Calamity Messenger

Chapter 347 - 282: Red Snake’s Time

Watching ’Yan Shiyi’ disappear from the character list, Yan Qing put down the game console, only to find himself covered in a light sweat.

Sweating from playing video games.

He was actually prepared to lose some Celestial Calamity Karmic Force; from the very beginning, he knew that this was destined to be a quixotic charge. Whether in reality or in the game, it was difficult to witness such miracles as ’Mortal Messenger Reverses Attack on Foundation Establishment.’ Even if some players could possess combat power comparable to Foundation Establishment at the Third-Turn stage, the problem was, Foundation Establishment isn’t foolish; she would flee.

Unless one could trap the Foundation Establishment Messenger in a room like ’no XX, no exit,’ forcing a deathmatch until a winner emerges, otherwise, as long as the Foundation Establishment Messenger decides to escape, the Mortal Messenger simply doesn’t have the capability to stop her.

Mortal Messengers might be able to match Foundation Establishments in attack and defense, but are absolutely incapable of restricting the Foundation’s movements. Furthermore, even between Foundation Establishments, capturing an enemy is no easy task.

Just look at the True Man of Locking Dragon and Winter Hunting Zhenren; both possess divine techniques for control, yet the former is point control, easily evaded; the latter, though capable of creating an enclosure, cannot interfere within the boundary himself.

From the beginning, Yan Qing knew there wasn’t a single chance of success; just as everyone thought, death was the inevitable outcome. In fact, before leaving the Tombstone Mountain Secret Realm, Yan Qing did consider stopping. Despite the high-minded talk about resisting tyranny and overthrowing tyrants, Yan Qing was very clear: He destroyed the Tombstone Mountain Secret Realm solely for the Celestial Calamity Karmic Force.

Now that he had the Celestial Calamity Karmic Force and had given Ying Le a headache, why trouble himself? Initially, Yan Qing was indeed angry seeing the Baibao Guards’ brutality, but it’s not like Ying Le killed his alternate account; instead, he exterminated the families of Gai Louxian and Bu Liuguzhen. No matter how furious, the anger dissipated after a few meals.

Confronting Ying Le inherently has costs far exceeding the gains, not just in terms of resources but also life. Yan Qing didn’t sleep or eat properly for six days, constantly gaming. If not for this event, wouldn’t it be better to spend those six days doing something else? He could have gone to Jiangnan City to invite Fourth Miss Shang and her good friend Qian Gongyu for a feast.

But after much deliberation, Yan Qing still did it. For one, as Ying Rushi said, even though Tombstone Mountain was the Ying Family’s secret realm, even though Tombstone Mountain strengthened the Baibao Guards’ power, destroying Tombstone Mountain Secret Realm certainly impacted the livelihood of hundreds of thousands. Yan Qing didn’t think he did wrong, but feeling guilty is only natural, so he wanted to do something to compensate the people of these lands, like mobilizing the Qi Kingdom’s army to stop Ying Le’s atrocities.

Secondly, just as he told Ying Rushi, he only sought clarity of thought and happiness. He may have felt regret at not being able to strike Ying Le with a blade, but still revels in the satisfaction after slapping Ying Le, as refreshing as drinking iced cola in the height of July summer, from toe to crown.

Heh-heh!

The biggest surprise was Ying Le didn’t kill ’Yan Shiyi’ with one slap; instead, he used divine techniques to put ’Yan Shiyi’ into a special state of [Enchantment]. Yan Qing couldn’t perform any actions, so he hurriedly returned to the character selection screen to revoke the character.

No matter how many divine techniques, they cannot defeat the number of deletions!

Yan Qing initially believed that he would lose at least 3 points of Celestial Calamity Karmic Force due to death, but successfully revoking the character prevented the loss, almost making him feel like he gained instead.

However, other losses were considerable: Items had to be repaired, and more importantly, after leaving the Ping City Secret Realm, inventory of White Iron Straight Sabers sharply decreased, prompting Yan Qing to consider buying cheap first-turn weapons as sacrifices for Bingzi Pepper Forest.

The harvest included six tokens gathered from the Qi Kingdom’s Third-Turn, ranging from rare to exquisite; among them three tokens were notably impressive:

"Golden Touch Hand"

"Rank: Third-Turned Precious"

"Equipping Condition: 25 Soul points"

"Effect · Golden Touch: Any weapon tokens you equip, the base attack power and effects will be enhanced to Third-Turned Precious, and durability consumption rate -50%."

"Evaluation: All garbage longs to kiss your hands."

/

"World-Abandoned Shin Guards"

"Rank: Third-Turned Precious"

"Equipping Condition: 30 Blood Qi, 30 Dexterity"

"Equipping Effect: +5 Dexterity"

"Effect · Riding the Wind: Your jump can briefly hover in the air, and even perform a second wind-boosted jump. Consumes 5 Spiritual Power to activate, thereafter consuming 1 Spiritual Power per second."

"Effect · Roaming: Reduces the impact of harsh terrain by 30%, allowing jumps on any terrain."

"Evaluation: Unaffected by karma, unstained by dust, with each step lotus blooms, calling it world-abandoned."

/

"Wind Chime of Monarch Flame"

"Rank: Precious"

"Carrying Effect: When you hit an enemy, there’s a 5% chance to recover 5 Spiritual Power."

"Usage Effect: Can be used on any weapon to add an additional attack effect, with the effect drawn from ’Explosion,’ ’Flame,’ ’Wind Damage’ keywords."

"Evaluation: Monarch Flame’s fallen wind chime, its clapper a key, seeming to unlock a little-known secret realm."

Golden Touch Hand is undoubtedly a logging artifact for alternate accounts. Given Bingzi Pepper Forest can’t be used arbitrarily on alternate accounts, they have to use either Seven Steps Meditation or Flame Pattern Seven-Star Sword. Having Golden Touch Hand raises the rank ability and reduces durability consumption; this one plus one subtract, Yan Qing isn’t sure how many repair items he has saved.

World-Abandoned Shin Guards offer hovering and double jumps, showcasing extraordinary effects under specific conditions. Even without discussing functionality, its entertainment value alone makes it worth retaining. One day when the weather is nice, Yan Qing plans to teleport to Jiangnan County Town to experience the joy of riding the wind.

Wind Chime of Monarch Flame is a very rare Blue Absorption Talisman; talismans don’t occupy equipment slots, so carrying more is never a loss. Besides these three tokens, others either have superior replacements or are unused entirely, making them unnecessary to keep and planned to be slowly resold through the Treasure Pavilion.

Looking at it like this, Yan Qing really didn’t lose out over the past six days, at least gaining three trophies he was very satisfied with. Then again, it’s expected: Tokens coveted by the Qi Kingdom Third-Turn must be among the rarest. For Messengers, tokens are as precious as spouses, and they would have chosen carefully.

It’s only natural for Yan Qing to like them.

It truly is a case of "crime pays", Yan Qing thought to himself.

Unknowingly, he already has the ability to hunt down Third-Turn Messengers and seize their tokens. The entire Central Plains has become his hunting ground; unless a Foundation Establishment expert intervenes, no one can restrain him.

However, the recent campaign against Ying Le has exhausted his PvP energy bar. The high-intensity PvP left him with no time to rest. Over the past six days, Yan Qing has had less than ten hours of sleep. While it was indeed fun, it was also really tiring. He thought he might consider PvP again when someone else provokes him, or when he gets sick of dungeon crawling.

Yan Qing stretched lazily, noticed the time was nearing dusk, and suddenly remembered something. He casually put on a mask and pushed open the door to head out.

The Thief Hall was quiet, with three tokens placed on the stone table, namely [Black Wolf], [Red Snake], and [Yellow Dog]. All the tokens were face down. Yan Qing flipped his token face up, glanced at the other two tokens, and realized they were still in the same position as six days ago. This meant that the Red Snake and Black Wolf hadn’t eaten or trained together in the past six days.

As everyone couldn’t communicate in real-time, even if they agreed to have dinner the next day, something might come up at the last minute. So they set up this simple communication method. A flipped token meant availability for dinner the next day, while face down meant they were not available. Since Yan Qing embarked on the journey to suppress Ying Le, he took the time to eat and take care of personal needs amidst his busy schedule and naturally had no time to eat or train with Black Wolf and Red Snake.

He didn’t expect that in his absence, the other two wouldn’t show up either. What, are these beautiful girls not supposed to eat or use the bathroom?

Next, he should spend more time on the Thief’s House side...

"Oh, you’re still alive!"

Yan Qing turned around to see Shang Xinlei coming out of the room, his face full of black lines, "Your way of greeting is quite elegant. Is this how you usually talk to your father?"

"You’re not my dad."

"I could be."

"Get lost!"

Shang Xinlei laughed as she walked over, flipped the [Red Snake] token, and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Yan Qing thought for a moment, "Hot pot?"

"...That’s not possible."

"Why not? Are you out of mutton or sauce?"

"It’s just not possible. You can have it the day after tomorrow, but not tomorrow."

"Why don’t I go to the Kitchen God Building and order a table of dishes tomorrow?" Yan Qing stroked his chin, "It’s been a while since I’ve had the Dragon and Phoenix Banquet."

Shang Xinlei pursed her lips, staring straight at Yan Qing, no longer smiling.

"You can have the Dragon and Phoenix Banquet the day after tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Why so many questions? Besides the Dragon and Phoenix Banquet and hot pot, is there nothing else you’d like to eat?"

"But those are the only two things I can think of right now. Plus, isn’t hot pot and the Dragon and Phoenix Banquet good? They’re delicious and save you the trouble. After six days, it’s rare to have a meal together..."

"It’s not trouble for me!"

Upon saying this, both Shang Xinlei and Yan Qing were stunned. She lowered her head and looked at the tokens on the stone table, pretending she hadn’t said anything. Her ear tips, white as jade, turned a faint red, like vermillion sprinkled on Xuan paper.

"Fine, fine, hot pot it is. Eat, eat, all you think about is eating."

"You were the one who asked what I wanted to eat..." Yan Qing tilted his head, "Hmm, I want to eat stuffed green peppers, stuffed tofu, and salt-baked chicken tomorrow."

"Didn’t you say you wanted hot pot?" Shang Xinlei glanced at him, her eyes filled with a shimmering grievance.

"Having not eaten or slept well these days, hot pot might be a bit too stimulating. Better to start with some home-cooked dishes to get my appetite back," Yan Qing said, "What, don’t you want to cook? Don’t forget, I’m your creditor now. If I ask you to cook, you cook."

Shang Xinlei huffed twice in a tone full of disdain, "Alright, alright." She lowered her head, fingers weaving across the [Yellow Dog] token on the stone table as if she didn’t recognize the words.

"See you tomorrow afternoon then."

"You’re leaving now?"

"Otherwise?" Yan Qing was taken aback, "Is there anything else?"

Shang Xinlei thought for a moment, "Wait a moment." She quickly returned to her room, soon coming back with some pastries and tea.

Yan Qing looked at the creamy snowy pastries on the plate, "Did you make these?"

"Of course not, I haven’t learned to make pastries yet. These are Snow Miaox from home, they’re delicious, give them a try." Shang Xinlei dragged a chair beside Yan Qing, sat down, and poured two cups of hot tea. The cups were ceramic, with a bamboo texture that exuded elegance. "Snow Miaox can’t be stored for long. They also become cloying if eaten too much, so since you’re such a big eater, have more."

Although there was no bandage around his mouth, it wasn’t difficult to eat a pastry; he just had to stuff it under the mask. So Yan Qing did not refuse.

Curiously, Yan Qing picked one up to taste. It was sweet and glutinous, with a sip of hot tea just right to cleanse the palate, making it ideal for afternoon tea. There were pastry shops in Jiangnan County Town, but Yan Qing never purchased from them. Sweets were not to his taste, he was the type who preferred savory zongzi. But when offered by a lady, it was different.

"Why aren’t you eating?" Yan Qing realized Shang Xinlei was just watching him, and suddenly became alert, "Did you drug it?"