Zhan Long

Chapter 156 – Singing in Laurel Forest

Translated by: Deception, GGP

Edited by: Noah, Zdog, Samuel, Video and others

This chapter was sponsored by Romina Chang, Chirateep Saristthanawat and Yerlan Duzbenov! Thanks!

“Bang!”

Yue Qing Qian’s body suddenly struck out above the guard NPC’s shield, knocking him back. Yue Wei Liang had also suddenly vanished and without saying anything, she appeared behind another NPC guard. Raising her dagger, she stabbed at the back side of the guard’s body, knocking him away.

Because of this, the two Assassins forcibly tore apart a gap at the city’s gate, granting me 3 precious seconds of time to cross over.

“Shua!”

My Purple Dawn Boots barely grazed over the bricks as I stepped over them. “Qing Qian, Wei Liang, thank you both!”

Yue Qing Qian gave a sigh and started to chase in my general direction. She asked questions while she ran, “Brother Xiao Yao, why are you carrying an old man while running? Also, why were those NPCs trying to kill you?”

I dashed forward while answering, “It’s nothing! This old timer is simply a criminal of the court, but … but I still need his help, so I’m breaking him out of jail!”

“Breaking him out of prison?” Qing Qian playfully stuck out her tongue, “Hehe, brother Xiao Yao just does anything he feels like doing. Keep on running, I’ll get you some time!”

“Ah, thanks.”

I heavily nodded; I was starting to like Yue Qing Qian more and more. She was so considerate!

……

After a tense 10 minutes, I entered the depths of Ba Huang Forest and the soldiers finally stopped chasing me. I guess this old man wasn’t that big of a felon, so a large task force wasn’t assigned to retrieve him.

In the forest clearing, the white flowers bloomed and the spring wind rippled through the grass. I helped Feng Ye sit down and tried to catch my breath. There was already a giant stone tablet on my back. Adding Feng Ye, who was quite heavy as well, it would have been impossible for me to run if it wasn’t for my Swordsman’s strength. Otherwise, I would have fainted dead on the road.

The twin Assassins, Yue Qing Qian and Yue Wei Liang, walked up as Yue Qing Qian asked, “Brother Xiao Yao, what’s next?”

“Wait for now, I’ll ask…”

Turning around, I looked at Feng Ye, “Elder, you promised me that if I helped you, you would create the giant key for me. Shall we go look for a blacksmith shop so you can create it?”

“I refuse!” Feng Ye shook his head, “I am a fugitive of Ba Huang City now, therefore I can’t be seen in any region with a huge concentration of people. Take me south of Ba Huang City to Qing He Gu. It’s deserted over there, so I can concentrate on casting the key in peace. There should be a thatched hut with the appropriate smelting forge if you can take me there!”

“Understood!”

I carried the old man once more and said to Yue Qing Qian, “Qing Qian, I’m going to bring Feng Ye to make my key. You go on back to the city and focus on leveling. Don’t waste your time traveling with me.”

Yue Qing Qian shook her head, “I don’t want to. Rumors say that there’s danger on these roads. If you go alone, I’ll be worried! I want to travel with you until you finish your mission!”

On the other side, Yue Wei Liang frowned, “Sister … didn’t you say you’d go to the auction and help buy a Gold Tier dagger for me…”

Yue Qing Qian tilted her head and laughed sweetly, “I’ll be traveling with Brother Xiao Yao for a while. You go buy the item yourself at the auction and I’ll just give you the money now, so … Sister, don’t be angry. I’ll get you a great bear stuffed animal in return…”

“You mean it? The 1.8 meter, big sister’s favorite one?”

“Yea!”

“Okay, great!”

The two sisters completed the transaction as I blankly stared at them from the side. Yue Wei Liang waved goodbye as she used a Return Scroll to head back to the city quickly. Yue Qing Qian stretched her hands behind her back in joy, “Brother Xiao Yao, should we go now?”

“Yea…”

……

The two of us traveled through the woodlands; the Green Plains were not too far away and only low leveled monsters would be in our way. It was a good thing that Yue Qing Qian was on my side; I didn’t need to raise a single fist as she killed all of the monsters. An Assassin’s power to bring a swift death was the best out of the 9 classes. And to be honest, their attack speed with two daggers was astonishing. With [Gouge] and [Backstab], along with several attacks, she and her Ice Rat could easily wipe out any Lv 40+ monster.

In half an hour, we appeared in front of a clear creek about 20 meters wide. It was far too long for me to see an end, so it seemed this creek would block our way.

“Brother Xiao Yao, what should we do?” She asked while tilting her head again.

“Are you afraid of swimming?”

Behind me, Feng Ye immediately gave a heavy cough. Apparently, his old body might not be able to withstand the cold temperature of the creek’s water.

Yue Qing Qian turned to look at the bamboo forest some distance away, “If we can build a raft, it’ll save us time instead of trying to walk around.”

“Yea!”

Putting down Feng Ye, I pulled out the Frost Rain Sword. “Qing Qian, I’ll cut the bamboo down, and you’ll get the vines to tie it all together. Make sure you bind it tightly, otherwise the raft will fall apart under our weight.”

“Okay!”

Cutting my way into the forest, the Frost Rain Sword easily sliced through dozens of bamboos at a time and soon the forest was nearly flat. Bringing them back to the river, I focused on cutting them to the same size while Yue Qing Qian focused on tying them together. While we were two novices on making a raft, the production was going along nicely and the raft was looking pretty decent.

“Yue Qing Qian, would you like to try first?” I smirked, watching the raft float on the creek.

With an enthusiastic nod, she happily jumped onto the raft. Her long hair danced in the wind, as did her cloak. She was looking even cuter in her pretty dress that showed off her long legs. Combined with her eyes that seemed to sparkle in the day, she was a 9.

Carrying Feng Ye onto the raft, we all sat down on it. With a gentle push, the raft was sent offshore.

The water rippled in a beautiful pattern as we used bamboo poles to paddle ourselves across the creek. Smiling serenely at me, Yue Qing Qian asked, “Brother Xiao Yao, the scenery here is so nice. Would you like me to sing a Guilin folk song while we wait?

TL Note: Guilin is a prefecture in Guangxi, China.

I was excited for this. Clapping my hands for the idea, I replied, “Go on then, sing~~”

“I don’t know any songs…”

“……”

……

A few minutes later, the raft landed near the land of Green Plains. It really was full of wild green and blue grass; the scent of it wafted heavily through the air. Qing Qian took in a deep breath, her face full of joy, “If there was a place like this in reality, I’d exchange 10 years of my life to live there. Of course, Brother Xiao Yao has to be there too…”

I was startled by her words, “I’d be too busy to live in a place like this. You’d have to make an appointment to take me here.”

“Hehe, I trust that you’d take the time off to travel here with me. Let’s go…”

After traveling through the Green Valley for some time, we found the little cottage that Feng Ye had mentioned. His eyes lit up with nostalgia at the sight of it, “It’s been five years, it’s still here…”

In a flash, he jumped from my back and rushed into the house. I could only stare; the old man was healthier than I was! Why was I his riding mule this whole time if he could move like this?!

“Boy, give me that blueprint of yours!”

“Coming!”

I entered the cottage and handed over the plans to create the key while he prodded at the furnace to start a fire. “Since you have nothing to do, go cut some wood for me and feed it to the furnace!” he boomed.

“Okay!”

Working like slaves once more, Yue Qing Qian and I climbed the mountains to find timber. Stacking enough wood into the stove, we stared quietly at the black curls that floated away from the cottage.

After nearly an hour of talking with Yue Qing Qian about her family situation and preferences, Feng Ye finally yelled out from inside, “Boy, the key is done!”

Turning to look at him, I was momentarily stunned at the size. The key easily reached a monstrous length of 3 meters and was still on fire! Looking at the design of the key, the gigantic model was an exact copy.

I took a step forward to grab the key, and in my shock, I nearly roasted my hand while grabbing the handle. Shouting out for the system to wrap up the key, I deposited it into my storage.

“Shua,” the keys disappeared in a white light and was deposited into my inventory. Although it occupied an inventory spot, it beats holding it. If I was dragging around a key so large, I might as well go to hell and die there!

……

“Brother Xiao Yao, is your mission done?” Yue Qing Qian asked, her beautiful eyes blinking at me.

“Yep.”

I nodded, “Well, let’s go back to the city. I can’t thank you enough Qing Qian. Without your company, I would have been bored to death!”

“Hehe, It was my pleasure~ I just wanted to spend more time with Brother Xiao Yao~”

Yue Qing Qian stood there, slowly fishing her Return Scroll slowly, as if trying to extend the time she had with me.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her efforts. I walked towards her and held out my hands, “Would you like a hug before leaving?”

Her face flushed red as she nodded her head, staying silent the whole time.

With one small half step, I hugged Yue Qing Qian’s body for some time. “Alright, let’s return to the city. Wait for me until I get the Guild Creation Tablet. Then I’ll establish Zhan Long, and you can join us. You’ll be one of us!”

Yue Qing Qian nodded excitedly, “I know. Brother, work hard!”

Right after, she activated the Return Scroll and disappeared away from the fertile fields of the Green Plains.

……

Opening my buddy list, I wrote a quick message to Wan Er, “Miss, I have the Giant key. How are things on your end?”

She replied immediately, “We finished up an hour ago. All that’s left is to wait for you.”

“Alright, will we start the mission when I arrive?”

“Let’s wait…” Wan Er said thoughtfully. “This mission will definitely be time-consuming. You and Zhan Long should all take a break and eat something. Afterwards, come back online and we’ll start. We’ll probably be playing for 12 hours so I’m worried that someone might get sick without the proper amount of rest and food.”

“Ah, understood!”

……

Another message came, this time from Wolf, “Brother Xiao Yao, are you busy? We’re about to go help Matcha level up a few more times!”

Nodding my head, “Yea, something came up. The Miss has received a SS ranked quest; I managed to convince her to include you guys in the mission. An SS ranked quest will most definitely be hard, but rewarding. It’ll be a lot harder than your usual quests, so tell Matcha that she should raise her level to at least 45. Other than that, you should all go offline, eat something, and take a restroom break if needed. Come back online in an hour, ready to start the mission!”

“Alright! An SS ranked mission… awesome!! Haha!” I could imagine the saliva flowing from Wolf’s mouth already.

Old K popped up into the chat, “What’s the quest, Boss?”

“Save the ancient hero: the Heavenly Prince Ran Min.”

Old K must have blanked out, because he sent another message a few seconds later, “My god, I share the same last name with an ancient monarch?”

“Yes, yes. Now hurry up and go eat!”

“Okay…”