I Just Won't Play By The Book

“You are my little apple. No matter how much I love you, I can’t get enough of you.”

At the back of the mountain of the Sect of Returning Hearts, Jiang Beiran buried the seeds of peacock grass in the newly obtained training ground.

Just as he was about to sprinkle some more black scale powder on the ground, a small black shadow suddenly flew towards him at an extremely fast speed.

Jiang Beiran turned his head and took a look. He extended an index finger and stopped in front of his chest.

In the blink of an eye, a silver-gray Ying Feng Bird appeared and stopped on his index finger.

He skillfully pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper from the Ying Feng Bird’s feathers. Jiang Beiran pulled it open and found that it was sent by Wu Qingce.

[ The birch forest’s mystic beasts have reached three. ]

“Hmm, I think it’s about time.”

“Giao – Giao -“

Just as Jiang Beiran was looking at the note, the Ying Feng Bird couldn’t wait to open its mouth and chirp. “Got it, got it.”

Jiang Beiran replied and put the note into his storage ring. Then, he took out a piece of snake jerky and threw it into the air.

“Giao!”

With a chirp, the Ying Feng Bird flew into the air at lightning speed and took the jerky away.

After finishing the jerky in two bites, the Ying Feng Bird flew in front of Jiang Beiran and chirped twice.

“One piece at a time.” Jiang Beiran said as he took out a small piece of paper and wrote a line of words on it. Then, he stuffed it into the feathers of the Ying Feng Bird. “Giao…” the Ying Feng Bird cried out in disappointment. Knowing that Jiang Beiran would not give more snake jerky, the Ying Feng Bird turned around and flew down the mountain.

It was almost dusk. After making all kinds of preparations, Jiang Beiran left the Sect of Returning Hearts and arrived at a small town outside the birch forest.

“Hey, sir, please come in. What would you like to order? The specialty of our shop is the green smoke produced by the Qing Feng Villa. Their tea is rich and refreshing, and the fragrance is pleasant. I guarantee that you will be satisfied.”

Facing the enthusiastic waiter, Jiang Beiran nodded and said, “I’m looking for a friend. His surname is Liu.”

“Oh…” the waiter immediately understood. “The customer is upstairs. I’ll take you upstairs. Come, the floor is dirty. Be careful when you leave.”

Looking at the waiter’s eagerness, Jiang Beiran knew that Wu Qingce must have ordered a good tea or gave him a reward.

Following the waiter up to the second floor, Jiang Beiran quickly saw Wu Qingce sitting by the window.

“Thank you. You can go back to your work.” Jiang Beiran said as he took out two copper coins from his wallet and handed them to the waiter.

“Thank you, master. Thank you, master.” The waiter who took the copper coins was overjoyed. He bowed and then returned to the first floor.

Seeing Jiang Beiran walking towards him, Wu Qingce, who was wearing an ordinary green shirt, stood up and shouted, “Brother Wang, you’re finally here. Sit down, sit down.”

Jiang Beiran nodded and sat in front of Wu Qingce.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw three options pop up in front of his eyes.

[ Option 1: Ask about the mystic beasts. Reward for completion: Seven Star Ancient Moon Saber (black grade low tier)]

[ Option 2: Talk about the Sect of Returning Hearts. Reward for completion: Coiling Dragon Silver Mace (yellow grade middle tier)

[ Option 3: Casually chat with him. Reward for completion: Random basic attribute points + 1]

“Is someone come after the treasures as well?”

Jiang Beiran wanted to ask Wu Qingce which mystic beasts he saw entering the forest, but it seemed like there was person with ulterior motive.

After choosing option 3, Jiang Beiran said, “Did you hear that there’s a disaster in Hedong City again?”

Wu Qingce was stunned at first, but he quickly reacted and said, “What disaster?”

“A plague of locusts. Some old people have died. I hope they don’t fly towards us.”

While they were chatting, Jiang Beiran used his mind power to scan the teahouse and found that there was a level 4 great mystic practitioner sitting on the first floor.

“Strange, is this great mystic practitioner has also discovered the treasure in the birch forest? This doesn’t make sense…”

In his confusion, Jiang Beiran chatted with Wu Qingce for about ten minutes when he heard the system notification sound.

[ Chosen quest completed. Reward: Agility + 1]

After signaling Wu Qingce with his eyes to find another place to chat, the two of them went downstairs and walked out of the teahouse together.

“Take care, masters!” the waiter at the door waved his hand and called out.

When they arrived at an empty pavilion, Jiang Beiran checked that there was no great mystic practitioner around and said, “There’s a great mystic practitioner in the teahouse. I wonder if he’s here for the birch forest.”

“Great mystic practitioner!?” Wu Qingce was very surprised. After all, the chances of meeting a great mystic practitioner in such a dilapidated town were not very high.

“Hmm, anyway, be careful. Tell me about the current situation in the birch forest first.”

“Yes.” Wu Qingce replied, “Apart from the previous level two Thunder Patterned Leopard, there’s also a level two Demon Beast and a level two Blood Shadow Beast.”

“Very good, my divination is finally correct.”

As one of the special skill points, the success rate of Jiang Beiran’s [ divination] was not too low and not too high. However, as long as he was correct, he would be able to get a good harvest.

“Let’s rest for a while. We’ll enter the forest at 11 am.”

“Yes!” Wu Qingce took out a chessboard from his storage ring and asked, “Then… Brother Jiang, do you want to play two games?” Looking at Wu Qingce’s expectant eyes, Jiang Beiran laughed, “Okay, then you go first.”

“Thank you!”

Wu Qingce found an inn and played until late at night. Although he had been losing, he was getting more excited as he played. As he wanted to start a new game, he felt a slap on his forehead.

“Ouch.” Wu Qingce covered his forehead and shouted. He looked at Jiang Beiran with a wronged look, his eyes full of confusion. “You forget the time.”

Wu Qingce came to his senses after hearing that. “Is it already 11 pm? But I remember that the watchman only knocked once not long ago. Is it two hours already?”

Just as Wu Qingce finished speaking, he heard the sound of a gong outside.

“Dong! Dong! The weather is dry. Be careful of the fire.”

“Brother Jiang, you’re even more accurate than the watchman.” Wu Qingce immediately put the chessboard into the storage ring after he was done admiring.

“Let’s go.”

Taking advantage of the night, Jiang Beiran brought Wu Qingce along the gravel path out of the town. They had only taken a few steps when they saw the system notification appear in front of them.

[ Option 1: Go directly to the birch forest. Reward: Dragon Flexibility Skill (black grade middle tier)]

[ Option 2: Go to the birch forest after midnight. Reward: Sharp Fire Sword (yellow grade middle tier)]

[ Option 3: Let Wu Qingce emit mystic energy. Reward for completion: Random basic skill points + 1] “It seems like that person in the teahouse was indeed problematic…”

Jiang Beiran sighed and chose option 3. He turned to Wu Qingce and said, “Use mystic energy to speed up the journey.” Although Wu Qingce did not understand his senior brother’s intention, he still replied with a “Yes”. He then used his Qi to gather mystic energy at his feet. “Let’s go.”