[Name: Li Hao
Age: 17 (Life Span: 55)
Physique: Mortal (Malnourished)
Balance: 3 Taels of silver
Life simulation: 0 (Requires 10 taels of silver) [Use? Yes/No] (Warning! Insufficient balance!)]
Shockingly! A transparent screen materialized near his vision!
Li Hao calmly read the information on the screen. In the past, he had done the same act countless times.
'The time is near. Maybe, today I can verify its authenticity.'
In his heart, Li Hao was feeling quite restless. Although confused, he knew something about this potential treasure of his.
This panel originated from a game he had designed in his previous world before transmigration.
It performs only textual simulations, being based on a normal template.
Each simulation fetches some points that could be used to enhance the level of one's physique, from mortal to god. Moreover, one could acquire firsthand information about the future through text simulation.
The amount of earned points in reality depends on the player's performance and influence within the simulation, which is also dependent on one's strength and reputation in reality.
It is the only capital with which he held some confidence about thriving in this world.
For some unknown reason, this panel from the simulation game had travelled alongside him, fusing with his consciousness.
At first, he was stunned, but immediately laughed maniacally upon recognizing the significance of having a panel like this appear before his eyes.
A surge of thoughts, overflowing like a tsunami, but it was soon interrupted as a burly hand landed on his shoulder.
"Well done, Hao!"
"No worries, just give me at least a hundred taels of silver."
"...I will think about it."
The burly bandit leader was not very generous, but for his son, he could sacrifice everything.
While the father and son duo were having their own sweet time, on the other side, the fair-skinned young man had his metallic object forcibly taken away.
"Boss, I got this divine weapon!"
The bandit who snatched it quickly ran up to the bandit leader, showing him the weapon. Standing beside them, Li Hao's eyes shone upon noticing the metallic object.
'A Gun? Maybe not, but something similar. Whatever, I must have it.'
"This thing…"
The bandit leader was cautious, only staring, not touching the metallic object.
"Take it away. Search for more of such weapons or something related to them."
After the orders were given, just as the bandit was about to move, a calm voice entered his ears.
"Why not let me hold it? I can use it to threaten those fair-skinned men."
As he turned around, Li Hao's expressionless face entered his field of vision.
The bandit leader pondered.
"Give it to him."
…
The fair-skinned men were helpless; they could only watch as the bandits looted everything.
"We have done as you said, now return the girl to us."
The young man standing at the front stared hard at Li Hao. His words let everyone focus on Li Hao. For a moment, he became the centre of attention.
Even the bandit leader looked at his son in silence. 'This is a form of test. What will he do?'
Li Hao: (-_-)
"Your daughter will be returned to you without harm, this is my word. But, before that, I have to secure a safe route for my brothers."
With a raised eyebrow, the fair-skinned young man felt annoyed.
"You have my weapon. Why be so cautious? What can we do to you?"
Ignoring his words, Li Hao turned to look at his father.
The burly bandit leader understood what his son intended to do. So, he swung his saber with a fierce expression.
"Alright! Everyone, back to the base!"
With his order, all the remaining bandits began retreating into the mountains.
Li Hao, along with others, was just about to leave when the young mother shouted from behind.
"Wait! Take me with you! I must ensure my daughter's safety!"
Li Hao stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the young mother. Emma was still in his arms. Noticing his actions, the young mother showed both her hands, indicating that she was harmless.
He pondered a bit, but a rough voice sounded beside his ear, instantly clearing his mind.
"A young woman with a daughter, randomly strolling in a forest with no guards around. This is not a peaceful era; anyone can be an expert. You must not let your guard down, Hao."
Looking sideways, the one who spoke was the burly bandit leader. His father in this life.
Keeping his words in mind, Li Hao made a mental note to start thinking from the perspective of a native man.
'That's right, this is not a normal world; there exist mythical powers beyond a mortal's comprehension.' Hence, he ignored the young mother and started running away.
"Wait!"
She shouted again, but this time, no one paid attention.
Surprisingly, after getting ignored, she did not become helpless. Instead, a calm expression was upon her.
An eerie aura started oozing out of her body.
Noticing this sudden change, the fair-skinned men gave each other knowing looks.
All native guards distanced themselves, their eyes reflecting deep terror!
…
As the father and son duo started running, a furious roar erupted from behind, followed by the thunderous sound of the earth splitting apart. The roar seemed non-human and unpleasant to the ears, almost as if a ghostly entity was wailing.
Upon sensing the disturbance behind, the bandit leader felt goosebumps all over his body!
He quickly grabbed Li Hao and ran as if their life depended on it. Emma was left on the ground.
"Wh..What happened!?"
Li Hao, with no attainment in martial arts, was being carried like a sick chicken by his father.
"I don't know! But we must run!"
No further questions were asked. Li Hao was wise enough to understand that something dangerous was behind them, and his father could sense the threat.
He silently looked behind, curious about the entity behind them, and just as he turned around, a figure did emerge from the bushes.
'...That young mother?'
It was a bit difficult to identify her because her skin was completely pale at the moment. A shadowy aura surrounded her from head to toe. The eyes and mouth had a shade of dark, and the teeth were blood red.
In short, she did not look human, and both Li Hao and his father, the bandit leader, were scared in their heart.
Their fear intensified when the ghostly mother started coming after them. She seemed to be walking leisurely, yet her figure blinked and approached rapidly, as if she were doing multiple short-distance teleportations.
Shhh!
Li Hao felt goosebumps.
"What that fuck is that!?"
She was almost catching up to them!
"Fuck you!"
In the heat of the moment, Li Hao raised the metallic weapon and shot multiple time.
But not at the shadowy figure!
As the sound of gunshots was heard, the young mother's expression changed from angry to fearful.
The direction of the bullets was towards her daughter, Emma, who was still on the ground, bawling her eyes out.
The ghostly mother swiftly changed directions, moving towards her child, intending to shield her from the bullets. Her body, shifting from one distance to another, easily blocked off four bullets, but the last one hit Emma on her left shoulder.
"Emma!"
Her daughter became unconscious. The young mother knelt on her knees and began wailing. Her mouth produced weird screeching noises, as if numerous entities resided in her body.
Making use of this momentary distraction, the father and son duo successfully escaped the disaster!
….
Hours later.
Evergreen forest, Golden Eagle Peaks, Clear River Gorge.
Hide out of the Golden Eagle Brotherhood.
"Those who have died, their families will be provided with housing and rations for three years, as for the survivors…"
The burly bandit leader casually awarded remedies for those who had suffered, but became silent upon mentioning the survivors.
His intention? Likely to build up suspense among the brothers.
His words seemed to ignite some energy into the bandits, as they started shouting frantically, nearly forgetting the sadness of losing some of their brothers.
"What do we get!?"
"Yeah! What do we get!?"
"Dammit, Zhenhao! Don't give us that look! Say it!"
Some of the older bandits were irritated after seeing their leader's smiling face, wanting to beat him up, but controlled themselves upon thinking of the rewards.
"Hahaha! Alright! This is the energy I need!"
All the brothers were riled up, the bandit leader, named Zhenhao, was satisfied, and decided against keeping others in the dark. And so, he turned his head towards Li Hao, who was standing behind, on his right side.
"Hao, go and bring those two crates from my room!"
"I can't, they're heavy."
"...You need to start training in martial arts soon!"
Since Li Hao was out of the picture, he went himself and brought back two big boxes from his private room.
The ground made huge dham sounds, making one understand the heavy content present inside these two crates. He opened both the crates simultaneously.
The moment all treasures were revealed, everyone became dumbstruck.
"Oh..god"
Shiny all over! Gold! Silver! Jade vases! And some other expensive-looking stuff! These half-naked bandits felt as if their eyes were purified.
"All survivors may take ten taels! Even the ones who have died, their family member gets five taels of silver!"
Shuuu!
"Haha! What happened, boss!? Why so generous today!?"
"Today was truly our lifetime loot!"
Ten taels of silver were a lot of money for these bandits. Their whole group was neither a major organization nor very small; hence, everyone may get big rewards. Today's windfall could truly be considered a once-in-a-lifetime fortune! And, it all happened because of Li Hao!
Zhenhao did not forget to mention his son during the whole excitement.
"Everyone! Today's loot was only possible because of Hao; therefore, I decided that he would get twenty taels of silver and three gold ingots as a reward!"
At first, there was silence among the bandits. Most were shocked at the amount. But, upon thinking that Li Hao may lead them in the future, and him being one of them, the bandits quickly accepted the words of Zhenhao. Tch! Tch! So simple-minded.
"Our Hao deserves such a reward!"
"You're right! He worked hard for today's loot!"
"Today, everyone is happy only because of the guts shown by our Hao! He truly deserves this!"
To show support for Zhenhao's decision, the group of brothers started cheering and praising Li Hao, showing their thumbs fingers at his direction👍