Chapter 131: Fortune of the Month

131 Monthly Auspicious Fortune

On May 15, 180 AD, Little White Village in Xiliang was blessed with monthly auspicious fortune. All players and NPCs within its sphere of influence shared in this blessing, causing their luck and fortune attributes to soar rapidly.

The phrase "within its sphere of influence" specifically referred to the villagers of the village and the players belonging to the various regular military legions stationed there. Ordinary players—such as those merely staying in, passing through, or using Little White Village solely as a respawn point—did not fall within this sphere.

Consequently, some players in Little White Village who had originally chosen freedom and remained unaffiliated with any legion now eagerly rushed to join various legion organizations. The existing recruitment quotas for each legion were insufficient. Zhan Xiaobai upgraded their authorization levels and expanded their capacities.

The three Level 3 garrison legions—the Autumn Water Legion, the Chivalrous Heroes Legion, and the Flying General Legion—instantly reached full capacity, with each exceeding 700 members. The four Level 2 field legions—Passionate, Loyal, Rose, and Soaring Clouds—instantly maxed out at 500 members each. The Little White Village Chamber of Commerce, the Little White Village Artisans Guild, and the Little White Village Core Association had very strict recruitment criteria; although their numbers were not large, they were also steadily growing.

Naturally, only players who possessed Little White Village contribution points were permitted to join these twelve official Little White Village player organizations. Players without contribution points wanted to share in Little White Village's auspicious fortune? That would be difficult; they would just have to wait and think about it later.

......

The day passed uneventfully.

Early the next morning, Zhan Xiaobai rose, stepped out into the courtyard, and planned to take a stroll around. Just then, Li Asan walked in from outside. Upon seeing him, Li Asan immediately said with enthusiastic excitement, "Reporting to the lord, there is joyful news."

Zhan Xiaobai was surprised. Good news already, so soon? This auspicious fortune truly was no joke.

"What good news?"

Li Asan beamed and said, "While patrolling the perimeter of the village early this morning, I met a mountain woodcutter who said he admired the lord's great reputation and wished to offer a load of firewood."

Offering firewood?

Zhan Xiaobai couldn't help but chuckle, shook his head, and said, "A load of firewood is worth only two or three copper coins at most. Is that considered good news? There's no need to report such trivial matters; just thank the mountain woodcutter on my behalf."

Li Asan quickly replied, "That was what I initially thought as well. I originally intended to pay two copper coins to the mountain woodcutter to thank him for his kind gesture, but to my surprise, he refused. He said his firewood was no ordinary firewood. Upon taking a closer look, I was startled to discover that the entire load of firewood consisted of Chinese parasol wood, and several pieces among them were of superior quality."

Chinese parasol wood?

Zhan Xiaobai had not expected such precious timber. Such rare wood was not something an ordinary mountain woodcutter could easily chop down. He wondered what background the woodcutter had and where he had discovered the Chinese parasol wood.

He hurriedly asked, "Where is the mountain woodcutter now? Take me to him."

Li Asan shook his head and said, "After presenting the wood, the mountain woodcutter left immediately. I failed to detain him in time."

Zhan Xiaobai paused for a moment, feeling a tinge of regret, and said, "Since he has left, so be it. Take the ordinary parasol wood and store it in the timber warehouse, and put the superior parasol wood into the precious items warehouse. Let's take a walk around the village."

"Understood!"

Delighted, Li Asan had a peasant carry the load of Chinese parasol wood into the warehouse for proper storage. He then followed Zhan Xiaobai on his routine patrol of the village.

Patrolling was a mandatory task for the administration of any village. When a person of renown conducted patrols, it helped stabilize the morale of the NPC villagers and boosted their spirits. When a warrior conducted patrols, it helped maintain public order and prevented sabotage.

Zhan Xiaobai and Li Asan were the only two persons of renown in Little White Village, and their joint patrols naturally yielded excellent results in boosting public morale. Whenever they encountered NPC villagers, Zhan Xiaobai would greet them with a smile from time to time. Li Asan, on the other hand, followed closely behind with a solemn and stern expression.

"Oh my, Lord Village Chief, Lord Deputy Village Chief, you two elders have worked hard. My little Gugu only ever eats rice but never lays eggs; thanks to the boundless blessings of the village chief, it laid two eggs last night! It truly is unexpected good fortune descending from the heavens, so please accept these two eggs, my lords."

A plump matron excitedly blocked the path of Zhan Xiaobai and Li Asan, chattering about this pleasant surprise as she enthusiastically shoved two eggs into their arms.

Zhan Xiaobai chuckled and accepted the eggs. Even a chicken that never laid eggs had encountered great fortune and started laying them—truly miraculous.

As the two passed by the residence of the young maiden with long braids, she ran out and said, "These are straw sandals I wove myself. Please accept them, Lord Village Chief."

Along the way, they met children playing near the private school: "Big Brother Village Chief, I found a pretty little stone by the river today. Please take it and play with it."

Zhan Xiaobai: "......"

After completing the patrol, Zhan Xiaobai unexpectedly received quite a few gifts from the villagers: two eggs, a pair of Level 0 straw sandals, wild fruits, fish, a small stone... Today's fortune was exceptional, surpassing the total number of items gifted over the past ten-odd days combined.

On the third day,

Li Asan hurried over and said excitedly, "Reporting to the lord! A household of villagers has presented an heirloom bolt of cloth!"

Zhan Xiaobai was overjoyed. "Splendid. The village is precisely in need of cloth. Give that household two hundred copper coins in return so they suffer no loss."

"Understood, my lord."

......

May 16, Little White Village, Poultry Enclosure.

A player named Little Wolf had once aspired to become a great beast tamer... However, before achieving that greatness, he needed to earn some money in the game just to fill his stomach.

Although there were many ways to earn money in-game, none of them suited him. He was not proficient in combat and his level was low, so he couldn't make a living by killing monsters for dropped materials. He was too lazy to run around digging up herbs, didn't want to fish in the river, and certainly didn't want to exhaust himself chopping wood.

After wandering around Little White Village for a long time, he finally discovered an easy way to make money—helping Old Man He at the poultry enclosure feed the chickens, which paid one to three copper coins a day. Old Man He had a habit of sleeping in and rose very late in the morning, so he wanted someone to help him feed the more than one hundred chickens in the enclosure and regularly clean it. Feeding the chickens earned one copper coin, and cleaning earned two.

Little Wolf spotted this task at a glance; it was practically tailor-made for him! It didn't matter that the pay was a bit low; he genuinely loved taking care of small animals. So, he simply took over all the chores at the poultry enclosure, allowing him to earn three copper coins a day. If Old Man He had other odd jobs, he could earn even more copper coins.

Because the pay for this task was too meager, no one competed with Little Wolf for it, leaving him immensely proud. Day after day, he diligently squatted in the poultry enclosure feeding the chicks, and he had been doing so for over half a month.

Today, Old Man He unusually woke up early in the morning and happened to see Little Wolf diligently feeding the chicks. Overcome with emotion, tears of age welled up in his eyes. Old Man He stepped forward, grabbed Little Wolf by the arm, and said, "My brave hero, I have never seen such a diligent and steadfast young man like you! How about I take you on as my apprentice and teach you a trade?"

"What, a trade?" Little Wolf was so startled he was momentarily speechless. Old Man He could actually teach skills?! Heavens, surely today is my lucky day! Woohoo, I'm going to strike it rich! However, he didn't want to raise chickens forever; he wanted to tame beasts.

"Aside from raising chickens, what other trades do you know, old timer?"

Old Man He immediately puffed out his chest with arrogance and said, "I know far more than just raising chickens. I also know how to raise and tame many kinds of livestock—horses, sheep, cattle, dogs, cats, rabbits, you name it. It's just that there are none of those animals here, so I haven't been raising them. Which one do you want to learn? I can only teach you one of them."

Little Wolf boldly declared, "I want to tame wild beasts—wolves! Can you teach that?"

"Wolves?" Old Man He burst into laughter, then shook his head and said, "Do you take me for a mountain hunter? I don't know how to do that. I only know how to raise dogs!"

Little Wolf instantly slumped in disappointment and said, "Fine. Since I can't raise a wolf, I'll raise a dog to satisfy the craving first. When will you teach me how to raise dogs, old timer?"

Old Man He instructed, "Feed the chickens first. Once you've fed them for a full month, I'll teach you how to raise a dog... But you'll have to figure out how to acquire one yourself. Oh, and it's best to get a puppy. Furthermore, the better the breed of the puppy, the more formidable the resulting dog will be."

Little Wolf was thrilled. "Alright, I'll figure out a way to see if I can get my hands on a fierce puppy."

"Go feed the chickens. I'm old and sleepy!" Old Man He let out a yawn and went back to sleep.

Little Wolf hurriedly went back to feeding the chickens. There were less than ten days left until he completed a full month of feeding them. Haha, the number one beast tamer of Little White Village was about to be born!

......

Psychotic Guy—true to his name, he acted slightly deranged all day long. Having spent four years in university pulling all-nighters playing video games—shooting guns as a cop one moment, firing artillery as a bandit the next—he had developed a peculiar paranoia. When walking, he liked to hug the walls; he peeked around corners with stealthy, furtive glances; and he meticulously avoided any unsafe line-of-fire zones, terrified of falling victim to ambushes or sniper fire.

He carried this behavior not only in real life but also into the game.

As he skulked around Little White Village, hugging the walls and poking his head out suspiciously, the patrol guards often mistook him for a spy. Fortunately, as time went on, all the patrolling players grew accustomed to his eccentric demeanor and stopped paying him any mind.

Yesterday, a few players had engaged in a private duel outside the village and ended up getting killed. Psychotic Guy, who happened to be passing by, picked up five copper coins they dropped, and the thrill of it was simply indescribable. All day today, he had been plotting what to do with this unexpected windfall of five copper coins. Five copper coins were very little; if he went to the tavern for a meal, it wouldn't taste like much of anything. Using it to buy medicine for leveling up wasn't particularly satisfying either.

After pondering for a long time, Psychotic Guy decided to go get his fortune told. Perhaps his luck today was good enough to trigger a high-level NPC quest.

He ran over to the fortune-telling stall in the market, shoved his way through the crowd, and asked the Daoist priest Wu to read his fortune.

Daoist Wu took one look at him, clicked his tongue in wonder, and repeatedly muttered that it was incredible.

Psychotic Guy asked quizzically, "Hey, fortune-teller, I asked you to read my fortune. Why are you staring at me like that?"

Daoist Wu smiled and said, "My young friend, in my view, your fortune is better left unread."

Psychotic Guy asked in confusion, "Why is that?"

Daoist Wu replied, "Because some people are naturally suited to tell fortunes for others, rather than having others tell fortunes for them."

Psychotic Guy laughed delightedly, "Ha! Am I cut out to be a fortune-teller for other people?"

The moment he said it, he froze. What had that NPC Daoist just said? Tell fortunes for others?

Daoist Wu shook his head and said patronizingly, "I am currently in need of a Daoist boy. My young friend, you possess a naturally wondrous bone structure: your destiny connects to the divine machinery above and reaches down to the netherworld below. Why not become my Daoist boy? Once your term of service as a Daoist boy is fulfilled, I can pass down my mantle to you and teach you a couple of minor tricks to make a living."

The nearby players immediately cried out in shock, "Why can't we learn? As soon as he arrives, he gets to learn a skill?!" "Old Daoist, can you take me on as an apprentice? I'll give you all my worldly possessions!" "That's right, we want to become disciples too! We want to be Daoist boys."

Daoist Wu shook his head and explained patronizingly, "This is destiny. This young friend possesses a naturally wondrous bone structure, making it most fitting for him to study the Dao with me. As for the rest of you, provided your faith attribute is above 30 and you acquire a Nether-Cold Crystal and a Nether-Fire Crystal, I can naturally help you change your class to a Daoist and teach you an orthodox Daoist skill—Talismans and Curses. However, you cannot become my direct disciples."

Hearing that Daoist Wu wanted to take him as an apprentice, Psychotic Guy was utterly dumbfounded. "A pie falling from the sky? Am I still dreaming and haven't woken up yet?!" He bit his own arm—ouch, it hurt. Overjoyed, he immediately declared, "Greetings, Master!"

Daoist Wu was immensely pleased. "Good, rise quickly."

"I wonder what skill Master plans to teach me?"

"Naturally, I will teach you how to read fortunes and divine blessings for others! Don't be impatient, disciple. Come give your master a shoulder massage first; my back is killing me!"

"Right away!"

Thrilled beyond measure, Psychotic Guy eagerly stepped up to massage Daoist Wu's shoulders. Fortune-telling was a super-powerful skill for getting rich! Charging four or five copper coins just for a casual reading of someone's luck and fortune was a steal.

Ah, but he couldn't steal his master's business right here in Little White Village. He would have to go to other villages where no fortune-tellers operated, charge exorbitant fees of seven or eight copper coins per reading... Haha, he was going to make a fortune!

All around, envious gazes filled the air. "Damn it, even Psychotic Guy can get a skill quest, why can't we?! Let's go, brothers, let's find some quests!"

......

In Little White Village, almost every NPC possessed one or two minor life skills. Right now, the probability of triggering quests throughout the entire village had skyrocketed, nearly driving the players wild with joy. Shouts of triumph rang out constantly: "Haha, I'm going to learn a skill!" "This skill is overpowered—it's the butcher class! I can debone carcasses now." Within a few days, at least a hundred players had accepted various favorable quests, receiving skills and items as rewards.

Those players who hadn't learned any skills yet were stamping their feet in anxiety, rushing frantically to find NPCs and accept quests. There was still plenty of time, as only two or three days had passed. There was still a long period ahead to obtain all sorts of quests from the NPCs.

Aside from critical matters, Zhan Xiaobai basically did not step outside his courtyard gates, fearing that NPCs would continuously shove minor, useless trinkets into his hands. Li Asan hurried in from outside and said, "Lord, just now outside the village, I discovered a runaway peasant who appears to have fled from another village. Should we take him in?"

Zhan Xiaobai was surprised. "Oh, a runaway peasant? Really? What does he look like? Which village did he escape from?"

"Unclear. There is a very strong scent of horse manure on him, making it hard to get close."

"Could he be a peasant who raises horses? Have him wash up first, then bring him to see me."

Li Asan hurried off to execute the order.