Chapter 51: The Special Daily Quest Refreshed on the Ghost Festival

Shen He followed Lin San and the others out of the villa, and saw the Tank 700 he had driven here himself. The scratch marks on the hood were still clearly visible. It hurt—oh, it hurt so much! The car was brand new, and now it was reduced to such a state. It really suffered a grievance following him.

Lin San seemed to have noticed as well. He cleared his throat and said, “Regarding the scratches, our bureau will compensate you later, but the maximum is three thousand yuan.”

Shen He responded with a quiet “mm,” then got into the car, taking Lin San and following the police car back to the station.

As soon as they entered the police station’s lobby, Shen He saw Shen Dali and the others squatting in front of the chairs, unpacking their delivered food. Judging by their demeanor, they had been released for some time. The facts had been clarified: they hadn’t succeeded in joining Shen San’s gang yet, and Shen San’s previous crimes had nothing to do with them. Now, they remained only to wait for Shen He. The others wanted to thank him, while Shen Dali simply waited for Shen He so they could leave together later. Since they hadn’t eaten earlier and didn’t want to have instant noodles at the station, they had no choice but to order takeout.

Seeing Shen He walk into the station, Shen Dali hurriedly waved, “Brother Shen, come eat with us! We just ordered takeout—it smells amazing.”

Shen He glanced at the food he’d unpacked. It was in a classic, trendy takeout box; Shen Dali held an unfamiliar little sweet drink and was sipping at it. At his right hand was a freshly opened black digestive drink spoon and a pair of special chopsticks. He also had a grilled sausage, which he munched on as he spoke: “This takeout’s cheap and delicious. If you bookmark the shop, they give you a free sausage. Too bad there’s no dine-in, or I’d try it tomorrow.”

As he spoke, he put down the sweet drink and started fiddling on his phone with a cashback review card. Typing as he muttered, “This is a shop ruined by XX, but it’s affordable, clean and hygienic, tasty, and worth eating more…”

Listening to Shen Dali’s muttering, Shen He was momentarily stunned. How did he stack so many buffs just for takeout? Could he really be a genius?

After a brief silence, Shen He finally said, “In the future, don’t order from shops that don’t allow dine-in and have such odd names. I’m afraid you’ll end up eating a periodic table.”

“Periodic table?” Shen Dali paused, then swallowed the sausage whole and asked, “What’s that? Is it tasty?”

Shen He sighed deeply and patted Shen Dali’s shoulder helplessly. He nodded at the villagers who thanked him, then went over to fill out the form Lin San handed him, a temporary worker’s post-task document.

Apart from the hundred thousand for catching the criminals, there was three thousand for the car damage. After filling in the reason and bank account number, not even three minutes passed before a text arrived on Shen He’s phone.

“Ding-dong!”

“Your account 9641 received a deposit of 103,000 Da Xia coins on July 14th. Available balance: 2,439,689 yuan.”

“Note: Police bureau task reward issued.”

Shen He glanced at his phone and nodded toward Lin San. “The money’s arrived. That was quick.”

Lin San laughed. “New regulations. The higher-ups said everything must give way to the new rules if necessary.”

“Thanks to you today. Otherwise, we might not have caught those two.”

Shen He asked, “Captain Lin, if you don’t mind me asking, what did those two do to warrant so many officers?”

Lin San leaned in, speaking mysteriously, “They stole key materials from a national research project.”

Shen He’s eyes narrowed at the news. It seemed the value of those mutated beasts was higher than he’d imagined. His previous cooperation with the Southern Division might have been a loss. Next time, he’d definitely raise his price.

After greeting Lin San and the others, Shen He drove the villagers who worked in the county to their rented rooms. Then, with Shen Dali, he continued deeper into the county.

Shen Dali yawned from the passenger seat. “Brother Shen, why don’t we go home tonight? Didn’t get anything good to eat, got ourselves in trouble, and my first trip to the station ended here.”

Shen He replied, “No rush. We’re already here; leaving tomorrow is fine.”

Soon, he stopped in front of a nearby foot spa. Shen Dali stared at it, wide-eyed and stuttering, “Brother Shen, what are we doing here?”

Shen He patted his shoulder. “Let my wallet suffer for a bit, and you take the blame. Your reputation’s already spread through the village—you may as well make it count.”

Shen Dali grew serious. “Makes sense.”

…

The next morning, at seven o’clock, Shen He sat up from the foot spa’s bed, habitually yawned, then summoned his system panel to check his tasks. Daily Task Two was unchanged, except the deadline was a day shorter. After returning to the village today, he’d have to wander around, hoping “ancestral blessing” would lead him to the mutated beast threatening the village.

But the newly refreshed Daily Task One caught his eye:

[Daily Task One: The Festival of Spirits is here—time to burn offerings!]

[Though disasters have lasted two years, longing for the ancestors only grows. Go home and burn paper offerings for your forebears!]

[Task Reward: Ancestors’ Guidance]

(Ancestors’ Guidance: Rare Skill)

(Refreshed daily. According to your wishes, activating this skill will send a wisp of smoke to guide your way.)

(Note: Ancestors are not immortals. Don’t expect miracles.)

Shen He looked at the task, and the words “rare skill” delighted him. But his mood soon dropped. Today was the Festival of Spirits, and he was in a foot spa—that was truly shameful! His ancestors had never enjoyed such luxuries; it was an outrageous filial piety.

[Survival Guide: You have once again violated Survival Guide rules. Today’s luck does not guarantee tomorrow’s. Be more careful, Seagull!]

Ignoring the Survival Guide’s warning, Shen He took a deep breath and allocated the three free attribute points he earned from yesterday’s snake hunt to “Strength.” He felt a peculiar sensation in his body. Perhaps his physical qualities were strong enough now, so the feeling wasn’t intense. In just half a minute, it faded completely.

He checked his panel:

[Player: Shen He]

[Strength: 10.2]

[Stamina: 10]

[Agility: 10.1]

[Mental: 8.2]

[Free attribute points: 0]

[Skill attribute points: 0]

(Evaluation: Three attributes have reached Tier One standards. You are already a “Pre-Evolved Grandmaster,” not much inferior to a Tier One rat.)

…

Good, now he needed only 1.8 more free attribute points to advance to Tier One! He wondered when he could become a “I Don’t Eat Beef” level expert.

Shen He stretched a bit, then went into the bathroom to wash up with disposable toiletries. Just as he opened the door, he saw Shen Dali emerge from the neighboring room, sporting two black eye circles and stumbling unsteadily.