Chapter 71: Post-War Rewards

With the arrival of City God Lu and his party, Wang Liang finally felt at ease. He found a spot, collapsed, and fell into a deep sleep. Xiao Hui, who had already shifted into his human form, cast a brief glance at the City God and his retinue before vanishing behind Wang Liang. Yet, it was clear to everyone present that should anyone dare to make a move against Wang Liang, Xiao Hui would be there in an instant.

Consequently, City God Lu and the others lowered their voices.

Wang Liang slept for eight hours, and by the time he awoke, the morning of the next day had already broken.

As he stood up, he noticed a squad of aquatic spirit soldiers standing guard nearby. It was evident that General Fish had arranged for them specifically to ensure no one disturbed Wang Liang. Looking further out, the Yanggu County coalition camp had moved into the vicinity. A large number of garrison troops and miscellaneous forces from various factions were moving in and out, scouring every inch of the Demon Ridge.

Even the players who had survived the battle against the black bear, Lao Hei, were not idle. Wang Liang observed players frequently running over to City God Lu and Magistrate Wu to accept tasks, then rushing off to complete them.

Having slain the demon tiger, Wang Liang felt completely drained of ambition. He had no desire to take on any tasks and simply wandered around the camp. Before long, he spotted Life-and-Death Comrade, drenched in sweat. Upon seeing Wang Liang, the man hurried over to greet him.

"You're finally awake! We've been waiting for you to help us distribute the loot."

Only then did it dawn on Wang Liang. He opened his points sheet and discovered that he ranked first.

"As you can see, your points aren't particularly high for the encounter with Lao Hei, though you're still in the top ten. Since you didn't say you were giving them up or choosing specific rewards, the others couldn't proceed with the distribution. But for the Infantry Commander and the demon tiger, your score is the highest. Without your say-so, no one can claim their rewards."

"The Infantry Commander and the demon tiger are finished; are there still rewards?"

"There weren't any originally, but City God Lu said we couldn't go empty-handed, so he provided some items for us—ten from the demon tiger's side and eight from the Infantry Commander's. They identify automatically once you obtain them, so it's all down to luck."

Life-and-Death Comrade spoke with a sense of pride. He had leveraged his good relationship with City God Lu to badger him into providing these items, and for this, the surviving players were quite grateful to him.

Wang Liang, however, was indifferent to this. He asked, "How many of our brothers are still alive?"

"Eleven players remain. I'm telling you, that black bear, Lao Hei, was just too powerful. I nearly died at his hands. You’re truly incredible, brother—not only did you hold off the Infantry Commander, but you even managed to make him lead you to fight the demon tiger. That was legendary."

"What about the non-players? How many of them are left?" Compared to the players, Wang Liang was more concerned about the ordinary NPCs who had joined the righteous volunteer team.

"Only four of them survived. The battle was too brutal. We never expected Lao Hei to unleash such power at the very end. The formation set up by the Master of Distant Mountain Temple couldn't hold him at all. If those soldiers hadn't fought with their lives on the line, the black bear would have broken through the barrier several times over."

Life-and-Death Comrade recounted the scene, gesturing wildly as if he had been the one to single-handedly hold off the black bear. However, having experienced the trial of facing the demon tiger alone, Wang Liang no longer thought much of Life-and-Death Comrade's feats.

After a brief pause, Life-and-Death Comrade realized something. "By the way, the loot from Lao Hei was quite good, so everyone is willing to pay to buy it. There's only one item left. If you don't want it, the next person in line will take it."

Wang Liang understood perfectly. It wasn't that the loot was good; rather, the other players had seen him go off to challenge the demon tiger alone, and with the Infantry Commander defecting, they had assumed the final two bosses were lost causes, leaving them with no intention of accumulating further points. They simply hadn't expected Life-and-Death Comrade to be able to squeeze decent items out of City God Lu.

"I don't want it either. I didn't participate much in the fight against Lao Hei, so I'll pass."

Life-and-Death Comrade nodded, having anticipated this choice. He then began contacting the surviving players to gather them together. The items promised by City God Lu were all kept in Life-and-Death Comrade's tent, appearing as three large wooden crates that looked as though they had been hastily constructed.

"Now that everyone is here, regardless, we’re lucky to be alive. There are thirteen of us and eighteen items in total. But we can't just divide them like that; those who have already used up their points shouldn't be claiming more items, or it wouldn't be fair to those who traded points earlier. My idea is this: the five of us who still have points will pick first. Once that's done, we'll auction off the remaining items, and the proceeds will be split equally among all our brothers, whether they are alive or dead."

The logic was sound, and the players nodded in agreement. It was clear that Life-and-Death Comrade had coordinated this while Wang Liang was asleep.

As Life-and-Death Comrade spoke, Nie Xiaoqian, the only survivor among the three ghost cultivators, sent a private message: "Brother Duocai, that Life-and-Death Comrade has been courting people and trying to seize power since yesterday. Be careful; he might have another plan."

Seizing power? That was the last thing Wang Liang feared. He had already seen through Life-and-Death Comrade's intentions. Once the man finished speaking, Wang Liang chimed in.

"That sounds fine. Let's move quickly. Once the items are distributed, I need to turn in my mission and disband the team. If we keep dragging this out, we won't be able to conclude the temporary campaign task, and no one will be able to collect their rewards."

Wang Liang's words caused the expression on Life-and-Death Comrade's face to shift. Wang Liang placed the Volunteer's Command Token forward. "Everyone, hurry up. Let’s divide the items so we can end this mission."

Life-and-Death Comrade realized that with the Volunteer's Command Token in Wang Liang's hands—the man who had organized the team and liaised with the Magistrate of Yanggu—the mission would truly end the moment Wang Liang settled it. This effectively cut his schemes short.

Life-and-Death Comrade looked anxious and wanted to say something, but Wang Liang ignored him. He opened the crates to inspect the contents. They were indeed items City God Lu had gathered from the demon tiger's battlefield: one crate contained the demon tiger's flesh and blood, another held fragments of blue stone slabs, and the third contained corpses and equipment unearthed from the tiger's lair.

It was obvious that City God Lu and his followers had taken all the valuable items, leaving behind only useless junk. City God Lu had merely "refurbished" this refuse to hand over to Life-and-Death Comrade.