The outer area of the beginner vilge is filled with level 1 rabbits, but the area is packed with crowds of pyers. Often, five or six people sneakily hover around the rabbit spawn points, and as soon as a rabbit spawns, it is immediately shredded by countless short swords and elemental spheres.

  After pushing through the crowd for a while, Feng Xiao finally spots a lone rabbit. He quickly sshes at it, and at the same time, an image appears in his mind from the "Mind's Eye":

  Rabbit: Level 1, Health 30, Skills: None. A group of violent rabbits, watch out for its big carrot.

  One ssh, and a red number -6 appears above the rabbit's head. The rabbit, having been attacked, immediately swings its rge carrot at Feng Xiao to retaliate.

  -10

  Critical hit! Feng Xiao is struck by a yellow critical hit damage number, a rare occurrence for the rabbit, and his health is quickly reduced to zero.

  "Beep, Pyer Feng Hun, you have died. Would you like to resurrect at the beginner vilge?"

  "Resurrect..."

  Feng Xiao is frustrated and feels like smashing his head against the wall. He had grand aspirations to become the top pyer, but he was killed by a low-level rabbit on his first monster kill… though it was due to his low health and defense.

  "Damn, I was killed by a rabbit! Big Brother, how did you do it? I'm really in awe..."

  Just before he resurrects, Feng Xiao hears someone remark, and it almost makes him want to give up.

  In a fsh of white light, Feng Xiao appears in the beginner vilge again, face full of frustration. Killing monsters and leveling up is not an option anymore; he can't afford to lose face. He might as well do some quests.

  There are only a few houses in the beginner vilge, and there are only a handful of NPCs. Right now, these NPCs are surrounded by countless pyers trying to take quests. Feng Xiao groans loudly, thinking it will take forever to get a quest.

  Feng Xiao notices that the only NPC no one is bothering is an old man sitting against the wall. The old man is in ragged clothes, his eyes tightly shut, with hair and a beard tangled together like a nest of grass. He is curled up in a corner, motionless, like an ancient sculpture.

  Feng Xiao's expression shifts: "Something's wrong here. The system wouldn't assign a useless NPC. Maybe this old man has something hidden." In his years of gaming experience, he's learned that such special NPCs are likely to have hidden quests.

  Feng Xiao immediately runs over and greets the old man warmly: "Hello, old man, is there anything I can do for you?"

  The old man doesn’t respond, not even twitching his eyebrows.

  "Old man, is there anything I can help you with?"

  Still no response. Is he deaf?

  "Old man, do you want me to help you to sit over there for a while…"

  ……

  "Old man, are you cold?"

  "Old man, you have a fly on your nose."

  "Old man..."

  ……

  Since he has nothing else to do, Feng Xiao stubbornly keeps pestering the old man for over half an hour, determined to wear him down.

  Finally, the old man reacts:

  "Get lost!!!"

  The shout is like a thundercp, leaving Feng Xiao stunned and drenched in cold sweat.

  "If you want something to do, go find Mrs. Ma in the house across the way! Otherwise, unless you find the Chaos Holy Water, don’t bother me! Get out!!"

  Feng Xiao, startled, quickly runs off. He doesn't want to anger this strange old man and get hunted down by him throughout the beginner vilge.

  Wait, what did he just say? Mrs. Ma across the way? Chaos Holy Water? Could this be a hidden quest? But there’s no quest prompt.

  Feng Xiao looks toward the house across from the old man. There’s a small closed door, but no one can tell if anyone is inside. No pyers have entered yet.

  And what is Chaos Holy Water?

  Feng Xiao cautiously returns to the old man and weakly asks, "Old man, what is Chaos Holy Water?"

  "Get lost!!!"

  Feng Xiao runs off in a hurry.

  "The Mark of Asura and the True Form of the Saint appearing on the same person... I must be losing my mind after years of sealing. I actually thought that was a real illusion." The old man mutters to himself as he watches Feng Xiao leave.

  Feng Xiao arrives at the small house and knocks on the door.

  One minute…

  Two minutes…

  Five minutes…

  Ten minutes…

  "If there's really someone inside, there's no way you're not opening the door. I have nothing else to do, so I’ll keep you company today," Feng Xiao thinks angrily.

  Fifteen minutes ter, the door finally opens, and a middle-aged woman’s head peeks out. She looks to be in her forties, with a haggard face, messy hair, and clothes.

  "Sorry, young man, there's really nothing going on here. Please leave," the woman says kindly, but with an obvious hint of anger and impatience in her tone.

  Feng Xiao is stunned. He realizes that she must have mistaken him for a newbie looking for a quest, which is why she didn't open the door earlier. She's probably tired of being bothered by other pyers.

  Feng Xiao quickly asks, "Hello, are you Mrs. Ma?"

  Mrs. Ma is taken aback and asks, "How do you know my name?"

  Haha, there's a chance! Feng Xiao quickly expins, "Hello, Mrs. Ma. The old man across the way sent me to find you. Is there anything I can help you with?" He points toward the old man, who is still motionless, and secretly hopes that the old man’s name will work.

  "Ah? You were sent by my benefactor? Please come in, I’m so sorry for the earlier rudeness." Upon hearing that the old man sent him, Mrs. Ma’s attitude shifts dramatically. She excitedly pulls Feng Xiao inside.

  No way, that was so easy? Could the old man actually be someone important?

  The door sms shut, and Mrs. Ma turns to face Feng Xiao. She stares at him with an intense gaze, making him feel uneasy.

  Could it be that this middle-aged woman has developed feelings for me, seeing how handsome and charming I am? Feng Xiao is horrified at the thought, breaking into a cold sweat. He quickly prepares to run if things get weird. Dying to a rabbit is one thing, but losing face in front of a dy would be worse. Of course, well, if she’s a beauty, that’s a different story.

  To his surprise, Mrs. Ma suddenly kneels in front of him with a thud, tears streaming down her face: "Brave warrior, you must save my husband..."

  Feng Xiao is startled and quickly helps her up. "What happened? If I can help, I will."

  This is truly a crazy world… someone actually kneels to ask for a quest.

  After hearing Mrs. Ma’s story, Feng Xiao finally understands the situation.

  NPCs in the beginner vilge generally can’t leave, but Mrs. Ma’s husband, Hunter Ma, was very curious and adventurous. After thoroughly exploring every corner of the vilge, his greatest hope was to venture outside the vilge into the wider world. One day, that opportunity finally arrived.

  The vilge chief, after years of experimenting, managed to create three Boundaryless Scrolls and two Return Scrolls. The Boundaryless Scrolls can teleport a person randomly to any corner of the Dragon Continent (the gaming area for Chinese pyers; there are other continents like the East Japan Continent, the Korean Continent, the American Continent, the British Continent, and so on). The Return Scrolls can teleport a person back to the beginner vilge instantly from anywhere. Each scroll can only be used once.

  Upon learning this, Hunter Ma excitedly begged the vilge chief and finally got a Boundaryless Scroll and a Return Scroll. Six months ago, he used the scroll to travel to the Dragon Continent with the vilge chief.

  The result? They were teleported to completely different pces, and when the vilge chief found Hunter Ma, he was unable to speak or see. The only thing he could do was breathe, effectively a vegetable.

  The vilge chief, in a panic, retrieved the Return Scroll from Hunter Ma and returned to the vilge, but no one knew what happened to him. Eventually, the old man noticed and told everyone that Hunter Ma had encountered a powerful dark-type monster, had his soul stripped, and would die within a week.

  NPCs are different from pyers. When a pyer dies, they can resurrect, losing a level and equipment. But when an NPC dies, they disappear completely unless they have a resurrection skill. Even if a new NPC is generated, they will be completely different from the original.

  The old man then used a special water magic to protect Hunter Ma’s body in a water spirit, ensuring he wouldn’t die for a year. However, if his soul cannot be found and reattached to his body within a year, even the best holy medicine won’t save him.

  As for who the old man is, Mrs. Ma doesn’t know, only that he’s been in the vilge since her birth. He always looks disheveled and rarely speaks.

  "Brave warrior, can you help me find my husband's soul?"

  "Beep, Pyer Feng Hun, Mrs. Ma requests you help find Hunter Ma’s soul. Quest deadline: six months. Quest penalty: none. Do you accept the quest?"

  Feng Xiao is stunned. How can he answer? This is an impossible quest.

  Forget the fact that no one knows where Hunter Ma died or what monster killed him. Even if he can find his soul... can souls even be seen or touched? How can he carry it?

  Let's say he finds the monster and kills it, but how would he return to the beginner vilge?

  The only way pyers can return from the Dragon Continent is by dropping their level below 10.

  A monster that can strip souls must be extremely powerful. Even if Feng Xiao finds it, he doesn’t know how high his level must be to defeat it. Who would waste years of grinding just to complete a quest from the beginner vilge? Unless the person is crazy.

  Is Feng Xiao crazy? Probably not.

  "Accept." With a bitter smile, Feng Xiao finally decides to take on the quest. There's no punishment anyway, and after leaving the beginner vilge, he’ll never see Mrs. Ma again. No need to feel guilty.