บท 5: First Tutorial Quest (4)
Chapter 5 – First Tutorial Quest (4)
In ancient China, there was a tradition regarding hair. Confucianism dominated ancient Chinese culture for over a thousand years. In Classic of Filial Piety of Confucian, they considered hair as important as every part of their body or a legacy from their parents to children. Cutting one's hair was like cutting ties with their parents, which was considered unfilial and disgraceful.
Thus, ancient Chinese kept their long hair to display their connection and respect towards their ancestors. Anyone with short hair was considered as barbaric ruffians.
Imperial authority sometimes cut the criminal's hair to shame them before they imprisoned them. It was a gesture that they didn't deserve to be treated as filial sons or daughters as they broke the laws.
Occasionally, hair-cutting symbolized death. In Romance of Three Kingdom tale by Luo Guanzhong, when Guan Yu managed to capture Cao Cao after the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao cut his hair as a substitution of himself that he had died there by the hands of Guan Yu. This action reflected their hair culture.
And in this world, the culture of the natives was the same. Miaomiao having short crew-cut hair was seen as a disrespectful person, an uncult barbarian foreigner, an unfilial man, or an ex-criminal. As a result, Mao Miaomiao was called a lowly slave as the natives didn't see him as their equal.
Miaomiao recalled the ancient Chinese culture, which reflected in most cultivation novels. He understood why everyone discriminated him.
'This is bad. My short hair is an eyesore for these people. I need a wig real fast.'
When in Rome, do as the Romans do!
Miaomiao understood the difference in cultures, but the native people didn't. Unless he had a wig or grew long hair, the discrimination would continue.
Miaomiao didn't waste his time loitering on the road anymore. He rushed toward Mountain Goose City.
.
.
.
Back at Wei Huang's group, the owner of the stolen jade sword caught up with his grandfather's carriage.
Wei Feng, the youth in Mountain Goose Sect's uniform, rushed to his grandfather inside the main carriage. The escort soldiers made ways for their young master to get in.
Wei Feng sat inside the carriage and reported his trouble, "Grandfather! A slave stole my jade sword. Can you-Eh? You have it?"
Wei Feng saw his engraved sword on his grandfather's lap, but the latter's face grimaced as he examined the dimmed weapon.
Seeing that Wei Huang was busy inspecting his personal sword, Wei Feng was curious, "How did you get it? Did you run into that thieving slave?"
Sitting next to Wei Huang in the carriage, Wei Feng's younger sister was also interested in the dimmed jade sword. She answered in her grandfather's stead, "Grandfather has run into the thief, and we got the sword back. But the charged yang qi energy inside the jade sword is gone."
"Huh?" Wei Feng didn't believe it, "That's impossible. That jade sword was refined by a 4th stage blacksmith yesterday. The yang qi inside the sword is enough to recover any exhausted 2nd stage cultivator's energy to the fullest many times. How come it's empty?"
The old grandfather peered his grandson, "I also had the same idea, but I can't explain how this jade sword runs out of yang energy. Say, Feng'er, have you used this sword recently, or have you transformed into THAT body?"
"No! I've been keeping it to absorb its energy! I've never used it in a fight!"
"Then, how did your sword get to the hands of a stray slave?"
Instead of regretting, Wei Feng laughed, "I gave it to him, so he can die from qi poisoning. I want to transform the jade sword into a haunted sword in legends!"
Wei Huang bellowed, "FOOL! Only elite blacksmiths can handle cursed weapons! Even if we are demons, we won't be able to pacify angry spirits! Don't do this again, or I'll expel you from the sect myself!"
"Don't worry, grandfather. I have confidence as a proud Oni. We are the best demon race with yang qi, so those haunted spirits can't scare me!"
Wei Huang wanted to scold his grandson as he was too naïve, but he gave up, "Forget it. If you want a cursed weapon that much, I'll ask a mermaid from Blood Sea to fetch a few of them for you to practice. For now, you should focus on passing the inner disciple examination. Even if I'm the first elder of the sect, I can't help you with this."
Wei Feng smacked his chest like an ape, "I won't lose to those inner disciple chumps! The moment I activate my true power, those humans will be flattened instantly!"
"The moment you reveal your demon form, it will be our clan's demise. Don't do that."
"Just kidding! Hahaha!"
Wei Huang sighed and turned toward his teenage granddaughter. She was a half-Caucasian half-Asian beauty with gold wavy long hair. The granddaughter ignored their conversation and focused on the dimmed jade sword.
"What do you think?" Asked Wei Huang.
"It should have something to do with that stray slave. Didn't he unsheathe the sword? He might have absorbed all the qi in the sword at that time."
"That's impossible. He's only a 1st stage cultivator. I didn't sense qi or any power in his body."
"But demons like us can hide our qi, no?"
"… You mean."
"I don't know if he's really stupid or a cunning demon in a human's skin, but I'm sure that he has a secret or two. We should find him and bring him back. I have a few questions to ask him."
"Hmm," Wei Huang leaned backward as he recalled the actions of Mao Miaomiao, "It's troublesome if I go around and search for that slave. The Xu Clan and Fu De will definitely make a fuse and attempt to use this incident against us again. Let's just wait and hope that he will eventually run into one of our clan's shops, and then we can capture him alive."
.
.
.
"I-It exists here!? I'm not the first transmigrator in this world?"
Half a day later in the late afternoon, Miaomiao managed to reach the town by following the road and the crowd. This time, he didn't ask or talk with anyone and dashed straight to the city.
It was tiring to keep running and walking for hours, but Miaomiao managed to get to the city in one piece without stirring trouble. Because of exhaustion, he didn't notice the town structures. He simply headed toward the nearest tavern to rest.
As soon as he picked an available table and sat, Miaomiao found himself in a modern concrete building with running electricity instead of an ancient wooden one. He widened his eyes in shock when his eyes found a running vendor machine with several soft drinks, beer, and liquor that he knew.
Pepsi
Cola
Fanta
Sprite
Heineken
Snow
Budweiser
Johnny Walker
Smirnoff Vodka
Various modern brands and products that were not supposed to exist in this novel world were everywhere.
'Hory sheet, Korea Jesus! Did someone from the modern world come here and mess with this world? Did he transmigrate here and become an internet cafe owner?'
Miaomiao had a scare that there might be others who transmigrated from the modern as well.
Still, because of the thirstiness and inner craving, Miaomiao raised his hand to call a waiter. He ordered a bottle of cold beer without hesitation, "Xiao'er, one cold Heineken, please."
A waiter rushed to Miaomiao's table to take the order. But when he saw Miaomiao's short hair, he frowned in disgust.
"Sir, one bottle of low-grade Heineken is 100 taels of silver. Not that I want to be rude, but we have a policy – cash before delivery. Do you have enough silver for the beer, sir?"
Miaomiao paused and raised his head to stare at the waiter's face in confusion. What he was surprised wasn't the rude attitude of the waiter, but he was curious by the key-word, [Low-Grade].
"Is there a grade in beer?"
The waiter passed him a beverage menu. It was made of leather and plastic.
Similar to the modern world, the menu displayed pictures of their liquor. They came in various sizes and qualities. One low-grade drinks ranged from 100 taels of silver to 200. Middle-graded ones added more zeros to the price tags, and the high-grades required reservation.
"Why is there [Grades] in drinks? Can they give me +5 strength or what?"
The waiter's face distorted, not understanding the gaming jargon. Still, he patiently explained, "I see that you're unfamiliar with spirit drinks, so I'll elaborate. Low-grade drinks can enhance and increase qi within your dantian. One bottle of a low-grade soft drink can provide about 10 to 20 strands of qi, which is equal to one low-grade spirit stone. Although it's much cheaper than using a spirit stone to cultivate, the quality of qi is different. You will need a month to digest those qi strands, but you can instantly absorb forces in spirit stones and convert them into yours within less than a day."
"Oh!"
"In short, spirit drinks are cheaper, but it's a less efficient way to cultivate. But for me and for you, my dear customer, it's cost-efficient. How about it? Would you like one?"
The waiter didn't forget to point at the price tag, stressing that it might be too expensive for Miaomiao.
Mao Miaomiao snorted. He picked one gold coin and flashed it in front of the waiter, "Do you think I don't have the money? Do you know how much it is?"
The waiter widened his eyes in shock, "Sir, have you robbed someone recently?"
"Bastard! Do you want me to call your manager!? Go fetch me a bottle of cold beer, or I'll freaking file a complaint to your boss!"
"Y-Yes, sir! Right away, sir!"
The waiter ran back to the kitchen and brought a green bottle of cold beer for Miaomiao. The glass bottle was the same as the modern world, but it leaked strange aura.
As Miaomiao opened the bottle and was about to drink it, he noticed the sneer of the waiter and nearby customers. They were looking at him as if they were looking forward to a show.
Their eyes were similar to those thugs and the brown men of Qing Clan.
'Something's wrong.'
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
DamnPlotArmor
DamnPlotArmor 2 today, one tomorrow.
บท 6: First Tutorial Quest (5)
Chapter 6 – First Tutorial Quest (5)
Miaomiao paused. He peered at the waiter with the corner of his eyes, "What?"
"Nothing, sir. Go ahead. Enjoy the beer."
"You didn't mix poison in the beer, do you?"
"Please. Stop with the baseless accusation. I'm just an honest worker here. Poisoning a customer will ruin my career! Why should I do that?" Despite saying that, the waiter still had the smug grin and the laughing eyes.
Miaomiao turned around and glared at the waiter, "What's your cultivation base?"
"Pardon?"
"What's your strength? Muscle tampering?"
"Err, I'm just a 1st stage cultivator like you, sir…"
"What level?"
"Level … err … five, sir."
Miaomiao's face twitched. He didn't know if the waiter lied, or the guy was really stronger than him.
"You drink it."
"Err, pardon, sir?"
"I said, you drink it!"
The waiter hesitated. He dragged his feet a couple steps backward and shook his head, "No, sir. I can't drink that."
"Why not?"
"That's … er. I just can't, sir!"
"Oh? But I insist!"
The waiter's face changed. His gentle expression distorted, "Please don't push your luck, sir! You can't just force me to drink that."
"Then, why is it that you can't drink my beer?"
"That's none of your business, sir," The waiter finally lost his temper.
"Oho?"
Miaomiao stood up and walked toward the waiter, but the latter suddenly drew a short knife and pointed at the former.
"Now, give me all your money, and we'll spare your life… SIR."
Instead of getting intimidated, Miaomiao chuckled.
'Ah, he's really a villain mob. These people usually have impaired intelligence in novels, but they can be extra stupid when they are getting too greedy.'
Miaomiao liked what he saw. Just like when he conversed with Qing Yong and their friends, his eyes curved up while his smiling mouth became crescent. It was an evil smile, "So, you've revealed your true color. What's in the beer, then?"
"I see that you're a newbie in this town. Spirit drinks can only be taken by 2nd stage cultivators or above. A weakling like you will just simply die upon drinking it. Since you're stupid enough to order an overpriced beer, you should be obedient and give us your money, so you won't get robbed by other cruel bastards, sir. Well, I should be calling you a SLAVE instead of SIR, now."
Five meters next to Miaomiao's table, ten cultivators with ragged clothes had been eyeing Miaomiao's gold for a while. They stood up and abandoned their long table to encircle Miaomiao. One of them closed the entrance door and locked it, trapping the transmigrator inside the building. However, there was another cultivator customer who was in the tavern bar as well.
.
The chairs and table set in this tavern were no ordinary. The tables are sculpted tree stumps with a smooth surface and a hollowed area for leg space. The chairs were also tree stumps with cushions, but they were smaller and shorter.
Customers could move them around, but they were still heavy for ordinary people. The lightest table in this tavern weighed 80kg while each chair was 30kg on average.
Yet, one man had relocated one set of table and chair to the corner of the tavern, so he could sit by himself. He had been there since morning, before Miaomiao's arrival.
A lone short elderly man with silver hair and braided full beard was enjoying several bottles of middle-grade whiskey. His rough skin, short stature, big hands, and messy body hair looked like a dwarf from a western fantasy novel more than a Chinese cultivator, but he wore white robe uniform of the Mountain Goose Sect.
Luo Cheng, the dwarf elder, glanced at the commotion and scoffed in annoyance.
"A bunch of 2nd stage gangsters bullying a 1st stage rookie. These losers always appear every year. Time to clean up some parasites."
Luo Cheng stood up and pulled his giant smith hammer from his spatial ring, planning to rescue Miaomiao. But when the dwarf saw a glimpse of sinister light within Miaomiao's eyes, he raised his eyebrows in amusement.
The dwarf sat down and picked another whiskey bottle to chug it.
"Hohoho! They've run into a psychopath this time. Go ahead, boy. Show me what you can do. Their heads are yours."
.
'A broad daylight robbery in the freaking city. They don't give a crap about laws and order at all, do they?'
Miaomiao sighed. He wasn't worried about the knife, but he worried about the ten men. Fighting an armed man was already difficult, but fighting ten men at once was an impossible task even for an ex-professional MMA fighter like him.
At first, Miaomiao wanted to beat the hell out of the waiter but the situation changed when many men got involved.
Miaomiao grabbed the beer bottle, planning to smash it with the corner of the table to make a sharp-edge melee weapon and fight to the death.
As soon as Miaomiao picked up the beer, the system interrupted him.
<<Ding>>
<<You have obtained a low-grade spirit beer.>>
<<You can drink this beer and obtain 40 yang qi.>>
Miaomiao paused.
'Huh? Won't I be poisoned?'
<<You cannot be poisoned by ordinary qi.>>
'Hmm. So, what's the use of yang qi?'
<<You will need them to cultivate in the future. However, as you are under the grace of the first month protection period, you can exchange your collected yang qi for emergency service.>>
<<Current service – Two Minutes of Super Perception Boost: 1,000 Yang Qi.>>
'Just one service?'
<<Please complete more quests to unlock more perks and services.>>
The service fee was expensive, but it might be useful against 11 people in the tavern. Miaomiao sighed in regret that he had to spend the newly acquired energy so soon.
'Easy comes, easy goes. Use it, system. Give me the buff!'
<<Affirmative!>>
<<You have spent 1,000 strands of yang qi.>>
<<You currently have 300 strands of yang qi.>>
<<Your overall strength and power output has been increased to 2nd stage level 1 for 2 minutes.>>
<<Tutorial Hint: This skill can be learned if you practice the Demonic Body Strengthening Technique. You can buy this technique manual after you've completed more tutorial quests.>>
Miaomiao could sense burning energy circulating throughout his body as if hot water was flowing inside him. Time flow around Miaomiao became slower, and his perception range expanded.
Looking around him, Miaomiao laughed in his mind, 'This feels like I'm a spiderman. Hell, I can even see a fly from far away!'
Exhilarated by the system's buff, he chugged the cold beer.
<<You have acquired 20 strands of life qi.>>
<<Unable to store life qi in the host's dantian. Proceeding to convert life qi into yang qi.>>
<<You have acquired 40 strands of yang qi.>>
As soon as the waiter and the 10 gangsters saw that Miaomiao drank the beer, their jaws dropped in astonishment. A few seconds later, they sneered and laughed.
"Hey, he's committing suicide!"
"Oh, since you can't fight, you decide to kill yourself. How considerate of you!"
The waiter also lowered his knife and waited to see how Miaomiao would die by qi deviation or qi poisoning.
But when the last drop of beer entered Miaomiao's throat, he swung the empty bottle at the waiter's head.
*PLANK*
The glass bottle shattered! Miaomiao rotated the broken bottle grip and thrust the sharp edge into the waiter's neck. The broken glass severed the latter's artery
'Nothing personal. If I don't kill you, I'll die.'
Like a cornered dog, he decided to kill for his survival. Yet, he couldn't stop his evil smile.
While Miaomiao's eyes curved up, he glanced at the ten burly men, who were surrounding him by all sides. He marked their current positions in his mind.
Then, Miaomiao pulled the broken bottle from the waiter's neck. Blood gushed out from the severed artery and splashed on his face.
The waiter was still staring at Miaomiao in shock while his body lost strength. He fell on the floor and dropped the short knife.
"BASTARD!"
The ten thugs drew their weapons and charged at Miaomiao!
Miaomiao picked the waiter's knife by the edge and threw it towards one of the thugs.
*FWOOSH*
*POEK*
The knife got stuck into a thug's left eye, "AAAAHHHH!!"
As soon as Miaomiao finished throwing the knife, he grabbed the stump chair that he had sat with his available hand and lifted it.
Normally, his weak arm and untrained muscle shouldn't be able to lift a 30kg chair with one hand. The system boosted his physical strength burst output, which enabled him to pick it up. Still, Miaomiao could feel the weight.
Miaomiao threw the tree stump toward two thugs, who stood next to each other.
One thug reacted to the flying chair. He leaped to the left and dodged the oncoming tree stump, but the other one failed to avoid it.
The stump slammed on his face, broke his nose, and cracked his skull. He was crushed under the weight of the dried wood and fell on the floor, losing his consciousness.
Two thugs were out of commission. Eight remained.
One of the gangsters was faster than the others. They reached Miaomiao and raised a saber up high, planning to cut the latter into two.
Miaomiao detected the incoming strike from the corner of his eyes. From his perspective, the slash was as slow as a YouTube clip in 0.25x speed.
He took one step backward and rotated his shoulder, moving away from the motion path. The strike missed Miaomiao and landed where he had stood.
Now, the saber thug revealed an opening. He showed his back to Miaomiao.
The broken bottle edge in Miaomiao's hand found its way into the back of the saber thug's neck.
*SWUA*
Miaomiao didn't pull out the broken beer bottle this time. Behind him, three thugs with thin swords pincered him.
Three swords went for Miaomiao's chest and neck!
This was the hard part of fighting many people at once. One could get surrounded and attacked by many opponents at the same time.
"Tsk!"
Miaomiao dragged the saber guy and turned around, using him as his shield. Two thin swords stabbed into the injured thug's chest, but the other one missed Miaomiao's face by half a centimeter.
Two more thugs caught up with the other three. They raised their sabers and tried to chop Miaomiao.
Miaomiao snatched the dead thug's saber that he had just used as a shield and threw him to the three swordsmen. He disengaged and kicked the ground, rushing at the two new enemies with sabers.
Before the two sabers could come down and hack him, Miaomiao's shoulder tackled one of the saber users and knocked him off balance. The latter fell on the floor on his butt.
Miaomiao gripped his saber hilt with two hands as if he was holding a baseball bat. He turned away from the tackled man and swung his saber, aiming at his next target's abdomen.
*SWUA*
The saber user's belly was sliced open, and his intestines slipped out of his stomach. The guy dropped his saber in panic and tried to shove them back inside.
But Miaomiao was merciless. He turned around and sent a thrust kick toward the saber user's chest.
*PEOK*
The opened belly man got kicked away. He failed to recover his innards and fell unconscious from the shock.
Miaomiao's hands were not idle. They swung his saber at the guy who he had just tackled and fell on the floor.
*SWUA*
A head was lopped off from the owner's neck, and a fountain of blood splashed on Miaomiao's face and body again.
After killing three saber users, five thugs remained.
Miaomiao turned around and faced the remaining enemies. His back was now clear from danger.
The evil smile and the blood on Miaomiao's face sent chills to the survivors' spines. His eyes always curved upward while his smile distorted into a crescent shape.
Moreover, the sinister dark light in Miaomiao's eyes didn't belong to someone who had never killed a person. It was the face of a lunatic who got addicted to killings and combats.
"Who's next?"
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง
DamnPlotArmor
DamnPlotArmor
Sorry for the late chap. Here it is UwU
For the "Quest Content", it will come in chapter 9-10.
ของขวัญ
-- ได้รับของขวัญแล้ว สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
200+ การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
8 หินพลัง 
ความคิดเห็นย่อย