This sudden scene stunned everyone around. The farmers and woodcutters entering the city quickly hid away, while guards at other gates shouted, but no one dared to approach.
"A mountain bandit committed murder!"
"Quick, call the archers over!"
"Grab the shields!"
"It's a mountain bandit here to assassinate a noble, hurry and summon the Baibao Knights!"
Since they wouldn't come, Yan Qing went over!
'Yan San' charged bravely forward, wielding a spear at the guards. However, these guards weren't cowards and actually encircled him fiercely. But 'Yan San,' with 13 Qi Blood, was like a little Lü Bu; Yan Qing didn't even need to control much, just charged and thrusted chaotically before retreating, killing two guards, with the remaining one fleeing after sensing danger.
Yan Qing originally intended to chase, but then the game prompted that 'Yan San' leveled up—
"You have comprehended the 'Basic Spear Skill,' currently level 1"
"Your Qi Blood increased by 0.1"
"Your Spirit increased by 0.5"
"Your Dexterity increased by 1"
"You have leveled up to level 2!"
So, it seems in the early stages, Qi Blood, Spirit, and Dexterity are all easily improved, it's just 'Yan San' has such high starting Qi Blood that leveling up only adds 0.1 Qi Blood. In a normal game environment, these three attributes aren't worth adding points to deliberately. But in this inexplicably chaotic world, without power in the early stages, there's no chance of having a future!
The leveling up caused a slight delay, and Yan Qing saw the last guard had already run far, so he didn't bother chasing. He was here to vent, not to die. Charging in would definitely lead to being surrounded and beaten. It was better to see if he could play guerrilla warfare. If more people came to guard the gate, he'd continue killing, curious how many this city had to guard it.
The sound of horse hooves echoed from afar, and the motor of the machine hummed, Yan Qing shifted perspective and saw a squad of Evil Ghost Knights charging from the city gate.
He thought, wasn't this a coincidence? The enemy he wished to kill delivered themselves, so he waited at the city gate.
The leading Evil Ghost Knight said something, and suddenly the other knights reined in their horses, leaving him alone to charge at 'Yan San.' Just as his spear was about to hit, 'Yan San' perfectly dodged, entering a 0.1-second slow-motion suspension, and thrust his spear into the Evil Ghost Knight!
In 'Messenger', there are action elements, but they require high precision and yield generally mediocre results—this is also related to 'Yan San''s low dexterity. If he had higher dexterity, he could attack several times in slow motion.
Faced with a full-force strike of 13 Qi Blood, the surface of the Evil Ghost Knight suddenly manifested a shield like glass. The spear snapped upon impact, and the Evil Ghost Knight not only didn't fall off the horse but was only slightly pushed aside.
Token!
This Evil Ghost Knight was a converted messenger!
Yan Qing felt a mix of surprise and inevitability. In 'Messenger', a world with extraordinary powers, the rulers naturally wield extraordinary abilities.
But this means he's unbeatable now.
Among mortals, 13 Qi Blood is indeed unbeatable, but against a converted messenger, he is but a more powerful mortal.
Just as Yan Qing was ready for a desperate fight, the Evil Ghost Knight pulled the reins, ceased attacking, and said, "You, very good! Come with me!"
A quarter of an hour later, Yan Qing watched 'Yan San' enter the barracks, register his name, and receive a set of dirty, bloodstained Leather Armor Military Uniform, a strong bow, a spear, a shield, and even moved into a rather luxurious single-person barrack with a riding slave at his command.
Huh?
Survived?
The last two times, he did nothing wrongful yet died innocently. This time, he killed a few people and ended up pulled into the army?
"Practice your spear skill and arrow skill tonight and get enough rest. If you survive tomorrow, I'll recommend you become a Baibao."
The Evil Ghost Knight left after speaking, his mannerisms as inexplicable, coarse, and savage as the land itself.
But since he survived, Yan Qing continued to play.
The barracks were vast, even 'magnificent,' with dining halls and baths, everything one could need, a city within a city, with blue brick buildings, neat and orderly, making the outside Ping City appear like a poor relative's home in comparison.
The training grounds and apparatus inside were exceptionally plentiful, and there were even areas simulating siege warfare, street battles, and forest warfare. When 'Yan San' approached the spear training and archery training areas, the game prompted, "Participate in spear/archery training?"
Choosing "Yes," 'Yan San' would engage in training automatically, no operation from Yan Qing required.
"You have comprehended 'Basic Spear Skill,' currently level 2"
"You have comprehended 'Basic Spear Skill,' currently level 3"
"Your Qi Blood increased by 0.1"
"Your Spirit increased by 0.5"
"Your Dexterity increased by 1.5"
"You have leveled up to level 3!"
...
"You have comprehended 'Basic Spear Skill,' currently level 5"
"You have comprehended 'Basic Arrow Skill,' currently level 4"
"Your Qi Blood increased by 0.1"
"Your Spirit increased by 0.5"
"Your Dexterity increased by 1"
"You have leveled up to level 5!"
"You have unlocked the personal and public warehouses, press the + key to view."
As the sky turned blood-red at dusk, 'Yan San' had already reached level five, with spear and archery skills significantly surpassing typical Baibao Knights. Initially, others were quite wary of the stranger 'Yan San', but after two hours of training, many had a 180° change in attitude, some even inviting 'Yan San' to dine together.
It seems here, the strong naturally receive better treatment.
The meals for the Baibao Knights were extraordinarily good, with meat, buns, and rib soup. Though this place appeared ancient, the living standards didn't fall much behind modern society.
However, Yan Qing sighed at this scene because he was faced with a very real problem: he was also hungry.
What did it matter if the game character was strong? Inside is all fake. Even if the game character was full, in reality, he would still have an empty stomach.
Just then, Yan Qing noticed a "take" icon appeared on the roasted lamb leg on the screen. He instinctively pressed it, and then the right side panel indicated the roasted lamb leg was stored in the personal warehouse.
Oh right, 'Yan San' unlocked the personal and public warehouses upon reaching level five.
Opening the personal warehouse, he immediately saw the roasted lamb leg in the first slot; the personal warehouse had a total of 4*4=16 slots, which wasn't too little if the same items could stack.
The public warehouse had 5*5=25 slots, which was somewhat limited. The game should have warehouse expansion items, otherwise, players would certainly find it insufficient.
Just as he was about to exit the warehouse page, Yan Qing suddenly thought of something.
Public warehouse?
Does this mean it's a shared warehouse usable by all accounts?
Yan Qing returned to 'Yan San's personal warehouse, selected the roasted lamb leg, and indeed there was an option for 'Transfer to Public Warehouse.' After moving the roasted lamb leg to the public warehouse, Yan Qing clicked on it, and the game presented three options:
"Take"
"Transfer to another character's personal warehouse"
"Discard"
Yan Qing felt his heart pounding nervously and chose "Take."
The "Take" prompt gave two options: "Take by Yan Qing" and "Take by Yan San."
The next moment, a warm roasted lamb leg appeared out of nowhere before him. If Yan Qing's hands weren't quick, this greasy lamb leg would have fallen to the ground—and he'd have to eat it mixed with dirt and dust.
Taking a bite, the meat juices burst between his teeth; the meat was exceptionally tender, flavorful with minimal seasoning, only slightly overcooked, hinting the chef's skills weren't great. Yet Yan Qing felt as if he hadn't eaten in a long time, eating faster and with more force until only a thick bone remained, not a shred of meat left on it.
Plop.
A tear fell onto the lamb bone, and Yan Qing was momentarily stunned. Rubbing his moist eyes, he smirked at himself, "Crying over delicious food, really?"
He covered his eyes, shoulders trembling slightly, breathing heavily, as if expelling all his worries, unease, anxiety, fear, and regrets. After an unknown while, he took a deep breath, rubbed his red eyes dry, and slapped his cheeks, waking his soul.
Through this lamb leg, Yan Qing finally found his path of redemption in this world.
Though he cannot log into his own account, all accounts can exchange items through the public warehouse, meaning Yan Qing can, even staying within the Thief's House, obtain cultivation resources from this world using a smaller account!
There are five days until the first theft operation.