This was William’s third visit to the Jade Healing Clinic, and he had settled into what he hoped would be the norm. The past two visits, this one included, weren’t as exciting as the first when Li Xinyue treated him to a meal. Still, it was just as helpful, in his opinion.

William religiously followed the three keywords, and that was paying off handsomely. Since Li Xinyue enjoyed reading, he had decided that it was now his favorite activity too. While he couldn’t bear to pretend to read books on alchemy, he was greatly interested in information about known herbs and fruits that had properties similar to a Dragonfruit.

Li Xinyue was more than happy to give him books on those subjects and was even more pleased when he devoured them gleefully. In William’s mind, reading an encyclopedia of spirit plants was far too similar to reading a novel. And that was something he considered himself a master of.

William looked outside and frowned when he saw that the sun was about to set. While he wanted to stay longer, Wang Xiaoling told him to meet her before dark.

“Sister Li, it’s time for me to leave. Thank you for letting me borrow the book.”

Li Xinyue looked up from the loose papers scattered across the counter and smiled kindly. “I only let you because I saw your interest in reading them, Wei Liang. Stay on the main streets while you’re walking back.”

“Yes, Sister Li,” William waved at her before exiting the clinic. He paused for a moment outside the clinic when he realized what Li Xinyue had added in the end. It looked like she was starting to go from tolerating him to worrying about his safety.

Good. William wouldn’t hesitate to admit that the first impression Li Xinyue made on him had been wiped from his mind, and he was starting to like her quite a bit.

As he restarted his walk back to the hotel with a smile and an extra hop in his step, a deluge of alerts appeared in his vision.

[COMPLETED | Visit Jade Healing Clinic 2-3 times a week (3 visits): +150 XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Change your impression on Li Xinyue: +200 XP]

[HIDDEN BONUS | Investigate the path of an alchemist: + 150 XP]

[Level Up! | 5 Stat points added]

William’s smile grew wider, making the few people in the street stare weirdly at him. He had hoped that completing the side quest would get him to the next level, but since he was pretty much in the dark about how many experience points he would get as a reward, it wasn’t a sure thing.

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 3

Experience: 275/375

Cultivation: N/A

Health: 25/25

Strength: 4

Stamina: 1

Agility: 1

Luck: 3

Points: 10

His eyes gleamed at how close he was to the next level. Even if he hadn’t discovered any other side quests, it was a sure thing for him to level up in a week. Besides, with how well the hidden bonuses rewarded him with experience points, it would make more sense if he spent the time figuring out how to trigger the next one.

Other than his excitement at how easy it was turning out to be to increase his level, the increased health helped to massively decrease his worries. It was ridiculous, but he quantified the worth of his upgrade in health by how many kicks he could take from Wang Xiaoling without passing from this world.

With twenty-five hit points available, he could take four unprotected kicks and still hang on by a thread.

“This is awesome,” William said to himself as he wiped the alerts from his vision.

“I wonder what the kid thinks is awesome. Do you have an idea, brother?”

William felt the hairs on his arm stand up as two people stepped out from an alley to block his path.

[Name: Zhang Biao | Level: 5]

[Name: Zhou Chao | Level: 3]

If this scenario didn’t make William tremble in fear, he would laugh at what was happening. Was this not the fodder that futilely threw themselves at the main character before getting stomped to the ground?

“I don’t have any coin!” William blurted out. He even emptied his pockets to show he wasn’t lying.

“Brother, this kid thinks we’re robbers.”

“Shame,” Zhang Biao shook his head theatrically, “And we were going to give him such a big opportunity.”

William tried to discreetly glance behind him while taking a small step back. If he made a run for it, he might be able to get to an area with more people around.

“Now, let’s not do anything stupid,” Zhou Chao clamped his hand on William’s shoulder to keep him in place, “We’re not going to hurt you, kid. We just want to know more about your pretty merchant friend.”

William was shocked, not because of what the bandit said but because of how weak the grip on his shoulder was. It looked like his Strength attribute was already showing it’s benefit.

“Hey!” Zhou Chao squeezed hard on William’s shoulder for looking distracted, “All you need to do is talk to us.”

William wasn’t an idiot to believe they would let him go if he talked. If they genuinely meant it, he might seriously consider doing so since Wang Xiaoling had Li Jie behind her as protection.

“What do you want to know?” William asked as he paid close attention to Zhang Biao. That one was who he was most concerned about. The man being at level five should mean that his stats outclassed William in every way.

“Good!” Zhang Biao clapped his hands, “We aren’t asking anything much. Just when she’s going to leave the city. And does she have an escort? You see, I’m the leader of a group of men that protects merchants on travels. I don’t want to embarrass myself by asking the lady only to get rejected.”

William wondered if this was the skill needed in acting to trick the children in this world. Or maybe he was being too harsh and had forgotten how stupid children were everywhere.

Still, he pretended like he was thinking of an answer. After a few seconds, he said, “I think she said we’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

“Really?” Zhang Biao moved closer, “And does she have an escort?”

William noticed that Zhou Chao increased the pressure on his shoulder, not that it did much of anything, and Zhang Biao had moved his hand into his pocket. It was likely they would be making a move depending on how he answered the question.

William didn’t want to do this, especially when the ones forcing him to take this step amounted to worthless fodder. But plans never worked out exactly as hoped, which definitely applied here.

He pulled the status screen to the corner of his vision and prepared to use the valuable points he had saved. If these idiots caused the effect of his soul damage to activate, he wouldn’t rest until they paid dearly for it.

“Why are you quiet all of a sudden? Do you not know?”

William saw a glint of metal inside Zhang Biao’s pocket, crushing all the hesitation left in him. It was useless to save up his points if he wasn’t alive to enjoy them.

Still, William wanted to ensure he didn’t risk more than he had to. With Zhang Biao at level five, he would put two points into Strength and two in Agility. Hopefully, that would make him stronger than the strongest bandit while being fast enough to land a hit. And if needed, another point could be put into Stamina if the fight lasted too long.

“I’m thinking,” William said to buy some time, “She was meeting with someone yesterday….”

[+1 Strength]

[RNG activated | Result: 178]

[+1 Strength]

[RNG activated | Result: 59]

[+1 Agility]

[RNG activated | Result: 656]

[+1 Agility]

[RNG activated | Result: 455]

William had assigned the points without looking at the result of the RNG due to the need for quickness. It was after it was over that he saw the second result, and his heart skipped a beat in fear. What he was terrified of almost happened.

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 3

Experience: 275/375

Cultivation: N/A

Health: 25/25

Strength: 6

Stamina: 1

Agility: 3

Luck: 3

Points: 6

William glanced at his status in satisfaction before erasing it from his vision. He would get away from this relatively unscathed if he caught them by surprise.

The one holding onto his shoulder had to be taken care of first.