Chapter 183: Gao Jing’s Plot
Chapter 183: Gao Jing’s Plot
Buzz! The wings vibrating rapidly made a low humming sound. At the same time, they produced an upward force. This lifted the plump insect body which carried Gao Jing sitting on its back armor. It flew toward the high dome.
This was the Golden Beetle lent to Gao Jing by Zhiqi. It was a tamed large flying insect.
Its appearance was very like a scarab in the Primary World. It had a gold-blue hard shell and dark brown back wings. Its body was over three meters long. It was gentle and had a strong carrying ability.
In the blink of an eye, Blackwater Underground City was already below Gao Jing’s feet.
The Golden Beetle flew very fast. It flew along a giant rock pillar to the sky wall. Suddenly, it entered a dark passageway.
Although inside the passage, it was too dark to see anything. But the Golden Beetle clearly had dark vision. Its speed didn’t decrease but increased instead. This made Gao Jing feel like he was sitting in a fast-moving elevator.
A feeling of being overloaded!
After the Golden Beetle flew upward for about two minutes, Gao Jing sensed light from above his head.
The exit had arrived.
The next moment, warm sunlight spilled onto Gao Jing’s body. He couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.
His extraordinary physique let Gao Jing readjust to the new environment in less than one second.
He discovered the Golden Beetle actually flew out of a chimney. Then it landed on the railing of a balcony below.
This rooftop terrace balcony was arranged very beautifully. It was filled with all kinds of lovely flowers and plants. Even in the peak of winter, they still bloomed with colorful buds.
It was back in Qinghe City!
Gao Jing leaped down from the Golden Beetle’s back.
Just before, he had measured a bit. He found that the underground depth of Blackwater City was over a thousand meters.
No wonder earlier, when Ling Ling took him down, they walked for so long a time.
And Blackwater City clearly had many paths and channels to the surface. The return path that Zhiqi provided to Gao Jing was probably the fanciest and best.
Chirp chirp!
When Gao Jing was thinking, the Golden Beetle perched on the railing suddenly hissed twice.
Huh?
Gao Jing was a bit confused: “What do you mean?”
“Now you have finished the flying task, shouldn’t you fly back by yourself? Why are you calling out to me?”
Chirp chirp!
The Golden Beetle chirped twice again urgently. Its voice showed clear dissatisfaction.
Gao Jing suddenly understood its meaning: You haven’t paid the ride fee yet, do you want to go free?
Gao Jing felt ashamed. He quickly took out a handful of Copper Coins and handed them to it.
But the Golden Beetle shook its head to refuse.
“No money?”
Gao Jing took back the Copper Coins. After thinking, he pulled out a strip of bear jerky from his Storage Space.
Chirp chirp!
The Golden Beetle immediately made happy chirping sounds.
It leaped up and bit the jerky Gao Jing offered with its large mandibles. It flapped its wings and flew fast into the chimney opening. It disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Well!
Seeing its backside vanish in a puff and it flee quickly, Gao Jing knew he had definitely given too much.
After all, the pet was just like its owner.
It was smart and sly, just like Zhiqi.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Familiar calls from the sky interrupted Gao Jing’s complaint.
He looked up and saw a few Red-Eye Crows circling in the air. He couldn’t help but shake his head.
These guys were indeed very united and vengeful, just as the archer girl had said. They were still searching for the killer now.
As the main troublemaker of the “Red-Eye Crow Massacre Incident,” Gao Jing had no intention of messing with them again.
He found the location as fast as possible. Using many buildings as cover, he smoothly returned to the inn.
When Gao Jing slipped through the window back into the room, Shan Tai had still not returned.
He could be so sure because the slip of paper he had stuck in the door crack when he left earlier was untouched.
It was a little life trick.
Gao Jing didn’t pay it much mind. He thought about how tough Shan Tai had it, like a long-distance relationship with Qing Lan.
He hoped Shan Tai’s plan would succeed. Otherwise, by next spring, that girl might end up with someone else.
Sitting at the table, Gao Jing started to count his gains for the day.
He took out the three Guru Idols he had bought at bargain prices from his backpack.
No words were needed! Just start absorbing directly!
Crack!
A large crack appeared on the surface of the first idol. It collapsed at a speed Gao Jing could see with his eyes. In just a moment, it turned into countless wood shavings and fell apart.
The Power of Faith contained inside was all taken in by the Bronze Anchor, without any waste.
Gao Jing found that the Power of Faith in this idol was twice as much as the one he took before.
And it was purer too.
After thinking, he didn’t pick up the second idol right away. He rubbed the thumb and forefinger of his right hand together.
A pure white Faith Flame silently appeared at the tip of his forefinger.
By now, Gao Jing still didn’t know what use this Faith Flame was. But the Power of Faith from the Guru Idols could form such flames.
The quality was super high!
He snuffed out the Faith Flame. Then Gao Jing took all the Power of Faith out of the other two idols too.
When added up, the amount of Power of Faith in the three Guru Idols was quite big. Considering the tiny cost he paid, it was a huge profit.
Unfortunately, the same things were too few. Gao Jing had checked all the stalls in Blackwater City and only found these three.
But it was definitely a new way to get Power of Faith.
It was also a shortcut.
Pondering, he rubbed his chin and took out the Yuancheng Alliance badge.
This badge was about five centimeters in diameter. It was made of Blackiron. Its surface had complex engraved patterns. The middle part had the raised words “Yuancheng Alliance” in the Great Wilderness Script. Below that were three stars.
Gao Jing judged that this badge was probably made by die-casting. The casting process was the same as for Copper Coins.
The badge was brand new. Its surface had a shine like metal.
As he rubbed this Yuancheng Alliance badge, Gao Jing began to think of a new plan.
Shan Tai came back after more than three hours.
It was almost dark by then!
This early-to-leave, late-to-return Giant had a happy springtime face. His expression clearly said he was “happy.”
Seeing him so joyful, Gao Jing couldn’t help but ask with a smile: “Big brother Shan Tai, how did things go?”
Shan Tai grinned simply: “All right.”
Shan Tai had met Qing Lan and given her over half a basket of Baijiu as a gift.
Qing Lan was very happy.
“That’s it?”
Gao Jing’s eyes went wide: “Details?”
“He was out all that long time, and he reports back with just a few dozen words! Who would believe nothing else happened!”
Shan Tai’s bronze-colored face turned purple-red: “What details do you want to hear?”
Forget it.
Gao Jing was afraid this big fellow would really get angry. So he didn’t ask more.
When he and Shan Tai came to Qinghe City this time, they brought Baijiu. A small part was first used to gain fame.
The first step should have been a success.
Those Giants who drank the Baijiu all praised it a lot. They were very willing to pay for it.
The second step was what Shan Tai had just done. They used Qing Lan to give the Baijiu to her family.
Or rather, the top people of Qinghe Tribe!
Gao Jing did this to open a new source of income for Shan Yue Tribe.
Shan Yue Tribe migrated from thousands of miles away. They had settled in the valley Village Fort for just two years.
Shan Yue Giants didn’t know how to farm or how to smelt. They usually lived only by hunting and gathering. Much of what they earned through hard work was exchanged for things like Salt Stone, grain, and weapons and tools.
The Village Fort didn’t even have a few decent metal weapons or metal tools. Life was very hard.
As a member of Shan Yue Tribe, Gao Jing really wanted to help the Shan Yue Giants improve their situation.
He wanted at least to have every tribe warrior own one or two metal weapons. These weapons could help defeat Monster Beasts and enemies!
This kind of weapon involved superhuman power. It couldn’t be made in the Primary World.
The only way was to trade with Qinghe City, which had Blackiron mines.
But what to trade for it?
Gao Jing first thought of salt. He could buy large amounts of salt from the Primary World and sell it here.
Coarse Salt was way better than those lousy Salt Stones.
But he soon realized.
It was fine to bring back salt for Shan Yue Giants to eat. But trading it with Qinghe City would be a big problem.
Because Salt Stone was Qinghe City’s strongest tool to control the dozens of tribes under its rule.
If Shan Yue Tribe stopped needing Salt Stone, the city might accept that.
But selling Coarse Salt far better than Salt Stone to Qinghe City might bring hostility from Qinghe Tribe.
Salt and iron had always been the most important and sensitive materials in the Great Wilderness.
Qinghe City became the leader for hundreds of miles around because it owned salt mines and iron mines.
This was their lifeline!