Building a Perfect Territory in the Mist

Chapter 61: Chapter 55: Generous Quest Rewards, Uplifting Drum

Half an hour later.

Shen Xing and Xia Wanyin shared a single Horse Lantern as their two teams advanced through the Fog.

Soon, they arrived at the spot where they had previously met the Wandering Merchant.

Following Xia Wanyin’s directions, the group came to a stretch of ruins and saw Garrett sitting on a stone block, waiting quietly.

He was still wearing a black cloak, his entire face hidden beneath the hood, and a pack animal that was neither horse nor ox stood beside him.

"Pioneers, you’ve arrived."

The Wandering Merchant sensed their presence and slowly raised his head, that same mysterious smile on his pale face.

"My late wife’s memento—did you get it?"

Shen Xing nodded and took out a string of lustrous white pearl beads from his pack, still stained with crimson blood.

Upon seeing the pearl beads, Garrett’s eyes widened slightly, a complex emotion flashing in their depths.

After a moment, he spoke slowly, asking tentatively, "Did you... kill that Naga?"

The two fell silent for a moment at his question.

"We killed her," Shen Xing said.

Garrett’s expression flickered. His deep gaze swept back and forth between them, as if trying to probe for something.

Shen Xing met his gaze calmly, his own expression unreadable.

After a moment, Garrett let out a soft chuckle. "Good that you killed her. You truly are Pioneers who keep their promises."

With that, he walked over to his pack animal, opened a chest, and took out a bulging parcel, which he then handed over.

"Thank you for helping me retrieve my late wife’s memento. This is the promised reward."

Garrett bowed slightly, a perfectly executed gesture of courtesy.

Xia Wanyin, standing to the side, remained expressionless, but a flash of disgust crossed her face.

Shen Xing showed no emotion. He simply nodded and put the parcel in his pack.

[Mission Complete: Blackwater’s Last Wish]

[Rewards Acquired: Uplifting Drum (Gold), Unknown Treasure Map x1, Soul Stones x500...]

[Wandering Merchant Garrett Favorability +30]

...

"Thank you both for your help. I shall take my leave now."

Garrett smiled and added mysteriously, "Perhaps we will have a chance to meet again."

After speaking, he turned, led his pack animal away, and gradually vanished into the thick Fog.

After waiting a moment, Shen Xing turned and said, "Let’s head back, too."

"Mm."

Xia Wanyin murmured in agreement, snapping out of her thoughtful state.

They relit the Horse Lantern and started back toward their territories.

After they had walked for some time, Xia Wanyin suddenly spoke up.

"Shen Xing, do you think that Wandering Merchant realized we didn’t kill the Naga Priestess?"

"He probably did."

"Huh?" Xia Wanyin asked in surprise. "Then why did he still give us so many rewards for the mission?"

Shen Xing chuckled and shook his head. "This whole affair isn’t simple. There are probably secrets behind it that we don’t know about."

"What that Naga Priestess said might not be the whole truth. After all, more than a decade has passed. There are bound to be many unknown details."

"The relationship between those two is likely more complicated than we imagine."

He paused, then shook his head again. "But who cares? We got the rewards, and we weren’t cursed."

Wanyin nodded slightly. For them, this was indeed the best possible outcome.

That’s right—Shen Xing hadn’t killed the Naga Priestess. He had no desire to be slapped with some inexplicable curse.

He had just made her take off the string of pearl beads so he could go back and complete the mission.

After all, they had been working at it for days. They couldn’t just return empty-handed, could they?

As for the string of pearl beads being some kind of key to a Holy Land, that was none of their business.

The Holy Land was a place, but people were resourceful. If she didn’t want others getting in, there were plenty of ways to stop them.

Besides, the Naga Priestess had agreed readily, so she had obviously thought of this as well.

He didn’t bother asking why the Wandering Merchant had deceived him. He just wanted his payment and had no intention of getting mixed up in their grudges.

"Alright, let’s divide the rewards."

Shen Xing looked at the items in his pack and proposed a plan for splitting them. "We’ll split the 500 Soul Stones evenly. As for the Uplifting Drum and the Treasure Map, we each pick one. Sound good?"

After all, they had completed the mission together, so it was only natural to split the rewards evenly.

However, Xia Wanyin shook her head. "I’ll just take half of the Soul Stones. You can have the other two treasures."

"You’re the one who took down both of the Bosses, after all. I didn’t contribute much..."

Shen Xing thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Let’s still split it evenly. As allies, I’m not going to take advantage of you."

"You deployed more troops than I did this time. Without the support of your Light Elf legion, my side would have definitely suffered significant losses."

He paused before adding, "Besides, this won’t be our only time working together. We’ll probably team up again in the future. It’s better to keep clear accounts, even between friends."

Any stable relationship is built on a foundation of mutual benefit and fair distribution.

"Alright..."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Xia Wanyin stopped refusing. "In that case... I’ll choose the Treasure Map. Is that okay?"

"The Treasure Map... Are you sure?" Shen Xing asked in return.

After all, when comparing the two treasures, the [Uplifting Drum] was clearly more valuable than the [Treasure Map].

The former was a tangible, Gold-Quality treasure of astonishing value.

The latter, however, required one to first follow the clues on the Treasure Map to find where the treasure was buried.

Even after finding the treasure’s location, there would likely be a series of trials, battles, and so on.

And even if they did obtain the treasure, the final reward might not even be as good as the Uplifting Drum.

"Mhm, I’ll choose this one."

Xia Wanyin nodded without hesitation, secretly making a resolution. ’Once I find the treasure’s location, I’ll ask Shen Xing to explore it with me.’

"Fine."

Shen Xing didn’t stand on ceremony either, handing her 250 Soul Stones and a parchment Scroll.

Xia Wanyin accepted them, and with that, the mission rewards were officially divided.

As they traveled, Shen Xing eagerly took out the war drum.

The drum was about sixty centimeters in diameter. Its body was crafted from some kind of dark red hardwood, and the drumhead was a taut, ancient animal hide.

[Uplifting Drum]

[Quality: Gold (Treasure)]

[Type: Legion Treasure]

[Treasure Effect ①: Song of Courage (Beat the drum to increase the Attack Power and movement speed of all allied units within 500 meters by 25%. This is a permanent Aura effect. As long as the drum is continuously beaten on the battlefield, the Aura will persist.)]

[Treasure Effect ②: Song of Fear (Each beat unleashes a sonic blast that hits enemies within a radius of [agility x 2] meters, causing their morale to continuously drop and even potentially forcing them into a routed state. If a unit with Instrument Mastery wields the drum, the ’Fear’ Effect is doubled. Duration: 60 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.)]

(Note: Listen to the sound of this war drum. It is the heartbeat of Warriors and the death knell of our enemies.)

...

"This is insane. It’s a Gold-tier Legion Treasure, all right. These Attributes are like a grandma on a fashion runway—completely over the top!" Shen Xing exclaimed in admiration.

The power of this war drum was self-evident. The [Song of Courage] alone could send the Attack Power of all allies skyrocketing.

In large-scale legion battles, it could unleash unimaginable power.

And the [Song of Fear] was even more absurd, providing a crowd-control Effect.

’Still, to unleash the full power of this drum, I’ll need to find someone to beat it.’

’That shouldn’t be too hard. I can just evolve an Elite Orc and have it take on the duty of a drummer.’

Satisfied, Shen Xing stored it in his pack.

This mission had its twists and turns, but the rewards were extremely generous.

Four days of grinding mobs had yielded a large amount of Soul Stones and other resources, and now he had obtained a powerful Gold-tier war drum on top of it all.

Of course, the difficulty had also been what you might call insane.

The final wave of enemies alone—two Level 9 Bosses appearing at the same time, plus two to three hundred Dark Naga—was not something an ordinary Novice Lord could handle.

What’s more, the mission had hidden dangers. If Shen Xing hadn’t been cautious, he would have been screwed over badly.

But thankfully, Grand Lord Shen, with his world-shocking wisdom and world-shocking Power, had solved every problem.

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