Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Understanding Swordsmanship
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Seeing that March seemed like she was going off on a wild tangent, Ye Weiming hurriedly cut off her bold conjecture: "Without concrete evidence, try not to make judgment solely based on personal interpretation."
The girl was dissatisfied: "Then, how do you explain his abnormal behavior?"
"You think his behavior was abnormal?" Ye Weiming shook his head: "It seems to me like his reaction was reasonable."
"There were so many suspicious points at the scene, yet he chose to ignore them."
Ye Weiming shrugged: "It's human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm. He would naturally ignore things that aren't beneficial to him." Seeing that March still seemed confused, Ye Weiming had to explain bluntly: "If old man Li committed suicide, he can close the case now. If Li was murdered, as the arrest officer he must find the real culprit. If he can't find the killer, at the very least, he will be charged with incompetence."
"But after you showed up, he mocked and ridiculed his superior. Does this also make sense to you?"
"He was merely demonstrating an uncooperative attitude." Ye Weiming shook his head slightly, "Offending superiors surely isn't wise, but as a constable of the God Catcher Department, I can't end his life. But a martial arts expert who can kill without blinking an eye can."
"But at the end, he seemed to suddenly see the light and was willing to cooperate..."
"That was only after I announced that the God Catcher Department would take over the case. As long as his safety is guaranteed, he would naturally be willing to mend his relationship with his superiors. Believe me, if I asked him for help, he would definitely agree without hesitation and do his best. But the range of his help would definitely not include risking his life to help me catch thieves."
"Still, something isn't right." The girl shook her head and said: "Before entering the game, didn't the official game introduction say that only NPCs at higher levels would have higher IQs? But Captain Liu doesn't seem like a high-level NPC..."
"You've misunderstood a concept." Ye Weiming raised a finger and gently shook it: "High intelligence and fear of dying are not the same."
"By the way, the game designers are not good people, they mostly take pleasure in messing with the players. I guarantee, if I were to really force Captain Liu and others to be cannon fodder, they'd dare to shout out at the crucial moment of capturing thieves, completely ruining our mission. Upon close analysis, their actions are entirely reasonable, and you can't fault them, that's where the brilliance of the game designer lies."
March was silent for a few seconds: "I'm suddenly feeling that this game is difficult..."
Ye Weiming didn't want to waste words on this inherently uninteresting question, so he changed the topic: "Let's talk about your mission."
When asked about the task, a proud look flashed across the girl's face: "In fact, I've completed all the tasks in Novice Village that don't require special conditions to trigger. My last task was to deliver a jar of golden sore medicine that old man Li had ordered from Doctor Hu. I arrived here only to find out that old man Li was already dead, so my task changed from delivering medicine to investigating the truth behind his death."
She finished all the common tasks in Dukang Village?
Ye Weiming couldn't help but ask: "What level are you?"
"Level 13, but I haven't gone to find a master yet. I plan to wait until I complete all the tasks here."
"As expected, your level is higher than mine." Ye Weiming rubbed his nose and immediately changed the topic: "Since you've completed all the common tasks, you should know quite a lot about Dukang Village. Do you know anyone who was particularly close to old man Li and might know more about him?"
"It's Wang Dalong, Li's neighbour!" March immediately replied, "He is Li's drinking buddy, they often drank together and didn't have any secrets between them. However, lately, Li had been acting odd and did not go drinking with him. When I was doing my tasks before, Wang Dalong mentioned this to me."
"Let's go!" Ye Weiming was decisive: "Let's go ask him."
...
Ten minutes later, Ye Weiming left Wang Dalong's house with a bitter smile. March promptly stepped forward to inquire about the situation, Ye Weiming shook his head with a bitter smile: "He was so scared when he saw me, like he expected the worst. He either had no answers or was reluctant to disclose anything, afraid I'd accuse him of being the killer. His answers can be summarized in one sentence."
"What did he say?"
"I do not participate in the discussion of affairs related to the martial world, I do not understand the meaning of terms used in the martial world, and I have never met anyone from the martial world. I hereby state that I am not involved!"
"Hehe..." March laughed while shaking her shoulders, after a moment, she finally restrained herself and asked: "Do you think he might know something?"
"The more he emphasized that he knew nothing, the more it showed that he definitely knew something." Ye Weiming said with a bitter smile: "But the problem is that he seems really like a law-abiding citizen who's just a bit timid and afraid of trouble. Am I supposed to torture him for information?"
March suggested, "What if I go try? I've done two tasks related to Wang Dalong and we are quite familiar with each other. Moreover, I am not wearing official uniform, so he shouldn't be on guard."
"That works." Ye Weiming nodded, "You handle the information collection, not just Wang Dalong, but also ask around if the villagers have any clues. I'll go back to the scene and check for other pieces of evidence."
"By the way, if you can, please help me find information about an NPC called 'Soybean Milk Little White'."
All this trouble started because of that damn NPC who tricked him into joining the God Catcher Department. However, that guy was not a resident of Dukang Village, but a temporary presence causing trouble for the players. If possible, Ye Weiming still wanted to catch that guy and make him miserable.
"No problem!" March said as she began to head towards Wang Dalong's house.
At this time, Captain Liu had hurriedly ran back, delivering the ten mats Ye Weiming had asked for, exceeding the task requirements.
Bringing back the mats to old man Li's house, he managed to tidy up Li's body, earning a secret book on "Swordsmanship Experience".
Turns out, this old man Li was indeed involved in the martial world!
When Ye Weiming looked at the attributes of the secret book in his hand, he couldn't help but gasp inhale sharply!
Swordsmanship Experience: A record of the Taishan Jade Flute's swordsmanship. Applied to specified swordsmanship, it can increase skill proficiency by 5000 points!
An incredibly valuable item that improves martial arts proficiency!
Ye Weiming had been playing "Eternal Chivalry" for some time now, spending a good five days in the Novice Village.
Of course, five days isn't much for a game that takes years to complete playing round the clock. However, compared to leveling up, improving martial arts proficiency is much more challenging.
His deepest realization in the Novice Village was that leveling up is easy, but practicing martial arts is hard!
Take a look at Ye Weiming's attributes for example:
Ye Weiming
Level: 12
...
Vitality: 620/620
Inner Strength: 420/420
Physique: 59
Arm Strength: 59
Movement Technique: 64
Reaction: 59
Talent: 25
Comprehension: 28
Respiration Method (Below Average) Level: 5
Proficiency: 132/1600
The most basic respiration method in martial arts, with no unique traits, but never risks causing deviation.
Vitality +250, Inner Strength +250
Physique +25, Arm Strength +25, Movement Technique +25, Reaction +25
...
Yue Maiden Swordsmanship (Below Average)
An average level swordsmanship method passed down from the Spring and Autumn Period.
Level: 3
Proficiency: 86/400
Damage +30%, Precision +30%
...
Equipment
Flying Fish Suit: Official capture bureau gear.
Physical Defense +30, Inner Strength Defense +30, Vitality Max +100.
...
Wrapped Straw Hat: Official capture bureau gear.
Physical Defense +10, Inner Strength Defense +10, Inner Strength Max +50.
...
Long Tube Official Boots: Official capture bureau gear.
Defense +5, Movement Technique +5.
...
Longquan Treasure Sword: Official capture bureau gear.
Attack Power +50, Inner Strength Damage Increased by 10%.
...
Two below average skills, this is the current state of Ye Weiming's martial arts skills. Furthermore, even for the below average skills, the levels are pitifully low, of which the Inner Strength skill, the Respiration Method, is only at level 5, the result of him completing a whole set of hidden tasks consecutively!
As for the Yue Maiden Swordsmanship, because it was obtained later, the leveling up will be relatively slower.
But now, in Ye Weiming's hands, this book of "Swordsmanship Insights" directly increases 5000 points of proficiency. You can imagine how valuable it is!
Thinking back about the NPC called Han Xiaoying, Ye Weiming only helped to find some herbs and received a whole set of swordsmanship as a reward. But that Doujiang Xiaobai, after a whole set of hidden tasks, only gave him an exasperatingly useless Broken Token.
Why is there such a big gap between people?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone