Evidently, the actions of a master were never easily deciphered by ordinary novices.
Bai Xia had initially expected Tian Zheng to have some ulterior motive or a clever stratagem, yet to her surprise, the moment he acquired the blueprint, he led her directly out of the blacksmith’s shop without the slightest hesitation.
Just as Bai Xia was on the verge of asking for an explanation, Tian Zheng suddenly changed direction, guiding her toward the Village Chief’s house, situated at the entrance of the Novice Village.
The Village Chief of the Novice Village appeared to be the most senior NPC, a fact that indeed held true. However, it seemed he didn’t offer quests to players; instead, his role was more akin to an advisory NPC, responsible for answering various in-game questions and providing lore about the world.
Furthermore, while he possessed the Appraisal skill, his services were considerably more expensive than those at the regular shops, as even a minor chief was still an official, meaning virtually no one sought his help.
In the game “Otherworld,” equipment dropped by monsters had to be appraised before it could be used, and higher-grade equipment naturally required a more advanced appraisal skill. While players could choose Appraiser as a sub-profession, reaching a high level was exceedingly difficult, as ordinary players simply couldn’t find enough equipment to practice and improve their proficiency.
Upon arriving at the Village Chief’s doorstep, Tian Zheng first prompted Bai Xia to retrieve the Jade Ring that had dropped from the Jade Snake yesterday, before pulling her inside.
This left Bai Xia utterly bewildered; after all, there was a clearly cheaper appraisal shop nearby, so why would he insist on choosing the more expensive option?
She struggled to comprehend such wasteful behavior, yet Tian Zheng showed no inclination to explain.
The Village Chief’s small house appeared equally deserted, and the Village Chief himself was an old man who looked to be at least seventy or eighty years old, with a head full of white hair and a long, flowing beard, embodying the classic image of a kind-hearted grandfather.
When they arrived, the old man was sitting alone beneath a tree in his courtyard, enjoying the cool air and smoking, with a fruit platter placed beside him, looking utterly at ease.
Then, amidst Bai Xia’s bewildered and uncomprehending expression, Tian Zheng handed both the Jade Ring and the appraisal fee to the Village Chief, truly having come to him for an appraisal!
The Village Chief cheerfully accepted the money, then brushed his hand over the Jade Ring. A faint white light flickered, and the appraisal was complete.
Tian Zheng took the ring, glanced at it, and promptly tossed it to Bai Xia. He then suddenly pulled out the blueprint he had just acquired from the blacksmith.
“Village Chief, may we ask you a few questions?”
“What’s with ‘may we’? Youngsters, if you don’t understand something, just ask.” Having received his payment, the Village Chief seemed even more amiable, and the smile on his face broadened considerably.
This was understandable, of course, as Bai Xia and Tian Zheng were, so far, the only ‘fools’ who had come to him to waste money. Naturally, the Village Chief held a very favorable impression of them.
Tian Zheng nodded with a placid expression, then handed the weapon crafting blueprint to the Village Chief, explaining, “We plan to craft some weapons for self-defense, but I don’t know where to find the main materials listed on the blueprint. Could you perhaps help us identify their location?”
“Oh?”
The Village Chief raised an eyebrow, took the blueprint, and scanned it twice before chuckling, “This blueprint… it’s from Old Wang’s place, isn’t it? The primary material is Blue Crystal, which is quite easy to find. There’s plenty of it in the cave behind the mountain.”
“The cave behind the mountain?”
Bai Xia was the one who asked this question, but the Village Chief didn’t seem to mind.
He was about to explain, but just as he opened his mouth, he seemed to recall something, and for some reason, a troubled expression crossed his face.
Taking in his sudden change of demeanor, Bai Xia arched her slender brows.
Indeed, the next moment, she heard the Village Chief hesitantly say, “Um, since you two adventurers are going to collect Blue Crystals, would you mind doing an old man a favor along the way?”
“Is there something the Village Chief needs our help with?”
“Alas, it’s a bit embarrassing to speak of…” Seeing them nod, the Village Chief hesitated for a moment before slowly beginning his tale.
In his youth, the Village Chief had also been a powerful adventurer, but as he aged and could no longer brave the dangers, he chose to retire to the Novice Village.
However, years of adventuring had left him with numerous chronic ailments, and his body grew weaker with age, requiring various herbal medicines to alleviate his pain daily.
A few days ago, he had gone to the back mountain as usual to gather herbs, but he accidentally stumbled into the territory of a pack of wild wolves! The aging Village Chief was naturally no match for the wolves. Though his years of adventuring experience allowed him to successfully evade them, he became disoriented in the process.
Then, as the Village Chief searched for his way back, he discovered a strange cave midway.
The cave didn’t appear to be naturally formed, and most notably, it was filled with Blue Crystals!
It was known that while Blue Crystals were excellent forging materials and their reserves were abundant, they were far from being found everywhere.
Yet, in that cave, Blue Crystals were not only ubiquitous but also of high quality!
“Everywhere?”
“Precisely.” Bai Xia pondered this, while the Village Chief continued, “I was also very curious at the time, as I had never seen a cave so rich in Blue Crystals in all my years. So, I couldn’t resist going deeper to investigate, only to nearly lose my old life there!”
“Were there powerful monsters inside?”
“Powerful is not the word; they were merely goblins.” The Village Chief shook his head, still appearing somewhat shaken. “But their numbers were enormous, and there were some strange, unusual types of goblins too!”
Goblins? The classic image of those green-skinned, diminutive creatures instantly flashed through Bai Xia’s mind. After a brief moment of thought, she looked back at the Village Chief.
“So, Village Chief, do you wish for us to clear them all out?”
“No, no!”
To her surprise, the Village Chief still shook his head upon hearing this, explaining, “I merely wish for you to retrieve something for me from the cave—a piece of jewelry my deceased wife left me.”
It turned out that a few days prior, after the Village Chief had narrowly escaped from deep within the cave, he discovered upon returning home that the jewelry his deceased wife had left him as a memento was missing!
The Village Chief was greatly alarmed and immediately went back to the mountain to search, but after meticulously scouring his route multiple times, he found nothing. Therefore, the only possibility was that it had been dropped in that strange cave.
The Village Chief risked searching the perimeter but still found no clues, yet he dared not venture too deep. So, when he learned that Bai Xia and Tian Zheng needed to collect Blue Crystals, the idea of entrusting them with the task of finding it for him had arisen.
“Can you two adventurers help me retrieve my deceased wife’s jewelry? If you agree to help me find it, I will surely reward you handsomely!”
The Village Chief’s voice resonated in their ears, accompanied by the system’s prompt: “[Ding! Special hidden quest triggered – ‘The Village Chief’s Errand.’ Do you accept?]”
“Of course!”
Without a second thought, Bai Xia accepted. Tian Zheng beside her naturally made the same choice, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say this was precisely the outcome he desired.
After they accepted the quest, the Village Chief’s gaze softened even further.
Moreover, after his eyes lingered on them for a moment, he suddenly declared, “I’ve been to that strange cave several times. Although the outer areas are filled with the lowest-grade goblins, their numbers are vast, and there are likely more powerful creatures deeper within. So, it’s not that an old man like me looks down on you brave adventurers, but if you were to go with your current equipment, you’d be facing overwhelming odds… How about this, please follow me!”
With that, the Village Chief rose and led the way into the house.
Bai Xia blinked and followed closely. However, during this process, she finally couldn’t resist quietly asking Tian Zheng beside her, “How exactly did you find this quest?”
She couldn’t be blamed for her curiosity; this entire sequence of events had been far too peculiar.
First, they raised the Village Chief’s favorability through appraising an item. Then, the seemingly useless blueprint turned out to be a crucial key to unlocking a hidden quest. And judging by the Village Chief’s demeanor, he had clearly decided to offer them some assistance because he deemed them too weak.
A hidden quest that others painstakingly sought was now so easily laid before them.
Tian Zheng merely smiled at Bai Xia’s astonishment, lowering his voice as well to say, “It’s quite simple, really. The quest patterns in every Novice Village are fairly similar, and I have my own intelligence channels. Though, I must admit, the process being this smooth was somewhat beyond my expectation too.”
So, someone in another Novice Village had triggered a similar quest, and they were merely following the pattern? When viewed this way, it wasn’t so difficult to comprehend.
However, while it sounded simple, achieving it was far from easy. The fact that Tian Zheng and Bai Xia so effortlessly initiated this hidden quest was undeniably linked to their own luck.
Of course, pondering this was useless; the reward for this hidden quest was the true key.
Lost in thought, Bai Xia and Tian Zheng had already stopped with the Village Chief in the main room.
“…When I was young, I was just like you, enthusiastic about adventuring, and particularly fond of collecting all sorts of weapons and armor. My wife and I even met while adventuring. After we married, we continued to adventure together, roaming far and wide, until many years ago when my wife passed away from illness, and my knee took an arrow (TL Note: A popular internet meme, originating from a line in the game Skyrim: ‘I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.’)… Alas, it’s truly a young person’s world now!”
The Village Chief sighed as he pulled out a key and unlocked the large, tightly secured cabinet on the inner wall of the room. Inside, the cabinet was filled with various weapons—long swords, greatswords, curved bows, short daggers—and several sets of imposing armor hung on one side.
The Village Chief’s aged hand gently stroked their surfaces, then he retrieved a silver-white longsword and a pitch-black dagger.
“Since the cave is exceedingly dangerous, and you two adventurers are undertaking this on my behalf, to ensure you can find my deceased wife’s memento and return safely, these two weapons, which were originally intended as rewards, I shall give to you brave adventurers for self-defense!”
[Silverblade]: Usage Requirement: Warrior-class profession Level 5 or higher. Grade: Fine. A sharp blade imbued with keen energy, capable of easily tearing through an enemy’s body!
Attributes: Attack +50, Attack Speed +10%, inflicts Keen Energy on attack, with a 1% chance to cause Armor Break.
[Shadow Dagger]: Usage Requirement: Assassin-class profession Level 5 or higher. Grade: Fine. A dagger imbued with Shadow Force, capable of silently stealing an enemy’s life!
Attributes: Attack +40, Attack Speed +20%, inflicts Shadow Force on attack, with a 5% chance to cause Blindness.
Fine-grade equipment!
Bai Xia had not anticipated such a bountiful harvest even before the quest had officially begun.
Unfortunately, after she accepted them, the system prompted that the weapons were bound and could not be sold for money, which left her feeling somewhat disheartened.
These were fine-grade weapons! While they would likely be overlooked if dropped on the roadside in the mid-to-late stages of the game, how much money could they fetch right now? Enough to order two takeout meals, eat one, and throw away the other, with plenty to spare!
Regrettably, the system clearly didn’t want players to exploit such loopholes, immediately binding the items upon acquisition. Although she couldn’t equip them yet due to her level, discarding them would cause them to disappear automatically.
How incredibly stingy! Bai Xia barely suppressed the urge to flip the system off. How to put it—her current behavior was probably a classic case of taking the watch and still wanting the bicycle (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, ‘ná le shǒubiǎo hái xiǎng yào zìxíngchē,’ meaning to be greedy, or to get something and immediately want something more/better.).