Chapter 5

In order to provide convenience for players, the instructor for various life skills were all gathered in one place, with the exchange located within a hundred steps. Players streamed in and out without end. Although the system’s trading feature was convenient and secure, it charged a five percent commission fee. Some cash-strapped players simply set up stalls right outside the exchange to run small businesses.  

“How much for this sword?”  

“Not for sale.”  

“Then why set up a stall?”  

“To show it off and make people jealous.”  

Xie Mengyun was browsing near the entrance of the trading area. Her shopping enthusiasm hadn’t waned despite the meager twelve gold in her purse, and she happened to overhear this bizarre exchange.  

For a moment, the entire free trade zone seemed to fall silent.

A young man in gray short robes, with a long sword hanging at his waist, lay lazily on the ground, a straw hat covering his face. There weren’t many items on his stall: just two rings and a sheathed sword.

Four male players fanned out around the small stall, encircling it.  

The atmosphere gradually grew tense.  

Xie Mengyun sensed the crowd stirring. These four players seemed quite well-known, as many recognized them. The onlookers who had gathered to watch the spectacle quietly packed up their stalls and slipped away, as if afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

In a short while, aside from the five involved, Xie Mengyun was the only one left in the area.  

“The four of us are members of Great River Eastward,” the leading male player took a step forward, not immediately turning hostile. He pointed at himself, “Black Swan Knight.(Hēi gǔ qíshì)” Then he introduced the other three, “Happy Little Cabbage, Gentle Rogue, Life is But a Dream.(Kāixīn xiǎo báicài, Wēnróu làngzǐ, Rénshēng yīchǎng dà mèng.)”

The man with the straw hat let out a low chuckle but remained sprawled on the ground, his face still hidden.  

When Xie Mengyun heard the name ‘Great River Eastward’, she suddenly remembered, Rong Qi had granted her access to the Jianghu leaderboard system, which included a guild ranking. ‘Great River Eastward’ happened to hold the second spot

The top guild was “Invincible Alliance,” followed by third-ranked “Morning Breeze and Fading Moon.(Xiaofeng Canyue)” Further down were thousand-member guilds like “House of Love and Beauty” and “Fair Faces and White Bones.”  

As for ‘One Zero Not Ten’ …well, guilds ranked beyond the top hundred weren’t even displayed on the leaderboard. ╮(╯▽╰)╭.

Sometimes, silence was the deadliest mockery. Happy Little Cabbage’s face darkened at the straw-hatted man’s chuckle, and he nearly lunged forward, only for Black Swan Knight to grab his arm.  

“I genuinely want to buy the sword, brother. Name your price. I haven’t seen you in Luoyang before, why don’t we treat you to a meal at Yuhua Tower later?” Black Swan Knight said heartily.

“I said it’s not for sale, and it’s not for sale. You don’t need to waste your breath.” The straw-hatted man sat up, the upper half of his face still shadowed, though a faint smirk played across his lips.

Black Swan Knight fell silent for a brief moment before speaking again, his tone noticeably cooler: “Great River Eastward oversees everything inside and outside Luoyang. If you refuse to give us even this little bit of face today, I’m afraid things might get… difficult for you in the city later.” Then, softening his voice slightly, he added, “But if you sell me the sword, I’ll make sure you’re well compensated and having an extra friend never hurts when trouble comes your way.”

A mix of threats and inducements.  

The straw-hatted man laughed. “Not a bad offer. But I don’t need money, nor do I need your help, so what now?”

Happy Little Cabbage couldn’t hold back a sneer. “I think you’re just jacking up the price because you know Black Swan wants it. If you’re really not short on money, why are you setting up a stall here?!”

Xie Mengyun said, “Maybe he’s just here to stir up trouble.”

“…”

Gentle Rogue asked in surprise, “There’s still someone here?”

Xie Mengyun replied calmly, “I’ve been here the whole time.”

The straw-hatted man grinned. “Little sister, are you new to the game?” 

‘Little Sister’ Xie cast a long-suffering glance his way. “Hat Little Brother, I’m already pushing thirty.”

The straw-hatted man stood up and, with a seemingly effortless sway, slipped past the four blocking his path to appear in front of Xie Mengyun: “How did you know I was trying to stir up trouble?”

“Projecting.” Xie Mengyun shrugged. “It’s a game, might as well have fun with it.”

The man laughed so hard his hat fell off, revealing his true appearance: handsome features, sun-kissed skin, sharp brows, star-bright eyes, and a grin that flashed two rows of perfect white teeth.  

Xie Mengyun reminded him, “Hat Little Brother, your original hat fell on the ground, aren’t you going to pick it up quickly?”

The straw-hatted man pulled another cloth hat from his inventory and put it on. “I’ve got spares.” Then he handed Xie Mengyun the very sword Black Swan Knight had been trying to buy, raising an eyebrow. “Meeting is fate. I’ll give you this sword, do you dare to accept it?”

Xie Mengyun accepted with a smile: “Level-up is precious, but gold is priceless… So, I won’t be polite.”

Happy Little Cabbage jumped up in outrage. 

“You—you—!”

Black Swan Knight drew his sword: “Looks like you’d rather have a beating than a toast!”

The man now wearing a cloth hat slowly unsheathed the long blade at his waist and smiled faintly: “The little lady was right. Today, I’m just here to stir trouble.” He paused. “Or you could say I came specifically to pick a fight.”

The sunlight was not strong, yet Xie Mengyun’s eyes burned with pain, forcing her to shield them with her hand.  

The blade rose with the wind.  

A flash of snow-white light bloomed and faded in an instant.  

Black Swan Knight’s eyes widened. As a disciple of the Tianshan sect, his martial arts were the highest among the four, and he had never suffered a loss in Luoyang City. At this moment, his three companions clutched their vital points before dissolving into streaks of white light, leaving only him still barely gripping his sword.  

Crimson blood seeped from his wounds. Without a word, Black Swan Knight applied hemostatic powder to himself.

“Sànrén(Rogue/Wanderers) Alliance, Yun Feiyang.” The man with the cloth hat sheathed his blade with a faint smile “Luoyang doesn’t belong solely to Great River Eastward. Some friends in my guild mentioned you’ve been acting acting a bit arrogant lately. If you don’t want to be driven out, you should rein it in.”

Black Swan Knight swallowed another blood-restoring pill before responding grimly, “So it’s Leader Yun.” Then he continued, “I will convey your words to Guild Leader Huanyu” He took a step back.

Yun Feiyang nodded, smiling: “Then I’ll trouble you.”

Players could easily switch their in-game communicators to browse the internet, so while they were talking, Xie Mengyun took the opportunity to look up some information on the game forums.  

The leader of Great River Eastward was called Qìtūn Huányǔ (Ambition to conquer the world). His main rival was Daybreak(Rizhi Zhiguang), the guild leader of Invincible. Both had ambitions to unify the Jianghu, and the open and secret struggles between them were fierce.

Qìtūn Huányǔ and Daybreak had been trying to win over Zun Zhong Jiu, leader of Morning Breeze and Fading Moon. While Zun Zhong Jiu himself disliked factional struggles, his elder Dafeng Qixi, owed Daybreak a favor, which subtly tilted their guild’s stance toward Invincible Alliance.  

The Rogue Alliance was a different case. For game players, joining a guild offered various benefits like practice bonuses. However, even so, not everyone was willing to be bound by a guild. The Rogue Alliance was such an organization; members could choose whether or not to do guild daily quests, didn’t have to follow the orders of the guild leader or elders, and guild members mostly did their own thing, making their internal relationships loose and indifferent.  

By the time Xie Mengyun finished browsing the forum posts, she happened to see Black Swan Knight being released by Yun Feiyang.  

The Rogue Alliance’s guild power was weak, but their guild leader, Yun Feiyang, was a Huashan sect disciple. The nine major sects’ entry-level martial arts were at least rank four, giving him a higher starting point than other players.

Black Swan Knight slowly retreated, but once he’d put some distance between them, he suddenly flicked his wrist backward. Two streaks of cold light shot from his sleeve as he activated his qinggong and fled into the distance.  

The hidden projectiles were swift, but Yun Feiyang moved even faster. In an instant, his blade flashed upward, its flat side deflecting the incoming hidden weapons and sending them hurtling back the way they came.  

Yun Feiyang was unharmed, but the second of Black Swan Knight’s hidden weapons wasn’t aimed at him, Its true target was Xie Mengyun, who had been watching from the sidelines.  

For most level 15 players who had just left the novice village, the speed of that hidden weapons was unavoidable. However, Xie Mengyun possessed third-tier Qinggong technique, and she also had a hairpin that added three levels to all martial arts. In that split second, her footsteps blurred and the projectile grazed past her temple. 

The dart that Yun Feiyang had sent back hit its owner. Black Swan Knight was already in a low health state, and the hidden weapon’s attack power was not low. This hit actually turned him into a white light, disappearing from the street.

Yun Feiyang looked a bit embarrassed: “Sorry for dragging you into this, little lady.”

Xie Mengyun shook her head.

“Aren’t you scared?”

Xie Mengyun slowly said, “I’m only level 15.”

Yun Feiyang understood. In “Riding Through the Jianghu,” to prevent malicious PK, the minimum player level was 15. In this situation, even if Xie Mengyun died, she wouldn’t lose experience or items, so whether she dodged or not didn’t matter. 

However, from the scene just now, Yun Feiyang keenly sensed that this new player’s evasion was unexpectedly high, and her awareness was also good. Given time, she might become a top-tier expert.

“Here, take your sword back,” Xie Mengyun said.

“Why? don’t you want it?” Yun Feiyang was a bit surprised.

Xie Mengyun’s expression was even more surprised than his: “Are you really giving it to me?”

“Of course. Consider it an apology for startling you earlier,” Yun Feiyang replied with a laugh. “The fish has been caught, no point keeping the bait.”

Xie Mengyun chuckled, “I stayed to watch the show on my own, how can I ask for compensation from you?”

Yun Feiyang shook his head: “This is a public area; anyone has the right to be here.”

Since that was the case, Xie Mengyun didn’t refuse further: “Then thank you very much.”

Yun Feiyang smiled: “How about we add each other as friends?”

Feeling obliged after accepting his gift, Xie Mengyun decisively added Yun Feiyang as a friend. She looked at her friend list, feeling quite emotional, she finally had members other than her family and friends in the guild.

“You’re still low-level. You could farm the Flying Thieves near the herb fields outside the city. Plenty of herbs there too, great for leveling life skills,” Yun Feiyang suggested. “Those people might come back at any time. Aren’t you worried they’ll take their anger out on you if they can’t find me?”

Xie Mengyun looked at her newly added friend and slowly said, “Unless you plan on broadcasting my in-game ID everywhere, I doubt they’ll track me down.”

If she had been hit by Black Swan Knight’s hidden weapon just now, she would probably be stuck at the resurrection point. But now…

“Thanks for the tip, off to hunt Flying Thieves now, 886~^[1]Chinese internet gaming slang for “bye-bye”Xie Mengjun changed out of the lake-blue dress she had just put on and back into the novice village standard attire, leisurely running towards the city outskirts.

Yaowang Valley (Medicine King Valley) was a major sect near Luoyang, with vast herb fields and medicinal estates outside the city. This also attracted many NPC thieves who intended to steal. Xie Mengyun messaged Wu Yue Shan Qing to ask for advice, and he promptly replied, even mailing her a simplified map of the herb fields.