Vol V Chapter 34
"…Is that so?" Zuo Chen smiled playfully and shook his head before walking into the Desert City.
Desert City was located at the southern end of the Tager Desert. It was a huge and prosperous city and had the reputation of being the boat of the desert.
The distribution of power in this Desert City was not like the Rock Desert City where the mercenary groups had the final say. There were two big families in Desert City. One was a businessman, and the other controlled all the mercenary groups within a hundred miles. They had also established a Desert Mercenary Association.
The business family was the Chen family. They had been rooted in the area near the Tager Desert for many years and were very powerful. They owned the South of the Tager Desert (referred to as the South Sand Islands).）Many powerful chambers of commerce. And the family that established this mercenary group was the Ling family. The Ling Family was the overlord of Nan Sha. Not only did they rule Nan Sha, but they had even absorbed some of the mercenary groups in the north and east into the Mercenary Association.
Moreover, although the Ling Family usually did things in a high-profile manner, they were extremely powerful. No one dared to touch them. This Ling Clan's chief, Ling Tiehu, possessed the strength of a peak Dou Ling. There was even some news that this Ling Tiehu had broken through to the Dou Wang class a couple of years ago. Thus, even though everyone had some complaints about the Ling Family's way of doing things, they never got angry because of this pressure.
Nonsense. You are just a small Dou Shi and Dou Zhe. How dare you provoke a clan that possesses a peak Dou Ling?？He was simply overestimating himself.
Moreover, even if it was arrogant and domineering, it had pushed out with the Chen family that all the people in Desert City would be protected by them and that the tax rate for doing business would be low. The Ling Family and the Chen Family had been in an alliance for many years, and that was how they had established their glorious status today. With such a strong alliance, the Chen family's business adjustment plan, and the Ling family sending out experts to protect the city, instantly pulled the hearts of the people near the Tager Desert closer.
Who wouldn't want to get rid of the life of doing business on tenterhooks all day long, and their caravans that often traveled were intercepted by serpent-men?
It was because of this that Desert City became the most prosperous city near the Tager Desert. Even if some forces later imitated this model, they were ultimately just imitating it.
By the way, the Nagas were the most evil creatures in the hearts of the humans around the Tager Desert. Regardless of gender, they all had upper bodies similar to humans, but they had lower bodies with huge tails like snakes.
Not only did they kill and rob, but they also often plundered the surrounding villages. The men were killed for food, and the women took turns to rape. They were extremely vicious.
However, the humans were helpless. It was because the tribe leader of the Snake-People tribe in the middle of the desert, Queen Medusa, was a peak Dou Huang! Under such circumstances, the only way to deal with the Naga was to defend passively. Otherwise, if they took the initiative to surround and attack and alarmed the queen, the surrounding humans would be in trouble.
Therefore, for so many years, people's attitude towards the serpent-men was that if they didn't provoke them, they wouldn't take the initiative to fight. If they provoked them, they would retaliate double! At the end of the day, he needed a reputation to encircle and suppress this serpent-man.
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As he slowly walked out of the somewhat dim city wall passageway, his line of sight lit up slightly. The city buildings that had unique desert characteristics appeared in his sight. The buildings that looked a little strange widened Zuo Chen's horizons.
Compared to the cities in the empire, the cities in the desert were much more simple and heavy. Perhaps it was because they were close to the Tager Desert, but the defense here was much stricter than the city in the empire. In the city, fully armed soldiers could be seen patrolling everywhere. He seemed to be on guard against something.
Standing on the street, Zuo Chen's gaze swept across the bustling street. A moment later, he was somewhat stunned.
What to do first?
After thinking for a while, Zuo Chen suddenly forgot what he should do.
According to the rhythm of the original novel, he should have bought the map first, then prepared some necessary snake venom antidote and a big cart of water.
Then…right, he had to find Hai Bo Dong first.
Smiling awkwardly, Zuo Chen sighed. He pulled a passerby over and asked about the shop that sold desert maps.
The passerby who was pulled by Zuo Chen. Initially, his expression was a little impatient. However, when he saw the rather luxurious golden badge on Zuo Chen's chest, he hurriedly restrained himself in impatience. He politely pointed out the location of the shop to Zuo Chen. When Zuo Chen thanked him and took his leave, this person also eagerly told him the approximate price of the map.
After thanking the passerby, Zuo Chen's hand gently rubbed the badge on his chest. He sighed and shook his head. It must be said that this badge was not much different from that of an alchemist…
Sighing in his heart, Zuo Chen quickly turned the corner of the street and walked towards the best map shop in Desert City that the passerby had mentioned.
It was probably in the best shop.
After walking at a steady pace for a long while, the map shop named "Ancient Map" appeared in Zuo Chen's sight. His gaze swept outside the shop and Zuo Chen was a little surprised. This shop was not as luxurious and flamboyant as other shops. At a glance, it actually faintly emitted an ancient aura.
Oh, right. It should be here.
Understanding this, Zuo Chen slowly walked into the shop. The interior of the shop was not too spacious. The faint light from the two Moonstones lit up the shop. His gaze swept across the interior of the shop. There were not many people who came to buy maps. The cold and empty appearance made Zuo Chen wonder if he had entered the wrong place.
Slowly walking into the shop, Zuo Chen's gaze drifted around before finally stopping on an old man behind the counter who was carefully making a map with his head lowered. This old man was clearly quite old. Although his head was already full of white hair, his shriveled hand that was holding the black drawing pen was still steady and powerful.
Ke ke…Hai Bo Dong? It was still the same.
Was it fun to draw a map for a day…
Zuo Chen's gaze swept over the large number of maps on the counter without disturbing Hai Bo Dong. He held them in his hand with great interest and flipped them over and over to look at them. The clear route on the map caused him to nod his head in satisfaction.
Hmm…Next, he had to imitate the movements in the original novel.
After looking at the map for a while, Zuo Chen adjusted his breathing. Seeing that the old man had no intention of ending, he pursed his lips and slowly walked to an ancient wooden shelf in the corner of the shop.
This wooden shelf was obviously old. It was filled with holes made from rotten wood. On top of it, there were some yellowed maps. Looking at the broken marks on the surface of these maps, it seemed to be a failure when making maps.
His palm casually flipped through these yellowed maps. A faint moldy smell assaulted his senses. He frowned slightly and picked up a stack of failed works. His palm shook slightly, and a palm-sized broken picture suddenly fell from the stack of failed works.
Alright.?Don't be surprised to see it right away. As he reminded himself, Zuo Chen pretended that he did not care too much about the broken picture that had fallen. After flipping through the failed work in his hand, he put it back indifferently. When he put it back, his gaze seemed to be a little lazy as he glanced at the small broken picture. His eyes first blinked slightly…Then, his moving palm suddenly froze.
Zuo Chen's hand trembled slightly as he carefully picked up the broken picture. Suddenly, he could feel his heart beating violently at this moment. He swallowed hard and placed the broken ancient picture in his hand. His gaze carried a few traces of ecstasy as he carefully scanned the somewhat familiar mysterious route on the picture.
After a long while, Zuo Chen slowly narrowed his eyes. He took a deep breath and muttered with a trembling voice,"It really is it…It's still here…"
F * ck, the second card was in his hands. Zuo Chen cursed inwardly.
P.S.: Late update…Please forgive me, the computer repairman will be here soon, and I might not be able to code the second chapter. Now, the three computers at home are all old computers. One of the 2006 desktop computers is basically scrapped. The remaining two netbooks, one can't be turned on, and the other one has problems writing…I'm in tears…
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