Gaining a slight upper hand, William Harper immediately turned and ran—he was in a hurry to complete his newbie quests, where would he find time to fight to the death with someone? His opponent didn’t give chase either, and instead rushed off, blade in hand, to hunt down other villagers.

Huangjia Village was already in total chaos. The villagers were being slaughtered like livestock, but the killers were also fighting each other fiercely, many of them blinded by bloodlust.

William Harper crawled and scrambled his way through, not even sure how many people he’d fought along the way. He managed to pick up five more quests, and completed four newbie tasks.

After that... there wasn’t a single villager left in Huangjia Village who could still breathe or move.

William Harper didn’t bother with those still fighting desperately; instead, he checked his quest log.

He now had thirty-six newbie quests, with eleven still unfinished. Of those, five were in accepted status, but for the other six, the villagers who issued them had all been killed, so William Harper hadn’t even had a chance to talk to them.

“Looks like I’ll have to wait for the next wave of Huangjia Village villagers to respawn.”

William Harper sighed, found a place to hide, since the remaining players were all crazed with killing and it was far too dangerous to wander around.

The spot where William Harper hid wasn’t exactly concealed—he just picked a random house, dug a long trench in the floor, placed a stone at one end, then put the Flying Snow Drifting Leaf Spear into the trench, covered it back up with dirt, and dragged over a bamboo chair to sit at one end of the trench, facing the door, relaxed on the outside but tense within, ready to fish for a target.

The sounds of slaughter in Huangjia Village gradually faded. Some people, seeing there was nothing more to gain, left; the last few remaining were all rare experts, and none could defeat the others. After a brief struggle, they each withdrew from the village.

Only two people were still burning with murderous intent, refusing to retreat, turning the entire Huangjia Village into their personal battlefield, locked in a fierce and unending duel. After more than a thousand moves, a burly man with yellow whiskers finally struck his opponent with a palm, sending blood spraying, then finished him off with another move. He threw his head back and howled to the sky, overwhelmed with satisfaction.

Having killed his final enemy and collected the spoils, he walked slowly out of the village. Passing by the house where William Harper was hiding, he noticed a flaw, sneered, and shouted, “Didn’t expect there’d be another little thief! You think hiding here will let you escape? Let Old Mr. Wright kill you quickly and put you out of your misery!”

The yellow-whiskered man burst into the house and saw William Harper. His eyes instantly turned blood-red with rage as he cursed, “So it was you, brat, who ambushed your Old Mr. Wright and killed me in the cesspit?”

The yellow-whiskered man was called Thomas Wright, the strongest of this group. Not long ago, he’d been ambushed by William Harper and died in utter humiliation, unable to vent his anger. That’s why he’d just fought his greatest enemy to the death—not because of any deep hatred, but because he was so stifled by that humiliation, he had to let it out.

Seeing William Harper, Thomas Wright truly embodied the saying, “When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred!” He grinned viciously, stretched his muscles, and shouted, “If Old Mr. Wright doesn’t tear you apart today, I’ll change my surname! I’ll take yours, brat!” As soon as Thomas Wright finished, William Harper replied, “My surname is Wu! When you change it, don’t forget to honor your ancestors!” Of course, he wasn’t about to tell the guy that his surname wasn’t actually Wu...

William Harper naturally didn’t recognize this guy—after all, Thomas Wright had already switched to a new character card—but as soon as the other mentioned “the cesspit incident,” he realized who it was. He thought to himself, “A grudge as filthy as a cesspit can never be resolved, so I might as well make it even bigger.”

So... he provoked Thomas Wright with a jab.

Thomas Wright was furious, ignoring his exhaustion after the recent battle. With a clap of his palms, he sent a wave of heat surging and lunged forward. This time, he was smarter, keeping a third of his attention on his back to guard against a sneak attack. The humiliation of being ambushed by William Harper had made him much more cautious.

William Harper was a bit puzzled as to why Thomas Wright kept glancing behind him, but he certainly wasn’t going to miss such a golden opportunity. When Thomas Wright charged into the right spot, William Harper gathered his strength and stomped hard. The Flying Snow Drifting Leaf Spear shot up from the dirt like a viper, its tip raised high.

Thomas Wright had left some of his focus on his back, so he was less wary of the front, and never expected William Harper to have such a devious trick up his sleeve. The angle of the spear was just too cunning, bursting up from the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust to obscure his vision.

With a muffled thud!

Thomas Wright spread his hands, wanting to land a final blow on William Harper, but found he couldn’t muster any strength. Gritting his teeth in pain and hatred, he cursed, “Wu! Our grudge is irreconcilable! Let’s settle this outside—I swear I’ll beat you to death with my own hands!”

As soon as William Harper relaxed his foot, the Flying Snow Drifting Leaf Spear naturally lost its upward tilt and fell, and Thomas Wright collapsed to the ground with a thud, instantly dead, dissolving into a cloud of white mist.

William Harper picked up the Flying Snow Drifting Leaf Spear, gathered the loot, and checked the light screen, discovering that he’d actually progressed the Demon Blade Inheritance quest to (67/99).

He shook his head, spat, and complained, “You eunuch! Who are you trying to fool, acting like some hero?”