300 Chapter 300 - The Search for the Blackmailer (2/2)

As soon as he stepped outside the Tavern, Gu Fei ran toward Chief Edwin's abode. With how this village worked, he was certain that its residents would just send him over to Chief Edwin eventually. In any case, Chief Edwin was also the first NPC he could think of if he wanted to get information about his quest.

Unfortunately, such an important NPC was not someone the villagers would only reveal to Gu Fei. Those players who had continuously inquired around the village were eventually redirected by the NPCs to Chief Edwin who was living in a three-story house by the edge of the woods. Just outside the village chief's house, plenty of players were packed like canned sardines, and with everyone clamoring for a chance to speak with him, it was as if Chief Edwin were a superstar and his place were a venue for a fan meeting.

Is there a need for this? Gu Fei was baffled. Everyone could have just chosen a representative to talk with the village chief; why was there a need for all of them to talk to Chief Edwin?

This way of thinking was bred by Gu Fei's lack of motivation. Just like Young Master's Elite, many mercenary groups and guilds used the point system to distribute equipment and coins to their members. Group missions and quests like this were the best opportunities for the members to obtain contribution points, so they would naturally not want to miss such a wondrous chance and would even willingly compete with others for it.

Gu Fei was already blocked from entering the premise, and if that was not enough, two Traversing Four Seas players who spotted Gu Fei in the crowd rushed over, ”Apologies, Brother Miles. Our guild leader has instructed us to tell you that you don't need to busy yourself with this matter anymore given how hard you've worked thus far.”

”Oh.” This was Gu Fei's only response before he backed off. He was quite happy deep down, though, as Young Master Han's intention to earn a quick buck off of Traversing Four Seas had already been seen through by them that Oathless Sword himself was doing his best to prevent Gu Fei from helping.

Just Traversing Four Seas' words were not enough to stop Gu Fei from helping, though. Still, the underlying meaning behind their statement was rather clear: Since we did not invite you this time, you could lend us a hand, but you would not get paid for it.

Gu Fei did not really care about that, and he simply wanted to do something. However, his desire to help flagged at the sight of the many people surrounding Chief Edwin's house, as it meant that it would take ages before he could talk to the NPC. In the end, he turned to leave.

The other five men felt shocked when they saw him return to the Tavern, ”So soon? What did you manage to find out?”

”Nothing,” Gu Fei answered, explaining, ”Traversing Four Seas said that they don't need my help.”

Everyone turned to look at Young Master Han, ”Just how much money did you make off of them that they actually sent men to guard the place – as if they were afraid of getting robbed – and gave up such an easy solution for hard labor?”

Young Master Han muttered, ”It's not how 'much money'… but how 'many times', instead. I hardly think I'm to blame for that, though; the truth is we are just too outstanding.”

Young Master Han's narcissistic statement this time finally included the others, so instead of contradicting him, they actually nodded their heads in agreement. ”That sounds about right. We really are just too d*mn amazing.”

”The more Oathless Sword doesn't want us to extort from him, the more I want to make a huge killing off of him,” Young Master Han rubbed his hands together.

”Extort every penny off of him!” Royal God Call did not hesitate to betray his guild leader now that he had spied an opportunity for him to earn a tidy sum off of the latter.

”Miles, who do you think is the NPC pulling the strings?” Young Master Han asked.

”How would I know?” Gu Fei asked back.

”Who was the final boss of your chain quest back then?” Young Master Han rephrased his question.

”Mr. Adrian…” Gu Fei said as shock overcame him, ”Could it be the same NPC again?”

”Why would that be the case?” everyone asked.

”Today, I specifically inquired about this. I've previously killed Mr. Adrian for my quest, so the current Mr. Adrian, although he bears the same name and look of the man before, is actually a brand-new NPC. But…” Gu Fei recalled Fleeting Smile's words, ”Even a newly spawned NPC will still bear the same task as before, replacing the previous one to continue the same job.”

”What does that mean?” The others did not understand what he meant.

”The previous Mr. Adrian is a villain, so the newly spawned Mr. Adrian will naturally not walk the straight and narrow path. He's most likely the only NPC around who would blackmail the Werewolves like this,” Young Master Han hypothesized.

Gu Fei nodded his head, ”That's what I think, too.”

”Let's go find him!” Royal God Call excitedly said.

The six men stood up as Brother Assist walked abreast with Gu Fei, ”Where did you hear that from?”

”That… might be a little difficult to answer,” Gu Fei replied as he looked at Fleeting Smile's name on his friends list. You would be giving me a huge help once more if this quest really did fall onto Mr. Adrian's lap again.