Chapter 137: Spring Comes Upon A Withered Tree (IV)

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Chapter 137: Spring Comes Upon A Withered Tree (IV)

Warsong Camp was located southwest of Wasier Forest. Apart from the local residents, most of the people coming and going were professionals from all over the continent. The streets bustled with activity, filled with an endless chorus of people buying and selling goods.

Shang Ke wore a gray cloak and carried a basket of fruit on his back as he slowly entered the town. After wandering around for a while, he found an open spot near a tavern and set the fruit down. The best place to gather information was somewhere crowded where people spent money, but unfortunately Shang Ke did not have any money on him. He could only settle for staying by the roadside, familiarizing himself with the surroundings while earning a little spending money along the way.

After taking a rough look around earlier, he had gained a general idea of the prices here. The fruit in his basket could probably earn him a dozen or so silver coins. Of course, it did not matter even if none of it sold. Shang Ke’s main purpose today was simply to come out and see more of the world.

Shang Ke’s fruit looked perfectly ordinary. Its special qualities could only be discovered by tasting it. After waiting for an hour, he had made only a single sale, selling five fragrant fruits.

Just as Shang Ke was wondering whether he should move somewhere else, a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of his stall.

Shang Ke looked up. The newcomer stood nearly two meters tall, with short chestnut hair. Most of his face was wrapped in bandages, leaving only a pair of golden eyes exposed. Although he looked very different from before, Shang Ke recognized him at a glance.

“What are you doing here?” Before Shang Ke could speak, Ivan questioned him first.

It was hardly strange that Shang Ke could recognize Ivan, but how had Ivan managed to pick him out from the crowd while he was wrapped from head to toe in a cloak?

“Come with me.” Ivan picked up the fruit basket and motioned for Shang Ke to follow.

Not long after Shang Ke left, the man who had previously bought five fragrant fruits hurried back. Seeing the now-empty stall, he stamped his feet in frustration. “Damn it, I’m too late! Who sells essence-rich fruit as if it were ordinary produce without even saying anything? He had to be doing that on purpose. This is infuriating!”

Shang Ke followed Ivan through an alley and into a small inn. Quite a few mercenaries sat around in groups of two or three, drinking together amid the noisy chatter.

Several mixed-blood elves were drinking with their companions when they suddenly seemed to sense something. All of them turned toward the entrance at once, their gazes settling on the cloaked man who had just entered and following him until he disappeared up the stairs to the second floor.

“What’s wrong?” one of their companions asked.

“Nothing.” The strange sensation had vanished almost as soon as it appeared. After thinking about it briefly, the mixed-blood elves dismissed the matter and resumed drinking with their companions. They could never have imagined that the person who had just passed them was the incarnation of the Mother Tree from which the elven bloodline had descended.

Ivan brought Shang Ke into a guest room where four people were seated in conversation. They fell silent when the two entered.

“Ivan, who is he?” Alvin asked warily, looking toward Shang Ke behind him.

“A friend. Shang Ke, an elf.” Ivan set down the fruit basket and briefly introduced the others. “Alvin, Sandy, Morris, Cassia.”

“An elf?” All four turned toward Shang Ke at once.

Shang Ke lowered his hood, and his extraordinary beauty immediately stunned them. Mixed-blood elves were not unheard of, but their numbers were small, and their exceptional magical talent made them highly sought after among mercenaries. In most other respects, however, they were little different from ordinary humans. Someone as strikingly beautiful as Shang Ke was exceedingly rare.

The four visibly relaxed and welcomed Shang Ke.

“What were you discussing?” Ivan asked, unobtrusively shifting himself into the path of everyone’s gazes.

“Oh, right. Morris found some information about the Wraith Jade.” Excitement appeared on Alvin’s face.

“Oh?” Ivan looked toward Morris, who silently nodded.

Alvin continued, “If the source is reliable, the Wraith Jade should be in the hands of the Forge Wraiths’ Golden-Wing King. We were just discussing finding allies and drawing up a plan to seize it.”

“We’ll probably need a large number of Oxygen Orbs when the time comes. How many can you refine in three months?” Sandy asked.

“If I have enough materials, I can probably refine twenty in three months,” Ivan replied.

“Only twenty?” The four looked rather disappointed.

Shang Ke was secretly surprised. He had not realized Oxygen Orbs were so difficult to refine. When he had watched Ivan seemingly make two with ease before, he had assumed they were easy to produce.

Shang Ke glanced at Ivan, but there was no emotion to be read from that strange bandaged face.

“Ivan, why don’t you teach the method for refining Oxygen Orbs to other alchemists?” Cassia asked righteously. “You may have developed them yourself, but for the sake of the Alliance’s victory, there are certain sacrifices we should be willing to make.”

Ivan replied indifferently, “The method for refining Oxygen Orbs isn’t something every alchemist can learn.”

“If one can’t learn, teach two. If two can’t, teach four,” Cassia persisted. “Surely at least one person out of ten would be able to learn it?”

Did this woman think Ivan was cheap labor? Was he supposed to teach however many people she told him to?

Shang Ke cast Cassia a faintly chilly glance.

Ivan ignored Cassia entirely and continued, “Taking the Wraith Jade from the Golden-Wing King won’t be easy. Three months may not even be enough preparation time. Besides, are you truly certain the Wraith Jade is in his possession?”

“What do you mean?” the four asked together.

“What do the Forge Wraiths fear most?” Ivan asked instead of answering.

“Elven nature magic and oxygen elements,” Cassia answered without hesitation.

“Then how did they seal the Fountain of Life back then?” Ivan asked evenly. “The Fountain of Life contains the purest nature power and oxygen elements in the world. The Forge Wraiths would never dare touch it. Even if they possessed a vessel capable of sealing the Fountain of Life, they could not have carried out the sealing themselves.”

“They could have forced their slaves to do it.”

“Exactly. If they wanted to seal the Fountain of Life, they could only have done so through another race.” A sharp gleam flashed through Ivan’s eyes. “The Fountain of Life is like a deadly poison to them. Do you really think they would keep something that dangerous close at hand?”

The four fell into thought.

Ivan continued, “The Alliance has been searching for the Wraith Jade for a long time. We’ve received plenty of information supposedly pointing to its whereabouts, yet every lead has ended in nothing. I think we need to approach the problem differently.”

“How?”

“Look for clues among the powerful individuals the Forge Wraiths controlled back then.”

……

…

Once the serious discussion ended, Alvin and the others enthusiastically invited Shang Ke to join their mercenary group.

Ivan glanced at the sky and said to Shang Ke, “I’ll take you home.”

“Hey, Ivan! Just because you refuse to join us doesn’t mean you can stop other people from joining,” Sandy protested.

“Exactly, Shang Ke. Join us. Our Bloodtear Mercenary Company is quite famous across the continent,” Alvin added.

Bloodtear Mercenary Company? The name alone was enough to make him not want to join, okay? Besides, Ivan wasn’t even a member of this mercenary group, which made Shang Ke even less interested.

Shang Ke waved and politely said goodbye to them.

After walking out of the inn, Ivan suddenly stopped and asked Shang Ke to wait for a moment before turning around and going back inside.

When he came back out, the basket of fruit was in his hands again.

Alvin stared at him speechlessly. “It’s only a basket of fruit. Do you really have to be that stingy?”

Shang Ke laughed. “Ivan, give some of the fruit to everyone.”

Ivan picked through the basket with great care and expressionlessly handed each of them a single fruit.

Alvin: So he really is that stingy…

Sandy: There’s really no need to force yourself to “part with your beloved treasures” …

Cassia: What the hell? I’m throwing mine away later!

Morris: No thoughts whatsoever.

Ivan paid no attention to whatever they were thinking. He took Shang Ke to the stables, chose a horse, and then sped away from Warsong Camp with him.

“Tsk. Whoever wants it can have it.” Cassia tossed her fruit onto the table in disgust.

“Eating more fruit is good for your complexion,” Sandy joked as he washed his.

At that moment, a dejected-looking man entered the room.

“Huh? Mackey, you’re back?” Alvin greeted his companion.

The man called Mackey lifted his head. The instant he spotted the fragrant fruit on the table, he charged over as though someone had injected him with adrenaline, picked it up, and sniffed it. His face immediately lit up. “Ah, this is it! You bought some too? Where did you get it?”

The four looked completely baffled. “Where did we get what?”

“This fruit! Where did you buy it? How much did you get?” Mackey asked urgently, pointing to the fragrant fruit in his hand.

“Why are you asking? Isn’t it just a wild fragrant fruit?” Sandy picked his up and casually took a bite. Then his eyes widened.

“This is a essence-rich fruit! An extremely rare essence-rich fruit!” Mackey looked positively heartbroken. “You thought these were just ordinary wild fruits?”

Only then did Alvin and the others turn their attention to the fruit in their hands, still looking somewhat skeptical.

“Honestly, it’s nothing special. It tastes about the same as an ordinary fragrant fruit.” Sandy finished his fruit in a few quick bites, then calmly turned to Alvin. “I seem to remember you’ve never been particularly fond of fruit. Why don’t you give yours to me?”

Alvin chuckled and decisively stuffed the fruit into his own pocket.

Sandy turned toward Morris next, only to find him already crunching away at his fruit.

Sandy: “…”

“I’m asking you, where exactly did you buy these fruits?” Mackey could not help asking again.

The group exchanged glances, and the image of that elf appeared in all their minds at the same time.

“Damn it, that bastard Ivan definitely knew all along!” Sandy suddenly cursed. “There was an entire basket, and he took every last one!”

Hearing this, Alvin and the others simultaneously raised their middle fingers toward the direction Ivan had left!

Ivan and Shang Ke returned to Wasier Forest before nightfall.

The little elves shot out of the woods and excitedly clung to Ivan.

Shang Ke smiled and walked over to pick up the little elf hiding behind a large tree.

Seeing that there was yet another little elf, Ivan could not help asking, “Who is she?”

“Leilei.” The name meant “flower fairy.” Shang Ke hoped that one day the fire poison in her body would be completely purged and she would become a beautiful flower elf.

“…Exactly how many children do you have?”

“Twelve.” Shang Ke smiled. “I’ll introduce you to all of them eventually.”

Twelve. Twelve… The number repeated endlessly through Ivan’s mind.

He began wondering whether Shang Ke had several wives. Otherwise, how could he possibly have so many children?

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to meet the children’s mother first,” Ivan said stiffly.

“Keke.” Bubbles blinked and put on an extremely serious expression. “I’d also like to meet our mother.”

Gray-Eye nodded with equal seriousness.

Shang Ke was speechless. These little brats knew perfectly well that he was both father and mother to them, yet they were deliberately asking anyway. They were practically begging for a spanking.

Shang Ke glanced sideways at Ivan and saw his eyes practically glowing. Apparently, the man had finally realized that there was no so-called “mother” at all.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go home and eat.” Ivan picked up one little elf in each arm and walked briskly toward their garden home.

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