Chapter 40: Autumn Hunt Ends, Another Gathering, A Chance Encounter at the Market, The Team Returns...
That evening, Ray and Neil agreed that Ray would be going to the mountain early the next day to pick chestnuts, and that Ray should stay home and rest. They prepared food and water for the next day and went to bed early.
The next day at dawn, Lai hitched up the mule cart and set off on time, picking up Iru and his son at the other end of the tunnel.
“This is my son, Kai.”
Iru introduced them to Lei. The little goblin also greeted Lei politely, looking very excited.
"Come on up, we need to leave soon."
"good!"
Ray glanced towards Mount Bekaa, but this time he didn't see any other goblins. He turned his gaze away, whipped the mule cart, and set off.
As the mule cart drove further away, two goblin heads peeked out from behind a large tree on the other side of Mount Bekaa.
"Gulu, I told you Iru and that human were getting close."
The other goblin remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.
The road to the other side of the mountain is somewhat remote, and you'll hardly encounter anyone, so Iru and Kai don't need to avoid people.
Lai gave them a brief overview of the surroundings and the main plans for the day. Iru listened attentively with a serious expression.
"Today's main task is to pick chestnuts. We need to pick as many as possible before dark."
"good."
Iru always answered his questions, and the little goblin nodded in agreement with his father.
"Kay".
"yes!"
Upon hearing Lai call her name, Kai immediately straightened her back, adopting a serious and dignified posture.
"I'll give you a bag then, and you can take home everything you picked today."
Kai looked at Iru, at a loss for what to do.
"No, no, I'm already very grateful that you agreed to let me bring him. I wouldn't even dare to think of anything else."
Iru refused repeatedly.
“Iru, I only hired you, not him. Of course, he can take whatever he finds. Winter is approaching. Are you sure a hundred pounds of grain will be enough to help your family of seven get through the winter?”
Iru lowered his head silently, and after a while, he continued to speak.
"Thank you, Ray."
"It's nothing."
Lai drove the mule cart very fast, and they arrived at the foot of the mountain more than half an hour ahead of schedule.
To avoid drawing attention to Iru and his son, he parked the mule cart some distance away from the remaining troops.
One person and two local spirits, carrying sacks and food, went up the mountain, and then it was time for a crazy harvest.
Because we left early, we had plenty of time in the morning.
In addition, since Iru and Kai used to walk on all fours and had thick calluses on their hands, the thorns on the chestnut burr couldn't hurt them at all.
In just one morning, Lai and Yiru picked two bags of chestnuts, and even Kai picked half a bag.
After a short rest at noon, we ate bread and drank water before continuing our work.
They didn't decide to descend the mountain until the sky began to change color.
It took Lai and Yiru three trips to transport all the chestnuts.
The little mule was getting impatient. When it saw them come down, it snorted loudly a few times. It took Lai feeding it more than a dozen chestnuts to calm it down.
They picked a total of five bags of chestnuts this time, and Kaiyi picked more than one bag herself.
Before it got dark, Lai hurried back.
There were no streetlights in the desolate mountains, and it was almost impossible to see anything at night. They had to leave the area before darkness completely enveloped them.
The roars of wild beasts echoed from the mountain from time to time, which was very eerie. We didn't encounter a single one during the day, but they all came out at night.
The load on the cart was quite heavy, and the mule cart couldn't go at its maximum speed. Lai was anxious but didn't have any good ideas.
Iru and Kai sat in the back of the truck, peeling chestnuts the whole way.
It was already dark when we finally got back to the tunnel. Fortunately, the two moons were very big and bright tonight, providing some light for those traveling at night.
Just in case, Lei had brought half a candle with him that morning, and to his surprise, it actually came in handy.
He lit a candle, dripped a few drops of wax onto the wooden plank beside the cart, and then stuck the candle on it.
By the dim light, Lai took a silver coin from his small money bag and handed it to Iru.
"Here is today's wages."
Iru wiped his hands on the hem of his clothes and carefully took it.
"Thanks."
"This is what you deserve, don't be shy."
After paying the wages, Lai took the little goblin's bag of chestnuts and prepared to pour twenty pounds of chestnuts from other bags for Iru.
Iru guessed what Lai was thinking and quickly stopped him.
"No need for chestnuts. Lai, this bag of chestnuts is enough. We won't be able to take any more back. It's getting late, you should go home now."
"Okay, I'll give it to you next time, or I can exchange it for silver coins."
Lai didn't want to argue with Iru about this either. He still had to stay up all night peeling these chestnuts, otherwise he wouldn't be able to sell them tomorrow.
Ray blew out the candles and hurried home.
A small torch was lit in the yard, and Neil rushed out of the house as soon as he heard the noise.
"Brother, you're finally back!"
Neil waited alone at home for a long time. As darkness fell, he began to feel anxious, and this anxiety eventually turned into unease as the long wait continued.
He told himself that his brother was a magician with powerful weapons and would definitely return safely.
Finally, he heard the sound of a car outside and breathed a sigh of relief.
Ray unloaded the wagon bed and tied the little mule back to the shed. He fed it hay and water before unloading the chestnuts from the wagon, bag by bag.
Neil wanted to help unload the truck, but he wasn't strong enough, so Ray only let him hold the torch to light the way.
After dragging the chestnuts back to the living room, Lai made a simple late-night snack and started peeling the chestnuts.
Along the way, Iru and Kai had already peeled half a bag, and Lai only needed to peel the amount needed for tomorrow.
The next morning, Lai didn't go to town; he went after lunch.
He brought roasted chestnuts, peeled chestnuts, and chestnut balls that looked very appealing but hadn't been peeled yet.
Lai didn't manage to rent a good spot this time, spending more money to get a location at the end of the street near the exit. It's very sunny there, but there's also a lot of foot traffic.
The period before dinner in the afternoon is usually the busiest time for sales, but Lai found that business was rather slow today, which shouldn't be the case.
Ray let Neil watch his stall for a while, then wandered around the market himself, only to discover that there were other people selling chestnuts, and they were a copper coin cheaper than his.
The chestnut seller looked familiar; Ray felt like he'd seen him somewhere before. Neil, however, realized it was Buz from the same village.
“Brother, he’s so mean. He saw you selling chestnuts and he came to sell them too.”
“Neil, it’s their freedom to sell whatever they want. Don’t worry, they don’t have the roasted chestnuts we have at our stall.”
Booz had also wanted to replicate Ray's roasted chestnuts, but he failed many times. Either the chestnuts were undercooked, or they were overcooked and the shells were black.
When the market finally closed, Lai had sold out of roasted chestnuts and chestnut balls that were sold cheaply because they weren't peeled.
Even though he only sold these items, Lai still made thirteen silver coins.
There are still plenty of chestnuts at home, so we don't need to go up the mountain to pick any more for the next few days. But Lai still misses all the pine nuts on the mountain.
Should we go again with Lamb and the others?
He quickly rejected the idea; the autumn hunting party had been gone for six days and should be back soon. Lai didn't want to take them into danger.
As usual, Lai went to the market to sell chestnuts. Seven days and eight days passed, and the autumn hunting party still hadn't returned.
With the harvest festival just days away, Barnett was so worried that he developed a mouthful of blisters.
Firstly, I'm worried about their safety, and secondly, I'm worried that this year's harvest festival might not be able to be held.
Finally, on the morning of the ninth day, the autumn hunting party returned, weary from their journey, with several cartloads of prey.
Someone in the team was injured. I heard they encountered a very powerful monster on the mountain. Luckily, Vivian was there and they escaped safely.
In any case, for their families, it's good that they were able to come back safely.
The autumn hunt was very successful; they captured two fifth-tier magical beasts.
When they encountered these two magical beasts, they were fighting over territory. Just as they were both severely injured, Vivian caught them off guard with a magic skill. After several hours of coordinated fighting, the group finally wore them down.
The rest is up to the clan elder; he will handle the prey.
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