Chapter 957: Fighting to Be a Traitor
Zou Zhuo glanced at Old Qin, both of them completely bewildered.
Old Qin: "What's going on? How did your Wudang produce a traitor?"
Zou Zhuo: "How the hell should I know what's happening! This Zhuo Feifan is probably a player, right?"
Zou Zhuo and Old Qin had no idea what exactly had transpired over there. All they knew was that a Wudang player named Zhuo Feifan had killed a fellow disciple and was now being hunted by the Wudang Sect...
This was most likely an ordinary player, after all, an NPC probably wouldn't pull such a traitorous stunt right from the start—killing a fellow disciple and getting caught on top of that...
Of course, this "Zhuo Feifan" wasn't the player's nickname. After entering the game, both NPCs and players would receive a new name, randomly selected from a name pool.
However, different sects had corresponding name characteristics. For example, Wudang disciples had surnames like Gu, Fang, or Zhuo, while all Tang Clan disciples were surnamed Tang.
"Stay sharp. If we take down this player, we might even claim a reward from Wudang."
Old Qin and Zou Zhuo didn't dwell on it too much. A simple deduction told them that Zhuo Feifan had probably gone to snatch the medicinal herbs needed to cure the Wudang Sect Leader. The Seven-Colored Flower was at Heavenly Mountain, and the Golden Carp was along the Yellow River's banks—both quite far from their current location, so the chances of running into him were slim.
The two tied their horses to a nearby tree, then climbed up a large tree to observe Du Kang Village.
All martial artists in this world possessed innate lightness skills. There was no need to climb walls like in *Assassin's Creed*; it felt more like *Prototype*—you could sprint straight up a vertical surface, and your jump height was impressive. Climbing mountains or trees was a breeze.
"Have you played *Martial Heroes*?" Zou Zhuo asked.
Old Qin shook his head. "No, why?"
Zou Zhuo said, "Actually, the Wudang Sect Leader plot appeared in *Martial Heroes*, but the ingredients weren't these. It was Golden-Winged Bird Blood, Fire Phoenix, and Strange Catfish. I think in this game, the quest content and required materials are completely randomized."
Old Qin looked thoughtful. "So, every time, the locations for sect quests are different?"
Zou Zhuo nodded. "Yeah. That means there's no fixed starting point, and you can't figure out an optimal route. We don't need to obsess over these quests. Let's focus on searching the area first."
Old Qin: "Alright. Careful, someone's coming!"
The two quickly crouched low on the tree branch, hiding behind the thick leaves.
A Tang Clan disciple rode casually into Du Kang Village on his horse and began searching for clues.
The village wasn't small in area, but the buildings were simple in structure—unlike *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds*, where modern buildings of three or four stories were everywhere. Du Kang Village's structures were all single-story, and from a high vantage point, you could see almost everything.
The Tang Clan disciple entered one of the village's rooms and came out about three minutes later.
But what surprised Zou Zhuo was that he had gone in empty-handed, yet now a longsword hung at his waist.
"What's going on? This guy found a sword in that house?"
Old Qin and Zou Zhuo exchanged glances. "I'll keep watching him. You go check that house."
Zou Zhuo nodded, slid down from the tree, and approached the house from another direction.
The moment he stepped inside, Zou Zhuo was stunned.
A martial artist lay dead in the corner. Zou Zhuo moved closer and saw a wound on his chest with a lot of blood, but the real cause of death was a dart embedded in his forehead.
Zou Zhuo felt the dead man's chest. Sure enough, everything in his pack had been looted. That sword was probably taken from here too.
"Anything?" Old Qin asked.
Zou Zhuo replied, "Keep watching him. I have a theory I need to verify."
The Tang Clan disciple was still wandering around Du Kang Village. Zou Zhuo deliberately avoided him and circled to another house outside, where two female martial artists were talking.
"That heartless man! When I catch him, I'll tear him limb from limb to avenge my sister!"
"The Palace Master is right. Men are all worthless!"
Hearing this dialogue, Zou Zhuo was even more certain. This was probably a small quest.
This quest had actually appeared in *Martial Heroes* too. There were many such cameo quests, essentially small Easter eggs Chen Mo had hidden in the game.
According to the original plot, this man had abandoned a woman from the Raksha Palace, so he was being hunted and was severely injured. Players had two choices: buy him a thousand-year-old fleece-flower root to heal him, or directly tip off the two Raksha Palace disciples. Either way, you'd get some rewards.
But clearly, this Tang Clan player had chosen a simpler, more brutal path—he just killed the guy outright...
Zou Zhuo walked up to the two Raksha Palace disciples, and a dialogue triggered automatically.
After seeing the corpse, the two disciples returned to report, giving Zou Zhuo three Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pills.
Zou Zhuo checked their effects and quickly stashed them away.
[Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pill: Restores 70% of health upon use and removes Poisoned and Internal Injury statuses.]
Obviously, this was a very valuable pill, basically equivalent to a Med Kit in *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds*, with the added bonus of removing Poisoned and Internal Injury statuses.
Zou Zhuo: "Old Qin, that Tang Clan guy is most likely a player."
Old Qin: "Oh, I've been watching him. He's about to leave. Should we... take him out?"
Zou Zhuo: "You, with those honest eyes, want to be a traitor too? You just finished trash-talking our Wudang's Zhuo Feifan..."
Old Qin chuckled. "I trash-talked that traitor because he killed a fellow disciple and didn't even hide the body. But this is different. Look, that Tang Clan guy has good stuff on him. He's alone. If we kill him, no one will know, and we'll eliminate a player. Isn't that great?"
Zou Zhuo hesitated. "But if he really is a player, he probably has teammates, right? He can describe us to them—a Wudang and a Shaolin disciple. That's way too recognizable."
Old Qin said, "You still don't get it? In this game, players are supposed to actively roleplay as NPCs and follow the rules. That means the traitor Zhuo Feifan got hunted because he was caught in the act. But if we find a secluded spot, quietly take him out, and leave no evidence, even if his teammates know it was us, the system won't put a bounty on our heads."
Zou Zhuo: "Hmm... That's a pretty convincing idea. Feels like it's worth a try."