461: Chapter 461 The Old Man and the Sea

Song Yixue didn't hear a word Chen You said, completely immersed in her own emotions.

She clutched the black bread tightly in her hands, tears and snot streaming down her face.

"Boss, you don't know how big that wild boar was! It chased me for three blocks and rammed me into a stinking sewer."

"After I respawned, I ran to the snow mountain, but I slipped and fell to my death three times."

She wiped her face and continued to vent her grievances: "Later, I heard there was something strange in the bay, so I ran over here."

"I ran into pirates on the way. They thought I was too poor to even bother stealing my clothes, so they just threw me into the sea to drown."

Chen You sat opposite her, watching the dwarf, who was less than 1.2 meters tall, chatter on incessantly, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

What normal player wouldn't realize that it was just a paid global announcement?

For a one-gold-coin quest reward, this little one had practically experienced every death penalty in the Source Realm.

Was it really worth it for just one gold coin?

Could it be that wealth had limited my imagination?

"To find this hidden NPC, I couldn't even bear to spend copper coins on potions. Look at this bread, it's already gone stale..."

Song Yixue held up the black bread, preparing to take the last bite.

"Ding."

A gleaming gold coin landed on the tabletop, spinning around twice.

Song Yixue's voice came to an abrupt halt.

Her eyes widened, staring fixedly at the gold coin.

Chen You tapped his fingers on the table: "I know you've worked hard. This is your guide fee, hurry up."

Song Yixue snatched the gold coin and stuffed it into her collar, her movements so fast they left an afterimage.

The sadness on her face vanished instantly, replaced by an extremely brilliant smile: "Alright, Boss!"

"This way, please. Watch your step, don't dirty your clothes!"

Chen You stood up and followed Song Yixue deeper into the tavern.

Players hurried in and out of the tavern, and NPCs went about their own dialogues, so no one paid attention to this pair of mismatched heights.

Song Yixue led Chen You around the bar and ducked into a dead-end alley next to the kitchen.

At the end of the alley was a stone wall covered in moss.

"We're here." Song Yixue pointed overhead.

Chen You looked up.

On the ceiling, three meters above the ground, was a slightly darker wooden board with gaps around its edges.

There were no stairs, no ropes.

Song Yixue looked around, dragged an empty wine barrel from the corner, and pushed it directly under the wooden board.

Then she brought over a wooden chair with a broken leg and carefully balanced it on the wine barrel.

"Boss, please wait a moment. I'll go up first to scout the path for you."

Song Yixue stepped on the barrel and climbed onto the wooden chair, took a deep breath, and leaped upward with all her might.

She grabbed the edge of the wooden board tightly with both hands, her feet kicking wildly in the air.

Accompanied by a creaking sound, she climbed onto the board with great effort, twisting her body to flip inside.

A dull thud of a heavy object landing came from above, followed by Song Yixue's lowered voice: "Boss, it's safe! Step on the chair and come up, I'll pull you!"

Chen You looked at the precarious chair and said nothing.

He mobilized the spiritual energy within his body and lightly tapped his toe on the ground.

His body instantly defied gravity, floating upward lightly.

Passing through the gap in the ceiling, Chen You landed steadily on the moldy wooden floor of the attic.

Song Yixue was lying at the edge of the hole, reaching out her hand; seeing Chen You float up directly, she froze completely.

She looked at Chen You, then at the chair below, and silently withdrew her hand.

"Boss, this skill of yours... is elegant!"

Chen You ignored her nonsense and scanned his surroundings.

The attic space was small, piled with old fishing nets, rusty anchors, and foul-smelling dried fish.

In the corner stood a rocking chair.

An old man was lying on the rocking chair.

The old man was blind in his left eye, and his right leg was amputated at the knee, replaced by a wooden stick.

He was holding a broken wine pot in his hand, pouring wine into his mouth.

A line of green text hovered above his head: [Dongxing Elder (Hidden)].

Chen You walked over and stopped three steps in front of the rocking chair.

The Dongxing Elder stopped drinking and sized Chen You up with his only remaining right eye.

"It's been a long time since a new face came to Cangxing Bay." The old man's voice was hoarse, full of weariness, "And a rich person dressed so decently, too."

Chen You got straight to the point: "I heard you know clues about the World Boss."

The Dongxing Elder let out two dry laughs, shaking the empty wine pot in his hand.

"Young man, this is the bay."

"The secrets in the sea are countless, and it's full of dangers. Do you really want to know?"

Chen You frowned slightly, feeling something was off.

He didn't rush to answer the Dongxing Elder, but turned his head to look at Song Yixue, who was crouching in the corner, repeatedly rubbing the gold coin against her clothes.

"You explain first." Chen You pointed overhead, "How did you complete my bounty?"

Song Yixue paused, carefully tucked the gold coin into her inner pocket, and patted her chest.

"Boss, how would I know anything about a World Boss?" She tilted her head up, looking innocent, "I was just running around, testing the waters everywhere."

"As a result, I died so many times that my equipment all turned red! I heard there were odd jobs for manual labor here in the bay, so I ran over."

"And then?" Chen You asked.

"Then I was begging outside the tavern... no, seeking opportunities." Song Yixue corrected her wording.

"Later, it rained, so I hid in this alley. I saw a hole in the ceiling and climbed up, wanting to find a place to sleep."

She pointed at the Dongxing Elder lying in the rocking chair.

"As soon as I came up, I saw this old man drinking. He looked like he wasn't simple."

Song Yixue rubbed her hands and gave a heh-heh smile: "I just had a 'let's try it' mentality, opened the bounty panel, and filled in this old man's coordinates and name."

"Who knew the system would go 'ding', directly prompting that my submission was successful and the bounty was completed!"

Chen You fell silent.

His eye twitched as he looked at the dwarf loli in front of him, who was less than 1.2 meters tall and had the word 'poor' written all over her face.

What is this?

Dumb luck?

With so many players in the Source Realm, why didn't anyone else encounter it?

The Source Realm's system judgment is sometimes so sloppy it makes one want to curse.

However, at least one thing is certain.

Since the system accepted Song Yixue's submission, it means that this one-legged, blind NPC in front of him indeed holds real clues about the World Boss.

Chen You withdrew his gaze and looked back at the Dongxing Elder.

The old man still maintained his previous posture, shaking the empty wine pot, his only remaining right eye flickering with a cunning light.

"Young man, the secrets in the sea have a price." The old man's voice was hoarse as he extended three withered fingers, "Thirty gold..."

"Clatter!"

Before he could finish, Chen You flipped his wrist, and a heavy money pouch slammed directly into the old man's lap.

The mouth of the bag opened, and gleaming gold coins rolled out, covering the old man's thighs.

One hundred gold coins.

The air in the attic fell instantly silent.

Song Yixue was crouching in the corner, her eyes wider than copper bells, drool almost flowing out.

The three fingers the Dongxing Elder was holding up froze in mid-air.

"Is that enough?" Chen You's tone was calm.

The old man swallowed, quickly gathering the gold coins into his arms; even his prosthetic leg with the wooden stick was shaking with excitement.

"Enough! More than enough!" The weariness on the old man's face was swept away, replaced by an extremely obsequious smile, "Boss, what would you like to hear?"

"The secret rumors of the widows of Cangxing Bay? Or the treasure map of the Pirate King?"