That one slash from Xia Mao’s latest Dragon Slaying Scimitar was enough to bring each and every single Dragon Headed Nian down when they ambushed them. Though in Zi Dan and Jing Yu’s perspective, it was quite a bit of exaggeration. Unfortunately, it was indeed something like this when the scene replayed through Xia Mao’s head.
Heala had buffed Xia Mao before the start of the battle, giving him speed comparable to Zi Dan even though it lasted for less than half a minute. The boost in speed gave the Blind Cat Cultivator a significant rush of adrenaline, allowing him to pick off the Dragon Headed Nians as many as possible before the boost dissipated into nothingness.
While the feeling of immense satisfaction drunk his mind to cloud nine, Xia Mao also felt the pain emanating from his digital wallet. The number of Panda Medals he had left was close to zero. Yet, they made quick work of this variant of the Nian, the small Dragon Headed Nians since the original one they had fought had a lion head instead.
“I suggest we bring back these bodies to the village. The last time I was here, they offered some reward for these.” Tanke advised as he tied two of the dead ones together and carried them over his shoulder.
Obviously, this was part of the dungeon side quest line, and the System was using the opportunity to cheat Xia Mao while allowing them to clear the quest lines quicker. It explicitly wanted the Elder Pandarens to be among the few who stay in line and get the first clear since the System knew Pandawans like Bu Dong and his friends were already prepping for the limited dungeon instance.
“Let’s try putting them inside our storage rings.” Zi Dan suggested as he tried to register them as items, but the storage ring refused to take them in.
“You probably need a monster storage ring like those people who go hunting.” Jing Yu pointed out as she too used her cloth to tie three of them together and carried them behind her backs. While it seemed like an amazing sight, their cultivation grades allowed them to move such heavy creatures with ease.
For this very same reason and a side note, Jin wanted to expand the Pandafull delivery service because he knew that the longer-serving employees that were with the ‘company’ since the start had gathered enough cultivation strength and stamina to do more tedious deliveries.
“I can’t allow myself to be outmatched by Lady Jing Yu!” Tanke announced as he tied yet another two more dead Nians and placed it on his shield while he dragged it with a rope. This way, his shield acted like a metal plate that kept the Nian monsters intact while transporting them.
“Aren’t you afraid that your shield will be damaged from the friction and all that pulling?” Zi Dan asked as he too tied four of those Nians and carried it behind him.
“If the shield breaks because of some simple dragging, then it’s a useless shield in the first place. Hahahah! But don’t you worry. This shield has been with me since birth, and it has protected me for as long as I can remember. A bit of transportation won’t hurt it.” Tanke answered with pride as he started to pull the load of Nians forward.
“The village should not be far from here! Just over the rocks and we will be able to see a clearing!” Heala cheered the others on while carrying just two Nians on her back and she started to walk on fours for better support.
Soon, the entire party managed to reach their destination without any problems, and the villagers were surprised to see a cultivator group bringing corpses of their dreaded enemy.
“Pandarens! I thought you would not be arriving when I saw the storm brewing at the far end of the island. And when there were no signs of you people, we feared the worse!” The oldest and wisest man came to greet them. “Ah, apologies for my poor manners! Song Erming, Chief of Song Chew Village at your service!”
“Such good kills…” Another elder came forth to check the goods that the cultivators had bought. “Most of them were killed with a single stab from the back, leaving quite a lot of the meat and organs intact!”
“Ah! Yiming, you should thank the heavens that the cultivators have managed to eliminate Nian’s babies before they feast on ours!” Erming said, and his older brother nodded his head.
“Yes, yes. Thank you, cultivators. May I have your names?” Yiming later introduced himself as the Head Hunter for the village and told them the predicament that they were in.
Similar to the stories and legends of Nian in real life, what the Elder Pandarens heard was identical with a twist. The Boss Nian they had faced turned out to be the Mother Nian who had led her children on this island for feeding.
The ‘attacks’ were supposed to be triggered when the cultivators arrived in Song Chew Village, but because of the change Jin had secretly forced upon them, they literally changed how the usual events were triggered.
Mr Know-It-All, who happened to be in the cinema theatres, had witnessed the change and was documenting everything in his forum posts. (Does that guy ever sleep?)
That alone already alerted Jin that he was around and questioned the System why he was not informed of his presence.
“Why is User so surprised? System clearly stated that Mr Know-It-All has been behaving as if it was his personal hideout. There was no need for the System to report anything because nothing has changed and he continues to await User meeting him.” The System said, and Jin smiled bitterly.
“The fact that I have changed the shop instance and he was here waiting patiently only proves his tenacity, I guess?” Jin commented, but the System denied such a statement.
“No, Mr Know-It-All has been staying here as if it was his working hours. Only today, he decided to stay here through the night. System believes that he might have predicted User would release your new dungeon instance. However, as System does not read the minds of the customers, User will have to ask Mr Know-It-All yourself.”
“Fine, fine. I shall pay him a visit then. Please tell me when the Elder Pandarens have finished their side quests and are ready to fight the Boss battle. It doesn’t seem like their contenders have too high of a chance of clearing the dungeon on their current attempt …well except for Bu Dong, so I would like to personally watch their fight when it is their turn. That way I can at least commend them if they received their new title.” Jin said as he started to pick his phone up and got ready to enter the Panda Street Instance to check on Mr Know-It-All.
He felt as if the post was basically meant to tell Jin ‘Hey I’m around, come find me, you stupid boss! I have been patiently waiting for a heck of a long time.’ (At least that was the way Jin interpreted it.)
True enough, when Jin teleported into the cinema theatre where a number of cultivators were happily watching the cultivators trying their beast, Mr Know-It-All yawned and tapped on the seat beside him, beckoning Jin to sit with him.
