novelraw Chapter 136: The Three Witches of the Snow Mountain
Chapter 136: The Three Witches of the Snow Mountain
"Exactly what are the abilities of the three Witches of the Snow Mountain?" Li Wei asked immediately.
"This, actually I don't quite understand either. Among these three Witches, the oldest is about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, a beautiful middle-aged woman. She smells very fragrant and wears a gray robe. When she smiles, she's like a flower. It seems she's called Luna something, and they say she's a noble from the Kakh Family."
"The other two Witches are her daughters. They both carry a natural, refreshing fragrance that gladdens the heart and mind. One is called Hathaway, and the other is called Mixi."
"Hathaway is very difficult to catch sight of. She wears a long white robe and resides on the Snow Mountain year-round. The one called Mixi wears a black robe and has two extremely huge mutated Blood Wolves as pets, as well as a giant raven. I suspect she's the one who was messing with me. As for the rest, I don't know."
"You didn't see the Three-Star Fallen Garrison Knight at the Snow Mountain Camp? The big guy who cut out your tongue?" Clyde asked at this time.
"Fallen Garrison Knight? No, that bandit camp on the big Snow Mountain is very harmonious and loving. At least, that's how it appears."
"Oh, Garrison Knights... it seems there really were a few. In that bandit camp, there are a few middle-aged men with dignified bearing and extraordinary conversational elegance. Although they weren't wearing armor, one of them seemed to be carrying a Three-Star Quality Knight's Sword. I even thought about stealing it at the time."
"Alright, that's all I know. Time's up, everyone; we'll meet again if fate allows."
Pete's ghost silently dispersed, and the surrounding gray fog also vanished with him.
Li Wei and the others looked at each other in dismay. The intelligence was already very clear and obvious.Especially Li Wei; he knew more inside information, so he was even more shocked.
Among the three Witches, that Luna was undoubtedly his biological aunt.
Her eldest daughter, Mixi, was his fiancée—oh, wait, she was the fiancée of the plot character, George.
The second daughter, Hathaway, was his sister-in-law.
Among them, Witch Luna should be the controller of the Plague. Although there was no evidence, that Three-Star Fallen Garrison Knight was absolutely created by Luna. So she could also be called the Plague Witch, Luna.
The eldest daughter Mixi could summon ravens and control Blood Wolves, so she should be called the Summoning Witch.
The youngest daughter Hathaway could definitely control ice and snow. That kind of crystal ball containing cold energy must have been crafted by her.
Very quickly, lines of information emerged in front of everyone once more.
[The current mission difficulty has changed to Three-Star! Because there is a danger of the Camp being breached at any time, the triggering of the Migration Wandering plot line will be routinely activated (opening preparations for training the next cycle of newcomers).]
[Friendly Reminder: All players have the opportunity to activate the Migration Wandering plot line, as long as the conditions are met. The specific details are as follows:]
[1. Players who joined midway are allowed to proactively seek new plots, including but not limited to splitting the family and striking out on their own. When any single player's family Contribution reaches five hundred points, and their plot identity or their plot partner is a blood relative of the Kakh Family, they can trigger the Family Split plot line. They can leave the current family Camp, continue heading north, and follow the main plot to Weir Province.]
[2. During this process, you can seek a better, safer settlement to build a new family Camp. The Headquarters will successively provide you with no fewer than three newcomers to join you. Although you will be forcibly subjected to Task Settlement (due to illness and death) after finding a new settlement, within the next ten months, you will still receive a 3% share of the total family Contribution of all the newcomers.]
[3. Mainline players are allowed to abandon the current Camp and continue heading to Weir Province to avoid the sharp edge of the Three Witches of the Snow Mountain. However, after finding a settlement and completing the task of guiding newcomers, they will still be forcibly subjected to Task Settlement (same as above).]
[4. Because the Three Witches of the Snow Mountain already possess methods to devour and fuse Profession Cards, for the personal safety of every player, the Ministry of Internal Affairs grants special permission: everyone will receive a free Settlement Card. After activating this Settlement Card, regardless of the time or place—unless instantly knocked unconscious—you will be able to immediately undergo Task Settlement and leave the mission world, avoiding being controlled by the Witches, where you can neither beg for life nor plead for death.]
[New Clearance Main Task Adjustments (before triggering the Migration Wandering plot line):]
[Task 1: Within the scope of the rules, accelerate the construction of the family Camp as much as possible, enhancing the family's comprehensive strength and risk-resistance fighting capabilities. During this process, the calculation standard for Plunder Points for all family members will increase by 10% compared to normal conditions. As long as the Head of Household has no obvious faults, they can earn an additional 5% Clearance Evaluation each month.]
[Task 2: Proactively launch attacks or adopt assassination methods as much as possible to weaken the faction of the Three Witches of the Snow Mountain. Relevant mission targets have been marked. Any blood relative of the Kakh Family can be killed at will. Success in killing them will yield double rewards, alongside gaining the corresponding Plunder Points.]
[Task 3: Block the retaliatory sieges or retaliatory assassinations of the Three Witches of the Snow Mountain as much as possible, delaying for time to gain an advantage for completely eradicating the Kakh Family bloodline subsequently.]
[Task Rewards: Settled based on the amount of completion.]
[The current family Camp is Level 4, with a total population of 8 people. Within twenty-four hours, three more powerful players will join the game. They are George's biological uncle: Three-Star Hunter John Kakh; George's mentor who taught him his trade: Knight Ron; and George's old love: Scholar Hathaway.]
——
After these messages disappeared, an item card that seemed halfway between illusion and reality floated in front of everyone. It was precisely that kind of Settlement Card that could settle the task and leave this world anytime, anywhere.
However, no one cared about this Settlement Card. Everyone was shocked, not to mention Li Wei, a newcomer elementary school student who had never been to the Headquarters.
Even Clyde, a Professional Player who was always stable, revealed an expression of surprise and disbelief.
Without a doubt, among the three newly arriving people this time, aside from one who was still taking on Old John's name and was a Three-Star Hunter, the Profession Cards of the remaining two were rare.
One was a Knight, and one was a Scholar. Good heavens!
This was off by an entire dimension.
The Headquarters actually had this kind of Profession Card?
If Farmer Cards, Hunter Cards, Woodcutter Cards, and Artisan Cards were at most A-rank or B-rank, then the former were absolutely S-rank, or even SS-rank.
Furthermore, why didn't it display how many stars they had? Was it because they were too strong and it was inappropriate to display it?
Also, why George's old love? Shouldn't Hathaway be his sister-in-law?
It felt like the system knew how to play too well.
Calming his mind, Li Wei looked at the crowd. Finally, his gaze lingered on Leon, who was somewhat expectant, but mostly apprehensive.
The family meeting officially began.
"Everyone, this month we lost three beloved family members and friends. We've all seen the terror of the Witches and the ferocity of the robbers. And going forward, they are bound to make a comeback. If we don't make preparations, I'm afraid we will usher in a devastating disaster."
Li Wei first started with a sentence that seemed like nonsense, but was actually very important to the plot. This was the baseline; the family's main tasks had to unfold based on this.
"Right now, we already have abundant food; we no longer need to worry about starving to death!"
"We have enough Table Salt to make delicious food and keep our bodies healthy."
"We discovered and mined iron ore. We have a Steel Furnace, and have stored thousands of catties of steel ingots. This allows us to unhurriedly forge better weapons and armor."
"We have a City Wall, Arrow Towers, a city gate, and trenches. This gives us a greater advantage when facing enemies. However, our disadvantage is also very obvious: we lack enough manpower. Now, it is time for us to seek out and summon those Squires who, at this very moment, still remain loyal to our Kakh Family!"
"And this requires us to first build a Tavern!"
Speaking up to here, Li Wei paused. Actually, he also found it quite eerie. To search for Squires by building a Tavern in the deep mountains and old forests—compared to the consistent rules, it inevitably seemed a bit incongruous. But it was harmless. That great Six-Star Lord of theirs must have made some sort of deal with the gods of this world. Since that was the case, why fixate on such minor details?
"Leon, you are an outstanding Mason. What do you think is required to build a Tavern?"
"Reporting to the Lord, we need Two-Star Quality stone quarries and One-Star Quality logs. Next month, I will personally lead people to find and mine a stone quarry. If everything goes smoothly, the Tavern can be built by the end of next month."
"Excellent. You will be responsible for this matter then. You can handle the relevant details yourself. But if you go alone, it will inevitably be unsafe. Uncle John is an outstanding Hunter; let him accompany you." Li Wei's sentence held great significance. It was equivalent to giving Leon complete authority in this domain, and also forcefully drafting a newly arrived seasoned veteran to serve as coolie labor.
And the brilliance of this matter lay in the fact that, even if this newly arrived Uncle John held a Three-Star 'Deceive Superiors and Hide from Subordinates' Card, he would have no place to use it because he had already missed the time for the family meeting.
Unless he could get the Head of Household to issue a new task, or miraculously maneuver through various lobbying efforts to get the entire family to vote in agreement collectively.
These were the only two possibilities.
"Yes, Lord!" Leon even changed his form of address.
At this time, Li Wei looked towards Clyde. This time, there was no need to consult his opinion.
This was also the benefit brought about by Li Wei looking at the overall situation and adopting Clyde's advice over the past month.
Concentrating the power of the whole family just to support the full-capacity operation of the Steel Furnace resulted in successfully smelting 1,200 catties of steel ingots in just six days at the end of the month.
Enough to satisfy a full year's usage. Anyway, for the next six months, the Steel Furnace would never need to be fired up again.
This point was very important.
"Clyde, this month you will act as the blacksmith on duty. Your priority is to repair that Bloodthirsty Spear for me, and ensure that weapons sufficient for a ten-person squad are forged before the end of the month!"
"Yes, Lord!"
Clyde accepted the task very happily and easily. Previously, he had been the one strongly persuading Leon to surrender. Now it seemed the results were excellent. With the support of the Head of Household, the Title Task simply wasn't that difficult.
Of course, this was also because the threat brought by the Three Witches of the Snow Mountain forced the Head of Household to compromise. Under a different situation, there might not have been such an effect.
"Mother, you can rest a bit next month. You don't need to thresh or sun-dry wheat. So, I hope that if you have the time, you will still try to gather some more herbs. The Plague brought by the Snow Mountain Witches is our greatest threat."
Subsequently, Li Wei dismissed Fila with a few words. Continuing as before, setting no upper limits and no standards. You can be lazy and say 'I'm tired today and want to rest', that's fine, but you can't do private work on the side.
(End of this chapter)