Chapter 113: Stirring Memories

The dark clouds in the night sky seemed to disperse, allowing the stars to regain their luster, while a crescent moon hung aslant on the western horizon.

Yan Jiu blew out his fire starter. His face, no longer looking sinister, now appeared all the more pale. After a long silence, he finally spoke, "Brother Wu, Brother Chen, do you know what my sister and I did in the past?"

Chen Guangxi replied, "Aren't you two from the Divine Sword Villa?"

Yan Jiu shook his head. "More than two years ago, my sister and I opened an escort agency in the Northwest New Prefecture of the Central Plains."

Chen Guangxi was stunned. "More than two years ago? That was the first year 'Dynasty' launched. I remember that by the time escort agencies appeared, it had already been half a year since the server went live. Players who could run escort agencies must have invested quite a bit, right?"

Yan Jiu nodded. "That's right. Back then, we had no experience with 'Dynasty,' and both my sister and I were only at the first transition, level 34."

Zhang He was also surprised. "A first-transition level 34 back then was already considered among the top-tier experts in the martial arts world."

Yan Jiu gave a bitter smile. "But it's also true that we lacked game experience. We invested heavily to buy out an official escort agency."

Zhang He and Chen Guangxi both nodded. They had heard plenty about this; when 'Dynasty' had been live for half a year, the Dynasty Corporation held several large-scale events. One of the most influential was allowing players to buy out the operational rights of certain official shops, though this could only be achieved through recharge channels. The pawnshop owned by Manager Qian in Yuhua Village had been acquired that way.

At the time, spending real money to buy a shop was seen by 90 percent of players as a foolish act, because even the smallest grocery store required a massive amount of RMB—a starting price at least 20 times higher than Zhang He’s current basic salary. The threshold for buying out an escort agency was even higher, as it required the backing of one's own martial arts prowess. Of course, looking back now, those "fools" of the past had become wealthy, while those who had mocked them were the true fools. They were the first batch of players to get rich in 'Dynasty.'

Yan Jiu continued, "My sister and I borrowed over 20,000 yuan at the time, bought out the one-year operating rights for an escort agency in New Prefecture, and paid an additional 10,000 gold taels as a security deposit to the authorities for operational costs."

"You guys... really gambled everything on this game..." Teacher Guangxi was dumbfounded. Among the most difficult professions in 'Dynasty,' running an escort agency was near the top, especially the headache of paying the security deposit to the authorities. If the escorted goods were lost or robbed and could not be recovered—and if no agreement could be reached—the AI system would deduct the corresponding value of the goods from the security deposit to compensate the employer.

Of course, a successful escort earned both the employer's commission and a system reward. The system’s bonus was even more generous; for instance, if your goods were robbed and you managed to recover them within the stipulated time, or retrieved them before the thieves completed their evil mission, the bonus would multiply several times over. Therefore, running an escort agency in 'Dynasty' was riskier than running a bank. Generally, ordinary players wouldn't dare, and those who could were no ordinary players.

For example, the "Baili Escort Agency" in the capital was currently the most powerful player-run agency in the Central Plains. It had branches in all six northern provinces and countless experts under its banner. With the protection of the Imperial Six Doors, no one dared to provoke them. It was said that as long as goods were under the protection of the "Baili Escort Agency," almost no one in the six northern provinces would dare to rob them.

Yan Jiu said, "The reason my sister and I opened our agency in New Prefecture was that it was remote and sparsely populated, so our business was quite good."

"With your level at the time, and being in New Prefecture, the agency could indeed be sustained. However..." Zhang He mused, "Once the average level of the outlaw players increased, your agency probably wouldn't have fared as well."

Yan Jiu looked at Zhang He in surprise, as if he hadn't expected Zhang He to have such a deep understanding of 'Dynasty.' He nodded. "True. Once, we were escorting red-label goods worth over 28,000 gold taels. It was an official government contract—forty-two carriages of precious-grade equipment, allegedly for equipping the imperial army. We were to travel from New Prefecture to the banks of the Wei River by the Yellow River. That was our first time leaving our home province, and the risk was immense..."

The Fourth Sister complained, "I told you not to take such a valuable contract, that it was too risky. Even government contracts aren't safe. You wouldn't listen, and in the end, it all went wrong."

Teacher Guangxi was stunned again. "You guys... are you really just playing a game? That's way too intense! Twenty-eight thousand gold taels back then—were you risking your lives?"

Zhang He also smiled bitterly. "I admire you. You are both first-generation wealthy players."

Yan Jiu continued, "The moment we left the province, we were intercepted by a group of outlaw players. My sister was killed, I was severely injured, and my internal cultivation level was reduced. The system gave us a two-week deadline to recover the goods."

Zhang He sighed, "I'm afraid you couldn't have found them. To rob such a heavily armed shipment for the imperial army, it must have been a bandit stronghold occupying a mountain. They certainly robbed it to arm themselves. This was likely not the work of a single faction, but a coalition of many. That’s why the deadline was as long as two weeks. The system must have calculated that it would take them over a week to transport it to their destination, and since so many groups were involved, they would certainly disperse. With only the two of you, it would have been impossible to track them down..."

The three of them listened in astonishment. Guangxi was even more bewildered. "Brother, why aren't you working for the Six Doors? You’d be one of the Four Great Constables of the Capital in no time."

Zhang He smiled and said nothing.

Yan Jiu let out a long sigh. "My sister and I indeed couldn't track them down. We basically lost the entire agency. To prevent our security deposit from being fully confiscated, we shamelessly borrowed nearly 10,000 yuan in real life. Back then, our combined monthly salary was only 2,000 yuan..." Mentioning this, his nose soured and his voice choked.

In 'Dynasty,' just like in reality, many people rely on entrepreneurship to get rich, but who knows how many hardships, twists, and heartaches are hidden along the way?

Chen Guangxi asked, "Then how did you resolve it later?"

The Fourth Sister’s eyes suddenly brightened. "Just when we were at our wit's end, we met someone—Hero He, Miss He."

Chen Guangxi seemed energized. "Could it be Miss He Rijiun Zailai?"

"It was her." Yan Jiu looked up at the stars. Anyone could see that his gaze was filled not only with nostalgia for the past but with an unspeakable sense of gratitude toward He Rijiun Zailai. This was a complete transformation from his usual gloomy expression; Zhang He could hardly believe such an expression could appear on Yan Jiu’s face.

Hearing of this legendary figure, Chen Guangxi’s eyes also lit up. "Could it be... could it be that Miss He helped you?"

The Fourth Sister’s eyes grew red. "Miss He lent us 500 gold taels."

Chen Guangxi asked blankly, "She didn't know you from Adam and she just lent you 500 gold taels? Wasn't she afraid you were scammers?"

The Fourth Sister was immediately incensed. "Do you think everyone thinks like you? If everyone thought like you, this whole 'Dynasty' would be full of scammers."

For the first time, Chen Guangxi smiled sheepishly and admitted, "Yes, yes, yes. I am a small-minded person. It is my small mind judging the heart of a noble person like Miss He."

Yan Jiu’s tone also became agitated. "When Miss He heard about our plight, she went to the Wei River alone to investigate. She discovered it was the Seven Strongholds of the Wei River that had seized the goods. Within five days, Miss He razed the Seven Strongholds of the Wei River three times. With just a peach-wood staff in her hand, she killed over 130 outlaw players. Their three leaders were killed by Miss He eight times in succession; the eldest was beaten back to his original state and deleted his account on the spot..."

Zhang He was also stirred. Every time he heard the story of He Rijiun Zailai, a surge of hot blood rushed through him. Whether it was drawing her sword in anger at a wedding in the capital, sweeping away bandits by the Yellow River, or facing off against Ghost Shadow Longkong on the East China Sea coast, every act was heart-stirring and shook the martial world. Even though her fate was unfortunate, any player who could walk through 'Dynasty' as she did would have no regrets in their gaming career.

Teacher Guangxi was also incredibly excited. "Miss He must have just started out back then. She was already at the 4th transition. Killing a bunch of 'white-board' bandits was like cutting vegetables. Never mind a hundred, even a thousand wouldn't have been enough for her."

The Fourth Sister’s face also glowed with radiance. "With the 500 gold taels Miss He lent us, we survived the crisis. Later, Miss He accompanied us on a few more escort runs, and no one in the New Prefecture or Great Mongolia Prefecture dared to rob our agency again. After we earned money and repaid Miss He the 700 gold taels, she couldn't refuse, so she gifted both my brother and me a 2nd-transition pill for rogue cultivators. In 'Dynasty,' I have never admired anyone else. The only person I truly admire is Miss He. She is the only true hero in my heart..."

At this moment, both Zhang He and Chen Guangxi could see the look of adoration in the Fourth Sister's eyes. It was definitely not feigned. That sincere gratitude and reverence could only be earned by the He Rijiun Zailai of that era, who won the favor and support of countless female players.

Yan Jiu sighed, "Miss He eventually said goodbye to us. She said she wanted to head south to explore the world. I knew that my sister and I couldn't keep an expert like her, so we could only wish her well."

Zhang He said quietly, "Perhaps you didn't expect that after Miss He left, she never returned?"

Yan Jiu nodded, his expression darkening. "We were focused on our business and didn't pay attention to the major events in the Central Plains' martial arts world. It wasn't until more than half a year later that I found out Miss He had already met with disaster..."

At this point, his fists tightened, and his knuckles cracked. "I’ve always wondered. Miss He was a 4th-transition expert from the start; how could someone like Ghost Shadow Longkong defeat her? Even if he could win, how could Miss He be killed repeatedly by a large group of enemies after being resurrected?"

Zhang He and Chen Guangxi were both shocked. "Is there some hidden truth behind this?"