"Buying a house? You've struck it rich?"
Xiao Yan stared at Su Fan in disbelief. He couldn't even afford to eat a few days ago, and now he had money to buy a house? Had he been pretending to be poor in front of me all along?
"Stop the nonsense. You know Tianlong City well, take me to see if there are any suitable residences. It doesn't have to be fancy, just a few rooms will do."
Su Fan just wanted a fixed place to sleep, making it convenient to enter and exit the game. It didn't need to be luxurious.
"Alright, leave it to me."
Xiao Yan solemnly promised Su Fan.
Led by Xiao Yan, the three of them arrived at an alley.
"Here, the houses here aren't big, but they're enough for you alone, and the location is good."
Xiao Yan pointed to the buildings in the vicinity.
Su Fan nodded. As Xiao Yan said, this area was located in the southern part of Tianlong City's center, and the location was indeed good.
Su Fan looked at several courtyards for sale and finally found a suitable one.
This courtyard was a bit deeper into the alley. It wasn't large, with three guest rooms, one master bedroom, and a complete living room, study, and kitchen. There was also a small pond and a pavilion in the backyard.
Su Fan was very satisfied with this courtyard.
"How much?"
Su Fan asked the owner.
"I was originally asking for a hundred thousand taels, but I need cash urgently, so it's a fixed price of eighty thousand taels."
The owner gritted his teeth and slashed the price himself, from a hundred thousand taels down to eighty thousand.
Su Fan hadn't expected it to be so expensive, eighty thousand taels! His gambling winnings weren't even that much. If he hadn't robbed Xu Fengnian's silver notes, he wouldn't have been able to afford it.
"It's fine, this price is very cheap for this courtyard."
Xiao Yan whispered in Su Fan's ear.
Having seen so many houses, Su Fan actually had a rough idea, and this price was indeed quite cheap.
"Okay."
Su Fan didn't hesitate. He took out eighty thousand taels in silver notes and handed them to the owner.
After confirming the money was valid, the owner handed the property deed to Su Fan. The courtyard now belonged to Su Fan.
"Wait here for me, I'll introduce a friend to you."
Su Fan remembered Qi Ling. It wouldn't be good for her to live alone in that kind of place, especially with her injuries. Now that Su Fan had a place, he wanted to bring her over. This place was much better than where she was.
This place was located in the south-central part of the city, not too far from Qi Ling's location. Su Fan quickly arrived there.
The area outside Qi Ling's room was a mess, with many messy footprints on the ground.
Su Fan's brow furrowed, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.
He quickened his pace and entered the thatched hut.
Inside the thatched hut, Qi Ling was propping herself up with a long spear. More than a dozen corpses lay on the ground.
Qi Ling panted and looked up to see Su Fan, then breathed a sigh of relief.
"What's going on?"
Su Fan asked Qi Ling in confusion.
Qi Ling replied to Su Fan using sign language: "I've been discovered. This place isn't safe, you should leave quickly."
Qi Ling didn't want to involve Su Fan and urged him to leave immediately.
"Come with me!"
Seeing this, Su Fan grabbed Qi Ling and was about to leave without further ado.
He had come to bring Qi Ling away from here, and this situation didn't conflict with his objective.
Qi Ling shook off Su Fan's hand.
"You go. I don't want to implicate you. Thank you for your care during this time."
Qi Ling intended to face it alone. Since she had been discovered, she decided to go directly for revenge and wouldn't wait any longer!
Su Fan turned back to look at Qi Ling.
"I don't object to you seeking revenge, but if you're just throwing your life away, it's meaningless. If you die, everything is over, but who will avenge your family?"
Su Fan said in a deep voice.
Qi Ling remained silent.
She knew that going for revenge now was a sure death, but she had no choice. She would die sooner or later, so she might as well die on the path of her target.
"I'll take you to a place now, it's much safer than here. You can consider revenge after your injuries have healed."
Seeing Qi Ling's silence, Su Fan continued.
Qi Ling remained silent. She felt she owed Su Fan too much and didn't want to trouble him further. If she implicated Su Fan, she would feel even more guilty.
Su Fan, without further ado, took Qi Ling's hand again. This time, Qi Ling didn't resist and let Su Fan pull her forward.
Qi Ling's current attire was very eye-catching. Su Fan simply put her long spear into his backpack and took out a robe to drape over her, concealing her appearance.
Su Fan brought Qi Ling back to the courtyard.
Xiao Yan and Long Die were surprised to see Qi Ling brought back by Su Fan.
Long Die, in particular, looked displeased as she saw Su Fan holding Qi Ling's hand.
"This is Qi Ling, whom I met at the Martial Arts Tournament. These are Xiao Yan and Long Die, my friends."
Su Fan introduced the three to each other.
Qi Ling extended her hand and greeted them using sign language.
Xiao Yan and Long Die looked at Su Fan in confusion.
"She says she's happy to meet you."
Xiao Yan and Long Die didn't understand sign language and didn't have a system translation like Su Fan, so Su Fan had to explain to them.
When Long Die discovered that Qi Ling couldn't speak, her slight displeasure vanished immediately.
"She'll be staying here for a while, please look after her."
Su Fan said to Xiao Yan and Long Die.
"Don't worry, Sister Qi Ling, right? Come, I'll show you to your guest room."
Long Die took Qi Ling's hand and led her towards the guest room to inspect it.
Su Fan smiled as he watched the three friends he had met in the game gather together.
"You're staying here too?"
Su Fan turned back and asked Xiao Yan.
"Of course. Staying at an inn costs money. Not staying in a free place is foolish!"
Xiao Yan rolled her eyes and then went to choose a room herself, lest the two of them pick all the good rooms.
Su Fan's main quest had been completed. The four martial arts tournament quests—preliminaries, qualifiers, semi-finals, and finals—had rewarded Su Fan with four Martial Essence Stones. Including the one won as champion, he had six left after using three.
Su Fan didn't plan to use them for now, and a new main quest had appeared.
[Main Quest: Stir up trouble, destabilize the situation in Tianlong City, and cause the major noble families to engage in open and secret struggles. Phase One: Assassinate the son of the Grand Commandant without revealing your identity. Reward: 50,000 experience points, 100 reputation.]
The reputation system had appeared. This was preparation for the Martial Arts Hegemony. Only by meeting the reputation requirement could one participate in the Martial Arts Hegemony, just like the Martial Arts Tournament, there was a threshold.
After settling Qi Ling, Su Fan returned to reality that evening. Today was the day he had promised to meet with the supervisory bureau and fulfill his commitment.
Su Fan drove to the Martial Alliance Building.
"How is it? Have they arrived?"
Su Fan asked Oriental Tingyin upon seeing her.
"Not yet. Are you nervous?"
Oriental Tingyin asked with a smile.
"Nervous my ass. I'm going to win, why would I be nervous?"
Su Fan was completely unfazed.
During this period, the registered martial artists of their Martial Alliance had already surpassed one hundred thousand. This number had long exceeded the total number of martial artists in the new city, with most of them being martial artists from other regions who came by reputation.
"They're here."
Security reported to the higher-ups via walkie-talkie.