“Don’t worry, they’ll slow down very soon!”
Li Qingshan said unworriedly. He had never treated these Bone Eating shamans as any sort of opponent. If they really caught up, he could directly abandon Goldie A’bao, and he would be free to go anywhere. Could a mere group of shamans lock onto his scent?
However, he would lose his means of transport, and it would be much more troublesome for him when he looked for the Asura Field. At the end of the day, his appearance as a child still brought much inconvenience, which was why he played around with him for now, waiting for some more time to pass, and he recovered some of his strength. By then, he would go knocking on their doors and make them bleed one by one!
Sure enough, the Bone Eating shamans stopped. Something happened to them!
Goldie A’bao noticed something. “It’s the place we detoured around!”
A huge, multicoloured toad crouched by a pond, blocking the path of the Bone Eating shamans. It gave off faint daemon qi, and its bubble-like eyes locked firmly onto them.
……
“We’re finally back!”
Standing outside the city gates of the Fragrant Flower market, Goldie A’bao exhaled deeply. He entered the city quickly, refusing to remain out there for even a second longer.
A while later, the Bone Eating shamans arrived too. They hid in the jungle and gazed at the city gates from afar. They were extremely furious. They had killed the toad monster after so much difficulty, even losing two tribesmen in the process, who disintegrated in the blink of an eye due to poison, yet they could not even eat the baby now.
“Chief, they’ve entered the city. What do we do?”
The expression of the Bone Eating chieftain was viciously twisted. He was tempted to rush right in, capture that barbarian from Goldie fort, skin him alive, and eat the baby alive. If it were a few years ago, he definitely would have done exactly that. The Fragrant Flower clan was rather powerful, but there was nothing they could do. However, it was different now.
“The damned women of the Fragrant Flower clan have ties with the White Lotus cult. We cannot barge in blindly!” the Bone Eating shaman priest said.
He understood that the Bone Eating tribe could run amok freely in the rainforest, but compared to the White Lotus cult, they were merely a small insect that could be squatted to death at any time.
When the White Lotus cult first established a branch here, many shaman tribes that refused to submit were destroyed overnight. The Bone Eating tribe was able to emerge unscathed not because they were powerful, but because of the exact opposite. They were too weak. They did not even have a person that had undergone the first heavenly tribulation, so they were completely beneath the White Lotus cult’s attention. If they wanted to live long and thrive, they had to understand that certain things could not be provoked!
The Bone Eating chieftain looked back and said sternly, “Are we supposed to just spare them like this?”
“Of course not. Once it’s night, we’ll infiltrate the city and leave as soon as we capture them. Even those damned women probably won’t fall out with us over something like this. If worst comes to worst, we’ll just admit our wrongdoings to them. As long as you eat the baby and undergo the heavenly tribulation, chieftain, you’ll be able to become an altar lord of the White Lotus cult. The Fragrant Flower market will become ours too.”
The Bone Eating chieftain’s expression eased up. “Alright, we’ll do that then! There are ten or twenty thousand people in the city at the very least. When that day comes, we’ll let our children feast to their heart’s content. Let’s see who can still stop us!”
“Alright!” The Bone Eating shamans roused with enthusiasm.
Little did they know that Li Qingshan heard their entire conversation, word for word, from the basket. He pouted. “They sure do know how to seek death!”
“What’s the matter, sir?” Goldie A’bao’s ear twitched, and he asked softly.
Li Qingshan repeated what the Bone Eating shamans had said, and Goldie A’bao paled in fright. Originally, he thought the Bone Eating shamans would shrink back due to the difficulties as long as they entered the Fragrant Flower market. He never thought they would actually be willing to take on such great risks.
This was not because Goldie A’bao was not shrewd enough, but purely because his status had been too low, and his experiences had been too limited. In the world that he used to live in, there was not a single barbarian who dared to cause trouble in the Fragrant Flower market, or only death would be awaiting them. This led to the false impression that the Bone Eating tribe was afraid of entering the city. However, he failed to anticipate just how great of a temptation Li Qingshan was to the Bone Eating tribe.
“What do we do? No, we have to seek protecting from the Fragrant Flower house!” Goldie A’bao said. The Fragrant Flower house was the central region of Fragrant Flower market, the residential area of the Fragrant Flower clan.
“And why would they protect you? As long as the Bone Eating tribe is willing to pay the price, the Fragrant Flower clan might just sell you out immediately!”
Li Qingshan sneered. Although Goldie A’bao had obtained some life force, he had only barely left the realm of mortals. Throughout the cultivation community, he belonged at the very bottom. Faced with the pressure of the Bone Eating tribe, he would be dreaming if he thought the Fragrant Flower clan would do everything to protect him, unless he was called Xianghua A’bao.
TL: As mentioned before, the people of the Mist province (at least for this place) have a habit of taking the name of their tribes, forts, villages, and so on as their surname. Unfortunately, Fragrant Flower is a little too much of a mouthful for a surname, so I’ll use the Chinese pinyin, Xianghua, for the surnames.
Goldie A’bao was rendered speechless. “T- then we’ll keep running!”
“I can guarantee you that you won’t be able to run even ten kilometers!”
Goldie A’bao’s face whitened. Originally, he thought he had escaped alive, but he did not expect to have walked into dire straits. As soon as he remembered that the people of the Bone Eating tribe were waiting right outside, ready to take his puny life as soon as it was night, even the raucous human activity was unable to give him any sense of safety.
“Moreover, we still have to look for the people from Black Water cave, so why would we run? Turn left up ahead!” Li Qingshan said.
Hearing how unfazed he was, Goldie A’bao eased up slightly inside. He moved to the left. “Sir, you’ve come to the Fragrant Flower market before?”
“Yeah, when I was still an egg, didn’t I come here once with you?”
After undergoing nirvā?a rebirth, Li Qingshan’s body was still very feeble, but his senses had become even sharper than before. Throughout the entire city, even the fluttering of an insect could not escape from his ears.
People flowed along the main streets, the sounds of hawking rang out endlessly, and the fragrance of roast meat constantly wormed into his nostrils. The city was not large, but it was clearly very prosperous. Barbarians in various attires with unique accents converged together from everywhere, which made Li Qingshan feel like he was on a cultural tour through the ethnic groups of China. He observed the culture and scenery of the Mist province with interest.
Goldie A’bao, on the other hand, was not in such a great mood. He walked hurriedly for a while, and a strange fragrance filled the air. The entire street was filled with spice vendors.
Spices were vital resources in the Mist province. They could keep sicknesses, miasma, and poisonous insects at bay, and the Fragrant Flower clan was known for their ability to produce spices!
“Buy some spices commonly used by barbarians!”
Under Li Qingshan’s guidance, Goldie A’bao wandered through the city, basically travelling through every single street there was. In the end, with a handful of newly-bought clothes, he arrived in front of a hot spring bath. The Fragrant Flower market was close to the volcanic cluster, so it was very easy for them to dig out hot springs.
Goldie A’bao immediately understood what was happening. He was trying to get him to wash away his smell before covering it up with spices. No matter how sensitive the noses of the Bone Eating shamans were, they would struggle to find him among so many people.
……
Goldie A’bao lowered his exhausted body into the burning spring water. He immediately felt all of his pores open up and moan. He invited Li Qingshan, asking, “Sir, aren’t you going to have a wash too?”
Li Qingshan stood on the side of the hot spring with his hands on his hips. “I’ll give you three minutes. Once you’re clean, get up here. We still have things to do!”
“What things?”
“We’ve been chased for such a long time, so it’s about time for us to show them what’s what!”
“How am I the Bone Eating shamans’ opponent?” Goldie A’bao smiled bitterly. His strength had swelled, but he had not lost his head.
“Not right now, but you will be at night!” The corner of Li Qingshan’s lips curled.
“A minute and a half is enough for me!”
