This Text Adventure Game is definitely poisonous
Chapter 1362 - 597 Bounty Hunting Bandits_2

Chapter 1362: Chapter 597 Bounty Hunting Bandits_2

"..."

Mu You was at a loss for words. No wonder the previous announcements all started with ’villager XX.’ Outsiders didn’t even have the right to file a case.

[You have inquired about the Clan Leader’s residence from the villagers of the Crow Tribe. Would you like to go there immediately?]

"Yes."

[...You have arrived at the summit of the mountain, where a luxurious wooden building stands. This is the abode of the Crow Clan Leader.]

[The Crow Clan Leader is an elderly Crow Man with white hair and a pair of miniature glasses perched on his beak, leaning on a cane, his steps shaky as he walks.]

[Upon your arrival, the Clan Leader doesn’t seem surprised at all. He leads you into his house and, with trembling hands, starts rummaging through a drawer next to his desk: "To join the tribe, you must first purchase a property in the Crow Tribe. Let me see..."]

Upon hearing about the need to ’purchase property,’ Mu You already had a bad feeling.

As expected, the Clan Leader quoted an outrageous price.

[The Clan Leader pulled out a document from a stack of papers: "The cheapest property currently available in our tribe is a thatched cottage located on the north edge of Mount 4, with a listed price of 20,000 Divinity, and a property right for 50 years..."]

"Hiss..."

Mu You’s molars tingled in shock—the cheapest house was being sold for twenty thousand, and it wasn’t even permanent...

He was slowly beginning to see through the Crow Tribe’s scheme. There must be a link between these Crow People and the bandits. The reason they tolerated the bandits was to force outsiders to buy property here through constant losses of property...

In plain terms, what was being purchased was not a house but protection money. Once you pay, the bandits won’t rob you anymore.

And the bandits know the rules, too. Even if they mistakenly rob a villager, they will quickly return the money. In an alliance between officials and bandits, it’s clear that outsiders are being trapped. Almost every new trader has to be swindled once like this.

"Alright, playing it like that, huh?" Mu You narrowed his eyes.

If it were just a matter of being burgled, and the Crow People not helping to recover the stolen goods, he wouldn’t have said anything. He’d quietly go after the culprit himself, and if he couldn’t catch them, that was his own lack of skill, and he wouldn’t blame the Crow Tribe.

But since it was evident that the two sides were in cahoots and clearly working together to scam people, Mu You was not about to let it slide.

"Do we still have any Divinity?" Mu You looked up and asked in the pet store.

All three of his avatars shifted their gaze from their games to him.

"Unfortunately, we just spent the last of it an hour ago..." the Watchman said helplessly.

"I’ve got a little over two thousand left that I haven’t used," said the Medicinal Plant Gatherer.

"I have five hundred... What’s up?" Ling Long asked curiously.

Since his main body was suddenly asking them for money with a serious expression, something must have happened.

"Give it to me, I’ll pay you back later."

Mu You collected the Divine Crystals from his two avatars and ended up with about 2,600 Divinity in total.

"What’s going on exactly?" The trio gathered around, curious.

Mu You briefly explained the theft incident to them.

"Damn, there’s actually a specific race of thieves!" The Watchman was surprised.

"Clearly a double act between the underworld and the authorities," the Medicinal Plant Gatherer concluded with crossed arms.

"We cannot stand for this! We of the Mu Family Army are the ones who freeload off others; how could there be any justification for others to freeload off us? We must crush them!" Ling Long declared indignantly.

"Hold on, let’s first scope out this ’bandit’ situation..."

Mu You returned to the game, relocating his character near the Crow People’s vendor at the entrance of the village, pretending to browse the wares while sneakily transferring the Divine Crystals into the game.

[The Crow vendor saw you returning and revealed an ’I knew it’ expression, continuing to eagerly promote its ’mortgage’ service to you.]

[Meanwhile, you quietly hung the bag full of Divinity around your waist and activated the Blood Rhythm ’Presence’.]

[Your presence instantly magnified, drawing instinctive glances from the passersby, who noticed you reaching for the bag on your waist.]

[The bulging pouch on your waist was greatly magnified under the watchful eyes of the surrounding Crow People, and you could hear many swallowing saliva.]

[The vendor’s spirited pitch stopped abruptly, staring at you in astonishment, finding it hard to believe that you were able to pull out even more Divinity after suffering a major loss.]

[The vendor’s surprise quickly morphed into an even warmer Smile, looking at you as if seeing a remarkably fat sheep.]

Mu You completely ignored everyone else’s reactions, fixating on his status panel instead. He had intentionally flaunted wealth to lure the bandit who had robbed him before into taking action again.

Not knowing the technique the bandit used to steal, he reasoned that no matter how skilled the thief, they would still have to approach him first to steal his belongings, right?

[Your Divine Crystals carried: 2601 points...]

Mu You clenched his pocket watch, his eyes locked on this line of data in the panel, patiently waiting.

After waiting about two minutes, he finally noticed the numbers on the panel changing quietly.

[Your Divine Crystals carried: 66 points...]

The Divine Crystals had plummeted from 2600 to 66 in an instant, and yet there was still no notification of theft in the game.

Mu You quickly activated the rewinding feature on the pocket watch while his character stealthily observed the surroundings.

[As time rewound, this time you finally witnessed the entire process of your Divinity being stolen, and your peripheral vision swept behind you.]

[You soon spotted an exceptionally composed Crow Man among the many passersby behind you: due to the effect of ’Presence,’ other Crow People instinctively glanced at you when they passed by, but this particular Crow Man kept his gaze fixed straight ahead, seemingly indifferent to you, as he passed by not far from behind you...]