"What should we do? Kaichen might be a bastard, but he's the son of the chieftain of the beast tribe! Once he finds out that his son was killed, he'll surely come for us."
Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "How would he know that we're the culprits?"
Mu suddenly stopped short.
"And even if he does, does he know where the alcohol tribe's village is located?"
Zhang Lie snorted. The elder had likely suspected that there were beast tamers around scouting the location of their old village, and he had specifically sent Zhang Lie on this mission to deal with them. He'd be certain to teach the elder a lesson.
"Come on—we'll clean up here and bring the alcohol back." Zhang Lie waved a hand unhappily, motioning for White and Whiter to clean up the corpses while he cleared away the cellar as quickly as he could.
Zhang Lie was just about to leave when Mu shouted, "Hold on!"
"What's the matter?"
"There's a second floor to this underground cellar. The older brews are all kept there; the first floor only has the standard stuff."
Mu pushed open a hidden chamber.
Once again, Zhang Lie had to be impressed with the elder's cunning. If Zhang Lie had killed Mu along the way or otherwise reneged on his promise, he wouldn't have been able to obtain the precious brews of the alcohol tribe. Meanwhile, the alcohol tribe might have lost some of its alcohol, but the really precious vats would have been preserved—and Zhang Lie had just cleared the way for them to retrieve it.
As they headed deeper into the cellar, the pervasive aroma of alcohol grew stronger and stronger. Zhang Lie's face flushed; he was getting drunk just smelling it. He immediately purged himself with genetic energy.
Unlike the first floor, the second floor wasn't filled with vats. What it lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality. An overwhelming fragrance had settled around the vats. It was clear at a glance—or a sniff—that this was good alcohol. In principle, sealed vats shouldn't have given off any smell at all, but the air was thick with the heady scent of alcohol.
Naturally, Zhang Lie didn't intend to give up on this treasure. He looted the alcohol and stored it all in his extradimensional space. Subsequently, he killed the two tamed lifeforms from the beast tribe and commanded Mu, "Roast them."
Mu jumped up in shock. "But the beast tribe could come at any moment!"
"Good—I hope they do!"
Mu sighed, but he did roast the meat following Zhang Lie's orders. Based on what he had witnessed on the way to the alcohol tribe's old village, he was more than convinced of Zhang Lie's strength.
Meanwhile, Zhang Lie continued adding to his collection of gene fragments.
Zhang Lie: a disaster-grade lifeform
Framework: Foundation, Lv. MAX; Ninecarp Transformation, Sixth Form: River Dragon Techniques: Rippling Walk (pinnacle), Three-Wave Crescendo (pinnacle), Calm Waters (advanced), Fists of the Silent Sea (pinnacle), The Boundless Blade (pinnacle), Eclipse (pinnacle), Syzygy (pinnacle), ?Ninesoul Dragonblade (advanced), ...
Genes: Basic, 65; Mutated, 55; Superior, 10
Soulshards: White Grub (superior), Blood Ant (superior), Potbellied Toad (mutated), Eternalspring Cocoon (superior), Dragonwolf (superior), Moonlight Wyrm (peak), Golden Roc (peak), Mistmeld Clam?(disaster)
After acquiring all the gene fragments he could obtain, he gave the rest of the meat to White and Whiter.
Satiated with food and alcohol, Zhang Lie set off on the way back to the alcohol tribe's village. The only thing he was upset about was that the beast tribe hadn't dispatched any more tamers in his direction.
By the time Zhang Lie and Mu returned to the alcohol tribe, quite a few villagers had gathered by its entrance awaiting them.
When they saw White and Whiter, they seemed rather amazed. Some of the bolder villagers even stepped forward trying to pat the two leopards, but they were dissuaded against that notion thanks to the leopards' bared teeth and howls.
Zhang Lie slapped White on the head, motioning for it to be quiet.
With the help of two attendants, the elder walked out to greet Zhang Lie.
Zhang Lie narrowed his eyes at him. "Very good, elder."
The elder feigned ignorance. "Is something the matter?"
"You never mentioned the ambush waiting for us at the location of the old village."
The elder schooled his expression into perfect innocence. "Was there an ambush? My goodness—I had no idea!"
He was, indeed, a wily old fox. Zhang Lie snorted. "I was deeply wounded while fighting off the members of the beast tribe, and—"
Mu interjected, "What? Savior, you—"
Amu dragged Mu away before he could say anything more. "Come, son, let's talk inside! Don't disturb the elder and your savior."
Amu stood with the tribe on principle, but he knew how strong Zhang Lie was, and what a bad idea it would be to rouse his ire. The two superior-grade lifeforms he had ridden back were proof enough of that. What could a small turtle do in a confrontation between a lion and a dragon?
The elder fretted. "My goodness! There are some healers in the tribe, and I insist they have a look at you."
"There's no need. Alcohol's good enough—double the quantity of hundred-year-old vats owed to me."
The elder sighed. "It's not that I'm unwilling, but rather that the village doesn't have such a large supply of alcohol to give you."
Zhang Lie snorted. "Don't try to fool me—I brought these vats back myself."
"I'm afraid I simply can't give you more alcohol—our tribe needs to maintain our strength as well. How about you choose from one of the beauties of the tribe? Or I can even introduce you to my own granddaughter..." The elder smiled, his eyes twinkling.
If Zhang Lie accepted one of the tribe's women, they would be able to count on him for some support.
"Do you really think I don't dare to kill you?"
Zhang Lie's eyes narrowed in anger. "I could very well chop you to pieces and have no one in this tribe think anything of it."
The elder's forehead beaded with sweat. "Please, calm down! Perhaps we could set up a different kind of trade. Our tribe has lasted for millennia, and we still have some treasures. If you're willing to accept them, let's let bygones be bygones." contemporary romance
Zhang Lie rubbed his jaw. "Mu told me that the alcohol tribe has been in decline for quite a while now."
"Haha, you're not wrong, but we once used to be the strongest tribe in the region. Two hundred years ago, all this land belonged to us. We controlled it all; our word was law. Even a thin camel is larger than a horse, and our tribe still has quite a few treasures from that age. I'm sure there are some that will catch your attention."
Zhang Lie was indeed quite tempted. This tribe had dominated this world for some time, after all, and they very well might possess something Zhang Lie coveted.
"Let me have a look."
The elder brought Zhang Lie back to his little cottage. He retrieved a worn-down chest and revealed a secret compartment within.
"Hoh! I hadn't expected you to hide your treasures in this little cottage, Elder."
The elder smiled in mock embarrassment. "Most of our treasures, we had to leave behind during the raid, but I couldn't bear parting with a few artifacts left behind by our ancestors."
The elder placed the various items on the table: a shortsword studded with jewels, a pitch-black stone, a dried tree root, the hand of a mummified corpse, and a tattered map.
Zhang Lie glanced at the objects with a cultivated air of indifference. He shook his head as he picked up the shortsword, sighed upon inspecting the stone, sniffed the root, squeezed the mummified hand, and finally picked up the map.
His actions seemed casual, but his eyes were perfectly serious.
This—this was the key to the largest treasure of the third realm!
He had obtained a piece of the map from Musi Yu way back when, but he didn't expect to find the second piece here in this small village.
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