When Xu Jingming opened his eyes, he saw a simple room. On the bed inside the room, a one-eyed man was sleeping soundly .
"This is the house I rented!" Xu Jingming was shocked. At this moment, his body was covered with light and shadow. Any player who came online would be covered with light and shadow. At this moment, the original residents could not see the players.
Only after the light and shadow dissipate can the original inhabitants see the player.
Three seconds after going online, the light and shadow dissipated. Xu Jingming flipped his hand, holding a flying knife in his left hand, and placed it on the neck of the one-eyed man.
"Bang." He slapped the one-eyed man.
The one-eyed man who was sleeping soundly was awakened by a slap! He was also a little dazed.
What's going on? Where am I? Is it day or night?
The one-eyed man woke up and saw Xu Jingming in front of him and the cold flying knife in his neck!
"Please spare my life, sir. Just tell me what you want." The one-eyed man said immediately.
"Why are you in my house?" Xu Jingming said.
"I, I saw that no one had been in or out of this house for several days, so I came in to take a look." The one-eyed man said flatteringly, "I have nowhere else to stay, so I will sleep here temporarily tonight. Please spare my life, sir."
"Did you take my money?" Xu Jingming stared at him.
"No, I didn't find it." The one-eyed man was moved after hearing this. Is there silver hidden in this old house?
Xu Jingming then put away the flying knife: "Get lost!"
The one-eyed man smiled and sat up: "I'll get out, I'll get out." As he sat up, he suddenly swung his hand out from under the quilt, and a cold light flashed across Xu Jingming. But when he swung, his eyes widened, and there was a bloody hole in his throat! He didn't even see Xu Jingming's move.
"How dare a scoundrel attack me?" Xu Jingming shook his head. In his eyes, the moves of ordinary scoundrels were indeed as slow as a snail. After killing the scoundrel, Xu Jingming checked the scoundrel's body and immediately walked out of the house.
It is now night time and a waning moon is hanging high in the sky.
Xu Jingming walked into the small courtyard, where firewood was piled. The wood was quite heavy. Xu Jingming needed a thousand pounds of strength to lift it up with one hand. He saw a package under the wood pile.
"The silver is still there." Xu Jingming nodded slightly.
"The rules of this Blood Rain World are also harsh. When players go offline, they can carry other items with them, but they cannot carry gold and silver." Xu Jingming sighed, the gold and silver in the Blood Rain World are extremely valuable.
Therefore, you cannot take banknotes, gold and silver and other items offline.
If you want to go offline, you have to hide your banknotes and other things! If you are careless, it is very likely that they will be stolen.
"There is no need to activate the 'smart hang-up' function just for this little money." Xu Jingming said secretly.
Smart AFK means that the body remains in the Blood Rain World, but is controlled by the "Intelligence"! In terms of rationality and logic, the Intelligence is not inferior to the player. But in terms of combat, the Intelligence is much weaker, the routine is fixed! And at most, it can only play the strength of a third-rate master.
When you encounter some special situations, such as having to be online for a long time but having other things to deal with in reality, you need to use "smart hanging up".
The smart hanging machine service is charged, with an annual fee of 100,000 Universe Coins.
So expensive!
Xu Jingming returned to the house, circled the corpse of the scoundrel, and then took the corpse in one hand and left in the night. The place he rented was an ordinary old residential building with poor security around it. He directly threw the corpse into the ruins a mile away. There were often corpses here, and the government would come to clean them up.
…
Early in the morning, Xu Jingming was eating breakfast in a shop on the street.
Many poor people looked at the steaming hot shops with envy, but those who were willing to eat in restaurants, teahouses, breakfast shops, etc. were all rich people! A big meat bun required a knife coin, which could buy one or two kilograms of rice. It was much more .
"Lanyue City is a big city, but people's lives are still so difficult. The government and gangs work together to exploit civilians." Xu Jingming sighed secretly. The current era of the Blood Rain World is a period of empire decline and chaos in the world.
The city is relatively orderly, but outside the city is truly lawless, with bandits rampant and human life as cheap as grass.
"It's almost time to go to Fei's house." Xu Jingming placed five knife coins on the table and stood up to leave. A waiter immediately collected the knife coins and started to clean up the table.
After a moment.
In front of the Fei family mansion, Xu Jingming arrived with a holster on his back, and a servant led him: "Guard Jing, the young lady has already told us to wait here. Guard Jing, please go to the front hall to rest first, and the young lady will come to see you later."
Xu Jingming nodded and went to the front hall.
In the front hall, there was a tall man sitting there, enjoying his tea leisurely. When he found Xu Jingming being led in, the tall man immediately stood up happily, smiled and said enthusiastically: "My name is Luo Baichuan."
"Jingming." Xu Jingming also bowed.
"Brother Jingming was also invited to serve as a bodyguard?" Luo Baichuan said with a smile. He also noticed the holster Xu Jingming was carrying.
"Yes." Xu Jingming nodded.
Luo Baichuan said enthusiastically: "Brother Jingming, please sit down. We will work together in the future. I was in the Black Axe Gang before..." Luo Baichuan liked to make friends, and he kept talking to Xu Jingming, almost telling him all his secrets.
Xu Jingming also chatted briefly, of course, he only said one sentence for every ten sentences Luo Baichuan said.
After chatting for half an hour.
Finally, two women came in, one still looked like a young girl, and the other was a serious and stern woman.
"Hello, Brother Luo, Hello, Brother Jing!" The girl walked in and saw Xu Jingming and Luo Baichuan, smiling brightly, "Let me introduce you to everyone. The person next to me is our Feijian Hall's senior sister, Qiu Tong. I'm going to the imperial capital this time, so I'm going to trouble you three!"
"We will of course do our best." Luo Baichuan said immediately, and Xu Jingming and Qiu Tong also bowed in response.
"This trip to the imperial capital is long, arduous and dangerous. So our Fei family is very cautious in choosing guards. I specially invited three of them, and the other guards were chosen by my father." The girl Fei Xinlan sat down and said, hiding nothing.
Xu Jingming and the other two were chatting with the young lady, and soon the housekeeper Zhang Bo arrived.
"Three of you," said the butler Zhang Bo, "on the way to the imperial capital, you will need to check your identity badges! Especially in the imperial capital, identity checks are strict. Three of you... have you all registered your household registration? If not, I will take you to the government office now to register your household registration and get your identity badges."
"I've registered." Qiu Tong said softly.
"I also registered half a year ago." Luo Baichuan said with a smile, "Without an ID badge, I can't go to the bank to deposit money, so I have to register."
Xu Jingming stood up: "I didn't register."
"Guard Jing, please come with me as soon as possible." Butler Zhang Bo said, "I'll take you there and we can register in the morning."
Xu Jingming nodded.
The identity badge is equivalent to the ID card on Blue Star! In the Blood Rain World, when the Empire's rule was the most stable , every citizen had to register to receive an identity badge. Without an identity badge, they could not go out of town.
Of course, the management of various places is now loose, and the government's control is very weak in many places. First of all, few people outside the city are registered, and even most civilians in the city have not registered their household registration.
…
On the street.
Butler Zhang Bo, Xu Jingming and two servants walked together.
"Guard Jing, I heard that when you were fighting with Elder Feng from the Huayue Gang, you were able to block many of his moves?" Uncle Zhang asked with a smile.
"I'm still at a disadvantage." Xu Jingming said.
"It seems that you are also close to the level of a first-class master." Zhang Bo smiled and said, "The master knows about your situation and has specially ordered to increase your employment fee to 100 taels per month."
Xu Jingming was quite grateful: "Thank you, Master Fei, and thank you, Butler Zhang."
Although he has reached the first-class level now, he is still inferior to Elder Feng of the Huayue Gang! Based on the record at that time, the Fei family raised the fee so much... It is indeed a very conscientious host.
Xu Jingming himself couldn't say it, I have reached the first-class level.
Because in the Blood Rain World, the "first-class realm" is very vague! After all, the natives don't have a panel and can't see their actual combat bonuses! They can only judge their approximate level based on actual combat.
If Xu Jingming wants to prove that he is a top-notch expert, he also needs to rely on actual combat to prove it!
…
Because of the intervention of Zhang Bo, the steward of the Fei family , the government office was also very quick, and Xu Jingming was quickly registered in the household registration, and the government also kept a copy of the register. A waist badge was also carved with precious "black jade".
Waist badges also have different materials. The ordinary ones are made of wood and bamboo, the better ones are made of stone, the best ones are made of metal, and the higher ones are some precious items.
Black jade is a type of jade. It is dark and shiny all over, and becomes more mellow if you play with it often.
The waist badge depicts Xu Jingming's appearance with just a few strokes, and at least his general facial shape and features can be determined.
It is also recorded that Xu Jingming's hometown is "Shizipo Village, a hundred miles east of Lanyue City."
It also records age, with the date engraved on the badge.
"Identity badge." Xu Jingming held the black jade badge in his hand and secretly admired that the record was quite detailed. He immediately inserted it into his belt and carried it with him.
…
In the next few days, after receiving the first month's salary, Xu Jingming also went to the official bank to deposit silver! A total of 150 taels of silver was deposited. Because the official silver bill had a minimum amount of 50 taels! And there was a handling fee for depositing silver!
There was no other way. Xu Jingming couldn't carry more than ten kilograms of silver on his back and rush to the imperial capital. It would be much more convenient to deposit it in silver notes, and he wouldn't have to worry about being robbed!
"I don't know when I will come back after this trip." Mr. Fei looked at his old house with mixed feelings.
Fei Xinlan was also reluctant to leave.
She grew up here since she was a child and has deep feelings for every tree and blade of grass.
"Old Zhang, it will be up to you guys to take care of the Fei family's old house from now on." Mr. Fei said.
"Yes, sir." An old man answered, and there were some servants around him. The Fei family still kept some servants to maintain the entire old house for a long time. Of course, most of the other businesses had been sold out long ago.
"Let's go."
Master Fei and Fei Xinlan got on a rather plain-looking carriage, and two maids entered to serve them.
"What a generous move! The guards' horses are all quite majestic and handsome. They are all good horses." Xu Jingming rode a horse. It was his first time riding a horse in the Blood Rain World, but he had tried it in other virtual worlds before! After all, in the past month, in addition to trying to escape from the Dark Abyss, he also experienced many virtual worlds, but they were all just a taste.
Riding a horse, fighting in the army, competing in the ring... He tried a lot, and after reaching the cellular level of control, riding a horse became a very easy thing.
The cavalry quickly left the north gate.
"We are leaving Lanyue City." Xu Jingming, Luo Baichuan, Qiu Tong and many other guards looked at them reluctantly. Many of them had left their hometowns, and once they went to the imperial capital, it would be difficult for them to return in this lifetime.
But for the sake of their future and a brighter future, they are all willing to go to the imperial capital.
"Lanyue City is the first city I came to when I arrived in the Blood Rain World. It is also nominally my hometown in the Blood Rain World." Xu Jingming also felt a little emotional.
"drive!"
Riding a horse and following the caravan, Xu Jingming never looked back and headed north.
…
After leaving the north gate, the convoy continued along the official road.
The horses were handsome, and the carriage was a luxury item made by top craftsmen. It looked plain on the outside, but it was actually very well cushioned. Sitting in the carriage, after being cushioned, the vibration of the carriage was completely within the tolerable range. Fei Xinlan also opened the curtains and looked outside curiously.
"I heard that it's very chaotic outside the city." Fei Xinlan whispered. In her entire life, she had only ever taken a walk outside the city gate and had never been anywhere further.
"Inside the city there are government offices, the Blood Rain Guards, and many families and gangs, all of whom hope for stability in the city." Master Fei said with a smile, "But outside the city it's different. Outside the city is vast, there are countless bandits, and human life is really as cheap as grass."
Fei Xinlan nodded slightly.
"So people outside the city want to settle down in the city." Master Fei also looked out the window, "We have to rush to the imperial capital. The journey is long and it won't be easy."
Fei Xinlan was very curious. Isn’t it easy?
As a young lady who had never been away from home for a long time, she felt that everything outside was so new.
We set out in the morning and stopped in an empty area on the road at noon to eat the food we brought with us.
"We've traveled more than 200 miles in this morning, but haven't encountered any bandits. Isn't it said that there are countless bandits in the city?" Fei Xinlan muttered as she sat on the grass, eating exquisite pastries.
Qiu Tong, who was sitting next to him, said calmly, "Junior sister, the horses purchased by the Fei family are all top-quality horses. With such a team of horses... the bandits can tell from a distance that they are not easy to mess with! Because the weaker forces simply can't afford to buy so many good horses, nor dare to be so ostentatious! Ordinary bandits don't dare to come and die."
"A good horse?" Fei Xinlan shook her head. "I heard that some famous horses in the world can travel thousands of miles a day. My horses are nothing."
"You said that the horse can travel thousands of miles a day, but there is not even one in the entire Lanyue City! One horse is worth ten thousand taels of silver." Qiu Tong said. Suddenly, she saw a group of people emerging from the woods in the distance. Qiu Tong smiled, "Junior sister, didn't you say there were no bandits? Here they come!"
Xu Jingming, Luo Baichuan and other guards were all looking into the distance.
"Bandits?" Mr. Fei was very calm. When he was building his family business on his own, he had experienced many ups and downs.
There were hundreds of people in the distance, holding bows and arrows and other things, leading them was a man in red who was dressed quite seductively.
The man in red started talking, his voice resounding through the surroundings: "What a great team, these fine horses are all good. I wonder if the master of the team would have mercy on us? Give us some silver. We, hundreds of brothers, haven't had enough food for several days."
"I'll give you ten taels of silver. Get out of here immediately." The housekeeper Zhang Bo shouted.
"Ten taels of silver?" The man in red laughed. "Are you kidding, sir? At least three hundred taels of silver! This is the minimum. This little bit of silver must be enough for the sir..."
"Guard Jing, Guard Luo, Guard Qiu, Guard Fan, Guard Yu, the five of you, kill them." Steward Zhang Bo gave the order.
After hearing this, Xu Jingming instantly pulled out the two long spears behind him, and with a twist, they were stuck.
Luo Baichuan also took out two hand axes from behind him.
Qiu Tong drew his sword instantly.
whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Among the guards, five figures rushed out at the same time, like five arrows, heading straight for the group of bandits.
"A top-notch master." The man in red's pupils shrank upon seeing this. From their running speed, he could tell that each of them was at a top-notch level.
"Shoot." The man in red ordered.
Immediately, fifty bandits shot arrows at the same time! Other bandits also held throwing weapons. To be able to form such a large bandit gang and survive to this day, they must be quite powerful.
Under the arrows and thrown weapons, five figures rushed into the bandit gang. For a moment, the bandits fell like grass, and many bandits were thrown into the air, flying seven or eight meters high.
"What?" The man in red was extremely shocked when he saw this scene. "These five people are all at least second-rate masters."
As a bandit leader, he was a second-rate expert, and he believed that with the cooperation of his gang members, he could threaten some third-rate experts. However, the "second-rate experts" were much better than the third-rate experts in terms of environmental control and actual combat.
“Just five random people are so powerful?” The man in red shouted, “Retreat!”
He turned into a stream of red light and fled the fastest! Hundreds of bandits fled in panic and scattered away.
The five guards stopped and started to return.
"How about these five new recruits?" Master Fei looked at them from afar and chuckled.
The silver-haired old man beside him looked at him and nodded slightly: "The other four can be regarded as second-rate masters, but Guard Jing's spear skills are quite extraordinary. The invisible spear intent covers all directions, making the enemy tremble with fear. It seems that he has reached the first-rate level."
"First-rate?" Master Fei's eyes lit up.
"I can feel that sense of oppression." The silver-haired old man nodded, "Master Fei has hired a good helper this time."
Mr. Fei laughed out loud and was in a very good mood.
The top masters around him were all Blood Rain Guard masters sent by his son. The other guards were all second-rate, and now it seemed that there was one more top-rate master.
First-rate masters are rare in the Blood Rain World. If you are willing to join a gang, you will be a member of the Huayue Gang or a guest. You can easily become rich! There are very few people who are willing to be guards.
Generally speaking, only wealthy families or truly prominent figures can command top-notch masters, such as the eldest son of the Fei family.
"In any case, with one more top-notch expert, the journey will be smoother." said the silver-haired old man.
Master Fei nodded slightly: "I feel more at ease knowing that Guard Jing is by my daughter's side. Remember, my daughter Xinlan's safety comes first on this journey. I am already an old man with one foot in the coffin, so my daughter's safety is the most important thing."
"Don't worry, Master." The silver-haired old man nodded, "We have already arranged three masters to be by the young lady's side, and now there is also Guard Jing."
Mr. Fei nodded.
In fact, he didn't know whether it was right or wrong to obey his son and go to the imperial capital!
After all, the journey is long, and even if the guards are very strong, he is worried that something might go wrong along the way. He is an old man and it doesn't matter if he dies, but his daughter is still young.
…
After defeating the bandits, the Fei family caravan quickly set out on their journey again, heading north towards the imperial capital.