Chapter 170: First-Rate!

"An apple..."

Dong Pingping hadn't quite processed the situation, but judging by Yan Jing's tone, he didn't seem to be joking. She hurriedly took the Worm Apple and walked over to the boy, whose face was twisted in agony.

"An'an, listen to Mr. Yi. Eat this. You'll be fine once you do. Mr. Yi Ji is a good person... Everything will be alright... Come on..."

The boy forced his eyes open. It felt like his bones were shattered, and something inside him was bleeding endlessly. He figured he was about to die.

At Dong Pingping's urging, he obediently opened his mouth and swallowed the apple down, bite by bite.

In truth, he knew the apple wouldn't do much. His health had always been poor; even if a pharmacist from West Street came, they probably couldn't save him.

But he did it anyway.

He didn't want his sister to be sad.

An elder sister acts as a mother. For years, Dong Pingping had been the one taking care of him, enduring endless hardships to raise him.

It was just a shame...

They had agreed that once he grew up, it would be his turn to earn money. He was going to find her a good family to marry into—the kind of good family where she wouldn't have to work anymore...

"Sis... I... I have something I want to tell you..."

The boy opened his eyes and spoke slowly.

"Tell me, An'an. I'm listening."

As if sensing what was coming, Dong Pingping's tears began to pour.

"Your Suona... it really... really sounds awful..."

He managed a weak smile. "Change... change to a different instrument. And... don't... don't be a crybaby anymore... You'll never get married like this..."

"People always say... when looking for a wife... they don't want a crybaby..."

"Sis... find... find a good family... Mr... Mr. Yi is..."

With those final words, the boy closed his eyes.

At that moment, Dong Pingping could no longer hold back. Her tears fell alongside her grief as she threw herself onto the boy, wailing aloud.

Yan Jing watched the scene unfold. He didn't bother pointing out that the boy had merely passed out; because he hadn't undergone entering the ranks, the effects of the Worm Apple were simply a little too "nourishing" for him.

In truth, he rarely used the healing effects of the Fear Fruit ability. He had only tested it elsewhere before, and the results had been quite promising.

Anyone who consumed the fruit wouldn't enter the Fear Stance, but they would still receive strong healing effects.

He chose not to interrupt Dong Pingping's mourning.

Only a shift from extreme grief to joy would produce the best effect.

He walked over to the door and waited in silence.

In this chaotic world, who lived and who died wouldn't cause much of a ripple. But the boy couldn't die yet, because the boy was still useful.

A few hours later, looking at the siblings weeping tears of joy, Yan Jing declined their thanks. Instead, he grabbed the still-unconscious killing cultivator and hauled him over to the boy.

"You told me earlier that you wanted to enter the ranks, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Yi. As long as you can help me with entering the ranks, I, Dong An, will slave away for you for the rest of my life."

The boy moved to fall to his knees once more.

"Entering the ranks is agonizing."

"I'm not afraid of the pain!"

"Good."

Yan Jing nodded and tossed the killing cultivator forward:

"Then kill him."

"This..."

The boy's eyes went wide as he looked over at his sister.

But Dong Pingping turned her head away, not looking at her brother.

She knew there were some things you just had to do if you wanted to live longer.

She was even grateful to Yan Jing. No matter the cultivator, the cost of entering the ranks was never low. If you didn't want to spend money, you had to endure a hundred times the suffering. Bianliu County might be full of cultivators, but those were just the ones who had survived.

Seeing his sister's reaction, the boy understood. He got to his feet and pulled out a small knife from his pocket—the one he had just prepared for self-defense.

Looking at the killing cultivator lying with his eyes tightly shut, he remembered what this man had done to the two of them. A raging inferno of anger flared in his eyes.

Gripping the knife, he slowly stepped forward.

...

A few minutes later, the boy retched until his stomach was completely empty.

"Someone will come for you tomorrow to take you to enter the ranks,"

Yan Jing said evenly.

"When the time comes, he'll give you the agreed-upon signal."

"The suffering of entering the ranks will be a hundred, a thousand times harder than killing someone."

"If you don't want your sister to suffer anymore, you have to swallow all the suffering yourself first."

"Understood, Mr. Yi!"

The boy gave a heavy nod:

"I'll work hard!!"

"Good luck."

Yan Jing stayed in the shop until the chaos on the street died down before he walked toward the door.

By the time he left, six or seven corpses were lying in the tiny shop.

Seeing that Yan Jing was leaving, Dong Pingping hurriedly stood up and bowed in gratitude:

"Mr. Yi, my brother and I might not be able to repay your monumental kindness in this lifetime. If there's ever anything you need us to do, just give the order."

"Including dying?"

A trace of amusement colored Yan Jing's tone.

Dong Pingping froze, not expecting Yan Jing to be so blunt. But ultimately, she gave a resolute nod:

"Even death. We won't hesitate!"

"Good."

Yan Jing left the shop.

For his final stop, he went to see Old Monkey.

"As Young Master Luo instructed at the time, I've delivered fourteen days of Hand Fish to you. This is the last day."

Yan Jing said.

"If you want to eat it after this, you'll have to go find him yourself."

"Alright."

Old Monkey simply assumed that 'finding him yourself' meant going down into the underworld to find him. He nodded. "I'll definitely do what Young Master Luo ordered."

"Thanks for the trouble."

Yan Jing gave a faint nod.

Old Monkey cupped his hands in a respectful salute.

...

...

Having wrapped up all his affairs, Yan Jing logged out of the Inner World.

He slept straight through to the next day.

Beside him, Shen Youran arrived right on the dot to knock on the door.

"Xiao Yanzi, you brought everything for this trip, right? The guide for every sector of Bianliu County, the rules there... you have to memorize all of it. Don't believe a single word from the people in that place. And just take the simplest route for the mission—stick to the shops circled in the documents, don't mix them up... and whatever you do, don't talk back to the shopkeepers..."

Shen Youran nagged for quite a while. Yan Jing smiled:

"I've got it, Teacher Shen. Don't worry, I've memorized it all."

"Good. Good, good."

Shen Youran nodded, acting mysterious:

"Once you finish this Dungeon, I have a surprise for you."

"Alright."

Yan Jing smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."

A moment later, a long-absent prompt appeared before Yan Jing's eyes.

[This task is your personal task. Task Location: Minhu, Bianliu County]

[Task Stage A is about to begin]

[Welcome, honored player]

[Have a pleasant playthrough]

His vision briefly went black. Once the familiar bout of vertigo ended, Yan Jing opened his eyes. He had arrived in... Bianliu County.

Right now, he was standing on the bustling East Main Street.

But it was the exact opposite of Old Sin City.

In Rotten Vegetable Village, because the merchants primarily traded with players, they did their best to conceal their true appearances. But in Bianliu County, the moment anyone laid eyes on Yan Jing, they immediately revealed their true forms.

A sugar cultivator selling spun-sugar figures looked as if his entire body was made of sugar. Droplets of syrup oozed down his face as he stared with hollow eyes.

A fortune teller manning a stall seemed to have a talisman slapped over his face, bearing the crookedly scrawled words "Heavenly Secrets."

The rickshaw puller trundling down the street was so emaciated he looked no different from a skeleton. Upon closer inspection, one could see that his rusty, dilapidated rickshaw seemed fused to his back. Rather than pulling the vehicle, it looked more like he was desperately trying to throw the rickshaw off, yet couldn't break free no matter what.

...

These were the honest, simple folk of Bianliu County.

Yan Jing chuckled and strode toward the shop from his memory.

At that very moment, Tiger was anxiously waiting by the door.

"Yi Ji" had told him that the best way to thrive when working under someone was to demonstrate his worth.

Now that the Young Master of the Luo Family had ordered him to run this shop, he naturally had to run it well.

But to run a shop well, just doing hard work was useless.

Which of the big shops on the street didn't have four or five clerks working under them?

Only with more people could a shop thrive.

But he had absolutely no experience leading people, so Yan Jing had suggested he find some simple, obedient "clerks." Like, for instance...

Humans.

But he had been observing for days now, and he hadn't seen a single human come here.

This inevitably made him somewhat anxious.

Just as he was lamenting that today would surely end in failure again, a figure radiating a halo of light suddenly approached his storefront.

"Excuse me, are you hiring clerks?"

Yan Jing asked.

"We are! We absolutely are!"

Tiger nodded frantically, overjoyed at the unexpected arrival.

"Are there any requirements for the job?"

Yan Jing looked very hesitant.

"The requirements..."

Tiger was just about to say there were none, but suddenly, a thin booklet materialized in his hand.

Written on it was: Clerk Manual.

He flipped through it. The first page clearly stated that if one recruited a human as a clerk, they needed to pose a specific task and requirement.

Tiger was a little dumbfounded. It seemed the rules of this Domain were quite comprehensive; it really wasn't something Old Sin City could compare to.

"The requirements..."

He couldn't help but frown deeply. Then, he ventured tentatively, "Do you... know how to do math?"

"A little,"

Yan Jing replied.

"Then let me test you!"

Tiger glanced at the booklet in his hand. Since everything seemed fine, he cleared his throat and asked: "What is four times four?"

'Would the rules of the Inner World actually accept something so simple?'

Yan Jing blinked.

"Sixteen?"

"Perfect!"

Tiger flashed a thumbs-up. He checked the manual in his hand again and saw it still didn't react, making him instantly overjoyed:

"Alright, you're officially a clerk at our shop now."

"Understood, Shopkeeper."

Yan Jing nodded forcefully: "I'll work hard."

Hearing Yan Jing's words, Tiger felt a surge of energy.

'This feeling of being a shopkeeper... doesn't seem half bad?'

But what was he supposed to do next?

He flipped through the manual and spotted something resembling a rating form.

"Clerk Diligence," "Clerk Communication Skills," "Clerk Satisfaction," "Clerk Fieldwork," "Clerk Appearance"...

"Mr. Tiger, the first step in managing your own employees and subordinates is to offer encouragement, so you need to provide positive reinforcement whenever possible."

"Yi Ji's" words echoed in his mind. Tiger nodded thoughtfully.

'Right. Mr. Yi Ji is always giving people a thumbs-up, and he's always praising me. So that's what he meant.'

'And then there's Young Master Luo Sheng. He doesn't praise people, but he's always very polite to everyone.'

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made.

"What's your name?"

He looked at Yan Jing.

"Yan Jing."

Yan Jing replied. He had actually met Tiger once before at the Gluttonous Ghost Banquet, but back then, he had kept his head down to eat while Tiger was focused on serving food overhead. Not to mention... he had been wearing a mask at the time.

"Alright, then I'll just call you Xiao Yan from now on."

Tiger nodded with an air of authority, then opened the booklet in his hands and used an ink brush to write down under the 'Communication Skills' section:

"First-Rate."

Being able to answer his questions normally was indeed first-rate.

Then, he looked at Yan Jing again. The more he looked, the more pleasing to the eye the young man seemed.

And so, under the 'Appearance' section, he similarly wrote:

"First-Rate."

He was considered quite good-looking among humans. First-rate, absolutely first-rate.

"Shopkeeper, is there any work you need me to do?"

Yan Jing asked, looking at Tiger.

Hearing this, Tiger nodded in profound satisfaction.

He immediately jotted down 'First-Rate' under the 'Diligence' section.

Looking at the words he had written in the booklet, Tiger felt immensely pleased.

To think he actively asked about work.

First-Rate!

Simply First-Rate!