Chapter 3 – First Tutorial Quest (2)
As the brown robe man was mocking Miaomiao, his friends joined in for the fun.
"Well, what do we have here? A lowly unfilial child with a trashy cultivation base wants to enter Mountain Goose Sect? Isn't he brave, fellas?"
"Even Qing Yong bro at level 5 of the first stage can't become a sect candidate. This stupid brat won't have a chance."
"Hahahaha! He will definitely get himself killed over there. Well, if he can even make it through the preliminary round. Hahahaha!"
"Every year, the weakest candidate's strength is at least the second stage. A first stage brat like him will just embarrass himself!"
"Right. Even our young master is at level 10 of the second stage! This brat doesn't have a chance!"
"Let's do him a favor. Just strip him naked and chase him home! His clothes look expensive."
The carriage escort guards transformed into bandits. They surrounded Miaomiao, but they hadn't drawn their weapons.
Miaomiao wasn't panicked. Instead, he recalled this scene from many novels he had read.
'These guys must be one of those cannon fodder mobs that usually picked a fight with main characters and got wrecked. Then, their death or injuries would serve as a pivot to create a hostile relationship between the MCs and villain clans.'
He gazed at the carriage that these men were protecting. It was a wooden carriage with plain silver painting, but the decorated gold frame windows showed that the persons inside were not ordinary people.
'I can't offend them, or I'll be a marked man. I have to accept an L, and be on my way.'
Unlike unyielding protagonists in many stories, Miaomiao understood the word, [Compromise]. He raised his hands over his head and walked backward, backing away from the crowd.
"Okay, I want no trouble. I'll leave."
The group yelled, "Not so fast! Leave your clothes and your money here!"
Miaomiao rolled his eyes, "Don't push your luck, scum. Let me leave, and you can keep your pride as a good soldier. Pick a fight with me, and you'll embarrass your friends."
The escort soldier and his friends laughed, "Qing Yong bro, teach him a lesson!"
Even the escort captain in front of the carriage turned around to see the commotion. Upon seeing that they were messing with a stranger, he scoffed and turned back, ignoring them.
Qing Yong, the guy that Miaomiao had asked for a direction, cracked his knuckles and approached Miaomiao in leisure. He sneered, "I guess I have to strip them myself."
Seeing that Qing Yong extending his arm to grab him and shifted his body weight to the front foot, Miaomiao chuckled, "Fool."
Miaomiao shifted his right feet to the back, changing his casual stance into a kickboxing stance. When Qing Yong's hand got close, he swatted Qing Yong's hand away with his left forearm and swung his hips. Miaomiao's right leg followed and his shin went for Qing Yong's front leg's calf.
It was an MMA calf kick, which was commonly used as a surprise attack in octagon rings. It could potentially cripple victims' leg for the entire match. Against pros, Miaomiao usually required 2-3 clean hits to cripple his opponent's leg.
But against a third-rated thug like Qing Yong, Miaomiao only needed one good hit regardless of this man's cultivation strength or level.
*BAAM*
The low kick landed at the back of Qing Yong's soft left calf, which was also a few centimeters below the knee. The kick impact sent pain signal to his brain.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!"
Qing Yong's left knee lost its strength, and he staggered forward.
Miaomiao stomped his right foot, which had just kicked Qing Yong's calf. He shifted his stance to southpaw, rotated his shoulders, and delivered a full-strength uppercut toward the tumbling man.
The fist met Qing Yong's jaw.
*CROEK*
From Qing Yong's perspective, the world spun, and he lost control of his body. He collapsed on the ground, headfirst.
As for the other escort soldiers, their eyes almost slipped out of their sockets. They stared at their friend in shock.
Before anyone could react or utter a word of disbelief, Miaomiao turned around and ran toward an escort soldier who was standing furthest from the carriage and the group. He jumped a few feet in the air and gathered his momentum in his right hand.
While the target was still confused and shocked, a superman punch slammed onto his left ear.
*POEK*
Just like Qing Yong, the absentminded man's brain shook. He lost his body balance and fell on the ground like a puppet without strings.
By the time that the other guy got knocked out, ten escort soldiers came back to their senses. They turned toward Miaomiao and drew their weapons.
*CHENG*
*CHENG*
*CHENG*
The captain of their team also reacted fast. He galloped his horse and blocked Miaomiao's escape route.
The captain wore ancient lamellar armor plates from head to toes as if he was a general of an army. Even his horse was donned with metal armors like medieval horses for heavy knights.
Qing Gui, the escort captain, glared at Miaomiao, "Stop right there, slave!"
'Oh, come on!'
Miaomiao got frustrated that not only they fought with numbers, they also used weapons against an unarmed man.
"Hey, I don't want trouble. I only protected myself, okay?"
Miaomiao still tried to persuade them. However, his eyes couldn't hide the mocking smile towards Qing Gui.
Qing Gui glanced at two unconscious subordinates. He snorted at Miaomiao, "You've unnecessarily harmed my soldiers."
"Oh, please. They tried to rob me. What was I supposed to do? Roll over and let them do whatever they want!?"
Qing Gui clicked his tongue, "You have no right to disobey our orders! When they told you to give them your clothes, you must comply!"
"Soooo, by your logic, if they order me to die, am I supposed to die?"
"Exactly!"
Miaomiao rolled his eyes and sighed. These people were as overbearing as he had thought they would. In fact, their lines were similar to the common villains in many novels he had read.
He wanted to continue fighting, but risking his life against a boss character like Qing Gui would be suicidal at his current strength. Moreover, there were other soldiers, waiting to slice him in half at any moment.
'If I remember correctly, I've chosen to be a mob character in that questionnaire. If I'm really a mob character, I can easily get killed right now to serve as a catalyst to make readers hate them. Then, a protagonist would show up and kill these mofos later in the story…'
Miaomiao predicted his fate by using the novel experience as a reference. He was aware that he was not the main character with infinite plot armors and instant cheat skills. Therefore, pushing the fight any further wasn't an option anymore. Miaomiao had to use another means to survive.
"SOMEBODY HELP!! THESE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO KILL ME!!"
Without shame or dignity, Miaomiao screamed for help. Since there were thousands of people on the wide road, he thought that someone with status would show up to gain some fame and credits. After all, face value and reputation were worth more than gold in cultivation novel worlds.
'Come on. Is there any MC around here? This is your golden opportunity to save a damsel in distress like me and make your character likable to readers! No homo, though.'
"…" Qing Gui stared at Miaomiao with a deep frown. Because of the commotion and Miaomiao's voice, other clans, gangs, and groups heard it. Now, they were the center of attention among all travelers. Everyone surrounded them, watching them as if they were watching a show.
Qing Gui snorted and pulled his horse reign. He withdrew and returned to the carriage that he was in charge of protecting.
Unfortunately, Qing Yong's friends didn't care about reputation. They pointed their swords, spears, and saber in Miaomiao's direction, but the encirclement formation was no more.
"Surrender, brat!"
They yelled and were about to charge at Miaomiao.
As if the god answered Miaomiao's prayer, a young man's voice from the crowd was audible.
"STOP!! IS YOUR QING CLAN SO DESPERATE THAT YOU ROB A BYSTANDING INNOCENT FOR CLOTHES!?"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned toward the source of the voice.
A young man in white robes with a goose face emblem on his back walked out from the crowd. He tossed a sword along with its sheath to Mao Miaomiao.
"Fighting against an unarmed man with weapons is unsightly! If you want to kill each other, do it fairly! Now, fellow daoist, you have a weapon. You can go ahead and use it."
Miaomiao grabbed the thrown weapon and stared at the white robe man in confusion.
"Aren't you going to help me?"
The white robe youth shook his head, "No, no, no. You've misunderstood me. I'm just a spectator that doesn't like unfairness. Go on, keep fighting. I've bet 100 spirit stones on the Qing clansmen, but the betting will be voided if you fight without a weapon."
A bag of popcorn and a foldable aluminum chair manifested from a jewel ring on the white robe man. He placed a chair down and sat on it, eating the popcorn as if he was watching a good show.
Several lines of blood vessel bulked under Miaomiao's facial skin. He was offended by the trolling attitude of this young man.
In anger, Miaomiao unsheathed the sword, planning to rush to the youth and chop him.
But when he noticed the jewel decoration on the sheath and the material of the sword, he paused.
It was a jade blunt sword with a stylish hilt. The sheath also had several amber and diamond stones embedded in it.
In other words, this sword was not meant to be used in a battle. It was a decoration weapon in Mao Miaomiao's eyes.
'MotherfOOker! This isn't usable!'
<
<
'Hmm?'
Miaomiao forgot that the system was still there with him.
'Can you appraise it, my dear system?'
<
'…'
Miaomiao had a wry smile on his face. He gazed at his enemy soldiers, who were hesitating if they should attack Miaomiao while the travelers nearby were watching them with great attention. Several men even started betting houses to make money.
None of them dared to act. They didn't like being in a show.
Using this golden opportunity, Miaomiao turned around and kicked the ground, running away from everyone.
The escort soldiers widened their eyes in surprise. They chased after Miaomiao in frustration.
"Stop!" The young man in the carriage that they were protecting shouted for the first time, "Leave him be!"
The escort soldiers looked at each other and shrugged. They carried the injured friends and ignored Miaomiao.
The crowd booed as the fun was over. Betting houses voided the bet, dejected and disappointed. They returned to their groups and continued traveling towards the Mountain Goose City.
Still, one man wasn't happy about this development. He chased after Miaomiao with a popcorn bag in his arms.
"WAIT! GIVE ME BACK MY TREASURE SWORD!!"
Miaomiao sneered, "YOU GAVE IT TO ME, SO IT'S MINE NOW, BIATCH!!"