Qin Chu neither answered nor offered an explanation.
Judging from the cook's expression, there's absolutely no way this bowl of noodles is without fault. Unless the ingredients are only effective for humans and have no effect on rabbits.
It was such a waste of time on such a cold day, and the people watching the rabbit eat noodles were a little annoyed.
"Oh well, never mind, I'll just go to sleep hungry."
"I think it's a waste. Such fragrant noodles, what are you going to feed the rabbit? Don't give them to me!"
"Smelling this, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight!"
The seventh brother was truly concerned. When he saw Qin Chu feeding a rabbit a bowl of noodles that the cook had worked so hard to make, his eyes turned red.
He genuinely admired Qin Chu's performance on the battlefield, so he didn't argue with Qin Chu at this moment. He simply squatted down to put the bowl away and said, "I'll return the bowl to them tomorrow."
As he spoke, he lay down on the bed, holding the bowl.
The fifth man, who provided the rabbit, also sighed. He looked at Qin Chu, bent down to take the rabbit out and tie it up.
Just then, the rabbit, which had been obediently licking its fur, suddenly stood up and let out a sharp "squeak".
The shout was so loud that it startled the soldiers, who were about to yell, so much that they sat up abruptly: "What's going on? What's happening now? Fifth Brother, don't kill a rabbit in the tent!"
The fifth brother was also completely bewildered: "I didn't do anything!"
The large gray rabbit, which had been perfectly normal just moments before, was now unusually agitated, hopping and running around the tent. Its soft fur stood on end, its two gray-brown eyes turned bloodshot, and its pair of snow-white front teeth bared out as it squeaked incessantly.
This was quite frightening; everyone crawled out of their bedding.
Lao Wu hurriedly tried to catch the rabbit, but before he could even grab its ears, the big gray rabbit suddenly pounced on him and grabbed his leg.
Everyone stared wide-eyed as the male rabbit actually started moving while riding on Lao Wu's hind legs.
In that instant, the faces of all the grown men in the room turned green. Even Qin Chu was stunned; he only knew there was something wrong with the bowl of noodles, but he never expected it to be this kind of problem.
The fifth brother's face turned even worse. He let out a strange cry and kicked the rabbit away.
The rabbit was kicked high into the air, fell to the ground, got up again, and was completely unharmed. It immediately started sniffing around again and searching.
The soldiers in the room all jumped up, fearing that this mad rabbit would pounce on them and break their toes.
Only the heartbroken seventh brother paid no attention to the farce around him, hugging the empty bowl and covering his head with the blanket to go to sleep.
After sniffing for a while, the rabbit smelled something and rushed over to dig into Lao Qi's bed.
Old Seven thought his brothers were just teasing him, so he angrily threw off the blanket, only to see a fat figure rushing towards his face.
In an instant, the noisy military tent fell silent, with only the squeaks of the big gray rabbit and the angry roars of the brothers echoing each other, a truly heartbreaking sight.
The soldiers watching were utterly dumbfounded.
Damn it... Seventh Brother actually got ridden in the face by a rabbit...
They're getting too close...
This is just too tragic!
None of the men dared to stop the ferocious rabbit.
In the end, Qin Chu couldn't stand it anymore, so he reached out, pulled the rabbit over, and handed it to Lao Wu to tie up.
Poor seventh brother was completely stunned after being pounced on, his face covered in horrific marks. When Qin Chu pulled the rabbit off his face, the boy was practically dumbfounded, only able to gasp and curse, "Holy shit, holy shit..."
After a commotion of tents being overturned, the military tent finally returned to peace.
Inside, a group of burly men wearing only their undergarments sat cross-legged on the ground, their eyes fixed on the empty bowl placed in the center. Their faces were etched with shock, horror, and disbelief; an outsider would have thought they were looking at some terrifying weapon.
The seventh brother, who had been ridden in the face, had already tidied himself up. Looking at the bowl he had just been holding like a treasure, he just wanted to kick it to pieces.
The others didn't look too good either, because each of them had considered eating the bowl of noodles.
Before the rabbit rode on their faces, all they could think was: how wonderful it would be if they could eat this noodle themselves.
Now, they are all thankful that they didn't eat it.
Judging by the rabbit's appearance, wouldn't they tear down the tents after eating the noodles and yell as they went to find the cook? By then, the whole camp would know what they'd done; they might as well hang themselves from a crooked tree.
"This...this really shows that you can't judge a book by its cover..." the fifth brother exclaimed.
The fourth brother kicked him: "Bullshit, you can't judge a book by its cover, you illiterate."
This effect also greatly surprised Qin Chu.
However, he also knew that this was only because rabbits were small and the dosage was large; if it were applied to humans, it probably wouldn't be that scary.
A moment later, the tent flap was flung open again, and one of the brothers ran back, giving everyone a sly look. He said, "I just knocked on the cook's tent, and sure enough, she wasn't sleeping inside. As soon as I made a noise, the cook called out someone's name. Guess who it was?"
Need I say more? Everyone looked at Qin Chu, which made even Qin Chu's icy expression crack a little.
“That’s right, the cook asked, ‘Lord Qin, is that you?’” The brother said in a high-pitched, feminine voice, which made everyone in the tent lower their heads and laugh.
After they laughed for a while, Qin Chu said seriously, "You all saw clearly how I got this bowl of noodles. Do you believe what I said now?"
The group nodded hurriedly, and Lao Qi, whose face still bore scratches, almost wanted to throw his head off: "Brother Qin, I believe you, I'll believe whatever you say from now on!"
After thinking for a moment, the young man added, "I'll have to ask you to help me choose a wife when I get married in the future."
Qin Chu: ...Thank you, but that's alright.
He continued, "You all know how many times she's brought me food, and I suspect there's something wrong with it every time. Now that we're at a truce, even if we ate this stuff, at most we'd lose face, but there wouldn't be any major problems. But what if we were at the border, in the middle of a battle? If she put something in the pot, the whole camp would be in trouble, and we'd be stuck there waiting to be slaughtered."
They initially thought it was just a farce, but after Qin Chu's words, everyone present became serious.
The fifth brother, quick-witted as ever, immediately asked, "Could she be a spy sent by the Donghu?"
"It's not necessarily the Donghu; any of the others could be!"
"Then there must be a conspiracy behind her coming back with us."
With everyone exchanging words, they quickly convicted the transvestite player who wanted to seduce Qin Chu.
Qin Chu gestured for them to lower their voices and said to them, "Don't make a fuss yet. We don't have any evidence. It's just that a bowl of noodles was eaten by a rabbit. You guys believe me, but if I tell others, they might not believe me."
"What should we do then?" Old Seven immediately became anxious, wishing he could arrest this treacherous spy who had seduced people's feelings right away.
Qin Chu: "Tomorrow, just say you accidentally knocked over this bowl of noodles and no one ate it. Since this cook is a spy, she'll naturally tamper with it. Keep a close eye on her and see if you can catch her red-handed."
After explaining the matter, the group finally went to sleep.
Noah gave Qin Chu a thumbs up: "Sir, you're amazing! No wonder you took the noodles back today, so that's what you were planning! We can't find the Crown Prince's whereabouts, but those players who accepted the mission must have information. As long as we keep an eye on the players, we won't have to worry about finding the Crown Prince. Now that you've done this, you have nine people keeping an eye on him for you, isn't that great!"
This is just one reason. Qin Chu couldn't explain his mission, and he was too busy to keep an eye on things all day, so he had to use this method to get help from the people around him.
Besides, the fact that his soldiers were being completely fooled by a stranger was no small matter. Furthermore, Qin Chu was also afraid that the cook, after repeatedly failing to make a move on him, would simply try to seduce one of his men.
This person, disguised as a female character, treats this world merely as a game, drugging whomever they please. But Qin Chu and these people have faced life and death together on the battlefield. Although they are just data entities, they still have families they deeply love, and lands and homes they desperately want to protect.
He didn't want these people to be treated like mere playthings by so-called players.
Although only nine people now know the cook's true identity, with someone watching, she's not as free as before.
-
The cook waited all night, not daring to log off and go to sleep.
After waiting and waiting, the NPC he wanted to seduce never showed up.
"System, didn't you say this medicine was absolutely effective? I spent 10,000 points to buy it!" The cook was furious. In order to successfully seduce someone, she had spent some points to clear out all the other NPCs in her account, but it was of no use at all!
Once outside the camp during the day, the cook began subtly probing into Qin Chu's condition the previous night.
Upon inquiring, my heart clenched. Damn, that's ten thousand points! Just like that, lying on the ground? What a waste!
Chapter 58, Fourth Story (4)
Despite repeated failures, he didn't give up on Qin Chu, the NPC; instead, his unrequited love only fueled his obsession. In their world, Qin Chu, this NPC who appeared out of nowhere, had become incredibly popular. There are currently no side quests related to Qin Chu, but it's estimated that the main quest will be connected to this NPC in the next installment.
There will be an overwhelming number of people wanting to patronize Qin Chu by then!
During their time stationed there, the cook put in even more effort to get closer to Qin Chu.
But for some reason, ever since the day he delivered the noodles, someone has been stopping him whenever he goes to see Qin Chu. Usually, at times like this, the cook would rely on the face she created, and a little coquettishness would make these game natives blush, and they would do whatever she asked.
Now, her face and the beauty buff she had specially purchased seem to have lost their effect; even the seventh brother under Qin Chu, who used to blush at her, is ignoring her now.
Once, when the cook left, he even heard the seventh brother curse behind his back: "Pah! This piece of trash dares to look for my Brother Qin? What a nerve!"
The cook was so angry she almost logged off on the spot.
He was so busy visiting NPCs that he forgot to do some of the smaller tasks. When he saw that he was running out of points, he immediately accepted the main quest issued by the game's official team—to assassinate the Crown Prince.
Qin Chu had someone keep an eye on this player for several days, and finally received the news just as they were about to set off for the city.
The fifth and seventh brothers came over excitedly to claim credit: "Brother Qin, we've been keeping an eye on that cook. A few days ago, she didn't do anything unusual, except she kept coming to see you. But three days ago, she started running up the mountain next door every evening, and she's been doing it for several days in a row!"
"Up in the mountains?" Qin Chu frowned. Could it be that the eldest prince was up in the mountains?
Their encampment was some distance from the imperial city, separated by a smaller city, and surrounded by mountains.
“Keep an eye on her. Follow her next time she goes up the mountain. It would be best to find out who she's meeting,” Qin Chu said.
Since it's a main quest, it's naturally not that simple for the player. Qin Chu didn't expect to find the First Prince immediately through this player; he would be satisfied as long as he found some clues.
But he didn't expect his brothers to be so efficient. They quickly sent him another message: "Brother Qin, there's a band of bandits on that mountain. Because we've stationed troops here, they haven't been active for a long time. But guess what? That cook has been bringing them food every night! Damn it, she's definitely a spy!"
Sending food to the bandits might be a way of gathering information from them, or it's possible that the prince was kidnapped by the bandits as soon as he left the capital.
Suppressing bandits is usually the responsibility of local officers and soldiers, but these garrison troops who returned from the border also took charge whenever they encountered similar situations. Qin Chu immediately reported to his superiors and led a small team up the mountain that very night.
These bandits were no match for the well-trained soldiers and were quickly tied up.
Qin Chu had his men search the thieves' den, but they couldn't find any trace of the child. However, they did find a garment embroidered with gold thread and a jade pendant.
Qin Chu was very familiar with this, because the eldest prince's records showed that he was wearing a similar outfit, with a jade pendant hanging from his waist.
With one foot planted on the bandit leader, Qin Chu asked, "Where did you steal this?"
"This... is what we stole..." the bandit stammered.
Qin Chu had no interest in discussing nonsense literature with him, and kicked him again, pressing, "Where is the owner of the thing? Where did they hide it?"
"No, no, that kid ran away that night. We only left these things behind and didn't get anything else." The bandit added with a sigh, "Don't underestimate this kid because of his young age. He's as slippery as an eel, impossible to catch."
Unable to get any answers, Qin Chu searched the mountain again before finally having no choice but to leave with his men.