"Are you sure about that," Ran Wei crossed her arms and asked doubtfully.
Lin Zhuyue snapped back. "Am I sure? I'm not some senile old fog unlike you. There aren't many that give off the same vibe as that wizard, especially not so close to each other. I am one hundred percent sure."
"That's interesting," Mei Xue mumbled. "I suppose we can believe the story told by that apothecary for now, given all these clues that have been delivered. You did a good job, Yyinyi."
"Thanks!"
Li Yinyi took the picture and planned to place it in her pocket later. This was not considered stealing. After all, since it's been here for this long, that meant no one wanted it in the first place. She wondered if more stuff had been hidden away in this place and started digging through the trash once more.
Suddenly—or not so suddenly—she heard the door behind her creak, causing her to jump. She turned around with a nervous expression and saw the witch, dressed in a black dress that emphasized her figure and a mask that hid everything but one red eye. Li Yinyi tilted her head. "Dejavu?"
The witch moved towards her, and Li Yinyi stepped a few steps back and closed her eyes, though the all-familiar blinding heat did not appear. Instead, the woman squatted in front of her, glancing at the image she was holding.
Li Yinyi realizing she had not died felt emboldened and with great spirit, tried asking the witch, "Uhm, do you know the wizard?"
The masked woman lifted her head, looking Li Yinyi straight into her eyes. Though no one could tell behind the mask, she opened her mouth, and to the girls' surprise, spoke. ". . .So they call this idiot the wizard now?"
Li Yinyis's mouth widened enough for an egg to fit cleanly inside. She clutched the image, unsure of what to say. The witch talked! She really talked! So she understood human speech after all. Though her voice was incredibly grating to the ear, as if she had inhaled a ball of fire, these sounds coming out her throat were undoubtedly words.
"Yes. I know him," she continued talking, not minding the girls' astonishment. "He's my brother."
...
As Li Yinyi returned with a gleeful face, she saw the complicated reactions of the other customers.
"You really don't fear death," Zhang Yong could not help comment.
Li Yinyi tilted her head. "Why should I?"
"That's a good question, a good question indeed." he coughed twice, dispelling any arbitrary feelings. Still, he continued mumbling, his words only heard by himself.
"I am glad you managed to return safely," Li Yangyi spoke in a worried tone. He hugged his sister emotionally, making the latter feel repulsive.
"That's certainly a unique way to clear the instance. I don't think anyone can copy that even if you wanted." Mei Xue sighed, twirling her hair, one hand on her hip. Though she wasn't doing anything particular, her actions felt incredibly seductive. "But I suppose it has its merits. We have found out a lot more than I ever thought would be possible. Also, take a look at this." She pointed at the core that Li Yinyi had just used.
The girl did not quite get where Mei Xue was trying to say, but as she saw the numbers in front of her, her eyes lit up. "Yay, I reached 50%!"
As soon as her voice fell, everyone clamored to see the core. They almost shoved each other, just to see the truth with their very own eyes, and they were stunned by what they saw. Zhang Yong even pinched himself.
". . .It's true."
"That is incredible. Is she trying to set a world record?"
"I can't believe the first person to reach the halfway mark would be the young mistress from the Li family."
"—holy shit!"
. . .The last one was a little different from the other exclamations. The reason for that was because it came from Shou himself. If he didn't appear often enough, he simply fazed away, becoming one with the bystanders, as such no one had even noticed it was him. The reason for his outcry was not simply because of Li Yinyi speedrunning his shop, but because of the message that appeared in front of him.
[Hidden Mission Completed]
[Task: Have the first customer that reaches 50% of the instance 'Deadly Witch Hunt'.]
"Why are you reacting this way, this isn't the first time for you to see this, right?" Si was the only one who paid attention to him, ironically.
Shou propped himself up. He had slid off the chair he was sitting on. "Yes, but I've never completed a quest that I did not even know I had. Is that even fair?"
"Hey, don't you think it's quite nice for me to give you stuff like hidden missions? They don't have any time limit and can be completed through random actions. It's literally free money," Si humphed. "Also, the problem is that I was unsure on what reward to offer."
"How come? You can just give me anything, you know? I am not particularly fussy."
"Well [scratches cheek] . . . That's because the reward isn't for you."
At the same time, the mechanical voice that he had not heard for a long time reappeared. "Sending out completion reward. Asking host to prepare."
Shou, finally met with something he was used to, stretched his hands out in anticipation. Promptly, a book appeared for him. "Oh, this is rather unexpected." He glanced at the cover page, and read it out loud. Actually, he did not need to read it at all, as the system opened a window and kindly explained what this thing was about.
[Wondrous Life of Flowers (world grade)
Cultvuation Technique. Body Modification type.
Created by an ancient wizard to withstand his crazy experiments, this technique allows every part of the user to become an endless expanse of flowers, replacing traditional vital parts a humanoid creature may possess. Those who master this technique will no longer have any fatal spots, cannot be critically wounded, and are able to survive up to a clean beheading.]
"...This, well, I suppose this really isn't for me, huh?" Shou smiled wryly. From all the things that existed in this world, the cultivation that helped him survive longer was the most useless stuff.
"It's for Li Yinyi." Si sighed. "The reward has been specially curated for that naive little girl. Hopefully, she can manage to die less with that."
"You sound a lot younger than her though." He stashed the book away. "Anyways, this is so far apart from what they know of, I fear they may just think that this is some lunatics idle fantasy, or even worse, the devils' work." A supernatural technique like this, even if true, would IT not become the most dangerous and coveted thing within this Wuxia-style world?
Si giggled. "But don't you think that girl would somehow manage no matter what?"
"You're trying to act cool again." Shou rubbed his head. "But fine. I agree with you for once." He groaned then approached the lady in question. Li Yinyi did not understand the gravity of his actions yet. The immortal youth approached her and gave the girl a light tap on the shoulder.
"Ah, Shou, is there anything I can help you with?" Li Yinyi turned around and bowed. Her reaction gathered the other customers who had yet to leave.
Shou laughed while clapping his hands. "I just wanted to congratulate you on achieving a milestone, as the first person to have completed half of the world."
"Thank you," Li Yinyi shouted and smiled wholeheartedly. She held her hands as fish and shook them up and down with glittering eyes, happy by the praise. Though the comparison may be rude, it reminded Shou of a well-fed cat.
"Don't thank me just yet, I actually have something for you," Shou replied and rummaged within his robe.
At once, the other customers had their curiosity reach its peak. A present from Shou, the owner of this enigmatic Store of Fates? The gravity of such a situation needed no explaining. Now, even those only lightly interested started murmuring, while also standing on the tippy toes, trying to see even a little bit better.
"What? That miser is offering free samples? I really must be dreaming," someone said.
"Li Yangyi," Shou knitted his brows. "there aren't enough people here to openly talk shit. I can literally see you."
Zhang Yong rubbed his chin, thinking. "He wouldn't just give some cookies and call it a day right? It should be something useful."
"I don't know about that. Don't get your hopes up, after all, this place operates by rules. Everything is lined out, so I don't think it will be anything worth mentioning," An Bai spoke thoughtfully.
"You bastards have no trust," Shou said, the edges of his mouth stiff. "Good thing I prepared this, otherwise, who knows if you guys would have thought the rewards were just a joke." He took out the book. "Here, take it."
"What is it?"
"A cultivation manual."
"Oh I see, thank you!"
[Hidden Mission Completed]
[Task: Have Li Yinyi accept her present.]
[Reward: From now on, the customers who have entered an instance are able to summon their status page.]