novelraw Chapter 64: The Clown’s Missing Person Quest
Chapter 64: The Clown’s Missing Person Quest
[The clown stares at you in horror, pulling out a brass whistle and preparing to blow it, intending to summon the Three-Headed Lion.]
[What will you do?]
[1. Dash into the cage and slice the clown’s throat with your sharp appendage before it can react.]
[2. Flee the catacombs immediately before the whistle is blown and the Three-Headed Lion awakens.]
[3. Use a “Foul Dungstone” to knock the whistle from the clown’s hand and threaten to kill it if it makes a sound.]
The game text trembled violently, this was a time-limited decision.
Without time to overthink, Lin Xun decisively chose the third option.
[You throw the “Foul Dungstone,” striking the brass whistle from the clown’s hand. It clatters to the ground.]
[You squeeze through the gap between the iron bars and approach the terrified clown, pressing your sharp appendage to its neck.]
[Your crimson eyes radiate killing intent. One wrong move and you will end its life without hesitation.][The clown trembles all over, begging for mercy, and hands you the fallen brass whistle.]
[You have obtained the “Brass Whistle” (Special Item)]
Huh? Could it be…?
Lin Xun sensed a possibility and eagerly opened his inventory to check.
[Brass Whistle – Corrupted Three-Headed Lion (Special Item): A small, finely-crafted whistle made of a special copper alloy, engraved with a cute three-headed lion. Use it to summon the creature “Corrupted Three-Headed Lion,” which can serve as both a mount and a battle companion. Blowing the whistle again will cancel the summon. If the creature dies, you must consume 1 point of soul strength to reshape it before it can be summoned again.]
[Only one summoned creature can exist at a time. If another creature is already summoned, using this item will call forth the “Corrupted Three-Headed Lion” and cancel the previous summon.]
[This item is currently sealed. Complete a related quest from a specific NPC to unseal it.]
Summon the Three-Headed Lion!
Lin Xun’s eyes widened as if he had just been struck by a heavenly windfall.
The Three-Headed Lion was clearly a powerful boss-tier creature, far beyond the Turkoman Bloodhorse in strength.
And it wasn’t just a mount, it could also fight independently, a versatile summoned beast.
Dozens of strategies ran through his mind. With three heads, unless it was some absurdly broken boss, it basically had three lives.
He could summon the lion to tank the boss while the Yellow-Robed Bishop stood safely behind, dealing constant damage.
And if he still couldn’t win, he could ride the lion and flee. That was the perfect balance of offense and defense.
But when he saw that the item was sealed and required a side quest to unseal…
Lin Xun sighed. So that’s why you shouldn’t randomly kill NPCs.
Even if the clown had dropped the whistle after dying, it would have remained a sealed piece of junk.
Suppressing his excitement, he looked back to the game text.
[The “Corrupted Circus Clown” pulls a tattered portrait from its clothing and hands it to you.]
[You have obtained “Portrait of the Blind Merchant” (Quest Item)]
[Upon reflecting, you come to a realization: if you can find the person in the portrait and bring them before the clown, it will unseal the “Brass Whistle” for you.]
???
Lin Xun slowly typed three question marks.
The Blind Merchant was likely already killed by the Dancer.
His eyes were gouged out, his clothes stripped away.
Where was he supposed to find the Blind Merchant to complete the quest?
“Would the corpse work?”
Back in the Blind Merchant’s Exchange, Lin Xun had searched thoroughly and only found some junk. He hadn’t discovered the merchant’s body.
But the clown never said whether it had to be alive. It only needed to be the Blind Merchant.
Which meant, if he could find the merchant’s corpse and bring it back, it should still count.
“Hm, that would make the quest flow make sense.”
He suddenly recalled the three-pronged path after the exchange. The middle path seemed to lead toward a cemetery on the outskirts of Saint Rance.
[Do you want to accept the quest from the “Corrupted Circus Clown”?]
With that thought in mind, Lin Xun pressed yes.
[The clown is thrilled that you accepted the quest and urges you to quickly locate the “Blind Merchant.”]
Lin Xun clicked to talk to the clown again, but no new dialogue appeared. The clown just kept urging him to find the person.
Seeing no further leads, Lin Xun exited the catacombs of the ancient theater.
He mounted his warhorse and rode full-speed to the Blind Merchant’s Exchange.
He searched the place again. This time, not even junk was left. He had already looted the area clean, let alone finding the merchant’s corpse.
Left with no choice, Lin Xun continued onward.
[Beneath the crimson sunlight, you ride through the ruined streets of the town. Soon, you come to a fork in the road with three paths: left, center, and right.]
[Where do you wish to go?]
[1. Left path: You shield your eyes and look ahead. There appears to be a deserted marketplace at the end, eerily silent, with dirty tarps stretched over wooden frames.]
[2. Center path: Following this road leads to the outskirts of Saint Rance. You recall that there may be a cemetery there.]
[3. Right path: You gaze into the distance and spot a large, squat, round building, the ancient theater of Saint Rance.]
Lin Xun suddenly thought: would the Dancer have buried the merchant in the cemetery?
More likely, the body was dumped somewhere nearby.
But still, the chances of finding the body in the cemetery were clearly higher than in the market.
He selected the second option.
[You gallop down the road on your warhorse…]
[Soon, you pass through the ruined city gates of Saint Rance. Beneath the collapsed metal drawbridge, sewage spreads everywhere, reeking of decay. The moat is about ten meters wide, and floating within it are numerous bloated, rotting corpses.]
[You peer into the distance. Amid the overgrown weeds, you faintly make out a cemetery surrounded by tall wooden fences.]
[Do you want to head toward the cemetery?]
Just as Lin Xun was about to press “Yes” and head to the cemetery.
He suddenly felt like he’d forgotten something.
After thinking for a moment, he slapped his thigh.
He opened his inventory and checked an item he hadn’t used yet.
[Subspecies Sea Dragon Pearl (Item): A pearl formed within subspecies dragon-type creatures. Though far inferior to a true Dragon Pearl, it possesses some unique effects. While carrying this item, you will gain the ability to breathe underwater and fight without restriction in aquatic environments.]
With this item, could he explore the moat?
There might be a chance that the merchant’s body was one of the corpses floating in the water.
He tried clicking on the Subspecies Sea Dragon Pearl.
[Clever Apostle, it seems you’ve discovered something…]
[Do you wish to dismount and dive into the filthy, foul-smelling moat of Saint Rance?]
Lin Xun grinned and pressed “Yes.”