I Have a Date with a Thousand-year-old Female Corpse-Chapter 1257: Bamboo Village

Amid the chatter of others, you firmly gripped the dagger in your hand and walked toward a samurai with a somewhat decent face. "Excuse me, where is this place? Do you know how to get to New Mongolia Province?"

"What? New Mongolia Province?" The man looked utterly baffled, then patted your shoulder and exclaimed, "Brother, is your brain fried? There’s no such thing as New Mongolia Province in the New ’Arrogance.’ This is Bamboo Village, one of the Earth players’ starting points."

"Bamboo Village?" A thought flashed through your mind, followed by intense excitement as you grabbed the man’s hand. "Then is that forest up ahead called Bamboo Forest?"

"Duh, with all those bamboo trees, what else would it be called?"

The man pulled his hand back in disgust and walked away sulkily.

But you didn’t care about any of that. As soon as you heard Bamboo Forest, you imagined you had arrived at the Bamboo Forest of your original world. Without saying another word, you dashed toward the dense bamboo grove.

At that moment, a kind voice called out from behind, "Hey, be careful! There are monsters over twenty levels in the forest!"

Your excitement was through the roof, and you paid no heed to the warning. Taking long strides, you plunged into the bamboo woods, but soon enough, you realized that you couldn’t find your way back.

The road beneath your feet was paved with bluestone, and occasionally green leaves fluttered down. Sunlight filtered through the cracks between the leaves, casting mottled shadows onto the bluestone path.

"Cuckoo."

At some point, a cuckoo’s cry echoed through the forest. You stumbled, taking a few unsteady steps forward before looking up to see a gray wild wolf slowly approaching not far ahead.

You instinctively drew your dagger, but the heavy breathing of the wolf caused your own breath and heart rate to quicken.

Wolves, no matter in which world, are always fast and highly lethal.

You would rather face a nest of poisonous spiders than confront a full-grown wolf. Unfortunately, the one before you was a wolf in its prime.

"Damn it! Just my luck! I’ve just entered the game, and here I am facing such a powerful monster."

Although you were already rich in combat experience, this game body of yours was built purely from data, and all output depended on the game’s internal mechanics. With your current level, facing the wolf would only lead to certain death.

The wild wolf took two steps forward, crouched low, growling. In this game, all animals possessed intelligence, and the level of realism extended up to ninety-nine percent. Calling it a game seemed insufficient—it was more like a genuine third world.

This was precisely why the game "Arrogance" had become wildly popular throughout the Milky Way Galaxy within half a year. Many unemployed individuals found purpose and work here, with some even finding their lifetime partners. Of course, others engaged in business or secretive activities here as well.

Wild wolves were level twenty monsters, notorious in newbie areas for their lethal attacks and blistering speed. This explained why Bamboo Forest was avoided by most.

The wild wolf launched an attack on you!

Fast!

The wolf’s movements could only be described as incredibly fast. Just moments ago, it had been over ten meters away, but in the blink of an eye, it had leaped to within just a few steps from you.

Seeing the wolf lunging fiercely, you rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack. However, the wolf did not give up its nearly-to-mouth prey. It turned mid-air and leapt again, baring its sharp tusks as it lunged mercilessly to bite you. freewebnσvel.cøm

It’s over!

In that moment, even though your instincts warned you of the impending danger, your body simply couldn’t react in time. As the wolf’s tusks came within a few centimeters of your skull, a flash of blue sword light streaked through the air. With a cry of "Oof," the wolf was instantly sliced in two, drenching you in wolf blood.

"Hey, are you okay?" A swordsman clad in silver armor approached you. When he saw you weren’t hurt, his face broke into a radiant smile. "Haha, looks like you’re lucky—this wolf didn’t cause you any serious harm."

"Thank... thank you," you stammered, still shaken, as you hurriedly expressed your gratitude.

"No need to thank me. Helping others in need is a swordsman’s duty. By the way, what are you doing here at such a low level? Don’t you know the monsters here are more than ten levels above you?" The swordsman looked at you with some confusion. Using appraisal technique, he discovered that you were only level seven, meaning you hadn’t even achieved an entry-level profession—basically just a greenhorn.

"I... I need to go home," you hastily made up an excuse.

Of course, you genuinely wanted to return to Gingko Village to search for Zhao’er’s whereabouts.

"Huh, what did you say?" The swordsman seemed bewildered.

"I said I need to go home. My home is in Gingko Village, in New Mongolia Province."

"You’ve got to be kidding me." The smile on the swordsman’s face froze slightly.

"No, I’m serious!" You spoke earnestly.

"But do you know? New Mongolia Province disappeared long ago, and Gingko Village is an S-grade hidden quest location in this game. To even get to Gingko Village, you need to be at least level fifty. Right now, the highest-ranked player in the entire game, Eastern Cloud Dragon, is only a little over level fifty. Only someone like him has the ability to go there. How do you plan on getting there?"

The swordsman sheathed his sword and sat down next to you. He began studying you carefully. After a moment, his expression shifted. "Ah, I remember now! You were the person watching when Smiling Knife and I were dueling right before old ’Arrogance’ permanently shut down."

Back then, Smiling Knife and Feng Yujian were indeed dueling above you. However, given the chaos of the situation, you hadn’t paid attention to their appearances. Now, hearing Feng Yujian mention it jogged your memory—it had indeed happened, though what occurred afterward remained a blur.

"Hey, what exactly did you mean earlier? You said your home is in Gingko Village. Are you saying you’re not a person but actually an NPC from an online game?"

You stayed silent.

Should you reveal the truth?

This Feng Yujian seemed like someone worth befriending, judging by his appearance, demeanor, and speech.

After some thought, you decided to take a gamble!

After all, you’ve always been someone who thrives on breaking conventions!

"I don’t know. All I know is my name is Mu Yun. I’ve been an orphan since childhood. I was taken in by an old woman selling pancakes who found me in a forest. I lived in Gingko Village for twelve years—that’s my home."

"Gingko Village... Gingko Village... Wait!" Feng Yujian suddenly exclaimed. "I remember now! Gingko Village did indeed have a peculiar NPC. I used to hear people talk about a teenage NPC boy in Gingko Village. While all the NPCs were tied to specific system tasks and secretive hidden quests, that one NPC seemed to be idle most of the time. Later, he started vying for tasks with newcomers, constantly repeating those quests. Tell me—was that boy... you?"

Looks like he’s hooked!