18 Red Pass

Tang Ling knew this poor family would just sell this horse for about 50-100 coppers in max. While the horses were good, presently they were weakened by hunger. He knew that he had wasted a lot of money and it wasn't worth it but he still gave it; he hoped that this family would be able to live well.

He then looked at this famished horse. Poor horse... Tang Ling let the horse eat his fill as he needed it to travel to the Red Pass.

Fu Village (weaker than Lone Dawn), Red Pass and Red Reminiscence Town, and GodSword City!

Red Pass was just the pass of Red Reminiscence Town, but it was like a camp or semi-town.

"Hello friend, mind take a break ?" a guard stopped him with a friendly face. Tang Ling sized him if he had any ulterior motives but didn't found one. Another good habit from the slums.

"Sure."Tang Ling accepted the invitation and followed him in the camps.

He followed him in a house, presumably the guardhouse. The guard introduced himself as Bu Fan and for a few minutes, they exchanged pleasantries and Tang Ling listened to the guard's story.

Bu Fang was a villager who was enrolled to be a guard in this camp for 30 coppers a day. In these times, he would only train and stop villagers to pay a toll of one copper to the Pass. But now, many beasts were appearing in the surroundings while it is not seen, it could destroy the camp or at least suffer a lot of casualties in the future. So he got to the point :

"Traveller, if you have the time, can you kill some monsters to relieve our burden, if you also can, find the origin of these monsters attacks. Don't worry, our captain is very generous."

[<Ding! Mission: Red Pass Beasts Rampage activated. Do you wish to accept ?>]

[Red Pass Beasts Rampage. Difficulty: Medium-Hard

Beasts are attacking the Red Pass Camp! It is very dangerous for both villagers and guards and can potentially affect the economy of the Town. Kill the beasts or find the reason for the beast's raids, the captain will give rich rewards.

-Kill 50 Beasts (0/50)

Optional: Find the reason for the raid OR eliminate/fix it

Failure: Killed before submitting the quest.

Rewards: 5000 +EXP, gain Bu Fang favorability, reputation in the Red Pass and Red Town, ???]

Tang Ling looked at the rewards and the conditions, it was very good so he accepted.

"Rest assured, young soldier Bu Fang. I will kill the beasts and if I can, find the origin of these beasts raids !"

Bu Fang looked at him; it was clear that he was ecstatic. The quest that the leader handed would be completed. He didn't have any expectations for this one to find the origin but he still relied on him to do less work.

Tang Ling sighed, he was somehow worried about this guy but the quest was accepted so he couldn't change anything about it. Tang Ling stood up and said: "Well, it's time to complete your request. I gonna see if they're something I can take in the Red Pass Market" to Bu Fang and left the stone house.

---

The Red Pass Market was a live market that was available to everyone but was more axed to deliver military stuff. The merchants knew that the Red Pass was a militia camp so they used this fact to sell everything a soldier would need in case of battle.

Weapons, armors, consumables, etc. Everything could be seen in the Market. Tang Ling knew that these items were always more expensive than their city's counterparts but still bought things. The trip to Red Reminiscence was long and he could still afford some extra charge right?

Tang Ling bought a few potions and better boots, gloves, and a spear.

[Potion of Small Recovery (Common) *10: Restore 50HP instantly, the cooldown of 20 seconds. Recommended for LV1-10]

[Red Fire Boots (Common) LV 10

+10 Defense

A common militia boot that is used by guards of the Red Reminiscence Town. It is has a very striking style]

[Blade Resistance Glove (Common) LV: 10

A mass-produced glove from the well-known family of blacksmiths. It can deflect or minimize damage from an attack by 50 damages. Easy to wear and comfortable.]

Potions were similar to bandages but bandages healed over time and potions recover immediately. So the potions are more valued as it could solve many dangerous situations, the downside of it (explained by Apothecary Huang and his Father) was it couldn't be drunk so often as it contained toxins and it was hard to expel them. They also have a different cooldown so using bandages and potions was a good combination.

[Infantry High Spear (Common): LV 10

+20-30 damage

An infantry spear that is used in wars. It has a long length and weight of about 1kg. It is made of processed iron and common wood. It at least is a better quality of a poor soldier.]

The Spear itself was pretty trash compared to his sword but he still bought it. Baiji-Quan was centered on the spear, it was compatible with the sword but the spear was still the best. He was pretty curious about how he would fare with this weapon; it could be used as an emergency weapon?

Tang Ling was pretty happy for these items, it cost 10 silvers; taking a huge blow to his wallet but it increased his survivability and battle prowess. He then headed off the Red Pass to hunt the beasts.

....

Just after a few minutes, Tang Ling saw a beast walking over him. The beast was a lion-headed animal that also had a green tail; possibly poison. The beast's eyes were red like it was berserk.

Tang Ling readied his usual stance and struck first. The element of surprise was always a leading factor for war and battle alike.

The lion-headed beast was surprised; shouldn't this human tremble and try to defend or run away so that he would chase him like a cat? How could he attack him?

Surprise gave a breath of time to Tang Ling to close and began to slash the beast with his sword.

The continuous burst of power was terrifying, the lion-headed couldn't even make a single move before being finished by Tang Ling.

[Lion-Headed Mush LV 14 killed +100 EXP]

Now he knew how difficult how EXP gained. He was extremely lucky to have encountered the weak Chaos Rabbit that gave him 5000 EXP... To gain 5000, he needed to kill 50 Lion-Headed Mush and he could not always use the same surprise tactic.

The other kills were the same, same old tactic, just some more difficult than others...

After the 47th kill, Tang Ling saw a cave. The cave had an eerie feeling and was very dark. It reeked of danger, his senses told him.