Chapter 45: The Elderly Poet

Xing Yun Miao's mood was quite gloomy; although she had paid back the money and settled a debt, she just couldn't feel happy.

After leaving the city, seeing the beautiful green mountains and clear waters outside, her mood improved a little. (The destruction caused by the meteorite has been completely restored.)

On the small bridge ahead, an innocent and lively NPC girl was singing; she found it interesting and wanted to go over to listen to the lively sounds in the game.

Then…

Pop!

"Oh no, I fell!"

"Wuuu~"

"The adventurer maliciously knocked someone over—come look, they're bullying an underage girl~"

"They hit someone and still want to run—pay up! You can't leave today without 1000 gold coins!"

Xing Yun Miao: …

———

20 minutes later, Xiao Feng arrived at Giant Stone Town.

This town's scale is about the same as Silver Mine Town; though called a town, it's really just village-sized, with only a few shops and scattered players coming and going.

"Hey friend, do you know where the bard Dai Feiona is?" Xiao Feng casually grabbed a player to ask.

"Wow! A level 59 big shot, it's Xiao Feng the Great God, ranked first on the Level Ranking!"

"Yeah, so do you know where Dai Feiona is?" Xiao Feng replied with a forced smile.

"Great God, you're so strong—can you take me to level up? Your gear looks awesome; can you give me a piece?"

"Uh… sorry to bother you, farewell!"

Xiao Feng decisively slipped away, gave up the idea of asking for directions, and started searching house by house.

NPCs of the bard type usually show up most often in taverns.

The town indeed had a tavern; he rushed in and, upon entering, heard a harp's sound accompanied by a deeply resonant male baritone voice.

"How come it's a man?"

Xiao Feng checked the info; the bard singing was named A'erjienong, level 80, obviously not the target he was looking for.

The tavern had only three people: besides the bard and the landlady, there was a blind old lady.

Xiao Feng originally wanted to inquire about Dai Feiona's whereabouts.

He didn't expect that looking at the old lady's info would directly lead him to her!

【Moon Poet——Dai Feiona (Mythic Leader)】

Level: 150

HP: 13,700,000/13,700,000

(Target level too high, unable to obtain more data)

Wow, she's so old!

Originally, when reading the description, he thought this bard with a pleasant name should be a beautiful woman, no older than 35, belonging to the sexy young wife type.

But upon seeing it, the age was probably more than double that!

On this sunny afternoon, meeting a handsome warrior like you is truly pleasant. Sir, would you like to order a poem? For just thirty copper coins, I'll have a cup of rum.

"Sure." Xiao Feng nodded happily and paid thirty copper coins.

The male poet plucked the harp and continued singing another song.

The lyrics were short, the rhythm simple, paired with a low, elegant voice—quite enjoyable.

Landlady, give me and this old grandma, as well as the poet sir, some food and drink." Xiao Feng, holding tens of thousands of gold coins, acted boldly and directly took out a handful of gold coins.

The singing poet, seeing so many gold coins, involuntarily paused his lyrics.

The old lady turned her head to glance at Xiao Feng, saying nothing.

Observing her reaction, she seemed to have no stress response to the "Ottogu's Curse," which let Xiao Feng breathe a little easier.

"As long as they're not devout followers of the gods……"

Not long after, the landlady brought out meat, alcohol, and fruit.

In-game food has no added attributes; it purely satisfies hunger.

The old lady wasn't polite with Xiao Feng, picking up the meat and alcohol on her table and starting to eat and drink.

After the male poet finished the second song, he said: "I want to sing another poem for this generous adventurer sir—first, let's have a drink."

Then, taking advantage of the motion of picking up the wine cup, he slipped a gold coin from the table.

Xiao Feng saw it but said nothing, quietly listening to the song.

After the third song finished, the bard seemed to want to continue the previous action.

At that moment, the old lady Dai Feiona had also finished her drink, looked at Xiao Feng, and said: "You came to find me?"

"Yes, I have a matter I'd like you to help with." Xiao Feng didn't beat around the bush, directly admitting it.

Uh……

The bard thought Xiao Feng was sitting there for his pleasant voice, and threw gold coins around.

Upon hearing that, he instantly felt struck.

This scene was seen by Old Lady Dai Feiona, who sighed: "Bards, it's not easy at all."

Upon hearing that, Xiao Feng knew there should be a little plot here.

He then nodded and said: "Yeah, after seeing all the world's ways, tasting bitterness and hardship, one can only record everything with song, unable to change anything."

To deal with such an elderly NPC, logically one should start from the angle of "life's hardships" to win their sense of recognition!

As for how the bard's life actually is, he doesn't know—just making up a few generic platitudes.

The bewildered male poet A'erjienong heard this and gave an embarrassed laugh: "Actually it's fine—aside from being somewhat poor and often hungry, there's nothing really difficult."

Dai Fiona smiled upon hearing this, nodding deeply in agreement.

Xiao Feng instantly understood!

"Take this, with it you won't have to go hungry anymore." He directly pulled out 1000 gold coins, placed them on the table as a tip for Algernon.

"Ah! This... this..."

Algernon was dumbfounded.

Over a thousand gold coins!

In this world where a cup of wine costs only 20 copper coins, an ordinary civilian NPC only needs a few silver coins a month to live.

1000 gold coins, placed in a small town, already counts as super-rich level!

Xiao Feng's move left both Algernon and the tavern owner's wife stunned.

Dai Fiona also showed a surprised expression, saying: "Young man, you're very generous. But so much money isn't helping him; it's harming him."

"Could it still be robbed?" Xiao Feng laughed.

The old lady shook her head, speaking bluntly: "Wealth makes one lose integrity; a sudden windfall only leads to decadence."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Feng shook his head: "Not everyone is like that; those who fall for wealth inherently lack integrity."

"Oh? What do you mean?" The old lady was somewhat surprised.

Xiao Feng laughed: "I'm just someone who recently struck it rich, and the wealth I've gained far exceeds 1000 gold coins—by hundreds or thousands of times. But I'm still me; money merely spares me many worries, without making me blind."

He felt he was quite qualified to say that.

After all, having experienced it firsthand, nothing is more authoritative than this.

The old lady looked at him thoughtfully, then after a moment nodded slightly: "You're good, excellent—indeed you have what it takes to become a weather mage."

Having said that, it's time to get to the main point.

Xiao Feng deliberately gave a wry smile: "It's a shame I've offended the gods, leaving me no chance to advance. This time I've come to seek your guidance, senior, hoping you can help me become a great mage."