NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 22: Skeleton Crossbowmen
Chapter 22: Skeleton Crossbowmen
Ottoluck might be stubborn, unwilling to admit his team members are lacking.
But if the deacon says so, it must be true.
If the town hall praised a necromancer, it seems he indeed played a significant role in this mission.
Noticing their reactions, the deacon asked, "What’s wrong?"
"Nothing, just congratulating Captain Ottoluck on recruiting such a capable member," said the third team leader.
"Thank you," Ottoluck responded.
The deacon continued, "This matter involves the Wolfhead Mercenary Group. Apart from the fourth team, the rest of you prepare to assist Blackstone Town in capturing them."
"Yes!" they all replied, then left the meeting room.
……
Meanwhile, Wu Heng, along with his skeleton, headed to the DC District.
The main road connecting to the East Gate was lined with stalls.
They formed a market full of local flavor.
Mercenary spoils, village goods, and even some shops brought their items out to sell during this time.
Those with the means set up stalls, while those without just laid out a piece of linen or leather to sell their goods.
Wu Heng arrived a bit late, finding a spot on the edge to lay out a cloth and display his items.
Mainly, he had scavenged glass cups.
He carefully arranged them on the stall.
Then he stood up and shouted, "Come and see! The unscrupulous boss ran off with his mistress, these glass cups that were originally a hundred or two hundred coins are now only fifty copper each. First come, first served, once they’re gone, the stall is closed!"
Hearing his shout, people looked over curiously.
After hearing it again, they caught phrases like "ran off with his mistress."
They couldn’t quite connect the goods with the story but approached to see what was being sold.
Soon, the shouting attracted quite a crowd, encircling the stall several times.
"All fifty copper?"
"All fifty copper, take your pick! Handy for drinking, and they look nice at home too."
"Did the boss really run off with his mistress? Didn’t he take anyone else?"
"Not important. If you don’t buy now, you’ll be left with the leftovers."
"These look like they’ve been used before."
"They got dirty from all the handling; just give them a wash."
"I’ll take one."
"I’ll take three; I want to drink from glass cups too."
Once a few people started buying, others quickly followed suit.
At this price, it was cheaper than the glass cups in shops, and the patterns and styles were more attractive than the usual cylindrical ones.
It was definitely a bargain.
The price wasn’t set to make a huge profit.
These were scavenged items; throwing them away felt wasteful, and those shopping here were mostly regular townsfolk or villagers from remote areas.
Better to sell them cheap so everyone could use them.
Thanks to Wu Heng’s various shouts, his stall became the most popular spot.
More and more people gathered, curious to see what the commotion was about.
Wu Heng kept collecting money, and soon, all the glass cups were sold out.
Many who didn’t get any left, frustrated, slapping their thighs in regret.
The other stall owners were stunned.
What just happened?
The stall is closed already?
He just sat down, and everything’s sold out?
"All sold out, sorry," Wu Heng said, rolling up his cloth. "There’ll be another batch in a few days, same place, same price. If you need more, come back and take a look. Convenient for you and your family."
After packing up, Wu Heng and his skeleton were about to leave when several people approached.
They were stall owners from nearby.
"Sir, if you don’t have time, you can sell the goods directly to me at the same price. It’ll save you a trip," one of them said.
"Sell them to me; I can offer a higher price," another chimed in.
"I have a physical store. If you have a steady supply, I can sell them for you…"
Wu Heng understood their intentions—they wanted to resell the goods.
It didn’t actually affect him much and would save time.
But after thinking it over, he declined. He couldn’t always explain where the goods were coming from, and continually bringing in items out of nowhere might raise suspicion.
After all, he didn’t have a factory behind him; everything came from another world.
If someone started investigating, it could become a problem.
He politely refused, "Sorry, gentlemen, I’m not sure when I’ll have more stock, so there’s no way to set up a deal."
Hearing there might be no more stock, they didn’t press the issue, simply asking him to contact them if he had more before returning to their stalls.
Wu Heng stood up and began browsing the market.
But after taking just a few steps, he heard several shouts behind him: "The boss ran off with his mistress and left the goods behind to settle the debt!"
The shouting stall owners looked at each other, frowning.
Wu Heng glanced back before continuing on.
This place was much livelier than a modern-night market, not just because of the strange goods being sold, but he also saw several groups having real fights.
But they were still somewhat restrained, only using fists and not drawing swords.
After walking around, he stopped at a stall.
The stall owner, a middle-aged man in leather armor, had herbs, beast horns, and five spears laid out in front of him.
The spearheads were metal, and the shafts were hardwood.
They were likely used by nearby villagers to fend off wild beasts.
Adventurers wouldn’t use wooden-shaft weapons, as they could easily be cut in half.
But they were quite effective against wild animals.
"How much for the spears?" Wu Heng asked.
The stall owner glanced up at him and replied, "Two silver coins each, or you can trade goods."
"I’ll take them all. Can you give me a discount?"
"All of them? What do you need so many for?" The stall owner looked up at him again.
"Just tell me if you can give me a discount!"
"Buy them all for ten silver, I’ll charge you nine," the stall owner said.
Wu Heng paid directly, buying all five spears.
Seeing him spend so freely, the stall owner offered, "If you see anything else you like, I’ll give you a discount if you take it all."
"Maybe next time."
Grabbing the spears, Wu Heng and the skeleton Basen carried them back to his place.
……
After dinner, Wu Heng had Skeleton Basen carry the spears and headed to the zombie world.
The familiar stench of decay hit him, oddly bringing a sense of returning to normalcy.
The human world was too complicated.
In the mining village mission, the mine owner turned out to be the mastermind, almost getting the entire investigation team killed.
The hardest thing to predict is human nature.
In the zombie world, there was no need to worry about such things.
Reaching the rooftop, the skeleton warriors stood upright in rows, with the skeleton dog running around, lacking any undead composure.
"Bring those bodies over," Wu Heng ordered.
The skeleton warriors moved, dragging the corpses over and tossing them at his feet.
There were four bodies in total, those who had attacked him in the mining village. He had picked a few to bring back.
Besides the bodies, there were also four iron swords, two crossbows, and some bolts.
These were worth quite a bit of silver.
Stripping the bodies of their armor and clothing, Wu Heng revealed a wolf-head-like tattoo on their skin.
They were likely mercenaries or gang members.
Only such organizations typically tattooed themselves with a unified symbol.
It was like naming a clan in a game—it helped with cohesion, identifying allies, and looked intimidating.
After a quick glance, he didn’t dwell on it.
It had nothing to do with him; if it was a big gang, they could take it up with Blackstone Town’s guards.
He cast 【Raise Skeleton】.
Flesh melted away, and four skeletons rose to their feet.
Two skeleton swordsmen and two skeleton crossbowmen.
The skeleton swordsmen were level six and level five, while the crossbowmen were both level five.
He took a closer look at the crossbowmen’s attributes.
【Skeleton Crossbowman】
【Level: 5 (0/3000)】
【Attributes: Constitution 12, Strength 14, Agility 14, Intelligence 9, Perception 8, Charisma 5.】
【Traits: Hollow Frame, Basic Soul.】
【Proficiency: Hunter’s Aim, Coordinated Attack.】
【Abilities: One-Handed Sword Proficiency (Basic), Crossbow Proficiency (Intermediate), Light Armor Proficiency (Intermediate), Lockpicking (Basic), Trap Disarming (Basic).】
【Hunter’s Aim: Focused aiming greatly increases accuracy.】
【Coordinated Attack: Extensive teamwork experience enhances group attack coordination.】
All four skeletons had basic souls, with pale blue flames flickering in their empty eye sockets.
The crossbowmen were specialized in crossbow usage.
Now he had a long-range unit.
The swordsmen’s attributes weren’t particularly special.
【Proficiency: Precision Swordsmanship.】
【Abilities: Two-Handed Sword Proficiency (Intermediate), Light Armor Proficiency (Intermediate), Medium Armor Proficiency (Intermediate).】
Not bad either.
Wu Heng looked at the four skeletons and said to the level six swordsman, "From now on, you’re Sword One."
Then he addressed the other swordsman and the crossbowmen, "You’re Sword Two, you’re Crossbow One, and you’re Crossbow Two."
The four skeletons nodded their heads.
With this, he now had six skeletons with souls.
Skeleton dog Teddy, skeleton thief Basen, and now Sword One, Sword Two, Crossbow One, and Crossbow Two.
"Go put on your armor and equip your weapons," Wu Heng ordered.
The four skeletons moved to the side, donning the armor they had been stripped of.