The old man's words largely matched what the old hunter from Yunjiazhuang had said, but Zhao Xian and Li Xue were not interested in the cultivation of orioles and the power struggles in Jindian Kingdom.

They came here to find people, but they were more concerned about the laborers who came here to cultivate irises.

"Old man, who are the people who come here to grow iris? You just said that they also buy slaves from other places. Where do these slaves come from?"

"These slaves are generally poor people from some neighboring countries. The people in the Oriole plantation are deceiving people everywhere, saying that you can make a lot of money by growing Orioles in the Golden Kingdom."

These poor people came to the Kingdom of Golden Rice to make a living, but once they entered the plantations, they were controlled and had no way to escape. What followed was endless toil day and night, and the final result was that they were worked to death.

"Are there any people from the Northern Dynasty who cultivate irises here?" Zhao Xian asked.

"I haven't heard of this before. They bought slaves to cultivate iris fruit, which is only a recent phenomenon, about ten years ago. I don't think they did it before."

My grandfather and his family came here decades ago as refugees from famine. Back then, they also grew iris trees, but not as much as they do now; it was mostly locals who cultivated them.

Upon hearing this, Li Xue and Zhao Xian realized that the people here were unaware of the situation in Devil's Valley. They probably didn't know that this valley led to the Great Northern Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xian spoke up:

"I've heard that there's a profession called 'corpse collectors' in the Kingdom of Golden Beacon. Are they involved in the slave trade?"

"As for the corpse collectors, I know some of them, but I have never had any contact with them. They usually work in groups of dozens of people, forming a corpse-collecting team. They have been here and searched around this area. The villagers have also seen them."

If any family member or livestock went missing, they would help search for them and receive a reward for finding them. Sometimes they would find homeless people and secretly sell them to the oriole plantation for profit.

The business of "corpse-collecting teams" is becoming increasingly mysterious. They have close ties with the Yingguo plantation, and the people they send to the plantation cost them virtually nothing. Under the guise of searching for missing persons, they engage in shady dealings.

The old man's words made Zhao Xian and Li Xue fall into deep thought. If Li Ru had been rescued by the corpse-collecting team and sold to the Yingguo Plantation, he might have suffered inhuman torture. So much time has passed, who knows what he has become.

"Old man, if the people of the Great Northern Dynasty want to enter the Golden Kingdom, what are the possible routes?" Zhao Xian asked.

"There should be two routes. One route is to enter by sea, and the other is to pass through the Southern Dian Kingdom and enter the Golden Dian Kingdom from there."

I heard there's another road that leads to the Golden Kingdom, which is to cross these mountains ahead and go directly there.

However, this mountainous area is too vast, spanning hundreds of miles. The journey involves traversing large tracts of primeval forest and valleys, where evil is rampant and it is easy to get lost. No one has ever made it through alive, so no one dares to take this route.

"Oh, by the way, you came from the Great Northern Dynasty. I wonder which route you took?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian smiled and said:

"Old man, to tell you the truth, we came from the valleys of this mountainous area. The journey was not far, only a little over a hundred li, and it took us two days to get here."

Zhao Xian's words surprised the old man greatly. He had not expected that there was a valley here that led to the Great Northern Dynasty.

That was his homeland. Could he cross this valley to return to his hometown and fulfill the wishes of his father and grandfather?

Thinking of this, the old man suddenly became excited. He stood up and said:

“Is what you said true? Our ancestors have lived here for nearly a hundred years and we didn’t even know there was a valley here that leads to the Great Northern Dynasty.”

Seeing the old man's excited expression, Zhao Xian said:

“Old man, perhaps you really don’t know that there is a valley here that leads to the Great Northern Dynasty. As early as two years ago, we discovered that people from the Golden Kingdom had reached the Great Northern Dynasty through this valley.”

The exit of that valley isn't far from here; you can vaguely see your village from there.

“I know the valley you mentioned. It’s not far from here. I’ve heard from the older generation that the valley is full of evil and piles up with bones. No one here dares to go near that valley.”

I never expected that you would actually cross that valley and come here. Did you encounter any danger when you came? Are there many skeletons in the valley?

Zhao Xian had no idea what would happen if he told them the secrets of the valley.

After a moment's consideration, Zhao Xian explained the situation in the valley to the old man and told him how to eliminate the risks in the valley and safely cross it.

The old man listened attentively and finally understood what was going on. It turned out that the evil in the valley was actually miasma.

"In our area, the locals call this valley Devil's Valley. They say that if you enter the valley in the summer, you will encounter a devil, which is very dangerous. They usually choose to enter the valley in the winter, when there is no danger."

Of course, they wouldn't venture too deep into the valley, much less spend the night there, so no one from that side has ever reached this place.

Hearing this, the old man seemed very happy. Since that was the case, they could choose to cross the valley in winter and head to the Great Northern Dynasty to see their homeland.

At this moment, the old man seemed to understand something, and he asked:

"You've crossed the valley and come here because there's something important you need our help with. Please don't hesitate to ask."

Zhao Xian nodded and said:

“Old man, we are here to do something important. Ten years ago, one of our generals may have wandered into this valley because his warhorse was startled.”

Later, locals searched the valley and found the bones of a warhorse and a helmet, but did not find any trace of the general.

Based on our analysis, we believe that the general may have been injured in the valley and encountered your corpse-collecting team, who then brought him to the Kingdom of Golden Dian.

As far as we know, once the body-collecting team finds someone injured in the valley, they take them out for treatment. Because the injured have inhaled too much miasma, most of those treated become mentally impaired.

These mentally challenged people will be sold to oriole plantations to participate in oriole cultivation.

The old man quickly understood Zhao Xian's meaning and said:

"You've crossed the valley this time to search for a general who disappeared there ten years ago. We suspect he was rescued by a group of corpse collectors and sold to the Oriole Plantation."

But there are too many oriole plantations in Jindian Kingdom, and so much time has passed; where can we find this general?

"We just want to visit some oriole plantations to get a feel for the situation and see if we can find any clues."