This was the only time since the Firingi militia had robbed the bandits that they could claim to have truly reaped a substantial reward.
When the mammoth, its feet stained with blood, and five carts returned, the whole of Firingi erupted in jubilation.
Cui Beixi was the most surprised; Richard had not deceived her. Without any casualties, they had annihilated the bandit gang.
How had they annihilated them? It was something Cui Beixi couldn’t figure out no matter how hard she thought about it.
Liu Zhenhan’s mouth was stretched in a grin that seemed to reach his ears. They had been too busy rushing back and hadn’t had the chance to inspect their spoils. Now he could share his joy with everyone.
A carriage was piled high with glamorous animal skins, to Liu Zhenhan’s immense delight. They had been worried about getting sufficient clothing for winter, especially for the scantily dressed Musketeers. Now that problem was solved.
Another cart was filled with high-quality wild honey, stored in small oak barrels.
Yet another cart was filled with treasure chests.
The chests were made of pearwood and decorated with copper fittings and rings.
Daydreaming that these chests were filled with gold coins, Liu Zhenhan was filled with joyful anticipation. But all joy vanished the moment he unlocked a box. His smile froze.
The chest was filled with rows of meticulously arranged short-necked glass bottles, each containing different colored liquids, with cotton stuffed in the gaps between.
Unwilling to give up, Liu Zhenhan opened each chest hoping to find some gold coins, but reality disappointed him.
All the chests were filled with glass bottles containing colorful liquids.
"What is this?" Liu Zhenhan picked up a bottle, uncorked it and sniffed it.
A strange smell. He couldn’t tell what it smelled like.
"This is magical beast blood, a necessary ingredient for human mages to create magic scrolls, and our Beamon’s largest export each year," Cui Beixi picked up a glass bottle containing a blue liquid. "Look at this bottle, it contains the blood of a Bipedal Flying Dragon, a good five pints."
"How much would all this magical beast blood be worth in Witherspoon?" Liu Zhenhan was more interested in gold coins.
"I advise you not to get this idea, these are just ill-gotten gains. If you were a true noble, you would return these to their rightful owners," Cui Beixi coldly retorted.
"I will definitely return them!" Liu Zhenhan mischievously laughed and shouted at Cui Beixi as she walked away.
The goods on the remaining two carts did not disappoint Liu Zhenhan. One chest contained approximately a thousand gold coins, which brought joyful tears to Liu Zhenhan’s eyes.
The carts also held the bandits’ weapons and armor, a few barrels of human wine, and Dorott’s cured pork. To Liu Zhenhan, who had grown accustomed to Halfling rum, this wine was no better than swill. The cured pork was also no match for the flavour of free-range Larza Beasts. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ N()velFire.net
While the boss might find these things unappealing, Karu was perfectly content with the leftovers.
An even greater prize was a small bag of magic crystals and 104 Musketeer slaves, along with three Green Demon Shaman prisoners.
The Musketeers were incredibly nervous. As soon as they were branded slaves and sold to humans, their fate had been sealed.
When their fate took a sudden turn, they were left dumbfounded by their luck.
Initially, when hot meals were placed before them, no one dared eat despite their throats constricting with hunger.
Seeing their previous owner, Vieri, nearby, all eyes turned to him for guidance.
"Eat up! Fill your bellies first," Vieri said as he unloaded a barrel of honey from a cart. Cracking open a loaf of bread, he coated it with honey and gave it to each Musketeer one by one.
The three madams of Firingi unloaded the glamorous animal skins and laid them on the scantily dressed Musketeers. The eyes of each Musketeer were filled with unshed tears.
Seeing Helen struggling with the heavy animal skins, Gortani couldn’t help but step in to assist.
"There’s another madame now," Gude teased from the sideline.
Gortani gave him a sharp look. General Pan stuck out his tongue and quickly slipped away.
"After you’ve filled your bellies, elect a leader to speak with me," Liu Zhenhan said to the Musketeers as he picked up a crossbow from one of the carriages.
This crossbow was smaller and more exquisite than the ones he had seen in Witherspoon’s weapons store. The quiver was empty, perhaps a robber had been shot by it.
Liu Zhenhan picked it up and looked at it, but found it somewhat unfamiliar and threw it aside.
Guoguo, wearing a leopard skin like a large cape, swaggered over. The piglet followed, waddling along and carrying a piece of red deer hide which, in the piglet’s mouth, looked like an overstuffed groundhog crossing the street.
Guoguo, holding a jar of candied fruit, passed by the Musketeers and gave one to a Musketeer who was quietly eating.
The piglet seized the opportunity to snatch the jar of candied fruit and ran off.
"Have your mom make you a bib with a pocket, so you can carry nuts and hawthorn fruits to snack on," Liu Zhenhan squatted down and pinched Guoguo’s tender cheeks.
Guoguo snuffled, ran to Gortani’s side, tugged at her armored skirt, and pointed to its leopard skin cloak.