Chapter 346 (1/2)

Silknose

From the sea?

Shao Xuan didn't understand. Unless the slave masters were mermaids- but that was practically impossible. They’d lived in the desert for so many years, how could they be aquatic beings? Even if it was from evolution, that would be a long process.

After hearing the old blind slave’s answer, Shao Xuan’s first reaction was disbelief, his second reaction? Still disbelief.

However, the slave said it with a serious face, which made Shao Xuan baffled.

“What does from the sea mean?” asked Shao Xuan.

The old slave shook his head, “I’m not too sure. I heard someone say it before, that the masters originated there.”

Shao Xuan was still filled with doubt, he thought about it and asked for a map. The map that Su Gu let Shao Xuan look at once was incomplete, Su Gu was from one of the three big cities, how could they not have a complete map there? Shao Xuan had hoped to get a complete map here.

The old slave didn’t know much about maps either. He lost his vision at a young age, a lot of the things he had memorized were from listening to people read. He had no clue where the documents with pictures were placed.

Even though he didn’t remember the exact location, he knew approximately where they were placed. He walked to a rack and pointed in a direction, “It should be around here, you can go look for it.” Even though he couldn’t see, he still remembered the location for most of the records.

Shao Xuan looked through the things carefully and finally found some animal skin scrolls that looked like maps.

“It has not been touched by anyone for years, be careful with it,” said the old slave.

The scrolls were old, even when they were continuously taken care of by people, the quality of the animal skin scroll wasn’t the best. A moment of carelessness would damage it.

The map on the scroll was simple, the ratios were also average at best. It only marked out the approximate areas of the cities and other important areas. The darker areas towards the edges were the sea.

Shao Xuan took note of this then put the map back in place.

Shao Xuan stopped only after flipping through some records.

The blind slave took some records and placed them under the sun. This was to prevent bugs and mold. Even though he couldn’t see anymore, he had done it long enough for it to be a simple task. He could still feel where the sunlight was.

“If you have nothing else to do, it is best for you to leave soon,” said the old slave.

“Mmm.” Shao Xuan didn’t plan to stay long anyway. He had many more things to do in Snow Plains City, he planned to leave soon.

“Do not wait until sunset. The security at night is much tighter than the day,” said the slave.

No wonder the pair he saw earlier came out during the day to fool around, not the night.

“Ok.” Shao Xuan thanked the old slave. He saw the record the slave was carefully holding that was made of a different type of material.

From the old slave’s tone, Shao Xuan could feel that the slave didn’t think kindly of the masters, he may have even idolized the rebels in history. It was such a pity the records were only left there to gather dust. The slave with such an ability to memorize things would have been successful in academia if he had lived in a more stable and modern time.

What a pity.

“How did you lose your vision?” After Shao Xuan asked the question, he felt a sense of guilt as it didn’t seem appropriate to ask it. It was as if he was picking at someone’s old scar.

Seeing that there was no response, Shao Xuan was going to change the topic but the old slave replied calmly, “When I was a young boy, I became the Snow Plains Lord’s slave with the others. Once, I looked one too many times at his notes. You see, he was in a bad mood that day so he got very angry and I got punished.”

The old slave still remembered that day clearly. After the lord stabbed his eyes, he threw him into these stone rooms and even said, “You like to read don’t you, I’ll let you read all you want!”

The blind slave couldn’t read any of the scripts but he begged others to read it to him. He eventually memorized them and when he was bored he would recite them.

Shao Xuan winced and felt immense pity.

Before he left, Shao Xuan wanted to leave some herbs for the old slave. He didn’t have any to strengthen one’s overall health but he had some for external injuries.

The old slave rejected it.

“You need it more,” said the old slave.

“You……” Shao Xuan looked at the ill old man, if he continued living like this, even without the pain from his illness, his time here was nearing its end.

“I do not have many days left anyway,” said the old slave as he waved his hand, “Go along. Right, you need to beware of the silknose.”

“What is the silknose?”

“It is a type of desert beast that they raise in Snow Plain City. It ain’t large and is usually hidden in the palace. They have an acute sense of smell, do not let it notice you. Very few escape when they do,” said the old slave.

“Ever since I sneaked into the palace, I haven’t encountered one,” said Shao Xuan.