Chapter 5: First Task Completed

Carrying the firewood knife and walking out of the village entrance, all one could see along the way was the cracked land and the yellowing crops lying in the fields.

Even the river at the entrance of Da Jiang Cun had dried up, the riverbed exposed, leaving only a small stream of water in the middle, which was also the drinking water source for the whole village.

The people in the village also came here early to line up to fetch water, and would not go out when the sun was scorching at noon.

Watching Jiang Jinshi leave the village with a firewood knife, no one greeted him, only whispering behind his back.

"What do you think Little Ten from the Jiang family is doing with a firewood knife?"

"You ask that, what can you do with a firewood knife? Of course, it's to cut firewood! Could it be to rob?"

"Hey! The sun is rising from the west. Even the scholar official has to cut his own firewood!"

"Eh! I heard something happened this morning..."

Jiang Jinshi didn't hear the discussion behind him, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

After all, what they were talking about was the original owner, and he wouldn't have a sense of substitution.

You can curse the original owner, but you can't curse me!

After walking for about twenty minutes, Jiang Jinshi finally reached the main road.

Looking around, this was exactly the intersection for several nearby villages to enter Jiang City, so the traffic flow must be larger.

Finding a good shady spot to sit down, he waited for the prey to appear.

Before long, a team of people walked from the main road. There were many horses in the crowd pulling goods. They should be a caravan from other cities going to Jiang City.

Such caravans would usually spend money to hire guards or entrust a security firm to escort the goods to ensure safety.

Many men in the crowd were shirtless, and their sturdy muscles made it clear they weren't soft persimmons.

Half of a bright blade was also exposed in the cargo rack beside them, which in itself was a deterrent.

If he dared to jump out and shout "rob," he was afraid he would be in pieces.

Clearly, this wasn't his prey. Jiang Jinshi pressed his body low, reducing his presence.

After the other party had gone far away, Jiang Jinshi guiltily revealed half of his head.

"I'll let you go for now, don't let me see you again next time."

Immediately after, a group of people walked out of a small path. Judging by the direction, they should be from Liu Family Village. His mother, Liu Yu, was from Liu Family Village.

Villagers usually went to the city to purchase in groups. In the past, there were donkey carts in the village for transport, charging only three wen per person. Now, many farmers had sold their donkey carts for grain, and the grain in the city was rising day by day.

So Jiang Jinshi buried his head low again.

"For my mother's sake, I'll let you go too."

He wouldn't admit that it was because there were too many people and he was scared. This was at most called "following one's heart."

Several batches of people passed by one after another, and there was no one alone to give Jiang Jinshi a chance, so he had to let them go one after another.

By noon, the sunlight hit Jiang Jinshi through the layers of leaves. No one had passed by for a while, and there would be even fewer people entering the city in the afternoon; most were people who had entered the city in the morning and were now leaving.

Just as Jiang Jinshi was hesitating whether to go home and come back tomorrow, a staggering figure entered his field of vision.

"Hey! Consider yourself unlucky, kid. I can't let you go this time, after all, I'm not a professional horse-herder!"

Luo Feng was a native of the northern border. Frequent wars and water shortages forced them to flee with their family. Along the way, his parents died, leaving only him and his sister to depend on each other. He thought he could survive by fleeing to Jiang City, at least there was a small stream here.

But who would have thought that Jiang City couldn't accommodate them at all? They completely became refugees, having to pray every day at the city gate for those big shots to take a fancy to them and give them a way to live.

A few days ago, his sister fell ill. He knelt at the city gate to seek medical treatment, only to be met with ruthless mockery and punches and kicks from the guards.

Today, his sister, Luo Jin, had fainted. No matter how Luo Feng shouted, it was of no avail. Seeing that seeking medical treatment was impossible, Luo Feng, whose heart was like dead ash, just wanted to find a good piece of land before his sister died, so as not to be left without a burial place.

The noon sun was particularly vicious, making this strong man walk particularly difficult. Even though sweat dripped onto the ground in large drops, he still didn't put down Luo Jin on his back.

"The mountain is high and the water is long, I am the master! Leave your money to redeem your life! If you dare to say half a 'no', I'll kill you without burying you, and the King of Hell will be angry!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Jinshi jumped out from the grass on the side, holding the tetanus blade in his hand.

This mountain bandit in front of him had thin arms and legs, and dared to learn from others to rob with a broken knife. Luo Feng just wanted to mock him a few times, but suddenly thought of his sister on his back.

His sister hadn't breathed her last yet. If the other party threatened him with his sister, what should he do?

Thinking of this, Luo Feng squeezed a smile at Jiang Jinshi: "Good man! I'm just a refugee, I have no money."

Jiang Jinshi raised his eyebrows: "Whether you have it or not is up to me! Turn all the pockets on your body inside out for me."

Luo Feng left one hand to support Luo Jin, and the other hand turned all his pockets inside out to show Jiang Jinshi, proving he wasn't lying.

Jiang Jinshi wouldn't give up, holding the knife and continuing to say: "Take off your shoes and throw them over."

Luo Feng did as he was told. He really had no money. As long as the other party didn't hurt his sister, everything else was easy to talk about.

Jiang Jinshi carefully checked if there were any copper coins hidden in the seams of the straw sandals. Mainly, the system didn't prompt that the task was completed. Could it be that this task really couldn't be completed today?

Just as Jiang Jinshi was depressed, he suddenly saw half a pancake on the man's chest.

"Throw that pancake on your chest over."

Luo Feng's mouth twitched. It seemed that the mountain bandit was no different from refugees like them.

This pancake was stuck to his chest, and after walking for so long in the scorching sun, it had long been soaked with sweat. Even so, the other party was still thinking about it. He must have been hungry for a long time.

Thinking that he had no attachment to this world, and after his sister breathed her last, he would follow her, Luo Feng grabbed the pancake and threw it at Jiang Jinshi.

"Good man! Is this okay now?"

Jiang Jinshi picked up the half pancake on the ground, and a prompt sounded in his mind.

【Doo! Task completed!】

Slowly exhaling a breath, it was indeed as he thought. At least robbing something of some value counted as success. The straw sandals had no value, so it wasn't completed.

Jiang Jinshi couldn't wait to choose to open the Novice Gift Pack.

【Obtained Silver*10】

【Obtained Black Jade Intermittent Ointment*1】

【Obtained Hundred Diseases Fading Pill*1】

【Obtained Soul of the Overlord of Western Chu, Xiang Yu】

The rewards obtained from the Novice Gift Pack were all in the storage column and could be taken out at any time, but they couldn't be put back in after being taken out, and items from the outside world couldn't be put in either.

Although he felt this storage column was a bit of a chicken rib, the system didn't dislike him, so how could he dislike the system?!

Focusing his eyes on the Soul of the Overlord of Western Chu, Xiang Yu, Jiang Jinshi chose to use it without hesitation. As for the target of use, it was of course himself.

Improving his own strength was the only way to have some security in this world. ===== CHAPTER 6 =====