"Alright... fine, I agree, five Gold Coins it is!"
The Old Blacksmith hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement.
"Really?"
Hearing this, Chen Lang was quite surprised. He hadn't expected the Old Blacksmith to agree, especially since five Gold Coins was a significant amount!
To put it in perspective, he had earned only six Silver Coins after a whole day of fighting monsters (excluding the Boss), and it took one hundred Silver Coins to exchange for one Gold Coin. So, five Gold Coins was indeed a huge fortune!
Yet, the old man agreed, which was somewhat unbelievable.
"Could it be that I'm actually Tianyan's real son?"
Chen Lang couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious.
"Yes, but I can only give the Young Hero five Silver Coins for now. I'll repay the rest slowly!"
The Old Blacksmith said through gritted teeth.
"..."
Hearing this, Chen Lang was a bit dumbfounded. Even NPCs could make empty promises, which he hadn't expected.
"Alright, goodbye, sir!"
Chen Lang sheathed his sword, ignored the Old Blacksmith, and turned to leave.
"Young Hero, please wait, please wait!"
The Old Blacksmith, though limping, moved quickly and blocked Chen Lang's path.
"Five Gold Coins, hand them over now, or there's no deal."
Chen Lang was unyielding, directly holding out his hand for the payment.
"Young Hero, I truly don't have that much right now. If you don't trust me, I can write you an IOU."
The Old Blacksmith pleaded.
"That's not acceptable. Payment on delivery, that's the rule!"
Chen Lang insisted.
Although five Gold Coins were valuable now, they would depreciate over time. Who knew when the Old Blacksmith would be able to pay him back?
"This... this... Young Hero, please help me, I'll even kneel for you!"
The Old Blacksmith, face full of bitterness, knelt down on the ground.
"You..."
Seeing this, Chen Lang's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly realized.
He had subconsciously treated these NPCs as system characters, pre-set and not real people, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
"Please, stand up, sir. It's just a sword, it's not worth this."
Chen Lang sighed, stepped forward to help the Old Blacksmith up, and handed him the Bee King Sword.
"Thank you, Young Hero, but I really don't have that much money right now..."
The Old Blacksmith stood up shakily, tears streaming down his face.
"It's alright, just pay me back when you can. By the way, sir, what do you need this sword for?"
The Bee King Sword was nice, but definitely not worth five Gold Coins. Clearly, the Old Blacksmith had another use for it.
"Sigh..."
Hearing this, the Old Blacksmith sighed deeply and slowly began to explain his troubles.
It turned out the Old Blacksmith had a granddaughter named Xiao Tong, who was twelve years old. A month ago, she heard that there was a herb in the South Mountain Ravine that could cure the Old Blacksmith's leg ailment, so she secretly went there alone.
Unexpectedly, she didn't find the herb but instead disturbed the Poison Bee King and was stung. Fortunately, the Village Chief and the Old Blacksmith arrived in time to save her.
However, although Xiao Tong was saved, she was poisoned by the Bee King and remained unconscious.
According to the old doctor at the apothecary, the poison from the Poison Bee Stinger could be refined to alleviate Xiao Tong's poison, but it was not a permanent solution. Only the poison from the Poison Bee King's stinger could completely cure her.
And the reason the Old Blacksmith was determined to get the Bee King Sword was precisely because it was made from the Poison Bee King's stinger.
"So the Village Chief wanted the Poison Bee Stinger to help your granddaughter with the poison."
Chen Lang suddenly understood. Just over an hour ago, he had given the White-Bearded Village Chief 20 Poison Bee Stingers, and the Village Chief had mentioned they were for the Old Blacksmith's family.
"Yes, the Village Chief has been very concerned about Xiao Tong's situation."
The Old Blacksmith sighed lightly, speaking of the Village Chief with great respect.
"Alright, you can keep the sword, sir. I won't take your money."
Chen Lang hesitated for a moment, then generously offered.
His intuition told him there might be more to this, perhaps even a hidden quest.
"No, no, no, I can't accept that. Even though I'm just a blacksmith, I know the importance of keeping one's word. I promised five Gold Coins, and I'll repay the Young Hero once I earn the money."
The Old Blacksmith shook his head repeatedly.
"Really, it's fine. I don't need the money!"
Chen Lang smiled. Truth be told, doing a good deed felt quite rewarding.
"No, no, I absolutely can't!"
No matter what Chen Lang said, the Old Blacksmith refused to agree.
"Why are you so stubborn?"
Chen Lang was at a loss for words.
"How about this, sir? You only need the poison from the sword, right? After extracting it, could you use the sword as material to forge me a dagger?"
Chen Lang suggested as an idea struck him.
"That... that could work, but my skills are limited. I might not be able to make anything good."
The Old Blacksmith replied.
"It's fine, whatever you make is okay, as long as it's a dagger."
"Alright then, I thank the Young Hero."
"You're welcome, helping others is my duty!"
After chatting for a while longer, Chen Lang bid farewell to the Old Blacksmith and logged off. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
...
Removing his helmet, Chen Lang let out a long breath.
After fighting monsters all day, his mind felt a bit foggy.
The Tianyan game helmet had a brainwave calming system, meaning that while playing, the brain was in a light sleep state, and the game felt like a dream. So, even after playing for a long time, you wouldn't feel particularly tired.
Of course, this didn't mean you didn't need sleep, just that you could reduce sleep time. About four or five hours would suffice.
After a quick trip to the bathroom, Chen Lang picked up his phone to check the time.
12:45.
At this moment, in the WeChat group, Guan Suo and Chen Ming were chatting away.
Chen Lang scrolled up a bit and skimmed through the conversation.
Guan Suo had already reached level 2, while Chen Ming was just shy of reaching level 2.
Guan Suo, being a Knight, could solo a Mountain Chicken at level 0, so he leveled up faster. However, he struggled against Turtles, barely breaking their defense, so he had to team up with others.
As an Archer, Chen Ming had low defense and health, struggling even against the initial Mountain Chickens.
[Guan Suo: Has Langzi logged off yet? Is that Tianya Langzi really you? @Chen Lang]
[Chen Ming: It should be Langzi. There can't be duplicate names in Tianyan.]
[Chen Lang: It's me, we teamed up and fought together!]
After quickly scanning the chat history, Chen Lang replied.
Tianyan was quite strict; you could only add friends face-to-face in the game, and couldn't add friends by searching for IDs. So, the three of them weren't friends in the game yet, and the other two didn't know Chen Lang's level.
[Guan Suo: Whoa... it really is you. You're quite famous now, absolutely amazing!]
[Chen Ming: Brother Lang is awesome, please carry me!]
[Guan Suo: Langzi, what level are you now? Are you level 3 yet?]
[Chen Ming: He must be!]
[Almost level 4.]
Chen Lang replied.
Before killing the Poison Bee King, he was close to 200 experience points. Killing the Bee King rewarded him with 250 experience points, plus the system's bonus of 50% of his current level's experience, which came to 500 experience points, bringing him close to level 4.
[Guan Suo: Brother Lang, you're truly amazing. I'm just at level 2, it's tough!]
[Chen Ming: I'm not just struggling, I'm still at level 1, 50 experience points away from level 2 (crying).]
[Chen Lang: No need to rush. Once we have money to buy health potions, leveling up will be faster.]
[Guan Suo: That's true, but I only have one Silver Coin and 33 Copper Coins, I can't bear to spend it. (cursing)]
[Chen Ming: I'm worth 88 Copper Coins.]
[Chen Lang: I don't have much either, just 13 Silver Coins, oh... and the system's reward of 3 Gold Coins. (silly grin)]
[Guan Suo:...]
[Chen Ming:...]