Who told you I am an NPC

Chapter : 22

"Auntie Janice married in three years ago, Uncle Jim moved over from the next village four years ago, Uncle Sally a year ago..."

Yan Yunqing held a quill, writing and drawing on a piece of parchment.

You don't know until you ask, and once you do, you're shocked.

A large number of people in the entire village had only joined after the accident six years ago.

And from what many people said, it was known that six years ago, the scale of this village was already comparable to a small town.

After all, being a village close to the capital of Bartovita, it should have been very prosperous.

Even after so many people moved in, this village was still just a village, and the population hadn't even caught up to what it was six years ago.

This showed that a great many people had truly died in that defensive battle six years ago.

Yan Yunqing asked around and finally stopped at the door of Uncle Lawson, the hunter's, house.

This was a fierce-looking one-eyed man with a very ferocious face, a full beard, a blind left eye, and his arms were covered with old scars, one after another across his arms.

His right foot was a little lame; you couldn't tell when he was just standing, but it became apparent once he started walking quickly.

For a one-eyed, lame person to be a hunter, he was clearly a man with a story.

Yan Yunqing had tried asking other villagers about Lawson, but many of them were not very familiar with him.

A small number would subtly frown upon hearing Lawson's name, then reveal a complicated expression.

Yan Yunqing had a gut feeling that there was definitely a story there.

Following the current progress of the quest's plot, it was highly likely related to that defensive battle six years ago.

Yan Yunqing knocked on the door, and a "Who is it" came from inside, sounding fierce and even more terrifying when paired with Uncle Lawson's face.

Yan Yunqing pushed open the door.

A Fourth Calamity was never afraid of such fierce-looking people, "Uncle Lawson?"

The one-eyed man was sitting in the courtyard skinning a rabbit.

The scene was bloody and looked extremely R-rated.

Yan Yunqing's brow twitched, "Oh my, busy, are you?"

During this period, Yan Yunqing had been thriving in Sunset Village, becoming familiar with basically every villager.

The only exception was this Uncle Lawson, with whom he had no interaction.

As a social phobic (social terrorist), Yan Yunqing had tried several times to strike up a conversation with Uncle Lawson in an attempt to get some quests from him, but he failed every time.

Compared to the terrorist Yan Yunqing, Uncle Lawson seemed to be a true social phobic.

Even the other villagers weren't familiar with him.

He left early and returned late every day, and was often nowhere to be seen.

The children in the village said that Uncle Lawson looked gloomy and like a ghost.

Lawson looked up and gave Yan Yunqing, who had familiarly walked in, a cold glance with his remaining eye.

A splash of rabbit's blood was on his face, a drop of blood slowly sliding down, leaving a long bloodstain.

Paired with his ferocious appearance holding a skinning knife, he looked just like a perverted serial killer from the legends.

Yan Yunqing: .

If a timid person were to encounter this, they'd be scared to tears even in broad daylight.

Yan Yunqing cleared his throat, looked around, and simply pulled another small stool to sit directly opposite Uncle Lawson, having a staring contest, eye to one-eyed.

Lawson: ?

"Kid, what do you want?" Uncle Lawson's voice was cold.

Yan Yunqing put on a well-behaved smile:

"I came to ask if you need any help, uncle."

"I'm very capable, you can entrust any matter to me," he added.

Lawson was indifferent: "Not needed, get lost."

Whoops, failed again.

Yan Yunqing didn't mind being treated this way by Lawson at all.

He continued, "I thought so. Uncle, you look very capable at first glance.

Hunting, chopping wood, cooking, you seem to be able to do everything."

In reality, Uncle Lawson's home was very simple, and things were arranged messily.

At a glance, he wasn't someone who was good at managing his life.

However, there were many prey stacked in the corner, which showed that Uncle Lawson's hunting skills were good.

Why was he living so poorly then?

According to the prices Yan Yunqing knew, this prey could be sold for a good price.

Even if it couldn't compare to the blacksmith's shop, at least his house shouldn't be so dilapidated.

Lawson frowned, not knowing what the kid in front of him wanted to do.

He could only continue in a harsh tone, "So what are you trying to say?"

"I'm not trying to say anything, I'm just sighing at how amazing you are, Uncle Lawson."

Yan Yunqing was very sincere, his two eyes watery, as if one could see his deepest thoughts at a glance.

Lawson: ...

Lawson's unblinded eye shifted its gaze away, he lowered his head and continued the skinning work in his hands, his tone still as fierce, "If you have nothing better to do, go wash the skins over there.

Don't wander around in front of me, you're an eyesore."

Yan Yunqing turned his head and saw a few freshly skinned pelts stacked beside Lawson, bloody and looking a bit terrifying.

Clearly, a player could turn a Lulu Pig carcass into a few pieces of pork with a single gathering action, yet NPCs had to skin and gather animal hides so realistically.

A prompt box popped up in front of Yan Yunqing, it was still a daily quest series [Help Uncle Lawson Wash the Rabbit Skins].

These past few days, Yan Yunqing had accepted countless such daily quests, but this one was very different.

It was the first daily quest Uncle Lawson had given him.

Before, no matter how he pestered Uncle Lawson, he wouldn't even get a glance from him.

He felt a sense of moving , as if the clouds had finally parted to reveal the moon.

Yan Yunqing didn't mind the stingy 1 experience point and 1 copper coin reward for the quest at all.

He directly clicked to accept the quest, efficiently went out to fetch a few buckets of clean water, and dragged the heavy wooden basin directly in front of Uncle Lawson.

Uncle Lawson silently stared at Yan Yunqing's actions.

Yan Yunqing gave him a smile, and Uncle Lawson frowned, "Your tonsils are showing, hurry up and close it.

If you're hungry, go to someone else's house to eat the wind."

Yan Yunqing: .

Such a sharp tongue.

No wonder the children in the village couldn't get close to Lawson.

With this face and this mouth, it would be strange if he were popular.

Yan Yunqing was embarrassed, he lowered his head and began to vigorously rub the rabbit skin in the water.

Skinned rabbit hides cannot be used directly; they need to be tanned through certain techniques.

After several processes, they can be turned into usable leather.

In Yan Yunqing's original world, technology had long developed to an era where manual tanning of leather was no longer needed.

He had never had the opportunity to come into contact with this growing up, only learning about the general process while reading novels.

Relying on his vague memory, he confidently started.

Uncle Lawson had thought Yan Yunqing knew how to do this work.

He hadn't planned to intervene, figuring Yan Yunqing would leave on his own once he got tired.

But in the short time he had lowered his head to skin the hide, when he looked up again, Yan Yunqing had already rubbed a hole into a rabbit skin.

Lawson: ?

Yan Yunqing: Uh...

Lawson looked at the rabbit skin in disbelief, then at Yan Yunqing's hands.

"You know how to wash skins?"

Yan Yunqing coughed lightly, "Well... how can you say I don't?"

Lawson: ...

Lawson closed his eyes, feeling a sense of powerlessness, "You move, get to one side, don't ruin my skins!"

His accent even came out. When it was heard by Yan Yunqing through the system's translator, it actually had a sense of familiarity.

It was similar to the Northeastern dialect of his original world.

Yan Yunqing obediently stood up and made way.

Lawson glared at him fiercely, then nudged him with his elbow, pushing Yan Yunqing a little further away.

Lawson looked fierce, but when he nudged Yan Yunqing with his elbow, he still subconsciously held back his strength.

He sat down on the small stool where Yan Yunqing was originally sitting, "Watch carefully, this is how you wash skins!"

Lawson soaked the skin in the water, holding a scraper in one hand and gently rubbing the skin with the other, demonstrating the entire process to Yan Yunqing.

"If you wash skins like that, how many skins would you waste!"

Lawson muttered and lectured. He looked up and met Yan Yunqing's innocent little eyes.

Yan Yunqing blinked.

Lawson abruptly fell silent.

The two stared at each other.

Lawson came to his senses, his face darkened:

He didn't know what this kid came here for, saying he wanted to help but ending up being a hindrance, and even ruining one of his skins!

He really was a troublesome brat!

I have to get rid of this brat quickly!

Lawson put on a stern face, tossed the hide back into the wooden basin, and stared at Yan Yunqing for a good while, "Speak, what do you really want to do?

Finish it and leave my house immediately!"

Isn't this a breakthrough!

Indeed, when dealing with this kind of person who has a fierce face but a kind heart, the roof-lifting effect is very useful.

Yan Yunqing concealed the smile in his eyes to avoid completely angering the one-eyed, lame uncle in front of him.

He wiped his wet hands on the hem of his clothes, touched the tip of his nose, and coughed lightly twice, "It's like this, Uncle Lawson, I want to ask you about some things."

"About that defensive battle six years ago, can you tell me in detail?"

Upon hearing this, Lawson was first stunned, then his expression changed, "Six years ago?

Why are you asking about that?"

Yan Yunqing took out a quill and parchment from his backpack, waiting to gather intelligence from Lawson.

From the reliable village-head intelligence station, Yan Yunqing had obtained a piece of information: the defensive battle six years ago resulted in countless casualties.

Not many of the young and able-bodied men in the village survived.

Lawson the hunter, who lived near the forest, was one of them.

His blind eye and lame leg were both remnants from six years ago.

Compared to the tragic deaths of his other companions, his injuries could even be considered lucky.

As someone who participated in that battle and was fortunate enough to survive, Lawson should know more than the uncles and aunts at the village entrance's intelligence station.

"I was attacked by a demonic beast near the pond in Sunset Forest yesterday," Yan Yunqing said, "A level 12 Ghost-faced Earthworm."

The pupil of Lawson's good eye contracted, "A demonic beast?"

Yan Yunqing nodded: "I've already told the old village chief about this.

He sent Uncle Lane to ask for help from the Bartovita army today."

The old village chief, concerned that the villagers would panic, didn't announce it publicly.

Only the members of the patrol team knew. When they went home and told their families, and their families spread it further, basically the whole village found out.

It caused quite a stir. Only a recluse like Lawson, who lived on the edge of the village and rarely went out except for occasional hunting trips, was completely unaware of this news.

After hearing Yan Yunqing's words, Lawson's expression changed repeatedly, leaving a rather ugly look on his face, one that could probably scare a few children who refused to sleep at night.

"When the old village chief mentioned seeking help from the army, he didn't seem very confident that the army would come to the rescue.

I find that a bit strange, can you tell me why? Uncle Lawson."

"After all, in the battle six years ago, although they were a little late, they still came, didn't they?"

Yan Yunqing tapped the parchment in his hand with his quill, "And this time, since we're asking for help so early, there's no way they could be late again, right?"

Lawson let out a sneer: "Those nobles? Heh."

He was a little out of control:

"If those nobles truly cared about the lives of commoners, the tragedy from six years ago would never have happened!"

Yan Yunqing's eyes lit up. As expected, Lawson knew a lot about the inside story of the demonic beast attack six years ago.

From his tone and words, it seemed there was a lot of important information hidden within.

Lawson gasped heavily several times, veins popping on his forehead.

His good eye bulged outwards, bloodshot, and wheezing sounds like a broken bellows came from his chest, making one worry that he was at risk of fainting from lack of air at any moment.

Yan Yunqing frowned and reached out to help soothe Lawson's breathing.

Lawson closed his eye, and after trying hard to calm down for a long time, he finally regained his composure and looked at Yan Yunqing again: "So, you're asking about this just out of curiosity?"

Yan Yunqing's expression didn't change, "I want to know the truth of what happened six years ago.

If it's confirmed that there will be no rescue, it would be better to organize the villagers to leave this place and live somewhere safer."

"Although I dealt with that demonic beast yesterday, it was only a level twelve demonic beast after all.

If I encounter a powerful demonic beast far exceeding level thirty like the one from six years ago, I'm not confident I can kill it."

Killing a monster two levels higher was no big deal for Yan Yunqing, but killing a monster twenty levels higher was something Yan Yunqing might not be able to whittle down the health bar of even after grinding with low-level magic for three days and three nights.

However, Lilian's level was sufficient.

It was just that the abilities Lilian had shown so far were more support-oriented, and he wasn't sure if Lilian had the power to fight against a high-level demonic beast.

So it was better not to solo if he could avoid it, at least let him level up safely first.

"Live somewhere else?"

Lawson murmured, "Do you think no one thought of that after that battle?"

"The villagers who tried to move out of Sunset Village all died."

"This is the curse of Sunset Village!"