Anyhow, based on Lin Jin’s observation, Arid Continent was still the same as it had been several hundred years ago. There was not even an ounce of change.
Daojun’s arrangement clearly failed and this wasn’t something his idea could fix. But now that Lin Jin was here, he could investigate why that was the case. Even after Daojun had left them the Four Ocean Gourd, Arid Continent was still deserted and dangerous as before.
The hieroglyphic only mentioned a rough location, saying the treasure could be found at Arid Continent’s Five Palm Mountain.
Lin Jin found a tiny village at the mountain’s base. Intrigued, he descended to the ground.
He planned to gather some information from the villagers.
This place looked like a desert with only a handful of oases dotting the landscape. The village was built near one of these oases and appeared rather aged.
There weren’t many houses too. There were about eight at most. It was small, even by village standards.
Lin Jin entered the village and saw no one. The ground was largely made of gravel, and there would be random tufts of dried grass sticking up. The houses were constructed from wood, mixed with mud and dried grass. They didn’t look sturdy at all and would probably collapse from a single strike.
To his surprise, an old man emerged from the structure. Upon seeing Lin Jin, his eyes lit up and he went approached the stranger
The old man seemed to be in his sixties. He had a scrawny build, and his hair was unkempt. God knows how long it had been since his clothes were last washed. Due to the sandy wind of Arid Continent, there appeared to be a layer of dust caked onto the old man’s face.
This alone, told Lin Jin how hard life was for the people living in this region.
Lin Jin saluted him, but the old man pulled out a knife and with a swift motion, he held it up to Lin Jin’s throat.
“Looks like we have a fat sheep o’er here!”
The man spoke with a thick accent, and it sounded almost as if he was yodeling. The next instant, more than a dozen of men emerged from the rundown houses and tall bushes. Their physical builds varied but everyone was wearing tattered clothing so they resembled beggars more than anything else.
However, these people clearly weren’t beggars. Would beggars be armed with knives and axes, wearing hostile expressions?
Besides the humans, there were a few other bony dogs. These hounds appeared to be a local breed, due to their unusually large heads and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Compared to regular mutts, these looked exceptionally gnarly.
In an instant, Lin Jin was surrounded.
Three sharpened knives were pointed at him. One was placed against his stomach, one at the back of his waist, and another one pointed in his general direction. The dogs came over and started sniffing him.
A regular person would have been frightened out of their wits in this situation.
Lin Jin was doing fine. Due to the fruits of his labor, the Five Element Armor that was invisible to the naked eye was constantly activated. An ordinary blade couldn’t possibly harm him.
Lin Jin found it amusing. Instead of moving, he glanced at the menacing men and asked, “Gentlemen, judging by your outfit and appearance, you must be bandits who rob for a living, yes?”
Just then, one of the men with a meaty face and a large beard hollered, “Cut the crap! Consider yerself unlucky today fer havin’ the audacity to barge into our Bull Village. If you know what’s good fer you, leave all of yer money and gold behind, or else…”
Before he could finish, a dopey man interrupted, “Boss, this guy isn’t carrying any luggage so I don’t think he’s got any money!”
“Do I look blind to you?!” Irritated, the boss barked at his subordinate before glaring at Lin Jin. “Seeing how yer dressed like a fruitcake, you must be from a rich family. Write a letter home and have yer family send two hundred… no, five hundred taels. Once they hand over the money, we’ll let you go. If you don’t have money, then I’m sorry to say that we’re gunna have to turn you into braised meat. Been a long time since we tasted meat, y’know?”
Having said that, he burst out laughing and the other men joined in.
“Hahaha!”
Lin Jin laughed too.
His laughter drowned out their voices, immediately stunning the boss and his men into silence.
The next instant, Lin Jin grabbed one of their axes and with the pinch of his fingers, the ax shattered into pieces.
The old man holding the ax was dumbstruck.
“Brothers! Toughen up! Release the hounds!” commanded their boss, who was the first to regain his senses. Someone quickly blew a whistle afterward.
This item was used to control the hound beasts. Whenever the whistle blew, the hounds would immediately attack the enemy.
However, no matter how many times they blew on it, the hounds seemed to be pressed against the ground by a large hand. With their heads lowered, and their posture hugging the ground, it appeared as if not a single one of them dared to stand up.
“You gotta be kiddin’ me!” said the boss as he raised his ax to attack Lin Jin.
***
A chilly breeze blew from the northwest.
As sand grains were lifted into the air by the breeze, the ground was littered with broken axes and blades. Some were so badly twisted, one could hardly tell what these things were.
The boss and his men crouched down on the ground, quivering in fear as their hugged their heads with their arms. This posture was taught to them by that young master and they dared not disobey his order. After being effortlessly beaten down, the boss and his men were ashamed to find that they had been snookered.
Fortunately, the man spared their lives. He just instructed them to stay in this position while answering his questions.
He asked where this place was, which part of Arid Continent was this, and if they had heard of Five Palm Mountain before.
The boss answered every single question obediently.
They were frightened.
They would have wet their pants a long time ago, had it not been for their dehydration, which was evidence of how dry this place was.
These men all feared death.
Surviving at Arid Continent was a challenge, and those who managed to live on would never accept death this easily.
Five Palm Mountain was famous in Arid Continent, not because it had a gorgeous view, but because it was the nest for the Water God Cult. Water the scarce in Arid Continent, but it just so happened that the Water God Cult controlled the largest source of water on the continent. If one wanted to drink water, they had to seek out the Water God Cult. Be it the small countries of the continent or poor civilians like the boss and his men, everyone was the same.
When Lin Jin heard the boss addressing themselves as ‘poor civilians’, he sniggered on the inside.
To think these shameless men who survived by harming innocent people would start calling themselves poor civilians after running into trouble.
Still, Lin Jin didn’t plan on doing anything to them.
They were just ordinary people who didn’t know spells nor martial arts. Malnourished and dehydrated, they looked no different from refugees.
Even their dogs were barely average.
With Lin Jin’s current capabilities, there was no need for him to give these men trouble. What’s more, these guys had suffered enough, so it was pointless for him to make their lives harder.
As for Five Palm Mountain and the Water God Cult, Lin Jin contemplated.
Daojun’s Hieroglyphic never mentioned a Water God Cult, so in other words, this cult only appeared after Daojun passed away. The boss’s answer almost confirmed his suspicion. According to him, the Water God Cult was established several hundred years ago.
A few hundred years was quite long. Judging by the current state of Arid Continent, the Water God Cult was undoubtedly a tyrannical organization. According to the boss, they had total control over the water source, and the people’s lives depended on the whims of the cult. This alone, proved how much power the cult had over this land.
