Chapter 705 – The Bone Eating Tribe, an Egg’s Flash (1/2)

Gold earrings lead the group of merchants. After entering through the city gates, they were like a droplet of water that had dripped into a lake. They vanished very quickly. Over a dozen days later, they finally emerged again.

Gold earrings was still at the front. He had changed into a brand-new set of clothes, and his hair and beard had been combed again. He was brimming with joy, but it definitely was not because he had gotten some good sleep and a hot shower in the city. It was because the profits from this trip had greatly exceeded his expectations.

The “patterned bundle” of unknown function made it into the monthly auction of Fragrant Flower market and fetched a lofty price of a hundred taels of gold. Right now, that sum weighed heavily in the bag beside him. Even until now, he did not understand the function of the patterned bundle. During the auction, they only announced that it hid an ancient, precious treasure, but even the most powerful masters with the sharpest blades could not leave a single scratch on it.

When he thought of that, he could not help but feel a tinge of regret. If he had known earlier, he could have handled it properly, and it definitely would have fetched an even higher price. However, the people who were interested in purchasing the patterned bundle were all people he could not afford to offend. If he were in Goldie fort, then perhaps, but in the Fragrant Flower market, he dared not cause any trouble, or there would most likely be problems on the way back.

Just losing his items would be considered lucky. He would probably lose his life too. With a corpse casually tossed aside in the jungle, the smell of blood would draw over all the creatures and animals within several kilometers. Even his bones would be gone in a mere few hours.

Right now, at least he could return peacefully. Although he carried a lot of gold and silver on him, he could deal with all the people that treasured gold and silver. Even if he could not deal with them, he still had the deterrence from Goldie fort. Basically nobody would want a grievance like that over some gold and silver. Of course, there were a lot of people who did not even take Goldie fort seriously, but these people would not treasure mere gold and silver.

He called to the group behind, “Men, stop being so mute. Get singing!”

“Alrighty, uncle Bao!”

The group happened to be in high morale. The shortest and most capable man began singing at the top of his voice, “Hey, oh hey, roaming the mountains and seas with bare feet hey! Run into a mountain, just cross through the caves! Run into water, just slosh through the waves! Run into the sky, just don’t look back! Hey, oh hey!”

The loud singing pierced the clouds. Smiles filled all of their faces as the entire group began singing. On the ancient, frequently-travelled path, they did not have to worry about running into any powerful daemonic beasts, and the singing could instead alarm everything around them and scare off wild beasts.

Although the Mist province was known as a land of savagery, the common people who grew up in the wilderness were known for their singing and dancing. They were not cultured with etiquette and courtesy, but etiquette and courtesy did not bind them either. They were closer to the simplicity and naturalness of human ancestors dancing around the fire. Regardless of their gender or age, they could all sing a few songs. From a certain perspective, this was their culture and legacy.

However, this joyous atmosphere came to an end during the dusk on the fourth day. They had just crossed through a mountain stream, and the surrounding vegetation became denser than before. The towering trees that had grown for who knew how many millennia listened to their singing silently.

Suddenly, Gold earrings noticed that something was amiss. The silence in the forest was a little chilling, and the docile back beast underneath him looked around uneasily. He waved his hand, wanting to stop the singing and listen for any disturbances quietly.

Swish!

A rock pierced the throat of the short man who sang the loudest, making his singing come to a stop first.