291: Chapter 291 Principles? Gold coins are the principle!

The City Lord's Manor study.

Meng De spread a yellowed parchment map flat across the wide red sandalwood desk.

He extended a finger, pointing to an area in the northwest of the map that was heavily smeared with black ink.

“This is Cangxing City.” Meng De's expression became solemn.

“According to energy fluctuations, that ancient existence is awakening deep within the snow mountains outside Cangxing City.”

“Its power is polluting that land. If it isn't stopped, the entire Source Realm will be affected.”

Chen You's gaze fell upon the map.

Between Thousand Light City and Cangxing City lay a vast, unexplored gray area.

Aside from a small explored section of the Wind and Snow Divine Mountain, the rest was unknown.

“How do I get there?”

Meng De's finger slid along a winding thin line on the map.

“The journey to Cangxing City is long and exceptionally dangerous. You need to cross a wilderness fraught with peril and take an ancient trade route called '318'.”

Chen You froze.

He looked up at Meng De: “318?”

Meng De nodded: “Precisely.”

Chen You's lip twitched: “Are you sure I don't need to ride a bike or hitchhike? Should I bring a DSLR camera too?”

Meng De was completely baffled: “What bicycle? The road ahead is treacherous, infested with bandits and high-level magical beasts; there's danger at every step. You must not take this lightly.”

Chen You waved his hand, too lazy to explain real-world memes to an NPC.

“Got it. A 'once-in-a-lifetime journey to purify the soul,' right? Let's go then.”

Meng De's expression was solemn as he waved a hand, and a system notification sounded in Chen You's ear.

【Ding! Main Quest Triggered: Shadows of the Snowy Region】

【Quest Description: Head to the Northern Outpost outside Thousand Light City, find the guide 'Shan Shigiu', and travel together to Cangxing City.】

【Quest Requirement: Player Level 35 (Requirement met).】

【Quest Reward: 500,000 EXP.】

Chen You glanced at the reward and clicked accept.

Just some experience? How stingy!

But being able to go to the next main city... maybe I can catch an event and have another monster siege. Perfect!

“I've accepted it.” Chen You turned to leave.

“Brother Chen, be careful of everything,” Meng De urged from behind.

“That 318 trade route hasn't been peaceful lately. Besides magical beasts, there are some outlanders calling themselves 'Pioneers' active there, and they act without any bottom line.”

Chen You paused his steps.

Pioneers? Outlanders?

Isn't that just players?

“Understood.”

Chen You walked out of the City Lord's Manor gates but didn't rush to set off.

Standing on the steps, he fished a palm-sized compass out of his backpack.

A Heaven-tier item: The Decaying Astral Pathfinding Compass.

Chen You injected a trace of spiritual power into the compass.

Eerie blue light circuits lit up on the previously dead surface of the compass. An illusory needle emerged, spun around twice, and finally came to a steady stop.

Chen You looked up in the direction the needle pointed.

Northwest.

It overlapped perfectly with the direction of Cangxing City.

Chen You chuckled.

“This crappy system is actually quite sensible.” He tossed the star compass up, caught it, and tucked it back into his robes.

“It's good that it's on the way. This trip is a total win.”

...

At the Northern Outpost, the climate was fractured.

Wind and snow howled, and the temperature plummeted.

It was more than ten degrees lower than inside the city.

Chen You stepped through the accumulated snow into the outpost courtyard.

A bonfire burned in the center of the yard.

An old NPC man wrapped in heavy animal skins and wearing a tattered felt hat was crouching by the fire, puffing on licorice leaves.

Three characters floated above his head: Mountain Stone Fault.

Around the fire, four other players were also crouching.

A short green-skinned fellow, a hairy werewolf, a bandage-wrapped ghost, and a skeleton missing half a shoulder.

The four were shivering from the cold, looking expectantly at Mountain Stone Fault.

“Old man, we've been waiting for an hour. How many more people are we short?” the werewolf player complained, rubbing his claws.

Mountain Stone Fault blew out a smoke ring and slowly tapped his pipe.

“Caravan rules: we depart when we have ten people. Not one coin less, not one head less.”

“That is the principle.”

The ghost player sighed: “This crappy game. To go to a new main city, we have to take a bus? Can't we just teleport!”

The skeleton player's jawbone clattered as he moved it: “Stop complaining. The 318 trade route is full of high-level monsters. If we don't go with an NPC caravan, at our level, going out there is just suicide.”

Mountain Stone Fault grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: “I'll give you a riddle. Whoever guesses it right gets half off the fare.”

The four players' eyes lit up instantly.

“Say it!”

“Listen well,” Mountain Stone Fault said, swaying his head. “Wears a yellow robe, dons a green hat, sits in the mud, looking dim-witted. What is it?”

The four players looked at each other.

The goblin scratched his head: “Yellow robe? Green hat? What kind of bizarre aesthetic is that?”

The werewolf tried: “A frog?”

“Wrong.”

The skeleton thought for a bit: “A turtle?”

“Not even close.”

Chen You walked to the bonfire, brushed the snowflakes off his clothes, and spoke calmly: “A carrot.”

Mountain Stone Fault's hand holding the pipe paused.

He looked up, his cloudy old eyes sizing Chen You up from head to toe, and snorted: “You're a sharp kid. You're going to Cangxing City too?”

Chen You nodded: “How much to charter the whole carriage?”

As soon as he said this, the four players by the fire all turned their heads in unison.

Charter?

At this stage, everyone was struggling to scrape together a few silver coins for the fare, and this guy wanted to charter the whole thing?

The werewolf player stared at Chen You's face for a second, then suddenly jumped up, slamming his head against a wooden pillar of the outpost.

“Holy crap! God You?!”

That shout startled the other three players into jumping up as well.

The short one lunged forward in two steps and grabbed Chen You's leg: “Big boss! immortal path pioneer boss! A live one!”

The skeleton was so excited his frame rattled, dropping bits of bone: “God You, I'm your fan! That line you said on the city wall yesterday, 'I'm very disappointed in you,' was so cool!”

The ghost floated around Chen You: “Big boss, carry me! I'm super good at tanking damage!”

Chen You looked down at the little green-skinned goblin clutching his leg; that green skin was even stained with some unknown slime.

Then he looked at the skeleton next to him, which had bits of rotten meat stuck in its bone crevices, and the werewolf radiating a strong body odor.

His eyes twitched violently.

If he had to squeeze into a broken wooden cart with these bizarre characters and bump along in the snow for days and nights...

The image was too much; he didn't dare think about it.

But driving them away directly would make him seem too unapproachable.

He was supposed to be following the 'mass line' after all.

Chen You calmly pulled his leg out of the goblin's embrace and looked at Mountain Stone Fault.

“Old man, I'm in a hurry. I'm chartering this carriage; we leave now.”

Mountain Stone Fault tapped his pipe, refilled it with tobacco, and spoke stiffly.

“Young Adventurer, as I said, the caravan has its rules. Ten people to depart. This is the principle; the rules cannot be broken.”

Chen You expressionlessly pulled out a coin pouch and tossed it onto the snowy ground.

*Clink.*

The crisp sound of metal clashing.

One hundred gold coins.

Mountain Stone Fault's eyelid flickered.

He swallowed hard, his gaze struggling to move away from the pouch as he said righteously: “It's not a matter of money. The 318 trade route is ravaged by wind and snow; we do this to ensure—”

*Thud.*

Chen You tossed down another coin pouch.

Five hundred gold coins.

The four players sucked in a breath of cold air.

The hand Mountain Stone Fault used to hold his pipe began to tremble slightly.

“Ahem... young hero, actually, rules are dead, but people are alive...”

Chen You interrupted him: “Do you have a larger carriage?”

Mountain Stone Fault blanked: “How large?”

“One where I can lie down, stretch my legs, and that's windproof.”

Mountain Stone Fault looked troubled: “Young hero, we are a wilderness caravan, not the City Lord's ceremonial guard.”

“We only have this wooden freight cart. With some hay spread out, it's manageable to sit in.”

Chen You frowned.

He turned to look at the broken wooden cart parked in the corner of the yard, which didn't even have a canopy.

This piece of junk was supposed to traverse the 318 trade route?

“Really nothing else?” Chen You's tone turned cold.

“Really nothing,” Mountain Stone Fault sighed.

Chen You didn't waste words; he opened his system inventory and waved his hand.

*Crash—*

Glittering gold coins poured out like a waterfall, piling into a small mountain on the snow.

One thousand gold coins.

The golden light flashed, stinging the eyes of the four players.

Mountain Stone Fault's breathing stopped instantly.

The pipe in his hand fell into the snow with a *thud*.

Chen You stared at him. “I'll ask one last time: is there a better carriage?”

Mountain Stone Fault stared intently at the pile of gold coins, his Adam's apple bobbing frantically.

Principles?

To hell with principles!

He suddenly ripped off the tattered felt hat from his head. His previously hunched back straightened instantly, and his cloudy old eyes erupted with a startling, sharp light.

“Yes!”

Mountain Stone Fault roared, his voice as loud as a bell.