The king stoneworm had already left, but the trouble that was not much worse than the stone worm still remained on the Flaming Horn farms.
This beast didn’t break anything within the Flaming Horn tribe, and it also didn’t come out to scare anyone. It only creeped out at the same time every night to peel away a single grain from the thousand-grain gold plantation. It would hang upside down from the narrow leaves above and quietly observe the guards who were guarding the traps. No one knew how the beast hung so gently and firmly from the leaf with its heavy weight. The leaf didn’t even move much when the beast hung onto it.
After the bat leader left, Ao wiped away the sweat on his forehead and questioned Shao Xuan helplessly. Even though he had already encountered the bat leader a few times, he still couldn’t stay calm. He perspired heavily after every encounter and was always anxious.
Shao Xuan could sense where the bat leader was heading. Even though Shao Xuan couldn’t confirm where the bat leader landed, he could sense that it wasn’t far away from the Flaming Horn tribe. It did not return to the mountains and forest far away.
A few more days passed. The thousand grain gold in the plantations were slowly ripening, and they weren’t as green as before. They weren’t sure which factors affected the plants, but they ripened earlier than back then when they were on the other side of the sea. Was it the weather this year or the improved fertilisation? Perhaps these plants preferred the soil here more than the other side.
Judging by the current situation, the thousand grain gold would probably ripen in around ten days.
After he heard Ao’s question, Shao Xuan thought about it and said, “As long as it doesn’t trouble us, it would not be a big problem. You probably also noticed that less pests appeared after it came here.”
A lot of grains were ripening around this season, and this was usually the time they suffered from widespread infestation. A lot of strange insects would fly in from the forests, the ground, or places farther away. These insects ate leaves and fruits, so the people who were looking after the farms had to kill many of these insects everyday. Most of the edible insects were transported to the trading point, and the people at the headquarters were already tired of eating the same grilled insects everyday. The green ducks also couldn’t eat too much, so they couldn’t finish eating all the insects. The insects that were not edible were used to make fertiliser.
At least it was better in the daytime. They could at least see what was happening and it would be much more convenient to clean. At night, there were many problems to consider. Since the grains in the farm were ripening, many of the insects were attracted to the food. Their desire for the food was much stronger than their natural instinctive attraction to light, so it was a lot harder to catch them with the water moon stone traps.
However, since the bat leader appeared, almost no flying insects appeared during the night time, and it was a lot quieter than before. Many farmlands around the thousand grain gold plantation also experienced this issue, so it saved them from a lot of problems.
No one was sure whether the bat leader’s sudden appearance was a disaster or a blessing in disguise.
Of course, the bat leader didn’t come here to help the Flaming Horns scare away the insects. Shao Xuan felt like it was probably waiting for the thousand-grain gold to fully ripen.
Many beasts didn’t need anyone to teach them to know what was beneficial to them. The bat leader probably felt that the thousand-grain gold was beneficial to it.
On the Flaming Horn’s special farmland, besides the thousand-grain gold, there were also other seeds they got from Ji Ju’s place. Some of these grains were also high quality grains, but the bat leader didn’t get close to any of those plants. Its eyes were focused on the thousand-grain gold.
“Let’s see what happens when the thousand-grain gold ripens,” Shao Xuan said.
Ao nodded. “That’s the only thing we can do for now.” As long as the bat leader didn’t cause any trouble or cause the Flaming Horns to suffer a huge loss, they could afford to lose a small portion of their harvest. They considered it as payment for the bat leader’s service.
As they predicted the ripening time of the thousand-grain gold, the tribe had already begun their plan for the harvest. Back when they were on the other side of the sea, every harvest of the thousand-grain gold bustled with excitement. They planted a lot more crops here compared to their previous harvests, so they had to plan for a larger scale and consider everything carefully. Even though the harvest on the other plantations weren’t as impressive as the thousand-grain gold, they still had to plan carefully.
The problems about the harvest and the issue at the Great Bridge kept Shao Xuan so busy that he didn’t even have the time to keep studying the strange creature in the underground basement of the Flaming River Castle.
The Flaming River Trading Point didn’t get any quieter after the king stoneworm crisis. Instead, more people came and the trading point was filled with excitement.
The duration of the entire crisis didn’t even last long, or at least the time when it affected the trading point. The teams that left in a hurry didn’t even go far. Although some of them already walked far, they were merely waiting for news at a resting place.
They were all waiting for news of the Flaming River Trading Point’s destruction. Who would’ve thought that a miracle would happen on the river?
“Back then when the king beast emerged from the ground, all around, the forest turned into stone. So many people died! All of them turned into stone! The king beast was heading straight for the trading point. All of the Flaming Horn leaders were there. With their soldiers, they went right at the king beast.” Blah Blah Blah. The person continued to blabber on about how he saw everything with his own eyes.
Those who went to inquire about the situation came back and told stories with such vivid descriptions that left everyone in the team with surprised and stunned expressions.
The person who told the story stood on a giant rock. Droplets of saliva flew in the air as he spoke. A blade was attached to his side, and one of his hands pointed to the sky as he said, “I only heard the Grand Elder of the Flaming Horn tribe shout at the king beast. He said, ‘Follow me!’”
“And then? What happened next?” the others asked curiously.
“What? The king beast followed him, of course.”
The team was suddenly booed. They didn’t believe it. That was a king beast. There was no way it listened to a human’s orders and followed him. They just couldn’t believe it.
The person on the rock looked around him. Seeing how no one believed in his words, he was nervous. “If you don’t believe me, just go look for yourselves. Wherever the king beast walked, everything was turned into stone. The forest outside the Flaming River Trading Point was all turned into stone. The marks were still on the ground. You can see the stone trail left by the king beast. It extended from the forest to the Flaming River and even went across the river to the other side.”
“Really?”
“Why would I lie to you? Come, let’s go! I’ll bring you guys there to look. The king beast already left anyway. There’s no threat there. I’m guessing that it was all planned by the Flaming Horns. It’s all been planned!”
When these expedition teams arrived near the Flaming River Trading Point and saw all the petrified forests and stone trails, they finally believed what the person said. Even though some parts were exaggerated, some of it was true.
Many of these expedition team members beat their chests and stomped their feet. Why didn’t they stay a little longer at the Flaming River Trading Point back then?
As members of the expedition team, especially those with lots of experience, they were very curious about many things, especially terrifying facts. Too bad they missed this opportunity.
However, even though they missed the opportunity to see the king beast, they still saw the trails the beast left behind, so they didn’t feel as regretful.
That was why many expedition teams stopped by to look at the area where the King Stoneworm passed by, whether it be where the Flaming Horns put up their signs, or the giant bridge that extended across the Flaming River.
The people who left also spread this news across the entire continent.
The Flaming Horns were famous once again! Not just famous, they were even more famous compared to the time the trading point was first built. The terms “Flaming Horn”, “Flaming River Trading Point”, and the “Giant Bridge of the Flaming River” were all spread across the continent.
Now, everyone in the other trading points, as long as there were places for expedition teams to rest, people were talking about how the Flaming Horns used a king beast to build the “Giant Bridge”.
Trading Points existed in many places, so not many people were really interested in the Flaming Horn’s trading point. However, they were all curious about how a king beast created a long stone bridge that extended across a giant river, so all of them set up their teams and prepared to set off for the Flaming River.
Many teams rushed to the Flaming River Trading Point as soon as they heard the news of the Flaming Horn tribe using a king beast to their advantage. They were all curious about the miraculous bridge that the king beast built, so more people gathered around to witness the incident.
People were all influenced by herd mentality. Even though some of the smaller tribes were worried when they heard about the king beast, when they saw people crowding around the place, they also went to join the excitement. Before when there was no trading point beside the Flaming River, they would only stay within their own tribe or the forests nearby the area. However, since they heard about the trading point, they fell in love with the excitement and gossip, not to mention all the goods that were available there.
This was also the main reason behind all the excitement these few days.
Seven long winged birds flew above the forest nearby the Flaming River Trading Point. There was a person riding on each bird, and they were all observing the long grey stone bridge in front of them. Everyone’s face was shocked, except Wu He.
“Too bad you guys weren’t here to watch it happen. What a pity!” Wu He looked pitifully at his friends who had just arrived at the Flaming River Trading Point. He almost said, “How could you guys be called Chang Le’s?”
One of them lifted his eyebrow, as if he wanted to say something ironic. They were indeed quite unhappy that they couldn’t see the king beast build such a majestic bridge. This was really something they regretted. It was rare for them to encounter such an interesting event.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore, Wu He. What are your plans?” The other person was already tired of Wu He’s despicable character and how he liked to show off. They had just arrived, so there were still many things they didn’t know about. Seeing how Wu He was the first among them to arrive, he must know some things that they didn’t, and they desperately needed another topic to distract them from their current regret.
“My target is not the trading point. Let’s go to the Flaming Horn headquarters. Their farms should have quite some treasures by now,” Wu He smiled as he rubbed his hands together. His eyes were full of hope.
Recently, Wu He discovered that while many people’s attention was focused on the Flaming River Trading Point, the Giant Bridge, and the new area that the Flaming Horns claimed, something else was happening at the Flaming Horn headquarters. With his sharp intuition, he could tell that the Flaming Horns were planning something else, and it was not related to the other issues at the trading point or the giant bridge. He finally came to the conclusion that there were some treasures growing in the farms at the headquarters!
“Some treasures?” The eyes of the other few all brightened. After all, this was the season of harvest.
“Splendid! We finally have something to do!” Regardless of whether there was actually a treasure there, they had to go take a look and see for themselves. They didn’t want to just sit around.
“So we’re going there now?”
“Let’s just go look around for now,” Wu He patted the bird he was riding on and pointed at the farms in the Flaming Horn headquarters. “Go!” They didn’t dare to barge right into the central region of the Flaming Horn headquarters, but they could still approach the farms from the side. The farms at the Flaming Horn headquarters were massive. Even if the Flaming Horns noticed them, not many of the Flaming Horns could actually chase them away.
But……
After he gave his order, he waited for a while. The bird he was riding on didn’t move a single inch. It stayed at the same spot. It wasn’t just Wu He’s bird, but all six other birds behaved the same way.
“Go! Are you disobeying me?” Wu He continued to press on, and even slapped the bird on its back.
After a loud cry, the bird flew a short distance slowly and flapped its wings forcefully. It looked like it was not at all willing to fly there, and behaved even more scared than when it approached the king beast.
“What’s wrong?” someone asked.
“Coo!”
The long winged bird that Wu He was riding on cried out loud. This made Wu He even more perplexed. He frowned until his eyebrows were tightly arched.
“There’s something there that this bird is afraid of.” Wu He looked at the direction he planned to travel with a serious expression.
After he encountered the king beast’s incident, anything strange made him feel uneasy. Even though they wanted to find something fun to do, they still had to be cautious.
“Is it the giant eagle you mentioned before? The one the Flaming Horns tamed?” one of them speculated.
“No, it’s not him,” Wu He shook his head firmly, “Even though this bird is afraid of that eagle, there’s no reason for it to be THIS scared.”
Wu He patted the bird’s neck. The bird’s feathers were already on their ends, an expression of anxiety. He looked over at the other birds. They were all acting the same way.
“Have you discovered any of the Flaming Horn’s secrets during your time here?” someone beside Wu He asked.
Wu He moved his mouth, “The headquarters are too strict. It’s very different over there compared to the trading point. I haven’t even been here that long. How much can I know?”
“Don’t tell me it’s another king beast?” someone asked.
“Not very likely,” Wu He shook his head.
They were silent for a moment. Someone laughed, “Then we should really go and take a look.”
Everyone else laughed when they heard this.
This was the Chang Le people’s character. The more they didn’t know about something, the more curious they were. They wouldn’t rest if they didn’t find an answer to their doubts. The long winged birds’ reactions didn’t even make them forfeit their plan. Instead, it made them even more curious and excited. They thought to themselves, ‘If they didn’t see any king beasts, would it mean that something even more interesting was about to happen? Was it a secret the Flaming Horns kept?’ They could sell these information to other tribes for a high price.
As they thought about these, all they felt was pure joy. Hehehe……
