Immortal Dao Fruits, Cards to Help Me

Chapter 72 Three Visits to Savage Valley

Ma Si'er didn't dare to speak loudly because he was worried about disturbing Chen Xiuxian and the others' sleep—but things are different now. The lord has taken in another ghost, and although that guy is a bit dim-witted, he still has to perform well and not be outdone.

Without a word, Ma Si'er kicked the thief in the chin, sending him flying. Then, he covered the thief's mouth with one hand to silence him, while his other fist rained down blows!
That'll be a good beating!
Don't let his low level fool you; when fighting monsters, he can only play a supporting role, like applying debuffs.

But that's against high-level monsters!
What kind of thief is this?
There was a flurry of punches; the thief probably took forty or fifty blows, his body felt like it was falling apart, before Ma Si'er threw him over the wall.

That thief was really tough; he didn't dare to utter a sound, and his face was bruised and swollen, so you couldn't really see his expression. Anyway, he was quite stubborn.

He struggled on the ground for a long time before finally managing to get up with the help of the wall, and then staggered away into the distance.

"What? You failed! You got caught and beaten up?" Qian Chuan was shocked when he saw the miserable state of the thief he had been looking for.

How many people have kicked him out of their circles?

"I can't do this job, you should find someone else!" The thief, who had lost two teeth and was speaking with a lisp, said this harshly and limped away.

It's almost the end of the year, and everyone's supposed to be taking a break for the New Year, but then I got a good beating.

It costs several taels of silver to see a doctor for medicine and apply plasters!
What terrible luck!

As soon as he left, Qian Chuan's face turned ugly.

He knows Mr. Qian's temperament best.

Despite his seemingly serious and kind demeanor, he is extremely eccentric and ruthless in private.

If you provoke him when he's in a bad mood, you're really going to cause him a lot of trouble.

As far as Qian Chuan knew, in the three years he had been observing, there were at least five maids' corpses that had been secretly carried out of the Qian family compound through the back gate wrapped in straw mats.

Although we don't know what Master Qian is planning, it must be extremely important. From the few words he couldn't hold back, we know that he came to Liaodong for 18 years, hiding his true identity, all for the purpose of receiving "that important person".

Furthermore, this person must have had close ties with some mysterious individuals in secret, and even secretly provided financial assistance to those people.

And who else was involved...?

Over the years, I had gained some of his trust. Although my official identity was that of a shop owner, I had actually done a lot of dirty work for him. But he still hadn't revealed anything about that.

But Qian Chuan knew he hadn't made a mistake! It was them!

After calming himself down, Qian Chuan began to think about what to do.

The house was rented out by someone so unfortunately that even the notorious thief in the city failed and got a good beating in the middle of the night.

Why is it so small?
I must get that half key so that I can gain more trust from the man surnamed Qian.

He plans to inquire again tomorrow.

……

"Hmm~ a life weighing three taels and three mace, rich in early years, lonely and poor in middle age..."

Chen Xiuxian planned to "supplement calcium" for the gambling addict Ma Si'er, but what to add and how much to add required some thought.

So, I asked Dou Zhongde to do my fortune telling and physiognomy.

Chen Xiuxian tried it, and it wasn't an unlimited amount; it seemed to be based on the level and quality of the ghost.

Although the Hanged Silver Ghost was a higher level than Ma Si'er, it only took two cards to reach the "full" status.

It's not even as good as Ma Si'er's "supplementation"!

Finally, after several attempts, Chen Xiuxian settled on a "nourishing formula"!
Equipment Card [Night Owl's Insight Ring (Green)], +1 Perception, +1 Willpower, Active Insight: +5 Perception for a short time.

Equipment Card [Shadow Bell (Blue)], +3 Agility, +3 Perception, Passive Shadow Stealth: Automatically become invisible in the shadows to reduce presence.

Materials: [Yin Bone (White)] x6, [Dark Marsh Rift Aura (Green)] x3, to compensate for Fate Weight.

The entry card 【Escape (Green)】 has some special effects added - it dropped from the little demons in the second Calabash Brothers dungeon, I didn't want to sell it, so it came in handy.

Chen Xiuxian didn't have many requirements for Ma Si'er, nor did he expect him to fight. He just wanted him to be fast and have sharp ears and eyes to act as a scout and spy.

That's enough.

"Ding~ You used [Netherworld Sacrifice Book (Blue)] 1/7 times on your follower, the gambling freak Ma Si'er. Consuming other items will increase the effect. Confirm?"

"Yes!"

A faint light shone, and the [Netherworld Sacrifice Book (Blue)] and all the other cards in Chen Xiuxian's hand disappeared.

Ma Si'er seemed to be enveloped and swirling in various deep-colored mists. After about four or five seconds, the mist dissipated, and Ma Si'er reappeared.

It looks... a bit more solid?
His attire is also much better now; before, Ma Si'er always kept the same tattered and ragged clothes he wore when he died.

Now he looks like a normal person, and he's not so eerie anymore. Let's look at his level:

【Gambling addict Ma Si'er (Green)】

Level 16 Cleansing Ghost

……

There are quite a few attributes listed below, such as "Pure Spirit Ghost," "Weighted by Four Ounces," and "Catching Shadows"...

This upgrade was a great success!

This really opened up a new avenue of thought for Chen Xiuxian!
When Ma Si'er was first subdued, he was level 8. After following Chen Xiuxian for two months, he leveled up to level 10, and then he got stuck.

After all, his qualifications were limited, so he couldn't be promoted.

This time, my level has directly broken through to level 16, and I can at least reach level 20 in the future!
Moreover, significant improvements have been made in all aspects.

Sure, sure!

Ma Si'er was quite sensible; perhaps he learned it from Toad Gold, because he never stopped flattering others.

"I have no way to repay your kindness, I'll serve you like a slave, I can never repay your kindness!"
Finally, Chen Xiuxian couldn't take it anymore. "Alright, alright, save your breath. Go start a fire and heat the kang (heated brick bed). I need to cook in a bit."

I bought a pig's leg yesterday, and I stewed it all today!
"Yes!" Ma Si'er agreed and was about to start a fire when he suddenly remembered something and turned back to say, "My lord, a thief climbed over the wall in the middle of the night last night, but I beat him up and threw him out."

"Hmm? Stealing things in this freezing weather in the middle of the night, this thief is quite dedicated!" Chen Xiuxian didn't take it seriously.

But on the other hand, Qian Chuan had asked around about Chen Xiuxian and a few others.

This inquiry revealed something very bad.

There were three people: a young man, a ox, and an old man, all of whom had previously rendered meritorious service and received rewards for their service in the fight against the wild boar-men.

This is difficult to handle; we cannot use official power.

What should we do?

……

Chen Xiuxian appeared in my dream again that night, and I was running a dungeon.

This is my third time farming [Savage Valley (Blue)]. Hopefully, this time I can trigger the sub-dungeon. If I keep farming there, the experience gained will be halved.

Before I knew it, I was already inside the instance.

In reality, it's the dead of winter, almost Chinese New Year, but in the dungeon it's the sweltering summer, with lush vegetation.

My four teammates... Oh, there's someone I know!

Gadak!
This kid appeared on my first read of this book.

Looking at him again, he's already level 19, leveling up pretty fast.

Nagadak greeted him, "Brother Chen, what a coincidence!"

"Yeah, what a coincidence!"

What a coincidence!

The probability of encountering millions of players in a random dungeon without forming a team is really low.

Of course, there are patterns to random dungeons, such as proximity and dungeon keys.

This means that Gadak also lives in the Liaodong region in the game.
"Is Brother Chen still stuck in the Breakthrough Realm?" Gadak asked.

Chen Xiuxian nodded: "This should be the last time. If it gets stuck again, we'll get an experience penalty."

Gadak nodded as well: "I'm about to get sick of grinding too. I hope I can trigger the Buyeo Kingdom General instance this time."

The other three teammates, a man and a woman, seemed to have joined as a team, both level 20, and there was also a level 22 guy who looked to be over 30.

The female player was pointing at Chen Xiuxian's head and laughing heartily.

It's just that her boyfriend didn't seem very happy—it's just that the girl peeked at him twice and smiled shyly, right?

Jealousy, blatant jealousy!

Chen Xiuxian realized what was happening and quickly took off the bear-head hat and put it away.

Chen Xiuxian: You guys have no idea how cold the winters are in Liaodong! If you don't wear a hat, your ears will freeze off!
Yes, I immediately changed my cotton-padded coat into a more stylish spring/autumn outfit.

The climate change is quite drastic; it's so easy to catch a cold these days!
(End of this chapter)