Scourge Messenger

Chapter 438 Measuring the Central Plains
Watching Yan Qing lead Niu Xianke and Ye Xiaoyu out of the venue, Jie Yuanshao felt a tremor in his heart for some reason, as if someone had grabbed him and then suddenly let go, and he kept secreting sour and astringent juice until it filled his entire chest.

She didn't know what she was thinking; she only wanted to shorten the distance between herself and that figure. But as soon as she took a step, the guards from the house rushed to her side: "Miss, are you alright?"

These voices pulled Jie Yuanshao back to reality. She took a deep breath and suppressed the bitterness in her heart: "I'm fine. I need a training ground. Send someone to relay this news back to the family."

"Are you...really alright?" the guard asked cautiously. "Young Miss, your face..."

Jie Yuanshao instinctively covered her face, which was burning hot. She suddenly remembered the glint of an earring that had flashed under Yan Qing's hood when he touched her forehead.

"I was so nervous just now," she said softly, touching her earlobe.

Yes, I was just too nervous.

……

...

Once they left the military town and reached the main road, Ye Xiaoyu became even more nervous, clinging tightly to Niu Xianke, unsure whether she was afraid of being abducted or afraid of Niu Xianke being abducted.

Yan Qing accompanied them for a while longer. Miao Bi still had two question slots left today, so he would try asking questions like "Is anyone tracking me?" to see what answers he could get.

"May I ask a question?"

Yan Qing turned to look at Ye Xiaoyu: "What's the problem?"

"You're so amazing, and Uncle has such high talent, able to advance three times in a single battle, why... why did he become an apprentice of our martial arts school in the first place?" Ye Xiaoyu was very puzzled: "Besides, he really was just an ordinary mortal back then."

Yan Qing thought to himself that Niu Xianke's initial talent was only 10 points of basic comprehension. The reason he was so strong now was because of the 26 points of comprehension and 26 points of true defense bonus from the Calamity Milestone. If Yan Qing hadn't wanted to keep his alternate account from revealing that it had Calamity Karma and had disabled Niu Xianke's [Calamity] effect, he probably wouldn't have survived a single opponent in these elimination rounds of the Heroes' Gathering; they would all have been brutally killed by Niu Xianke.

"I only assign them tasks; I don't care what they do in the process." Yan Qing skipped over the topic and looked at Niu Xianke: "Now that you have the ability to protect yourself, it's time to continue our mission."

“Yes,” Niu Xianke replied.

"Uncle, what kind of mission do you need to undertake?" Ye Xiaoyu's face turned pale with nervousness. In that instant, a lot of words came to mind: assassination, espionage, framing, seduction, false accusation...

"Simply put, it's about exploring the world, traveling through mountains and rivers, and enjoying all the delicious food," Niu Xianke said simply. "I've already traveled quite a bit around Jiangnan City, and next I'll be traveling all over Liang Kingdom."

Ye Xiaoyu was slightly taken aback, then looked suspicious, and finally realized, clapping her hands and saying, "That's right, we're just traveling the world, we have no other intentions!"

Yan Qing blinked: "I really just need Niu Xianke to travel around."

"I understand!" Ye Xiaoyu had a knowing look on her face: "All I know is that he wants to travel the world. Whether I'm asleep or drunk, that's all I'll ever say!"

How else could you answer? What other purpose could I possibly have? This mere Liang Kingdom, with its traitor Shang Xinlei, could be wiped out by me, Yaoshi Yuan, and Ying Rushi together... Yan Qing thought to herself, too lazy to bother with this cunning little girl.

"So, you're going to travel with Niu Xianke?"

“Of course!” “Are you going to give up the Badao Martial Arts School?” Niu Xianke asked. “Didn’t you want to protect the martial arts school your father left you? In our line of work, it takes at least a few years and at most more than ten years. Even if we briefly return to Jiangnan City, we won’t stay for long.”

Ye Xiaoyu frowned, her thick eyebrows almost forming a straight line. Yan Qing glanced at Niu Xianke, thinking that this account he paid the least attention to might be the one with the highest automatic evolution intelligence, because he was often in an environment that required communication with people and was fully managed, which was equivalent to constantly feeding data to artificial intelligence, so of course it would become smarter over time.

“Experience!” she finally uttered.

"Experience?"

"I also need to train to become a third-level messenger before I'm qualified to carry forward the Eight Rice Martial Arts School!" Ye Xiaoyu clenched her fist and said, "Now everyone knows that the Eight Rice Martial Arts School has a Foundation Establishment True Person supporting it, so they wouldn't dare to take away my land. Do you think I can support the Eight Rice Martial Arts School now? That's what running a martial arts school is all about!" She raised her fist and waved it.

“I also want to travel the world. I’m so young, do I have to waste my whole life in the martial arts school? Wouldn’t it be better to return home in glory after I’ve achieved success? Besides,” Ye Xiaoyu glanced at Niu Xianke, “the fortune teller said that I need to travel more to find my marriage partner.”

“Indeed.” Niu Xianke nodded: “It’s really hard to find a good marriage partner if you stay at home all day drawing erotic pictures.”

"I, I didn't, Uncle, you, you, you actually peeked at me—" Ye Xiaoyu felt like steam was rising from the top of her head.

Yan Qing thought to himself that this was something he didn't know. Every time he logged into Niu Xianke's account, he would look at the new names in Niu Xianke's "Death Note" and then hunt them down, which he considered a good deed for the day. Although Yan Qing didn't have the grand ambition of reforming the world, and what he was currently pursuing was only greater power, that didn't mean he wasn't interested in fulfilling his social responsibility, acting as a chivalrous policeman and punishing evil, just like playing "Assassin's Creed" or "Batman: Arkham Knight".

It's quite interesting; Yan Qing can even derive moral pleasure from it.

Indeed, the pursuit of justice is an instinctive pursuit rooted in people's hearts.

He waved his hand and said, "Goodbye."

Back at the thieves' den, Yan Qing pondered for a moment, then wrote down what had just happened on a note and placed it in the hall to tell Shang Xinlei. He unscrewed a bottle of fine wine and gulped it down, then took out a plate of spirit beast meat and began to eat. These were all dishes produced in the Seventh-Rank Secret Realm, which would grant temporary buffs upon consumption. However, Yan Qing wasn't after the buffs, but rather for the sake of his Dao Foundation Restriction:

"The Fourth Prohibition of the Foundation of the Way: Indulgence: Constantly indulging in the finest food."

This restriction is very peculiar; it only requires top-quality consumable food items, which can only be produced in the seventh-level secret realm.

However, Yan Qing discovered that if he enjoyed a top-quality meal every now and then, the amount of Dao Foundation experience he gained would increase slightly. If he wanted to maximize his experience points, he should enjoy high-quality meals at intervals instead of eating them all at once—of course, Yan Qing's stomach did not support him eating a large amount at once.

This explains why Yan Qing purchased premium food items at the auction. He either doesn't eat at all, or he must maintain a consistent eating rhythm. Currently, the experience he gains from consuming premium food items is about twice what he initially did; if he stops, he'll have to start all over again.

It may be called indulgence, but in reality, only self-discipline brings rewards...

Yan Qing turned on the game console and logged into his Jiang Shi account. The screen instantly became blindingly bright, the sunlight was so intense it stung the skin, and hot steam rose from the sand. Looking through the hot air, the caravans ahead appeared crooked and distorted.

Normally, caravans heading to Western Xia would rest during the day and travel at night, but this caravan was different. Jiang Shi paid them a high price to be guides and required them all to be messengers, traveling day and night to reach the Longshi clan's stronghold, Loulan City, within thirty days!

That's right, Jiang Shi is on the road to Western Xia.

She will go to the Dragon Poetry Clan to fulfill her promise and become their goods agent!
(End of this chapter)