Chapter 24: Voluntarily Showing Up

A few dozen miles isn't far; Chen Shicheng didn't even break a sweat before he saw the destination of this journey from afar.

"Refining Iron Town!"

He felt a little excitement seeing the plaque hanging on the city gate less than three meters high, finally back in human society—big fish, big meat, here I come!!

However, satisfying his appetite will have to wait; the letter in his pocket still needs to be given to the guard.

Coincidentally, two NPCs dressed as soldiers stood on the left and right of the town gate; Chen Shicheng took the letter and waist badge from his storage and stepped forward, "On the way here I rescued a squad of cargo‑carrying soldiers; they asked me to deliver this letter to you, and this is his waist badge."

"You wait a moment!"

The gate guard glanced at the waist badge, confirmed it was correct, and turned toward a nearby hut.

Soon, a young commander whose attire differed sharply from the soldiers emerged, leading four bodyguards and still holding the letter.

"Bang!"

The moment they reached Chen Shicheng, all the soldiers, including the commander, performed a solemn chest‑thumping salute, "We thank the righteous hero for the rescue and for bringing back such vital information!"

"It was a trivial effort, just on the way."

Chen Shicheng was startled by the soldiers' high regard and awkwardly waved his hands in embarrassment.

"What may be a trivial effort to you is a great grace to us," the young commander gestured to those behind him, "Guards, escort our benefactor into town and arrange his meals and lodging for today."

Having said that, he gave Chen Shicheng a slightly apologetic nod, "Forgive me for not accompanying you; time is tight, and I must quickly inform the others of the news."

"You are busy. Your life is urgent."

Watching the young commander stride away, Chen Shicheng finally let out a sigh of relief.

Although he knew they were merely NPCs, their appearance and behavior were indistinguishable from real people; suddenly encountering someone of apparently high rank left him a bit unsettled.

However, the main reason was probably the two bodyguards trailing behind him.

He had just curiously used the Eye of Bai Ze to check the two's ranks, and a series of question marks indicated their levels were definitely higher than his, with six question marks even appearing under the Skill column.

In other words, these bodyguards, a tier above ordinary soldiers, were at least level 8; he couldn't imagine what level the commander who just left might be.

"Brothers, you don't need to follow me; I want to stroll around the town and I'm not in a hurry to find lodging," Chen Shicheng said politely to the two bodyguards who stood like bodyguards behind him.

"Young sir, please don't make things difficult for us; the general said we should find you lodging, so we will definitely carry out the order."

"Exactly, young sir; if you wish to wander the town, we can guide you—we know this place well."

The two bodyguards kept exchanging pleas, the core meaning being "We won't go." Seeing their uneasy faces, Chen Shicheng could only accept helplessly, but to avoid becoming a street‑cleaning tiger himself, he still let

Thus, the civilian NPCs wouldn't mistakenly think he was deliberately avoiding them, allowing him to enjoy the antique, bustling atmosphere.

The two bodyguards had no objections, readily keeping a distance from him, yet they clung tightly behind, fearing that a single turn might make him vanish. "Ah, as expected, soldiers just don't know how to be adaptable; taking a half‑day off would be wonderful, they can't even slack off."

Chen Shicheng glanced at the two thick‑skulled bodyguards behind him, then stopped paying them much attention and began to wander around the town.

Refining Iron Town, true to its name, was dotted with blacksmith shops, and besides those, its location on a mining transport route made its prosperity not at all inferior to Huangchi County Town.

The variety of shops was complete; he even saw a sign for Rolling Cloud Pavilion in the town's center, which, barring a namesake elsewhere, was likely a branch of the Rolling Cloud Pavilion in Refining Iron Town.

"I don't know if the money I saved in Huangchi County can be used here; I spent five taels of gold, after all."

Through the main gate, watching women bustling in and out, Chen Shicheng recalled the expense before leaving the County Seat, and his stomach ached with a pang.

According to the exchange rate given by Shuigu Tang, that equated to 7.5 million RMB in cash; he remembered an online survey saying an ordinary person could earn at most a few hundred in a lifetime.

His offhand giving would be throwing away a couple's lifetime of effort.

"How about we go in and ask, just in case?"

Chen Shicheng hesitated for a moment, his expression wavering as he stood at the brothel entrance.

The next moment, his expression froze and he instinctively raised the wooden stick in front of him, but he quickly realized his face was empty, so without worrying about defense he hurriedly took a cloth and tied it over his face.

At the brothel entrance opposite him, a man wearing a facial mask stared at Chen Shicheng in a daze, apparently surprised to encounter him here.

"I've been looking for you for days, and I didn't expect you'd come knocking on my own," Yu Wei said, a long sword materializing in his hand as he flashed a ferocious grin, "Now see where you can run!"

As he spoke, he flicked his sword ready to charge, but after taking a single step he stopped instantly, looking around with a hesitant expression.

In the game, players of this kind die without truly dying, matching the wild monsters outside the city; if they lacked consciousness, they'd likely be wiped out as monsters.

Moreover, since players appear out of thin air and have no legitimate status in the game, the in‑game authorities don't consider them civilians; even wandering beggars rank above players.

Even so, whenever he kills other players in the game, he chooses to do so during the deserted late‑night hours.

After all, the authorities don't care about a player's life or death, only the city's public order; killing a player is fine, but doing so in front of a crowd is somewhat disgraceful.

Thus, the surrounding NPCs' startled gazes at the two made Yu Wei hesitate, unsure whether to strike.

Seeing Yu Wei stalled, Chen Shicheng felt a jolt of spirit.

Since discovering the Tang Sword was about to shatter, he had been using a wooden stick as a substitute, and even now he hasn't replaced it.

It handled wild monsters with ease, but against Yu Wei, even giving his all, he couldn't be sure of survival; continuing to use the wooden stick would be irresponsible for his own life.

Unexpectedly, while he was still debating whether to risk the fragile Tang Sword from his storage, Yu Wei hesitated for some reason and didn't strike.

(End of Chapter)