Chapter 156: The Mysterious Grand Gift Package

The Nation of Li, Bright City.

After Song Yao and Pei Wangshu had safely delivered Great Might Escort Agency’s goods to their client in Bright City, they remembered Song Ye’s request and set about recruiting three more players to go to Banquet City with them—by persuasion, deception, or even force.

As Song Yao and Pei Wangshu wandered around Bright City, they unexpectedly ran into other players who, like them, had started out in Peach Blossom Village.

After parting ways with Song Yao and Pei Wangshu, those players had traveled to Bright City as a group of five. Now, only four remained. The woman in her thirties, a teacher, was no longer with them.

Song Yao remembered that the woman’s name had been something like “Super Cute Mengmeng.”

Of course, that wasn’t her real name. It was probably just a username she’d used in another game. They hadn’t known one another long enough to trust each other completely, so none of them would readily reveal their real names.

Since it wasn’t convenient to talk in the street, the six players went together into a narrow alley.

“Where’s Sister Meng?” Song Yao asked. “Why isn’t she with you?”

The male rapper laughed. “She’s probably at home preparing lessons by now.”

In other words, the teacher was dead and had returned to the real world.

During this test login, every player had only one life. Once they died, they were immediately forced out of this world.

“How did she die?” Pei Wangshu asked.

“She had only herself to blame for letting her guard down,” the male college student said. “A player from another beginner village gave us a basket of pears. None of us dared eat them, but she kept saying people ought to trust one another more. Then she picked up a pear and took a bite—and was poisoned to death.”

Song Yao looked surprised. “You mean that player poisoned the pears beforehand?”

“That’s the only explanation,” the student replied. “After giving them to us, that player made an excuse and left. Clearly, they had something to hide.”

Pei Wangshu shook her head. “Why would players make things so hard for one another?”

“Didn’t you read the rules for this test login carefully?” the male student asked. “When the three-month test period ends, the three players with the highest levels will each receive a mysterious grand prize.”

“That rule changes the nature of the game. It’s become a survival game, like a battle royale. You have to make sure you survive to the end while constantly eliminating your competitors.”

“After all, the longer you stay alive, the more experience you can earn—and the better your chances of placing among the top three.”

The martial arts master, a man surnamed Long in his sixties, shook his head. “Only three prizes, and the competition’s bound to be fierce.”

Song Yao wanted to tell them that there might only be two spots left, since her brother had already claimed one. He was over level one hundred and ranked first, as secure in his lead as a mountain. That left only second and third place—and their mysterious prizes—for everyone else to fight over.

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you,” Song Yao suddenly piped up in a sweet, girlish voice. “There’s a hidden quest in Banquet City with a really generous reward. Since we all started out in the same beginner village, I’ll take you there and show you how to trigger it myself.”

All four players were men. In Song Yao’s years of gaming, she’d learned that a sweet, girlish voice usually put male players at ease. They’d assume she was an innocent, adorable young woman.

But the rapper’s expression was cold. “Sister Proud, Banquet City’s marked as an extremely dangerous area. You’re not trying to trick us into going there so we’ll all die and you’ll have four fewer rivals, are you?”

Song Yao’s username was “Proud of Myself, What Can You Do?” so they had shortened it to Sister Proud.

Evidently, after seeing the teacher poisoned to death with their own eyes, the rapper and the others had become suspicious of everything and everyone. They no longer trusted a word anyone said.

“W-we started out in the same beginner village,” Song Yao stammered. “Why would I lie to you?”

She thought to herself, If tricking them doesn’t work, I’ll have to find a chance to drug them, knock them out, and haul them off to Banquet City.

Just then, she caught a flash of steel from the corner of her eye—a blade coming at her from the side.

She reacted instantly, raising her sword to block.

Clang!

Song Yao stopped the attacker’s strike. To her surprise, it was the middle-aged office worker who had been silent until now.

His face darkened. “These two bitches want to lure us to Banquet City and get us killed. You know what they say: a woman’s heart is the most venomous thing of all. Let’s attack together and kill them. That’ll leave us with two fewer competitors.”

His words seemed to sway the other three men. They were all on the verge of attacking.

Song Yao knew that if they managed to surround her and Pei Wangshu, both of them would die. She immediately shouted, “Sister Wangshu, use your skill—Heavenly Dance, Mist of Petals!”

All four men had sparred with Pei Wangshu before. They knew how Heavenly Dance, Mist of Petals worked and how far its damage reached, so instinctively they stepped back, hoping to get out of range before she could use it.

But Song Yao never expected the skill to deal any real damage. All she wanted was to make them take those few steps back.

Pei Wangshu obediently moved to use Heavenly Dance, Mist of Petals, but Song Yao seized her hand. “Sister Wangshu, run!”

Only then did the four men realize they’d been fooled. Sister Proud had bluffed them.

Song Yao had already dragged Pei Wangshu to the mouth of the alley when she suddenly turned around and struck the air with her iron sword, unleashing a skill—

Petals Across the Sky!

A torrent of petals burst from the blade, blanketing the alley entrance and blocking the men’s view.

With their vision obstructed, they couldn’t tell which way Song Yao and Pei Wangshu had fled. By the time they rushed out of the alley, the two women were nowhere to be seen.

Song Yao and Pei Wangshu had climbed into a carriage and driven it at full speed toward Bright City’s gates.

They had rented the carriage in Banquet City so they could complete their escort mission successfully; Song Ye had paid the rental fee upfront.

Pei Wangshu sighed. “I never thought that by the next time we met, we’d be pointing swords at one another, as if we were sworn enemies.”

Song Yao looked troubled too. “It’s not just them who might become our enemies. From now on, any player we meet could be trying to kill us.”

That would make her brother’s task much harder to complete.

“We can only head back to Banquet City for now,” Song Yao said.

They had to return before the hour of the Dog tonight and complete the handover with Great Might Escort Agency. Only then would their escort mission officially be finished.