"Ma'am, we can take care of the broken cup!"
"Ma'am, be careful! You might cut yourself!"
While the two maids squealed in shock, Madam Chen's fingers had already brushed across the broken cup. She tried to pick one of the broken pieces up, but the shard was unusually sharp. It easily sliced through her fingers, separating her fingers from her palm.
Madam Chen was shocked when she saw her fingers on the floor and blood gushing from her fingerless palm. She screamed.
"Ma'am! Ma'am! Your hand!"
"Aaaaaah!"
The moment Madam Chen shouted, the broken pieces flew up and struck Madam Chen and the maids' necks like darts.
Their crystal clear eyes immediately turned black, as if a drop of ink had spread in their retinas.
Everything turned quiet right away.
Madam Chen calmly picked up her fingers from the ground and put them into her mouth. She chewed them a few times before she spat them out.
She frowned as if the fingers were not tasty enough for her. A slight pause later, she grinned strangely and looked at the room where Fang Yue was supposed to be resting.
Foosh!
The door suddenly shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.
The room was empty.
Madam Chen frowned as she looked into the room.
Wherever Madam Chen looked, sharp cutting marks appeared either on the ground or on the wall. The wooden door frame was cut into several sections, and even the lanterns hanging at the beam fell.
The entire corridor was covered with horrible cut marks as if someone had carelessly brandished a sword along the way.
"What's that sound? What—"
Two more attendants emerged from the kitchen, and one of them was sliced in half before he could finish his sentence.
Blood gushed from his lower abdomen and painted the battered corridor red.
"A W-Wicked!" The remaining attendant was terrified. He crawled backwards and tried to escape.
One of Madam Chen's maids went after the attendant. Her movements were silent, but she arrived in front of that man in the blink of an eye.
She put her hand on his head and pulled. The man's body was separated from his body like a clay doll's head was being pulled out.
The headless body fell to the ground with a thud.
The bloody commotion attracted more attention in the residence, and more people were coming from other places.
…
Five players gathered under the huge banyan tree in the center of Guyue Village, looking all nervous and helpless.
When they saw the person that they were waiting for coming from afar, the nervousness on their faces was replaced by delight. They ran up to the person.
"Brother Night! Finally, you are here! It's almost 7:00 a.m.! Niu Niu said the mission will be closed when it gets dark!"
Fang Yue wished he could have arrived earlier, but his body had prevented him from doing so. Of course, he could not just tell Shi Wuliao and the others what happened.
"Don't worry. Being nervous won't get things done."
Shi Wuliao was not in the mood for a lecture. He transferred Fang Yue the money and then took out the 50 maces that he had gathered from the others.
"Brother Night, this is what we earned from the NPC today. It's not much—only 50 maces—please take it."
Fang Yue had yet to receive the in-game currency, so this was a first for him.
He accepted the 50 maces from Shi Wuliao. After a closer look, the in-game currency was just some copper tokens and there was nothing special about it.
He weighed them with his hand and found that they felt a little heavy.
'Wait, I think it's because my body is still weak…'
As he sized up the maces, he got a notification from his virtual account.
[You have received a transfer of 5,000 yuan to your account No. 5203!]
An easy 5,000 yuan profit! Fang Yue was delighted.
"Let's go get us some missions!"
"Yeah!"
The party was delighted. With a professional gamer in the team, they felt calmer and more confident.
The party then arrived at the guard's post, and surprisingly, Fang Yue saw someone familiar inside.
"Captain Lin? What are you doing here?"
Lin Ling was as shocked as Fang Yue, maybe even more.
"That's my question to you. What are you doing here at the village guard post?"
Shi Wuliao, Niu Niu, and the others were happy at first since Fang Yue knew the captain. They thought they would get a little extra, but after listening to the captain's reaction, they realized that something was not right.
Lin Ling's attitude towards Fang Yue made them shut their mouths.
Fang Yue said, "Uh…I'm here to accept the night patrol mission?"
"Huh?" Lin Ling raised his voice. "Lord Han went to the neighboring village to get you medicine, and you are risking your life here by accepting the night patrol mission?!"
'What? Lord Han went to get medicine for me?' Fang Yue was delighted by the surprise, and he was moved by Lord Han's action.
Lord Han was really kind to him. Even after he was crippled, Lord Han did not give up on him.
On second thought, Fang Yue noticed something strange because Lord Han seemed to be overly kind to a stranger.
However, Fang Yue could not think of an explanation for the situation. He had no idea why Lord Han would be so kind to him.
'Could Lord Han want me to be his heir? Is this a cake from the sky?'
"I'll make myself clear. I don't mind you getting yourself killed. If you insist on patrolling, I won't stop you—I'll help you, in fact. I've done my part and tried to talk you out of it. Going on the night patrol is suicidal."
Despite Lin Ling grumbling, it was just an act. He happily helped Fang Yue with the necessary procedures to apply for the patrol mission.
[Congratulations on accepting a daily mission: Guyue Village Night Patrol]
[Mission: Guyue Village Night Patrol]
[Level: Village Medium-tier]
[Duration: 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.]
[Number of participants: 6]
[Rewards: Unknown]
Despite the system labeling the Rewards as Unknown, it did not mean that Fang Yue and his party could not find out about the rewards beforehand.
"Captain Lin, what would we get after the patrol?" Fang Yue asked.
"What will you guys get? The lifespan of course!"
Lin Ling then gave Fang Yue and Niu Niu something.
"This is a Bronze Life Token. There's 6 hours' worth of Lifespan inside, meaning that the village patrol is subsidizing your Lifespan during the patrol. When you finish the night patrol, we will add 12 more hours of Lifespan into the token as a reward. If you encounter a Wicked and assist in killing it, you will earn extra Lifespan."
Fang Yue and Niu Niu looked at each other in delight.
12 hours might be a little, but they had a chance of running into a Wicked during the patrol. If they worked hard, they could earn more!
Shi Wuliao and the others were jealous. They looked at Lin Ling and hoped that the captain would give them the token, but Lin Ling turned a blind eye to them.
"Wicked Testing Talisman: there's only one a month, so try not to waste it. This is the Human Soul Fire Torch. It can be only lightened up by Human Soul Fire. You can't use it inside the village, but if you encounter a Wicked, light up the torch and it might increase the chances of you walking away alive."
After explaining the function of the token and the torch, Lin Ling went back to his own business.
Shi Wuliao got nervous. "Erm, Captain Lin? What about our gears?"
"You?" Lin Ling looked askance at Shi Wuliao, his gaze full of disdain.
"If you are not with the village guards, you can only join the mission under the guidance of a village guard. You are not allowed to use the gears provided by the village guards during the mission, but you can still receive a reward after completing the mission."
Even though Lin Ling sounded annoyed, Shi Wuliao got excited when the captain mentioned the reward. "Will we get Lifespan as a reward?"
"You guys will get 6 hours of Lifespan, but we'll talk about that if you guys can come back alive."
Lin Ling tightened his lips as he looked down on the ragtag team.