Chapter 890: Detective of the Great Song Dynasty

While Zhang Yi was deep in thought, the cinematic also came to an end. The eagle, whose perspective he had inhabited earlier, landed on the shoulder of a young man standing in front of a mountain path forest.

Below the UI bar, the young man’s name appeared: Zhuge Yu.

‘Investigator Chen Xu went missing after entering this mountain to investigate the Manichaeans. It’s highly probable he’s still within this mountain. It seems the Manichaeans here are indeed worth looking into.’

‘The Manichaean leader seems capable of conjuring green flames out of thin air through some method, which believers regard as a miracle. Besides that, the Manichaeans also seem to be colluding with a band of mountain bandits. It looks like this journey will inevitably involve violence.’

As Zhuge Yu’s words in the game faded, Zhang Yi was able to control the character.

He proceeded forward, encountering several groups of mountain bandits along the way. Following the system prompts, he easily defeated them one by one.

“Traditional real-time action combat gameplay.”

After experiencing it and adding his own understanding, Zhang Yi quickly grasped the combat system of the game, Fate Seeker.

As an action game, it didn’t have the exhilarating combo attacks like God of War.

Nor did it require players to input commands for each move.

There were five different skill slots, allowing players to customize their gear and combine different martial arts with varying attack effects.

Furthermore, the game was divided into four distinct schools: sword, saber, long weapon, and fist/foot combat, which were equivalent to weapon types in other games and could be freely switched during combat.

As for the Qinggong system in the game, it was equivalent to the dodge mechanic in typical games, a standard operation that didn't surprise Zhang Yi.

In non-combat mode, players could also use the game's Qinggong system to reach seemingly inaccessible places.

This was one of the many areas Chen Xu had significantly changed from the original version. Additional attributes like inner energy and Qinggong corresponded to the special attributes like superhuman strength and lock-picking provided by Blades in Xenoblade Chronicles.

Some special points required players to reach a certain attribute level to interact with them or reach them.

While the design of the combat and scenes couldn't be called stunning, the wuxia theme itself was a huge bonus for domestic players.

Players like Zhang Yi, who already favored the wuxia genre, felt a unique flavor after a brief experience.

And fighting was incredibly satisfying.

“So pretentious! But I love it!” Controlling Zhuge Yu in the game, Zhang Yi executed a combo that defeated five or six mountain bandits one by one, exclaiming.

Even with this style of releasing skills and using Qinggong to evade enemy attacks, the combat was remarkably satisfying.

It felt somewhat like the QTEs in God of War.

Coupled with Zhuge Yu’s combat dialogue with monsters, it felt even better.

‘To pass this path, you are still ten years too early!’

‘Ten years ago, my martial arts weren't as clumsy as yours are now.’

‘Kid, let me see if you have anything valuable on you!’

‘Well, can you comprehend this spear strike?’

In every battle, Zhuge Yu and the enemies in the game would have interactive dialogue.

At the same time, they were all different, and different martial arts routines could also trigger different conversations.

However, no matter what, they all shared a common characteristic: showing off!

This was true for both the dialogues and Zhuge Yu’s self-dialogue.

But the most crucial point was that Zhuge Yu in the game always maintained a solemn and very serious demeanor.

Showing off? I’m merely stating facts.

From the game’s presentation, that was roughly the meaning.

Of course, besides the combat system, there was also the game's deduction system that Zhang Yi found interesting.

By collecting different clues, then connecting them, and reasoning through the causes and effects to arrive at the final answer.

This was the content of the game’s deduction system, which gave him the feeling of playing a text-adventure game.

After piecing together the clues, different options would appear, allowing Zhuge Yu in the game to choose the correct answer.

“I love playing games that truly require opening one’s halls of thought and testing one’s wisdom!” Watching Zhuge Yu deduce, based on the clues and actions provided by the mountain bandits, that the Manichaeans and the mountain bandits were not actually working together, Zhang Yi immediately became excited.

If it were those puzzles involving the Five Elements or Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, he truly wouldn't be interested in solving them; he'd just play later and copy answers from a guide.

But this kind of deduction clearly tested the player's true wisdom and logic, and that was his strong suit!

He continued to push the story forward, directly enacting a scene of a hero saving a beauty, and specifically, saving the younger sister of a pair of childhood sweethearts.

He also encountered Investigator Chen Xu from the opening cinematic, who gave Zhuge Yu an elixir that could enhance his cultivation.

Although, from the other party's tone, this was indeed an official working for the people, Zhang Yi was very certain that this person was absolutely a villain!

A good official?

That was merely the other party's mask, the persona he had cultivated!

Zhang Yi, loading an earlier save, snorted as he looked at the medicinal pill Chen Xu had given him in his inventory.

Upon arriving at the Manichaean stronghold, the game's plot revealed something refreshing to Zhang Yi.

First, there was the case-solving in the game, where based on the clues gathered and the loopholes in the opponent's words, he would expose their lies.

Especially when the opponent was halfway through their narrative and Zhuge Yu suddenly interrupted, producing evidence to expose their lie, it made Zhang Yi instantly think of a legal drama, where a lawyer, when an opposing witness perjures themselves in court, suddenly slams the table and shouts loudly to the judge: “Objection!”

Then he would present the inconsistencies between their words and the evidence, leaving the opponent speechless.

In this game, Zhang Yi instantly felt that thrill.

However, considering the game’s background, it was somewhat reasonable.

After all, it was set in the Three Heroes and Five Gallants era, and involved Bao Zheng.

Although historically, Bao Zheng had very high political EQ and later rose to the position of Imperial Censor.

But for most people, Bao Zheng is more familiar by his title Bao Qingtian (Justice Bao) and the fictional tale of Chen Shimei in Three Heroes and Five Gallants.

So, this kind of case-solving gameplay, even turning into a “Detective of the Great Song Dynasty,” was not surprising when you thought about it.

Besides that, what surprised Zhang Yi was Zhuge Yu’s character design in the game.

On the surface, Zhuge Yu’s persona was like most wuxia novel protagonists.

From a prestigious family, orphaned early, hated evil like a sworn enemy, and had childhood sweethearts—this was a very traditional and classic character setting.

But the key was that Zhuge Yu in the game was not a pedantic martial artist, nor was he a character that would give players the impression of being an overly virtuous character.

He feigned weakness, pretending to be a Manichaean believer, then infiltrated the Manichaean stronghold to uncover the truth: that the Manichaeans were colluding with corrupt officials for illicit gain.

The Manichaean leader and Investigator Chen Xu were birds of a feather.

Yet, Zhuge Yu’s actions in the game utterly astonished Zhang Yi.

He goaded his opponent, then coated their weapon with poison, and feigned death himself, staging a brilliant ‘driving tigers to swallow wolves’ scheme.

Later, when confronting villains begging for mercy at the village entrance, seeing their insincere pleas, he immediately delivered a killing blow.

Compared to the indecisive protagonists in past wuxia games, Zhuge Yu’s decisiveness and his astuteness within the Manichaean stronghold instantly raised Zhang Yi’s appreciation for the game even further beyond its original foundation.

(End of Chapter) <>