Chapter 1281 - The Government is the Biggest Winner
“I don’t know it.” The old woman’s voice turned cold suddenly. She turned her head way, as if she was unwilling to speak any further.
Mo Fan, Zhao Manyan, and Lingling were utterly confused by the old woman’s reaction. It was obvious that she had seen the Totem Seal before; why did her attitude change all of a sudden?
“Grandma, just tell them if you know something. They aren’t bad guys,” Chen Yi blurted out. Even she knew her grandmother was lying.
“Humph, one may know a person for a long time without understanding their true nature. Either way, I have never seen it before. You can stay here if you want. I’m tired.” The old woman closed her eyes. She did not say a further word.
There was nothing Chen Yi could say to convince her grandmother. The others subconsciously exchanged glances with one another.
Left with no choice, Chen Yi led them into the house and cleaned up rooms for them to stay in.
—
“Where’s Little Flame Belle? It’s been a while since I last saw her,” Chen Yi asked after finishing up with Mo Fan’s room.
“She’s sleeping. She’s about to enter the Adolescent Phase. I’m running short of funds to buy enough Soul-grade Fire Seeds for her, so I’ve come to see if I can earn some quick money,” Mo Fan said.
“The Adolescent Phase already?” Chen Yi sounded a little excited. “Tell me if you need anything! I’ll try my best to help. I’ll talk to my grandmother too. Maybe it’s something she doesn’t want to remember.”
“It’s fine if she isn’t willing to talk. We meant to look for the clues ourselves. We just didn’t think we would find one so quickly,” Mo Fan said.
“Take your time; you can stay here as long as you want.”
“Alright!”
—
—
Mount Kunyu had always been an attraction in Yantai, but its outer slopes to the south were occupied by demon creatures.
The inner mountain was located within the safe zone. The natural ecosystem on it was well preserved, as both the government and the Magic Association were working together to look after it. The place had lots of rare plants and herbs, and because of the weather, the herbs on Mount Kunyu were useful in producing special medications. The Bone-connecting Ointment was a popular product of Mount Kunyu.
It was common for Mages to lose their limbs in fights against demon creatures. Even though a Healer was able to fix their limbs back up, not every group would have a Healer with them. As such, the Bone-connecting Ointment was a necessity for Hunters. If their hands were torn off by demon creatures, they just needed to apply the ointment on the cut and wrap the hand in place with bandages. It would connect the hand back in five days, and on the seventh day, they would already be able to move their hand. The wound would heal completely in ten days. It would be even more effective if a Healer was treating the wound with the Bone-connecting Ointment.
As such, even if it meant investing lots of human resources, the government insisted on protecting Mount Kunyu at all costs, just so they could continue to produce the Bone-connecting Ointment!
The far side of Mount Kunyu was a dangerous place. Unlike most cities, the other side of Mount Kunyu was a mountain ridge ruled by a powerful demon creature. It was referred to as the King of Beasts of Mount Kunyu. Its strength was comparable to the Silver Skyruler of the Nanling Mountains.
Yantai was safe not because the place was well-defended like Hangzhou, but because the King of Beast on Mount Kunyu was not as invasive as the demon creatures of the Nanling Mountains. For many years, sea monsters were the main threat to Yantai’s safety. They hardly had any cases where the demon creatures on Mount Kunyu invaded the city.
The demon creatures on the outer Mount Kunyu did not bother troubling the humans, but the humans liked to explore their territories in return, especially when the job looking for demon crests was put up. Many Hunters formed groups to hunt demon creatures on the mountain. The government was worried that it would provoke the powerful creature on the mountain, so they started restricting the Hunters!
——
“What in the world, I’ve heard of restricting the numbers of vehicles or tourists, but I’ve never heard of restricting Hunters hunting down demon creatures! How long do we have to wait until it’s our turn!?” Zhao Manyan cursed.
There was only one path leading to the other side of Mount Kunyu. Any other route involved making their way through poisonous valleys with rough terrain. It was easy to enter the valleys, but extremely difficult to get out. Therefore, the path that the government had built was the only possible way to hunt for demon crests on the far side of Mount Kunyu.
To their surprise, the bridge leading to the outer Mount Kunyu was crowded with people. Many had Hunter badges. There were also teachers leading groups of students and members of the Magic Association. It was like the other side of Mount Kunyu had suddenly become a mountain of gold that everyone wanted a piece of!
“We can’t help it; a dungeon with good loot is always packed with people!” Lingling said. She was clearly an experienced gamer.
Mo Fan walked up to the soldiers on duty and showed them a different identification while explaining why he was here.
“You’re helping the Chairman?” the soldier asked suspiciously.
“Yeah, you can think of us as archaeologists. We didn’t expect to bump into a huge crowd during the ‘festive season’,” Mo Fan said.
“Very well, you and your team can skip the queue and enter the far side of Mount Kunyu. Be aware that the place is very crowded now. The number of people is greater than the number of demon creatures. If anything happens, the rescue team will have trouble reaching you, so just be cautious. Don’t go too deep into the mountain!” the soldier warned them.
“Don’t worry, we can look after ourselves… but is this really a wise thing to do? The people are rushing into the mountain like ducks. Isn’t the other side of Mount Kunyu the territory of a powerful creature? If it goes mad, wouldn’t the people of Yantai and soldiers like you suffer instead?” Mo Fan said.
“You didn’t know?” the soldier asked.
“Know what?” Mo Fan said.
“That creature is dead,” the soldier said.
“Dead?” Mo Fan was stunned. His face was filled with surprise.
“Yeah, we don’t know how it died, but some Hunters did take pictures of its remains. The other side of Mount Kunyu has turned into a mountain of gold after the creature died. Why did you think there were so many Hunters here?” the soldier said.
“I see,” Zhao Manyan seemed to have realized something. He told Mo Fan, “It looks like the government and the Magic Association are planning to sweep the other side of Mount Kunyu into the safe zone, so they have been spreading the job about the demon crests around to attract Hunters here. The Hunters are pretty much cleaning up the mountain for free as they are exploring it. Once the other side Mount Kunyu is free of demon creatures, the Magic Association and the government are going to make a fortune!”
Lingling nodded in agreement. “The local government is pretty smart. They can’t afford to swallow the whole mountain of gold themselves, so they decided to share it instead! The Hunters will get the loot, while the government claims the mountain. The corporation will get the demon crests, and the influx of people will also help the economy…”
“That’s absurd!” the soldier blurted out after hearing their discussion.
Zhao Manyan and Lingling exchanged smiles with one another. They knew they had guessed it right after seeing the soldier’s reaction.
What a nice move that the government was using; hopefully the Hunters would get what they came for. Otherwise, they were basically doing volunteer work for the government and the army!
—
“Chen Yi, Chen Yi, I didn’t expect to see you here!” A well-dressed man came up to them. Either the man was too tall, or he was too full of himself, as he liked to lift his chin when looking at people.
His chin was soon facing Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan, since they seemed to be quite close to Chen Yi. They did not look like they were just ordinary friends to Chen Yi. The man asked, “And they are…”
“He’s my brother, Zhao…” Chen Yi introduced.
“Zhao Xiaotian!” Zhao Manyan replied.
Mo Fan and Lingling were left speechless instantly. What the heck was the name Zhao Xiaotian? Was he seriously trying to act cute when he was coming up with a fake name? Why didn’t he call himself Zhao Ritian instead!?
{TL Note: ‘Ri’ is a slang for f**k, and ‘Tian’ means sky (or Heavens). So ‘Ritian’ can mean f**k the sky!}
Chen Yi was amused by the name. She proceeded to introduce Mo Fan and Lingling.
“Are you all heading to the other side of Mount Kunyu too? Is it just the few of you? Why don’t you come with us? My uncle is a Vice Elder of the Penglai Magic Association. He’s leading the team so the younger generation like us can learn from him. Why don’t you join us? You will learn a lot from it!” the man said passionately.
“I already promised them…” Chen Yi said.
“What promise, they aren’t any slots left for today. The soldiers won’t let you pass if you don’t come with us. Let’s go, my uncle is different from those novice Hunters. He’s very familiar with the other side of Mount Kunyu. He likes studying history and collecting stuff. Collecting demon crests is just one of his hobbies,” the man kept talking.
“Actually, we’ve already obtained…” Chen Yi was going to say that they already had the permission to pass.
However, when Mo Fan heard the Vice Elder of the Penglai Magic Association was interested in archeology too, he immediately interrupted, “Chen Yi, we should follow them since someone experienced is leading the group. It’s better than us wandering around aimlessly like headless flies!”
“Sure, if you say so,” Chen Yi nodded.
The tall man immediately cast an unfriendly gaze at Mo Fan.
Chen Yi was obviously hesitant to accept his offer. She was even going to reject it, but she immediately agreed after hearing what this new man said. The tall man was utterly displeased. Wasn’t Chen Yi too obedient to the man? Did she keep rejecting him because of him, too?
Humph, just in time! He would show Chen Yi his true strength during the journey, so those that were outwardly attractive but worthless inside would feel embarrassed to even compete with him, Wang Hua!
—
“Why did you bring more people here?” the aged Mage of the Penglai Magic Association asked in a displeased tone.
“Uncle, you’ve met Chen Yi before. She’s the teacher of Basic Mages in our Magic Association. She’s going on an adventure with her friends. Since there aren’t too many of them, and they didn’t have anyone experienced leading them, they are interested in coming with us so they could learn from you,” Wang Hua quickly explained.
Wang Hua moved closer to the aged Mage and said, “Uncle, Chen Yi is the girl I’m interested in, just do me a favor. Her father is no ordinary person, either. It might help you if it works out.”
“Humph, just tell them to behave themselves. I don’t want them to hold me back!” the aged Wang Dakuo answered with a snort.
Wang Hua immediately smiled. However, he quickly regained a stern face as he warned Mo Fan, Zhao Manyan, and Lingling, “You all better keep up with the group and do as you are told. It’s fine if you aren’t strong, but don’t you dare stir up any trouble!”
“Don’t worry, we know that… ah, it’s so lucky we managed to follow an experienced team around. I bet we are going to score high in our homework this time, lucky!” Zhao Manyan exclaimed.
Wang Hua grinned after hearing Zhao Manyan’s words. He smiled disdainfully and said, “This adventure is more than enough for students of ordinary Magic Institutions to score a high mark. If you behave well, I might even ask my uncle to stamp your document. I bet the teachers at your school are going to be very impressed!”
“Really? Brother Wang Hua, you have my thanks!” Zhao Manyan smiled. His acting was so good that the others were left completely speechless.