The door of the Adventurers’ Guild in Ximu Town was pushed open, and a familiar scent rushed in.
Shi Hanfeng walked straight to the counter with Hans and Gelte.
Compared to when they set off three days ago, Hans and Gelte looked tired, but their backs were straighter, and there was a new confidence and sense of abundance in their eyes that hadn’t been there before.
After all, holding solid gold coin rewards in your hands feels completely different.
The Receptionist spotted them from afar, her eyes lighting up immediately. A passionate smile bloomed on her face, as if she was seeing saviors rather than just Adventurers returning from a mission.
“Mr. Rakshasa! Mr. Hans! Mr. Gelte! Welcome back!”
Her voice was crisp and pleasant, filled with genuine joy.
“Judging by your looks, the mission must have gone smoothly again, right?”
Nearby, a few idle Adventurers glanced over from their tables. Some recognized them as the freaks who took four Goblin requests in one go a few days ago, and they started whispering, their gazes mixed with mockery, disdain, and a hint of hard-to-detect jealousy.
“Mm, it’s done. Here’s the Voucher.”
Shi Hanfeng placed four small cloth bags filled with Goblin left ears on the counter.
The Receptionist didn’t even look at the bags, which still gave off faint blood and stench, but quickly began recording them, her smile growing brighter.
“Thank you! I’ll process your reward right away!”
She calculated swiftly, then took out two Gold Coins, pushing them toward Shi Hanfeng.
“The base reward for these four requests is four Silver Coins, but since no one took them for a long time, the Guild added a bit more. Four equals two Gold Coins.”
“Mr. Rakshasa, you’re amazing!”
She processed the paperwork while lowering her voice, her eyes sparkling.
“You don’t know how much you’ve helped me by clearing these backlogged requests! The Guild steward even praised me for my efficiency in handling backlog tasks!”
“Just taking what I needed.”
Shi Hanfeng smiled faintly, pocketing the Gold Coins.
To him, these two coins were just a small bonus from the monster hunt—he paid Hans and the others eight Gold Coins as wages alone. Without extra income, most people couldn’t afford this.
“Do you have any plans next?”
The Receptionist asked tentatively, her gaze full of anticipation.
“I have a few more Goblin clearing requests that I just sorted out and didn’t get a chance to register earlier…”
She blushed a little, as if embarrassed, and pulled a few slightly old parchment requests from under the counter like performing a magic trick.
Hans and Gelte exchanged glances, the corners of their mouths twitching.
Good grief, this Receptionist treats them like professional cleaners just to get rid of Goblin requests.
Shi Hanfeng glanced over the new requests—the area was still around Ximu Town. He nodded.
“Alright, I’ll take them all.”
“Great!”
The Receptionist almost cheered, quickly processing the requests, afraid he’d change his mind.
Under the increasingly complex stares of the surrounding Adventurers, Shi Hanfeng took the new Copy requests and left the Guild hall with his two temporary teammates.
“Mr. Rakshasa, did we take on too much?”
Hans couldn’t help but ask quietly as they left the Guild.
“We’ve been running for three days straight. Even if it wasn’t dangerous, it’s still exhausting. Shouldn’t we rest an extra day?”
Shi Hanfeng didn’t stop walking.
“Rest well tonight. Tomorrow morning, gather at the usual place.”
Resting?
Not a chance.
Sleeping tonight already counts as a holiday.
There were still two pieces of the Pope of the Pure Court set missing, and he didn’t want to waste any time.
Opportunities like this for farming weren’t available in every world.
Hans and Gelte exchanged glances and swallowed their words.
Alright, the financier decides. Anyway, they earned more in these days than in two months. Being a bit tired is fine.
The night passed quietly.
Shi Hanfeng rested well in a comfortable single room at the Oak Barrel Inn, checked his loot, set aside unused White Equipment and Green Equipment in his backpack for later, and adjusted his condition to the best.
At dawn, with mist still lingering, the three gathered and entered the Border Forest again.
For the next three days, they carried out their tasks like a precise and repetitive mission, following a new route and clearing out two more Goblin lairs.
The process became almost formulaic: search, confirm, infiltrate, the tank draws fire, he handles precise killing, search, claim the treasure chest for talent rewards, retreat.
The gains were stable as ever. Each lair provided a Wooden Treasure Chest containing five Gold Coins and some miscellaneous White or Green Equipment. Unfortunately, no more parts of the [Pope of the Pure Court] dropped.
Shi Hanfeng didn’t feel discouraged. After all, blue-quality set pieces were rare by nature.
As long as he kept farming, they would eventually drop. He even started enjoying the efficient and rewarding process.
The seventh lair was deeper in a more rugged, rocky mountain hollow.
The entrance was more concealed, covered by dense vines and rocks, and more bones lay scattered nearby compared to previous lairs.
“This place feels different.”
Hans gripped his shield, his experience sparking a trace of alertness.
“Be careful.”
Shi Hanfeng also frowned slightly.
His senses told him the danger in this cave was stronger than before.
Hans and Gelte took the lead, with Shi Hanfeng following with a torch.
After taking out two waves of ordinary Goblins, they finally reached the lair’s core.
It was a cavern larger than any before.
The moment they entered, a deep roar, unlike that of a normal Goblin, echoed from the shadows.
A tall, muscular figure charged out.
Its skin was a darker green, two heads taller than Hans, muscles bulging, wielding a huge wooden club stained with dark red filth.
A Big Goblin!
Shi Hanfeng’s eyes sharpened.
Finally appeared?
He’d had doubts all this time—weren’t special Goblins common in the original story?
Why hadn’t he encountered any until now?
Was he just lucky, or was the original Beginner Village party just that unlucky?
Logically, that party’s lineup was luxurious: warriors, mages, healers—the mage was an excellent graduate, the cleric a prodigy favored by the goddess, the martial artist weak in strength but skilled.
Even Silver Rank Adventurers would struggle against them.
Yet they died on their first mission to a ‘Beginner Village Hell Difficulty’ Copy with a Big Goblin and even a Saman, due to mistakes and underestimation.
By contrast, Shi Hanfeng only encountered his first Big Goblin after clearing seven lairs—it felt like the Goblins were hiding from him.
“Hold the line!”
Shi Hanfeng remained calm.
He barely needed to speak; Hans and Gelte were already roaring and raising their shields!
“Bang!!”
The heavy club slammed into the two small round shields side by side, creating a deafening crash!
Hans and Gelte trembled, sliding half a step back, their faces flushing red under their helms.
Such strength!
But that was all!
After working together so many times, their teamwork was perfect.
The Big Goblin’s brute force was firmly stopped by both.
It was tough, but their formation held.
“Hey, big guy, you’re pretty strong!”
Hans even had energy to taunt from behind his visor, trying to provoke the enemy.
At the same time, four or five ordinary Goblins leaped from the shadows, screaming and attacking from both sides.
But Hans and Gelte didn’t panic—they’d seen enough foolish enemies before.
Just as they expected, a figure slipped out from the side of their shield wall.
The Wufeng Sword in his hand became a shadow of death.
The throats of the two foremost Goblins were pierced in an instant, and they fell silently.
Shi Hanfeng twisted to dodge a rusted short blade, then flipped his wrist, using the Wufeng Sword like a heavy hammer to smash a third Goblin’s skull.
The fourth Goblin turned to flee in terror, but Shi Hanfeng caught up in a step, stabbing it through the back and pinning it to the ground.
The last Goblin archer had just drawn its shortbow when Shi Hanfeng’s left hand flicked a dagger, sending it into the Goblin’s eye like a streak of black light.
He was turning daggers into throwing weapons at this point.
In the blink of an eye, all ordinary Goblins were wiped out.
The whole sequence was so smooth it took less time than Hans and Gelte blocking the Big Goblin’s first strike.
By then, the Big Goblin was only just raising its club for a second swing.
Shi Hanfeng didn’t pause. Finishing off the small fry, he lunged forward, aiming straight at the Big Goblin.
The Big Goblin sensed danger, abandoned its attack on Hans and Gelte, and roared, twisting to swing its club at Shi Hanfeng.
But its movements, under Shi Hanfeng’s enhanced senses and combat experience, seemed slow and clumsy.
A swift, low slide brought him under the whistling club.
He swept into the Big Goblin’s range like a gust of wind.
The next moment, the cold Wufeng Sword pierced upward from beneath the Big Goblin’s jaw with precision.
“Pu-shi—”
The heavy blade sank deep, the tip protruding slightly from the back of the head.
The Big Goblin’s huge body froze, club halting mid-air, its roar dying instantly.
Shi Hanfeng twisted the sword and yanked it out.
Dark green blood mixed with white matter sprayed out.
The Big Goblin’s eyes dimmed, its massive body swaying before collapsing to the ground in a cloud of dust.
Silence returned.
From the Big Goblin’s appearance to the complete elimination of the Goblins, the whole process took less than two minutes.
Hans and Gelte still held their shields up, looking at the fallen Big Goblin, then at Shi Hanfeng calmly flicking filth off his sword.
They were speechless.
I knew you were strong, but wasn’t that a bit too clean?
Doesn’t that make us look useless? We only held out for one hit.
Shi Hanfeng ignored their gazes. His attention was caught by a prompt in his vision.
[Killed Big Goblin ×1]
[Killed Goblin ×5]
[Obtained: Silver Coin ×11]
[Obtained: Excellent Beast Meat ×2]
[Obtained: Chainmail Shirt (Green) ×1]
Mutant Goblins really were different—better rewards, more Silver Coins, and even higher-quality loot. It was just too rare to encounter them.
Even more interesting was the treasure chest prompt that appeared next.
[Xianzhou … … Overwhelming Victory!]
[A perfect win!]
[Obtained: Black Iron Chest ×1 (Open to receive random Green~Blue quality items)]
A Black Iron Chest!
The maximum quality was still blue, but the minimum was green, meaning the base rewards were better.
So, encountering a Big Goblin wasn’t a bad thing—at least the rewards were rich.
He examined the Black Iron Chest carefully, deciding not to open it yet.
“Search the area and see if there’s anything else.”
Shi Hanfeng ordered, sweeping his gaze around the spacious cavern.
Hans and Gelte lowered their shields and began searching cautiously.
Apart from the pile of unpleasant campfire bones, there were a few nests made of filthy fur and withered grass.
“Mr. Rakshasa!”
Soon, Gelte called from a corner, voice tinged with unease.
“There are survivors here!”
Shi Hanfeng and Hans hurried over.
In a relatively clean corner, two figures were curled up, their hands and feet bound by rough vines.
They were women, almost naked, bodies covered in filth, their skin marked by bruises and wounds.
Their eyes were hollow and numb, like soulless dolls.
Even as the torchlight approached, they barely reacted, only shivering instinctively.
Scattered around them were fragments of broken equipment.
Clearly, they were Adventurers who had arrived before them.
Hans spat, cursing quietly.
“These damned bastards!”
He stepped forward, carefully cutting the ropes with a dagger.
Freed, the two female Adventurers didn’t react, only curling up tighter.
Shi Hanfeng watched them in silence.
After clearing several Goblin lairs and understanding this world, he was prepared for such scenes.
Compared to the previous lair where only a hunter’s bones remained, perhaps these two were luckier.
At least they were alive and could be rescued.
They’d seen Goblin young in the nests, but never their ‘mothers’…
The fate of such people was self-evident.
“Can you walk?”
Shi Hanfeng’s voice softened.
There was no response—their eyes remained empty.
Hans and Gelte exchanged glances and sighed, understanding their condition.
“Mr. Rakshasa, they must have been too badly abused—their spirits have collapsed.”
Hans said quietly.
“We have to take them back.”
Shi Hanfeng nodded.
He knelt down, extending his right hand. A gentle emerald light glowed in his palm.
[Wish of the White Flower]
Bruises and wounds on their bodies began to heal and fade at a speed visible to the naked eye.
But the deep fear and numbness in their eyes remained unchanged.
Physical wounds could be healed; wounds of the heart were harder to erase.
“Take them. Let’s leave.”
Hans and Gelte nodded, carefully lifting the two who couldn’t walk.
This world needs a Goblin Slayer.
If that person can’t be found, then why can’t it be me?