Chapter 347 [Hasty Three Months]

Neither elixirs nor magical artifacts can be made in a short time, so Chen Yan continued to reside in this earthen building.

Unknowingly, time passed by in a flash.

He lived quite leisurely and freely; every day, he would either meditate and practice circulating the Primordial Qi or sharpen his Primordial Spirit and train his Divine Sense in the way of sharpening a blade.

Occasionally during his leisure time, he would step out of the earthen building and wander around the villages surrounding the Black Wood Tribe — he even asked Zhan Li to get him a set of standard Ghost Race Black Wood Tribe attire.

Wearing the tight dress and narrow-sleeved Ghost Race attire, Chen Yan strolled around the village day by day.

The appearances of the Ghost Race People were somewhat different from outsiders, so even when Chen Yan donned their attire, one look at him and they would know he was a foreigner.

But when Chen Yan wandered, Zhan Li occasionally accompanied him — her head bowed with a docile demeanor, like a little maid serving a young master.

Though Zhan Li had fallen from power, she was once the Cave Maiden of the Black Wood Tribe, holding a transcendent and noble status. Even though the upper echelon of the Black Wood Tribe had been purged, Zhan Li was not charged, and people presumed that she had probably escaped the purge due to her deep roots, at most just demoted.

Even so, a former Cave Maiden, famously the [Ghost Race’s Number One Genius], was a person of high stature before the ordinary Black Wood Tribe people.

Such an important figure, yet by Chen Yan’s side — a foreigner — behaving respectfully and cautiously, instantly made everyone not dare to underestimate Chen Yan.

While he wandered in the village, everyone regarded him with three-tenths of reverence.

Occasionally, some tribe people doing business in the village, upon seeing Chen Yan arrive, would adopt an attitude of greeting nobility, showing him reverent courtesies.

To put it this way, if Chen Yan wanted to act like a bully, he could indeed go to a restaurant and not pay, eat watermelon for free.

However, Chen Yan would never do such a thing; he merely strolled around when the mood struck him, to experience the Ghost Race’s customs and culture.

The herbs dried by the Ghost Race itself, the goods on the market, were vastly inferior to those obtained from Master Shilu. Chen Yan would occasionally, when strolling, see something he hadn’t encountered before, just casually buy a handful to take back for research and play.

Often, he would take the item, then lightly tilt his head toward Zhan Li following behind him: "Pay."

Zhan Li would immediately, respectfully, take out her purse and pull out a Jade Coin to hand to the vendor.

Over this period, while he didn’t buy anything valuable or expensive, he did purchase quite a few novel items.

For instance, the Ghost Race not only had mastered the craft of cultivating and drying mountain herbs but also had skills in driving and using peculiar mountain insects.

They not only breed insects and drive them for their use but could also dry them to be used in medicine or even as food.

To Chen Yan, wasn’t this just like the traditional Gu magic of the Miao border regions?

The Ghost Race’s tight-fitting, narrow-sleeved clothing indeed resembled the Limi ethnic groups in the real world.

Thus, residing in the Black Wood Tribe did give Chen Yan the feeling of touring the Limi National Scenic Area in the real world.

Over time, Chen Yan gradually blended into the Black Wood Tribe’s village life.

Every two or three days, he would go out to stroll, get accustomed to sipping two bottles of the mountain wine brewed by the Black Wood Tribe, and nibble on some sun-dried fruit by the villagers.

The mountain wine had a high alcohol content, often soaked with some herbs, even dried insects.

Villagers said these herbs had various effects, like improving eyesight, diuretic effects, clearing heat and detoxifying, invigorating blood circulation and dispersing blood stasis.

The most amusing and exasperating thing for Chen Yan occurred one day while drinking, the villager selling the alcohol winked and brought him a jar, claiming it soaked special ingredients that, when consumed, could enhance a man’s prowess.

Chen Yan rolled his eyes at that moment.

Because the villager, saying these words, deliberately winked and glanced at Zhan Li standing behind Chen Yan.

From that day on, when strolling in the village, Chen Yan no longer let Zhan Li accompany him.

A month later, gradually, something felt off in the village’s atmosphere!

The newly appointed Ghost Race chief Guen, that deranged old figure, issued a war order. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The eighteen tribes of the Ghost Race gathered, and in the Black Wood Tribe’s village, the atmosphere grew heavier.

Chen Yan saw in every household, the young and strong Ghost Race men wore their sturdiest clothing, retrieved the weapons used for hunting in the mountains, steel forks, knives, and even packed their bags.

Some families with assets had prepared armor for their sons — typically rattan or leather armor.

For the less wealthy, they made wooden pieces assembled to create wooden armor.

Actually, Zhan Li told Chen Yan that after these young men gathered, equipment would typically be distributed, and... the conscripted young men among these villagers usually wouldn’t need to be on the frontline of battles; they were used primarily for auxiliary labor.

But after the conscription order came down, the village’s atmosphere gradually became oppressive and heavy.

The usual smile of those selling herbs, dried bugs was gone.

Suddenly one day, after Chen Yan finished drinking at the wine vendor’s stand, the skinny, dark-skinned vendor unexpectedly took out a small clay pot from under the counter and handed it to Chen Yan.

"This is for you."

"Hmm?" Chen Yan was taken aback.