136 Contacting the Qiang People (Urgent Request for Monthly Tickets)

After the Book of Heaven was appraised, the Moonlight Treasure Box lost its efficacy and turned into a dim, transparent crystal. The Book of Heaven, "Jiazi", lay quietly in the secret vault. Zhan Xiaobai took the Book of Heaven in his hand with some excitement. Unfolding the silk scroll, the secret on the Book of Heaven was also revealed—the scroll displayed a map showing the locations of the thirty-six quarters across the realm and their contact methods.

There was an obvious artificial crack on the jade of the scroll, which seemed capable of being opened.

Zhan Xiaobai hurriedly opened it, and hidden inside was a secret letter written on a silk scroll. It was impressively a secret letter written by the Grand Preceptor of Supreme Peace, Zhang Jiao, to the Great King of the Western Qiang, calling upon him to raise troops in response to the uprising.

The thirty-sixth Book of Heaven quest of the late Eastern Han historical plot campaign—the Liangzhou Rebellion. Contact the Qiang and Hu chieftains and valiant commanders of Liangzhou to respond to the call of Zhang Jiao, the Grand Virtuous Teacher of Julu, and rise in rebellion simultaneously on March 5th of the first year of Zhongping (the Jiazi year of 184). Quest workflow: 1. Gain the trust of the leaders of various Qiang and Hu tribes —> 2. Persuade any Qiang and Hu tribe to raise troops and obtain the leader's token —> 3. Hand over the token to the Thirty-Six Quarters Channel Leaders. Quest time limit: 180 AD to January 184 AD. Upon completion of the quest, the historical progress will be advanced by 1 month. This quest belongs to an open-ended quest, which all players can undertake by going to the leaders of various large and small Qiang and Hu tribes to obtain the uprising token and transfer it to the Yellow Turban channel leaders. Reward: Completing this quest will earn the appreciation of the Yellow Turban faction's channel leaders and lead to important responsibilities.

Attached to the final scroll of the Book of Heaven was a Tianshi skill, a divine skill divided into nine tiers [lv0-lv9]. Level requirement: Level 30. Profession requirement: None. Quality requirement: Serene.

Once this quest came out, the situation was no longer something Zhan Xiaobai could control.

Zhan Xiaobai was currently only at level 27. Upon seeing the level requirement for the Tianshi skill, he was far short of level 30 and could not learn it. He put the Book of Heaven and Zhang Jiao's secret letter back into the secret vault.

Chunqiu Shaoxia and A Fei rushed in hurriedly and saw Zhan Xiaobai in the courtyard.

A Fei hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Boss, did you hear about the quest just now? The thirty-six Yellow Turban quests have already been activated, and even the quest workflow has been published in the system announcements! What should we do now?"

Chunqiu Shaoxia also said, "Boss, should we take some action?"

Zhan Xiaobai told them not to be anxious and to wait a moment. Soon, Qiushui, Jianba, and others also rushed over from various places to urgently discuss how to respond.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhan Xiaobai said, "Everyone has heard the system announcement, so I won't say much more. Among those thirty-six quests, only one quest is issued within our Liangzhou territory, which is to contact the Qiang and Hu tribes to respond to the uprising. In other words, apart from doing this quest, we have no other choice."

Jianba's expression was grave as he said, "This quest requires gaining the trust of the Qiang and Hu leaders, which means forcing various villages in Liangzhou to lean toward the Qiang and Hu and Yellow Turban factions. If this happens, I'm afraid the Qiang and Hu forces will surge dramatically. Liangzhou player villages will respectively lean toward the two factions, which will inevitably lead to massive chaos and widespread warfare."

Everyone was shocked. The severe drought had just descended, and now came such a blazing spark of fire; it was to be feared that the entire Liangzhou would be scorched and left in devastation.

Qiushui asked, "What is Big Brother Bai's decision? Shall we stand with the imperial court, or lean toward the Qiang and Hu?"

"I haven't considered it clearly yet. Whether we lean toward the Qiang and Hu or the imperial court, I'm afraid we will face intense attacks from the opposing NPC faction." Zhan Xiaobai shook his head, then suddenly asked, "Shaoxia, where is that NPC Qiang you captured from Jianding Village some time ago?"

Chunqiu Shaoxia hurriedly said, "He is locked in a side room in the courtyard, and the militia delivers food to him every day. He's been wandering around the village these past few days, and I forgot to deal with him for a moment."

"Alright, bring him over. I have a few questions to ask him."

Chunqiu Shaoxia hurried out of the council hall, and a short while later, he escorted in a lean and tough NPC Qiang.

Having been locked up these past few days, the Qiang man had almost gone stir-crazy and was filled with bottled-up anger. Although his hands were tied behind his back and he looked disheveled, his fierce expression remained undiminished. He glanced at the five people in the hall and shouted loudly, "My life is worthless anyway! If you have the guts, kill your lord. Locking me up like this, what kind of game are you playing?"

Zhan Xiaobai smiled, stepped forward to untie him personally, and said, "Brother Qiang, there has been much offense these past few days, please forgive me. Please sit. I have a matter on which I need your guidance. I hope you can clear up my confusion."

Seeing Zhan Xiaobai acting so politely, the Qiang man was suspicious for a moment. "You're releasing me? What do you mean?"

Zhan Xiaobai smiled and said, "For a Qiang man like you to appear in Jianding Village, you must be an envoy of some Qiang and Hu tribe. If I guessed correctly, your status must be quite important for you to be dispatched to Jianding Village."

The Qiang man wore a stern expression, making no attempt to hide his identity. "That's right! The uprising and rebellion in Jianding Village were all orchestrated by me single-handedly."

Zhan Xiaobai smiled and asked, "Then just how many benefits did you give Jianding Village to make them willing to risk their lives for you?"

The Qiang man narrowed his eyes and sneered. "Why do you ask this?...... Oh, I remember you now. Aren't you one of the leaders of the seventeen-faction coalition that besieged Jianding Village? A running dog of the imperial court!"

"Courting death!"

Chunqiu Shaoxia viciously kicked him behind the knee. The Qiang man let out a miserable cry and dropped to his knees, attempting to climb back up, but was firmly pinned down by Chunqiu Shaoxia and A Fei, unable to move at all. While the Qiang man continued to curse profanely, Chunqiu Shaoxia and A Fei also started yelling back and beat him fiercely. "-1, -1......"

Qiushui, Jianba, and the others acted as if they saw nothing.

"Alright, don't beat him to death." Zhan Xiaobai waved his hand to make them stop, and smiled, "It doesn't matter if you curse at me. What matters most is that the mission assigned to you by your tribe leader has been botched. If I let you go, how will you go back and answer to your leader?"

The Qiang man shrieked, "It wasn't botched because of me, it was ruined by you bastards! Otherwise, I would have achieved great merit long ago! I'm not finished with you, $%#%&......"

Chunqiu Shaoxia and A Fei gave him another fierce beating. "-1, -1....."

The Qiang man was finally on his last breath and could no longer curse. Only then did Chunqiu Shaoxia and A Fei let him go and give him a kick.

Zhan Xiaobai found it amusing. "I'll give you a supreme opportunity to achieve great merit, guaranteed to be enough for your leader to generously reward you with a hundred taels of gold, hundreds of bolts of cloth, a thousand cattle and sheep, and a number of women."

The Qiang man was startled and suspicious... Gold, cloth, cattle, sheep, women—damn it, he could risk his life for these. But he couldn't believe Zhan Xiaobai's words and asked, "How could there be so many? The most our leader ever rewarded was 20 sheep."

Zhan Xiaobai smiled. "Only 20 sheep? Then your tribe must be a very small one. You cannot go back to your own tribe's leader; you need to go to the most powerful Qiang and Hu tribe in Liangzhou. That way, you will receive this generous reward. I can guarantee it absolutely! Of course, if you are unwilling to do it, then I have no choice but to kill you and find other Qiang and Hu people to achieve this great merit."

The Qiang man gritted his teeth. "I'll do it! Why wouldn't I do it! A single tael of gold is worth more than my life, let alone a hundred taels of gold. Tell me, what exactly is this opportunity for merit?"

Zhan Xiaobai said a few words to Chunqiu Shaoxia, who hurriedly left the courtyard. Not long after, he returned with the leader of the Light and Darkness Squad, Behind the Light, along with four other team members, totaling five people.

Zhan Xiaobai took out another secret letter from the secret vault and said to everyone present with extreme solemnity, "This is a secret letter concerning the future of my Xiaobai Village. It is extremely important and must be delivered to the grand chieftain of a Qiang and Hu tribe, and must absolutely not fall into the hands of others. Right now, I need Chunqiu Shaoxia to take a few brothers personally to complete this mission."

He looked at the members of the Light and Darkness Squad.

Behind the Light understood. They had been summoned to the council hall to assist Chunqiu Shaoxia in carrying out an important mission. He immediately stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Rest assured, Boss Bai. With our Light and Darkness Squad here, this secret letter will only be delivered to the person it should be given to, and will never fall into anyone else's hands."

Zhan Xiaobai nodded and said to everyone, "This is a letter of treason and must be delivered to a prestigious, powerful Qiang and Hu chieftain who, most importantly, harbors strong rebellious intentions. Shaoxia, once you meet the Qiang chieftain and hand the letter over to them, tell them this: if they wish to cooperate, they should send an envoy carrying a token of sufficient weight to come to my Xiaobai Village to negotiate. Remember, there must be a token."

No one present knew where Zhan Xiaobai had obtained this letter.

Chunqiu Shaoxia put away the letter and nodded, "Boss, rest assured, I know what to do."

Zhan Xiaobai turned to the Qiang man and said, "As for which Qiang and Hu tribe is suitable, only you know best. You know what to do, right? Whether you live or die, or attain wealth and honor, lies entirely in your hands."

The Qiang man already understood Zhan Xiaobai's meaning and let out a low, cold snort. "Rest assured, this is my line of work, I know what to do! I only hope this treason letter carries enough weight."

Chunqiu Shaoxia, the Qiang man, and the five members of the Light and Darkness Squad went to the post station to rent horses. Paying a hefty fee, they left the village amidst a cloud of dust.

In the administrative courtyard,

Jianba watched Chunqiu Shaoxia and the others depart. Standing by Zhan Xiaobai's side, he asked, "Xiaobai, do we really intend to cooperate with the Qiang?"

Zhan Xiaobai shook his head and said, "No, our strength is still too weak; we must borrow the strength of the Qiang to grow ourselves. Whether it is the Qiang, the Yellow Turbans, or the imperial court, as long as it benefits us, we can cooperate temporarily."

......

Chunqiu Shaoxia and the others followed the NPC Qiang man, riding post horses southwestward across the wilderness for a full day, stopping only twice to rest midway. On this day, they finally stopped at a small player village named "Steed Treading Yin Mountain," and stabled their post horses there.

Then they continued on foot southwestward—toward the boundless Gobi, grasslands, and mountains, the base camp of the large and small Qiang and Hu nomadic tribes where no player could build a village or stronghold.

The "Steed Treading Yin Mountain" village was the last player village bordering the grassland, and the post horses could only be stabled here.

After walking for most of the day, one team member shouted, "Hey, I say, Mr. Qiang, why is it so far? You aren't lost, are you!"

The NPC Qiang turned his head and said, "There's no mistake. The Great Chieftain's tribe is around this area. Walk faster, don't drag your feet."

"What is the name of your Great Chieftain?"

"You'll know when we get there."

By nightfall, they finally discovered traces of cattle, sheep, and horse dung. Following the fresh horse dung and hoofprints, they found a large tribal camp boasting seven to eight thousand NPC Qiang and Hu people, along with swarms of cattle, sheep, tents, horses, and warriors.

The magnificent sight of strong men and sturdy horses amazed Chunqiu Shaoxia, Behind the Light, and the others. This tribe actually had so many NPCs, capable of forming at least two to three thousand Qiang and Hu cavalrymen—formidable!

Several NPC Qiang scouting cavalrymen spotted them, immediately rode up to block their path, and shouted, "Who goes there? State your names!"

The lean Qiang man immediately stepped forward to explain things to the Qiang warriors. Seeing that Chunqiu Shaoxia and the others posed no threat, the Qiang scouts led them to meet the chieftain.

They arrived at a luxurious white yak-hide tent in the center of the camp.

The Qiang man outside the tent said, "My lord, there are envoys requesting an audience."

"Enter!"

Chunqiu Shaoxia and the others entered the tent and saw a middle-aged NPC Qiang sitting inside, wearing a feather-plumed hat and brocade silk garments. Flanking him were several fierce Qiang guards wearing sabers and attendants. The tent's furnishings—fur rugs, ceramics, martial equipment, and longbows—were extremely luxurious.

The lean Qiang man did not dare to look around too much. He took small steps forward, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed with utmost respect, "This lowly one greets the Great Chieftain! Wishing the Great Chieftain ten thousand blessings."

"Get up. What is the matter?"

"These few are envoys from a village and have an important matter to present to the Great Chieftain in person. That is why this lowly one brought them here."

Only then did the Great Chieftain look at Chunqiu Shaoxia and the others, revealing a smile as he said, "Oh? An important matter? What matter?"

Chunqiu Shaoxia took out the secret letter and handed it over. "There is a secret letter here for the Chieftain to peruse. Once the Chieftain has read it, you will naturally know what this is about."

The Great Chieftain unfolded it and read it carefully, instantly turning shocked—it was from Zhang Jiao, the Grand Virtuous Teacher! Suppressing the shock in his heart, he hurriedly finished reading the whole thing, and when he looked back at the six players, he no longer dared to underestimate them.

"Grant them seats!"

"Which village do you people come from?"

Chunqiu Shaoxia, Behind the Light, and the others exchanged glances and smiled. "Wuwei Commandery, Xiaobai Village. Village Chief Bai sent us to bring his greetings to the Chieftain, and said that if the Chieftain is interested, we can discuss cooperation."

Hearing the name Xiaobai Village, the Great Chieftain was momentarily stunned before suddenly bursting into hearty laughter. "Good!"