This was true.
If the innkeeper had been telling the truth this whole time, then those kinds of thugs surely wouldn't hesitate to come and slit this man's throat when he didn't deliver. In fact, that kind of person might even do so if everything was delivered--who could know?
Li Chenyuan, however, was unimpressed.
"Serves you right," He muttered, helping Qiu Yunru out the door. "Agreeing to that kind of thing--if you're so scared, go and get the authorities!"
"The local officers can't do anything against people like that!" The innkeeper pleaded, still holding Qiu Yunru's robes tight enough to nearly tear them. What a strong grip! "You're cultivators. You can fight them off. Please, please! Have mercy!"
Qiu Yunru sighed. "All right. We'll stay a bit longer today to make sure they don't come. But it will truly be better if we return and report this to our Shizun, so that he can send someone who might be able to keep an eye on you long-term. We are only disciples, and neither of us yet has a golden core."
"Neither of you...?" The innkeeper seemed even more terrified than before. "Then how can you call yourselves cultivators?!"
To keep Li Chenyuan from going into a rage at this ignorant comment, Qiu Yunru gently removed the innkeeper's hands from his robes and quickly brought Li Chenyuan out of the room.
"Don't waste time. Let's go and confirm with the other clients."
Together, they knocked on doors up and down the inn hallways, disgruntling many poor residents and even getting berated by a few. In the end, they found that what the innkeeper said seemed to have been true.
Everyone who had been here last night had seen those men: They came inside, sat around for a while terrifying everyone, then left without a word--now let me sleep, kid!
However, when they returned to their original room to find the innkeeper, they were met with a horrific sight:
There was the innkeeper, lying flat on the ground as though continuing to grovel to an invisible force. His limbs were scattered loosely like those of a paper doll's. Unlike before, he wasn't moving an inch.
No--instead, his entire lap was covered in thick, dark blood that pooled around his knees, already stained through his robes! The whole room was filled with a metallic stench, and yet there was no one else to be seen, even after Qiu Yunru checked behind the curtains and under the bed.
The assailant had come and gone like that without a sound!
When they pulled the innkeeper's face up, they found that his throat had been slit cleanly. The man's face was caught in an expression of fright, his eyes permanently blown wide and bloodshot, and his face splattered with his own blood.
Li Chenyuan dropped the man's head, disgusted. "How can you even be even uglier when you're dead? Psh."
Qiu Yunru was too preoccupied to scold his shidi. He rushed to the window, looking for any signs of an intruder.
Indeed, there were a few signs: a few loose roofing tiles and a smattering of blood on the windowsills had been left behind. However, that was all. There were no eyes looking back at him from the street, and no receding footsteps--only a few stall owners and merchants milling about, yawning as they began their days with the sunrise.
Stealthy, skilled, and owning such rare poisons--just who were these people? And what did they have to do with his shidi and himself?
Qiu Yunru checked his game menu quickly. Strangely, there was once again no quest marker or notification for this event.
Isn't this a plot-relevant occurrence...? I almost died! How can you not have a quest marker for this kind of thing?!
He wasn't left wondering for long, however. As though in response, in front of him, there buzzed into existence a small quest marker. It glitched and flickered, glowing a bright red.
ATTENTION: REQUIRED EXTREME DIFFICULTLY quest assigned: "Stop Them!". If failed, will result in tragedy. Please continue to work hard. Good luck!
...Excuse me...?
Being a required quest, the marker didn't even wait three seconds before bursting into a cloud of blinding confetti, automatically accepting itself into his game menu. Qiu Yunru blinked, feeling metaphorical blood bubbling in his throat. He could suddenly understand that phrase, "to see red".
Required...extreme difficulty...?
What the hell is this?!
Even with the already utterly nonsensical nature of this game menu, it had somehow managed to come up with something new and worse than ever before.
How could it shoot him with this 'EXTREME DIFFICULTY' level without even assigning him a normal 'Hard Level' quest first?! Excuse me, developers--what is this failure in gameplay progression?! 0 Stars! 0!
What's more...
Could it not be a little clearer for once?! If his life and his immortal aspirations were on the line, this two-word quest title was as much help as kicking him in the stomach and telling him to go and become a flying pig!
Clarify for me a little--who is 'them'?!?! How can 'they' be stopped?!?!?!?! What kind of 'tragedy'?!?!?! How much time do I have?!??!?!?!?!?!
Qiu Yunru truly looked like he was about to spit out a fountain of bright red blood.
"Qiu-ge...?" Li Chenyuan said hesitantly. "What is it...?"
Qiu Yunru gripped the windowsill and smiled weakly back. "It's nothing. I'm just not sure what to do here..."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Perhaps he should shift his life goals. Instead of aiming for the peaceful immortal life that but that this game was so obviously trying to prevent him from achieving, he should just try to this damn game AI instead!