First Position

Chapter 10: Side Quest

At that moment, a coarse voice drifted from outside the shack, directed at the new neighbor, Xiaoyu: "Xiaoyu, I only found out you moved here when I came to look for you tonight. I brought you some cigarettes."

Ren Xiaosu and Yan Liuyuan exchanged a glance, both furrowing their brows. Xiaoyu responded firmly, "I won’t do that kind of thing anymore."

A harsh laugh echoed from the rough voice’s owner, as if he found this amusing: "If you don’t do that, what will you eat or drink? Who’ll give you cigarettes then?"

"Let me go," Xiaoyu’s voice brimmed with anger. A scuffle ensued, the tearing of fabric audible. Yan Liuyuan looked at Ren Xiaosu, who still knitted his brows tightly and whispered, "Brother, help her."

Ren Xiaosu rose, unfastened his bone knife from his calf, grasped it inverted, and strode toward the shack’s entrance. At that instant, within Ren Xiaosu’s mind, the grand palace echoed with the clacking of brass typewriter keys striking parchment, spelling out a message: "Mission: Assist..."

He sneered coldly, interrupting the palace voice: "I don’t need a mission to help."

From the moment Ren Xiaosu stepped outside to when he charged at the man, only a second or two elapsed. He uttered no threats like "Let her go" or "Try moving again," aware that superfluous words would only lead to failure. His task was to solve the problem swiftly and simply.

As Ren Xiaosu’s slender yet sturdy figure lunged like a panther, the man swiftly drew a blade from his waist, slashing at him. Everyone in the settlement carried weapons for self-defense. The man’s mind brimmed with scorn; he towered a head above Ren Xiaosu, wielding a genuine iron blade, not some bone knife.

But in the next moment, his mockery abruptly ceased.

Iron surpasses bone—this was common knowledge, even if beastly sinews now rivaled steel in strength. Yet superior sinews could never outmatch steel. Although cold weapons were forbidden in town, obtaining quality iron blades was nearly impossible. While industry was gradually recovering to pre-cataclysm levels, resources remained scarce.

Ren Xiaosu approached like a shadow, planting his left foot as his right leg’s muscles tensed fiercely, gripping the ground. His entire body’s power surged upward like electric current, from the earth through his waist and abdomen, then into his arms.

His blade carved the darkness like a chasm in the earth, slicing diagonally upward. The clash rang out—bone against iron. Hidden spectators gasped as both blades shattered simultaneously; they had expected only the bone knife to break.

In the man’s stunned moment, Ren Xiaosu discarded the broken bone knife without hesitation, the fluid motion suggesting he had anticipated this all along. Seizing the man’s wrist, his other fist hammered into the vulnerable nerves beneath the armpit like a hammer blow.

The man tried to break free, but shock overtook him—this youth’s strength far exceeded his own! How could this be? The boy was barely as tall as his neck, and yet…

The man caught sight of Ren Xiaosu’s neck sinews and muscles, steely and unyielding—power incarnate.

The armpit nerve, located about three inches from the upper arm’s junction, is a human weak point. A severe strike here causes nerve displacement. If nerves are cables, this disruption unleashes erratic electric signals. The brain’s receptors overload, sending searing pain signals and chaotic messages to the limbs. The body floods with calcium and potassium ions, triggering an electrical storm that temporarily paralyzes the system.

The man cried out in agony, collapsing with convulsions. By the time he realized what had happened, he was utterly powerless to resist Ren Xiaosu.

Ren Xiaosu stood silently, seemingly contemplating. The man gasped for breath and begged, "I hold no grudge. Spare me, and I’ll forget this ever happened."

Anyone wise would know then they were but fish on a chopping block. The man’s best course was not to rage, but to bide his time.

Ren Xiaosu turned to Xiaoyu. "Who is he?"

"He's a foreman at the coal mine. He led the attack last night that killed the man in the settlement because he heard the victim saved money. He owed the casino and acted out of greed," Xiaoyu recounted the man’s boastful words from the previous evening.

Ren Xiaosu stooped to retrieve the man’s iron blade from the ground and returned to stand over him, calculating—no more than four or five seconds remained before the man could recover.

Suddenly, the palace voice resumed: "Mission: Spare the enemy’s life."

But before the palace finished, Ren Xiaosu decisively crouched and drove the iron blade into the man’s abdomen. The ripping of leather echoed, chilling all who watched or eavesdropped. Blood began to gush forth.

"You have about three minutes. If you reach the settlement clinic in time and get stitched up, you might survive," Ren Xiaosu said calmly.

Ignoring the pain, the man sprang up and fled toward the clinic.

"Mission complete. Reward: Basic-level learning schematic."

"Mission complete. Reward: Basic-level learning schematic."

"Due to lack of weaponry, side quest initiated..."

Ren Xiaosu paused, surprised. The first mission was to save Xiaoyu—that he understood. But the second was somehow also counted as complete? How did the palace determine that?

Yan Liuyuan, curious, asked, "Brother, you just let him go? What if he heals at the clinic and comes back for revenge? He’s no good man."

Ren Xiaosu gazed into the night: "That shoddy clinic in our settlement—what kind of stitching can they really do?"

"Brother, seeing you so ruthless makes me feel relieved..."

Indeed, Ren Xiaosu marveled that such a fate still counted as mission success. The man was surely doomed. Even if he survived, his rusted iron blade was a veritable plague-bringer. And even with that iron weapon, it was the cheapest kind available; otherwise, Ren Xiaosu could never have broken it.

Ren Xiaosu lived by unyielding principles. Even with supernatural powers, he refused to compromise his conduct. Change must come from within, not imposed by others.

Thus, the mission’s judgment was not strict; the palace cared only for Ren Xiaosu’s displayed attitude.

Nearby, voices whispered inside a shack. People had long known what kind of ruthless man Ren Xiaosu was, but today they were once again stunned—his strength rivaled or surpassed that of his opponent despite the disparity in size. Truly astonishing.

A voice murmured softly, "I told you not to provoke him."

Ren Xiaosu retrieved his bone knife, a companion of over a year, now laid to rest. He looked at Xiaoyu, who appeared delicate in the night, though eight years his senior, now seeming eight years younger.

He said plainly, "Can you quit smoking?"

Xiaoyu nodded emphatically.

"That stuff’s not that addictive, just a bit of poppy husk mixed in. Old Wang says the additive’s minimal—you can quit if you really want," Ren Xiaosu explained, then crouched at Xiaoyu’s shack door, driving the broken white bone knife deep into the earth, leaving only a small fragment visible.

Those who once held ill thoughts about Xiaoyu instantly deflated. In the settlement, this half-buried bone knife symbolized willpower—no one dared cross the formidable Ren Xiaosu lightly.

Ren Xiaosu turned back to Xiaoyu: "But I should warn you, though I’m handsome and all... there’s no chance between us."

Xiaoyu’s expression froze: "I only see you as a little brother."

Now Ren Xiaosu was caught off guard: "Ha ha ha, how awkward."

He and Yan Liuyuan strode toward their shack, Ren Xiaosu shooting Yan a sharp glare—"It’s all your fault for nagging so much!"

Yan Liuyuan winked slyly at Xiaoyu, who laughed softly, her worries seemingly dissolved.

She sat quietly, gazing at the half-buried bone knife for a long while before smiling gently and going to sleep.

Ren Xiaosu closed his eyes, inwardly scrutinizing the palace and the newly typed words.

Side quest. Intriguing indeed.