Chapter 552: A Different Kind of Scenery (3k)
Su Jiu woke up again amidst a strong scent of luminous grass. The scent of luminous grass was somewhat similar to licorice mixed with a faint scent of camellia. While light, it was a bit pungent when concentrated.
The pungent smell directly dispelled the lingering drowsiness in his mind. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see an unfamiliar room. The room looked like a small inn. The fragrance came from a scented candle of rather ordinary quality on the side.
“I have recovered to my original body. Where is this?”
Standing up slightly, Su Jiu’s gaze swept over the jade box with a moon card placed on the table. His brows furrowed slightly, and he put it away.
He then turned to look out the window, only to find a place that resembled a marketplace. He propped his hands on the balcony and scanned the surroundings.
“Luminous grass cakes! One snow coin each!”
“Top-grade alchemical scythes, capable of cutting through iron, can be used to slice the flesh of War General level monsters, or to harvest luminous grass. Only ten thousand snow coins!”
“Tickets to the Ancient Imperial Capital to watch the decisive battle, only 1888 each. They’ve sold out elsewhere, these are the last ones!”
Below, there were many shouting Snow Demon vendors. Unlike the modern equipment of the Grand Prince, they wore quite retro Western-style attire, giving the impression of being in medieval Europe, which was quite flavorful.
He should have been brought here by that mysterious girl in glasses. Her strength must be more than just War General level to make him fall unconscious without him noticing.
That person’s strength must surpass an intermediate War God, possibly even reach the Walker level. Her casual chat with him was likely just for amusement.
While deep in thought, the main door was suddenly opened. The noisy sounds from the corridor rushed in all at once, and then a young woman wearing an apron appeared in Su Jiu’s sight. Seeing him awake, she said softly:
“Miss, are you awake?”
Turning to look at her, Su Jiu could sense that she was just a Snow Demon at the cusp of War General level. He didn’t think he could be mistaken this time. She was likely a waitress or the owner of this inn.
“Heh heh, I am the owner of this establishment. You were brought here by a distinguished lady’s carriage. She asked me to convey a message to you, which is that she has left.”
The owner, dressed as a woman, smiled and then said, “That distinguished lady said she has extended the time for you by three days. At the same time, you need to take the carriage from this city to the Ancient Imperial Capital, and then…”
She paused, then looked at Su Jiu in surprise, and continued:
“Experience what the people who once ascended Night Peak have left behind, and then use your own judgment to decide whether to participate or not… in the competition.”
Being able to run an inn and do business, she was naturally smooth-talking. From these words, she could naturally judge that Su Jiu was likely participating in the competition in the Ancient Imperial Capital, so her tone was exceptionally respectful.
“Thank you.”
Su Jiu said thank you, checked if anything was missing from his belongings, and was about to head for the main door. However, he was suddenly called back by the female innkeeper. The latter took out a token from her apron and smiled, saying:
“Please wait a moment. This is a recruitment token from a nearby Adventurer’s Guild. You can use it to recruit some coachmen familiar with both places, as our location is not too close to the Ancient Imperial Capital, about a hundred kilometers away.”
Taking the wooden token, Su Jiu’s gaze swept over it. He found some patterns similar to, yet different from, the Adventurer’s Guild outside. He then asked in surprise, “Are there Adventurer’s Guilds within the territory of the Snow Demon Kingdom?”
“Yes, they frequently contact the outside world and secretly bring back small items or interesting things from the outside world every time…”
As she said this, the female owner realized she had said something she shouldn’t have. She quickly covered her mouth, bowed to Su Jiu, and pleaded:
“Please don’t take what I just said to heart, and don’t mention it to anyone else. I have to go now.” With that, she left in a hurry, leaving Su Jiu bewildered.
“Is it that we cannot have too much contact with the outside world? Is there some regulation restricting it? No matter, I’ll find a carriage to leave first.”
Looking at the proprietress’s somewhat strange demeanor, Su Jiu recalled his previous words. He also left the inn, went down the stairs to the first floor, and stepped out into the outside world. Instantly, various strange and peculiar smells flooded his nose.
“It’s that moldy luminous grass smell. No wonder they put such strong luminous grass incense in the room.”
Su Jiu could tell with just a sniff, but he didn’t know the exact source. Looking at the luminous grass cakes on the nearby stalls, he had no appetite at all.
As the bustling crowd brushed past Su Jiu, her sharp eyes spotted four Snow Demons wearing yellow adventurer vests. They were arguing with the person who had just been shouting about selling tickets.
They were all around the War General level, about the same as the scalper.
Leading them was a girl with braided hair, her hair covering her ears. She wore a blue floral clip. For some reason, her appearance gave off a feeling of the Dragon Country.
She said sternly to the ticket scalper, “Hey! You said you would sell us tickets for 500 snow coins each. Why has the price increased now?”
Hearing this, the scalper glanced at the four of them. Seeing their adventurer attire, he chuckled and said, “1888 snow coins. Take it or leave it. If you adventurers can exchange some items from the outside world, we can also directly exchange them for you.”
“This kind of thing is illegal…”
The girl with the clip was slightly stunned, and her companions’ expressions darkened. After exchanging a look with her companions, she said sternly, “Change the requirement. I don’t want to go to jail.”
“Heh heh…”
Seeing their refusal, the scalper snorted. He took out four tickets from his pocket and clapped them lightly on his hand, saying with a faint smile, “You guys should think carefully. I only want one human… mobile phone and a 20,000 mAh power bank. Who doesn’t know that you have human items?”
“Mobile phone… can do.”
The girl with the clip tilted her head slightly, her gaze fixed on the scalper as if she had made up her mind. But then, to his pleasant surprise, she gritted her teeth and said,
“But we absolutely cannot give you the 20,000 mAh power bank. Border control is strict now, and our limited fully charged power banks are not abundant. At most, we can give you a 4,000 mAh one.”
“Four thousand? At least eight thousand.”
The scalper didn’t refuse immediately. He narrowed his eyes in thought and shook his head again. “Four thousand is too low. This amount of electricity is only enough to charge once. I’d rather wait for the Third Princess to stop being capricious and have someone buy a tens of thousands of mAh power bank.”
Su Jiu listened to them using the capacity of a power bank as a point of transaction. A sense of absurdity and ridiculousness surged in his heart, but thinking that they were all monsters, it didn’t seem so unacceptable.
“4,000 mAh is still too little? Don’t be so greedy! We haven’t been in contact with the outside world for several months. This is our final offer, take it or leave it! You’re not the only one selling.”
The girl with the clip didn’t speak. A sturdy, short-haired middle-aged woman next to her suddenly rushed forward, grabbed the girl with the clip’s hand, and pulled her away to another spot.
The remaining male and female team members cast a helpless glance and followed.
The girl with the clip still wanted to say something, but after glancing at her teammates, she sighed and chose to follow. The middle-aged woman left.
“A few of you, I have power banks!”
Su Jiu watched the scalper about to call out but hesitate. He then stepped forward and called out to the group. He fumbled in his ring and took out a fully charged power bank he had previously stored, handing it to the scalper. “Here, take this. Just get them to prepare a mobile phone for you later.”
The group turned and looked at Su Jiu’s actions with some confusion. The scalper quickly recovered and smiled, beckoning to the girl with the clip’s group to come over to complete the transaction.
The middle-aged woman glanced at Su Jiu, hesitant, but after seeing him nod, she took out her mobile phone from her storage bag and quickly completed the transaction.
After the scalper left, she happily handed the tickets to the girl with the clip, “Ye Jie, I didn’t expect someone here to help us…”
Ye Jie gave her a helpless look, knowing that free things often cost more. She then walked towards Su Jiu. She was slightly stunned seeing his face, which resembled her own country, but quickly recovered. Smiling, she asked, “Thank you for your generosity, my name is Ye Jie. Do you need to exchange any materials with us?”
“No need.”
Waving his hand, Su Jiu also revealed a smile. He slowly took out the recruitment token and waved it towards the four of them, saying, “I want to hire you to take me to the Ancient Imperial Capital. The requirement is not to ride any flying monsters, but to travel by carriage.”
“This…”
The girl with the clip was about to show her delight upon hearing they were going the same way, but Su Jiu’s next sentence, traveling on foot, made her freeze.
Su Jiu blinked, not understanding why she was still thinking if they weren’t going the same way, and then retorted, “Is it not possible? Are you worried about other monsters?”
As the girl with the clip was contemplating, the middle-aged woman dressed similarly to the Exorcist Liu Hong spoke up, quite frankly:
“We are also worried about other monsters, and it’s too difficult to travel by carriage. The entire official road is bumpy with snow. We have to pass through many small towns, and there is manure everywhere in those towns…”
“And in this weather, except for those low-level farmers who grow luminous grass, no one will really appear on that road.”
At the end, she added silently, clearly thinking that Su Jiu was the kind of Young Lady who wanted to see the scenery.
Seeing Su Jiu remain silent, the girl with the clip quickly pulled him aside and added to Su Jiu, “Amona’s family grows luminous grass, so she feels particularly empathetic about these things. She’s just blunt and has no other ill intentions towards you.”
“It’s alright.”
Seeing that all four of them seemed unwilling, Su Jiu chuckled and fumbled in his pocket again, taking out four Beginner Magic Crystals. He looked up at the four people whose gaze was fixed on his hand and said,
“This is the payment. Take me to the Ancient Imperial Capital.”
“This is Magic Crystal??”
The four of them stared at the Magic Crystals in a daze. Although they could also kill War General level monsters, four Beginner Magic Crystals were such a generous sum, and the task was merely to guide the way…
Swallowing their saliva, Ye Jie and her companions could see the burning desire in each other’s eyes. Although there were King level monsters on this road, they could reach the Imperial Capital in two and a half days with a little avoidance.
The middle-aged woman, Amona, then suddenly patted Ye Jie’s shoulder and said with a hearty laugh:
“We accept this job!”
