Chapter 244: Blood Hunter Returns to the Village

The two-meter-tall giant roared and charged forward.

His massive body possessed terrifying strength; a casual punch could knock down a man.

Though his martial power still fell short of trained Guard Team members, he was far stronger than ordinary people.

Soon, the situation turned utterly one-sided, and the crowd scattered in panic.

"Y-you stay away!"

The pampered young noble, terrified and pale, was singled out by the giant, who swung a punch at him.

Before the fist even reached him, the wind of the blow had already tumbled his long hair.

The noble turned—and met a fist filling his entire field of vision. He nearly suffered cardiac arrest, his face turning ashen.

But just as the noble thought he was certain to die… the fist suddenly stopped.

"His life is mine."

A cold voice sounded beside his ear.

The noble looked up—and saw… Captain Wu.

With a casual twist.

A crack echoed as the giant's wrist snapped outright; then, with a casual flick, he was thrown.

The giant's two-meter-tall body was flung effortlessly, slamming hard into a large tree.

Boom!!

The tree shook violently twice, and a figure tumbled from its branches, landing squarely atop the unconscious giant.

"Hm?"

Captain Wu raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that someone had grown on the tree.

But the noble's voice pulled his thoughts back to reality.

"C-Captain Wu! Thank heaven you arrived in time—if not, I'd be dead!"

The noble, unaware his end was near, gushed thanks to Captain Wu—only to receive the captain's massive hand.

That hand covered his entire face, plunging him into darkness, filling him with paralyzing terror.

"C-Captain Wu, what are you doing? I'm the eldest son of the Jin family…"

Crack!

The sound of shattering skull cut off the noble's words.

Captain Wu's grip had crushed part of the noble's skull outright, killing him in his hand.

Everyone else who saw this scene turned pale with terror.

"C-Captain Wu killed someone!!"

"The Jin family's heir is dead—killed by Captain Wu!"

"Run! Captain Wu's gone mad—run!!"

Even the rival Pao family's noble spun around and fled, his heart pounding wildly, certain he was about to die.

But when he turned back, he saw Captain Wu had not chased him—he was slowly walking toward the woman who had fallen from the tree.

The woman's eyes were vacant, appearing like a corpse.

But the Pao family noble had seen enough to recognize this as the state of slumbering refugees.

Was this man a refugee? Was Captain Wu going to kill a refugee too?

Mo Cun's security was far better than other villages, but that didn't mean killings never occurred.

The Guard Team was the highest authority in the village; when they deemed someone a threat to the village, they held the power to execute on the spot—though if the deceased held special status, the village must issue a public notice justifying the killing.

Normally, the Guard Team never killed without cause, since maintaining village stability was essential.

Captain Wu's direct, open killing like this was something the Pao family noble had never witnessed before.

Such a powerful individual, when he moved, radiated an overwhelming sense of Zhenjiu—utter despair, with near-zero chance of survival.

He silently watched a moment longer, observing that Captain Wu did not kill the refugee, but frowned and tossed her onto a nearby horse's back before riding away. The Pao family noble exhaled deeply, his mind swirling with thoughts.

He'd heard two days ago that Captain Wu, using Fire Captain's death as pretext, was purging unstable elements from the village.

He never expected Captain Wu would kill even the heirs of minor families like his—this purge was far broader than he'd imagined.

As the Pao family noble thought this, he suddenly noticed Captain Wu's gaze flick toward him.

That single glance shattered his courage.

He dared not linger or observe another second—he spun and ran, terrified the madman might grow addicted to killing and take him, an innocent, too.

With the Pao family noble gone, silence returned—only Captain Wu and Chen Xiaomiao remained, riding away on horseback.

…

Outside the game.

Chen Xiaomiao, listening to Liu Zong's report, felt drowsy.

Listening to reports always made her sleepy—until Liu Zong said one sentence.

"... So, the client finally decided to reveal some information about that thing."

Information about that thing?

Chen Xiaomiao snapped awake.

She'd been tormented by this bounty for over ten days.

Since the launch of "Blue Sea," Liu Zong had given her this task—and still, no leads.

Impossible to find: the client was secretive, uncooperative, leaving her with no direction.

But these past few days, the client had suddenly contacted frequently, pressuring the Bounty Company to find the thing—and now offered some clues.

Chen Xiaomiao guessed the client's own client was pushing them, hence their urgency toward her, the lowest-tier contractor.

Regardless, with more intel, this commission could wrap up sooner, and she could relax and play games for many days.

"So what exactly is this thing the client wants us to find?"

Liu Zong on the other end of the line went silent for a moment.

"A piece of paper."

A piece of paper?

Chen Xiaomiao was stunned for a beat; at the same time, her Game Watch buzzed faintly.

But she didn't pay it any mind, frowning instead: "Spending this much money just to have us find a piece of paper?"

"To be precise, it's a piece of… parchment."

"Parchment?"

Chen Xiaomiao still felt something was off—even if it was parchment, it wasn't worth much.

"What's written on it? That makes it worth so much."

"Not a single word. A blank piece of parchment."

"This…"

Chen Xiaomiao was a little dumbfounded: "Are they just too rich?"

Liu Zong on the other end rolled his eyes: "That's not your concern. Whatever the client wants us to find, we find. The moment the lead came in, I immediately dispatched more people, but it's been over ten days—tracking down any trace now is going to be tough."

"Then what do we do? I'm not going to investigate one by one, don't accuse me of slacking. The day of the car accident, I already checked most of the people on that street. Just reading through the reports the investigators hand me every day is enough to give me a headache."

"This time you don't need to investigate. Ordinary blank paper is everywhere, but this kind of retro parchment—if someone pulls it out, it's very conspicuous. As soon as I got the intel, I had the investigators look into it right away. With the files you organized, barring any surprises, in the next day or two we should be able to pry something out of those passersby, or the item itself might even be in their hands."

After a pause, Liu Zong said: "I'll send you a list in a bit. These are some of the people you've already investigated, the ones closer to you. You're in charge of asking them whether they saw anyone carrying parchment that day."

With enough hands, plus the area and personnel pinned down, a wide-scale search for the holder of such a specific item was still very possible.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the passersby had to be cooperative enough—and that required the power of "brothers." Pay enough, and there's no reason a passerby wouldn't open their mouth.

Chen Xiaomiao then got lectured by Liu Zong for a while longer about working seriously and the like, before finally hanging up.

The next instant, a bunch of names and files came through on her WeChat.

Chen Xiaomiao flipped through them briefly, figured she'd get to work tomorrow, and lifted her Game Watch to take a look.

The less she looked, the better; one look and she got a fright.

The Game Watch was actually alerting her that her in-game character was in danger, prompting her to log in immediately.

How could she wait?

Chen Xiaomiao immediately put down her phone, lay on the bed, and entered the game.

And on the phone sitting on her room's desk, among that long list of names, one person's name and file was just being flipped to.

"Fang Yue, twenty-three years old, college graduate…"

……

In the game, in a daze, Chen Xiaomiao slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was a broad back and the curve of solid muscle.

Her heart gave a sudden lurch, and she slid right off her horse.

"Who are you?!"

The moment she dismounted, Chen Xiaomiao backed away, thinking to herself—could the danger be this person?

But once that person reined in his horse and let her get a good look, Chen Xiaomiao froze on the spot.

Isn't this Captain Wu, one of the captains of Mo Cun?

Why did he grab me?

Chen Xiaomiao instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, watching him nervously.

"Captain Wu, wh-what did you do to me?"

"Nothing at all. You fell from a tree… forget it, if you're fine, then go."

Captain Wu shook his head slightly. He had seen this woman in Fang Yue's party before, knew she was one of Fang Yue's people, which was why he'd stepped in to save her—only to be misunderstood instead.

But just as Captain Wu turned to leave, Chen Xiaomiao's eyes suddenly darted.

"W-wait! Where are you going? I'll come with you!"

If she stuck with Captain Wu, surely Divine Doctor An couldn't still come grab her, right?

……

Lang Fu.

"That's how it is. If she's lucky, her tail will be taken away by an Elder of the Extreme Ice Sect. If she's unlucky, you'd better get ready to wait for her to reincarnate."

Reincarnation is player jargon in the game—it means dying and starting a new character.

"How could that be…"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu was suddenly filled with mixed feelings—partly envious that Tail had caught the eye of the Extreme Ice Sect, partly a sense of loss at being left behind by her friend.

Whether Tail succeeded or not, it would be hard for her and Tail to meet again anytime soon.

"R-right, Ye Ge, did Ni Dongmei say how many Disciples she wants to take on? How about my aptitude? Could you get me into the Extreme Ice Sect too?"

Such a naive remark made Fang Yue roll his eyes.

"You said it yourself—you were out shopping with Tail when she ran into her. Now she only wants Tail and not you. What do you think your own aptitude is like?"

"…"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu fell silent, her face full of dejection.

Although she'd gotten familiar with plenty of people in Gu Yue Cun, a true peer companion was only Tail—and a schoolmate at that!

They could chat outside the game, help each other inside the game, and stuck together every day—needless to say how good their bond was.

Now that the other person was going solo, she couldn't help feeling lonely.

"Look at yourself. I always tell you to try harder and eat more stuff, and now you regret it, don't you? If you'd eaten 100 dual-attribute points and awakened some hidden attribute or something, would someone like Ni Dongmei look down on you?"

Listening to Fang Yue's words, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu couldn't help but crouch down and clutch her head: "Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, if you keep hitting me there won't be a person left, Wu Wuwu…"

"Hmph! Since you know you're wrong, then eat properly. Look how fast I've grown—little old Gu Yue Cun can barely contain me anymore. In another month or two I'll probably go report to the superior county-level Qing Si. When that time comes, who would I recommend as Captain of Gu Yue Cun? Wouldn't it definitely be you?"

Ah, this…

There's even such a thing?

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu, who had just been feeling down, couldn't help but look up.

"Ye Ge, are you really going to be promoted to the county-level Qing Si?"

"It's only a matter of time. I'm already at the Post-Heaven Second-rate Realm now, and Lin Ling is only at the Post-Heaven Third-rate Realm. Apart from Lord Han, there's nothing in Gu Yue Cun that can keep raising my strength. After I escort the team back this time, I'll stabilize my realm, cultivate peacefully for a while, and then find a way to fight for a spot at the county-level Qing Si."

Fang Yue stared at his target, taking it one step at a time, and this made a spark of fighting spirit rise in Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu's heart too.

"Th-then, alright, if you leave, I'll definitely work hard to be a good Captain!"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu clenched her little pink fists, but quickly thought again: "Wait, that's not right. Ye Ge, are you tricking me? How could being Captain be that easy? And why don't you pick Niu Niu? He's clearly more suited to be Captain than me."

Fang Yue shook his head slightly: "In terms of closeness, you and he are about the same to me. But Niu Niu is lazy!"

Fang Yue was frustrated that his protégé wasn't living up to expectations, and said through gritted teeth: "All his drive has gone into the money pit—he has no mind for martial training. Sooner or later, he'll regret this. And don't get excited too soon either—being Captain isn't something I alone can decide. On top of that, your own strength has to keep up. If your base dual-attribute can reach around 50 points, I'll start helping you rise up. Understood?"

50 points…

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu felt a bit dizzy; that requirement was too high.

But seeing the look Fang Yue cast her way, she hurriedly nodded with a solemn face: "I'll work hard!"

"Mm, and in terms of real combat, you need to get out there and do it too. You've never even killed a Guai—do you deserve to be Captain?"

"Ah! I have to kill Guai too…"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu immediately shrank back a little, her eyes dodging.

"Of course. The Captain's duty is exactly that. Of course you can keep muddling through the days like you do now—it's a game after all, having fun is what matters. But if Tail succeeds this time, believe me, the distance between you and her will only grow wider and wider. Even I wouldn't dare say my growth speed can outpace hers, backed by a sect."

That's right, a sect's resources are far more powerful than a village's.

With sect resources and institutional support, Tail's rise would probably far surpass most people.

Fang Yue had a high starting point himself, snowballing at high speed, so for the time being he wouldn't fall behind those who entered sects.

But in the long run, Fang Yue couldn't say for sure whether he could maintain a top position among players.

"Tail…"

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu lowered her head and clenched her fists. When she raised her head again, a hint of determination had appeared in her eyes: "Ye Ge, I'll work hard! I must become Captain and keep up with Tail's pace. It's not easy to have a good friend at school—I have to have something in common with her."

Although the reasoning was a bit odd, Fang Yue still nodded and offered some encouragement.

Just then, someone hurried in through the door. Seeing Fang Yue, they immediately reported: "Captain Ye, the Blood Hunter has returned to the village! He's looking for you on urgent business!"

(End of chapter)