Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 371 Guo Rong? Chai Rong!
"The writing has disappeared?"

Upon seeing the new time portal appear, Lin Dao's first reaction was to go and see the yellow time portal in the Yuan Shuo timeline.

The writing that previously existed on the time portal in the form of energy fluctuations has disappeared.

After a moment of stunned silence, he immediately flew into a rage.

"Where's the promised reward?!"

The next moment, a ripple appeared inside the yellow portal.

With a 'pop' sound, it spat out a bright red pill.

Lin Dao hurriedly caught it.

The pill was only the size of a thumbnail, fiery red in color, and had a pungent, exotic fragrance.

"An elixir of immortality?"

Lin Dao's eyes lit up, and his breathing became rapid.

Energy fluctuations shimmered on the portal, and three words appeared.

'Divine Travel Pill'.

"A Divine Travel Pill?" Lin Dao frowned. "What is that?"

He stopped delivering goods and started searching online.

There are all sorts of opinions online, some even citing information from cultivation novels.

This investigation only led to further confusion.

Confused and unsure of what to do, he gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and took the pills to Yonghe Time and Space.

Wang Meng, whom Lin Dao referred to as the Executive Vice Emperor, took time out of his busy schedule to listen to Lin Dao's words.

He also took the Divine Travel Pill and examined it carefully.

"Since it is a gift from an omnipotent god, Your Majesty should simply consume it."

"His Majesty once said that everything we have now is a gift from the Great God."

"If that's the case, why worry so much?"

"If the great god wishes to harm His Majesty, he can simply withdraw his divine powers; there is no need for such trouble."

The wise man's analysis helped Lin Dao make up his mind.

That evening, unusually, he didn't spend his precious time driving piles. Instead, he found a quiet room, took a deep breath, and took his medicine.

Aside from feeling a little hot after taking the medication, I didn't have any other special reactions.

After waiting for several hours, Lin Dao yawned, got up, and went to sleep. "Is this considered a reward?"

Exhausted, Lin Dao soon fell asleep.

He was dreaming again.

In the past, I would dream of a scene a few days each month, in which I would listen to an old Taoist priest with a white beard giving a lecture in a Taoist temple.

Previously, he could never hear what the old Taoist priest was saying, as if he were in water, and he was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks.

But this time is different.

'The true and wondrous secret lies in the perfect integration of exoteric and esoteric teachings; there is no other way but to cherish and cultivate life.'

'All energy and spirit must be carefully preserved and not allowed to leak out.'

He could hear it, but it was somewhat muffled and difficult to understand.

I remained in a daze until I woke up at dawn.

Sitting on the bed, he raised his hand and patted his head. "That's it?"

Aside from the dream being more realistic, he didn't really feel any other difference.

If you can't figure it out, then don't think about it.

Just continue with your own things.

After completing his daily check-ins in various time periods, Lin Dao finally faced a new time portal.

Previously, the spacetime portal in Yuanshuo Time and Space was yellow, but this time it appeared green, and the writing formed by energy fluctuations was gone.

Looking at the brand-new light green portal, Lin Dao pondered for a moment before stepping inside.

On the tenth day of the third month of the first year of Xiande in the Later Zhou Dynasty, in Zezhou.

Looking up from the forest path, all you can see are mountains.

Looking around, one sees lush greenery and abundant vegetation.

"Here." Lin Dao gripped his gun tightly and looked around carefully. "There's hardly anyone around."

After confirming that no one was around, he put down his large travel bag, opened it, and took out a portable drone.

Powered on and tested, then launched for reconnaissance.

You can see it when you fly higher; it's actually a basin surrounded by mountains.

A sizable river flows by several kilometers away.

Not far from the river, there is a winding road.

Seeing the deep ruts on the road through the drone, Lin Dao retrieved the drone.

Any signs of human activity are sufficient.

He worried that there might be a portal that would send him directly to ancient times.

The forest path winds through the sparse woods, with eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

Although it is unknown what time and space this is, as long as it is not the industrial age, there are dangers everywhere in the mountains and forests.

Even in the industrial age, forests were dangerous.

Venomous snakes, wild beasts, mosquitoes carrying various pathogens, and so on are all sources of danger.

As they walked, a tiger's roar suddenly came from the nearby forest. Lin Dao immediately stopped and turned his gun towards it.

The tigers in the forest are very scary.

They are adept at concealing their presence, making them extremely dangerous if ambushed.

A short while later, a series of hurried footsteps approached.

Several figures dressed in hemp clothing rushed over in a disheveled state.

Lin Dao hid behind a large tree, his eyes alert.

A moment later, a fierce mountain tiger with piercing eyes and a white forehead appeared, galloping like the wind across the ground piled with fallen leaves and withered branches, chasing after the fleeing group.

This tiger was enormous, several meters long and probably weighed several hundred kilograms.

Even in the mountains and forests, its running speed is extremely fast.

With a slight adjustment of the muzzle, Lin Dao suddenly pulled the trigger.

A burst of gunfire rang out, startling a large number of birds into flight.

Lin Dao fired from the side, and a barrage of bullets swept across the area, with several hitting the tiger's chest and abdomen as it ran.

Not many hits, but enough.

Even the most ferocious beasts would suffer a gruesome end if struck by modern firearms, their intestines ripped out.

The running tiger was struck hard and fell directly into a pile of dead leaves.

Its four claws scratched frantically, sending dry branches and rotten leaves flying everywhere.

It roared repeatedly, the sound deafening.

After quickly changing the magazine, Lin Dao walked forward, gun in both hands. About ten paces away, a tiger with several bloody holes in its chest and abdomen struggled to turn its head towards Lin Dao.

His face, contorted with pain, and his bloodshot eyes, yellowish with a hint of black, were incredibly menacing.

"This isn't a zoo."

"No matter how fierce you are, it's useless if you don't have a permanent position."

Lin Daoduan aimed his gun and fired a short burst, several bullets accurately hitting the tiger's head.

The tiger's head was smashed open.

He stepped forward, examined the tiger's carcass, and confirmed that it was definitely dead.

Only then did he turn the smoking gun barrel and point it at the distance, shouting at the man.

"come out!"

The group of people who had been chased by the tiger earlier walked out hesitantly.

They all bowed towards Lin Dao, expressing their gratitude for his life-saving grace.

Lin Dao, still wary, asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

“In reply to my benefactor, we are hunters from the village of Heyan at the foot of the mountain.”

A middle-aged hunter with large hands and feet and a thick callus on his right hand respectfully replied, "We went into the mountains to hunt today, but we never expected to encounter a hungry tiger. Thanks to your help, otherwise we would all have perished in its jaws."

For experienced hunting teams, facing a tiger head-on isn't so scary, after all, they have weapons.

But when a tiger lies in ambush in the bushes or piles of dry grass, it becomes a deadly threat.

"This hungry tiger has eaten several hunters and often goes to various villages to steal livestock, causing trouble for a long time."

"Our benefactor has rid us common people of a great scourge."

"My benefactor is truly kind!"

Lin Dao nodded slightly.

"So it was a man-eating tiger that had eaten people before."

Tigers only attack two-legged animals when they are hungry.

Moreover, once two-legged creatures are added to the diet, they will continue to attack.

Therefore, no matter what kind of ferocious beast it is, if it has eaten people, it must be found and eliminated, otherwise it will inevitably continue to attack.

If any are protected, they must be the capitalists' pets.

Only in the eyes of capitalists are animals that can make money more important than humans.

Lin asked again, "Where is this place?"

"North Mountain of Heyan Village"

"To put it more broadly!"

"This place belongs to Zezhou."

"On a larger scale, which country?"

The hunters looked at each other in bewilderment, and the leader of the hunters reported.

"So that my benefactor may know, this place sometimes belongs to the Han Dynasty, and sometimes to the Zhou Dynasty."

"We levy taxes on everyone who comes here, and we suffer terribly."

Lin Dao frowned. "The Great Han and Great Zhou?"

"And the emperor? Who is the current emperor?"

The hunter replied again, "The fur collector who came a few days ago said that the old emperor is dead and the new emperor has just ascended the throne."

Lin Dao blinked and asked, "Do you know the emperor's name?"

"We know, we know." The hunters nodded hurriedly. "The old emperor's surname is Guo and his given name is Wei, and the new emperor's given name is Rong, Guo Rong."

"Guo Rong?"

Lin Dao smiled and said, "Chai Rong is the one."

He already knew what time and space this was.

Historical records refer to it as the Later Zhou Dynasty, which was part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Of course, whether it's the Later Zhou or something else, they would never refer to themselves as such.

For the sake of clarity, historical records either refer to him as "Great" or "Emperor".

Chai Rong was originally the nephew of Guo Wei's wife. Because Guo Wei had no son of his own, he adopted Chai Rong as his son and changed his name to Guo Rong to inherit the family business.

However, once he becomes emperor, he will inevitably have to change back to his original surname.

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Lin Dao pondered for a moment, "If Chai Rong ascends the throne, this will be almost over."

"The Great Han should be the Later Han Dynasty."

“Zezhou? Oh, it’s Jincheng. No wonder there are so many mountains here.”

He lowered his gun slightly and called out to the crowd, "In that case, take my prey with you down the mountain and rest in your village first."

The hunters readily agreed.

First, they ran to retrieve the bow and arrows they had previously discarded. Then, several hunters cut some branches and carried the tiger down the mountain.

It looked close, but the roads in the mountains were difficult to navigate, and it took quite a while to walk there.

Throughout the journey, Lin Dao pondered this place and its surroundings.

"The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was coming to an end, and Zhao Dadu had already gained important positions in the Later Zhou Dynasty."

"The chaotic period since the end of the Tang Dynasty is about to end, so it's not easy to gather a team."

"Moreover, since the late Tang Dynasty, military men have been in power, and they have all developed their own tempers; there are hardly any good people among them."

"Chai Rong is a talented person, Zhao Da is also alright, but Zhao Er is a complete scoundrel."

"Is this my job to deal with those arrogant martial artists?"

During the late Tang Dynasty, regional warlords carved up the country, and hundreds of thousands of professional warriors fought each other.

Over the years, they've all developed a ruthless nature, each one more vicious than the last.

The bribery methods that Lin Dao usually uses will probably not be very effective against these people.

As for rebuilding the ranks, it's not an easy task, especially given the gradual end of the chaotic era, as it's not feasible to rely on professional warriors.

We arrived at Heyan Village, a village with only a few dozen households.

The elderly, women, and children who remained behind cheered upon hearing that the man-eating tiger had been killed.

Those whose families had been killed by tigers wept bitterly and expressed their deepest gratitude to Lin Dao.

Lin Dao waved his hand, indicating that the tiger was given to them.

The villagers were extremely grateful.

Although the leather was damaged in many ways, it could still be sold for a good price.

Moreover, tiger bone is more expensive, as it is a valuable ingredient that can be used in medicine.

The women in the village all started cutting the meat and skillfully started a fire to cook it.

Lin Dao declined the invitation to dinner, found a room, instructed no one to disturb him, and then returned to the modern world to look up information after closing the door.

The next morning, just as he teleported over, he heard a tremendous commotion outside the room, with shouts of men, neighing of horses, and the clanging of armor.

(End of this chapter)