Nie Yan glanced toward the direction of the lake shore. It seemed they had already begun.
The murloc tribe was under attack by the Triumph Guild. These murlocs encircling Nie Yan had abandoned him to return to aid their tribe. He hadn't expected the Triumph Guild members to save his life. The world truly was full of surprises.
With all the murlocs gone, the area was safe now. Nie Yan intensified his search for treasure chests and finally found another one amid the dense water plants—a white chest.
The surrounding scenery overlapped perfectly with everything in his memory. This was the place！
Nie Yan opened the chest and felt around inside, pulling out a skill book—a Gathering Skill Book. He crushed the book into white light in his hand, and a new skill appeared in his auxiliary skill bar: Gathering.
A decent find. There might be other chests nearby, but searching endlessly like this was too time-consuming. He still knew the locations of many other chests anyway; once his level increased, he could retrieve them anytime.
Nie Yan swam forward, weaving through the water plants, giving wide berth to any monsters he encountered. After about ten minutes, he spotted an island in the center of Lake Rando, and finally swam toward the surface.
System： You have discovered Lake Heart Island.
Nie Yan climbed ashore, checked the coordinates, and looked around. In the distance, he spotted someone sitting on the bank, fishing.
It was a strange old man NPC who would ask every player he met to find Fine Silk for him. Every roll of Fine Silk could be exchanged with him for a Silk Cloth.
At the NPC, Fine Silk sells for three copper coins each, while Silk sells for two copper coins, so there's a price difference. After the exchange, this old NPC won't give the player any compensation.
Many players have attempted this quest, but it always ended up at a loss, and no one ever received any rewards.
In his past life, Nie Yan had also taken this quest. After handing in five Fine Silks, he stopped continuing it. Exchanging Fine Silk for Silk simply wasn't worth it.
Later, someone refused to believe it and kept handing in Fine Silks. Only after thirty pieces did they finally receive the quest reward: the NPC would teach a Combat Bandage skill, and it was an intermediate-level bandage skill right from the start. When the news broke, players were in an uproar and rushed to take the quest, but by then, the NPC was already gone.
Nearby, there were Water Spiders that dropped Fine Silk, level three monsters. It would probably take about three days to farm thirty Fine Silks. He could just kill Water Spiders, collect quest items, and level up at the same time. Trading thirty Fine Silks for thirty Silks only cost thirty copper coins, which was practically nothing compared to the intermediate Combat Bandage skill.
Nie Yan walked over to the old man.
“At this time every year, Hilton Fortress welcomes a wave of monsters from the distant underground. The brave warriors guarding the fortress have shed countless blood and lives to protect this vibrant land. The wounded always spend every day and night in pain. Yesterday or tomorrow, tomorrow or perhaps yesterday, young man, do you think I should fish on the shore or fish on the water？” The old NPC muttered to himself, then turned to look at Nie Yan and asked.
The old NPC had graying hair, was aged and decrepit, his skin like withered tree bark, covered in wrinkles. He wore an inconspicuous gray cloak, holding a fishing rod.
In Nie Yan's memory, this NPC elder was a muddled and amusing person who asked a string of confused questions; all he had to do was muddle through with vague answers. But now, hearing the phrase 'yesterday or tomorrow, tomorrow or yesterday' again, Nie Yan had some new insights.
This NPC elder was no old fool, but a wise man！
He could have answered this question casually, but Nie Yan inexplicably said, “As long as you can catch fish, what difference does it make whether it’s on the shore or on the water？”
Hearing Nie Yan’s answer, a sharp glint flashed in the NPC elder’s eyes.
The NPC elder’s gaze fell into Nie Yan’s eyes, and he became even more convinced that this NPC elder was far from simple.
“Time is an illusion, moments fly, years drag, pain cycles; in the end, it’s nothing but a handful of bones. Even if those warriors held this magnificent world, they still couldn’t escape sickness and death—what meaning is there？” the NPC elder sighed.
“The meaning of life lies in pursuit and leaving no regrets,” Nie Yan said with deep feeling, an insight gained from living two lifetimes. He then answered the elder’s words, “In this magnificent world, they have their brothers, their families. They fend off enemy attacks but bring joy to their brothers and families. They defend their faith with their lives—that is their glory. The God of Light will bless them.”
Nie Yan guessed that this NPC elder might be an NPC from Hilton Fortress, out searching for fine silk.
After hearing Nie Yan’s words, the chaotic look in the NPC elder’s eyes became clear and penetrating.
“Young man, I need a great deal of fine silk. Can you help me find it？” the NPC elder asked.
“I would be honored to serve,” Nie Yan said joyfully; this was exactly what he had been waiting for.
System： You have received the quest, Physician Brendan’s Commission, to find fine silk.
Nie Yan recalled that in his previous life, he just casually answered a question, and the task he received was the commission of a nameless old man, which was a bit different from the task name in this life.
This old man should be the physician of Hilton Stronghold; he came out of Hilton Stronghold to look for fine silk？
With this old man teaching the Intermediate Bandaging Skill, Nie Yan was even more certain.
Forget about all that, let's finish this task first.
Nie Yan bid farewell to the NPC old man and rushed towards the southern part of the island. There was a lake area there that was the activity zone for water spiders. Although water spiders were level-three monsters, they weren't particularly strong; they were only a bit tricky because they moved on the water surface.
Plunging into the lake again, Nie Yan lifted his head above the water. There were no monsters lurking at the bottom of this area, so there was no fear of an ambush from below.
He spotted a water spider. Water spiders were giant spiders that could quickly crawl on the water's surface. Unlike other spiders, they didn't use venom attacks. Moreover, they were afraid of humans; as long as humans didn't attack them, they wouldn't strike first.
Water Spider： Level 3, HP 80/80.
Nie Yan slowly approached behind the water spider, then suddenly lunged, raising his dagger and pouncing at the water spider, stabbing into its back and striking several times.
The water spider squeaked sharply and leaped towards Nie Yan. Nie Yan dodged, then backhanded his dagger, and after accumulating enough energy, performed a Vital Strike, stabbing into the water spider's eye.
The water spider let out a miserable screech, its body curled up, floating on the water surface.
This water spider dropped one copper coin. Nie Yan caught the copper coin it dropped and swam toward another water spider.
The drop rate for Fine Silk is one in two hundred. That meant Nie Yan would have to kill over six thousand water spiders to get thirty pieces of Fine Silk, which would take nearly three days.
Three days is enough for Nie Yan to reach Level 3, learn the Bandage skill, then go back to buy some skill books—his strength will improve quite a bit.
Nie Yan swam toward a water spider that was crawling quickly across the water surface in the distance.
A Holy Verdict fell from the sky, striking the water spider, and a damage number of thirty-six floated up from its head.
Holy Verdict, a Holy Word Mage skill.
Someone else here？
Nie Yan became cautious and looked over, spotting three water spiders chasing a person.
It was a bit far away, so Nie Yan could only make out that it was a Holy Word Mage, and a woman at that—a white robe, a blue staff in her hand—but he couldn't see her exact features.
Looks like that person's in trouble. Nie Yan hesitated for a moment, then plunged into the water and swam over. If she's an enemy player, he'd take her out; if there’s no old grudge, he’d give her a hand.
The Holy Word Mage, while fending off the water spiders catching up, swam toward Nie Yan.
Nie Yan surfaced, about five yards from the Holy Word Mage.
The Holy Word Mage noticed Nie Yan appearing nearby, tensed up, and immediately turned to swim in another direction.
Chased by monsters, if she ran into someone who kicks you when you're down, she'd be dead for sure.
The distance between them was already very close.
When the Holy Word Mage turned her face, Nie Yan got a clear look at her—a beautiful woman, her hair tied back in a ponytail, with a lock hanging down the side, her cheeks fair, and her bright eyes clear as water.
Faith adjusted players' appearances, but only slightly—beauty and ugliness didn't change, pretty much matching the real world, which is part of what makes Faith so appealing.
Nie Yan could tell at a glance that the Holy Word Mage across from him was a beauty.
The holy word mage shot a worried glance at Nie Yan, and their eyes met. She turned back to continue dealing with the water spiders. Dodging three water spiders at once was indeed a bit tricky, but she remained calm and used an acceleration scroll, immediately speeding up a lot.
Seeing her face clearly, Nie Yan’s mouth dropped wide enough to fit an egg. How could he run into her here！
He couldn’t help but sigh that the world was really too small.
That beautiful holy word mage was named Yao Yao. As it happened, in his past life, the two of them shared an unresolvable karmic entanglement. Who would’ve thought they’d bump into each other here again—truly, one can’t avoid one’s destined foes.
Perhaps some kinds of fate are simply written in the stars.
Nie Yan and his friends were forming a party for a dungeon, and they needed one more mage. A friend of his had brought Yao Yao in—That was the first time they met. Later, as they ran more dungeons together, they gradually grew close, and many stories unfolded from there.
Everything was the same, yet he was different. Nie Yan was flooded with countless emotions.