Zhan Long-Chapter 133: The Dark Tome

“What kind of A-rank quest is it?” I asked.

Little Wolf smiled as he held his dagger, “Late last night, Old K and Fox killed a Lv 41 Elite Monster and it dropped a dark tome, which triggered an A-rank quest. We haven’t started it yet. At most, only 5 people can share it. Coincidentally, you and Darling Duck just joined us which makes a total of 5 people in our group. We should be able to finish the quest today. How about it?”

I nodded, “Sure, Darling Duck?”

Darling Duck lifted her staff and smiled gently, “It’s just what I need! My level is still too low. So as long as it gives me experience, I’ll happily do it. ”

“Okay, then let’s get going. We have to give this dark tome to an old priest in Ba Huang City to activate the quest.”

“Okay, then let’s return to the city, take a break and then meet up at the north gate?”

“Sure!”

……

5 beams of light flashed, signaling our return to the city. Immediately, I brought Baby Bobo to the blacksmith and repaired my equipped equipment. Afterwards, I withdrew 100 Green Qilin pills and 200 Indigo Sea Pills from the warehouse. For killing low leveled monsters, using Lv 5 pills should suffice but we needed Lv 6 Green Qilin pills for killing bosses. After all, there was a huge difference between recovering 700 mana and 500 mana. After I reached Lv 50, my mana jumped to 746, thus allowing me to use the Green Qilin Pills without any waste.

Afterwards, I bought 50 Lv 6 healing potions from a player. These were made by players; each potion cost 1 gold, but they were worth it since they could restore 1000 health each. I also bought 100 Lv 5 healing potions which would restore 700 health each. The healing was slightly less, but when killing low leveled monsters, they were nice to have on hand. It was essential to always be prepared for anything.

After getting everything ready, I returned to the North Gate market area. Everyone was ready to go.

“Boss, let’s go!” Darling Duck was excited.

I nodded, glanced at her and asked, “Darling Duck, how much mana do you have?”

“Over 2200. Why did you ask, Boss?”

“Oh…… “

As I walked ahead, I opened up trade and placed 50 Green Qilin Pills and 100 Indigo Sea Pills to trade with her.

Darling Duck opened her mouth in shock, “Boss…… how do you have Green Qilin Pills? I heard that only members of [Prague] have them and they cost 3 gold a pill. You just gave me 50 pills at once. That’s like giving me 150 gold…..and you gave me Indigo Sea Pills too, oh…….”

Looking at how flustered she was, I couldn’t help but smile, “Don’t worry, I didn’t spend any gold. These Green Qilin Pills were made by me when I found some Green Qilin Grass in a secret location. [Prague]’s pills are supplied by me as well and I kept some for myself. Only when we are killing monsters should you use the pills and be sure conserve your mana. If we’re not killing a boss, then only use Indigo Sea Pills, alright?”

Darling Duck nodded and with a smile said, “Hehee, such a generous boss……”

I turned around to look at the city outskirts and smiled: “You’re one of us now; I must be a bit generous. Anyway, pills are meant to be used. Just don’t use them too fast, otherwise I won’t be able to keep us supplied.”

“Okay, understood…….”

“Let’s go, Old K will lead the way. Let’s go find the old priest Liu Fu……”

Old K nodded and lifted his battle axe: “Okay, let’s go. My battle axe craves fresh blood…… “

I couldn’t hold back and started trash talking, “Don’t make us all throw up with such disgusting phrases…”

Old K: “……”

……

Following Old K, our group of 5 people left the city’s market. Going through an alleyway, we arrived at the inner part of Ba Huang City while a group of NPC cavalry riders thundered past us. Ba Huang City was like this every day. The NPC army was always on alert. This caused the atmosphere of the city to be extremely tense, as if a battle could start at any moment. However, this was the reality of being located near the border and far away from Tian Ling City, there were many nearby monsters of various savage races. There were also devils that hid in the dark while watching the city. That was why Ba Huang City had to be on alert.

10 minutes later, in a small quiet alley near a pond inside the city.

Old K held the dark toom and stood there in a daze: “M***** F*****, the quest stated that the old priest would be right here, yet there is not even a shadow!”

I pointed towards a man dressed in rags and said, “How about him?”

Little Wolf lightly laughed, “Brother Xiao Yao. That person is wearing rags and looks like a minstrel. How can he be the old priest?”

“You never know…… “

My hand balled in a fist while I stepped forward. Squatting down next to the minstrel, I took a glance at him; he looked like a skeleton. On his back was a zither. He looked at me with darkened eyes and extended his hand, “Kindhearted person, please give me some food?”

I asked in a hushed voice, “Elder, do you know where the old priest Liu Fu is?”

The minstrel looked like he was about to wither away: “Youngster, if you find a Crispy Roast Duck for me, I will tell you where Liu Fu is. That old geezer, hehee, only I know where he is ……”

I narrowed my eyes: “Crispy Roast Duck?”

“Yes, the hotel located at the head of East Road has it. If you could buy me this delicious, otherworldly dish ……”

“Okay!”

I stood up. With a smile plastered across my face, I looked at my group members, “I got a lead.”

Darling Duck’s pretty eyes widened, “I know this Crispy Roast Duck dish. From what I heard, it’s 10 gold for one dish. How come I feel like we didn’t find a lead, but instead we are being taken advantage of ……”

My whole body shivered, “No way, that minstrel looks so innocent……”

Fox’s mouth twitched and remarked sarcastically: “Damn. With which eye of yours were you able to tell that he is innocent……”

“Whatever. You guys wait here for me. I will go buy the Crispy Roast Duck!”

“Sure!”

……

I darted toward my destination, the end of East Road. An expensive looking hotel appeared in front of me and even the city’s lord’s own mansion wouldn’t have such a wealthy appearance. Inside, a few adventurers were there playing a drinking game while a waiter from the hotel rushed up to welcome me, “Dear guest, what is your reason for coming to this hotel? Staying for the night or to have a meal?”

I didn’t beat around the bush, “None of those, I just want to buy a Crispy Roast Duck!”

“Sure, 10 gold, have a safe trip!”

After paying the 10 gold, I quickly returned!

When I got there, Little Wolf and the rest were looking at the scenery and Darling Duck stepped up to welcome me: “Boss, did you buy the Crispy Roast Duck? How much was it? Was there inflation?”

“No. 10 gold, let me go ask……”

“Good, good …….”

Everyone followed me over as I held the delicious smelling Crispy Roast Duck in front of the minstrel and said, “The Crispy Roast Duck you asked for has arrived. Okay, now can you tell me where old priest Liu Fu is?”

Who would have thought that the minstrel would snatch the roasted duck and finish off the duck in 2-3 mouthfuls– even eating the mountain sparrow meat stuffed in the duck’s stomach. There was not a single bite left. Both of his hands were covered in grease as his eyes sparkled with energy. He looked at me, smiled and said, “Youngster, I have finished eating the Crispy Roast Duck. This old man is going home to take a nap. Once I wake up from my nap, I will tell you where Liu Fu is!”

“Scram!”

Feeling like I had been deceived, I grabbed the minstrel’s collar: “If you don’t tell me where Liu Fu is right now, I will kill you!”

“Clatter……”

He suddenly faded from my hand and transformed into a newly grown willow branch. What the hell, what kind of illusion was this?

Several meters away, the minstrel appeared again. He dusted himself off while holding onto his zither. With a playful look on his face, he said, “Youngster, when I was younger, I was called priest Liu Fu. I forgot about it. So, what do you need from me?”

Old K waved the dark tome and said, “Do you know what this is?”

The old priest’s face drained of color, “This……where did this tome come from? Damn it, that vile guy didn’t die. This is an outrage!”

My heart quickened. The Crispy Roast Duck was not a waste; the quest had progressed!

I took the dark tome from Old K’s hands and asked, “So, where will this dark notebook lead us to?”

The old priest’s face was really ugly as he responded in a trembling voice, “This tome’s owner…..is an extremely evil undead archmage. Long ago, we studied together under the archmage Li Wen. However, his mind was full of the dark arts and one day, he finally decided to walk down the path of evil. He killed our teacher, Li Wen, took this extremely evil dark notebook and escaped from Ba Huang City. This won’t do……”

He excitedly picked up his zither, “We must defeat him by using this tome as a seal. Only by doing that will we be able to remove that evil from its roots. Otherwise, the whole continent will be plunged into a crisis!

Saying that, he looked in our direction. A hint of hope appeared in his eyes, “Young warriors, are you willing to accept such a difficult quest?”

I nodded, “We are willing……”

“Ding!”

System Message: Congratulations! Your quest [The Dark Tome] has advanced. It is now an S-Tier quest!

Details: Head southeast toward the sea region there and search for the “Cave of Despair”. After passing through that long cave, you will arrive at the “Shrine of Despair”. In the innermost part of the Shrine of Despair, you will find the undead archmage “Locus”. Use the dark tome to seal Locus to receive the “Ring of Locus”. Only people with the “Ring of Locus” can enter the secret chamber within the Shrine of Despair. In the secret chamber you will be able to learn the A-rank skill [Reflect]!

…..

I raised my fist and the edge of my mouth curved up: “Good. Now the quest has changed to an S-Tier quest, and the final reward changed to an A-rank skill. This is definitely worth it!”

Darling Duck blinked, “However, this is an S-Tier quest. Can we handle it?”

“Don’t worry. As long as we have good teamwork, there is still hope!”

“Okay!”

“Also……” I emphasized this, “Do you guys have enough gold on you? The fee to learn an A-rank skill is not small. Don’t get there and not have enough to learn it……”

Old K, “20 gold!”

Little Wolf, “57 gold!”

Darling Duck, “14 gold…….”

I looked at my bags in silence. “Okay. I still have 527 gold. Even if it costs 100 gold per person, there should be enough. Let’s head out first. We’ll go toward the sea region southeast of Ba Huang City. Let’s talk about it again once we find the Cave of Despair!”

……

After traveling for more than an hour, the forest in front of our eyes ended. In front of us was an endless sea with a mountain range jutting out from it. According to the quest, the Cave of Despair should be here.

“Ding!”

A message from Lin Wan Er, “Li Xiao Yao, you want go offline to get lunch?”

“I’m in the middle of an S-rank quest……”

“Okay. Dong Cheng Yue and I will order take out. We won’t leave the building……”

“Miss’ heart is gentle, considerate, and peerless ……”

“Get lost……”

Done by Zdog and Based Jessica!