Chapter 217: Let

Most people, when choosing Martial Arts, consider those that alter their appearance as little as possible.

But some are willing to pay a bodily price for stronger Martial Arts.

So having two heads isn't really a big deal—asking the person directly feels almost like prying into their privacy.

So Lang Wu added one last sentence: if Fang Yue didn't want to say, he didn't have to.

Fang Yue didn't hide anything; by now, his head had fully returned to normal.

The swollen lumps had completely subsided, his head was properly aligned, indistinguishable from an ordinary person's.

After briefly explaining the strange event, Lang Wu finally looked enlightened.

"So you encountered a rogue anomaly wandering outside the village—but don't worry, once you enter Mo Cun, no anomaly dares lay a hand on you. Mo Cun is absolutely safe!"

"Absolutely safe" is certainly an exaggeration.

But relatively safe? That much is true.

The parchment had always said safety came upon entering Mo Cun, and Ma Ling'er'er vanished the moment she entered Mo Cun—clear signs.

"I wonder what method Mo Cun uses to suppress the anomalies, making them dare not act boldly within its borders?"

"Well… tomorrow I'll take you to a place, and you'll find out."

Lang Wu smiled mysteriously.

Fang Yue agreed, then asked more questions about Mo Cun.

Finally, he couldn't hold back and asked the most important question.

"Is the Black Crow Merchant Group still stationed in Mo Cun?"

"Oh?"

Lang Wu paused, startled.

"I didn't expect Ye Ge to be so well-informed—yes, the Black Crow Merchant Group is still in Mo Cun…"

"Perfect! Take me there!"

Fang Yue shot up instantly, leaving Lang Wu dumbfounded.

"Uh… the Black Crow Merchant Group is still in Mo Cun, but tonight's Night Auction has already ended—Ye Ge, if you want to go, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"Ah… I see…"

Fang Yue's face immediately fell with disappointment.

His greatest hope in coming to Mo Cun was the Merchant Group.

Fine, then tomorrow it is.

Now that he's here, it's not urgent.

The unconscious Divine Doctor had been placed inside Lang Fu, and healers had been summoned to treat him; the escort team members had also been lodged in Lang Fu.

Fang Yue's escort mission was now successfully completed.

Next, buying a Heart Method in Mo Cun would fulfill his goal.

After delivering Hua Wuye's letter and other minor tasks, he could return.

Though this journey had taken only a few days, the dangers he faced were far from simple.

I hope the return trip will be safer.

Under Lang Wu's warm hospitality, Fang Yue spent a peaceful night.

I have to say, Mo Village is really far wealthier than Guyue Village.

You can tell from every little detail.

For example, there's no curfew, so villagers can come and go freely at night.

For example, the villagers' clothing and the architectural style of their houses.

Take Guyue Village—for the most part, only the houses of the rich or the captain were built and maintained well.

The homes of ordinary villagers were mostly simple and plain.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Fang Yue opened his door and froze for a moment.

"Blood Hunter?"

Standing at the doorway was the Blood Hunter.

"Morning, Ye."

"Mm, what is it?"

"... The thing I told you before we left the village, do you still remember?"

Of course Fang Yue remembered—capturing a 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】, breeding it, and producing a pup.

"But... isn't your 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 already..."

Fang Yue hadn't wanted to bring it up, since a 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 is no different from family to a Blood Hunter.

With his 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 dead, he must be feeling terrible.

"I know. So I've given up on the breeding plan and intend to capture a 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 pup directly."

【Giant-Head Blood Hounds】 share one thing in common with ordinary cats and dogs as pets: they can only be raised from pups.

Trying to capture an adult 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 directly—basically no one can tame this kind of uncanny beast.

Fang Yue thought it over. Given the strength of the Blood Hunter's 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】, it probably wouldn't pose much of a threat to him.

If they moved at night, success would be all but guaranteed.

"But... Blood Hunter, how do you know there are 【Giant-Head Blood Hound】 pups out there?"

"... I don't. I only know that this is the season when they seek mates—what you'd call their heat period. I want to try my luck."

At that, the Blood Hunter paused.

"I'll send people to gather information first. Once I confirm there are puppies, I'll come find you. Today I just came by to say hello."

Oh……

Only now did Fang Yue understand—the Blood Hunter was afraid that after the 【Giant-Headed Blood Hound】 died, he would refuse to acknowledge the debt.

Fang Yue patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry. The 【Giant-Headed Blood Hound】 sacrificed itself for our escort team. Even just for its sake, I'll do everything I can to help you, let alone the fact that we've shared life and death all this way—that much bond is still there."

On the Blood Hunter's roguishly handsome face, his eyes flickered, finally resolving into two heavy words: "……Thank you!"

Once the words fell, the Blood Hunter took his leave.

Fang Yue, meanwhile, went to the dining area.

From a distance, he could already see Niu Niu, Wei Ba, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu, and Chen Xiaomiao and the others gorging themselves.

These four were all players, and when faced with good food, they weren't shy in the slightest.

"Server, more food!"

"Abba abba!"

"So good!!"

"……"

Apart from Wei Ba being a bit more quiet, the other three were making a ruckus.

But speaking of the meal, today's spread really was the best one they'd had in days.

The Lang family's chef made dishes that were fragrant, flavorful, and beautifully presented, and the variety was endless.

As for the team members beside these four, they were clearly much more well-behaved, but they too were excitedly stuffing food into their mouths.

This escort mission was finally over, and the heavy burden on their shoulders could finally be set down.

"Ye, Ye Ge?!"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu gave a start, and the thing stuffed in her mouth was subconsciously swapped out for a steamed bun.

Even Fang Yue was taken aback.

Good lord, judging by that practiced motion, she must have snuck plenty of other good food while he wasn't around.

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu saw that Fang Yue's expression was off, only then realized something was wrong, hurriedly took the bun back out, and smiled at Fang Yue awkwardly.

"Abba abba!"

Niu Niu let out a roar and sent a message over.

"Ye Ge, I discovered it—Mo Cun has limitless business opportunities. This wave I'm gonna take off!"

Fang Yue rolled his eyes.

"Good luck."

Mo Cun's peaceful environment really was far calmer and more tranquil than other villages.

Last night, Fang Yue had also specifically asked Niu Niu to go gather information.

How to put it—apart from lifespan being hard to earn, martial techniques being hard to find, and having to work like a corporate drone just to get by, you basically couldn't find fault with Mo Cun.

Those players in Mo Cun, apart from a few who didn't browse the forums, basically all knew how miserable the other villages were.

So by comparison, being able to make it in Mo Cun was practically a chosen-one's start.

The only problem was that, in such a peaceful environment, standing out was actually even harder.

Mo Cun was not short on people at all. Taking in refugees into the village only meant giving them dirty, grueling work, with little skill to accumulate, making it even harder to scrape together lifespan.

So most of Mo Cun's refugees died because their lifespan ran out; few were killed by the strange and uncanny while venturing out to seek fortune.

In this kind of environment, the technical-route path to getting by grew harder and harder, and many switched to the merchant route.

Use money to make money, complete NPC quests, and ultimately harvest lifespan to preserve yourself.

Then use the money to buy Black Ashes, and trade Black Ashes for the most basic, crude Martial Arts.

On such a grueling path, only a handful of Mo Cun's players had made it through.

Compared to other small villages where joining the Guard Team got you free Martial Arts, Mo Cun required far more effort to grow.

This was probably what they called "you gain some, you lose some."

Mo Cun's players got a stable, safe environment, but the cost of growth was steeper.

Players in other villages could drop dead at any moment, but Martial Arts were actually worthless there—with a bit of luck, if the Guard Team was short on people, you could just join up and learn it.

Whether chaos breeds heroes, or steady, step-by-step progress is better—no one could say which way was better; it all depended on individual fortune.

Besides, Mo Cun's money-to-make-money approach only worked for whales; if you had no money, you couldn't even scrape together starting capital, and could only keep working as a laborer to save up.

So the currently named-and-known players in Mo Cun were basically all whales.

In the past, Fang Yue would have been eager to suck up to them, but now, he couldn't care less.

With a whale living right next to him, plus his own fortune of ten million, why would he need to bother with them?

But Niu Niu seemed to be thinking of Mo Cun as too simple, believing money could be made easily.

Coming over to sit beside Wei Ba, Fang Yue looked at Chen Xiaomiao across from him. The latter immediately guiltily averted her gaze and silently ate her breakfast.

Fang Yue narrowed his eyes slightly.

This one had become a lot more honest.

"I'm full!"

As if sensing the unpleasant gaze, Chen Xiaomiao ran off.

But before long, he heard, from the direction Chen Xiaomiao had run off to, the sound of a teacup shattering on the floor in that corridor, along with…… a familiar tone.

"No way, no way, surely no one would be so blind……"

Good lord, so she just didn't dare talk nonsense in front of me.

In front of other people, she was still that same old face.

Fang Yue shook his head slightly and ignored her.

"Ye Ge, when do we head back?"

At this moment, Tail asked softly.

This question drew the attention of others.

Besides the three of them, the escort team's other members were also present, and they clearly cared about this issue too.

"Let's stay a few more days. After this mission, having slain multiple anomalies, all of you have earned merit—you can claim your rewards directly at Mo Cun's Guard Station, no need to worry about your lifespan."

The latter part was addressed to Niu Niu and the other players.

Upon hearing this, both Niu Niu and Tail, among others, sighed in relief.

They didn't have Fang Yue's abundant lifespan to waste—they were already at their limits.

Now, with a big boost, they were naturally delighted.

Also, the escort team is escorting An Shenyi back to the village.

Although initiated by Gu Yue Cun, Mo Cun also bears some reward distribution responsibility; the escort team can claim their rewards here, and later, Mo Cun can simply coordinate the intelligence with Gu Yue Cun.

The other team members now grew excited.

"Yay!!"

"I heard Mo Wine is delicious—I've never tasted it before!"

"And Mo Ore—it's Mo Cun's signature mineral. Buy some to stockpile, sell it back in Gu Yue Cun, and that's a fortune. I remember Ma Tiejiang…"

The man paused suddenly, his voice cutting off as he cautiously glanced around, afraid to continue.

Ma Ling'er'er had become a traitor and was executed by the team.

Ma Tiejiang's true situation remains unclear.

They dared not speak freely, but psychologically, they struggled to accept that Ma Tiejiang, who had lived in the village for so many years, could be a traitor or enemy.

The atmosphere instantly grew cold.

Someone, seeing this, forced himself to speak up.

"It's a great day—don't bring up irrelevant things. Throughout this journey, thanks to Deputy Captain Ye's multiple protections, we survived. Here, I thank Deputy Captain Ye!"

"Yes! Thank you, Deputy Captain Ye!"

"No, no! You must call him Captain Ye now! I heard the approval document has already been issued and circulated, confirming the change of captain in Gu Yue Cun."

Everyone froze.

"So fast?"

"Changing the Chief Captain and adding a new Captain concerns a village's survival—above's swift action is only natural."

"That's true."

Fang Yue was also stunned.

He himself didn't even know, yet the subordinates found out first?

Fang Yue grew suspicious and asked them a few questions, learning it was a rumor spread privately by servants of Lang Fu.

This made Fang Yue's lips twitch—he feared the rumor had been distorted through word-of-mouth.

Still, the team members were thrilled by Fang Yue's decision to stay a few more days in Mo Cun.

Throughout this journey, they had all been in a state of high tension; now that they were finally safe, they naturally wanted to relax.

Mo Cun, being a large village, had no shortage of entertainment.

Qian Deputy Captain now sidled up, lowering his voice.

"I remember Captain Ye is a refugee—you haven't had a proper chance to enjoy yourself, have you? How about coming with me for an adventure later? It's thrilling!"

An… adventure?

Does Mo Cun even have such services?!

"Th-this isn't very appropriate?"

As he spoke, Fang Yue grabbed Qian Deputy Captain's hand tightly, his eyes gleaming—as if to say: Brother, take me!

Upon hearing this, Niu Niu immediately stood up.

He walked silently to their side and patted Fang Yue and Qian Deputy Captain on the shoulders.

The three exchanged glances—understanding passed between them without words.

"Disgusting!"

"Ewwww!"

The few female team members of the escort team voiced their protest.

Tail and Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu narrowed their eyes, looking utterly disdainful.

Damn it!

My reputation's been ruined!

"Ahem!"

Fang Yue, gritting his teeth, cleared his throat and spoke solemnly: "I won't go. Such things harm the body—you should also exercise restraint."

"Ah… oh oh…"

Qian Deputy Captain blinked, then nodded.

Niu Niu, utterly shameless, clung to Qian Deputy Captain's side like a loyal brother.

"Niu Niu understands! Come on, let's go!"

In broad daylight?!

Fang Yue watched them walk off, arms slung over each other's shoulders, feeling sour.

"Ye Ge, why are you crying?"

"There's sand in my eyes!"

Wiping away his tears, Fang Yue asked the stonemasons about the Di He stone material.

The primary purpose of this escort team was to deliver An Shenyi back to the village.

The secondary purpose was the issue of Di He stone material.

(End of Chapter)