The commander of the Great Wall was Li Xin, and Su Lie could be considered Mulan’s immediate superior.
Mulan was surprised. "How is that possible?"
The Great Wall Guard replied, "Someone suddenly appeared beside General Su Lie without any warning and then attacked him. Fortunately, General Su Lie reacted quickly enough to avoid fatal blows. However, we couldn't catch the person; the assassin vanished without a trace."
"It's him, it must be him!" Mulan gritted her teeth. "It's that ghost again. He infiltrated the Great Wall like this before, obtained the defense formation map, and even killed my superior to frame me. And now he's back!"
Mulan appeared furious, slamming her greatsword onto the ground, shattering it.
"You all return to the military camp first," Mulan said. "I'll go check on General Su Lie."
Mulan hurried away, while Bai Ye suddenly understood.
Bai Ye knew why his hidden quest had changed.
The previous hidden quest was to help Mulan investigate the ghost. This had led Bai Ye's thoughts astray. Since this matter was related to Mulan, it naturally meant he had to investigate by Mulan's side.
But it seemed that wasn't the case.
If Bai Ye had stayed at the Great Wall to fight the demon race at that time, there was a high chance he would have encountered General Su Lie's assassination. If he could have held the attacker back and at least determined their identity, then the hidden quest would have been completed.
But Bai Ye had left the Great Wall, so this quest naturally had nothing to do with him anymore.
However, even though he missed the opportunity, Bai Ye's quest was not a failure. It had simply branched onto another path, which was not necessarily a bad outcome.
Only the quest content had changed; it did not mean the quest had failed.
Meanwhile…
Mulan had gone to see Su Lie, and the others had returned to the military camp. Bai Ye had gone to the quartermaster to exchange contribution points, and the final tally was a staggering 1122 points. This indicated that at least five to six hundred demon race members had perished at Bai Ye's hands.
Even so, over a thousand contribution points could not be exchanged for much, only some green-quality items. Bai Ye was not interested.
After exchanging his contribution points, Bai Ye returned to the military camp. Mulan was also back, with Dun Shan following behind, carrying a large stack of documents.
Bai Ye asked curiously, "Sister Mulan, what's wrong?"
Mulan sighed. "General Su Lie is injured and temporarily unable to handle official duties, so he has handed all these documents over to me to process."
Bai Ye was surprised. "That many?"
Mulan explained, "There have been many troublesome matters outside the Great Wall recently, so there's a lot more to handle."
Bai Ye's eyes darted around. Were there any clues about the automaton here?
Could these documents be related to his hidden quest?
Bai Ye thought to himself as he said, "Do you want me to help you?"
Mulan's eyes lit up. "Can you? Kai only knows how to fight and eat meat. The explosive cat is unreliable and can't sit still. Youyue is capable, but he's responsible for miscellaneous matters within the camp and is already very busy."
"Goo goo ga ga goo…"
Dun Shan tilted his head and made a sound.
"I know you want to help," Mulan said with a smile, looking at Dun Shan. "But this isn't something you're good at, so don't force yourself."
Bai Ye replied, "I might know a little. I can help you sort through them. If there are any problems, I can ask you directly."
"That would be great!" Mulan said. "Come with me!"
Mulan was straightforward and decisive. She immediately pulled Bai Ye to the tent and threw half of the documents in front of him. "You take half, I'll take half. Is that alright?"
Bai Ye nodded. "No problem."
Bai Ye sat down at the desk and began to read the documents.
For this hidden quest, Bai Ye suspected that brute force alone might not be enough; he would need to use his brain.
These documents were likely the key. As long as he could find clues within them, he could unravel the mystery of the automaton.
However, after flipping through some of the documents, Bai Ye didn't feel anything particularly special about them.
The three main enemies outside the Great Wall were the demon race, bandits, and barbarians.
The content of these documents focused primarily on these three aspects. The most common were hunting missions, where the demon race, bandits, or barbarians appeared in certain areas, and the Great Wall Guard would naturally try to exterminate them.
Bandits and barbarians were elusive and difficult to catch. Low-level demon race creatures, on the other hand, lacked intelligence and could be hunted easily.
Besides hunting, the Great Wall, in addition to being a bulwark against foreign enemies, was also a commercial route.
Jade City, Golden Court City, Thousand Grotto City, and the Sand Alliance, all heading towards the Yun Zhong Desert, required passage through the Great Wall. Therefore, ensuring the safety of traveling merchant caravans was also a task for the Great Wall Guard.
Simultaneously, near Jade City and the Sand Alliance, the Great Wall had established border markets.
Therefore, besides escorting merchant caravans, maintaining order at the border markets was also the responsibility of the Great Wall Guard. However, the Great Wall primarily provided support, as the area was a bit distant and mainly under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate.
Bai Ye looked at the documents before him. The matters to be handled were all of this nature. Although tedious, they were all part of the daily duties of the Great Wall Guard.
If there was anything to point out as problematic…
Bai Ye frowned. "It seems the bandits have been particularly active recently. The barbarians usually only appear after winter sets in, relying on plundering food to survive the winter. But it's still early for winter, yet barbarians are frequently appearing around the Great Wall. And the frequency of demon race appearances has also increased significantly compared to last month."
And, of course, the automatons!
Bai Ye murmured to himself. Were these matters connected?
Bai Ye leaned back in his chair, contemplating. He suddenly realized it was past midnight.
"Never mind, let's rest for now!" Bai Ye had a flash of inspiration. "I almost forgot about the Iron Slime."
Bai Ye quickly reached out and wiped in front of him, and a light screen appeared.
The next moment, excitement appeared on Bai Ye's face.
The Vulcan Gatling and the Yin-Yang Talisman had disappeared from the items that the Iron Slime could solidify, but…
Current Growth Value: 581 / 1000!
The Iron Slime's growth value had not decreased because the Vulcan Gatling and the Yin-Yang Talisman were reabsorbed by the gacha machine; it remained at 581 points, just like before.
This meant Bai Ye's conjecture was correct!
He could use the items from the gacha machine to increase the Iron Slime's growth value!
Since that was the case, what was there to hesitate about?
It was already past 12 o'clock anyway!
*Snap!*
Bai Ye snapped his fingers. Immediately, the air around him distorted, and the gacha machine quickly appeared. The sound of the machine spinning followed, and it began to draw a gacha.
Bai Ye said devoutly, "Give me some good stuff!"
However…
…