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Chapter 2: Kidnap a Wife
As the sun moved further toward the west, the local scenery started becoming dyed with a scarlet hue.
A procession came from the south, slowly moving northward following the mountain trail. There were about 10-20 people there, with an exquisite carriage being protected in the center of the formation. There were armed soldiers keeping guard at the front and back of the carriage, and at the front of the formation walked two large horses side by side.
“Sir Lin, we’re escorting the fiancĂ©e of the city lord’s son this time. Black Bull Mountain is known for its many bandits, so we need to be extra careful here.” Huang Sanyuan spoke as he rode on.
“Mountain bandits
” Lin Shaoyu couldn’t help but laugh, “It’s one thing if they don’t come, but if they do dare to show up, I’ll be showing them the might of my iron spear. After peacefully the whole way so far, this spear of mine is already starting to feel lonely.”
“We’ve really been counting on Sir Lin’s protection this whole way. That said, this trip is for escorting the young miss of the Su family to Blackstone city for her marriage with the young lord. It’s very important, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Huan Sanyuan spoke.
“Mr. Huang is being too cautious here. We’re acting on behalf of the city lord here. Who would dare to rob us? Someone tired of living? Haha.” A soldier on foot laughed.
Xu Shenji and Cheng Dalei were currently hiding in the bushes. Xu Shenji spoke up, “Young master, er, no, boss. It’s already getting dark, so it’s unlikely that anyone will pass by. Let’s go back already.”
“Wait.” Cheng Dalei was chewing on a sprig of grass. The system required him to finish the task of his first robbery before sunset, so he has to do just that. The system didn’t actually spell it out, but who knows what the punishment for failure might be.
Clop, clop, clop

The sound of horses came from afar, and Cheng Dalei’s eyes flashed, “They’re here.”
“They are indeed here, but the numbers
” Xu Shenji showed a bitter expression. He counted them up one by one, and the other side, including the carriage driver, totaled 13 people. Plus, all of them were soldiers in leather armor, “Boss, lets retreat. Don’t be rash. Please don’t be rash here.”
“I understand your thoughts very well.” Cheng Dalei got up on the horse, “But I’m willing to die at your side.”
“But I’m not though.” Xu Shenji muttered quietly. He looked at the procession coming closer and closer with his heart pounding in his chest. Finally, he suddenly grit his teeth, pulled out the short blade he had on him, and stabbed at the horse’s butt.
The horse dashed off in pain and charged toward the carriage like a tempest.
“Oy! The one robbing you is the Toad King of the Toad Peak’s Toad bandits! Run if you don’t want to die!”
Xu Shenji might be old, but his voice was clear and loud. His shout echoed across the area, startling birds into flight. Plus, not only was his voice loud, his legs were fast as well. The moment he was done with his shouting, he turned about and fled.
“Sorry young master. I still have a daughter I need to take care of. I’ll burn some papers for you later.” (T/N: Traditional way of honoring the dead includes burning incense and paper coins)
Cheng Dalei hurriedly tried to control the rampaging horse while giving Xu Shenji the middle finger in his mind. It’s one thing to sell me out like that, but what’s with the [Toad King]? That title’s seriously no good.
By the time he finally regained control over the horse, he was already right before the escort group. All the soldiers drew their blades, pointing it at him with a confused expression.
“J-just you by yourself?” Huang Sanyuan spoke disbelieving.
Looking at all the naked blades before him, Cheng Dalei felt like it wouldn’t be all that bad to be killed by the system instead.
“This is a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I’m actually not the Toad King here.” Cheng Dalei took a deep breath before suddenly shouting, “I’m the Handsome Scholar Xu Shenji. If you don’t want to die, then pay the tolls!”
Huang Sanyuan had finally finished digesting the unbelievable information before him. There’s only a single bandit here, and he’s trying to rob their entire company.
“Do you know who we are young man? Living’s hard you know, so don’t go courting death now.” Huan Sanyuan spoke solemnly.
The soldiers around them just laughed though, their swords clattering against their sheaths.
At this moment, a head popped out of the carriage. The person had a beautiful round face with delicate skin, and big eyes. Said person didn’t laugh or get scared at the sight of Cheng Dalei either. She just stared at him with those big eyes of hers.
Cheng Dalei’s heart trembled. He never imagined that such a beautiful woman could exist in the world.
Beep. Hidden quest triggered [Kidnap a Wife]
Beep. Quest difficulty exceeds your current abilities. You may decline the quest.
Cheng Dalei shook for a moment. He knew that hidden quests are normally really hard to trigger, and they tend to be very difficult too. However, if completed, their rewards tended to be great as well.
Fuck it, if he succeeds, he’ll get a wedding night, and if he failed, he’ll lose his head. If he didn’t have at least that much guts, then how’s he even supposed to live as a bandit? He’s taking this quest.
“Everyone, stop laughing, stop laughing now.” Lin Shaoyu managed to stop his own laughter with great difficulty, “It’s a rare criminal after so long here, so don’t go scaring him away now. I’m calling dibs here. This criminal’s mine. No one else is to interfere.”
“We’ve been hearing of Sir Lin’s skills all this way. Now we finally have a chance to witness it for ourselves.”
“Be careful Sir Lin. Don’t just kill him right away now. If you do, we wouldn’t have anything to watch after all.”
Lin Shaoyu rode his horse forward with a spear in his hands, “Bandit, I’ll let you live if you can survive three moves from me.”
Cheng Dalei focused on Lin Shaoyu. Lin Shwoyu’s information thus popped up in his mind.
Name: Lin Shaoyu (Normal wandering hero who just left his hometown)
Skill: Wavebreaker spear
Hidden setting: A man with the dream of becoming a great hero
Based on Cheng Dalei’s many years of gaming experience, the ranks generally go from normal, skilled, elite, world class, and legendary
 Lin Shaoyu is the lowest [Normal] class. In that case, what is this level 1 hero acting so arrogant for? And here he thought that he might have been someone super amazing.
“My axe creates no nameless ghost. Who are you? Report your name!” Cheng Dalei observed the surrounding situation. He made a plan as he stealthily moved his horse to shorten the distance between him and Lin Shaoyu.
“Lin Shaoyu of Guangling.” Lin Shaoyu got serious. Showing basic respect to one’s opponents is one of the basic requirements of a great hero, although then he realized that one generally didn’t have to show manners to the uninvited, so he asked, “Just who are you anyways? The Toad King or the Handsome Scholar?”
“Me huh
” Cheng Dalei looked at Lin Shaoyu acting all serious and scratched at his head, “How about Ip Man of Wing Chun?” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ip_Man)
“Eh!”
Lin Shaoyu’s eyes widened. He’s never heard of a place called Wing Chun among the Empire’s 13 provinces and 108 cities. Plus, that name
 Is kind of strange.
By now, the two horses have met. Lin Shaoyu was already within Cheng Dalei’s axe’s attack radius. He swung mightily and the axe slammed forward toward Lin Shaoyu’s head.
“Headsplitter!”
His attack followed a precise motion as if Cheng Dalei practiced this move before countless times. At this moment, Lin Shaoyu was still off in his own world though, wondering if he should be saying something like [your reputation precedes you] despite the fact that he’s never heard of that name just so no one laugh at him later for not following the common courtesies. Thus, he didn’t notice until the axe was already before him, forcing Lin Shaoyu to hurriedly block with his spear. That said, an axe is far heavier than a spear, plus Cheng Dalei had taken advantage of Lin Shaoyu’s inattention, and so he knocked Lin Shaoyu off his horse with a single blow.
Cheng Dalei hurried his horse forward and leaped onto the carriage. He kicked the driver off with a single kick and stabbed at the horse’s butt with his axe. The horse cried out in pain and charged forward with the carriage in tow like a tank while Cheng Dalei swept his axe to the sides, thus forcibly breaking out of the encirclement.
“Chase after them. Chase after them! If the young mistress is lost, all of you will die.” Huang Sanyuan shouted from his horse.
The soldiers around him were stunned. Even now, they still haven’t quite managed to react yet. How did that criminal suddenly just abduct the young mistress?
Lin Shaoyu crawled up form the ground, got up on his horse, and tightened his grasp on his spear. He swore that he would erase the shame of having succumbed to a sneak attack.
Beep. First robbery quest completed. Reward prize draw x1.
Beep. Kidnapping a wife, first section complete. Reward