In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar

Wang Yan understood.

Candice's idea was to make money for the rainforest merchants so that more merchants would bring supplies to the edge of the desert.

As more merchants bring goods, competition intensifies, and the price of goods naturally falls to a reasonable level.

It seems that this guardian of Aru Village also has a certain level of economic awareness.

As they spoke, the caravan slowly approached the post station gate.

The thirty guards at the gate clearly recognized the large caravan from Aru Village. They simply glanced at the leader's documents and waved for them to pass, even smiling and nodding to familiar faces in the caravan.

Upon entering the post station, a lively atmosphere immediately envelops you. Shops line both sides of the main street, and the aroma of food wafts from the restaurants. Innkeepers greet weary travelers at their doors.

Many pedestrians cast curious or friendly glances at the caravan’s enormous size and the sign for Aru village.

Especially after seeing Dixia in the caravan, shouts rang out from all directions.

"Look! It's Desia!"

"The Lion with the Fiery Mane is back!"

"Sister Dixia!"

The shouts included gilded tour groups, businessmen, and children.

A radiant smile bloomed on Dixia's face, as if she had returned to her most familiar and comfortable territory.

"Ha, Bal! You've gotten even stronger! Haven't been slacking off lately, have you?"

"Grandma, how are you feeling? I'll come back to buy these cakes later!"

"Hey, Itsaca, you've been transferred here to help out too? That's great!"

She responded skillfully to every greeting, calling out many people's names, offering concerned inquiries, or cracking a couple of harmless jokes.

It's clear that this is indeed her home turf.

Seeing this, Wang Yan was certain that the song was absolutely correct.

Desia~ Our Desia~ The best Desia~

After watching for a while, Wang Yan withdrew his gaze and followed Falushan, obeying the caravan leader's arrangements, and checked into the inn.

The Order probably gave the caravan a good reward. Wang Yan and Falushan were assigned two rooms, which were nicely furnished and even had a shower.

"Get some rest. Tomorrow we'll officially enter the desert, and the sandstorms won't be pleasant. Enjoy your last comfortable night's sleep."

Estelle gave a few instructions and then returned to her room.

Wang Yan nodded, returned to his room, and then... took a shower immediately.

Traveling with caravans naturally meant poor hygiene, and even though Wang Yan was always careful to take care of himself, he inevitably became somewhat slovenly.

After washing for a full half hour, Wang Yan took out a clean set of clothes from the package and changed into them, feeling refreshed.

Wang Yan had intended to read for a while, but the curiosity of traveling far from home stirred within him, and he became restless.

"Why don't we go out and have a look around, and try some local specialties?"

Once the idea came to mind, I couldn't suppress it anymore.

Wang Yan took some change from his bag and went out.

As soon as you leave the quiet room, the noise of the post station assaults your ears.

Various shouts rang out continuously. In addition to merchants from the rainforest, many desert people also set up stalls to sell things from the desert.

For example, Wang Yan was quickly attracted by a strange fragrance.

Upon arriving at the stall, I saw the dark-skinned owner grilling a type of white meat that didn't look like it belonged to a mammal.

"Hey, friend from the rainforest, would you like to try some scorpion meat?" The stall owner greeted Wang Yan warmly as he approached.

"Scorpion flesh?"

"Yes, this is something you can't find in the rainforest. It's delicious and has tender meat. In the past, only the chief of the tribe could enjoy it."

Upon hearing the stall owner's words, Wang Yan realized that this must be the scorpion that drops animal meat in the game.

In the game, animal meat drops, but in reality, this scorpion head doesn't look like animal meat at all.

"Then give me one."

"Alright, friend, would you like some jujube wine? It'll taste even better with scorpion meat."

"...I'll have one too."

"Okay, please sit wherever you like, it'll be right up."

The stall owner pointed to the wooden table and stools next to him; they were roughly made and must have been handmade by him.

Soon, the vendor brought out a plate full of grilled scorpion meat and a large glass of jujube and coconut wine. The only downside was that the wine wasn't served chilled.

Here, chopsticks aren't used; the vendor provides a fork, which is polished to a shine and looks quite hygienic.

Wang Yan picked up a piece of poisonous scorpion flesh and put it in his mouth.

"Hmm!~"

The taste was quite good, just as the vendor said, it was delicious, the meat was tender, and the grilling flavor made it very tasty.

Just as Wang Yan was about to enjoy his meal, he heard a faint conversation.

"Have you found out everything?"

"Don't you trust me to handle things? But, are we really going to attack the caravan in Aru Village? What if Candice catches us?"

"What are you afraid of! After we pull off this job, we'll go live the life in the rainforest. Candice can't possibly come to the rainforest to catch us, can she?"

"But the place where the caravan stores its goods is guarded by people from the Blazing Beasts."

"Of the Radiant Beasts, only Desia can fight them. I've already inquired. Desia will be going to see those kids tonight; she's not in the warehouse."

"Let's do it!"

"Okay, let's do it!"

"... "

The voice was very soft, but Wang Yan's ability to detect language was too strong. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a group of people dressed in gold-plated attire, numbering more than a dozen.

Wang Yan remained calm, withdrew his gaze, and continued to struggle with the roasting scorpion meat in front of him.

After finishing their meal, they paid and left as usual.

Chapter 66 Sensor-based Element Protection Device

Wang Yan quickly returned to the inn and went straight to Falushan's room, gently knocking on the door.

"Mentor, it's me."

The door opened quickly, and Estelle was still wearing her scholar's robes from the daytime, holding a roll of drawings in her hand, clearly not having rested yet.

She raised an eyebrow at Wang Yan: "What's wrong? Is the post station too noisy to sleep?"

“No.” Wang Yan stepped into the house and lowered his voice after closing the door. “I was eating outside just now and overheard a group of gilded caravans talking. They plan to raid the warehouse of the Aru Village caravan tonight and steal the goods.”

Eros's eyes narrowed, and she put down the drawing paper: "How many people exactly? When will we make our move?"

She did not doubt the truthfulness of Wang Yan's words and chose to believe them directly.

In Eros's view, Wang Yan had no reason to convey false information. Perhaps the meaning behind his words was distorted, but the matter must have happened.

Therefore, Effusa chose to ask for details.

"I saw about a dozen people, but I don't know if there were more."

“They said that Dixia is going to visit some children tonight, not near the warehouse, and they plan to make their move then.”

Wang Yan paused for a moment, then said, "I originally wanted to go directly to the caravan leader, but then I thought that this matter might involve forces within the desert. After all, we are outsiders, and rashly interfering might cause misunderstandings. So I came to ask for your opinion first."

After listening, Falushan smiled slightly, her eyes showing approval: "You did the right thing. In the desert, when rainforest scholars directly intervene in tribal conflicts, it is easy to be misunderstood as interference from the Church Council. Especially since Aru Village has a special status now. Candice and Dixia are reasonable people, but other desert people may not be aware of it."

She walked to the window and looked in the direction of the post station warehouse: "Besides the Radiant Hunting Beasts, the guards of the caravan warehouse should also include people from Aru Village."

"Since those people dared to make a move, they must either be desperate criminals or have some powerful backers. There might even be some of their men in the caravan."

"The fact that you heard them mention 'going to the rainforest' means they fled the desert immediately after their plan succeeded..."

"The Gilded Brigade, now fleeing the desert and escaping into the rainforest... I think these people are probably remnants of some criminal gang."

Wang Yan asked curiously, "A criminal gang? Shouldn't they be even further away from the Religious Academy?"

In Wang Yan's memory, only the Disciplinary Committee and the Thirty-Man Group would hunt down these criminal gangs. Therefore, many criminal gangs dared not enter the rainforest area, or rather, they would not set up their headquarters in the rainforest.

Erosan shook her head: "You're talking about the situation before. The Council of the Church used to have very strict control over the Gold Plating Brigade, but now that the rainforest and the desert have reconciled, the Council of the Church's attitude towards the Gold Plating Brigade has improved a lot. Some criminal brigades will pull off a big heist in the desert and then go to the rainforest to live an ordinary life under assumed names."

“As long as they have some money on them, they can live quite well in the rainforest, even if they just acquire some land.”

"Won't the Academy help with the pursuit here in the desert?" Wang Yan asked, puzzled.

Eros scoffed: "So they have to go into hiding? Who can prove they escaped to the rainforest? The Council of the Church requires evidence. If there is no evidence, the Council of the Church can only record it and will not assign people to investigate and pursue them."

The Institution of the Order itself has a lot of cases involving scholars who have broken the rules to deal with, so it doesn't have the spare manpower to investigate these criminal gangs.

Moreover, the relationship between the rainforest and the desert is currently harmonious. If an investigation into the criminal gang is misinterpreted and expanded into an investigation of the entire gilded gang, wouldn't that be disastrous?

Therefore, the Church will only intervene when there is sufficient evidence; otherwise, it will be the desert people investigating the desert people.

Wang Yan understood. It seemed that although Sumeru was peaceful at the moment, there were still many cracks inside.

"So what should we do now?" Wang Yan asked.

Eros glanced at Wang Yan: "Didn't I just say that Dixia is a reasonable person? Since those people want to choose a time when Dixia is not around, why don't you just tell Dixia what happened? The Light-Bearing Beasts are the caravan's guards. Leave the professional matters to the professionals."

"Shall I go and inform Dixia now?" Wang Yan asked.

Eros nodded: "Okay, go ahead."

Just as Wang Yan was about to turn and leave, Falushan called out to him again, "Wait."

Wang Yan stopped in his tracks: "What's wrong, mentor?"

Eros walked to the desk in the room and took out a palm-sized metal disc from her bag. Its surface was engraved with fine runes.

"Here, take this for self-defense." Erosan handed the disc to Wang Yan.

"What is this?"

“It’s an elemental protection device that can sense attacks from crossbow bolts and swords and generate an elemental shield,” Erosan explained. “You have your own hand crossbow for self-defense, but it’s not enough. Carrying this will make you safer.”

Wang Yan felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing this.

Erossen may not say anything else, but she does care about herself quite a bit.

Even though she was just going to deliver a message to Dixia, Erosian was worried that she would be targeted.

After all, criminal gangs are wary of Desia if they want to rob caravans, so it's quite possible that they would send someone to keep an eye on her.

The chances of Wang Yan being targeted by the criminal gang for delivering messages are small, but not impossible.

Reaching out to take the sensor-based protective device, Wang Yancai placed it close to his body and nodded, "Thank you, mentor."

"Okay, okay, go ahead." Falushan waved her hand.

Wang Yan then turned and left.

Watching Wang Yan leave, Falushan's eyes sparkled, and then she reached out and a cyan cube flew into her hand.

A dazzling array of talents!

One of Estelle's most prized mechanical creations.

Holding the Heyao multifaceted object in her hand, Falushan stared at the direction of the warehouse for a moment before looking away.

...

On the other side.

Wang Yan left Erosan's room, left the inn, and went to look for Dixia.

In fact, this was not difficult, because given Dixia's popularity among the desert people, Wang Yan could easily find out her whereabouts with just a few inquiries.

Dixia is visiting a child's home.

The child's parents were both members of the Gold Plating Brigade. They went missing during a mission, and after learning about it, Desia took on part of the child's expenses.