LWGP - Chapter 115
Chapter 115: Pan Jinlian
Th-th-this… this sudden disappearing act was like magic. A rat was a rat, after all. Even if it had evolved, its knowledge base hadn't expanded. It couldn't figure it out, but the lizard rat let out a shriek, and a black shadow immediately flashed to the cave entrance.
The scout rat sub-boss had arrived. The moment it reached the entrance, it too let out a shriek and then turned tail and fled!
The lizard rat was initially furious, wondering why this lackey was running, but after hearing the latter's shriek, it understood—it had seen the invisible human!
Wang Jiu didn't actually understand the rat language, but she knew the scout sub-boss she had just brushed past had shrieked and was now chasing her from behind.
She couldn't help but ask the System, "Can this rat see through the invisibility cloak? Its attributes didn't mention it. Is the Demon's Eye a bit weak, or is the invisibility cloak you gave me a bit weak?"
System: "Shifting all the blame onto others?"
Wang Jiu: "You're not others. You're the Dog System. Who else would I blame?"
System: "…"
Damn you!
While cursing the System, Wang Jiu's main focus was on observing the scout sub-boss behind her. This damn thing could see through the invisibility cloak, which probably meant the cloak was a bit low-level and couldn't withstand its perceptive talent.
If she let it keep following her…
Wang Jiu contacted Xie Lu to ask about his situation, then, timing it perfectly, she used Shadow Step to flash back. She landed right at a fork in the path she had just passed. The large-eared scout sub-boss had just passed this spot, and it came face-to-face with the invisible Wang Jiu.
Before it could even shriek, bam! Wang Jiu instantly killed it with a Flowing Light and a Heavy Strike.
Although she had cut off the enemy's reconnaissance trail, she had also shortened the distance. Wang Jiu could feel the lizard rat approaching with twenty mini-bosses.
But she wasn't afraid of these bosses; she was afraid of the rat tide that was about to blockade the entire area.
They were about to emerge from the forks to the left and right.
Wang Jiu didn't even bother to loot the corpse of the scout rat sub-boss she had killed. She casually tore off a piece of her sleeve, which carried her scent, threw it onto the main path, and then ran back the way she came.
System: "…"
A confusing move, but a very cunning one.
Just seven or eight seconds later, the lizard rat arrived with its twenty sub-bosses at the spot where the scout had been killed. It swallowed the corpse in one gulp, its eerie green eyes darting between the path ahead and the small fork to the side. "Cunning human, trying to confuse me! This way!"
It plunged into the small side fork, leading the twenty sub-bosses away. But it also let out a piercing shriek, commanding the rat tide to seal off the routes.
At this moment, Xie Lu, who had already swept up all the pebbles, also sensed the split in the rat tide ahead.
A portion of them had their aggro drawn by the suspected puppet prey, while another portion was chasing him out after he had directly swept away all the pebbles upon entering.
Right now, two-thirds of the rats were being led away by the puppet, but they were about to be ordered by the lizard rat to block the exit of the "forked path."
The remaining one-third was behind Xie Lu, still a massive number. Xie Lu carefully maintained his distance, but he didn't dare pull too far away.
The two reported their positions to each other in the private party chat, using the young rat leader they had both branded—the one that had previously attacked the novice village—as a coordinate for measurement.
"I'm almost at the fork."
"I'm about eighteen seconds from your position."
"Okay, I'll hang back a bit. How are you handling the puppet in front of you?"
"Let's use another puppet to make them collide."
"I have one. I'll wait for you at the fork."
"Mm."
Anyone listening to their conversation would surely not understand what they meant. It was concise; one had to keep up with the other's rhythm, understand their tactics, and have complete trust in their abilities to get it.
And then… execute it!
As the seconds ticked by, Xie Lu was in extreme danger. There was a huge swarm of rats in front of him, effectively trapping him in the middle. If the puppet or Wang Jiu failed to hold the bosses' aggro and the rats turned back, he would be cornered and eaten alive.
At the ten-second mark, Xie Lu sensed movement in the open area at the upcoming fork.
At this time, in the open space before the left and right forks, the puppet arrived with the rats trailing behind it. It took a turn and darted into the right fork. A head-on collision with Wang Jiu?
Wasn't this suicide?
The rats were confused, but they had just received the lizard rat's command, which seemed to overlap with this damned human's escape route. Perfect!
The rat swarm gave chase.
From a bird's-eye view of the layout, one would see two main tunnels branching off. On one main line, there were no rats in front of Xie Lu, but a swarm followed behind him. On the other side, Wang Jiu was about to encounter the puppet and the pursuing rat swarm on her main path, but there were no rats behind her. Instead, a group of rat bosses was madly chasing down a side path… and the puppet never met Wang Jiu face-to-face because it veered to the side, leading a massive swarm of rats into a different branch.
Just as they rushed in, a strong, fresh stench and a scorching heat lingered in the tunnel—the body heat from the rats. Wang Jiu arrived, passed through the main tunnel, and reached the left and right forks at around the seventeen-second mark.
Xie Lu was already there. The two met without a word. Xie Lu directly threw out a mid-level puppet he had crafted on the way, one that looked just like him.
The two of them fled, while the puppet waited for a moment. When the rat swarm from behind arrived, it led them charging deeper inside…
Four seconds later, the group of bosses and the large wave of rats in the side path devoured Wang Jiu's puppet. The destroyed puppet exploded!
The lizard rat was shocked. Realizing it had been tricked, it shrieked in fury. A thick, bloody light emanated from its body, and the entire rat swarm went berserk!
Chase them!
They quickly accelerated along the main path, charging out, and then crashed into Xie Lu's puppet, which was charging in.
The lizard rat grew excited, pouncing forward to tear it apart, and then… it exploded again!
Lizard Rat: "???"
Before it could even react, a rolling stench washed over it from the front.
They collided head-on!
Tens of thousands of rats crammed together, colliding on a single path.
Shrieking, biting, crushing.
The lizard rat, squeezed up against the ceiling, writhed in absolute fury!
This frenzied aura swept through the entire sewer tunnel. A strange roar seemed to mix in from its deepest recesses, but because the sound was distant and faint, it was quickly drowned out, as if it had never been there at all.
Wang Jiu and Xie Lu emerged from the sewer entrance into the cool night air. They didn't relax. They left behind a few more items carrying their scent, using two or three small puppets to lead them in different directions. Then, they burst away from the dry riverbed at their top speed before finally activating their return-to-city function.
At the territory's teleportation point, two faint white lights glowed, and soon the two of them appeared. Before they could speak, just as they stepped out of the teleportation point, they both keenly sensed a gaze. They turned in unison to look. Six eyes met, and the atmosphere became a little strange.
After a moment.
Wang Jiu: "It's so late. Why aren't you asleep? What are you doing?"
Wang Shu: "Taking a piss, Master."
Wang Jiu: "Protect your tool."
Wang Shu: "Okay, Master. What are you going to do now?"
Wang Jiu: "Tired. Taking a shower."
Wang Shu: "…"
Then Wang Jiu, with a calm expression, returned to her homestead. Wang Shu carefully watched her retreating back, then glared angrily at Xie Lu, as if looking at a scumbag.
Xie Lu didn't get it at first, but he soon understood. He looked at his own torn clothes, then at Wang Jiu's disheveled appearance.
Late at night, in the dead silence.
Xie Lu was stunned for a moment, his expression strange and awkward. As he walked past, he said faintly to Wang Shu, "It's not what you think."
Wang Shu: "Huh? I wasn't thinking anything. What's there to think about? My master can do whatever she wants. It's nothing to worry about."
Do whatever she wants?
Do what…
Do…?
Xie Lu, who was rapidly transforming from a pure and innocent poplar tree, got the deeper meaning. He sullenly watched Fatty Wang hitch up his pants and walk back to his house from the garden field.
Back in her house, Wang Jiu received a trade request from Xie Lu. She confirmed it and saw that he had traded her seventy thousand pebbles.
That many? The most she had seen before was twenty thousand.
It would be a waste not to take them.
The last rat tide had yielded five thousand pebbles, which she had refined into 50 wisps of spirit energy, for a total of 50 spirit energy points.
It seemed like a small amount, but Wang Jiu was meticulous when it came to benefits. Besides, she could sense that these pebbles were of a higher grade than the last batch. The rats had likely consumed the outer layer of ore first; the deeper they dug, the higher and purer the concentration of spirit energy.
So even if it looked like just over ten thousand, she had wanted to grab them.
But she hadn't expected there to be so many.
After confirming, Wang Jiu sent him a question mark.
Xie Lu: "There was a pit underneath filled with these spirit energy pebbles. A total of 140,000. Half for each of us."
Only then did Wang Jiu understand. The System had prompted her about whether to absorb the spirit energy from these pebbles and the Mutated Dark Crystal. She had refused the latter but absorbed the former.
1100 wisps of spirit energy, increasing her permanent spirit energy by 1100.
Not bad, not bad at all.
Worth the risk.
Xie Lu was probably in a good mood too. Wang Jiu could see his attributes; his average stats were around 1300, with 1400 spirit power. Now, it had suddenly jumped to 2500. Such a huge increase in strength was naturally something to be happy about.
"Thank you."
Wang Jiu: "Give me another half of the pebbles?"
Xie Lu didn't take the bait and changed the subject. "What's your plan for dealing with those rat swarms? Should we take the opportunity to wipe them out? I don't think the ore underneath has been fully mined. They'll keep evolving."
The reproductive speed of the rats was terrifying. The longer it went on, the less safe 443 and Wang Jiu's territory would be.
But Wang Jiu wasn't in a hurry. "Let's wait a bit. I'm going to take a shower first."
Xie Lu could hear the faint sound of running water in her voice, and his face immediately turned red. "Sorry. If you need anything, you can call me. Good night."
Wang Jiu: "Mm, I don't need help with my shower for now."
Having misspoken, Xie Lu helplessly played dead.
Wang Jiu cut the call. After her shower, she returned to her room, drying her hair, and opened the party inventory to look at the Mutated Dark Crystal.
She didn't take it out, afraid that its aura might leak and attract the rats, which would be bad.
Wang Jiu's spirit energy had now jumped to 5600, and her spirit power recovery rate was formidable. Otherwise, even with the increased cap from her permanent spirit energy, her spirit power would always be in an unsaturated state if her recovery rate couldn't keep up.
"If I absorb this thing, how much spirit energy can I get?"
System: "Nine thousand nine hundred."
Wang Jiu paused in drying her hair. That much!?
System: "Do you want to exchange it?"
Wang Jiu narrowed her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "No, not now. We'll see later."
The System didn't insist. "Don't forget one thing. Your manor hasn't been upgraded yet."
If it hadn't mentioned it, Wang Jiu would have truly forgotten. She had been too busy lately, with one thing after another. In the midst of it all, her permanent spirit energy had been constantly consumed, and she had almost run out once.
It had only been two or three days.
Wang Jiu upgraded it from level 1 to level 3 in one go.
The upgrade requirement for level 3 was exactly 5000 permanent spirit energy.
After the level 3 upgrade, Wang Jiu noticed that the three-dimensional luminosity had intensified. The defense and recovery speed had been strengthened many times over, and two new functions had been added to the homestead settings.
An employment function and an auxiliary renovation function.
Who to employ?
System: "Manor sprites. They can help you harvest and plant crops, look after your home. Some with high attributes can even boost growth speed. Open the function, and you'll see the employment page below."
Wang Jiu opened it and saw many sprites for hire.
They were densely packed, each with its own price.
To be honest, the prices weren't low, and every single one of them looked exceptionally cute and adorable.
Wang Jiu had never been interested in such things. She opened the auxiliary renovation function and casually told the System to randomly pick the cheapest one.
As she was reading the description in the renovation function, she suddenly saw one hundred spirit energy deducted, and a woman appeared before her.
Her face was like a peach blossom, charming and alluring.
Above her head hung a title, the kind only NPCs had.
Wang Jiu sat on her bed, stunned for three seconds, then asked the System, "Did you do that on purpose?"
System: "Of course not."
Wang Jiu: "Your family's vegetable-planting sprite is Pan Jinlian?"
System: "It's your family, not mine."
Oh, that logic checked out.
However, this Pan Jinlian vegetable-planting sprite knew who her master was. She curtsied gracefully, then spoke, "Hey sis, where's this humble servant supposed to crash for the night?"
Her voice was rough and coarse, with a northeastern accent.
Wang Jiu: "…"
This Dog System!
The next day, the moment Qiao Xuejing woke up, she received a pile of private messages.
Some were from people in 443 Novice Village expressing admiration or respect, while others were asking for advice. She scanned through them, only paying attention to two. One was from the small group chat Wang Shu had created.
He was blabbing about the gossip he'd witnessed when he got up to pee last night.
The other was from Wang Jiu.
Telling her to come find her.
Qiao Xuejing immediately washed her face. Without waking the soundly sleeping Dao Dao, she went to Wang Jiu's homestead on her own. The moment she stepped inside…
"Wow, what a pretty little lady. Are you married?"
Qiao Xuejing was stunned for a moment, especially when she saw the glaring NPC name above the person's head.
Pan… Pan Jinlian?
Wasn't it just Xie Lu last night?
"Um, no." Qiao Xuejing smiled elegantly and politely, then looked at Wang Jiu, who was coming out after washing her face. The latter told Pan Jinlian to make breakfast for her, treating her completely like a servant.
She then mentioned the homestead's functions to Qiao Xuejing.
"This employment is one of them?"
"Yeah. When you upgrade yours, get me a Wu Dalang or a Ximen Qing. We can have an open marriage alliance."
Qiao Xuejing: "…"
That won't be necessary.
"Renovation? Do you need my help?" Qiao Xuejing offered proactively. Wang Jiu gave her a deep look. "I like your initiative."
Qiao Xuejing smiled calmly. "It's my duty to serve the captain."
"Have you ever managed urban planning and construction projects before?"
Qiao Xuejing got the hint again. "Yes. Am I in charge of the territory's?"
"You'll get a salary. I've set it up. Please accept."
In the blink of an eye, Qiao Xuejing became a high-level leader of the territory, with the authority to issue construction tasks. The two chatted about their plans for a while before Wang Shu came in, ready to make breakfast for Wang Jiu, only to see someone already making flatbread.
Before he could get a clear look at the person, the woman making the flatbread rushed over to him.
"Dalang, come and get your flatbread."
Wang Shu: "…"
Early in the morning, during breakfast, Wang Shu and the others asked about the day's dungeon plans.
They had actually been worried about this since yesterday. There were very few dungeon vortexes now, and organizations like Nevernight were domineering, with large numbers, so they had likely occupied many of the dungeon resources.
Most importantly, the easy and normal difficulties had mostly been cleared. There might be dangerous and nightmare difficulties left, but the competition would surely be fierce.
The best rewards would definitely come from dungeons that hadn't been cleared yet.
The nightmare difficulties of the two remaining dungeons on Huize Mountain probably hadn't been beaten yet. This was the closest resource to them.
"Without a continuous run, we're behind on information. Nightmare is hard to clear, and with competition, it's troublesome."
Wang Jiu's ability to handle the island nightmare dungeon was 30% due to her having cleared all the preceding difficulties.
Taking risks occasionally was fine, but not every day.
Wang Jiu was a person of extremes. She could be extremely adventurous, but she could also be extremely cautious.
"Right, and most importantly, we might not have enough people." Qiao Xuejing had also noticed the gaps in their team, which was why she could tell Wang Jiu had her eye on Mei Qingshu, and possibly even Xie Lu.
If those two joined the team, tackling nightmare dungeons would be much more stable.
There wasn't much discussion. Wang Jiu made the decision directly—they would split up. She would go look around nearby, while the others would go to Huize Mountain to see if they could handle a dangerous-level dungeon.
This was because Wang Jiu could see that Qiao Xuejing and Wang Shu's strength had now reached the standard level for clearing dangerous-level dungeons.
In fact, after she made this decision, Wang Shu and Qiao Xuejing weren't surprised at all, as they had already had such a plan in mind privately.
After all, they couldn't stick to Wang Jiu forever.
The skill gap was too large.
That was why Qiao Xuejing had proactively taken on the renovation and construction work—after all, Wang Jiu wasn't short of people. She just had to ask.
As a person, you had to make yourself valuable for others to need you.
The two groups went their separate ways, but before leaving, they all left their important resources in their homesteads.
One group headed towards Huize Mountain, the other towards the river area.
Wang Jiu had been thinking about the golden BOSS that was one-shotted by the alien during the Eternal Night. She didn't know if the corpse was still there, but the place where it fell should be in the water region.
Along the way, the level of wild monsters kept increasing, from a few levels to over ten, then to twenty. By the time Wang Jiu reached the South Luo River area, the wild monsters by the river were basically level 20-plus, or even level 30.
Among them, a herd of Golden-Tailed Green Oxen grazing by the river made Wang Jiu hesitant to provoke them.
Level 30, and their numbers were formidable, over a thousand. They were densely gathered by the river. If they all charged over, it would cause a huge commotion. Most importantly, in their core area, there was a level 30 silver-grade Green Ox BOSS.
It was on the bank, sometimes submerging itself in the water.
Observing this scene, Wang Jiu frowned slightly.
"This big water buffalo is diving up and down. It couldn't also be looking for that golden BOSS's corpse, could it?"
She could fight it, but dealing with the herd would be troublesome.
She could avoid them… As Wang Jiu was surveying the river section for traces to pinpoint the golden BOSS's crash site, she suddenly sensed someone watching her.
With a flash in her eyes, Wang Jiu silently slipped into the dense forest nearby.
After she entered the forest, a small silver light also shot in, continuously tracking the scent Wang Jiu left behind as it entered the deep, dark woods.
Where did she go? The small, pink, and delicate nose twitched upwards. In its confusion, a burst of spirit power suddenly erupted.
Swoosh!
It instantly vanished from its spot. A deep pit appeared where it had just been. Wang Jiu, who had come down from a tree, watched the silver light disappear into the forest and frowned slightly.
"The little fox from Huize Mountain? How did this little cub level up so fast?"
The little white fox BOSS was already level 20. Its attributes had crazily increased to an average of 1500, and its skills seemed very strong. Was that teleportation just now?
It seemed to have followed her here.
Its progress was too fast. It would become a major threat in the future.
A ruthless glint flashed in Wang Jiu's eyes. Just as she was about to chase into the forest to kill the little fox, she suddenly received a private message from Lin Fengmian.
"Lord, Nevernight's main territory just increased its spirit energy by 4200 all at once, but I haven't seen many people come over yet."
Lin Fengmian's tone was very cautious. The sudden increase of 4200 spirit energy had shocked him. Not seeing a large transfer of people meant it was likely a single person, or they had just joined and hadn't arrived yet.
"I understand. Stay hidden."
So fast.
Wang Jiu was a bit surprised, but she was decisive. She immediately activated a return-to-city scroll and went back to her territory.
If her estimation was correct, Bian Moshu was about to make his move.
After returning, Wang Jiu immediately went back to her homestead and sent out several private messages.
Then she waited for about twenty minutes.
Suddenly, a message came from Mei Qinghe—Lao Wang, help! My sister and I were kicked out of the territory and ambushed at the gate!
Wang Jiu glanced at it, raised an eyebrow, and sent a reply.
Wang Jiu: "?"
But there was no response.
Mei Qinghe never replied.
Wang Jiu was thoughtful. Was he being controlled?
It was probably an item that blocked social functions, or he had been killed directly. Hmm, completely killed?
She soon saw snippets of information leaking from the Luoyang area, and Lin Fengmian also sent a confirmation.
"Mei Qingshu was dealt with by Bian Moshu on the grounds of treason. She and her brother were attacked. Bian Moshu is fighting Mei Qingshu alone. She has already revived on the spot three times."
Why on the spot?
Because when you join a territory, your respawn point is transferred to the territory's return point. If you're kicked out of the territory, you lose the opportunity to respawn there?
Some might think it would be better to choose the novice village's respawn point in that case, but if a rat tide occurred, the novice village respawn point would be dangerous. A territory at least had a layer of defense.
So basically everyone would choose to respawn in their territory. But once a respawn point was lost, you could enter the range of another respawn point and choose to bind to it.
However, the location where Mei Qingshu and her brother were ambushed was definitely set outside this range. Bian Moshu had calculated it perfectly, preventing her from respawning at any respawn point.
But there was another problem—after she died, couldn't she just lie there and not get up? Why did she have to get up?
Did Bian Moshu also have an item like the Revenant Aura? Or… he had a hold on her weakness, threatening her to force her to revive on the spot.
After Wang Jiu made these judgments, the others all returned.
It was Wang Shu and the others, Liao Luo, Jiang Kaikai, as well as Zhao Shanxiao and his men. Lin Fengmian had also messaged a few of his brothers to bring many capable people, including the likes of Chu Xiangsui and He Rufei.
A total of 300 people.
Everyone was waiting for Wang Jiu's command.
However, their moods were a bit strange, and their expressions were slightly awkward.
Because more than half of the people present had been beaten or even tortured by Wang Jiu.
But strangely…
Wang Shu grumbled in the small group chat: "My master is really loved by everyone. Even after all that, these people are still unwilling to leave the territory."
Qiao Xuejing smiled faintly and only said, "In the world of adults, survival and benefits are the top priorities."
However, they also vaguely sensed that something must have happened, otherwise Wang Jiu wouldn't have gathered such a large force.
But she didn't seem particularly solemn or nervous. She was telling Pan Jinlian to remember to prepare dinner.
"Okay, big sis. I'll definitely make lots and lots of flatbread."
As she spoke, her gentle gaze swept over the many men present.
Everyone: "…"
Clearing his throat, Zhao Shanxiao asked what she wanted them to do next.
Run a dungeon?
Could it be another nightmare?
Having run the pirate dungeon with Wang Jiu once, Zhao Shanxiao had gained a lot of clearing experience. The difficulty of a cleared dungeon would be reduced, but it was still hard. He had finally managed to clear the dangerous level with some people and some elites he had contacted. The rewards were plentiful, and his attributes had improved. This gave him a taste of success, and he became much more willing to be attached to Wang Jiu. Now, seeing Wang Jiu's large formation, he became a little excited.
"Nothing much. Just a territory war." Wang Jiu said faintly. Before this, she had already opened the territory page, filtered through the nearby territories selected by the system, and directly chose Nevernight's territory, selecting a unilateral attack.
This type of attack could not be refused, but if it failed, the attacking party would face penalties and great losses. First, they would automatically pay a fine of 500 gold, and second, their own territory's defense would be reduced by 30%.
But if it was a mutually agreed-upon territory war, the two penalties above would not apply. The proposing party would only have to be wary of a counterattack, and there was a 50 gold war processing fee.
Wang Jiu had long since figured out this information. She clicked, selected, and initiated, and the attack mode was successful.
Everyone in the territory received a notification. Zhao Shanxiao and the others were first shocked, then a little uneasy.
Who were they fighting?
Nevernight?
The Nevernight that was said to be the fastest-growing and strongest within the 400-500 village range?
With just the 300 of them? Was this a joke?
While they were in disbelief, Liao Luo was as bloodthirsty as a wolf. "Are we leaving now? Which way do we go?"
Wang Jiu glanced at his super red name and his wildly soaring attributes, then took out a group teleportation scroll.
She said faintly, "We'll fly directly."
Then, in the next second, everyone was enveloped in the light of teleportation.
Teleportation initiated!
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