After a whirlwind journey, Draco's group arrived at Longshan City in the late morning, just in time to meet up with Chang Long's group, who had hurried down Longshan Mountains since dawn. As they made their way to the rendezvous point, Oliang accidentally bumped into a young woman, causing her to stumble. The young man quickly caught her in his arms with deft precision.

"Sorry about that,"

Oliang said politely to the woman.

"It's alright..."

the woman replied softly, her cheeks turning a slight shade of red. She gave Oliang a sweet smile before walking away, not forgetting to drop a handkerchief as per the classic trope, under the envious eyes of his friends.

"Wow, Oliang, that was so cool!"

Kimhant was the first to approach Oliang, eyes sparkling with admiration. Oliang's calm and collected demeanor looked incredibly suave.

"Hehehe, it was an accident. Let's go, we don't want to keep Chang Long waiting,"

Oliang chuckled. He bent down to pick up the handkerchief, but before his hand could touch it, someone else's foot stepped on it first.

"Oh! Sorry. You said to hurry, so I rushed and didn't see it. Here! Just wash it, and it'll be good as new,"

Peach Blossom pretended to look remorseful, handing the silk handkerchief with her footprint in the middle to Oliang.

"No worries. I was just about to pick it up for you, Peach Blossom. Since it's in your hands now, take good care of it,"

Oliang replied with an amused smile. He stood up and walked away without the slightest interest in the handkerchief.

"Hehe, got her back!"

Lidded Wet Trash Can snickered quietly before following the others, who were also struggling to suppress their laughter.

Chang Long's group had not waited long before they saw Oliang heading their way. Siegfried waved to catch his friends' attention. Everyone's eyes focused on Chang Long, who was sitting on Kitsune's lap, while Chang Long's group stared at Kimhant, whose hair stuck out in all directions as if he had been hit by a storm.

"Take a seat. You probably haven't eaten anything yet, right?"

Siegfried invited his friends to sit down while the inn's waiter arranged tables and brought extra chairs. Draco had already stored Firetail in his ring, as most hotels and restaurants did not allow pets inside.

"Is that Master Chang?"

Peach Blossom asked uncertainly.

"Yes,"

Siegfried nodded.

"And these 3 are..."

Draco looked at the human form of Tai Yang, Jane, and Hero with curiosity.

"Oh, sorry. This is Jane, Hero, and Tai Yang, our new friends,"

Siegfried introduced his new friends to his group. Then Draco's group took turns introducing themselves to the newcomers.

"So, this quest... how do we go about finding human ginseng?"

Oliang asked, curious. He and Peach Blossom were now sitting far apart to avoid any silly arguments.

"In simple terms, the human ginseng of the Miracle Doctor ran away, and we have to help capture them and bring them back. Only then will he help lift the curse on Chang Long,"

Siegfried explained concisely.

"And do we know what they look like?"

Valentine asked.

"They look like children, but they're naughtier and more cunning than regular kids. They love causing trouble for the townspeople,"

Siegfried's answer made everyone nod in understanding, though they still looked worried. It would not be easy to catch every child in the city to check, and they might get chased away by angry parents.

"Don't worry, we have the Extracting Mirror that Brother Jie gave us, and we have Tai Yang with us too. Right, Tai Yang!"

Kitsune turned to ask Tai Yang, who responded with a tiger's "Roarrr", startling the tavern's customers.

"Hehe, Tai Yang, you're still not used to having a human form, are you!"

Hero laughed. Tai Yang shook his head, not wanting to say anything more.

"Alright, let's split into groups so we can quickly find the human ginseng. Chang Long can return to being our lovely sweetheart soon,"

Wet Trash Can rubbed his hands together and teased, making Chang Long laugh.

After dividing into groups, everyone started eating before going out to search for human ginseng. Oliang paired up with his best friend, Wet Trash Can. Draco paired with Peach Blossom, Hero with Jane, Kitsune with Tai Yang, and Valentine with Aden. Kimhant, the odd one out, was told by Chang Long to join her and Siegfried to help her out by being her legs and arms, as she was now in child form which was not very handy.

"Master's the only one who's kind to me!"

Kimhant said, feeling a bit dejected, as everyone seemed to look down on him for his lack of combat skills.

"You need to train harder if you want to keep up with Chang Long, Kimhant,"

Oliang said sternly.

"I'll do my best!"

Kimhant replied, taking a big bite of food, finding Chang Long's scolding scarier than anyone else.

After finishing their meal, it was time to hunt for the human ginseng. Everyone was full of energy, with a bet that whoever found and caught the human ginseng first would get to carry child Chang Long. After much debate during the meal, when everyone else had dispersed, Chang Long, being carried by Siegfried, turned to warn the two young men in her group.

"If you lose, you'll regret it!"

Each group had an Extracting Mirror from Kitsune, which they used to scan one child after another in Longshan City to reveal the true form of the human ginseng. They searched for nearly half a day without any clues. Although Hero and Jane had already carried Chang Long, they could not resist joining in the game with Draco's group. They used a bit of a cheating method to find the human ginseng by going up to a high building and using a rifle scope to scan the area, with the mirror reflecting the image for the other to see the true form of the human ginseng.

"If they find out we're using this method, they'll surely complain!"

Jane said, laughing.

"Hehe, you have to use whatever advantage you have. This is a competition!"

Hero smiled.

"Got something, Hero! Turn the scope back to eight o'clock!"

Jane quickly said when she saw the reflection of the human ginseng in Hero's scope.

"Those two messy-haired kids, Jane?"

Hero asked, peering through the scope at two shabby-looking kids, their hair tangled and messy like that of a beggar. They were laughing as they secretly sawed at a street vendor's table leg.

"I don't know, but I see two ginseng plants sawing at a street vendor's table leg,"

Jane replied.

"That's them for sure. Call the others so we can block their escape routes,"

Hero ordered, noting the target's coordinates before packing away the rifle.

After Jane sent the message to everyone, she and Hero quickly descended the building and headed to the bustling central market. Each group that received Jane's message headed there as well. Upon reaching the market square, they began searching for the two human ginsengs immediately.

"Found them!"

Jane whispered, reaching out quickly to grab the two ginseng children amidst the astonishment of the street vendor, who was watching them saw his table leg.

"Ahhh. Humans, run!"

One of the human ginseng shouted, shoving the table they were sawing over onto Jane and then running away.

"Ouch, you stupid ginseng! Hero, they're heading your way!"

Jane yelled, pushing the table off herself and chasing after the two ginseng children. Hero pulled a homemade net from his bag, aiming to catch both ginseng children at once.

"Ahhh!"

"Ouccch!"

Players screamed as Hero's net accidentally ensnared them instead of the ginseng children. The young sniper quickly fled, knowing he would get beaten if he stayed. Jane rolled her eyes and ran after her friend, who was chasing the ginseng children.

Draco and Peach Blossom rounded a corner, directly in front of Hero and Jane. Hero pointed towards the two messy-haired kids running towards them. Peach Blossom cast an ice spell, intending to freeze the mischievous ginseng children. However, due to the large number of people in the city and the fact that the ginseng was in child form, innocent players ended up being frozen instead.

As more people joined the chase, the chaos in the central market intensified. Wherever the ginseng children went, the sound of chaos followed. Goods from various stalls were scattered all over the ground, and players rushed to the Player Service Building to complain. However, the game's response was far from sympathetic.

"Due to damages caused by players completing a quest in the city, the game will only compensate for half of the damages."

Initially, everyone was happy about the compensation, but it turned out the system only distributed a small jar of blood crystals and mana crystals to each affected player. They also had to provide proof of the damage, making many players roll their eyes in frustration.

The game of tag continued with Chang Long's group unaware of the extent of the damage they had caused for other players. Finally, the two exhausted ginseng human, who had been running and wreaking havoc, were easily captured by Kitsune and Tai Yang.

Tai Yang put the struggling ginseng into a specially reinforced sack, tied the mouth, and secured it to their waist. Then they sat down, panting along with everyone else.

"Wow, the market is a mess,"

Wet Trash Can said wearily, looking around at the scattered goods. Some were still intact, while others were shattered beyond recognition.

"You must be the ones causing trouble in our territory..."

said a well-dressed male player in martial artist outfit, clearly of high status. Behind him stood a group of companions and other affected players. Everyone quickly popped two mana crystals into their mouths, seeing the hostile look in the players' eyes.

"No need to ask, Leader Ma. It's obvious it's them!"

One furious player said, with a footprint still visible on his cheek.

"Oops... that's my footprint,"

Valentine whispered to Aden.

"You need to compensate them. We, the Dark Horse Guild, the largest guild in Longshan City, don't ask for much—just 100 million coins!"

Chang Long's group widened their eyes when they heard the amount of damage. It was outrageously high, and the Dark Horse Guild was clearly trying to extort them. Although other players knew it was unfair, they did not dare object because the Dark Horse Guild was the largest guild in Longshan City and one of the largest on Aseana Island.

"Isn't that a bit too much? I've heard that the shops owned by professional merchant players are usually insured for property damage. And for the other players who are amateur merchants, I didn't see anything expensive enough to justify that amount!"

Siegfried stood up and spoke calmly.

"Who would leave valuable items lying around? Even if they were damaged, they'd keep the goods with them right away," said Ma, the leader of the first unit of the Dark Horse Guild in Longshan City, with a mocking smile.

"In that case, we shouldn't have to pay a hundred million coins!"

Hero retorted boldly, standing beside Siegfried, with the rest of the group joining them.

"You have no choice. If you cause trouble in our city, you must pay according to our rules!"

Ma shouted, not expecting anyone to dare challenge a large guild like the Dark Horse Guild.

"Your city? This is a game city for all players!"

Chang Long, who was being held by Kitsune, argued fiercely. She was starting to speak more clearly now that the Miracle Doctor Zhang Yijie had removed the baby mushroom's thorn.

"You little brat! Don't ask for an early death, shut up!"

Ma shouted, reaching out to hit Chang Long's head, but Kitsune easily caught his hand. Kitsune stared at him coldly, his voice filled with killing intent.

"Don't you dare touch my master!"

Ma hesitated, feeling the strength in Kitsune's grip. His wrist hurt and he could not easily pull away. He estimated that the orange-haired man in front of him must be at least level fifty.

Ma forcefully pulled his arm back, retreating to stand with his subordinates. He reassessed the group in front of him, realizing they were not ordinary players. His subordinates also sensed that this group must be highly skilled if their leader was backing down.

"Do you really think a handful of people can fight us all? It's better if you just pay the hundred million coins!"

Ma tried negotiating again, secretly signaling his men to call for reinforcements. Thinking that if they were to fight, they might not be able to win the fight.

"We are willing to pay what's fair, but if you're trying to extort us, then this conversation is over!"

Siegfried spoke firmly. Everyone stood behind him, showing their support without fear. Ma and his subordinates took a deep breath, surprised by their courage.

Ma seemed furious. He ordered his men to form a circle around Chang Long's group. Many of the aggrieved players withdrew, either because their levels were too low or they were not combat-oriented. Instead of trembling in fear, Chang Long's group smiled as if they were excited about a fun challenge.

"Release, Firetail!"

Draco called out, summoning his beloved pet from the ring to the astonishment of the surrounding players. Kitsune also granted Tai Yang's request to return to his full-sized tiger form for better combat.

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