Mercenary Wars

Chapter 175 Died from Talking Too Much
Gao Jiano remained expressionless and said calmly, "This scroll must be expensive."

“Of course, without this scroll, my friend and I wouldn’t dare to linger in the fourth-tier Tidal Land,” the hunter said, a pained expression returning to his face, clearly indicating that the scroll had indeed cost a fortune.

Gaucano: "Even with this scroll, it would take immense courage to remain in the Tidal Lands."

Hunter: "Isn't wealth always hidden in danger?"

“Indeed,” Gao Jiano nodded.

The air fell into a subtle silence for a moment.

Until the hunter moved his lips: "There are two pieces of Forget-Me-Not Moss here. One of them is mine, and we'll call it even... What do you think?"

"Forget it?" Gao Jiano didn't understand the logic behind that statement.

The hunter's tone was somewhat hesitant, but he still said, "You killed my friend—he was also a Mosas, and you should know that this is against the doctrine. Besides, I also helped when we were fighting the giant antler deer."

Gao Jiano didn't say anything, but instead peeled off the two petals of the Forget-Me-Not moss and put them away.

Seeing that he had taken both pieces of Forget-Me-Not without a word, the hunter's expression changed immediately: "Aren't you afraid I'll report you?"

Gaucano clapped the dirt off his hands: "When did I ever kill your friend? It was the giant antler deer that killed your friend. Not only did I not kill him, I also avenged him."

"You led the giant deer to his location!" the hunter said, pointing at him.

Gaucano said expressionlessly, "It was just a coincidence."

The hunter scoffed, "Hmph, whether it's a coincidence or not, judges and prosecutors will decide!"

Gaucano approached him: "Then I can also ask the judge and prosecutor to investigate what your friend did to me, and you, do you dare to swear in the name of Mosa and Saint Yves that you have never had any ill will towards me?"

"Of course I dare!" Although he said that, a clear hesitation appeared on the hunter's face.

Swearing an oath in the name of Mosa, though related to faith, rarely leads to consequences. The percentage of Mosa followers who suffer divine retribution for dishonesty towards Mosa is probably less than one in ten thousand. After all, Mosa, as the sole chief god of his pantheon, is invoked billions of times daily; he is understandably very busy and has no time to concern himself with the endless vows of the mortal realm.

But to swear an oath in the name of Saint Yves under his watchful eye—if you were to lie through your teeth—the possibility of divine retribution would be quite high. The moment the lie was uttered, a holy light of punishment might descend from the heavens.

Gaucano stared into the hunter's eyes.

After hesitating for several seconds, the hunter finally said with a lack of confidence, "I swear in the name of Mosa and Saint Yves, I... I have no ill intentions towards you now."

Gao Jiano couldn't help but laugh.

As he laughed, he continued toward the hunter, the Blood-Summoning Sword already in his hand.

The hunter's expression changed drastically, and he quickly retreated: "What are you doing! Do you intend to kill a Mosaic who has no ill intentions towards you under the watchful eyes of Saint Yves? Moreover, my rank is lower than yours. You are not only 'killing the innocent,' but also 'bullying the weak!' Saint Yves and the saints who bestowed your name upon you will severely punish you and condemn your blasphemy. You will never again be able to enjoy the blessings of the Mosaic!"

Without wasting any words, Gao Jiano rushed forward with a cold and sharp gaze.

"Mosa—Saint Yves—" The hunter's speed was clearly insufficient for him to escape from Gaucano's grasp, and he could only shout in despair as he futilely fled.

Two seconds later.

With a flash of blood, the Blood-Summoning Sword ruthlessly severed the hunter's head!
Kill a Level 4 Human, Experience +200

“Actually, if you had just turned around and left without saying anything, I might have chosen to let you go,” Gao Jiano sighed.

Actually, he understood the hunter quite well.

After all, according to common sense, high-ranking Mossians will have some Mossian holy names, and as long as there is one, the "gaze of St. Yves" cannot be completely ignored.

It can be said that, under the "gaze of Saint Yves," the hunter had every reason to believe he was safe.

At the same time, a scroll of "Saint Yves's Gaze" is quite expensive, and after a hunter uses it, he will inevitably feel the urge to seek compensation, and then go further and demand the Eternal Moss. This can be considered a natural human tendency.

But while he understood, Gao Jiano certainly wasn't willing to give away a piece of Eternal Forget-Me-Not just because of that, and he certainly couldn't let such a guy who could cause him trouble at any time leave.

Unfortunately, he was a person without faith, so the gaze of saints and such was of no use to him.

Since that's the case, we have no choice but to nip it in the bud.

This made Gaucano realize even more how fragile trust was between strangers in such an isolated place as the Land of the Tides. Once suspicion arose, even the "gaze of Saint Yves" was unreliable.

In the land of tides, suspicion—including suspicion of suspicion itself—is tantamount to war.

Strike when the time is right, act when the time is right.

This is how the land of tides survives.

Gaucano used the Blood-Summoning Sword to process the corpses of the giant antler deer and the two hunters, squeezing out their blood, and then collected the items.

There's not much to say about the two hunters.

The only thing of value is probably the "Saint Yves' Gaze" spell scroll that the level 3 hunter still possesses.

For the Mosas, this scroll serves a certain degree of self-protection, deterring a considerable number of Mosas—especially high-ranking Mosas—in places like the Tidal Land, making them hesitant to commit crimes such as "bullying the weak" or "murder for money."

But for Gaugano, the only option was to sell them for money.

Only Mosas are affected by the "gaze of Saint Yves," and the more devout they are, the more pronounced the effect.

For Gaucano, a pure false believer, this spell was meaningless.

They will neither be restricted by them nor protected by them.

It has its advantages and disadvantages; for an honest person, the advantages might even outweigh the disadvantages. Unfortunately, the saints of Mosa were of too low a caliber, and Gaucano would never choose their names, let alone develop faith in them.

After dealing with the two hunters, Gaugano then began to deal with the giant antler deer.

The blood of the giant antler deer had already been converted into a bag of blood crystals and stored away. Most of the deer meat had to be discarded, as there was too much of it and the average value was not high. Only the tenderloin was kept by Gaogano—the tenderloin of a level six giant antler deer was a highly sought-after ingredient even in the kitchens of nobles, and it was expensive. Moreover, Gaogano himself had never tasted it before.

Compared to flesh and blood, deer hide and deer tendons are undoubtedly much more valuable. Although the deer hide was somewhat damaged from being hit by over a dozen arrows, considering its enormous size, even a small portion was enough to make a piece of leather armor. Deer tendons are excellent for making bowstrings; more precisely, the tendons of the giant antler deer are widely considered the best material for bowstrings, a significant reason why the giant antler deer is the symbol of the Hunter's Guild.

The most valuable parts are undoubtedly a level 6 earth-element crystal core and the head of a giant antler deer, including its antlers. The former, in particular, is worth tens of gold coins on the market, which is roughly equivalent to a piece of Eternal Forgetfulness Moss.

The crystal core was easy to find; they could just dig it out. But the deer head and antlers posed a challenge for Gaugano. After all, the giant antler deer was simply enormous; a single antler was longer than Cassandra's height, making it truly "spectacular."

That's why this thing has become a symbol of hunter's honor.

When a hunter hunts a giant antler deer, carrying its enormous head and antlers along the road, people can see him from afar, and those nearby cannot help but turn their heads in admiration.

At this time of year, hunters inexplicably become directionally challenged, wandering aimlessly around town.

Gaucano considered separating the antlers and head, but once separated, the collectible value would be lost. And collectible value is precisely its main value; such a well-preserved and magnificent deer head and antlers would undoubtedly attract a rush of wealthy buyers, or simply be displayed in one's own home.

After a moment's thought, he had no choice but to rearrange the contents of his storage ring, moving all the smaller items to lower-level storage rings to free up space in his level seven storage ring, finally managing to fit the deer head and antlers completely inside.

Having done all this, Gaugano continued his exploration of the Tidal Lands.

Soon, the traces of two more level-six plants appeared in his perception.

He rushed over, only to be disappointed by what he found: two ordinary herbs.

Sunflower and golden thorn.

Many potions, such as Mana Potions, Invisibility Potions, Agility Potions, and Titan Elixir, require these herbs. They are considered relatively rare among common herbs and can sell for a few gold coins, but they are still not comparable to Eternal Forget-Me-Not.

After picking the two level-six herbs, Gaogano ventured deeper into the Tidal Lands.

A few hours later.

When Gao Jiano picked two ordinary herbs in disappointment again, he had only taken a few steps when his expression suddenly froze.

However, as he walked and the range of his plant perception extended forward, an unusually "conspicuous" plant appeared somewhere six kilometers away.

"This is... a level 10 plant!" Gao Jiano was somewhat incredulous and deeply surprised.

grade ten!

Could it be a higher-level plant of eternal oblivion?

As the lowest rank of the Forget-Me-Not plant, one of the unique features of Forget-Me-Not is that it often does not grow alone.

However, the higher-level plants of the Forgetfulness series are different. For example, the Forgetfulness Mushroom, Forgetfulness Grass, Forgetfulness Flower, and even the Forgetfulness Tree which only exists in grand myths, can all grow independently.

Therefore, the independent growth of this level 10 plant does not mean that it is not an eternal forgetting plant.

Moreover, even if it's not an Eternal Forgetfulness plant, a level 10 plant will never be too cheap.

Just like a level 10 person, even if they're useless, they can't be that weak.

So Gao Jiano immediately rushed towards the direction where the level 10 plant was located.

Before long, a mountain came into view.

Upon seeing the mountain, Gaugano frowned slightly.

Based on the location perceived by the plant, the level 10 plant was found growing inside the mountain, presumably in a cave or burrow.

This mountain is so big and wide that finding the right entrance might be a bit of a hassle.

However, Gao Jiano did not encounter any other high-level plants along the way; only this one level 10 plant could attract his attention.

So he immediately decided to look for an entrance.

Of course, he would only search for a day at most.

If this level 10 plant is an Eternal Forgetfulness type plant, it must have disappeared by now if it hasn't been found in a day.

If it hasn't disappeared after a day, it means it's not an amnesiac plant and it's not worth investing too much time in—it's only four days in total.

Gaucano began his search, wandering around the mountain in all directions.

The result was not ideal.

The problem wasn't that we didn't find any caves, but that we found too many.

Within a few hours, Gaogano found more than a dozen deep caves and crevices, and went into each one to check them out, but none of them led to the location of the level 10 plant.

This gave him a bit of a headache.

After searching for some time, Gaucano found another deep cave.

The moment he found the cave, his eyes narrowed involuntarily.

However, several footprints were clearly visible on the ground at the entrance of the cave.

Very fresh footprints.

It is obvious that someone has already entered the cave, and more than one person.

Gaucano roughly estimated that there may have been a dozen or so people who entered the cave.

These people must be of a high rank.

After all, if they were low-level adventurers who entered the Tidelands four days ago, their footprints wouldn't be so fresh.

These footprints were clearly made within a few hours, or even half an hour.

To arrive here in such a short time, one must either be at a very high level, such as level seven or eight, or be like Gao Jiano, whose level is not very high but who has some means of traveling quickly.

Furthermore, there were few footprints in other caves, but there were dense footprints here. It's not hard to guess that the person who entered this place probably already knew something about it.

It could be through information from predecessors, or it could be through divination.

Thinking about this, Gao Jiano couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

Others can easily find fortune tellers; as long as they are willing to spend money or even their lives, they can ask about anything, big or small.

But he just couldn't do it.

If he dares to ask the fortune teller anything, the fortune teller will dare to die in front of him.

Gaucano could only console himself with the saying, "Every gift bestowed by fate has a price tag attached"—divination always comes with some inescapable cost.

He entered the cave, activated Earth Skin, drank a vial of Dark Vision Potion, and proceeded cautiously.

Before long, faint voices could be heard from ahead.

Both Gaucano and the one making the voice were clearly aware of each other's presence.

"Someone else is here!" The voice sounded a little annoyed.

“Hopefully not a heretic,” another voice chimed in.

Gao Jianuo breathed a sigh of relief.

Judging from the content of the sound, they should not be one group, but at least two groups.

Judging from their accents, they should be Mossadists rather than Jehovah's disciples.

Although humans speak the same language, accents vary to some extent from region to region.

The Sennheiser and Liebland accents, in particular, are quite distinctive.

One of the voices was the Liberlite accent.

Gao Jiano quickened his pace and soon approached the location from which the sound came.

(End of this chapter)