it were just her, Liu Zixuan would have refused without a second thought. But she wasn’t the kind of person to be willful and stubborn when others depended on her. For the sake of the team, she had to put her feelings aside and accept his help. She snorted, “You really plan to take the money without doing the work? What a character. We’re your employers now, so you have to follow our lead, right?”

Chen Hao stepped back, looking wary. “I’m a very straightforward guy. I’m just here to help you deal with those Yihequan NPCs. I won’t do anything that crosses the line.”

“You—” Liu Zixuan was about to explode. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then said to Lin Xiaofeng, “Brother Lin, since we’ve already paid, let’s get on with the quest. I’d hate for someone to take the money and slack off.”

Lin Xiaofeng gave a wry smile. “Brother Baxian, I didn’t expect we’d end up needing your help after all. Those four NPCs are tough to handle…”

Chen Hao cut him off. “I know this quest well. I told you, if I’m involved, I can guarantee a hundred percent completion. Let’s go.”

“Hmph! So full of yourself. We’ll see how you explain yourself if you fail,” Liu Zixuan retorted.

Lin Xiaofeng pointed to the pale, striking young man beside Chen Hao. “And who’s this?”

Lin Xiaofeng’s team already had four, and could only take one more into the party. Seeing Chen Hao bring another person made him hesitate. But Chen Hao had anticipated this. The pale young man didn’t have much combat power, and Chen Hao hadn’t planned for him to fight. He smiled, “This is a friend of mine. Just add me to the party. My friend will lure the Yihequan NPCs out, and then we’ll take them down one by one.”

“I thought you had some clever plan,” Liu Zixuan scoffed. “We’ve tried that before. Those NPCs never split up.”

“That’s why there’s a difference between geniuses and fools,” Chen Hao grinned. “I believe my friend can do it.”

The six of them headed for Little Wang Village, located southeast of Penglai County, four kilometers from town. When they arrived at the village entrance, Chen Hao said to the pale young man, “Go to the ancestral hall and find those four NPCs. Try to lure two of them out.”

The pale young man hurried to the village ancestral hall. Inside, Podolsky was tightly bound, watched closely by the four NPCs. The pale youth feigned panic, crying out, “Gentlemen, a foreign doctor has captured my younger brother! He wants to use my brother’s eyes for medicine. Please, save him!”

At the time, society was rife with rumors slandering foreigners—stories about foreign hospitals digging out children’s eyes to make drugs, priests using strange devices to drain boys’ essence, women’s hair and fingernails being used in beds to lure them into sleeping with foreigners, and so on. Nearly all Yihequan members had been exposed to this kind of propaganda. The pale young man had a high diplomacy stat and a talent for silver-tongued persuasion, so the four NPCs believed every word.

One of them, face twisted in anger, said, “Those foreign devils deserve to die. Let’s catch him and gut him, just like this one here, to break their evil magic.”

But another, with a sallow complexion, shook his head. “No, Brother Zhu told us to guard this foreigner. What if he escapes while we’re gone?”

Seeing the two men argue, the pale youth knew he had a chance. He pleaded, “Gentlemen, you are all skilled fighters. This foreigner is tightly bound—how far could he possibly run? Why not leave two of you here to watch him, and the other two come with me to save my poor brother?”

The sallow-faced man nodded. “That makes sense. Xu Ergou, Zhang Laosan, you two stay here with the foreigner. Li Shitou and I will go out and have a look.”

The two NPCs followed the pale youth toward the back of the village, where Chen Hao’s group lay hidden on a scrubby hillside. As the two NPCs appeared, Liu Zixuan suddenly understood. “I get it now! That guy must have a really high diplomacy stat—that’s the only way he could talk the NPCs into splitting up. I thought someone was boasting about their abilities, but it turns out they were just relying on someone else.”

Chen Hao said calmly, “If you think you can complete the quest without my help, you’re more than welcome to try. If you succeed, I’ll refund your five silver dollars.”

“Fine, let’s try it,” Liu Zixuan huffed. “I don’t believe the four of us can’t take two NPCs. Yudie, Brother Lin, Xiaofeng, let’s go.”

(P.S. A note from a reader: In the chapter about the Reversal of Black and White, the exchange for the Three-Life Stone at 500,000 should be 1,000 silver dollars, not 2,000. I miscalculated and have now corrected it.)