Chapter Thirty-Two: The Night Banquet

Honey cannot be gathered from monsters; it must be harvested directly from beehives. However, approaching a hive triggers a swarm of bees. In the Poison Bee Forest, each bee is the size of a pigeon, and a single sting doesn't just cause a bump—it can gouge a hole in your skin! Being swarmed by so many bees at this stage of the game would result in an instant death for anyone. That is why honey is an 8th-tier material; it was designed for high-level players. Even if one could ignore the gathering level requirement, the difficulty is immense, which is why this is a C-tier intermediate quest.

Lin Zheng shot down a Green Poison Bee. These were the lowest-level variant, around level 35. While they could be killed in one hit, these toxic, oversized bees were far from safe. They usually roamed in groups. A single arrow would trigger a chain reaction, drawing a massive swarm. If a player were surrounded without a healer to keep their health up, death was almost certain. Fortunately, Lin Zheng’s strength lay in his high attack power. Whenever he was swarmed, a single "Stomp" skill would clear the area, killing all the bees instantly.

After searching for a few minutes, Lin Zheng finally found his first hive, hanging from a tall tree like a small house. He should have been happy, but seeing the sea of Green Poison Bees surrounding it gave him a massive headache. There was no helping it; he couldn't tank the damage like high-level players, so he had to clear the guards first.

He drew his bow, aimed at a bee, and fired. As he killed the first one, a massive wave of bees was drawn toward him. Lin Zheng felt his scalp tingle, but he had no choice but to keep firing. Once the swarm surrounded him, he triggered "Stomp," wiping them out. He felt incredibly lucky; if the skill hadn't been effective against targets low to the ground, he would have been at a complete loss. After pulling the mobs about ten times, the hive was finally clear. Before new bees could respawn, he rushed to the hive to gather the honey. A hive could be harvested 20 times, yielding about 4 portions of honey per harvest. In one go, his inventory gained over 80 portions. He only needed two more hives to finish the quest. He had plenty of time to complete it within two hours and even enough to practice his gathering skill.

At the fifth hive, Lin Zheng checked the quest timer. Ten minutes remained, so he decided to head back to turn in the quest. Using a Return Bead, he teleported to Skyfrost City and dashed toward the City Lord’s mansion. The mansion was magnificent, resembling a royal residence from the Ming or Qing dynasties. Two guards armed with blades stood at the entrance, their level 100 status enough to make any player wanting to peek inside take a wide detour.

"Halt!" As Lin Zheng approached, a guard barked at him, drawing his blade with a sharp "clink." Before Lin Zheng could explain, Wang Hu ran out from inside, shouting, "Wait! Wait! This brother is here to bring us the honey!"

"Oh? I see! Then please, enter!" With that, the guard sheathed his blade and returned to his wooden posture—clearly a low-intelligence NPC. Lin Zheng ignored the guards and walked happily toward Wang Hu. It wasn't that he enjoyed Wang Hu’s company—they weren't even close—but Wang Hu was the source of his reward, which was cause for celebration.

"Brother, have you collected enough honey?" Wang Hu asked with anticipation. Lin Zheng smiled and submitted the quest. Wang Hu was ecstatic. "Thank you so much! Please, accept this as a token of my appreciation!"

"Quest 'Night Banquet II' completed. Received 25 gold coins, 300,000 experience points, and silver-tier equipment 'Night Raid Leggings'." As the notification faded, another popped up: "Successfully completed 'Night Banquet II,' triggered quest 'Night Banquet III.' Quest difficulty: C-tier advanced. Accept?"

Once Lin Zheng accepted, Wang Hu’s happy expression turned tense. "Brother, there is an urgent matter we need your help with. We just received word that the Princess’s location has been compromised. A Ghost King has dispatched many subordinates to capture her and make her his queen. We have sent troops to eliminate them, but due to a shortage of manpower, one enemy stronghold remains unchecked. I need you to go there and eliminate all enemies! If you succeed, the City Lord will reward you handsomely."

Damn! Nothing was more annoying than someone trying to kidnap a woman to make her his wife. Lin Zheng patted his chest. "Say no more! Leave it to me!"

"Quest accepted. Within 120 minutes, travel to the ranch in the western suburbs of Skyfrost City and eliminate the Ghost King’s subordinates occupying it. Failure to clear them within the time limit will result in quest failure. Penalty for failure: Level -2."

A two-level penalty was severe, but it didn't matter—he would just make sure to succeed. For safety, he decided to find help. He opened his friend list; only Yang Qi was left, as everyone else had likely logged off for dinner.

"Hey, rogue!" Lin Zheng called out.

"What? I’m doing a quest!" Yang Qi replied.

"You’re doing a quest too?" Lin Zheng was surprised.

"Yeah, heh! A B-tier low-level solo quest. The reward should be great," Yang Qi said proudly. "Hmm, from your tone, you’re doing one too? Need my help?"

"Yeah! C-tier advanced. It’s timed—two hours. If I fail, I lose two levels! I wanted some insurance, so I thought I’d ask, but since you’re busy, never mind."

"A two-level penalty!? Holy crap!" Yang Qi was startled. This wasn't a joke; with the game just launched, two levels were crucial. "Add me to your party. I’m coming over. My quest isn't timed; I'll help you finish yours first!"

"That works. I’ll head to the city gate; we’ll meet there!"

"Deal!" Yang Qi hung up. By the time Lin Zheng reached the gate, Yang Qi was already waiting—clearly another spendthrift who used Return Beads.

"Where to?" Yang Qi asked.

"The ranch in the western suburbs!" Lin Zheng checked his map. "It’s not far, about ten minutes away."

"Alright! Let’s go. I’ll feel better once it’s done." Suddenly, Yang Qi’s eyes lit up. "Wait, did you change your weapon?"

"Shattered Moon. I told you I got a badass weapon in the starter village!"

"Damn! Who knew the 'badass weapon' you were talking about was a level 30 gold-tier item!"

"..."

After a few minutes of dashing, they finally reached the ranch. Seeing the state of the place, Yang Qi couldn't help but say, "What the hell? Is this Resident Evil or something?" The entire farm was in ruins, the soil turned a grayish-brown, and zombie-like ranch animals wandered everywhere in a deathly silence.

"The quest says it’s occupied by the Ghost King’s subordinates. Man, why is this so twisted?"

"What does your quest say? What do we need to do?" Yang Qi asked.

"Kill all the Ghost King’s subordinates," Lin Zheng replied. "I guess we have to wipe out every monster on the ranch."

"Damn, that’s a huge workload!" Yang Qi’s eyes widened. The ranch was huge, and with all the sheep and cows turned into zombie monsters, it was a lot. She rubbed her temples, frustrated. "So many mobs. If we had a mage, it would be much easier. Why isn't Youxi here right now?"

"Enough, instead of sulking, let’s get to work. Damn, I haven't even had time for dinner!" Lin Zheng was also frustrated. The number of monsters far exceeded his expectations. If he hadn't called Yang Qi, he never could have cleared this in two hours. Well, online games emphasized player interaction; he figured this was a test of his social network. No more thinking—time to kill!

The ranch was filled mostly with Zombie Sheep. These docile herbivores had become vicious after turning into zombies. They were around level 40, with high attack, high health, and high agility. Fortunately, their defense was low, or Yang Qi, who was tanking at the front, would have been cursing up a storm. Although both had large-area-of-effect skills, the cooldowns were too long, making the progress slow. It took them over half an hour just to clear the sheep, and a huge crowd of Zombie Cows was still waiting. Lin Zheng and Yang Qi stared, wishing they had a full-screen annihilation skill to wipe them out in one go.

"Damn it! I’ve put so much effort into this twisted quest of yours—you better split the rewards with me!" Yang Qi finished off the last Zombie Cow, frustrated. An hour had passed. They had finally cleared the most numerous monsters on the ranch. After an hour of non-stop fighting, both were mentally exhausted.

"Check your quest. Is it done?"

"Not yet!" Lin Zheng checked his quest log. "We’ve only been killing the infected animals so far; we haven't seen the culprit yet!"

"Bang—" Just as Lin Zheng finished speaking, a wall of the nearby warehouse was smashed open. A massive horde of monsters poured out, roaring as they lunged toward them!