Chapter 705

Chapter 705

"Fragrant Flower market" was called a market, but grey walls that stood several meters tall surrounded it . People flowed through the streets, and the structures stood row after row . It was clearly quite a large scale city, which was rare in the Mist province . Countless villages and tribes within several hundred kilometers engaged in trade there .

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 .

Gold earrings had spent many years in this line of business, so he thought through everything very thoroughly . The only small pity was he had failed to sell the stone egg, which was still in his bag right now . After all, not all businesses could be successful . Having reached his age, he had grown accustomed to this type of failure . It was unable to influence his mood .

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 .

"Powerful enemies!" Gold earrings immediately concluded . Despite his martial arts and being alert, he failed to see which tree the rock had shot over from . With a swish, he drew the blade on his waist and called out at the top of his lungs, "Goldie is here!"

This was a way that merchants from Goldie's fort expressed their identities . No one within a range of several hundred kilometers did not know about it . However, the resonant voice seemed to lose its original penetrative power . Heavy murderousness permeated the surroundings with the night mist, approaching the group step by step . The pack beasts whinnied fearfully . The enemy either did not know about them, or they did not care .

"We're from Goldie fort! May I ask which cave or village these friends are from? Please come out so that we can talk! Whether you want money or goods, it's all up for discussion!"

Dark-green eyes lit up in the gloomy forest . The tree leaves rustled, and figures emerged . Gold earrings' face immediately changed . He exclaimed, "The Bone Eating tribe!"

These figures only seemed half-human, where the other half was beast-like . They were bulky and covered in thick hair . Their arms draped down towards the ground, and all ten fingers were sharp claws . A pair of sharp fangs were exposed from their lips . Even with their backs arched, they were taller than regular people . The bulkiest monster extended his bright-red tongue and licked his nose . He said with a hoarse, unpleasant voice, "We want people!"

With that, he lunged over with a gust of wind . Gold earrings swung his blade and slashed his shoulder, but it felt like he had struck the tough skin of a rhinoceros . He only managed to scratch the surface of the skin before he was pushed down to the ground viciously .

Even he was so helpless, so his subordinates were even worse off . They were subdued right off the bat . They seemed like they had no intentions of killing anyone, but when Gold earrings recalled the rumours regarding the Bone Eating tribe, his heart directly sank .

However, this was no longer a situation a practitioner of martial arts like him could handle . Even real "shamans" or "sorcerers" would struggle to escape alive, as these monsters were "shamanfolk" .

The pack beasts were directly slain, producing miserable cries . The bags and rucksacks were ripped open and pieces of gold scattered into the bushes, but they could not even attract a second glance from these monsters . What they wanted were people!

The Bone Eating tribe specially hunted down other people and practised cannibalism, but it was not for the sake of filling their bellies . Instead, it was to strengthen themselves through shamanistic techniques . The more people they ate, the greater their power became, and the more twisted and vicious their appearance and personality would become . But in the great jungle where the strong were revered, no one would prioritise appearance and virtue over strength .

When regular barbarians faced shamanistic tribes, they stood absolutely no chance . The merchant group was pressed down on the side of the path, forming a row . The monster who had said "we want people" earlier began to choose . He grabbed Gold earrings by an ear and ripped the entire ear off . He tossed it into his mouth and chewed away . "It's too tough!"

After deliberating for a while, he finally chose the youngest one . He picked him up and bit down on his neck, sucking hard . Only after he was basically done with sucking did he begin chomping away . The other monsters choose their targets too, throwing themselves on top of them and eating away . For a moment, there was only the sound of chewing in the forest .

Unlike their crude and vicious appearances, they ate extremely carefully, wasting none of the flesh and blood . Every single droplet of blood would be sucked dry before it hit the ground . Even the bones had been forcefully crunched up and eaten .

Gold earrings, who had been deemed as "too tough", was fortunate enough to avoid the banquet's first round . As he gazed at the nightmarish scene, his entire body stiffened, completely immobilised . He noticed a flash from the corner of his eye, only to see a ring of scarlet light appear from the bush . The stone egg that had been appraised as a regular rock was currently glowing as if something was trying to hatch through the shell .

Just what monster was it this time!?