blueteamnovel Chapter 158 Mission
Chapter 158 Mission
The reviewer was right. A week later, Qin Xiaochuan received the approval message. Along with the message came his account and initial password for the Tian Shu Guan official app. After logging in, he could see his task points, a list of tasks available for him to claim, and the Guardian Forum where all demon hunters could exchange information.
On Friday afternoon, as soon as he finished class, he and Guo Shiyi went to Tian Shu Hall again. They first went to the fourth floor to collect his Demon Hunter Badge, and then went to the lobby on the first floor to see if there were any suitable missions available.
"There are so many more tasks now." Guo Shiyi frowned as she looked at the display screen in the lobby. When she and Qin Xiaochuan came last week, the task list on the screen wasn't even full, but now it's already on the second page.
"This proves that my choice to join the Demon Hunters was the right one. Perhaps we can find some clues during the mission," Qin Xiaochuan pondered.
"It's a pity that Sister Kexin didn't want to join, otherwise it would have been great if the three of us could have carried out missions together. With Sister Kexin leading the team, we could even have taken on some A-level missions," Guo Shiyi said regretfully.
Qin Xiaochuan couldn't help but smile wryly upon hearing this. If Han Kexin were to apply to become a demon hunter, it was uncertain whether she would pass the background check. He'd be lucky if she didn't become prey for the demon hunters. However, he still offered an explanation for Han Kexin: "She's used to a leisurely life and wouldn't like this kind of hectic work. But if we encounter difficulties and ask her for help, she probably won't refuse."
Upon hearing this, Guo Shiyi tilted her head and looked at Qin Xiaochuan, asking, "You seem to know Sister Kexin quite well."
"It's alright!" Qin Xiaochuan answered almost subconsciously. For some reason, he felt a little nervous when he heard Guo Shiyi's question. "After all, we've been through so much together, so we have a basic understanding of each other."
Guo Shiyi chuckled and said, "Let's see what tasks are available first!" With that, she walked straight to a self-service kiosk on the left side of the hall, took out her badge and swiped it on the machine. On the kiosk's screen, a line of text popped up: "Welcome to the Demon Hunter Mission Platform."
Seeing this, Qin Xiaochuan followed. He watched Guo Shiyi scroll through the task list and suddenly noticed that the task of capturing the defector Mo Yu was listed. He couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Why is there still a bounty on Mo Yu? He must have been framed."
Guo Shiyi frowned and said, "I did report the situation of the Dark Night Base to my superiors last time. Logically speaking, this bounty mission should have been canceled long ago."
"Perhaps there isn't yet concrete evidence to prove his innocence," Qin Xiaochuan speculated.
"I'll ask around again later. I feel like this bounty is unnecessary before the truth is revealed," Guo Shiyi said as she opened other missions to check.
"Most of these missions involve people witnessing monsters. Could it be the work of demons?" Guo Shiyi asked.
"We'll find out if that's true or not when we go and take a look. I think all the tasks are pretty much the same. We're short on time, so let's take a task that's closer to home," Qin Xiaochuan said.
Guo Shiyi nodded, compared the locations of all the missions, and chose a mission located in a small county under the jurisdiction of XY City. It would only take an hour and a half to get there by high-speed rail, so they would have plenty of time to investigate over the weekend.
-------------------------------
the next morning.
"Ah, the scenery here is so beautiful." Qin Xiaochuan stretched and said while sitting in the taxi. They got up at six o'clock this morning to go to the high-speed rail station. After getting off the high-speed rail, they took a taxi to their mission destination.
It was only 8:30 a.m., and the chill of early spring had not completely dissipated. Coupled with the fact that they had gotten up early, both of them were a little sleepy. However, when a continuous mountain range slowly unfolded in the car window like a scroll, they couldn't help but be invigorated. The mission they were going to carry out this time was located in a small county town surrounded by these mountains.
Qin Xiaochuan couldn't help but open the car window, and the fresh, cold mountain breeze blew in, completely waking them up. Because they were on a country road and the car wasn't going very fast, they didn't feel cold.
"We can treat this mission as a trip," Guo Shiyi said happily, opening the car window and looking at the scenery outside.
Through the car window, you can see birds flying in flocks through the lush green mountains, their clear chirping occasionally drifting from the dense forest, creating a serene and secluded valley. At the foot of the mountain, beside the road, is a row of rice paddies filled with water. Because it is early spring, and planting time is still far off, the paddies only contain last year's withered rice stubble. A flock of ducks frolic and forage in the paddies, their flapping wings and quacking calls echoing from time to time.
A villager led a water buffalo slowly across the roadside. The buffalo grazed on the roadside grass, swishing its tail as it followed its owner. It only raised its head when it heard the horn of a taxi, looking at it curiously while continuing to chew on the grass in its mouth.
Qin Xiaochuan suddenly felt a familiar and warm feeling. When he was very young, he had lived in the countryside with his grandparents for a period of time. At that time, he thought that the blue sky and white clouds, green mountains and clear waters during the day and the bright stars in the night sky were the most ordinary things. But now they have become so precious.
"Xiao Chuan, look." Just as he was enjoying the beautiful scenery before him, Guo Shiyi suddenly pointed out the window and said to him in surprise.
Qin Xiaochuan looked in the direction she pointed, and what he saw was a scene he would never forget. On the rolling hills in front of the taxi, there was a construction site piled with yellow earth. Excavators, bulldozers and other construction vehicles were busy at work. The construction site looked extremely out of place in the green forest, as if a piece of skin had been peeled off the mountain peak, revealing a yellow earth-colored wound.
On a mountaintop not far from the construction site, rows of pine trees lay fallen, revealing white stumps. Surprisingly, a large flock of eagles were circling overhead.
"This is..." Qin Xiaochuan stared wide-eyed at the scene before him. He was stunned for a while before he was sure that he was not seeing things. It was indeed a flock of eagles.
Eagles! He recalled his days living in the countryside, where even in the beautiful countryside, eagles were rarely seen. Only on clear days could one or two eagles occasionally be seen circling high in the sky. Whenever this happened, the village children would dance and cheer to others, "Look, there's an eagle!" while the adults, fearing it would come down and snatch their chicks, would loudly shoo it away into the air.
But they, high in the sky, cannot hear these things. Like kings of the sky, they are always alone, appearing so lonely and unreachable.
Qin Xiaochuan never imagined he would see so many eagles at once. What a sight it was! These kings, who should have been soaring high in the sky, now looked like lost children, lost and bewildered, unsure of where to go. They didn't utter a single mournful cry, they just circled, but that feeling of reluctance seeped deep into his heart. It was like the Western Chu overlord in the TV series, besieged on the banks of the Wujiang River, his hair disheveled, watching the Han Chinese military flags gradually closing in from all directions, and the ever-flowing Wujiang River behind him, speechless.
With strength to uproot mountains and spirit to cover the world
The time is not right, and my steed will not go.
My steed will not go; what can I do?
虞姬虞姬奈若何
"What's wrong?" Guo Shiyi's gentle and concerned voice came from his ear. Qin Xiaochuan turned his head to look at her and met her beautiful but confused eyes.
"What's wrong?" Qin Xiaochuan looked at her in confusion, his gaze as if he himself had been seriously injured.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked, pointing to her eyes. Qin Xiaochuan hesitated and touched the corner of his eye, finding it filled with warm tears.
"Ah, I..." Qin Xiaochuan gesticulated wildly, stammering as if trying to explain something, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know what to say. He didn't know why he suddenly burst into tears; it was completely inexplicable, especially in front of a beautiful woman, which made him feel a little ashamed.
"A grown man actually shed tears," Guo Shiyi teased him from the side.
"No, I don't know what happened, I didn't even notice it myself." His face was slightly flushed.
"But it's quite cute too," Guo Shiyi said with a giggle.
"Cute?" Qin Xiaochuan was embarrassed. This word could only be used to describe little boys.
"Yes, it feels so gentle. You must be thinking of something sad!"
"No!" he replied sheepishly, but his gaze couldn't help but drift back to the flock of eagles circling in the sky, watching them gradually disappear from his sight until they were no longer visible.