Chapter 53: The Return Gift of the Extraordinary Item

Most of the buildings on both sides of the alley were low-rise and aged, sporting a decorative style from decades ago with iron gates mostly rusted over. Within the courtyard walls, concrete-cast exterior walls had jagged, half-meter-wide windows crudely punched into them, fitted with anti-theft iron bars that looked gloomy and oppressive.

Entering this area, the ambient light naturally dimmed. The rows of buildings standing on either side pressed inward through the gloom like twisted, writhing shadows.

Fortunately... the aura of fortune along this path was dominated by a white mist, indicating ordinariness, mundanity, and safety, completely devoid of any special dangers.

Chen Ye observed the aura of fortune floating above his head all the way here, noticing that the purple radiance was growing increasingly intense!

He confirmed that the source of this purple glow was neither the silver-note exchange nor the female proprietor of the seasoning shop... but rather the faceless children he had encountered when first arriving at the Old Street.

With his mind made up, he quickened his pace.

From time to time, the [Wandering Map] materialized in his mind, showing the blood-red dot slowly drawing closer to the dark-ink characters reading "Lin Family"...

Finally.

When the two distances closed almost to the point of touching, Chen Ye cast his gaze to the left.

A small courtyard spanning roughly two hundred square meters was built upon a spacious vacant lot. Its two half-closed bronze gates were of ancient design, their iron ring handles bearing speckled rust patterns formed by years of exposure to wind and sun.

Viewed from a distance, the entire courtyard was shrouded in a majestic purple aura, faintly connecting with the fruit seeds resting upon the handcart.

"There is no mistake."

Chen Ye smiled faintly.

The special reward hidden within this city had been found by him!

In the game, conversing with certain NPCs and presenting them with special gifts offered a chance to trigger hidden, special rewards.

As a dungeon that had never appeared before, even veteran players would find it difficult to acquire detailed and complete walkthroughs for this city.

Under such circumstances, unearthing hidden rewards was by no means a simple task.

Yet, after comprehending the language conveyed by the Pupil of Fortune and combining it with his game comprehension, Chen Ye was capable of digging out even the hidden rewards!

Following these clues to search yielded a high probability of discovering a distinct walkthrough route.

Chen Ye walked up to the bronze gates and knocked three times gently, refraining from walking straight in.

Although the gates were half-closed, the faceless family valued etiquette; walking in uninvited would be an expression of bad manners.

Before long.

The gates were slowly pulled open.

A few children wearing ancient robes, with glossy black hair and fair skin, but entirely devoid of facial features, peeked out from the gap in the gates.

"Big Brother, is there something you need?" the child at the entrance asked curiously.

Chen Ye instantly recognized that the child before him was the very same one he had encountered the previous night—the one who had accidentally kicked over the trash can.

He took out the oiled paper bag and smiled, "This is a gift I brought for you."

As the oiled paper bag was opened, the fragrance of sugar-roasted chestnuts immediately drifted out from within.

The eyes of the children instantly went wide and fixed on the bag!

"Who has come, may I ask?"

A resonant voice echoed from within the courtyard.

The half-closed gates were easily pulled wide open by a pair of massive, fan-like palms.

Stepping forward was a powerfully built, red-faced giant. Staring with eyes as large as copper bells, his gaze locked onto Chen Ye, then slid downward to rest upon the bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts in Chen Ye's hand.

The giant's eyes narrowed slightly as he raised his voice, "Showing courtesy for no reason—what is your meaning, Your Excellency?"

Observed through the Pupil of Fortune, this giant was wreathed in mist, which seemed to obscure the majestic yellow-hued primordial energy concealed within.

The entire aura of fortune was not as unapproachable as it appeared on the surface; instead, it gave one the distinct sensation of "not knowing the true face of Lu Shan only because one is residing within the mountain."

Chen Ye paused slightly, rapidly organizing his words in his mind, and smiled:

"Last night, I saw these children playing and accidentally knocking over some debris. The sound of heavy objects falling was like thunder, and some of the younger ones were even frightened to tears."

"Reflecting on it, these children are still young, and making mistakes is quite natural; however, if they were traumatized, that would be rather unfortunate."

"Therefore, I personally prepared some sugar-roasted chestnuts as a gift, hoping to soothe their spirits."

"I also prepared some toys, which might serve to distract them through play."

Once Chen Ye finished speaking...

The giant examined Chen Ye carefully for a few moments, fell silent for a while, and then suddenly a wisp of vapor emerged from his form.

The next second, his figure transformed into an amiable old man with a benevolent expression.

He took the sugar-roasted chestnuts from Chen Ye's hands with a beaming smile and said:

"It is rare for you to have such thoughtfulness. Since that is the case, this old man shall brazenly accept them."

Chen Ye smiled slightly, knowing that the [Faceless] would manifest different personalities when interacting with specific groups of people.

Upon first entering, the other party had presumably mistaken him for some kind of scammer, naturally donning the mask of a fierce and terrifying entity to deter a stranger who might harbor ulterior motives.

However, upon perceiving Chen Ye's goodwill, he had shifted to a harmonious countenance.

In terms of the [Faceless] way of interaction, this undoubtedly released a signal of friendliness toward Chen Ye.

At that moment.

Chen Ye retrieved the fruit seeds, handed them over, and said:

"There is yet another gift—these are toys intended for the children."

Suddenly, the benevolent old man's expression turned stern. He waved his hand gently and said righteously:

"The value of this gift is far too precious. If it were an ordinary token, this old man could still shamelessly accept it."

"But this will not do..."

With that, the old man moved to return the gift.

Chen Ye hurriedly said, "It is not as precious as you imagine."

"According to market intelligence I have gathered, fruit seeds are rumored to experience a massive influx of supply in the near future. Influenced by supply and demand, the price will continue to drop."

"I was lucky enough to pick up a bargain today, acquiring them at a discount of nearly ninety percent."

Before the other party could speak, Chen Ye looked at the few children peeking out from behind the door and said earnestly:

"Nothing is more important than the spiritual growth of children."

The old man seemed moved by Chen Ye's final sentence. He paused for a moment before finally accepting the fruit seeds.

"Wait for me here a moment..."

About ten minutes later, the old man emerged from inside the gates.

In his hand, he held a leather mask.

Yet, the texture of that mask seemed as though it had been forged from human skin.

Holding a small cloth-wrapped pouch in his other hand, the old man walked over:

"This is our family's return gift."

"Our family welcomes guests like you—kind, sincere, and full of love—to come over for tea at any time."

"Hehe, should you have any questions regarding this trinket, feel free to ask at any time."

While uttering polite expressions of refusal and gratitude, Chen Ye accepted the gift handed over by the old man with both hands.

As his gaze fell upon the mask...

A dazzling glazed brilliance coiled within it, blooming with miraculous and divine splendor!

"Extraordinary Item!"