Chapter 26: It’s Her
Among all the various community forums, the most viewed post by far was one featuring a prominent screenshot:
[Never steal rags from other people’s homes, otherwise you will…]
[Original Poster]: The guy who stole the stuff is actually my childhood friend! Here’s what happened… The village chief is this old guy, super nice, and he usually hooks us up with plenty of quests. But my friend didn’t want to grind the regular missions—he just wanted to explore this new world! One day, he was crouching up in a tree looking for wild fruit to eat when he suddenly spotted an NPC below, sneakily pulling a piece of cloth out from her house! Seeing how mysterious and secretive she was acting, my buddy assumed it was some kind of top-tier treasure, so he snatched it! The woman immediately gave chase without a word. My friend ran as fast as he could, but out of nowhere, he got intercepted by a little girl! And then…
[Original Poster]: …Just look at the attached picture. This is the official penalty for theft.
With the official launch of Ancient rapidly approaching, this particular thread exploded in popularity, eventually cementing itself firmly on the trending charts.
The digital onlookers swarmed the comments to share their thoughts:
[Star-Chasing Girl]: Oh my gosh! This little sister NPC is absolutely badass! I’m obsessed! From this moment on, she is officially my virtual goddess!
[Good Girl]: Yikes, note to self: do not mess with the local NPCs! I am going to follow quest guidelines like a law-abiding citizen from now on!
[Most Handsome Man in the Interstellar]: Wait, seriously?! With stats like mine, won’t my raw charm end up driving thousands of these virtual girls wild? Man, being this gorgeous is such a heavy burden!
[History Student]: Look closely at the screenshot. Isn’t that ‘rag’ actually a traditional menstrual belt used by prehistoric women? It’s basically the ancient equivalent of modern sanitary pads!
[Original Poster]: No way! The NPC explicitly shouted it herself—she called it a rag!
[Most Handsome Man in the Interstellar]: Didn’t the beta guides literally warn us that these advanced AI NPCs can deceive you? You got completely played by the system, bro!
[History Student]: In actual ancient history, societal values were incredibly conservative. If a woman was discovered to have her intimate garments plundered by a strange man, she would likely be permanently cast out of her village. In more severe, brutal regions, she might even have been executed!
[Passerby A]: Oh my god! That is horrifying!
After a period of intense hunting and resource gathering up on the ridges, Lu Yunxi finally began her descent, having spent over half a month in the wilderness.
However, when her feet touched the perimeter of the lower slopes, she froze. The path was absolutely teeming with people walking back and forth. The base of the mountain had transformed into a bustling, chaotic hub, resembling a modern town square during a massive market festival.
Lu Yunxi: ???
Did I take a wrong turn down a ravine and stumble into a completely different settlement?
Yet, as she navigated the pathways, taking in the familiar faces of her neighbors and the distinct architecture of the local houses, she was entirely dumbfounded. This was definitely her village. This was her home. Where on earth had this sudden, massive influx of strangers come from?
Quickly shaking off her bewilderment, she adjusted her gear, slung two fresh wild rabbits over her shoulder, and marched toward the village chief’s house.
Oddly enough, as she walked down the main road, dozens of newcomers locked their eyes onto her. They stared with highly specific, bizarre expressions, whispering among themselves as she passed.
Yunxi paused, instinctively slowing her pace. In the past, she might have missed the subtle shift in the air; these strangers were attempting to be covert, immediately averting their eyes to scan the nearby flora and fauna whenever she looked back. But after spending so much time tracking highly sensitive predators up in the mountains, her situational awareness had skyrocketed.
What baffled her was the simple fact that she had never laid eyes on a single one of these people. Why were they tracking her every move with such hyper-fixated intensity? Plenty of local villagers were strolling down the exact same path, yet the crowd ignored them completely.
Yunxi continued her walk toward the chief’s residence, keeping her posture casual while perking her ears to catch the hushed murmurs drifting through the wind.
“Hey, is that her?”
“Hold on, let me check the forum logs… Yup, look at the profile features. It’s definitely her!”
” Jeez, steer clear of her path! If we get too close, we might accidentally trigger her aggro range and get destroyed!”
“What are you panicking for? She’s just a little kid who hasn’t even hit her growth spurt yet!”
“Exactly. Our squad leader trained in actual martial arts academies before logging in. He was completely invincible during the beta tests!”
…
Yunxi’s mind swirled with questions. What ‘forum logs’? Who exactly is ‘her’?
She arrived at the chief’s courtyard wrapped in a thick cloud of confusion. On the bright side, while the swarm of strangers had spent the entire walk hyper-focusing on her profile, they didn’t harbor any genuine malice. If anything, the moment she drew near, they actively scrambled out of her way to grant her a wide berth.
“Village Chief,” she called out, stepping into the main room. “I managed to secure quite a bounty up on the ridges this trip, so I brought over two fat rabbits for you!”
The village chief stared at the two plump, heavy rabbits, a massive grin breaking across his face. “Wonderful! Simply wonderful! It has been an age since I last tasted fresh game. I shall whip up two grand dishes this evening. You must stay and dine with me!”
“Thank you, Chief, but I’ll have to pass. I already have a batch of rabbit meat stewing back at my place; it should be perfectly tender by the time I walk through the door,” she replied, shaking her head with a polite smile. “You should smoke or dry these cuts so they keep for the winter!”
The chief nodded happily, thoroughly pleased with the gift.
“By the way, Chief… why is the perimeter suddenly swarming with so many strangers?” Yunxi asked, unable to suppress her discomfort. Even if the crowd lacked hostile intentions, she despised the feeling of being analyzed like a rare piece of game on display.
“Oh, them? They are a fresh batch of independent adventurers. If their presence causes you distress, I can explicitly command them to stay clear of your courtyard walls.”
Yunxi shook her head. “No, let it be. They need to secure manual labor if they want to earn their keep.” If these desperate travelers were completely locked out from finding honest chores, the village would inevitably suffer a massive spike in backyard thefts.
Before turning to leave, she lowered her voice, her tone turning solemn. “Village Chief… I will be permanently departing from the village in a few days.”
She had successfully absorbed every baseline skill and trade the local craftsmen could offer; the rest was a matter of independent, repetitive practice. More importantly, she felt it was finally time to venture out into the wider world. Her search for her maternal aunt had remained completely stagnant, and she wouldn’t find answers by staying nestled in Mushroom Village forever.
“What?!” The old man gasped, his entire frame tensing in shock. But a moment later, as if a sudden realization had washed over him, his posture relaxed, and his voice dropped to a low, reverent murmur. “Ah… I see. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t dare permit any youth to cross our outer borders before turning eighteen. But your circumstances are unique. Perhaps… perhaps you truly possess the aptitude to reach that legendary domain.”
Yunxi watched the chief lose himself in his own cryptic muttering, entirely perplexed. “Village Chief, what are you talking about? What ‘legendary domain’?”
The chief dismissed her question with a wave of his hand, sinking into deep thought for a long time before finally looking up at her. His gaze was incredibly complex, heavy with unspoken history.
“Go forth, child,” he said softly. “Just ensure you carry a letter to the town for me to check on how my wife and children are faring… As for that legendary domain, I do not possess absolute knowledge of its inner workings. I merely overheard tales from the elders claiming that when an individual’s martial arts proficiency reaches a certain peak, they will be guided to a specialized sect or academy to master world-shattering techniques.”
“Come to think of it, your own Lu lineage boasts an ancestor who successfully gained entry into such an institution. Regrettably, after he departed to explore the wider world, he only graced our village with his presence once before vanishing entirely,” the chief noted with a tinge of historical regret. “It is a shame he never clearly explained the mechanics of that academy! Regardless, venture out and see for yourself. Perhaps you, too, will stumble into that exact destiny!”
Wrapped in thoughts of this mysterious martial academy, Yunxi walked back to her courtyard in a daze. It took her a long time to gather her wits, after which she pulled out her father’s legacy text, The Lu Family Archery Technique, carefully reading through the manuscript three times from cover to cover.
Beyond the practical training forms, the manual did contain a brief appendix detailing the travels of their ancestors, but it made absolutely no mention of any grand institution or academy. She strongly suspected that whatever her ancestor had described all those generations ago had been entirely misinterpreted by the village elders.
Choosing not to waste any more mental energy on unverified legends, she spent her remaining days distributing fresh rabbit meat to every household in the community, warmly bidding her neighbors farewell. During their final meeting, Daya secretly pressed a massive bundle of homemade jerky into her hands, fiercely ordering her to keep it stashed away for her personal strength on the road.
