34: New tasks in the conflict

Xu Shian was ready to make his move, but before doing so, he had to use the Search skill first!

After all, humanoid hostile creatures were hard to find...

He couldn't just go and steal from a Goat, right? What could he even steal?

Could he steal its fur? He wouldn't even be able to get a single strand...

It would be more practical to just catch a sheep and pluck a handful!

Besides, he had already tried it on wild monsters, and now he could only steal from humanoid monsters!

He couldn't steal from beasts, players, or ordinary NPCs!

It just so happened that there was a red name NPC here he could try it on...

The Black Iron Tier Stealth skill made his movements even more elusive.

Even Jia Hu, at level forty, hadn't been able to catch him, let alone Limping Liu at level five.

He approached the target silently and then activated the Search skill.

【 Congratulations, you have obtained: one 'Secret Letter'! 】

Xu Shian was slightly stunned. It actually worked?

Wasn't it said that the success rate of this skill depended on strength, attributes, and luck?

Wait... no, didn't he seem to have the advantage in all three?

In terms of skills, Xu Shian's Stealth was Black Iron Tier!

In terms of attributes, Xu Shian's four attributes were not much worse than Limping Liu's.

In terms of luck... he had a maxed-out luck attribute of 16!

So, wasn't success just a normal outcome?

He continued to follow, arranging for the four tyrants of sheep village to slowly approach, ready to strike at any moment.

Limping Liu likely hadn't noticed Xu Shian's actions; missing a secret letter, he continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.

Encountering a crooked small tree by the side of the road, Limping Liu put away his bow, pulled out his machete, and started chopping the tree...

Let's go again.

Activate skill 【 Search 】!

【 Congratulations, you have obtained: Silver Coin + 7 】

So poor? Let's go again...

Activate skill 【 Search 】

【 Congratulations, you have obtained: 'Mountain Patroller's Short Bow' 】

When he got the bow, Xu Shian was extremely happy. The upper limit of this skill was indeed quite high; it could even steal weapons from the target's inventory...

Was it not equipped, or did he just snatch it directly from his hands?

Come to think of it, was it appropriate to call this stealing when he was snatching a weapon barehanded?

This was practically daylight robbery!

It was indeed daylight robbery.

Limping Liu almost wanted to call the police!

"Guys, does anyone understand? I was patrolling the mountain in the village, chopping trees just fine, and my bow got stolen..."

Limping Liu reacted quickly, turning around and slashing with his blade.

Although his strength wasn't much, he had been a mountain patrolling hunter for so many years, so his reaction speed was still very fast.

Xu Shian, however, fell short. Years of comfortable and affluent living had made his reaction speed half a beat slow.

Even though he retreated the moment he saw the target stop!

He was still struck by Limping Liu's blade, which knocked him out of his Stealth state!

-37

"It's you? What do you want?"

Limping Liu was both shocked and angry. Seeing Xu Shian's red name status, he probably guessed something!

"Wait..."

Xu Shian ignored him, only retreating to put some distance between them.

Limping Liu was about to go crazy. As a hunter, his pet had died and hadn't been resurrected, and his bow had been stolen!

He was having the worst luck imaginable.

Xu Shian didn't care about his reasons.

Strike when they're down!

Although he was retreating, Happy Sheep was charging over with lightning speed.

It headbutted Limping Liu in the stomach.

-69, Stunned.

Limping Liu was just an ordinary unit!

He was neither an elite, a boss, nor any kind of hidden class!

After being headbutted by Happy Sheep like that, he lost almost one-tenth of his HP.

He couldn't bother with Xu Shian anymore; he had to prioritize dealing with the crisis right in front of him.

Because his second pet, Beautiful Sheep, had already started a Charge from a distance.

And there were two more sheep waiting in line behind!

"Did Lu Ming send you? You can't kill me! He has been controlled by the Tree Demon clan; he has already killed his parents and wants to kill everyone in the village..."

While dealing with the attacks from the three sheep, he glanced at the poised and ready Boiling Sheep from the corner of his eye.

And his mouth kept moving, speaking rapidly to Xu Shian...

"Stop!"

Stopping his minions from delivering the killing blow, Xu Shian looked Limping Liu up and down.

The target only had a sliver of health left; he reckoned that if he just touched him, the guy would die!

"Do you... have any proof for what you said?"

"Yes. Before Lu Shan had his accident, he sensed something was wrong and wrote me a letter, stating his suspicions about Lu Ming's situation and the possibility that he and his wife might be killed..."

As he spoke, he started searching his body!

"Where is the letter?"

Xu Shian was speechless, taking a letter out of his inventory to read.

Seeing the letter in Xu Shian's hand, a feeling of speechlessness filled Limping Liu's mind.

"Fine, fine, fine, that's how we're playing, right?"

...

After reading the letter, Xu Shian felt his scalp itching a bit, as if his brain was starting to grow!

Now they each had their own story, what should he do?

Perhaps noticing Xu Shian's hesitation, Limping Liu hurriedly added.

"Ever since I found out about this, I have been looking for something to expose Lu Ming's identity. There is a potion made from herbs in the mountains that can reveal the traces of Lu Ming being controlled by the Tree Demon. I originally wanted to go collect the materials today and then find a way to make him reveal himself in front of everyone..."

Needless to say, your own attempt must have failed; otherwise, what use would players be?

Limping Liu thought Xu Shian was struggling with whom to believe...

Of course, he should believe in his own quest!

He was a player... not a judge!

While pretending to be conflicted, Xu Shian kept an eye on his quest panel!

If there was no change... then Limping Liu would just have to say goodbye to this world!

What about the Tree Demon?

Once he finished the quest series, he would just pat his butt and leave!

Why should he care if the world flooded?

Besides, weren't they just one of the ten thousand mirrored Novice Villages?

After pleading for a long time, he found that Xu Shian remained unmoved.

Limping Liu finally realized what was going on.

"Lu Shan was once a powerful hunter, but while traveling abroad, he was struck by a flesh curse, and his strength regressed to the extreme, which is why he returned to the village to marry and have children!"

Xu Shian was a bit speechless; then he had even more reason to choose Lu Ming...

After all, if he killed his father, he would inherit all of his estate!

"Lu Shan once gave me a very powerful passive skill book, telling me to pass it on to my son..."

Xu Shian's eyes lit up, and he scanned him without leaving a trace.

Limping Liu felt a chill!

He was now staring intently at Xu Shian, seeing his little movements clearly.

"I didn't carry the skill book with me; it's stored in the bank!"

A bank? Oh, that's a bank, right? They are everywhere in the main city! But damn it, there aren't any in the Novice Village...

【 Ding, Limping Liu has issued a faction quest to you: Expose Lu Ming's conspiracy! 】 Quest details:

When Lu Ming went to play in the back mountains, he went deep into the mountains and was controlled and transformed by the Tree Demon clan! He is now a member of the Tree Demon clan and is hostile to humans. Please assist Limping Liu in exposing Lu Ming's identity.

Quest reward: EXP + 80, Silver Coin + 50, unlock the next round of quests.

The money is so little?

Xu Shian frowned and looked at Limping Liu.

"Didn't you say there was a skill book?"

"The skill book isn't in my hands either; I have to go to the bank to retrieve it before I can give it to you as a reward!"

Xu Shian was stunned.

"Are you giving me empty promises?"

"No... no! I can only give it to you after I retrieve the skill book..."

Xu Shian guessed that perhaps it was because the next step of the quest, or the final quest, would provide this skill book as a reward.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to accept Limping Liu's quest.

After all, he heard that one of the bosses in this Novice Village was a Tree Demon...

He would probably have to face it sooner or later. His strength was low, so he couldn't stand on the opposite side of the masses.

It would be funny if an NPC issued a quest that wiped out both him and the boss together.

"Accept!"

As soon as he accepted the quest, Limping Liu's name immediately turned green.

He was in an ally non-attacking state...

Only then did Limping Liu completely let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground, unable to get up.