plumnovel Chapter 31 Turned Bad
Chapter 31 Turned Bad
As Du Fan stepped inside, he saw a large hall, over a hundred feet long and wide, filled with people dressed in various styles. These people were clearly mortals. Immediately following was a cacophony of noise and arguing sounds, making Du Fan feel as if he had entered a bustling marketplace. This place was far too chaotic.
This is the famous Hunter's Guild, where the boss posts bounty missions, and where warriors with the title of Hunter, or even mercenary groups, accept missions and receive bounties.
Du Fan slowly walked inside, looking around as he went. When he reached the center of the hall, many people were staring at a huge stone screen. The screen was about eight or nine zhang wide and five or six zhang high, made entirely of yellow jade, emitting a hazy yellow glow. Rows of small characters scrolled across the screen. After gazing at it carefully for a while, Du Fan suddenly realized that the screen was used to display information about accepting bounty missions, much like the large screens in train stations and shopping malls on Earth. This made him marvel.
He ignored the bustling crowd and walked straight into the depths of the hall.
"Excuse me, how do I post a bounty?" Du Fan finally spotted a waiter, quickly stepped past two groups of people who were about to come to blows due to a heated argument, and ran up to the waiter to ask.
The waiter simply ignored him, extending one hand with his palm facing up and his thumb and middle finger rubbing together.
Seeing this action, Du Fan was speechless. He took a deep breath, pulled out a silver ingot from his bag, and shoved it into the other person's hand.
The waiter's expression softened instantly. He led Du Fan to a private room and then left.
Seated in the cubicle was a middle-aged man in a yellow brocade robe. He looked up at Du Fan and said calmly, "Need to issue the hope Yao mission? Explain in detail."
"I'm looking for two people, one of whom is..."
Du Fan described Ruoxi and Xiaohu's situation in detail, and the middle-aged man then took out a gray cloth-like object and began to draw on it.
After a short while, the man finished his work and took out two more gray cloths of similar size and shape. He folded the three gray cloths together and placed them on a white jade slab next to him. Suddenly, the jade slab shone brightly, emitting a soft, milky-white halo that covered all three gray cloths at the same time.
About three breaths later, the milky white halo dissipated into specks of spiritual light, revealing three gray cloths again. At this time, the patterns and words on the other two gray cloths were exactly the same as those on the first gray cloth.
"Place your palms on the three commission contracts respectively," the middle-aged man said expressionlessly, placing three gray cloths on the wooden table in front of Du Fan.
Du Fan's eyes flashed, but he didn't speak. He pressed his left palm onto the three gray cloths one by one, leaving clear palm prints on them. The lines on the palm prints were exceptionally clear and faintly glowed with gray light.
"This commission contract is in triplicate. Please keep this copy, and the other two copies will be kept by the Hunter's Guild and the hunter who accepted the mission, respectively. By the way, this missing person mission is classified as a D-level difficulty mission, and the reward is 10,000 taels of silver or 10 low-grade spirit stones. Please pay them now." The middle-aged man said stiffly, still expressionless.
Du Fan didn't waste any words and directly handed over ten spirit stones. He had indeed exchanged some silver coins at the Seven Star Merchant Alliance, but not this many.
"Alright, this commission is now officially in effect. Once a hunter accepts and completes this mission, our Hunter's Guild will send someone to notify you. After you leave some basic information, you can leave here."
Du Fan filled in some information as required. When the middle-aged man saw the three words "Kongsangmen", his usually calm face finally showed emotion, and he looked at Du Fan deeply.
As I left the office and walked past the yellow stone curtain again, I heard murmurs from the crowd. My expression changed, and I looked up at the stone curtain.
Suddenly, the line of small text at the very top of the stone screen moved down one line, and the newest bounty that appeared on the first line was the missing person task he had posted, ending with the two words "Not Accepted".
"Huh, it's a missing person quest!"
"Yes, it's quite rare for a missing person search mission to be at a D-level difficulty."
"D-rank? That bounty must be tens of thousands of taels of silver, boss. Why don't we take this mission?"
"No, D-rank missions aren't so easy to complete. Let's wait and see what other missions are available."
Du Fan didn't linger long. Finding that no one was accepting the bounty he had posted, he left. He didn't have much time left in Sangcheng.
……
"There's one last thing to do, but it's getting late, so I'd better find an inn to stay at first." Stepping out of the Hunter's Guild, Du Fan realized that dusk had passed and night was about to fall. After muttering to himself, he chose a direction and started walking.
Finally, Du Fan entered an inn, threw down a silver ingot, and was led to a superior room by the waiter.
Nothing happened that night, and the next morning, Du Fan left the inn early.
Sangcheng lived up to its reputation as a famous city. Before the sun had even risen, most of the shops were already open. Du Fan wandered aimlessly in and out of each shop, often visiting more than ten, but he never bought anything.
The morning passed quickly, and Du Fan had already purchased quite a few things. However, judging from his continued visits to various shops, he had not yet bought everything he needed.
"Some things are probably really unavailable, so I'll have to consider alternatives." After muttering to himself, Du Fan entered another shop, and when he came out, a look of satisfaction finally appeared on his face.
"These armored soldiers must be the famous Black Feather Swordsmen. It is said that they have amazing combat power and are the elite of our country, only half a level below the Fire Feather Knights."
"That's right, it's the Black Feather Swordsman. Wait, how come the Black Feather Swordsman is in Sang City? Shouldn't such elite troops be stationed in the barracks near the imperial city to guard it?"
"I have heard that the army of the Fanli Kingdom has invaded our Huoyu border, but with General Guo Xiong here, we will repel them sooner or later. I just don't know what this has to do with Sangcheng. Sangcheng is close to Kongsang Gate. Even if the enemy really invades, would they dare to come to our Sangcheng?"
The murmurs reached Du Fan's ears. Following the gaze of the crowd, Du Fan saw squads of armored warriors clad in silver armor with black feathers on their helmets, marching slowly and menacingly.
Seeing this scene, Du Fan couldn't help but think of the heroic Guo Xiong and the shy and cute little princess Han Xuan'er. A smile appeared on his lips, and he ignored the black-feathered swordsmen and the discussions among the crowd. He strode towards the place where the handyman Xiao Tang had arranged to meet him.
……
As evening fell, Du Fan finally returned to the Spirit Garden. Before he could even put the packages in the thatched hut, he saw a slender figure standing there. It was a woman with long hair that reached her waist, her back to him, gazing up at the sky.
Hearing footsteps behind her, the woman turned around abruptly, revealing a beautiful face that could make any man's heart flutter.
The woman was eighteen or nineteen years old, tall and slender, wearing a white Taoist robe. The green mulberry leaf imprint on her prominent chest indicated her status as a high-ranking inner disciple of the Kongsang Sect. At this moment, a hint of annoyance appeared on her beautiful face.
Just as Du Fan was marveling at how many beautiful women there were on this Blue Star, a cold snort came from behind him.
"Hmph! You, a mere inner sect servant, dared to leave the entire herb garden unattended for two whole days!"
"Hmm? I did have business to attend to when I came down the mountain, and I have also obtained the approval of Uncle Shen. May I ask what brings you here, Senior Sister?" Hearing the woman's nonsensical reprimand, Du Fan was somewhat annoyed, but he still held back. He bowed slightly and spoke in a manner that was neither humble nor arrogant. However, he had long forgotten about the woman's beautiful face.
"How dare you, a mere inner sect servant, speak to me like that!" The woman raised an eyebrow, her pretty face instantly turning as cold as frost. Her fair fingers slowly clenched, as if she were ready to strike at any moment.
"If Senior Sister wants to cause trouble, bully the weak, or hurt people, then go ahead and do it. Anyway, I'm just a mortal, and I can't beat you." Seeing the woman's attitude, Du Fan was angry and couldn't help but twitch his lips. He quickly thought of a way to provoke her, otherwise, if she made a move, he would be crippled if not killed.
"You! What a sharp-tongued person! Who was it that was being unreasonable, bullying the weak, and hurting people!" Upon hearing this, the woman in white stiffened instantly, her jade-like fingers suddenly rising to point at Du Fan, her lips trembling with anger.
She wasn't an inner disciple, but a core disciple with a higher status within the Kongsang Sect. Her master held a prestigious position within the sect, making her stand out even among the core disciples. Coupled with her beauty, she had many suitors. Normally, no one dared speak to her like that, let alone this lowly inner disciple servant before her. If her master hadn't sent her to handle that humiliating matter, she wouldn't have come to a place like this, waiting for a servant for two days. She had only intended to casually scold this boy to vent her anger, but she hadn't expected him to be so ungrateful, actually talking back to her. What was most infuriating was that the things he said left her unable to hit or scold him; she was now utterly frustrated.
"I also believe that Senior Sister wouldn't make things difficult for a mere servant like me. Junior Brother has misunderstood. I wonder if Senior Sister has come for something? If I can help, Junior Brother will certainly do my utmost." This was the first time Du Fan had heard someone call him a sharp-tongued person, and he couldn't help but touch his nose. But seeing that the other person wasn't malicious, he figured that her previous actions weren't her true intentions, but rather the result of an inner disciple's sense of superiority. Knowing the importance of knowing when to stop, he quickly spoke up.
"You! Fine, since you keep calling me 'Senior Sister,' let's drop this matter!" The woman in white felt so suffocated that she almost cried. Her face turned pale and then red, and she stomped her foot hard, gritting her teeth as she spoke.
Du Fan's heart skipped a beat when he glanced at the foot-long crack left on the ground after the woman stomped her foot.
"My master told me to come and buy some herbs, according to this list, to sell them to me at 60% of the pharmacy price." The woman took a deep breath, her ample bosom heaving. After a few breaths, feeling somewhat calmer, she spoke in a cold voice, taking out a piece of parchment. However, after she finished speaking, a slight blush appeared on her beautiful face.
"Senior sister, you should buy herbs at a pharmacy," Du Fan said instinctively, startled by the words.
"You...you're deliberately trying to embarrass me!" The woman finally lost her temper and shouted, her beautiful face now as cold as frost.
"Uh, sorry, junior brother is a bit slow, senior sister, please wait a moment." Du Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly understood. He hadn't expected an inner disciple to do this kind of thing, and the buyer seemed to be the other party's master, who was most likely a Foundation Establishment deacon, which was why he hadn't reacted immediately. After figuring it out, Du Fan hurriedly took the order. He only glanced at it and knew that this deal was risk-free. By charging 60% of the price, he could earn more than 300 spirit stones in one go. At the same time, he cursed Zhang Dashan in his heart, "Even inner disciples give me 60% of the spirit stones, and you only give me 50%!"
Du Fan then gave another bitter smile. In the past, he wouldn't have cared about even a fraction of the amount, let alone a single cent. But after coming to Kongsang Sect, had he perhaps... become a bad person?