While Qiu Yunru could put his foot down when needed, he had always been a bit of the anxious type. It took him a few hours of wandering out among winding roads to stop and ask someone for directions. Finally, he got himself on track to Jin He City.
When the sun had set, two things happened:
One, his stomach began to rumble. Qiu Yunru couldn't help but be irritated; there had never been a food system in Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits, so why was he really getting hungry now that he was here? Yes, yes, he knew it wasn't the same, transmigration laws were varied and inconsistent, etc., etc....but couldn't the heavens cut him a little slack and make him not have to worry about scrounging for food when he had no money to his beggar's name? Thankfully, Qin Shan had sent him off with steaming buns, so he could sustain himself for now. He had to admit, they were delicious. Juicy pork and a soft white bun...the taste flooded his mouth, and he nearly cried tears of joy. He hadn't tasted so deeply since he could remember!
The second things was: Qiu Yunru grew very paranoid.
Spring Blossoms, Autumn Fruits had a frustrating code aspect that made all enemies grow 200% more agitated and bloodthirsty at night. Their spawn rate was also 50% higher. Many netizens had complained about the huge spike in agitation--200% really was too much, at least make it 50%!--but the developers hadn't done anything. It wasn't as though they were well-known for listening to players. They really just did whatever they wanted!
So Qiu Yunru trekked through the night with his sword raised, ready to wave it around at anything that approached. Thankfully, the roads were never completely empty. It seemed that Jin He City was a huge trade capital, so merchant caravans, carriages, and farmers pulling carts passed up and down the road even as night fell. Though the game's enemies were bountiful and vicious, most types that spawned outside of Zhu Jie Market tended to stay away from groups of people, preferring underhanded tactics to drag people out before eating them. Because of this, Qiu Yunru made it safely to Jin He City without encountering a single monster or ghost.
It was at least early morning by the time he arrived. Noticing something was off, Qiu Yunru checked his stats menu. Cultivation 1, Martial Talent 2, Reputation 2. So his reputation had gone up to the positives! Below these main stats was a bar that was slowly growing shorter and shorter:
Hunger: 70%.
Qiu Yunru's eyes bulged out of his head. He smacked the screen irritably. "How can you add a hunger stat now that I'm really in the game? Isn't that unfair? Someone let me talk to customer service!" After he had vented his anger out with a few more smacks and insults, he scrolled further through the menu.
There was no "Tiredness" or "Sleep" stat!
This was what Qiu Yunru had realized was wrong. No matter how far he walked or how dark it got, even though his muscles burned, he hadn't felt an ounce of sleepiness. He had thought at first that it was just because he had a new body. His old body had been tired all the time, so maybe normal people were like this, not getting tired even late into the night. But now the sun was rising. He'd walked by foot, his back hurt, his calves burned, but he hadn't felt a single desire to close his eyes! It was too strange a feeling. He smacked the screen again, scolding it. "You have a Hunger stat but not a Sleep stat? What kind of inconsistency is this?"
In the end, he decided it was better to have less stats. Less stats means less limitations. But he still felt too weird not sleeping at all. He decided to go deeper into the city and search for an inn. It should help with a mental routine to still at least lay his head down, right? Otherwise, he might lose all sense of time! Although, there was a dilemma. He had only one copper coin. If the game's money system was similar to what it should be, he would need at least ten to stay at an inn for a day.
Heaven seemed to smile on him in that moment. As he turned a corner, gold flashed before his eyes. It wasn't that he'd seen a gold coin on the ground--no, it was...It was raining gold!
Qiu Yunru swore as gold coins bounced painfully off his head and at his eyes. He swatted them away, not daring to pick any up yet. What if there was a young master standing on the roof above him, accidentally having poured out his coin purse? He would surely lose reputation points and only solidify his beggar image if he started immediately grabbing at them! When he took a look around, however, this wasn't the case. Being carried down the street was a nobleman in a silken sedan chair, tossing coins left and right like they were confetti.
Qiu Yunru shivered at the nobleman's face. He was smiling, but his smile seemed to be dipped in oil and dripping with lard. It made the back of one's neck prickle. It was the fakest smile he'd ever seen!
All around, common folk were stuffing their sleeves and bags with gold coins. It would have been a more joyful sight if the nobleman himself seemed to be more jolly or genuinely kindhearted, but his appearance and expression were too greasy and condescending. It was more like a street of people prostrating and collecting scraps thrown carelessly to a beggar--only, these scraps were gold!
Qiu Yunru shrugged internally. If everyone else was doing it, he wouldn't stand out. As he stooped down to fill his sleeves and bag with gold, he caught onto the hushed words of two common folk nearby:
"Don't you know? That's Great Master Li Fengguang. He's the uncle of Li Chenyuan, that kid who's heir to the Li noble title and the Eight Purple Winds Sect!"
"The Eight Purple Winds Sect...? Haven't they fallen into complete disarray after that kid's father died way back?"
"Shhh, keep your voice down! Don't you have any shame? They say he was a pillar of the cultivation world, but he was murdered ruthlessly in front of his son by his own sworn brother! Now his son is just a kid, waiting to inherit all that money and power." The commoner lowered his voice, clearly about to reveal a scandal. "Meanwhile, it's said that Great Master Li has tried to kill that kid over and over again, being the next in line to inherit! Then he comes out here and pretends to be generous, while torturing that kid behind closed doors."
The other commoner gasped dramatically in true NPC style. "Is it really true?"
"Who knows? It's just hearsay in the end. What can common people like us do but gossip when it comes to folk like them? Anyways, hurry up, pick up more gold..."
The gears in Qiu Yunru's head turned, trying to hold onto as much information as possible. If an NPC had had such a loud conversation, it was likely an important quest would be generated from their words. Li Fengguang, Li Chenyuan, Eight Purple Winds Sect...He jotted these all down in his mind, wishing he had a paper to take notes on. It sounded like this Eight Purple Winds Sect was decrepit at the moment, and probably not the actively recruiting sect Qin Shan had talked about. And this heir to wealth and power (power being the leadership of a broken-down sect)...it sounded like a classic, "Save the Abused Royal Child From Their Evil Uncle/Auntie/Relative!" type of thing. He would have to keep an eye out for an official quest marker later. This kind of quest had to be at least a Medium difficulty, which meant at least Medium rewards. He glanced at his sword, which shined weakly in the morning light, and sighed, patting it regretfully. "Maybe you'll still serve me well in the meantime."
For now, he should focus on getting into this cultivation sect.