Chapter 173 Angus

"There's another name here, Angus!" Fine Waist Dance announced, having found something on her slip of paper.

"Uh, I don't think anyone would mistake that monster for a woman, would they?" Xi Xiaotian asked.

Everyone shook their heads vigorously.

"Then it's obvious, he's Angus, Gilkinos' assistant, and also Gilkinos' student. And this girl mentioned here, Courtney, is also Gilkinos' student. They must have been lovers," Xi Xiaotian said.

"Really? It doesn't really say that on the note!" Gu Fei remarked.

Xi Xiaotian pulled a piece of paper from his own pile and shoved it in front of Gu Fei's eyes. It was filled with cheesy lines like "I love you," and "I love you too."

"Students these days are really something," Gu Fei said.

"This one, look at this one." Yu Tian Shen Ming had made another discovery.

"Angus, I don't think this project is right. Can we please stop?"

"Haha, don't worry, Teacher has already found a solution."

"Oh? What is it?"

"I'll only tell you this in secret. It's magic, can you believe it? It's such a miraculous thing."

"Magic? I feel even more uneasy."

"Everything will be alright, trust me."

"Mmm." Xi Xiaotian nodded after listening. "The story's becoming clearer, isn't it? Probably in this project, that guy Gilkinos used some magic he shouldn't have, or something went wrong, or Angus was originally meant to be a sacrifice in his plan, causing him to undergo this terrible transformation."

"Look here… so pitiful." Fine Waist Dance gathered a stack of papers and handed them out.

"This part seems different from the previous papers," Xi Xiaotian said.

"But the handwriting's all the same. This isn't the back-and-forth notes we saw before," Yu Tian Shen Ming pointed out.

"It's Angus' handwriting, but it seems a bit different," Gu Fei said, flipping through the papers.

"I think it's because he had already changed at this point. He couldn't go and find Courtney anymore, so he could only write on paper, uh, expressing his longing…" Fine Waist Dance said.

"The handwriting's getting more and more chaotic." Xi Xiaotian flipped through the papers one by one. "It seems this transformation made it harder and harder for him to maintain a normal person's consciousness."

"So pathetic! Even like that, he still couldn't forget his Courtney." Fine Waist Dance said, looking at Gu Fei. "You're the murderer."

"Hey! You almost threw up when you saw him," Gu Fei reminded Fine Waist Dance.

"That doesn't affect my sympathy for him," Fine Waist Dance replied.

"Alright… Actually, these things aren't the main point for us. The main point should be this project mentioned here. Perhaps it's that cave at the bottom of Yun Jiao Lake, there must be some kind of secret there," Gu Fei said.

"Murderer…" Fine Waist Dance was still absorbed in the story.

"That was just a string of data!" Gu Fei exclaimed.

"There's definitely something fishy about that cave. There's no need to doubt that, and these little notes have only further proven it. But how exactly do we unravel this secret? There's not a single clue. Maybe we should go take a look inside that cave?" Xi Xiaotian suggested.

"Impossible," Gu Fei shook his head.

"Why?"

"Because it's underwater, and humans need to breathe," Gu Fei told her.

"Then this quest, finding Gilkinos, finding Angus, maybe it's all to obtain a way to get to that place," Xi Xiaotian said. "Maybe we shouldn't have killed him…"

"I didn't kill him." Gu Fei shrugged. "The players did."

"Or maybe after killing him, he would have dropped some important clue, or item."

"Looks like we won't be getting it then." Gu Fei looked back into the distance. The sea of players had drowned Angus. Even if he dropped something, it would have already been picked up by some player. It'd be extremely difficult to find it again in this ocean of people.

"But these pieces of paper have given us another clue," Xi Xiaotian said.

"You mean, this Courtney?" Gu Fei asked.

"That's right. From the contents of those notes about Angus longing for Courtney, we can clearly see that Courtney isn't dead. Angus only turned into this because of the project, and he didn't dare to see her again. Gilkinos, Angus, and Courtney know about this project. Courtney might know the least, but she's our only choice. At least, that's the case for now," Xi Xiaotian said.

Gu Fei nodded and flipped through the papers in his hand again. "But there's absolutely no mention of where to find her. More searching… I hate searching for people."

"At least this is just an NPC, it's much easier than finding a player," Xi Xiaotian said.

"Wait, wait, wait." Gu Fei suddenly remembered something. "The empty house by Yun Jiao Lake, who lives there? Who would come and live here for no reason? Of course, I'm saying that if it's not just a randomly placed scene by the system, but a background with its own story."

"In the fireplace of that wooden house, there are some burnt ashes. A slip of paper found among them marked the entrance to the cave at the bottom of Yun Jiao Lake. Someone had been researching this project there. Who could it be?"

"Perhaps it was Gilkinos. He once took the players from the siege side to that place. Maybe that was where they did their research on the project back then; but it could also be Courtney. She once lived there too, researching this project. What was she trying to do? Judging from the contents of the previous notes, she didn't seem to be involved in the project, she was just worried about Angus," Gu Fei said.

"Listening to you, it seems like we should go there and take a look," Xi Xiaotian said.

"That's not a very good idea. That place… might be ambushed by Han Family's Young Master again. He knows our quest has something to do with that place," Gu Fei said.

"Courtney… where can we find this NPC? Take another look at the notes and see if there are any clues. I'll send a message to Jian Gui and the others in the city, telling them to keep an eye out for an NPC with this name."

"Alright…" Everyone nodded and went about their business, but after studying the notes again, there was really no more information about Courtney. At this moment, Xi Xiaotian had already shifted his gaze to the necklace, looking at it left and right. "This necklace should belong to Courtney, right?"

"Or maybe Angus wanted to give it to her but didn't. How pitiful," Fine Waist Dance said.

"Perhaps this is the key to finding Courtney." Xi Xiaotian handed the necklace to Gu Fei.

"Uh?"

"Take this memento and ask your quest giver," Xi Xiaotian said.

"Mmm, it seems like I should go back and ask." Gu Fei nodded.

"The three of us will go to Yun Jiao Lake and keep an eye out for ambushes," Xi Xiaotian said.

"What if we're discovered?" Yu Tian Shen Ming knew very well how terrifying Han Family's Young Master's ambushes could be.

"Then we'll just die once, it's no big deal," Xi Xiaotian said.

"Then let's split up for now," Gu Fei said.

On the siege side, the Four Great Guild Leaders were sitting with Ye Xiaowu, ready to see what this little priest with inexplicable confidence was all about.

"Let's put it simply! Qian Li Zui, he's currently undertaking a quest that's very likely to cause the entire siege side of Yun Duan City to fail," Ye Xiaowu said.

"What? That's not fair. Why should we all fail just because he completed a quest?" The Four Guild Leaders were anxious.

"Both the siege side and the defense side have these decisive quests. In fact, these quests are designed to be two-way. But the problem is that no main city currently has a defense-side player, and no main city has encountered a defense player with this kind of decisive quest, which allows them to gain the upper hand in the two-way quest. Frankly speaking, would you believe it? A two-way quest, one person, against two hundred thousand people, and the one person has the upper hand," Ye Xiaowu said.

"He's not alone," Boundless Sword said.

"I know, hasn't he already formed a guild? That's why you should feel even more pressure. If he wins this two-way quest…"

"Wait, you just said this quest is decisive and two-way. Does that mean if we beat him in this quest and complete it, we'll also win the siege war?" Going Against the Current suddenly said.

"Even if you don't complete the victory, you won't be too far from it. Don't you know yet? Your neighbor, Moonlit Night City, the city war has already ended," Ye Xiaowu said.

"What?"

"They completed this type of quest. In the siege operation, they got the help of the werewolf legion, and Moonlit Night City has already been taken by them," Ye Xiaowu said. "Perhaps you should also take a break and look at the forums. There are still several main city battles that are nearing their end. This experience is worth learning from."

"They didn't have Qian Li Zui messing around, did they? According to you, we also received this type of quest. If it weren't for Qian Li Zui playing the two-way thing with us, we would have already completed it and won the city war, right?" Going Against the Current said.

"That's why I'm here. Qian Li Zui shouldn't have appeared to cause you so much trouble," Ye Xiaowu said.

The Four Great Guild Leaders' expressions changed.

"You mean? Qian Li Zui is actually a bug? He's not human?"

"No wonder, I thought this guy was inhumane. So he's a system error?"

"What about the Young Master Elite Group? Are they too?"

"How is that possible? Haven't you heard of Jian Gui, Yu Tian Shen Ming, and the others? These guys obviously discovered the bug and are taking full advantage of it. Damn it, isn't this the same as using a cheat?"

Ye Xiaowu was dumbfounded. He was deeply impressed by the Four Guild Leaders' imagination. After a long while, he came back to his senses and interrupted the four's argument: "Wait, that's not what I meant. Qian Li Zui is a normal player, not a system error or anything like that."

"Then… what does 'he shouldn't have appeared' mean?" Boundless Sword asked.

"It means that he's too strong. The game shouldn't have such a powerful character. His power has completely destroyed the balance of the game, because it's hard to imagine that an ordinary player can reach his level," Ye Xiaowu said.

"The game doesn't allow players to be too strong? What kind of rule is that? Wait, who exactly are you?" The Four Guild Leaders were shocked. Although Qian Li Zui had caused them a lot of trouble, making them gnash their teeth every time they mentioned him, the truth was that Qian Li Zui was every player's expectation. No player wouldn't envy Qian Li Zui, and no one wouldn't want to have that kind of strength. But now, someone was telling you that the game didn't allow such strength to exist, which was like erasing everyone's ideals and goals. Although rational people understood that they wouldn't reach that height, it was still a beautiful dream. Now someone was telling you that this dream wasn't real. Actually, who didn't know that? But to have to say it out loud was too cruel.

"No, no… that's not what I meant." Ye Xiaowu hurriedly explained, "What I mean is that Qian Li Zui's strength isn't built on the game's settings, don't you know? He's a real martial artist, and he inherently possesses powerful fighting skills, so he has an absolute advantage in fighting against ordinary players. He doesn't even need equipment or game skills to defeat many people. This kind of existence is what I mean by 'strength that shouldn't exist'."

"You still haven't answered us, who exactly are you?" The four asked, "Someone from the game company?"

"No." Ye Xiaowu firmly denied, "I just can't stand his power. I think it's unfair."

"Mmm, then what can you do? You just said that his strength isn't built on the game's settings. So, unless he's deleted, who can stop his power?" Going Against the Current asked.

"I can't stop his power, but at least I can stop his power from affecting other players. That's what I want to do," Ye Xiaowu said.

"For example, now you're going to help us win the city war?" Going Against the Current asked.

"No, I'm just stopping him from using his power to sabotage your quest," Ye Xiaowu insisted.

"Forgive me for being blunt," Going Against the Current said, "You're just a small priest with ordinary equipment and no job change. Where do you get this confidence that you can fight Qian Li Zui?"

"If he possesses power, perhaps I possess knowledge, the knowledge of the game," Ye Xiaowu said.

"You said you're not from the game company," Going Against the Current said.

"Yes, I'm not…" Ye Xiaowu said.

"Oh… I understand." Going Against the Current wasn't stupid. "You're from the game company, but in a sense, you can say you're not. You're playing with words, aren't you?"

"That question isn't important," Ye Xiaowu said.

"You possess knowledge, and then you borrow our strength, and then you stop Qian Li Zui, is that right?" Going Against the Current said.

"That's right."

"Okay, let's start then!" Going Against the Current was happy. He was obviously more active than the other three guild leaders. The reason was simple, he had realized what Ye Xiaowu's two-way quest was, and this quest was coincidentally in the hands of Thirty Miles Outside of his guild. Stopping Qian Li Zui, no matter what the outcome, would definitely lead to a major breakthrough in their quest. For Wine and Songs, the profit was quite big.

What Going Against the Current thought of, the other three guild leaders also thought of. At this moment, they felt very uncomfortable. Taking down Qian Li Zui and sabotaging his quest were things they were happy to do. But thinking that after completing everything, Going Against the Current would reap the great benefits, everyone suddenly felt unhappy. They hadn't expected that dealing with Qian Li Zui would have such a big interest when they were cooperating.

"Come on, use your knowledge and tell us what to do," Going Against the Current was obviously excited at this time.

"At least I need to understand what stage both sides' quests have reached," Ye Xiaowu said.

The other three guild leaders looked at Going Against the Current.

"Cough." Going Against the Current coughed and introduced the situation of their quest.

"It's really tortuous," Ye Xiaowu said, "Look, this is a quest during the city war. The degree of freedom is quite high. In fact, there are multiple branches that can reach the final ending. You may not have a quest in your quest list, but if you meet the corresponding conditions, it can still be considered completed, and it can still trigger further quest development."

"Oh, is that so?" Sword Without Oath and the other two heard this and their eyes lit up.

"Oh, is that so?" The same words, but from Going Against the Current's mouth, it had a different meaning. He felt regret that this quest could not be monopolized by his own guild.

"Gilkinos is dead, is that the current situation?"

"Yeah, he said before that he needed us to retrieve the things that were taken away from the cabin. How should we do this?" Going Against the Current asked.

"If Gilkinos is dead… then Qian Li Zui's content will also change. He'll probably go to Angus," Ye Xiaowu muttered to himself.

"Angus, who is Angus?" The other three guild leaders got excited.

"He's Gilkinos' assistant, and also one of the quest clue NPCs," Ye Xiaowu said.

"Wait, there's a situation. Qian Li Zui has been discovered in the Yun Duan Mine!" Pastor of Clouds suddenly said.

"I've also reported it. Instantaneous movement, it's definitely him," Sword Without Oath also said.

"Already went there!" Ye Xiaowu said.

"Angus is there?"

"That's right." Ye Xiaowu nodded.

"Then what will happen?" The four asked quickly.

"That depends on how he handles it. Perhaps we should go there too," Ye Xiaowu said.

"Move out quickly." The guild leaders mustered their troops. Going Against the Current's question was ignored, and he was very depressed. At this time, he took the opportunity to ask again, "I said, how should the plot on my side progress?"

"There are many clues, use your brain more." Ye Xiaowu patted him and followed the people Sword Without Oath had summoned, preparing to set off. However, they were all a bunch of short-legged people. Each guild had already sent speed classes to check the situation first.

"Angus… If Qian Li Zui triggers combat mode, that would be interesting. Maybe we can defeat him," Ye Xiaowu said.

"Oh, he definitely will." Sword Without Oath nodded. He also knew a little about Gu Fei. This person would definitely choose to fight in a place where he could fight. Otherwise, why would everyone think he was inhumane?

As a result, when this group of short-legged people had traveled halfway, news had already been reported from the front: "Qian Li Zui escaped, and a strange, disgusting creature was killed by the players."