Chapter 62: Chapter 33: Spirit Rice, Spirit Peach, Blacksmith’s Whereabouts

Slave Market.

Huo Chang looked at the six figures before him. Before coming, he had thought about it; craftsmen with skills must be rare among slaves.

Even if they were old, weak, sick, or disabled, he would accept them.

If they couldn’t work, he could still take them back to teach the clan members.

But seeing the slaves in front of him, Huo Chang realized his assumptions were just that.

“Skilled ones are always in demand. If these people weren’t a bit crippled or injured, they wouldn’t be here now.”

Jia Gu introduced, “These two are official blacksmiths, and these four are apprentices.”

“You, come over, stretch out your hands.”

The young man lowered his head and dragged his feet forward two steps, opening his calloused hands.

“You see, these are the marks left by holding a hammer for a long time; you can examine them as you wish.”

Huo Chang inspected each of the slaves present, finding that they all had signs of smoke and fire, with heavy calluses on their hands, the kind formed by gripping a hammer handle.

They looked just like the blacksmiths in the tribe.

Seeing that Huo Chang had finished his inspection, Jia Gu spoke again: “The death rate among slaves is very high. These people’s bodies are already worn out, are you sure you want to buy them?”

He was certain Huo Chang would buy them, otherwise, he wouldn’t have waited the extra days.

Slave death is a common occurrence. Even top-quality slaves, once bought back, have a death rate of twenty to thirty percent in a short period.

Having experienced the destruction of their tribe, the killing of their kin, and a life of upheaval, their spirits were already broken, and their bodies ruined.

With good fortune, they might recover in two years, but most tribes don’t have the resources to nurture them; living for eight to ten years is considered a long life.

“Buy.”

After a few more glances, Huo Chang gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

What else could he do since his own tribe was in need?

“Straightforward, given the high slave mortality rate, if something happens on your way back and they all die, the next time you come, our slave market will compensate you with an equal number of slaves.”

Jia Gu clapped his hands loudly.

At this time, Huo Chang spoke, “Where are these people’s families? I want them too.”

“This batch was transported here specifically, some of their families are at other markets, some are long dead. If you want, the next time you come, they can be brought along together.”

Jia Gu led Huo Chang towards a house.

“Come on, let’s settle this now.”

…

One day later.

Under a small mountain in the northern part of the market, Huo Chang was resting with the slaves.

With a ’thump’, one of the two elderly blacksmiths fell to the ground in convulsions.

“Medicine, yes, Acan has medicine balls.”

Huo Shan hurriedly held the person up, in his rush forgetting that the medicine was an antidote, grabbed a small condensed medicine ball, and stuffed it into the old man’s mouth.

But before he could even get it in, the old man’s head flopped to the side.

“Brother Atang, this…”

Huo Shan was stunned, could their luck really be that bad?

They had just left the slave market.

The remaining five slaves trembled all over, fearing that the anger of Huo Shan and the others would be vented on them.

Seeing the few figures looking so drained, Huo Chang thought this wouldn’t do.

“When we return to the tribe, you will be our people. If you contribute in the future, you can become one of our clan members. Hang in there, we’re almost there.”

Upon hearing this, a spark lit in their eyes, but soon faded.

They weren’t blacksmiths after all.

Why pretend to be blacksmiths according to the slave market’s instructions? Because if they didn’t listen, even death was a luxury in the slave market.

Outside the slave market, if exposed, perhaps they could die a quicker death.

Moreover, they weren’t free, they had families.

If the buyers went back due to their deception, their relatives would wish they were dead.

This wasn’t a threat, but an everyday occurrence at the slave market.

Huo Chang frowned, noticing that the remaining few, especially the four young ones, had a glimmer of hope, only to have it fade again.

The Blazing Flame Tribe gave them new hope.

Why was there such gloom?

At this moment, seeing Huo Chang’s gaze, another elder fell to the ground, convulsing.

“Poisoned?”

As Huo Chang stepped forward to lift the elder, he saw black blood mixed with sticky fragments oozing from his mouth and nose.

He couldn’t tell what it was before, but this looked like poisoning.

“Ashan, get the medicine!”

Before Huo Shan even brought the medicine over, the elder had passed away completely.

Huo Chang looked up at the remaining four, who huddled together, fear on their faces.

“You’re not blacksmiths, are you?”

At this, the four of them turned pale, one of them immediately mimicking the elder’s convulsions in fright.

“Ashan, administer the medicine.”

Huo Shan rushed up, grabbed the person, and shoved the antidote into their mouth.

The four were too terrified, and combined with their frail bodies, they all started convulsing after Huo Shan fed them the antidote.

“Feed them again, and give them water.”

Huo Chang also came to assist, increasing the dosage.

“Puh!”

The four began to vomit, with bloody vomit mixed with some fragmented organs and undissolved antidote.

One poisoning might be accidental, but all of them were poisoned, and they had been eating only what they brought themselves on this journey.

“Brother Atang, we’ve been tricked!”

Huo Shan glared angrily; even as slow as he might be, he understood that they had been deceived.

Huo Chang said nothing, observing the remaining slaves, he saw that the poison had already seeped into their internal organs.

This was meant to be lethal.

Once they’re all dead, there’ll be no evidence left to testify.

What a scheme to replace the dead with the same number of slaves.

Huo Chang admitted to himself he had seen through it.

“So insidious, a hundred times more cunning than you, Brother Tang,” Huo Shan cursed.

Soon, only two were still breathing, one of whom was the young man who had earlier shown calloused hands, now desperately clenching his jaw.

“Crack!”

Huo Chang reached out with a cracking sound, the jaw fell open, and this person’s mouth was left hanging open.

“Seeking death?”

A murderous intent rose in Huo Chang’s heart.

The Slave Market deceiving him was one thing, but even the slaves showing loyalty to the Slave Market was a surprise to him.

“Do you still have family inside the Slave Market?”

“If you dare die, I’ll drag your corpse to the Slave Market.”

“Once they see your body, the Slave Market will likely sell your kin effortlessly, making them bear the cost of deceiving me.”

“Mmm…mmm…”

Fang Hua shook his head, eyes filled with terror.

“Speak properly, and I’ll buy your family next time, and you can become a citizen under my division.”

Fang Hua nodded, his mouth was pushed back by Huo Chang.

Through Fang Hua’s words, Huo Chang learned the whole story.

The Slave Market had customized six fake ’blacksmiths’ to die shortly after leaving for the sake of them buying ’blacksmiths’.

All six had family in the Slave Market, and they wouldn’t live long once they left.

Even if they find others to replace them after the same amount of top-grade beast hides, using them to exchange for ordinary slaves would be a huge loss.

If it wasn’t for the antidote Acan brought, these people would certainly have died.

As for the claim of poisoning, how could it be proven it happened inside the Slave Market?

Huo Chang had already envisioned Jia Gu’s sneering face.

’I sell slaves, would I sell poisoned slaves to you?

I’ve long stated that the death rate for slaves is high and that I’d compensate with the same number if they all died.

Are you here just to find fault?’

At this moment, recalling what Huo Chang just said, Fang Hua, despite his weakness, hurriedly spoke up, “Please, save my family. Although our tribe is gone, we have a hidden tribal treasury, willing to offer it to you, sir.”

Huo Chang suddenly asked, “After the flood, were there many tribes destroyed nearby?”

“Yes.”

Fang Hua nodded.

Copper Shell Ruins Market was like a north-south dividing line, with the southern regions gradually leveling out, producing lots more from farming, and hunting yielding relatively less food.

Although the seasons and weather often fluctuated, the places chosen by the tribes for their settlements were carefully selected, with fertile land, yielding millet and rice not particularly low per acre.

In some places, the grains grown were as nutritious as meat and could be used to support martial arts cultivation.

This also resulted in the number of tribes outside being several times that in the mountains.

Additionally, they weren’t short of meat. Though large prey was scarce, it wasn’t nonexistent.

There were uncultivated wilderness and mountains everywhere, filled with wild pheasants and rabbits.

“Does your tribe have this kind of millet for cultivation?” Huo Chang’s eyes showed delight.

Fang Hua gently shook his head, “Our tribe’s millet only suffices for our people’s basic needs and can barely be used for cultivation.

The Upper Lake Division has a rice paddy said to produce rice as big as dates, but I’ve never seen it.

It’s said to be heavily guarded, and even their tribe’s ordinary people have difficulty getting close.”

Seeing Huo Chang’s interest, Fang Hua racked his brain to recall relevant rumors, hoping to please him.

“It’s said the Ape Mountain Division has a large peach tree, raising a group of peach monkeys that can brew Late Peach Wine for martial cultivation.”

…

“If the Great… Clan Leader wants blacksmiths, you could find them yourself.”

Fang Hua continued, “Our previous tribe’s weapons were traded from a tribe from Red Mountain.

Before being captured, I had seen Red Mountain Division’s survivors; it seems the disaster hit them hard, too.”

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