Chapter 660 Meeting with the Chief Steward of the Wolfblood King Camp
At night, Tilan sat in her own small tent, with an oil lamp placed on a tall wooden box, and Tilan sat on a wooden chair beside it.
The black skirt was pulled up and dropped to her knees, revealing her slightly small white knees and feet soaked in warm water.
Because of limited conditions, she naturally couldn't take a shower, and there was not enough large bathtubs and water to take a bath and wash, so she simply scrubbed it with a basin, and finally the girl soaked her feet in the still warm water, and by the light, she looked through the map album she bought in the market today.
The whole booklet was only about 20 pages, and it roughly printed the map of the upper and lower reaches of the river, and also marked the approximate locations of each settlement. Judging from the stamped numbers at the end of the album, it should have been the first edition printed three years ago.
"Wolfblood species 'White Fang' settlement, Wolfblood species 'Sharp Teeth' settlement, Wolfblood species 'Queen's Camp'..." Tilan wrote down the locations of the settlements marked above, and also saw the previous foxtail settlement among them.
I didn't expect that in the eyes of outsiders, it was still a medium-sized settlement.
The text in the appendix next to the album not only describes the approximate distribution of forces in this area, but also records the ups and downs of each season of the year. It is now early March. If it is another month, the grassland will usher in the rainy season. At that time, the wet and muddy ground will become difficult to drive, but the rainy season is also a season of abundant food. The water in the river will surge and submerge the surrounding land. After the rain stops, some fish will fall into the puddles and mud on the shore. At this time, some animals that can't fish will also go up and try to prey.
In the season when water and grass food are abundant, both animals and humans on the grassland will reproduce at this stage.
Wait until June and July. At this time, the climate becomes gradually dry. Many herbivores will leave their places of residence where they have already eaten little food and migrate to other places. In this long-distance migration, the old, weak, sick and disabled are likely to fall behind and become food for other predators. Some settlements will also choose to hunt at this time to obtain a large amount of food to pickle and prepare for autumn and winter.
If we come in June or July, it should be much easier and cheaper to buy food, but it is just the beginning of spring, and the food reserves of various settlements are often not much after the consumption in winter.
There is a shortage of food, no wonder the price of food is high, Tilan thought about it.
She had prepared a lot of supplies along the way, such as scarce medicines, some tea and tea cakes rescued from Shilin Mountain Fort, extra weapons, some electrical appliances repaired by Sura, etc., but it is still not enough now. The food purchased so far is estimated to only be enough for 1,600 people to survive for two weeks, and this is still under very economical eating conditions.
After cleaning up the polluted land, from sowing to harvesting, even if Tilan can use some extraordinary abilities to ripen, it will take at least 2 months to produce food that meets the survival needs. How to spend the gap in the middle is the most urgent thing at present.
Originally, she thought that when she came to the king's camp, she could solve most of the needs, and then on the return journey, she would take another road and trade with the settlements on the roadside to make up for the remaining missing parts, but now it seems that the price and exchange items required to buy food in the king's camp are also surprisingly much.
We have to think of some way to make money. The girl put her fingers down from the album and tapped the paper lightly with her fingertips.
It was getting late. Tilan lifted her feet from the basin. Water drops slid down her toes. She drained them a little, then wiped them clean with a towel, and then stepped into soft slippers.
After a good night's sleep and rest, the next morning, Tilan sat up from the quilt on the floor, changed into clean clothes for today, and then put on the hood of her cloak. Tilan walked out of the tent.
This is the open space where the caravan is stationed. In addition to Tilan's exclusive small tent, there are several large and small tents next to it, all built by members of the caravan. Some people have already gotten up and started to prepare breakfast.
"Good morning, Heshia~" Loloria came to the girl with energy. She is a mechanical body and hardly needs to rest at night. She was also on guard yesterday so that everyone could sleep peacefully.
"Good morning, Loloria."
Tilan greeted and came to another tent. First, she looked at the weak butterfly species that had not yet woken up, and explained to the two members guarding the tent. Then she came to another very small tent. The space in this tent was only about four square meters. It was where the silkworm species Olenna slept and stayed.
The little guy was still sleeping on the bedding. The goose moth wings behind her covered her body like a natural quilt. Only the exposed silver-white hair could be seen.
After touching Olenna's back slightly, the little guy moved, and then quickly propped himself up and stood on the floor.
"Hello, Master Heshiya~" The wings behind her opened slightly and fluttered slightly, showing her happy mood.
"Don't call me Master." Heshiya corrected her way of addressing again.
"I'm sorry, Master Heshiya." She imitated the address of other people in the caravan.
At this time, Heshiya just shook her head slightly and stopped correcting further. Although this address did not quite match her idea, it should not start with the silkworm moth girl in front of her.
"I'll have someone bring you food later. You may have to stay in the camp for the next few days and not go out." After all, silkworm moth species are very rare, and if they are exposed, they will cause unnecessary trouble.
"Olena knows." She nodded, not sad about it, or for her, living in such a small space is a normal life.
As a race designed for livestock and tool use, they can adapt well to various harsh environments. After all, as a tool, the first thing is to make the user worry-free.
The girl continued to talk to her with some pity, and then asked someone to bring a few picture albums and books and put them in the tent to help Olena pass the boring time and prevent her from being too bored.
After that, Tilan walked out of the tent and began to participate in today's trade discussion.
"According to the statistics of yesterday's transactions, medicines and tea are the best-selling goods, but we currently have few medicines left and only five boxes of tea." Guy flipped through the record form in his hand.
"Other things are not selling well at the moment, and it's hard to sell them in a short time. We have four days left to go back, otherwise we won't be able to make it in time. When the rainy season comes, the road will be even harder to travel."
"How to make money..." Tilan thought.
"Why don't I look for it? Our Iron Core species' technology and strength are needed everywhere." Sura stepped forward first.
"I also want to look for opportunities in the camp." Fran came from the Slami Association of the southern continent and knew a lot of knowledge that this land had never known.
Others also said that they would try more to find ways and opportunities to make money.
...
At noon, Tilan and Sura toured the market, but did not find anything special. They felt like a good cook cannot cook without rice. Although they knew a lot of things, it was a pity that people here had few needs. Many people had never touched electrical appliances in their lives. They could not afford any medicines. They had to fight all kinds of diseases. They did not have much spare money to buy useless luxury goods.
Just as they were about to return to the camp for lunch, a man rode past them on horseback.
"Are you the merchant who bought the butterfly seed yesterday?" He was thin and had a long curved knife on his waist.
"It's us." Sura stood up first.
"Where is the butterfly seed? Lord Gus wants to see him."
"Who is Lord Gus?" The two had never heard of this name.
"Lord Gus is the steward who manages the king's camp and the queen's deputy. Since he has spoken, you'd better not have any cunning thoughts." He did not seem to have a good impression of merchants.
"I understand." Tilan nodded slightly, and then the pair of blue eyes hidden under the hood looked at the young man.
"Can you tell us what happened, so suddenly?"
"It concerns the safety of the royal camp, so Lord Gus attaches great importance to it." He answered briefly, and the reason was roughly reasonable.
"The butterfly-eyed species has not woken up yet. We have to go back and see."
"Is he still alive? It's okay. You'd better hand him over first, otherwise if he dies in your place, many things will be unclear." Seeing that Tilan was a young girl, the other party softened her tone and gave a little reminder.
"Thank you." Then the two led the young man to the garrison point, and after saying something to Guy, they asked someone to put the butterfly-eyed species on the cart.
"Are we going to Lord Gus's place too?" Tilan asked.
"This... naturally I still have to go and answer questions." The other party nodded, called the wolf cavalry patrolling in the camp, and asked them to push the cart to the center of the king's camp.
"Then I'll go." Tilan thought about it and decided that it would be best for her to go by herself. Whether it was to get a close understanding of the situation or for safety considerations, she would be the best choice.
"You?" The other party thought that this caravan would send a mature and experienced person as a representative.
"Yes, is there any problem?"
"No problem, just come with us." Seeing that the girl with such a nice voice was about to fall into the wolf's mouth, the other party shook his head helplessly and stopped trying to stop her.
Then Tilan followed the cart, followed the young man and several wolf cavalry, and gradually came to the "Inner Palace" surrounded by wooden walls in the middle of the king's camp. It was said to be where the queen lived, but it was closer to some kind of military fortress. Patrolling and stationed wolf-blood warriors could be seen everywhere, and there were several domesticated flying eagles in the sky to watch and guard.
After passing through the heavily guarded gate and entering the inner square, the cart moved to the area on the left and finally stopped in front of a gorgeous large tent.
The top of the tent was decorated with rare fire fox tail hair, and then light golden threads were pulled down from the top to the various fulcrums of the tent to link and embellish it. A few swaying copper leaf flakes were hung on the golden threads, reflecting a broken halo in the sun, which was quite beautiful.
Several guards stationed in the tent pulled up the curtain, and then pushed the cart into the tent. At this time, the sound of musical instruments could be heard in the tent, and a woman with revealing clothes and slave marks on her shoulders could be seen dancing and swaying on the wooden stage, making various seductive movements.
Although these dances were quite primitive and boring in Tilan's eyes, they were an extremely luxurious enjoyment in this land where entertainment was extremely scarce.
After all, it was not easy to feed the combatants in the settlement, but a lot of food and expensive cloth had to be taken out to feed these women who could only dance. Few forces could do it.
Looking across the wooden dance stage, Tilan noticed that in addition to the fat man sitting in the first place in the middle, there were several other figures with different temperaments and faces. They should be representatives from different settlements and forces.
"Sir, the butterfly-eyed species that caused trouble yesterday has been delivered." The young man who found Tilan clasped his fists and came forward to report.
"Oh, they are here already." The fat man in the middle wearing various jewelry clapped his hands, asked the dancing women to stop temporarily, and moved the wooden platform away.
"I'm sure many people have heard about what happened yesterday." Gus said, while picking a bunch of washed grapes from the glass plate in front of him.
"I hate those who don't follow the rules the most." As he said that, he waved his hand, and someone brought a bag to the side, then threw the contents out, and rolled on the ground for several circles and stopped.
Tilan saw clearly that it was the slave trader who sold her the butterfly-eyed species yesterday. Unexpectedly, he was killed by Gus's people today and his head was cut off.
No wonder they all said that the wolf-blood species was barbaric and bloody. The girl turned her eyes away and stopped looking at the bloody head.
"Sir Gus is the most fair and strict." Others began to echo and praise.
"Your Highness, with your assistance, the Wolfblood King Camp will always be strong."
...
Listening to the praises of the crowd, although Gus did not express his opinion clearly, it can be seen from his expression that he was very happy and in a good mood.
"I killed him not because he annoyed me, but because he secretly brought slaves of a special race into the city without reporting to me, and finally caused the Butterfly Eye Clan to make trouble." He reiterated that his punishment was not out of personal feelings, but a manifestation of justice.
Then he waved and asked someone to come over.
"By the way, it's you, wake up that Butterfly Eye Clan and see if he is dead. These guys are quite insidious and cunning, so you can't be careless."
"Yes." After saying that, a guard stepped forward carefully, shook the Butterfly Eye Clan who was still in a coma, and then slapped him a few times.
The Butterfly Eye Clan who was still in a coma finally woke up slowly, looked around in some surprise, and touched his body again, and found that some things were normal and good, which was incredible.
"What's your name? Which settlement are you from? How many people did you bring here yesterday? How did you get to the king's camp?" The wolf-blooded deputy beside Gus asked a series of questions.
Unfortunately, the butterfly-eyed who had just woken up didn't pay any attention to him. Seeing that he was in good condition, he immediately spread his wings and prepared to escape.
"Catch him!" The guards in the tent couldn't let him run away like this. That would be a disgrace to the wolf-blooded, and Gus wouldn't let them off afterwards.
First, he threw the spear in his hand directly, piercing the butterfly-eyed who was flapping his wings and taking off. Then, he threw out iron chains one by one, entangled the butterfly-eyed. After that, several strong wolf-blooded came forward, their blood surging all over their bodies, their muscles bulging, and they hugged the butterfly-eyed tightly and fixed him. Then, others took the iron chain and tied him up tightly.
When everything settled down again, it was already half an hour later. The butterfly-eyed was tied and pressed to the ground and sent to everyone.
"Tell me, the previous questions." The deputy beside Gus repeated it again.
Unfortunately, the butterfly-eyed creature seemed to not understand and didn't care at all. He sat on the ground motionless.
"Cut off one of his fingers." Gus spat out a grape seed and flicked it off, landing on the butterfly-eyed creature who was kneeling on the ground.
"Yes."
A cold knife flashed, and a bloody finger flew up and fell into the mud next to it. The butterfly-eyed creature on the ground also let out a painful hiss.
Tilan couldn't bear such a scene, so she turned away.
After that, she asked again, but the butterfly-eyed creature still didn't answer. Just like that, the fingers flew up one by one and fell into the dirty mud.
Seeing that all the fingers were cut off, the other party still didn't speak. The deputy beside Gus was a little embarrassed. After all, there were many guests and representatives from other large settlements here.
"Cut off another arm of his and feed it to the wild dogs outside the door." Gus raised his hand and ordered while trimming his nails.
"Yes, sir." The deputy beside him wiped the sweat off his face and asked the guards in the tent to do it.
"Wait a minute." At this time, Tilan finally couldn't help it and stood up.
Seeing the silent figure in the corner come out, many people were quite surprised, because they didn't know this girl at all, and didn't remember when she came.
"Who are you?" Gus's assistant was full of doubts, but fortunately, the young man who led Tilan whispered a few words in his ear, and the other party knew who Tilan was.
"So it was you who bought him yesterday. I thought it was some idiot." The other party taunted, and waved his hand again, asking the guards in the tent to take action.
Are you kidding? Lord Gus has given the order, and you say wait a minute? Who do you think you are? If there weren't so many guests here today, he would have said so.
At this time, Tilan knew that if she didn't show something, she would probably have a hard time gaining the right to speak, so she took off her hood, revealing her stunning appearance. Her eyebrows were beautiful and charming like a young girl, and there was a little tranquility in her immaturity, especially the pair of light blue and clear eyes, which were like the most precious gems in the world.
When she completely exposed her face and hair, the tent fell into a brief silence, and the guard who was originally ready to take action put the half-drawn knife back in.
It seems that this lucky guy will not have to die today.
(End of this chapter)
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