Chapter 444 - Vast Lake

TL: LifeisaJourney

Taking opportunity of this time frame before the next Crocodile spawned, Liu Gan and the other three players started walking faster along the markings created by Cai Hao Chen and Liu Kang. After a certain distance, they saw scuff marks indicating Crocodile had showed up to the party. Liu Kang and Cai Hao Chen had come across the creature and escaped in a different direction.

Perhaps Liu Gan had killed the Crocodile which had scared off the pair. They might have ran too far away and gotten lost. It was strange that Liu Gan didn't hear any cries for rescue. Did they come across other creatures?

Without any additional marks, the trail had gone cold. Liu Gan and his group decided to continue forward according to the last marker. The path seemed to be leading toward a building nearby. Even though it was highly unlikely that Liu Gan would find her within the building, he still had to search through it.

In a stroke of luck, Liu Gan walked into the building and discovered Wan'er's mother lingering in a corridor. Wan'er shouted loudly at her mother the moment she saw her. The young mother turned around immediately.

"Wan'er, where did you go? I searched everywhere for you! You scared me to death!" the young mother ran over to wrap her arms around Wan'er.

"I saw uncle! I chased after him, but i couldn't catch up to him. Then, I wanted to go to the restroom. I tried to find the restroom myself!" Wan'er explained.

"Uncle is working, so don't bother uncle anymore. Definitely don't run off again!" the young mother continue to scold her. Liu Gan waltzed around the young mother a few times so he can get their attention without interrupting. The young mother definitely noticed since she quickly pulled the jigsaw puzzle out from her bag to hand over to Liu Gan.

"Moonlight Gulf Theme Park has a side door for you to leave. It is in that direction. If you are done playing, then you can leave through that door," the young mother pointed in a certain direction while speaking to Liu Gan.

"Oh?" Liu Gan understood her intentions immediately. She gave him a major clue. She meant that if he didn't want to do anymore quests, he could leave through the side door to leave this instance.

But… Liu Gan had done so much for the quest already, he didn't want to give up now and start over later.

Prior to accepting the quest, Liu Gan had tried to steal the jigsaw puzzle from the young mother's hand, but only grasped air. This time the puzzle materialized in his hand.

Upon receiving the puzzle, the quest was over. As such, the mother and daughter dissolved into black fog and scattered into the environment. Their role of being a NPC was over, they didn't serve any more purpose.

Liu Gan quickly opened the puzzle to take a closer look. It was really a map. Once all four jigsaw pieces were present, then the map would be complete and reveal important clues.

That must mean there were three more quests that needed to be accomplished. Where would he find clues to those quests? Liu Gan had no choice, he made the decision to continue with these quests. He wouldl order the teams to search for clues further out in the theme park .

***

It was certainly true that Cai Hao Chen and Liu Kang were interrupted by the Crocodile. They couldn't continue tailing the young mother together, so they had to split up. Cai Hao Chen would distract the Crocodile, while Liu Kang would continue tailing the young mother. After a short while the Crocodile returned and threatened Liu Kang. Without any partner, Liu Kang had to run away.

Coincidentally, Cai Hao Chen and Liu Kang met up with one another again by a lake. They had one job, and they couldn't accomplish it. They didn't want Lord Liu to know how useless they were. Instead of crying for help, they decided to work together to lure the Crocodile in another direction. After that, they returned on the path to try and track down the young mother. However, they stopped once they found their redemption... a new quest!

The lake they were right next to wasn't deep, but it was large enough to have recreational boats. However, those boats were now capsized. It must have been an attraction catering to parents with children.

The lake was already a shadow of its former glory; it was deteriorating and rotting corpses were floating on the lake.

Liu Kang and Cai Hao Chen were walking back along the path, when they met an elderly man on a wheelchair. The senior was struggling to move his wheelchair around the lake. He kept staring into the lake while mumbling to himself. He seemed to be searching for something.

The biggest hint was on the back of the wheelchair; there was a bag holding a jigsaw puzzle case.

Without a doubt, this was a quest-giving NPC, just like the young mother from earlier. As long as they fulfilled his request, then his puzzle box would be handed over.

Cai Hao Chen had a decision to make. Who would finish their original task of tailing the young mother? In the end, Liu Kang had the honor of going back to tail the mother, Cai Hao Chen was going to accept the quest from the senior.

Cai Hao Chen had negotiated it with Liu Kang; if he finished the quest and received the puzzle box, then the reward would be split evenly. That way both of them would be motivated to do their task.

Cai Hao Chen took a long time to evaluate the quest difficulty. He knew that it wouldn't be easy. During this time, he might encounter the Crocodile while doing the task, so he was putting his life on the line.

The moment he decided to follow Lord Liu, Cai Hao Chen had promised himself that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by fear. As long as he had courage, then he would be acknowledged and appreciated. So no matter how hard this trial was going to be, he would do his best to finish it.

"Old-timer, what are you searching for?" Cai Hao Chen asked loudly to the senior sitting in the wheelchair.

"My partner, Nizi, she brought me a wrist watch that I lost in the lake. It is an important memento. I really hope I can I can get it back, but I can't swim. Even if I could swim, I don't have the stamina to search for it. Young man, do you think you can do this old man a favor and find it for me?" the old man in the wheelchair requested.

"You lost it in the lake? Which part of the lake do you think you dropped it in?" Cai Hao Chen stared at the big lake, shaking at the thought of searching it.

"It is this lake," the wheelchair senior replied.

"Yeah, but specifically where would that be? Which side of the lake were you closest when you realize you lost it?" Cai Hao Chen asked again.

"I can't remember, but I was with my partner rowing the boat when the watch fell in. It should still be in the lake. I can't remember which location it was closest to," the old man continued absently, yet vigorously.