Scourge Messenger

Chapter 95 Shopping
March 24th was just another ordinary day.

As the sun sets, Jiangnan City is illuminated in a riot of colors, the brightness visible even from the guard posts of the Ministry of Personnel. Like Chang'an, the surrounding counties were the heart of entertainment, while Jiangnan City served more as the residence of the powerful and wealthy. At the end of each day, countless officials would gather with friends for revelry, and even the Rat Monk received numerous invitations to parties—from prominent officials to young masters of noble families who wanted to "get to know" him.

Logically, if even a guard like Rat Monk received such treatment at the Prime Minister's gate, Shang Xuanwen should have received even more. However, over the course of three days, Yan Qing not only didn't see him attend any banquets, but no one even came to offer him gifts or invite him. All the officials who met with him focused on reporting their work and made no attempt to curry favor.

Yan Qing once remarked that there were still good officials in Liang, but Shang Xuanwen shook his head and said, "Flattery is flattery, but isn't being pragmatic and responsible flattery? However, in order to flatter, they will at least take the time to look at the reports submitted by their staff, which is what I want."

Night slowly fell, and the lights in the main hall came on. It was Shang Xuanwen's turn to be on duty today; he would work until 9 PM, then rest in his room at the back of the hall. Yan Qing glanced at the sky, his heart growing increasingly tense.

The thieves will be committing their crime in the early hours of tonight.

Two days ago, at the thieves' meeting, after Yan Qing suggested that they could directly steal the Heaven Sword, they finally came up with a plan that balanced the mission and the rewards: if Yan Qing could steal the Heaven Sword, they would sneak into the palace and steal from the secret vault; if Yan Qing failed to steal it, they would first forcibly take the Heaven Sword, and if there was enough time, they could also take a stroll around the palace.

In short: mission first!

The Imperial Palace Treasury is certainly tempting, but everyone knows the principle of eating one full meal and then eating every meal. Completing the mission is the top priority. If there is still energy left, then you can browse the Liang Kingdom's Imperial Palace Treasury for free shopping.

As for Shang Xinlei's proposed plan to kidnap the emperor, it was unanimously rejected. Although the rewards for success would be very high and it would be extremely prestigious, both Zhou Guo's ambitious Yao Shiyuan and Qi Guo's loyal minister Ying Rushi were tempted, but after a day of deliberation, they resolutely abandoned this historically significant choice.

There are too many variables and too much risk. They are geniuses and outstanding individuals, but they really dare not gamble their lives like that.

Although they rejected the plan, their attitude towards Shang Xinlei became noticeably more respectful. Before this, they had only seen Shang Xinlei as a carefree noblewoman; after this, they would always remember that the Thieves' House had a daring and gambling madman who was far more adventurous than they were.

Shang Xinlei had no objection to the plan. Yan Qing also paid special attention to her actions over the past two days. Apart from shopping in Jiangnan City, she went to the palace to play with the princess. However, she was more likely there to determine the patrol routes of the guards and the location of the entrance to the secret vault.

It seems Shang Xinlei wasn't after her father's life, but rather wanted to raid the palace's secret vault for a big score? Perhaps she feels she owes Qian Gongyu too much, and wants the Liang Kingdom to subsidize her?

If that's the case, Yan Qing wholeheartedly supports it. He's also very poor, and he'll help out!
Yes, although Yan Qing can earn tens of thousands of spirit jades every day by selling secret manuals and flame-patterned longswords, he is still really poor.

For some unknown reason, the building opened a shopping channel for Jiang Shiye Si as a "building master". In the Qi State military town system, only messengers can serve as building masters. Therefore, the minimum requirement to purchase Qi State messenger supplies is to be a building master. Although Jiang Shiye Si and his group have met the requirements, their military service time is far from sufficient. Unless a noble person takes responsibility and promotes them, they will have to serve in the military for at least a year before they can be promoted to building master.

Now, without needing to become a banner lord, one can directly purchase messenger supplies. Yan Qing naturally wouldn't miss such a golden opportunity, especially since there were many items he needed:

"Thunder Blade Technique Manual" costs 1000 Spirit Jade.

Each "Hidden Sword Manor Tool Kit" costs 1000 Spirit Jade.

"Bandit Tailor's Bag" costs 200 Spirit Jade per pack.

Each "Shopkeeper's Jewelry Cleaning Package" costs 300 Spirit Jade.

Each serving of "Refined Gold Furnace Liquid" costs 3000 Spirit Jade.

That's right. Jiang Shiye can obtain dozens of Swift Thunder Blade Technique manuals a week by playing several times a day, which costs 1000 spirit jades. But at least they can be obtained through legitimate channels. Yan Qing bought ten manuals to stockpile. Although they won't increase the level, they can increase the casting speed of blade-type tokens.

This game has many techniques that are unrelated to leveling up, but they can increase combat power, though only slightly.

As for the various toolkits that follow, they can be used to restore the durability of low-level weapons, clothing, and jewelry tokens, as well as repair damaged tokens.

In *The Messenger*, restoring the durability of keepsakes is a very troublesome task, even giving rise to a large number of related industries. There isn't an official NPC who can simply "ding" and repair all your keepsakes. While these toolkits can be stacked, they will still occupy one inventory slot regardless of which one they use. Many players' first action after a battle is to check the durability of their keepsakes in their personal inventory. Furthermore, toolkits vary in quality. For example, the "Hidden Sword Manor Toolkit" mentioned above, while perfectly restoring durability, will reduce the maximum durability limit by 1 point. This difference in quality is reflected in the price.

Therefore, players jokingly refer to acquiring a favorite keepsake as "marriage," because obtaining the keepsake is only the beginning; they also have to spend countless efforts in maintaining it in their daily lives.

Surprisingly, the durability feature, despite its cumbersome nature, has received mixed reviews from players. Those who dislike it find it too tedious, while those who like it find it just the right amount of hardcore. Some players have even spent more than ten times the resources to restore the maximum durability lost by their tokens.

"Adamantite Furnace Liquid" is the repair item that players are least likely to use because although it can repair damaged items, it comes at the cost of reducing the item's level by 20 and its durability by 50%, which is equivalent to a third-tier or lower item dropping directly to the first tier.

The price is outrageous, but it's intentionally designed by the game. If players don't want to bear such a heavy price, they have to take good care of their keepsakes.

Yan Qing bought the toolbox for Bingzi Jiaolin. Jiang Shi lost a few points of durability when he used it to chop people. Even though it was still far from being broken, it still made Yan Qing very uncomfortable, as if a beautiful girl was crawling on his body.

When he took out the "Hidden Sword Manor Tool Kit" and followed the instructions to maintain the Bingzi Pepper Forest, it took him nearly half an hour. Yan Qing suddenly understood why those players valued their keepsakes as much as lovers—it had been through so much with you, helped you, and hurt you. You also spent time and energy repairing and caring for it. You spent the same amount of time on each other, so how could you not care about it?

The "Hidden Sword Manor Tool Kit" was still available for limited purchase, and Yan Qing bought all 5 kits, still feeling that she hadn't stockpiled enough.

Although the toolkit was expensive, it wasn't enough to empty Yan Qing's savings. He would become penniless because he bought the "Advanced Steps Manual"—worth 20 spirit jades.

20 million!
The "Advanced Flying Circle Manual" on the same list only costs 13 spirit jades, and the "Advanced Shield Warrior Manual" only costs 15 spirit jades. Yan Qing asked why the advanced steps were so expensive, and Gai Louxian replied in a very market-driven way: "Because everyone wants it."

Yan Qing had no choice but to buy it; he didn't think his comprehension was up to the minimum requirement for mastering advanced techniques. He had originally wanted to buy an advanced dual-sword manual, but Gai Louxian told him a harsh truth: dual swords were too rare to ever be passed down.

Clearly, the nobles had already absorbed these manuals before the military elites could purchase them. If Yan Qing wanted to learn advanced dual swordsmanship, he would either have to fight in the secret realms himself or learn it on his own. However, most of the secret realms that produced advanced manuals were only at the third rank, and even if Yan Qing were willing, the Qi Kingdom wouldn't want two strangers like Jiang Shiye to go to such an important military stronghold.

As for acquiring advanced manuals from the Treasure Pavilion... although it's feasible, everything Yan Qing can offer is Jiang Shi's spoils of war. Once it's listed, people related to the Mansu Forest will immediately associate it with Jiang Shi's relationship with the Trading Board Immortal, and some might even associate it with the Trading Board Immortal's relationship with the Yellow Dog.

Yes, I'm talking about you, Shang Xinlei!
If it weren't for Shang Xinlei's affair, Yan Qing would have sold off his spoils long ago, but now he can only sell them off later.

He didn't care if others guessed his identity, but as fellow thieves, he still hoped that Shang Xinlei and the others wouldn't know too much about his trump cards.

Although he could learn other advanced techniques to quickly change jobs, Yan Qing wasn't a game character; he didn't have the right to choose one of three professions and could only default to a random one. If he learned other techniques, the randomized profession Yan Qing would get would be unpredictable. If he got a flying ring messenger or a shield warrior messenger, what difference would there be between him and a blank slate?
After much thought, I can only try to find something good in this mission and then put it in the Treasure Pavilion to exchange for advanced skill manuals.

When Jiang Shi took out 200,000 spirit jades to verify the funds, Gai Louxian was startled. Even if the spirit jades were combined into 100 jades, 200,000 spirit jades would still amount to 2,000 100 jades, which would require a large box to hold.

Yan Qing was prepared to answer the questions, and even mentally prepared for Gai Louxian to be tempted by the money and then break through the encirclement. However, Gai Louxian didn't ask anything, only saying that the secret manual would be delivered in a few days.

After dinner, Yan Qing practiced his dual swords while idling in the game.

Two days ago, he exchanged two basic sword technique manuals for a basic dual sword manual through the Treasure Pavilion, instantly reaching the maximum level. However, although he knows the technique, he still needs extensive training to turn it into a combat instinct.

Time flew by while practicing his sword. When Yan Qing stopped, his feet were covered in sweat, but he didn't feel tired at all. On the contrary, he felt more energetic and his whole body was activated.

He quickly finished his shower and came out to find that the lights in the Ministry of Personnel's main hall were already off, indicating that Shang Xuanwen had gone to the back room to rest, and there were still about two hours before the crime was committed.

It's about time to prepare to steal the sword.

(End of this chapter)