A minute and a half later, Goldie A’bao leapt out of the hot spring and put on a new basket. The threat of death and the desire to grow stronger impelled him.
“Find a larger courtyard and buy as much livestock as you can from the market. You can deal with the issue of money. Check where the people of Black Water cave are right now as well. Understood?”
“I understand!”
Goldie A’bao rushed through the city. Borrowing a large sum of money to buy a courtyard and livestock in such a short amount of time was not easy. However, he had been a merchant for many years, so his connections spanned far and wide. He arrived in a gambling house and found an “old friend”, borrowing a great sum of money using the gilded name of Goldie fort.
From how desperate he seemed, his “old friend” set the interest rate at a maddening rate. His debt would double with each passing month. Goldie A’bao frowned and agreed reluctantly. Now was not the time to haggle over this. As long as he survived the upcoming crisis and became a powerful shaman, he would have as much gold and silver as he wanted. Even refusing to pay back the debt would be very easy.
In the passing, he asked his “old friend” about the whereabouts of the people from Black Water cave. Sure enough, they had departed from the Fragrant Flower market the day before yesterday to return to Black Water cave.
Li Qingshan was not disappointed. Even if he were in possession of the Asura Field right now, he could not refine it, so he was in no hurry to retrieve it. Knowing where it was was enough.
After defeating the Bone Eating tribe tonight, they would retreat in the face of difficulty. By then, Li Qingshan planned on resting for a while. Once he had recovered some of his strength, taking back the Asura Field from Black Water cave would be as easy as winking.
Afterwards, Goldie A’bao went straight to the market. He purchased every single living thing he could see, but of course, that was excluding humans. The city also had slave vendors. Goldie A’bao did not mind “eating people”, but the price of slaves was rather high. They were not particularly worth it.
By noon, an isolated courtyard in the west of the city had been filled with the cries of various livestock. Horses whinied, donkeys brayed, goals bleated, and cows mooed. Even the sturdy pack animals of unknown name amounted to a dozen or two.
“Please do it, sir!” Goldie A’bao said eagerly, his face glowing with red light.
In the past, Goldie A’bao would have never imagined that buying some livestock could turn him into a powerful shaman no matter what. An opportunity like this did not come about easily.
Li Qingshan stood on the eaves. His tiny body seemed to grow a little taller, and his scarlet hair had already reached his ears. Sunlight poked through the cracks between the leaves, shimmering on his face. He squinted his eyes gently, which had very long eyelashes. He completely ignored the cries from the animals and Goldie A’bao’s voice.
Goldie A’bao urged, “Sir A’yue!”
“A’bao, do you think it was good fortune to meet me?” Li Qingshan looked over and smiled, revealing a set of pure-white teeth. Two sharp fangs began to demonstrate their future shape.
“Of course. If it weren’t for you, sir, I would be dead already. I’ll use my life to pay back your kindness!”
“There might be a bit of danger tonight.” Li Qingshan’s ruby-like eyes seemed to pierce through time, seeing the future.
“I’m not afraid of danger!” Goldie A’bao said firmly.
Goldie A’bao was not truly unafraid of danger, but he did know that sir A’yue required him right now, so he should not let him face too much danger. If he actually faced danger by then, could he not just run away?
“Yeah, devouring the life force of a Bone Eating shaman is much better than devouring these livestock. Benefits come from danger!”
Goldie A’bao said, “I’ll definitely get some payback tonight!”
“Then let’s begin!”
The sun dipped towards the west bit by bit, and the cries of the animals gradually thinned out before coming to an end for good.
By dusk, Goldie A’bao stood among a pile of corpses, his face filled with excitement. He was at least a head taller than before, and his face did not have a single wrinkle. His hair had all turned black. His muscles swelled like they were about to explode, and his body was filled with explosive power.
“Bury all the corpses, adjust to your power, and prepare for battle!”
“Yes!”
Dusk came to an end, and the noisy Fragrant Flower market quietened down. Apart from a few brothels, darkness was everywhere.
The stars were glorious, twinkling silently.
There were still a few squads patrolling the city walls, but they all yawned lazily. The safety of the Fragrant Flower market was not dependent on them. Their primary purpose was only to discover any fires in the city in time.
Soon after a group of guards had passed by, a few black figures scaled the walls and directly leapt into the city. These tall walls were basically non-existent to them. Before long, all of the Bone Eating shamans had infiltrated the place.
“Chief, the city is filled with his scent. What do we do?”
This place was different from the jungle. There were far too many humans and a mixture of scents. Coupled with the smells from the various spices, tracking him down became very difficult.
“We’ll split up and search for him! He can’t wash away his natural odour!”
The Bone Eating chief issued an order, and the shamans scattered.
Fragrant Flower market was not large. There were only four proper main streets, shaped like a box. With the Bone Eating shamans’ sharp sense of smell, around a hundred people was enough to search through the entire place. As long as they were close enough, even spices could not cover up his natural odour.
A Bone Eating shaman entered a gloomy alleyway before suddenly stopping. He sniffed with his nose. Within the heavy fragrance was a familiar scent. He could not help but smile viciously. The scent rapidly drew closer, and a gust of wind rushed down from above.
Goldie A’bao leapt down and pinned down the Bone Eating shaman firmly. The Bone Eating shaman let out a deep growl, which was the sound they would make when they found their prey during hunting. His voice was deep enough to not startle too many people, but it was enough for the other Bone Eating shamans to hear him clearly. None of them wanted to alarm the Fragrant Flower clan in Fragrant Flower market.
All of the Bone Eating shamans heard the disturbance and gathered over quickly. They only needed a moment to tear Goldie A’bao apart.
Goldie A’bao was soaked in cold sweat, and his blood seemed to freeze. Fear began to fill him uncontrollably. His opponents were Bone Eating shamans that had eaten the entire merchant group after all. Although he had become much stronger now, killing a Bone Eating shaman was anything but easy.
Li Qingshan extended his head out of the basket and pressed his hand on the Bone Eating shaman’s forehead.
By the time the other Bone Eating shamans arrived, only a withered corpse remained on the ground.
The Bone Eating chieftain said after an inspection, “His life force has been drained through extremely strange means. It’s no wonder that barbarian from Goldie fort is growing stronger and stronger. The baby is behind it all!”
At this moment, another deep growl rang out in the distance. They went over there to check, and there was another corpse of a Bone Eating shaman on the ground!
Before long, three Bone Eating shamans had been reduced to withered corpses.
As the power surged into him again and again, Goldie A’bao’s fear turned into ravishing joy. Under Li Qingshan’s orders, he rushed through the streets and alleyways. The blood in him boiled and burned. The Bone Eating shamans that had once brought him great fear had now become his prey. He was only waiting for a Bone Eating shaman to appear before him so that he could lunge over.
At the very beginning, he was only able to maintain a stalemate, waiting for Li Qingshan to take action and kill them, but now, he directly overwhelmed them. If it were not for the sake of devouring their life force, he could have even directly killed some of the weaker Bone Eating shamans.
Li Qingshan’s senses could completely overwhelm the Bone Eating tribe, grasping their movements perfectly. He could even tell who was stronger and who was weaker, fighting weak points to defeat them one by one. It was as easy as it could get. In the beginning, there was still a little bit of risk, but as Goldie A’bao grew stronger and stronger, the risk became smaller and smaller.
The Bone Eating shaman priest said, “Chief, gather everyone together!”
The Bone Eating chieftain was furious. Who knew how many years it had been since he suffered losses like this. He let out a strange, deep growl, and all the Bone Eating shamans converged together.
Li Qingshan ordered Goldie A’bao to stop and maintain his distance from them. If they were gathered together, they could not look for them, but they would face sneak attacks if they scattered. It was already checkmate!
However, he let out a gentle sigh. The true game had only just begun!
At this moment, the Bone Eating shaman priest’s sunken, hoarse voice drifted out slowly with the night wind, “Barbarian, you’ve killed so many of our tribesmen, so aren’t you afraid of revenge? Hand over the baby, and we’ll spare your life! Otherwise, we’ll butcher everyone and anything in Goldie fort. Your parents, siblings, wife, children, and clansmen will all die, and they will die in great agony!”
The voice was not loud, but it was extremely distinct in the quiet city. Goldie A’bao’s hearing had become extremely sharp, so his face changed immediately. All of his joy vanished. Although Goldie Fort had a shaman priest, they definitely stood no chance against the entire Bone Eating tribe.
Li Qingshan thought, Sure enough, all the bad people in the world are basically the same. If they can’t deal with you, they’ll use the people around you to threaten you! When Goldie A’bao set foot on the path of opposing the Bone Eating tribe, this was a problem he had to face.
“You don’t need to harm him. He’s very feeble right now, so he’s not your opponent. If you hand him over to us, you don’t have to worry about any revenge. I’ll count down from ten to let you consider. If you don’t reply, we’ll turn around and head to Goldie fort right now. Ten…”
The Bone Eating shaman priest’s tone fluctuated about, filled with an eerie temptation and pressure.
“Sir A’yue… what do I do?” Goldie A’bao asked with difficulty.
Goldie A’bao understood that if he truly possessed the power to kill these Bone Eating shamans, there was no need for him to use sneak attacks at all.
Li Qingshan said calmly, “Right now, there’s nothing you can do. We still don’t have the power for an open confrontation with them. However, you better think through it clearly. You’ve killed their people, so will they really spare you and your clansmen?”
“If it weren’t for you, why would I have…”
“If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead already. It’s not me who wants to kill your clansmen either!”
Li Qingsahn interrupted and shook his head. He was still a merchant after all! If he were a warrior, he would definitely fight until the end and fend off threats with threats. His career as a merchant that spanned several decades made him much shrewder than regular barbarians, knowing how to evaluate trade-offs and go with the flow, but it also made him lose his boldness and courage.
“Sorry, I’ve misspoken!”
Li Qingshan said, “You don’t need to apologise. I understand your difficulties. You have to decide on your path yourself. Even if you betray me, I’m not going to hate you!”
By now, the Bone Eating shaman priest had already reached “five”.
Four, three, two, one!
“Alright, I’ll hand him over to you. Don’t come over here, or I’ll kill him, and you won’t get anything. You need to swear in the name of your ancestors that you won’t harm me or my clansmen!”
