Ding Shi chose the scouting team, which had an exploration quest attached.
Yu Yuan said, "The scouting team shouldn't be too large, and it's best if you carry weapons." The Returning Home instance had locked their item slots, so the only weapons available were those obtained back in Taoyuan Village.
The young woman at the front of the line produced a fowling piece. Yu Yuan nodded.
The second person, a handsome young man, stepped away.
The third, Ding Shi, produced a throwing knife. Yu Yuan looked at the blade, which was as thin as a cicada's wing, his expression constipated. What could that tiny thing possibly do? Seeing people leaving in twos and threes until hardly anyone remained, Yu Yuan finally nodded anyway.
The fourth was Wang Meng. Carrying no weapons, he raised a massive fist and declared, "Rank 1 Ninjutsu."
"Whoa!" A clamor of exclamations arose, though even more people looked completely baffled. Not being of the ninja profession, they had no idea what Rank 1 Ninjutsu actually entailed.
Players who had entered ninjutsu profession instances knew just how brutally difficult it was to reach Rank 1 within twenty-four hours, not to mention the immense stroke of good fortune it required. Rank 1 Ninjutsu meant the person had acquired and mastered at least one D-rank or higher ninjutsu in the instance.
Delighted, Yu Yuan asked, "Can you cast the Great Fireball Technique? You know, the kind that sputters rapid-fire like a Peashooter spitting flames?" If he knew the Great Fireball Technique, starting fires wouldn't be an issue at all.
Wang Meng felt insulted, but maintained an outwardly placid demeanor. "No," he replied. "What I mastered is the Great Summoning Technique."
This time, the entire crowd gasped. Even if one hadn't eaten pork, one had at least seen a pig run; the Great Summoning Technique was the signature skill of the three boss-tier figures in Fire Ninja, capable of summoning battle pets the size of small hills.
Facing the crowd's awed gasps, Wang Meng gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, his stern face showing not a trace of emotion.
The fifth person was a handsome young man who introduced himself, "My name is Xiao Liang. I'm a Novice Mage."
With that, Xiao Liang pulled out a magic wand and incanted, "Ex-belly-arm-us!" A glint of cold light flashed from the wand's tip, and a single drop of water fell from the sky, landing squarely on the mage's toe. (Derived from the Harry Potter disarming charm: Expelliarmus.)
The young man gave an embarrassed chuckle and explained, "Sometimes it shoots out an ice crystal. Those Brits have such a heavy accent that it's really hard to learn, haha."
Yu Yuan studied the four scouts, unable to shake the feeling that they were all rather unreliable. Leaving the throwing knife guy aside, the one dripping water was even more infuriating. And a hulking brute over a meter ninety tall actually claimed to have mastered the Great Summoning Technique? The only one who seemed halfway dependable was the girl holding the fowling piece.
Ding Shi asked the girl, "Hey, gorgeous, how much ammunition did you bring?"
She answered boldly, "I don't need ammo."
Ding Shi was stunned. "Taoyuan Village was hiding energy fowling pieces, too?"
"This isn't a fowling piece," she said. "It's a stick. Amitabha, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Su Su, a Shaolin lay disciple."
Several people gasped. "Joined a sect already? What an expert!" Clearly, these were players who had entered internal arts instances.
Su Su cupped her fists around the fowling piece and bowed to the crowd. "You flatter me, you flatter me."
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Yu Yuan's forehead. Could this scouting team really pull it off? But who dared say they couldn't? They had the pinnacle titles of three different professions: Rank 1 Ninjutsu, Novice Mage, and Shaolin Lay Disciple.
Then again, this was a scouting team, not a combat squad.
Yu Yuan nodded and told Su Su, "Then we'll be counting on you, heroine."
Su Su clasped her fists. "Think nothing of it!" With a wave of her hand, she declared, "Let's move out!" naturally assuming the role of captain.
Ding Shi asked meekly, "Aren't we taking anything to take notes with?"
Remembering, Su Su turned around and asked, "Who has pen and paper?"
No one answered, so Ding Shi reminded her, "Primitive society."
Su Su nodded. "Who has modern pens and paper?"
Ding Shi was speechless, but to his surprise, someone actually replied, "I do." Reluctant though he was, the man walked over to trade.
The fellow was clearly from the True Qi profession. He produced a bottle of ink, a writing brush, and a stack of blank yellow paper.
Ding Shi asked in surprise, "Brother, how did you bring out an entire stack of yellow paper?" A single item slot could only hold one sheet.
The man replied, "Completing a hidden quest in the True Qi instance gives you a talisman kit that can hold a bottle of ink, a brush, and a stack of blank yellow paper."
There were always people blessed by luck—it was maddening.
Su Su took the writing supplies, handed them to Ding Shi, and told the man, "Thank you."
The fellow waved dismissively. "Don't mention it." The talisman kit was untradable; otherwise, he would have bundled the whole thing off to Su Su. As the old saying went, drawing talismans looked like a ghost's scrawl. Drawing talismans truly wasn't a job fit for human beings, and he had already decided to switch paths and learn flying swords instead.
Ding Shi's item slots were full, and he didn't want to carry the items in his hands. Glancing aside, he shoved them onto Wang Meng.
Wang Meng snapped angrily, "Hold them yourself!"
"I'm illiterate," Ding Shi replied.
"Illiterate?"
"It's a debuff. What's yours?" Ding Shi didn't speak in a conversational tone, but in the impatient, perfunctory manner of a clerk at a state-run general store.
Wang Meng said, "Gluttony. Satiety from food is halved."
Su Su chimed in, "Mine is Parasites. Every so often I get abdominal pain. But compared to a woman's monthly visitor, it's nothing at all. Xiao Liang, what about you?"
Xiao Liang the mage replied, "Plummeting Luck. The success rate of any action relying on luck drops by ninety percent."
"Walking jinx," the other three chorused.
Xiao Liang said helplessly, "Tell me about it."
Chatting as they walked, the four headed into the forest. Wang Meng suddenly halted and said, "Ding Shi, let's call a truce." Ding Shi had been walking right behind him and had shifted positions three times. Wang Meng knew full well he was looking for an opening, hoping to send him straight to the afterlife with a single knife.
Ding Shi pondered for a moment. "You have the right to declare a truce, but I have the right to start a war. I'll give you an hour's notice before initiating combat, and I definitely won't ambush you." He placed heavy emphasis on the word 'ambush.'
Wang Meng agreed readily, "Deal." He knew Ding Shi. While other people in the jianghu valued loyalty, Ding Shi valued his word.
Wang Meng shoved the brush and ink onto Xiao Liang. "The jinx brings up the rear. You do the drawing."
Xiao Liang silently endured it.
***
The forest contained large trees, medium trees, small trees, and even out-of-season trees. A bayberry tree and a persimmon tree were bearing ripe fruit at the exact same time—how did they even dare?
Su Su said, "Draw a map."
Xiao Liang asked, "Can I just write it down?"
"As long as it's clear. We're currently exploring westward."
Seeing Ding Shi lost in thought, Wang Meng knew the guy had spotted a problem and asked, "What is it?"
Ding Shi glanced at Wang Meng. Remembering they were in the same camp for now, he didn't hold back. "Those two trees bear fruit in completely different seasons."
Wang Meng asked, "And?"
Ding Shi said, "Eating too many bayberries causes stomachaches, and eating too many persimmons also causes stomachaches. We've walked a hundred and fifty meters, and the food closest to our camp comes from these two trees. If there isn't any other edible food nearby, we'll have no choice but to eat them."
"Shh." Su Su, who had already climbed the tree to eat bayberries, hushed them and pointed to the northwest.
Two hundred meters to the west lay an open clearing cut by a ditch, toward which a saber-toothed cat was prowling. Suddenly, the saber-toothed cat lunged, charging toward three wild boars. The boars took off at full tilt, and predator and prey chased each other out of sight.
Chapter 67