Chapter Twenty-Four: Renting a House

A carriage moved slowly toward the west gate of Penglai. Spotting the guards at the city gate, the coachman shouted, and the horses reduced their pace.

Inside the carriage, Wang Wu sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his face betraying no hint of tension. In contrast, Chen Hao turned his Yanling saber over and over in his hands, unable to hide his fondness for the precious blade.

The game had its own rules. No matter how much Wang Wu appreciated Chen Hao, he would never simply gift him the saber without any contribution on Chen Hao’s part. Chen Hao openly displayed his love for the Yanling saber to Wang Wu, hoping for an opportunity; as long as Wang Wu continued to think well of him and knew his fondness for the blade, it was likely Wang Wu would issue a related quest.

“Halt!” The city gate guard barked. The coachman hastily complied.

Chen Hao drew back the carriage curtain and stepped down, a broad smile on his face as he approached a junior officer. “Sir, my wife is ill and we’re seeking Doctor Wang’s treatment. She can’t endure the wind and cold—I beg your understanding.”

The soldier glared at him and pointed to a wanted notice on the wall. “The bandit Broadsword Wang Wu is at large in Penglai. The county commandant has ordered a lockdown. How do I know Wang Wu isn’t hiding in your carriage?”

Chen Hao replied unhurriedly, “Sir, with the city under lockdown, if that notorious Wang Wu really were in Penglai, he’d be fleeing the city, not trying to get in. Besides, I have a personal note from the commandant himself. Please, see for yourself…”

He slipped two silver dollars into the officer’s hand. The officer grinned. “Indeed, this is the commandant’s note. Still, if only I see it, others may not believe. Show it to those two brothers as well.”

Chen Hao’s expression tightened, pained as he handed over two more silver dollars, one to each guard. Having received their bribes, the officer and his men waved them through, and the carriage passed smoothly into Penglai.

Not far past the gate, one of the guards asked the officer, “Sergeant, that fellow was quite generous! Do you think there’s something suspicious in that carriage?”

The sergeant snorted, “What do I care if there’s something odd? No one knows where Wang Wu is. Even if he’s hiding in that carriage, what’s it to me? All I know is these silver dollars are real.”

Chen Hao wasn’t the least bit worried about entering the city, relying on his memory: the Qing administration was rotten to the core, and as long as one had money, unexpected trouble at the city gate was rare.

After entering Penglai, he instructed the coachman to head south and found a small courtyard with two wings.

In the game, players usually had to visit a broker to learn which houses were for rent, but Chen Hao was intimately familiar with this courtyard and went straight there. He told the coachman and Wang Wu to wait at the door, then knocked on the heavy wooden gate. The door creaked open a crack, and an old man in a patched blue robe poked his head out. “What do you want?”

Chen Hao smiled politely. “Greetings, elder. I saw this courtyard listed for rent at the broker’s, so I came to have a look.”

The old man relaxed. “Looking to rent, are you? The master said, five silver dollars per month, three months’ rent paid up front.”

Chen Hao looked troubled. “Elder, I only have ten silver dollars with me. Could you lower the price? How about three per month?”

The old man cursed his luck inwardly; his master had told him three dollars a month, but he’d set five for himself. He’d long since grown weary of this remote place and was eager to rent it out, so he accepted Chen Hao’s offer.

Chen Hao knew all about this property and the old man’s bottom line from his memory, so he didn’t overpay. He handed over nine silver dollars for the rent and one more to the coachman, then helped Wang Wu inside.

In the game, players could log out anywhere, but if they weren’t inside a house, the system would register them as missing. While missing, their hunger wouldn’t decrease, and their base stats wouldn’t be affected upon logging in again, but there was a drawback.

The game was highly realistic, and so characters needed sleep. For instance, after ten hours of play, logging back in would leave the system to judge the player sleep-deprived. In combat, that meant a wandering mind; when leveling, even a minor slip could get one killed by a low-level monster.

To increase one’s Strength attribute, proper nutrition and training were needed. If the system kept marking you as sleep-deprived, your appetite and training results would suffer, and no delicacy could boost your Strength stat.

Because of this, players had to find ways to keep themselves fed and secure a place to stay. Chen Hao had made a tidy profit after the big fight at the Earth God Temple and Three-Life Stone. Even if he weren’t settling Wang Wu, he’d have rented a place in the county seat before logging out.

Players without houses could log out at the Earth God Temple or under bridges, and still enter sleep mode, but few chose to do so. Sleeping under a bridge, for example, meant a high chance of having your belongings stolen—or even being killed while offline.

Renting a house lessened these risks. If you were robbed in your rented house, you could report it to the authorities, and if they caught the thief, you might recover your losses. For extra security, you could hire NPC guards to watch over the courtyard and ensure your safety while you slept.

Chen Hao settled Wang Wu in a side room, tidied up, and said, “Rest here for a while, Master. I’ll go buy bedding and some essentials.”

But Wang Wu waved him off. “Don’t go just yet. I told you, if I survived this ordeal, I would take you as my personal disciple. Are you willing?”

“Player Chen Baxian, Broadsword Wang Wu wishes to take you as his personal disciple. Do you accept?”

After Chen Hao accepted, Wang Wu’s face grew solemn. “There’s little ceremony in joining my school, but if you ever commit vile acts—bullying the weak, breaking the law—I will show no mercy.”

Chen Hao bowed. “I will always remember your teachings, Master.”

A gratified smile appeared on Wang Wu’s face. “All my skills are in the blade, but your basic swordsmanship is still lacking, so you cannot yet grasp its essence. Don’t go out today. I will instruct you thoroughly in the fundamentals.”

Chen Hao’s reward for risking his life for Wang Wu at the Earth God Temple was becoming his disciple. In the past, each meal he brought Wang Wu would only earn him a small increase in his basic swordsmanship proficiency. Now, as a personal disciple, Wang Wu’s guidance was far more frequent. In just one hour, his basic swordsmanship reached intermediate level, boosting his Combat attribute by three points.