Chapter 15: The Hidden Quest

Quiet And Steadfast nodded his head and said, "Mmhm."

Shen Jingchen exclaimed in astonishment, "Eh, did the two of you pull one over me? Aiyoh, Leader, I didn't know you had such discerning tastes! It's no wonder you maintained such a purity! Of! Mind!"

Shen Jingbin helplessly held her forehead and said, "Shut it. Is your head only filled with this kind nonsense?"

"Yup."

"Are you two siblings?" Quiet And Steadfast asked with considerable interest, "Is he usually like this?"

Shen Jingbin wore an expressionless look and replied, "I'm not close with him. Since you guys frequently play together, you should know better than me. Was there any reason behind you asking me that question in the mail just now?"

Quiet And Steadfast cast a glance at Shen Jingchen who'd calmed down and said, "I received a hidden quest. I need to unite the Lead Disciples from the six great sects."

"And you're the Lead Disciple of the Lich Palace?"

Quiet And Steadfast faced Shen Jingchen — who looked as if he'd seen a ghost — and calmly nodded his head, "That's right, but no one else knew about it till now."

The meaning behind his words were: how did you know?

Shen Jingbin shrugged, "I guessed."

Shen Jingchen couldn't help but interject from the side, "Tch tch tch. Leader, you're not being sincere enough. How could you keep such a thing from me! What about our brotherly love?! Our brotherly love! Our. Brotherly. Love!"

Quiet And Steadfast cast a sidelong glance at him and said, "What's that? Is there anything between us?"

Shen Jingchen immediately clutched his heart and looked as if a thousand arrows had suddenly pierced it.

"How many of them have you found so far?"

"You're the only one. There hasn't been any news from the other sects till now."

"Then what do you plan to do?"

"We wait, and raise your level while we're at it. Triggering this quest had very strict conditions and I doubt it'll get any easier down the road. As one of the main forces in this quest, your strength is paramount."

"Mm, I'll continue doing quests."

"I'll help you with hunting."

"Do as you wish."

The two of them chose to simultaneously disregard Shen Jingchen, who was pretending to be a curious little baby on the side. Shen Jingbin called out her old horse once again and steered it in the direction of her own quest. Quiet And Steadfast accompanied her by the side as they discussed her quest together.

"The two of you have no conscience! I'll curse you both with bad luck!" Upon seeing neither of them concerning themselves with him, Shen Jingchen dejectedly called out his own mount and followed behind them. The expression on his face was so vivid that the female NPCs and players he passed by threw flirtatious glances at him.

"What's that? Lil' sis, what kind of quest did you get your hands on?" Upon seeing the two of them chatting amongst themselves while ignoring him, Shen Jingchen couldn't stop his talkative nature from stirring as he made his presence known.

"The down and out wanderer, Wu Lang's request."

"Ah, that's the one where Wu Lang's younger sister was kidnapped and killed by the local tyrant. He then turned her into a doll and hid her in a cellar. The shock Wu Lang received from having his beloved sister killed gave rise to a beautiful transformation that turned him into a jianghu hero who vanquished the local tyrant. On top of that, he was the one who resolved one of the ten great mysteries in River City: The disappearance of young maidens."

Shen Jingbin's lips twitched, "People who spoil the plot should die."

Quiet And Steadfast said, "No matter, your performance in the quest will affect how it turns out. It might not turn out the way he described."

Shen Jingbin eyed him suspiciously. Noticing her gaze, Quiet And Steadfast instantly understood that the girl in front of him probably didn't know much about <<Legends of Celestials and Demons>>, so he gave her a brief explanation on the quest system of the game.

The quest system in <<Legends of Celestials and Demons>> was actually one of the game's highlights. Its quests were designed to be different from other games. Apart from the main questline, any actions a player took in branching quests would affect the future development of the plot. This meant that each person would come across different endings. Those that were lucky might even trigger hidden quests, which vastly increased the playability of the game.

As such, there were still many "quest parties" in <<Legends of Celestials and Demons>>. A quest fanatic once said that the quests compiled by players would be enough for the game company to publish a novel.

While speaking, the three of them arrived at the outer area of Landlord Yang's residence. Without waiting for them to step forward, the two fiendish looking bodyguards brandished their weapons and sternly declared, "Who goes there? Are you planning to trespass on the landlord's residence? I advise you to swiftly leave. Sabers have no eyes, we wouldn't want to inadvertently harm someone."

No one knew whether the designers intentionally created these two bodyguards to look like this, but they appeared to be extremely sinister and made others feel as if they'd stepped into a horror movie. This, coupled with the ferocious expression they tried to put on, resulted in a terrifying visage. Shen Jingbin stared blankly at them as if she had no reaction. Seeing his little sister in such a state, Shen Jingchen proudly stepped forward, patting her on the shoulder before saying, "Never fear lil' sister, your big bro is here! These two bodyguards are nothing to be afraid of. All you need to do is give them 10 taels of silver each and you can…"

Before he had the chance to finish, Quiet And Steadfast threw out two concealed weapons, causing the originally fiendish looking bodyguards to instantly land on the ground with a thump.

Shen Jingchen: …

Shen Jingbin looked at him and said, "What were you trying to say just now?"

Shen Jingchen solemnly replied, "I wanted to say that they were paper tigers¹. Your big bro could take care of them with one hand tied behind his back. Mm, that's right, that's the way. The story is me being able to take care of them with one hand. Let's enter."

After he finished speaking, he walked into the Landlord's residence without waiting for the other two, not forgetting to step on the corpses of the two bodyguards as he passed by them.

This is for scamming me of my 10 taels last time!

1. Someone who appears to be terrifying, but doesn't have anything of substance to back themselves up with. ↩