Chapter 172: Settlement on the Thirty-Fourth Day |
When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. In the end, the four merchants sold all their goods at a heart-wrenchingly low price, suffering a massive loss.
Of course, they also received this batch of various scrap iron salvaged from the cars.
Watching the four men leave, A'gu sensed something was wrong.
He immediately questioned, "What is the meaning of this? You're going back on your word!"
Cao Biansheng gave him a cool glance. "The one who promised you was Jia Liangcai. What does that have to do with me, Cao Biansheng? If you want to kill those people, go and have Jia Liangcai do it himself."
With his world-shaking intelligence, Cao Biansheng had easily figured out the crux of the matter. The core goal was to obtain supplies at a low price! Once the supplies were in hand, everything else was secondary.
A'gu finally learned the old man's name. "Jia Liangcai, Jia Liangcai... I remember now!"
Thirty years ago, the Yingzhou Chief Clerk who was wanted for treason was named Jia Liangcai! The wanted notice claimed this Jia Liangcai had colluded with them, the Rouran people.
Then wasn't he one of their own? How could he collude with these people to deceive him? Damn these Great Yong people, not a single one of them is any good!
The only thing that gave him some relief was that his identity as a Rouran person hadn't been exposed.
This made him feel a little better, at least these people kept their word... like hell!
Watching A'gu storm off angrily with his guards, Luo Gang clicked his tongue in amazement. He couldn't help but look at the old man with a scholarly air standing behind Qin Ziwen. From start to finish, this whole affair had basically been orchestrated by him.
That kid Cao Biansheng, foolishly played the part of the spearhead, yet thought himself incredibly clever.
Afterwards, the three parties began to evenly divide the goods purchased this time.
First, regarding the goods, the three parties split them equally, as everyone had contributed an equal amount of iron scrap for the trade.
Second, the two longbows. Since Qin Ziwen had played a major role in securing them at a preferential price, both other parties tacitly agreed the bows were his.
After putting away the two longbows, Qin Ziwen casually dropped a bombshell. "While communicating with him earlier, I learned some news. Over there, entities similar to ours have been appearing frequently in recent years. Given the scale of our building, we should still be far from reaching the point of 'frequent appearances'."
Zou Jianghe said, "So you suspect that besides us, there are other residential complexes."
Luo Gang stated, "No need to suspect, it's a certainty. Buildings from other complexes are also frequently making contact with this dynasty. I suspect that in the future, we might end up competing with other complexes, and it's even possible we'll all descend upon this dynasty."
"That can't be..." Zou Jianghe frowned. A systematized, ancient feudal dynasty with standardized professional soldiers was absolutely not comparable to beasts that only follow instinct.
If a large army pressed down upon them, forget about one residential complex, even if they doubled the number of people in the complex, resisting would be difficult.
"As far as I know, the royal family of the Great Yong Dynasty is aware of the cards and the existence of the Home."
These words were like dropping a heavy bomb.
Both men silently digested this information.
"Alright, since the trade is over, I'll take these goods back first."
Qin Ziwen returned to his residence with the goods.
This time, he had acquired a large quantity of cotton, cloth, and medicinal herbs.
Whichever you looked at, they were all useful at present.
Qian Muzhen was experiencing pain and joy. It was rare for the Master to bring back so many medicinal herbs, but the quantity was a bit overwhelming. He was so busy his feet hardly touched the ground. It was already quite late, and he was an old man after all. Staying up like this was a bit too much for him to handle!
Seeing this, Qin Ziwen called a few people to help, but because they weren't familiar with the herbs, they ended up causing more trouble for Qian Muzhen. In the end, he chased them all away.
It was almost ten o'clock, and Du Yu still hadn't returned. From the balcony came the sound of the Crowned Eagle landing; it had returned a step ahead.
Seeing the Crowned Eagle return alone, Qin Ziwen's heart sank.
Had something happened?
Upon seeing its master, the Crowned Eagle loosened its claws and dropped a piece of blood-stained cloth.
Qin Ziwen hurriedly picked it up.
"On the return journey, Yu encountered a Raptor blocking the path. After repeatedly driving it away to no avail, he killed it. Currently, both man and horse are exhausted and unable to drag it. Requesting the Master to bring people to assist."
The cloth seemed to be a torn corner from Du Yu's clothing. Perhaps due to the limited area, the message was written concisely.
"As long as he's safe."
Qin Ziwen immediately gathered a team, brought three wheelbarrows, and under the Crowned Eagle's guidance, the group hurried towards the south.
More than half an hour later, they found Du Yu and the Mongolian Horse behind a large rock.
Seeing its master, Chitu hurried over, eyes brimming with tears. It playfully nudged its head into Qin Ziwen's arms, then turned around, lifting its hoof to show Qin Ziwen its rough, worn-down horseshoe.
Seeing this scene, the Crowned Eagle overhead cawed angrily.
But soon, its caws were mixed with other sounds.
The sound similar to bat wings flapping grew increasingly dense overhead.
The Crowned Eagle descended, landing behind Qin Ziwen.
Although it wasn't afraid in a one-on-one fight, there were now hundreds of them overhead.
"Careful, Pterosaurs!" Qin Ziwen shouted.
The group formed a circle, raising their long spears.
Overhead, a large swarm of Pterosaurs, densely packed, circled like bats.
They were attracted by the Raptor's corpse.
Several Pterosaurs made tentative dives. When the spears thrust towards them, they decisively climbed back up.
Only one unlucky one failed to dodge in time. With the momentum of its own dive, it directly impaled its wing on a spear shaft, like a punctured window paper.
The Pterosaur struggled desperately on the spear shaft, its wing nearly slapping Yuan Ming in the face.
Qin Ziwu shouted, swung the spear, and slammed it—along with the Pterosaur skewered on it—onto the ground.
The Pterosaur, weighing only a little over ten pounds, couldn't withstand such a violent smash and fainted on the spot.
"Skreee!"
In the sky, the Pterosaurs were unwilling to give up their prey. They made threatening sounds, occasionally pretending to dive.
While maintaining their formation, Qin Ziwen and the others slowly advanced northward.
The stalemate lasted for a long time. The Pterosaurs seemed to realize the humans below were not easy to provoke. Continuing to delay would only waste energy. So, led by one Pterosaur, they flew away into the distance.
It was almost midnight by the time everyone returned to the residential complex.
Having been busy all day, they gradually dispersed and returned to their homes.
It's worth mentioning that the one blocking the road at night was also a Desert Raptor. Although its size was slightly smaller than the one hunted during the day, it still just met the requirement of weighing over twice the limit. Now, Du Yu's Dragon Hunter progress had reached two-tenths.
Du Yu handed the two newly obtained cards to Qin Ziwen. One was obtained from the southern altar, the other dropped from hunting this Desert Raptor.
The two cards were respectively: [Enhancement Card] Human Constitution Enhancement Card (One Star), [Expansion Card] Blank Expansion Card (Micro).
After taking the cards, Du Yu went to wash up. After hunting two dinosaurs during the day, he had taken some of their blood for a bath, leaving him with a strong, sticky, and uncomfortable bloody smell.
You have successfully survived safely in the wilderness for the thirty-fourth day. Obtained three cards, participated in hunting the Sarkastodon, traded some supplies... Comprehensive Score: 200 points.
Reward obtained: [Function Card] Level 2 Node Card*1.
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