Chapter 201: Traces of Life
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"Brother, we cannot proceed further!"
Somewhere not far from the icy plains, two small figures were trotting along.
The larger figure was a boy wearing an animal's hide as a coat. He was carrying a bamboo basket and his shoes were already torn. His face was full of determination. "If we don't enter the icy gorge, how can we obtain enough herbs to cure father's illness? Don't forget that we have to give our contribution to the city master as well!"
"It's too dangerous out there. It's uncharted territories filled with poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, and they're all out to kill you!"
A little girl was pulling on his arm, and her big eyes welled up with tears.
"LEt go!"
The young boy was decided as he licked his lips.
"I'm not letting go!"
The little girl persisted. As the girl pestered her for a while longer, the young boy could no longer hold it in. As he waved his arm away, the little girl fell to the ground.
"Of course I know about the dangers in the icy gorge. But if we don't hand in our contribution, how will our family be allowed to continue living in the village?!"
The young boy continued. "Without the protection from the array in the village, we will all die!"
"Boohoo..."
The little girl knew this fact as well. She sat on the floor and started to wail.
"Ah Xian, don't worry. I have a rather good understanding of the Death Plains. Furthermore, I know a little martial arts, and I am rather confident about it!"
The young boy comforted the little girl. As his expression changed, he was prepared to journey into the unknown.
However, at this moment, he stopped in his tracks.
He could see a huge black shadow slowly emerging from the woods.
It was a white giant tiger from the mountains, and the black stripes on it resembled chains, giving it a mysterious feel.
"Roar! Roar!"
As it leapt, it looked around in its vicinity. The young boy and little girl froze in their positions; they were too fearful to do anything.
'It's... It's too powerful...'
The young boy's legs turned jelly, and he heard a voice from inside of him. "This is only the boundary and there is already such an animal that I am unable to do anything about. How scary is the icy plains? No wonder the village forbade us to leave our houses after sunset and made us give up a portion of contribution every year to maintain the array..."
"Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!"
As the giant tiger approached, the young boy started to sweat profusely. He clenched his teeth and was unable to speak a single word.
"Kekekeke!"
Although he could still stand, the little girl beside him was chattering her teeth, and there was a foul smell of urine from her legs.
At this point in time, the demonic white tiger bent over, revealing a person's silhouette. It opened its mouth and blabbered a few weird words.
Although no one could understand it, soon after it spoke, the tense atmosphere was no more.
It was as though the seasons had changed from winter to spring. The fearful thought of a ferocious tiger was long gone.
"Lord!"
Anyone who was able to tame such a ferocious beast had to be a highly skilled martial artist. With that, the young boy quickly greeted him respectfully.
"Eh? Who are you people?"
Hearing the young boy speak, Fang Yuan's eyebrows twitched.
This was not the language they used on the mainland. Instead, it sounded similar to the common language spoken in Da Qian Empire!
Why could he speak the Da Qian language?
He had already practised it before in Yang Fan's dream world.
However, even if he did not learn it before, it was still alright. To a dream master, it was only a matter of one dream-accessing opportunity to learn a foreign language quickly.
"I am a villager from the nearby Rock Village, and my name is Yu Jian. This is my younger sister, Ah Xian!"
Yu Jian hurriedly took a bow and stuttered.
"Rock Village?"
The lord on the back of the tiger became curious. "Are there many people here? Where are they?"
Yu Jian started to become nervous and stutter even more.
After his explanation, Fang Yuan finally understood.
'There are people living nearby, and they are split into many different villages. At the heart of all the villages is the Descending Star City!'
'Furthermore, the way he speaks and his mannerism are alike to the people in Da Qian Empire. Could these people have migrated from there?'
Below, the young boy Yu Jian was secretly examining this lord.
'He is so well-dressed! He must be an important person from the city!'
From the young boy's experience, he only had the chance to interact with the people in his village. Descending Star City was the centre of the entire world to him. He would never know how huge the outside world would be.
"Bring me to your village!"
Fang Yuan thought for a moment before directly requesting him.
Seeing the young boy hesitate for a while, he continued. "Were you preparing to pluck herbs with the bamboo basket and the hoe? I shall hire you as my guide, and this is your remuneration!"
As he said, he waved his hand. A special flower with pure white petals and a red hue in the centre of it appeared and slowly drifted to the ground.
"Snow Petal Red Pistil Flower?"
Yu Jian was shocked. He quickly but carefully picked up the flower with both his hands and was left speechless.
Although this was something Fang Yuan had casually plucked, it was hope for his entire family!
"Yes, lord! I'll bring you there right away!"
He rubbed his tears from his eyes, kept the flower properly and pulled his sister together to bow and pay their respects to Fang Yuan.
The little girl was lost for a moment. However, she was sure that her brother no longer needed to risk his life. She let out a long sigh and her eyes examined the giant tiger with curiosity.
"Sorry to trouble you, you can go now!"
Fang Yuan took out a piece of roasted meat and shoved it in the Frost Sword Toothed Tiger's mouth before chasing it away.
To Fang Yuan, a spiritual beast who had not broken through the Elemental Gathering Stage could at most be a form of transportation for him.
Furthermore, this beast would attract too much attention. Since he had already arrived at a place with people, it was better to let it go.
"Wuuuuu!"
As the Frost Sword Toothed Tiger swallowed the roasted meat, it reluctantly rubbed its head in Fang Yuan's palms. Finally, under Fang Yuan's hypnotisation, it grunted before returning to the icy plains and disappeared after a while.
"Lord, is that your spiritual beast?"
Yu Jian witnessed the scene and was full of envy.
"Spiritual beast? If you say so, but I did not raise it up. I only picked it up along the way..."
Fang Yuan smiled and shook his head as he looked at the young boy wearing the beast hide.
This boy was too inexperienced, but he already had the cultivation of a 5th Gate martial artist, and it was not too bad.
"Please lead the way!"
At this point, he had no more reservations. He started a casual conversation with the young boy and tried to learn the way he spoke.
After all, his boy did not owe him anything, and it would be too much for Fang Yuan to read his mind and memories for no good reason.
Furthermore, this young boy was inexperienced and he might not know much.
Yu Jian was leading the way in front. Not long after, a simple village appeared in front of him.
It was really simple!
Fang Yuan was speechless. The village which they spoke about was just a piece of flat land and a few round structures built together. It appeared sturdy, and almost half of it was underground.
This type of construction would shield them from the unforgiving coldness, and the sturdiness allowed it to withstand normal threats.
Of course, aesthetic wise, they could not ask for too much.
In fact, it was normal to most villagers to be constantly putting their lives at risks. Why would they care how pleasing the structure would look?
Fang Yuan noticed something different in the surroundings of the village. "Spiritual inscriptions? No... This is... a spiritual array! Although simple, this is indeed a spiritual array! Who would've thought that there would be a spiritual array master here!"
"Lord?"
It could be because Fang Yuan was staring for too long. Yu Jian anxiously asked Fang Yuan. "This is the protective array of our village. Is there any problem with it?"
"Who placed this array here?"
Fang Yuan asked directly.
"Of course it's the spiritual array master from Descending Star City!"
Although it felt a little weird, Yu Jian answered him honestly. "Every year, we have to contribute huge amounts of staples, spiritual medicine and beasts' hides to Descending Star City, in exchange for the spiritual array masters' arrival to maintain this Rock Array. With it, we can repel wild and fierce beasts at night, and it can even shield us from the cold as well. If we do not contribute enough, the entire village would be exterminated..."
As he said the last few words, he clenched his fists with determination in his eyes. "I must become part of the city so that I can bring sister and Father along with me to enjoy a good life there!"
"Descending Star City?"
Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. "I must pay a visit to that place!"
The villagers of Rock Village had started to notice them. After a commotion, a weak and old man carried a smoking pot and walked out.
"Yu Jian, go home! Be careful not to catch the disease die in the icy plains!"
The old man appeared kind. Seeing that Yu Jian was safe and sound, he heaved a sigh of relief and started to advise him. "It's just a poison! There must be a cure. Don't worry about this year's contribution. If we gather all that we have together, I'm sure it will be enough!"
"Village head..."
Yu Jian's eyes welled up with tears. Hurriedly, he retrieved the Snow Petal Red Pistil Flower from his basket. "This is a gift from this lord. I have fulfilled my family's contribution this year..."
"Keke!"
The old village head looked at it and was shocked. "To find a flower of such maturity, I'm afraid it's only possible in the icy plains! Only a petal of this flower would be enough to treat your father's poison!"
He clenched his smoking pot and gave Fang Yuan a bow. "Thank you for saving our lives. I am Shi Ying, the village head of this small village. Lord, did you come from Descending Star City?"
"Descending Star City? No..."
Fang Yuan shook his head.
He was now clear that Descending Star City was like the capital of this region.
The villages in the vicinity had to depend on it for their survival. Of course, in the process, they were being taken advantage of.
With the protection from the city, the centre of the city would be the safest place. Therefore, it was the ultimate lifetime goal for every villager to make it there.
Seeing the suspicious look on the old village head's face, Fang Yuan laughed, before casually coming up with a story in which he followed his master from young, and had lived his life on the icy plains like a nomad.
"Lord, are you intending to go to Descending Star Country?"
Hearing Fang Yuan's request, Village Head Shi let down his guard as he laughed heartily. "This is nothing much... What a coincidence! Tomorrow, our village would be forming a caravan to head towards Descending Star Country. It'll be on the way!"
In reality, he had planned it extremely well.
Since Fang Yuan was hard to predict, and even he himself could not tell how highly skilled Fang Yuan was, then he must be really highly skilled.
These villagers only had to show him the way, and they could get free protection from him. It was a win-win situation and a profitable agreement!