Chapter Six: Three Matters
“Whew… whew…”
The old man lying crookedly in the small boat showed no sign of waking, emitting soft snores as he slept soundly.
Judging by his appearance, the old man seemed to be in his seventies or eighties.
His sparse, graying hair was tied back, revealing a scalp dotted with age spots. He wore coarse cloth fisherman’s garments and short pants, his emaciated body almost skeletal.
His exposed arms were darkened and sinewy, resembling strips of dried meat twisted together.
Inside the cabin hung a straw raincoat, a cleaver, dried fish, and beside them a small stove with a few chipped cups and bowls scattered about.
No matter how one looked at it, this was just an old fisherman eking out a living.
Seeing that the old man ignored him, Gu Fangchen was not in a hurry. He rolled up the curtain and sat down at the prow of the boat by himself.
With practiced ease, he plucked a newly dried fish from the hanging batch, tore off a strip and began to chew it as a snack.
*Smack, smack.*
The old man’s eyebrows twitched; it seemed he caught the sound of teeth grinding.
Gu Fangchen ate with relish.
The old man’s skill at drying fish was unparalleled—in the game, this was a purple-quality delicacy that could be used to bribe many NPCs.
In the game, item quality ranged from gray, white, green, blue, purple, gold, orange, red to rainbow.
For food items, gold was the pinnacle.
Gu Fangchen had long been curious just how delicious a single dried fish had to be to reach purple quality.
Today, he finally tasted it.
Even with his modern palate, accustomed to technology and intense flavors, he could give it a fair appraisal.
Gu Fangchen smacked his lips but found it a bit salty.
He bit the dried fish, reached out to set up the small stove, gathered some twigs outside, and scooped lake water into a chipped bowl.
Then, he expertly fished out a fire striker from a jumble of miscellaneous items in the boat.
Just like that, he naturally started boiling water.
*Gurgle, gurgle.*
The old man’s forehead veins bulged, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Whose boat was this, after all?
Why did this guy seem more familiar with his belongings than himself?
That fire striker was often tossed about carelessly; he frequently had to rummage through the boat to find it.
Yet this inexplicable youngster found it on the first try!
A flicker of suspicion stirred in the old man’s heart—could someone really be spying on him without his senses detecting it?
No, impossible.
Not to mention if there were someone more powerful than him personally monitoring him.
At least this guy in front of him definitely had no cultivation whatsoever.
After a while, Gu Fangchen hastily put out the fire, poured the boiling water into the bowl, and waited for the night breeze to cool it.
He kept himself busy meanwhile.
He picked up a stone, tossed it in his hand, then threw it out, playing with skipping stones.
*Plap, plap, plap…*
Listening to the stones skipping across the water, the old man’s chest heaved heavily, his breath deep and labored, his fists finally clenched tight.
A pair of fierce eyes, full of murderous intent, snapped open.
In the darkness, they shone like sudden glints of cold steel.
He was only old, not dead.
One day, even a brash young punk dared to disrespect him so freely!
So what if he was the heir to the Northern Protectorate Prince?
Even if the Northern Protectorate Prince himself came, he would still have to show him the utmost respect!
Gu Fangchen seemed oblivious, continuing to casually toss stone after stone.
*Plap, plap, plap…*
The old man sat up, looking like a skeleton with barely any flesh hanging on, coldly staring at him in the dark.
Gu Fangchen suddenly turned around and said,
“Killing me is very easy.”
“Not only do I have no cultivation, but I also carry three rare, incurable poisons. You don’t even need to lay a finger on me—I probably won’t live past twenty-four hours.”
The old man weighed the cleaver in his hand, chuckled coldly, and said,
“So that’s why you came here to find death?”
Gu Fangchen shook his head.
“I’m not here to die. On the contrary, I’m here to survive.”
The old man’s gaze swept over the fish strips that looked like they’d been gnawed by dogs, the blackened stove, and the rippling lake surface, expressionless.
“So this is your survival strategy?”
Gu Fangchen spread his hands.
“Don’t you think it’s quite a coincidence?”
He looked directly into the old man’s eyes.
“Saint Warrior Ding Xingfeng detests three things above all else in his life—”
“Taking without asking, wasting resources, and bringing harm to innocent bystanders.”
The old man was silent for a moment, then slowly said,
“Looks like you know me well, perhaps even better than I know myself.”
Gu Fangchen did not deny the misunderstanding implied by “you all.”
Or rather, he did it deliberately.
To rationalize his actions, the best way was to invoke the name of the secret immortal sect that the protagonist in the game belonged to.
Hearing Ding Xingfeng’s words, he knew he was safe.
This old man was a high-level hidden NPC from the White Horse Temple.
Also one of the highest-ranking neutral NPCs in the entire game—a background so formidable it was terrifying.
He was one of the seven second-rank masters of the current Great Wei era, the “Unbeatable Saint Warrior” Ding Xingfeng!
Of course, raising this stubborn old man’s favorability enough to receive quests and rewards was extremely difficult.
Almost every player got stuck at the first step—how to trigger dialogue.
Everyone knew there was a hidden NPC near White Horse Temple, but no matter how they tried, he would only respond with “...”.
If it weren’t for a certain expert who obtained critical intelligence, who would have guessed that the only way to trigger dialogue was to do three things Ding Xingfeng hated most in one go!
You had to first drag his favorability down into the negatives; otherwise, he wouldn’t even acknowledge you.
It was downright counterintuitive and inhuman.
Then, after players did those three things, there was an 80% chance he would kill them outright, and only a 20% chance to start a conversation…
So generally, to trigger the dialogue, you had to first make sure you could survive a strike from the Saint Warrior.
Gu Fangchen was now blessed with national fortune; only then did he dare to act boldly like this.
As long as Ding Xingfeng stood up and spoke, everything would be much easier.
Gu Fangchen looked up at the sky, feigning mystery, and said solemnly,
“There are always some people in this world who can easily command fate beneath this sky.”
The gaunt old man sneered coldly,
“Heh, and you think you’re one of them? Is it your muddy dantian that commands fate, or your body riddled with poison?”
Gu Fangchen was speechless.
This old man’s tongue was just as sharp.
Pretending not to hear, he toyed with the stone in his hand.
“Let’s make a bet.”
Ding Xingfeng grinned, a hint of personal grudges twisting his face as he toyed with his cleaver.
“Since you know who I am, what right do you have to bet with me? I’m not interested in your so-called fate, but I might be interested in killing you.”
Gu Fangchen smiled.
“Actually, I’ve already sealed the three things the Saint Warrior hates most into a letter stone and handed it to the Heavenly Eye Division.”
“As soon as I die, the seal on the letter stone will be lifted.”
Ding Xingfeng was speechless.
“Oh, I think I wrote it wrong—it turned out to be the Saint Warrior’s disciple acceptance conditions, and I even included the address…”
“What do you want to bet?”
“Let’s bet on the number of skips the next stone makes.”
Ding Xingfeng felt bored.
“What’s the point of that bet?”
Gu Fangchen’s gaze was calm as he handed over the stone.
“You throw it.”
Ding Xingfeng’s expression froze, then he turned his head and looked at Gu Fangchen with eyes that suddenly changed.
It was incomprehensible.
As if staring at a complete fool.
Gu Fangchen continued,
“I’ll say a number, and then you throw.”
“If the number of skips matches what I say, you win.”
He flashed a brilliant smile.
“If not, I win.”