Cold, trembling...
In the darkness, Li Muyang was momentarily stunned but quickly regained consciousness.
Where am I now?
The moment he opened his eyes, Li Muyang realized his surroundings had changed.
He was no longer in the thatched hut of the Refinement Demon Sect's outer gate but was sitting in a slowly moving carriage on a mountain path.
The coachman, wearing a bamboo hat and humming a northwest-interior-style folk song, was driving the horses that pulled the wagon.
This was a vegetable delivery wagon, its completely open bed was loaded with vegetables and fruits, and there were also several large wine jars.
At this time, Li Muyang was sitting among these vegetables, his body moving up and down with the swaying of the carriage.
Have I traveled through time again?
Or is this... inside a game?
Li Muyang looked down at his hands and realized that his clothing had also changed.
He was now dressed in a dark black constable's uniform, with a long saber slung at his waist, a complete constable's outfit.
In the upper right corner of his field of vision was a conspicuous task bar.
[Please proceed to Horse Post Pavilion outside Loushan City and meet with Glass Immortal Maiden.]
Alright, it really is inside a game.
The realism of this game is quite high, huh.
Li Muyang curiously looked around, feeling the dry warm wind of the dusk among the mountains and gazing at the bare surrounding hills.
Soon, the coachman drove the carriage up a pass and turned back to Li Muyang.
"Constable, the Horse Post Pavilion is just ahead," said the coachman, his dark-skinned face wearing an enthusiastic smile, reminding Li Muyang.
Li Muyang then looked forward and sure enough, there was a two-story wooden building on the side of the mountain road ahead, likely an inn for resting; the stable outside had four horses and three wagons were parked.
It looked somewhat desolate.
Li Muyang got off the carriage, with his saber slung at his waist, and walked toward the inn.
The task bar said to meet Glass Immortal Maiden here, but where was she?
Li Muyang walked up the wooden steps, pushed open the inn's large doors and stepped inside.
However, the eerily empty inn was deathly silent, devoid of any people.
Instead, a faint scent of blood faintly wafted through the air.
Li Muyang, who had been herding sheep for half a month, was all too familiar with this stench.
He immediately stopped at the doorway, his right hand on his saber, his eyes warily scanning the empty inn, trying to find the source of the bloody scent. Suddenly, a blood-red dialogue box popped up in his vision.
[Glass Immortal Maiden has died, quest failed.]
"Huh?"
The sudden appearance of the dialogue box bewildered Li Muyang.
What's going on? I haven't even found her, and Glass Immortal Maiden is already dead?
Is the blood scent in here from Glass Immortal Maiden? Did she die in this inn?
Li Muyang searched the inn in confusion, trying to find the body of Glass Immortal Maiden.
But in the next second, he was sucked away by a great force, as if falling into a vortex.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in the thatched hut of the Refinement Demon Sect, once again in the stinky miscellaneous service uniform of the Soul Refining Sect.
"Damn! Was this game's failure too arbitrary?"
Li Muyang sat up in bed, somewhat speechless.
Wasn't there supposed to be a tutorial for beginners? How come I just entered and didn't even see Glass Immortal Maiden's face before she died?
Isn't the tutorial supposed to be very simple?
The moment Li Muyang's mind shifted, he once again saw the game interface, still the eerie Loushan City under the moonlight, with ghostly shadows roaming the city streets.
At the center of this scene, there was an option.
"Do you wish to continue the tutorial?"
"Yes/No"
Li Muyang pondered for a moment and clicked confirm.
As a result, the world around him plunged into darkness once again.
When the surrounding darkness faded away like a tide, Li Muyang once again felt that icy, trembling sensation.
He opened his eyes to find himself sitting in the wagon of a carriage, surrounded by baskets of vegetables and fruits.
The coachman, wearing a conical hat, hummed a mountain song in a northwestern dialect that echoed through the mountains.
This start was exactly the same as before, even the mission bar in his field of vision was identical.
"Please head to the Horse Post Pavilion outside of Loushan City and meet with the Glass Immortal Maiden."
But having already experienced one failure, Li Muyang stood up immediately this time.
Without indulging in chit-chat with the coachman, Li Muyang, with his waist knife in tow, jumped directly from the carriage and hurried towards the mountain path ahead.
A surprised shout came from behind him.
"Eh? Constable!"
The coachman was surprised by Li Muyang's sudden leap from the carriage.
But Li Muyang ignored him and sprinted directly up the steep mountain path.
The carriage, swaying and shaking like a rocking toy for children, would arrive too late at the Horse Post Pavilion; the Glass Immortal Maiden would be dead by then.
Li Muyang started running up the steep mountain trail. This body was more cultivated than his, but not by much. Li Muyang, eager to reach the Horse Post Pavilion quickly, activated time stop.
While time was stopped, the whole world lost its color, turning into monochrome black and white.
Li Muyang raced through the black-and-white world, and after four consecutive time stops, he finally climbed over the mountain pass and saw the Horse Post Pavilion by the roadside.
After running the entire way, Li Muyang was slightly out of breath. He stood by the roadside and took a deep breath to stabilize his breathing rhythm before he walked towards the inn with his waist knife.
Instead of activating time stop immediately, he cautiously approached the inn, remaining alert.
From his previous failure, the Glass Immortal Maiden should still be alive at this moment.
Indeed, when Li Muyang pushed open the inn's main door, the lobby he saw was completely different from last time.
It wasn't empty; there were several people scattered around, a manager in a fur cap was counting at the counter, and a smiling waiter came to greet him.
"Mr. Constable, are you stopping for a rest or staying overnight?"
The young waiter smiled brightly, but Li Muyang passed him and looked towards the northwestern corner of the lobby.
A light green dress outlined her exquisite curves, her skin as delicate and white as a freshly peeled egg, free from any freckles or wrinkles. Her face, without any makeup, still gave off the breathtaking essence of a celestial maiden in a painting.
She was sitting there quietly, her gaze indifferent as it swept over, giving a distinct aura of aloofness, signaling strangers to keep their distance.
The Glass Immortal Maiden...
Li Muyang recognized the identity of this celestial maiden in an instant.
Mainly because the huge health bar floating above her head made her strikingly conspicuous among the crowd.
"Glass Immortal Maiden Chu Qingxue"
The fact that the Glass Immortal Maiden had a health bar eliminated the possibility of Li Muyang misrecognizing her, which was convenient.
Li Muyang bypassed the waiter and walked towards the celestial maiden radiating an aura of 'no entry'.
But before Li Muyang could speak, the aloof-faced Glass Immortal Maiden glanced at him coldly.
"Are you the assistant sent by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau?"
Suspicion filled the Glass Immortal Maiden's eyes as she evidently deemed Li Muyang's strength insufficient.
But before Li Muyang could speak, the Glass Immortal Maiden had already indicated a seat, saying, "Sit first."
Despite her disdainful look and cold tone, the Glass Immortal Maiden didn't utter any criticisms against Li Muyang.
Li Muyang thus followed her invitation and sat down, quietly observing his surroundings.
There was definitely some danger lurking in this inn; if he hadn't arrived on time, within the next five minutes, the Glass Immortal Maiden would have been dead.
Now that he had arrived early, would the assassin still attempt to kill the Glass Immortal Maiden?