Chapter 48: Harvest Time
Black-Eyed Rui Ge rushed out of the barracks immediately after his resurrection, teleporting from the main base to Hexi Village, only to see a scene of devastation where the battle seemed to have already ended.
"Did we succeed?"
This was the question Rui Ge cared about the most!
With the Lord personally stationed to secure the bottom line, defending Hexi Village was inevitable; the key suspense was whether the players defeated the boss or if it was the NPCs, represented by the Lord, who defeated the boss.
If it was the latter, not only would the spoils be much less, but the mission evaluation and rewards would also be greatly reduced!
That would truly be a failure at the final step!
Black-Eyed Rui Ge squeezed into the crowd and saw Xu Feng lying on the ground, visibly returning to normal at a speed visible to the naked eye, though now skin-and-bone, like a shriveled corpse, rapidly and irreversibly approaching death.
"Grandpa Xu!"
Supported by villagers and leaning on his cane, Wei Ji stepped forward; upon seeing the old eunuch whose life was nearing its end, he shuddered all over, then broke free from the villagers and respectfully saluted him.
To die properly was to be liberated!
The Lord had not deceived him!
These citizens of the Stars had the ability to hunt the Abyss' origin and allow the Fallen Ones to break free from nightmares... the old village chief's last worries vanished, and he realized at this moment just how crucial the arrival of the Lords of the Stars was to this world.
Xu Feng slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes were cloudy yet had regained peace.
If one had not seen it personally, it would have been hard to associate the current him with the frenzied monster from earlier.
Xu Feng seemed to recognize the other: "You are... the young man who served beside General Ma back then... Now, you have aged too!"
Wei Ji sighed and said, "After all, twenty springs and autumns have passed."
Xu Feng revealed a smile as if relieved of a heavy burden: "The maddening whispers in my mind and by my ears have finally faded away, and the filth in my soul and spirit is retreating and dissipating. Brave warriors from the Stars, thank you for granting me death and freeing me from the endless Abyss!"
Rui Ge was overjoyed!
It seemed the Lord did not make a move.
It appeared the players had killed this boss!
Wei Ji, feeling complicated, finally said, "Please rest in peace!"
Xu Feng used the last of his strength and said, "I hope you can also help General Ma, and allow them to find eternal rest soon... but be careful... his madness and distortion are tenfold, a hundredfold greater than mine!"
Wei Ji immediately said, "Big Brother Ma treated me with great kindness. I will definitely plead with the Lord to grant him liberation as soon as possible!"
"Don't worry!"
"No matter how strong the boss is!"
"As long as he dares to show his health bar, we'll kill him for you!"
"..."
The players chattered on, saying things that were difficult to understand.
Xu Feng had completely returned to the appearance of a normal person, with his skin dry and wrinkled without a trace of moisture, and his hair as pale and dry as straw, and at this moment, his life came to an end.
No lament.
No lengthy final words.
He simply passed away completely.
This eunuch, who had little presence in the history books, quietly died in a manner befitting a minor character, yet he brought players a rare gaming experience and food for thought.
Chimera Wraith said with emotion, "I feel Xu Feng was a man with ambition and aspirations."
Little Bell said, "No way, he was just a eunuch, and moreover a court traitor who colluded with the Yellow Turban Army. Isn't he a rebel who betrayed the emperor and his father?"
"Exactly."
"He didn't even have a little ding-ding."
"Where would ambition come from?"
Chimera Wraith was momentarily at a loss for words.
Chenxi said at this time, "It doesn't make logical sense for Feng Xu and Xu Feng to collude with the Yellow Turban rebels."
Little Bell asked, "Why do you say that?"
Chenxi said, "Feng Xu and Xu Feng, along with Zhang Rang, were among the top ten eunuchs, almost reaching the peak of a eunuch's career, and at that time, Emperor Ling of Han heavily relied on the eunuch group to counterbalance the external relatives and scholar-bureaucrats."
"Under such circumstances, the power wielded by the eunuchs was extraordinarily great, even rare in history."
"In such a situation, both power and wealth were easily within reach."
"Then what would be the point of acting as an inside agent for the Yellow Turban Army?"
With these words.
The other players were also stunned.
Chenxi continued to speculate.
"Throughout history, rebellion has always been a high-risk, high-reward affair. Thus, unless there was the possibility of enormous gain or there was truly no way to survive, no one would take that road."
"Even if Zhang Jiao succeeded in overthrowing the dynasty, what benefit would it bring to Feng Xu and Xu Feng?"
"Even if a new founding emperor went mad, he would never heavily use or rely on a couple of old eunuchs from the previous dynasty, so Feng Xu and Xu Feng had no reason to risk extermination for something utterly unbeneficial."
The players all felt this made sense.
Although it was impossible to rule out the possibility of greed clouding judgment.
It was also possible that some kind of spiritual drive or belief had prompted them to take the risk.
Everyone had different opinions.
Historical records about Xu Feng were already very sparse.
If not for playing Twisted Three Kingdoms, probably ninety-nine percent of people wouldn't even know this figure ever existed, and as a Soulslike game, it was impossible to explain all the information clearly.
Precisely because of the abundant blanks.
There could be a thousand Hamlets among a thousand players.
Everyone could gather clues and interpret the characters or storylines through their own understanding, thereby adding more fun and depth to the game, and this was the greatest charm of Soulslike games!
The crisis at Hexi Village came to an end.
Thirty-five more players died in battle.
They contributed another 22,800 Essence Points to the Lord.
The Lord had used 14,000 Essence Points for upgrading, and originally had around 39,000 points left; now, not only did it break the 50,000 mark again, it even surpassed 60,000 in one go.
A huge harvest!
This event was a tremendous success!
The players truly did not disappoint!
Black-Eyed Rui Ge and others hurried to collect the dropped spoils from the scene.
Although the villagers of Hexi Village assisted, the main damage was dealt by the players, and the final killing blow was also delivered by a player, so the drop rate was unaffected!
The spoils were extremely abundant!
【You picked up loot: Essence +800, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragment +1200, Ghost Head Blade +1!】
【You picked up loot: Essence +800, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragment +1200, Ghost Head Blade +1!】
【……】
【You picked up loot: Essence +2500, Abyssal Magic Stone Fragment +5000, Fallen Gem +10, Bloodstain Sword +1!】
The Luoshui Butcher dropped a total of 2400 Essence Points.
Additionally, four low-grade white weapons dropped.
Xu Feng not only dropped a large amount of Essence Points but also dropped ten enhancement materials and a high-grade white weapon.
【Ghost Head Blade】: Tier-One Equipment, Low-Grade White, Attack +8, Strength +2, Durability 15/20.
【Fallen Gem】: Tier-One Material, Mid-Grade White, can be used to upgrade equipment no higher than white quality.
【Bloodstain Sword】: Tier-One Equipment, High-Grade White, Attack +14, Agility +5, Attack Speed +1, Durability 22/30.
The Bloodstain Sword was absolutely top-tier equipment at the current stage, and even the Ghost Head Blade dropped by the Luoshui Butcher was an excellent item at this point; the players' gains this time were extraordinary.
Before the players could even discuss the distribution of spoils—
"Look quickly!"
"Brother Yu is here!"
"Greetings, Lord!"
"We did not fail you! We defeated the enemy and defended Hexi Village for the territory!"
All the players proudly straightened their backs.
The difficulty of this mission event could not be underestimated.
This battle truly demonstrated the spirit of the Fourth Calamity Army, and it was something every player could be proud of!
Hang Yu nodded in satisfaction: "The performance of the Fourth Calamity Army did not disappoint me. This Lord has always been clear about rewards and punishments. Since you have made contributions to the territory, the rewards you are about to receive are well deserved!"
The players cheered in joy.
All their blood and sweat were worthwhile!
Finally, it was time for the thrilling moment of rewards!