Chief, don't hit me in the face

Chapter 35: Treasure Hunt

“One strike, one kill—his aim is precise and ruthless!” Cao Ang, with his wealth of experience, saw right through Xia Ye’s tactics at a glance: “And he’s very cunning. Next time you run into that half-blind man, be extremely careful!” “You mean… he’s the one who killed Cao Bing?” Cao Xu frowned. “No way! Is that good-for-nothing really that skilled?” Cao Xiong couldn’t wrap his head around it—that sickly weakling, who didn’t even have a single scar on his body, had actually killed Cao Bing? “Was it just luck?” “He was intercepted by Cao Bing just now and looked panicked and struggling—could that have been on purpose?” Cao Lan’s remark sent a chill down everyone’s spines. If that were true, just how terrifying would that guy’s scheming be? “Cunning bastards—they all deserve to die!” Cao Xiong, frustrated, slammed his axe into the ground. The cruel reality left everyone somewhat silent. They hadn’t forgotten that just moments ago, Cao Bing had been brazenly shouting, “I’ll kill you!” —only to end up as a cold, lifeless corpse now. Having formidable combat prowess is terrifying, but what’s even more terrifying is having a mind to match it. At that moment, Cao Lan felt that their group had likely gotten themselves into serious trouble. “Form your own groups and go search the ruins!” Cao Ang examined the footprints around him: “I’m going after that half-blind guy!” Never mind the humiliation—Cao Ang refused to accept defeat. Even if it were just because Cao Mu was dead, he had to bring Xia Ye’s head back; otherwise, Cao Ren would have him killed. The tribe’s fifth-ranked hero—finding an excuse to kill a powerless commoner—who would dare say a word against it? “Be careful, Ang!” Cao Lan warned. “Watch out for what? Once Brother Ang makes his move, that blind man is as good as dead!” Cao Xiong flattered him, his gaze involuntarily falling on the bronze longsword in Cao Ang’s hand—one he’d found yesterday, named Tai’a, a famous ancient sword. “Meet at the usual spot in two days!” After giving his orders, Cao Ang followed the footprints, chose a direction, and set off in pursuit. His tracking skills were mediocre, so it would certainly take some time to find Xia Ye, but he felt it was necessary. There was one theory Cao Ang hadn’t shared with the others: during his recent battle with Xia Qingyuan, the opponent hadn’t used any secret treasure in the end. Coupled with the surprisingly formidable strength of this half-blind youth, he suddenly suspected that perhaps it was this half-blind boy who had managed to snatch that secret treasure. “Even if that’s not the case, I’ll only be wasting two days!” Cao Ang gripped the long sword in his hand—this Tai’a was likely the most valuable trophy from the Fengjing Ruins. He’d already come out way ahead on this foray. In a pile of rubble, Xia Yang craned his neck to look around. Only after confirming that no one was chasing him did he let out a sigh of relief. “What a stroke of bad luck!” Xia Xiong was frustrated. Qiu Feng was dead, and they’d all been chased like stray dogs. Worst of all, they hadn’t picked up a single scrap of loot. “Let’s split up!” Xia Qingyuan said. “Huh?” Xia Li was startled. “Four of us together is too inefficient. Let’s split up. Whoever finds loot keeps it. In two days, we’ll meet outside the East Gate, then head back to the tribe.” After saying this, Xia Qingyuan didn’t give the other three a chance to refuse and simply walked away. “Does this count as Qingyuan just abandoning us?” Xia Li felt frustrated; she was a little scared to go it alone. “I think this is perfect!” Xia Xiong was selfish; he thought he was so capable that he could handle everything without teammates, so why not go it alone and keep all the loot for himself? Of course, Xia Li was pretty enough to bring along—who knows, she might even fall for him. As for Xia Yang, he was injured and would just be a burden. Having made up his mind, Xia Xiong immediately extended an invitation: “Xia Li, want to come along?” “Sure!” Xia Li nodded. “Hey! Don’t leave me behind—let’s all stick together!” Xia Yang panicked. Xia Ye, carrying Little Song Guo, quickly headed east—partly to get away from the North City and avoid the Cao clan, and partly because he’d asked Lu Lingxi, who was already very familiar with the layout of the ruins, and learned that this area was where the nobles lived. Places like the Hero’s Altar, the Ruler’s Tower, and the Primordial Energy Tower had already been thoroughly ransacked; going there would almost certainly yield nothing. So Xia Ye set his sights on the nobles’ district. “I’m not asking for much—just enough to pick up a few Blade Coins!” Worried about being tracked, Xia Ye took a detour before arriving in the East District. Since the Eye of the Ruler required several hours of rest after just a few minutes of use, he had to first pinpoint the areas where valuable items might be buried. Fortunately, this posed no challenge for Xia Ye. Although hundreds of years of weathering had taken its toll, he could still tell which noble families were wealthier based on the size of their mansions and the building materials used. “This one’s luxurious—it’s all Chuan Yun stone!” Song Guo took a step inside, ready to dig for treasure. “Wait!” Xia Ye called out to the little girl and walked ahead: “Not this one!” “Why?” Song Guo was puzzled. “It’s been hundreds of years. There must have been at least a few thousand, if not tens of thousands, of tribal people who’ve come here to scavenge and forage. There are bound to be plenty of others with the same idea, so those mansions have long since been ransacked.” Xia Ye smiled: “That’s why we need to take the opposite approach—search the mansions that are in relatively poorer condition!” “Got it!” Song Guo nodded, then couldn’t help but admire him—her big brother really had an amazing mind. After pinpointing a large stretch of ruins, Xia Ye found a relatively high vantage point, climbed up, took off his goggles, and focused his gaze. Bright colors immediately filled his field of vision. The specks of light in the sky were Yuan Qi; on the ground, they appeared occasionally as well, varying in brightness and color. Xia Ye marked them all one by one. When a slight pain began to flare up in his left eye, he immediately stopped using his vision and set off toward the marked locations. “It’s right around here!” Xia Ye stepped into a pile of rubble and began digging. “Ah-woo, I found it!” A dozen or so minutes later, Song Guo—her little face covered in dust—spotted a wooden box in the large pit they’d dug. Because it was so old, the box had rotted away, revealing a dozen or so walnut-sized stones, all a uniform green, like gemstones. “Song Guo, you’re so awesome!” Xia Ye picked one up to examine it. It was a Vitality Stone—much like coal or oil. In this era rich in vitality, both plants and animals contained vitality within them. When they died, geological shifts buried them underground, and after thousands of years, they formed veins of Vitality Stones. Energy Stone is a form of energy with many uses; the most common is placing it in Energy Towers to keep the tribe’s major structures functioning properly. If the energy supply is cut off, structures such as the Hero’s Altar, Defense Towers, Arcane Temples, and Natural Wonders would lose most of their functions; if left unpowered for an extended period, they might even be damaged. You could say that Primordial Energy is the lifeblood of certain structures! “Hehe, how much are these worth?” Song Guo asked. “You can’t put a price on them!” In any era, energy is a strategic resource; no tribe would ever complain about having too many Vitality Stones in reserve. Selling them would be the act of a complete wastrel. Just as the quality of coal varies, so does that of Vitality Stones. This can be distinguished by their color: the richer the stone in Vitality, the purer its color. The grades increase progressively from light blue, green, blue, yellow, and orange; above orange is gold—the highest grade and the most valuable. In addition, there are red and purple Yuanqi Stones. It is said that they not only contain abundant Yuanqi but also possess magical effects; however, due to their extreme rarity, they are almost never seen on the market. “Mm!” With this discovery, the little girl’s desire to hunt for treasures grew even stronger. Wielding Xia Ye’s tactical axe, she darted about like a rabbit, digging holes everywhere. As he continued to use the Eye of the Ruler, Xia Ye gradually began to grasp the pattern: the brighter the color, the more Primordial Energy it contained, and the greater its value. If the distance was too great, the colors would appear faded, and generally, there were only about six or seven distinct colors. Unusual colors were rare—perhaps none existed at all, or perhaps the Eye of the Ruler simply couldn’t detect them. Of course, sometimes a bluish-green color might not be a Primordial Energy Stone, but rather a bronze knife coin—though those were just as valuable. In the garden of a mansion, Song Guo crouched beneath a pomegranate tree, carefully digging through the soil. Soon, a small earthenware jar came to light. “Ah-woo!” Song Guo hurriedly scraped away the surrounding soil, then pulled it out with both hands. Phew! She blew away the loose dirt, lifted the lid, and a neat stack of bronze knife coins immediately came into view. “Knife coins!” Song Guo picked up a few, examined them, and then tossed them back into the clay jar. Clink! The crisp sound of bronze was incredibly pleasing to the ear. Xia Ye, who had been digging a hole on the other side, walked over and inspected them: “These are Fengjing knife coins. What a pity—if you were to spend them, their value would be cut in half.” After the Eight Great Clans established their respective states, they each created their own monetary systems. Although they were all bronze knife coins, differences in standards of measurement and smithing techniques meant their values varied. The State of Zhao had a written law stipulating that any knife coins from other tribes used within Zhao’s territory were worth only half as much as Zhao’s own knife coins. In other words, regardless of the face value of the knife coins, their purchasing power—the actual goods they could buy—was slashed by half. “What a rip-off!” Song Guo pursed her lips: “Melt them down and cast Zhao coins!” “Tsk, I never would’ve guessed you had that kind of brain!” Xia Ye couldn’t help but chuckle. Although the Eight Great Clans didn’t hold a monopoly on the right to mint coins, only their knife coins were considered hard currency. After all, in this era when mining, metallurgy, and forging technologies were still primitive, bronze itself was hard currency. Spending massive amounts of manpower and resources to mint Dao coins, only to see their value halved—only a fool would do that. Furthermore, the trade in copper ore was big business on the market, firmly controlled by the great nobles—ordinary wealthy people couldn’t even dream of getting involved. The moon shone brightly amid sparse stars, and a gentle breeze blew. Xia Ye and Song Guo sat around a campfire, taking stock of their haul. Five hundred and twenty Fengjing knife-coins, twenty-six Yuanqi stones, a pearl necklace, and twenty-one bronze hairpins and rings of various designs. “It seems that no matter what era, people love to hoard money!” Xia Ye mused. If only he hadn’t been unable to use his left eye the whole time, the haul would have been even greater. Still, he’d search one more time tomorrow, and then it would be time to head home. One must be content—and besides, the Blood Survival Trial was about to begin. Before dawn, Song Guo dragged Xia Ye out of bed. Clutching a small axe, she was eager to start digging. Xia Ye stuck to yesterday’s strategy, focusing his search only on the residences of ordinary nobles—paying special attention to the ends of long streets and hidden corners. Generally speaking, these areas are less likely to have been searched already. “Huh?” The sun was already high in the sky when Xia Ye used the Eye of the Ruler and spotted a sizable hollow beneath the ruins at the end of a street—it appeared to be an Underground Palace!