Chapter 141: Leaving the Novice Village

Ten days later, in the prefecture office of Yan City.

"Brother Song, my wife has an urgent matter to attend to at her parents' home today, and I have several pressing cases on my desk. Could you do me a favor and escort her there?" Zhao Zhigao asked Song Ye. "We are like brothers; surely you wouldn't refuse such a small request?"

Song Ye replied, "If your wife needs to go home, you, as her husband, should naturally be the one to escort her. As for the cases in the office, they can wait; there is no immediate rush."

Over the past few days, Zhao Zhigao had been manufacturing various excuses to get Song Ye to Peach Blossom Village. His intentions were far too obvious, and Song Ye could easily guess that Zhao had surely prepared a "big surprise" for him there. Although Song Ye was indeed curious about what this surprise might be, he simply could not go to Peach Blossom Village.

"By the way, Brother Zhao, the pills I gave you are beneficial for your health. Remember to take one daily, but only one—taking more would be too much for your body to handle." The pills Song Ye referred to were the Heart-Nourishing Pellets given to him by Bai Ruoling. Since they were useless to him, he had simply offered them to Zhao as a courtesy.

"Never mind the pills for a moment! Are you going to help me escort my wife to Peach Blossom Village or not?" Zhao Zhigao was truly becoming anxious. Sometimes, he felt as though he were more concerned about the continuation of the Song family line than Song Ye himself.

"Escort your own wife yourself!"

With that, Song Ye slipped out of the office.

"Sigh, getting this lad to go on a blind date is truly a Herculean task." Zhao Zhigao sighed helplessly. Since Song Ye refused to go to Peach Blossom Village, he would have to make the trip himself to bring those two young maidens to Yan City. Either way, he was determined to make them meet today.

...

In Peach Blossom Village, Li Kingdom.

"Rain of Petals!"
"Heavenly Dance of Flying Smoke!"

Song Yao and Pei Wangshu were using their skills to farm wild chicken monsters on the south side of Peach Blossom Village. Since their spirit essence levels were still quite low, they had to wait for a significant cooldown period after each skill usage before they could strike again. During these intervals, they were forced to rely on basic attacks with their starter swords.

Finally, as a golden light of leveling up washed over them, both reached level 10.

"We have already completed two of the three conditions to leave the starter village!" Song Yao said happily.
Condition one: Player must reach level 10 [Completed].
Condition two: Must complete ten starter village quests [Completed].
"There is only one condition left: to engage in a martial arts spar with five other players!"

The seven players who had spawned in Peach Blossom Village, including the two of them, had already agreed to meet at noon under the large banyan tree at the village entrance to spar. Once the sparring was done, they would be free to leave the village.

When Song Yao and Pei Wangshu arrived at the village entrance, the other five players were already waiting under the banyan tree. They were the last to arrive. The other five came from different walks of life and age groups:

One was a man in his thirties with an introverted personality, resembling an office worker.
Another looked to be over sixty but was in excellent health; he had privately told Song Yao his surname was Long and that he ran a martial arts school in the real world, being a descendant of the Long Family Fist.
One was a high school teacher in her early thirties who was nearsighted; when she first entered the game, she had to squint at everything, but now that her blood-qi value had increased by over thirty points, her eyesight had improved significantly.
There was also a college student in his early twenties who appeared to be a hardcore gamer, confident that he would become the highest-level player within three months.
The last was a young man with dyed white hair who had previously tried to hit on Pei Wangshu, claiming to be a rapper.

Once all seven players were present, they began inviting each other to spar. As long as one completed a total of five spars with different players, regardless of victory or defeat, the final condition would be met.

After five bouts, Song Yao emerged victorious in all of them, thanks to her clever footwork and precise timing of skill execution. Pei Wangshu, however, lost all five; she lacked experience in competitive gaming, and her "Heavenly Dance of Flying Smoke" skill was too stationary—she would simply dance in place, making it easy for opponents to dodge her range. However, the outcome of the spars was unimportant, and Pei Wangshu did not take the defeats to heart.

"We can all leave the starter village now. We should consider our next destination," the college student said. "My suggestion is that we all travel together so we can help each other along the way."

They opened the game map and saw three towns relatively close to Peach Blossom Village: Yan City, Weng City, and Xuan City.

"We absolutely cannot go to Yan City. Let's choose between Weng City and Xuan City," the office worker said.

For this test run, the "game officials" had likely marked high-danger zones with red exclamation points on the players' maps to lower the difficulty, warning players to stay away unless necessary. Yan City was marked with a large red exclamation point. After all, Yan City had been the site of two major incidents that shocked the entire cultivation world, resulting in heavy casualties, leading the officials to classify it as a danger zone.

"Let's go to Xuan City. It's larger than Weng City and should trigger more hidden quests," the rapper suggested. The others nodded, seemingly in agreement.

However, at that very moment, Song Yao triggered a special encounter.

"Ding! Special encounter triggered!"
"[Deliver a Letter]: Help Granny Wang from Peach Blossom Village deliver a letter to her daughter who married into Yan City!"
"Quest Reward: Beast Companion Gacha Ticket!"

Song Yao whispered into Pei Wangshu's ear, "Sister Wangshu, I've triggered a special quest to deliver a letter to Yan City. I might not be able to travel with you anymore."

"Who says we can't travel together? I'll go to Yan City with you," Pei Wangshu replied readily.

"But the map says Yan City is dangerous. I'm afraid I'll drag you down," Song Yao said.

"The more dangerous the place, the greater the opportunity," Pei Wangshu laughed. "Besides, I promised that constable uncle that I would go on a blind date with his little brother. How can I go back on my word? Going to Yan City is the perfect chance to take care of that, too."

Pei Wangshu turned to the other five players and said, "The two of us are heading to Yan City, so we won't be traveling with you."

The other five were shocked. It was clear that they were knowingly walking into a trap, ignoring official warnings—a foolish move. Although the rapper was fond of Pei Wangshu’s mature style, he had no desire to put himself in danger and waste such a rare login opportunity. Thus, the rapper and the other four players headed toward Xuan City, parting ways with Pei Wangshu and Song Yao.