Chapter 73: The Five-Li Fragrance

“A-Dai, who do you think he really is?”

Leaving the Lingshi Mine, a boy and a girl traveled on the road, chatting as they went.

Naturally, Mo Xiaobai was the center of their talk, but so far, neither of them knew that the person who had closed the mine and sealed the mountain was the only Tier 3 Village Lord Player on the current Plane.

The young man called “A-Dai” shook his head when he heard this: “No matter who he is, we can get our first pot of gold from him. Also, if he keeps his word, I have another idea.”

“What idea?”

“Not sure yet. We’ll have to wait until after the first cooperation to know.”

“Tch~ What is that? You are just acting mysterious like him.”

Little Yue pouted in dissatisfaction, then her eyes lit up as she pointed to the distance: “Look! There is a big black wolf over there. Let’s go kill it. If we sew the whole black wolf hide into a wolf skin armor, it can sell for eighty or ninety copper coins.”

…

Watching A-Dai and Little Yue leave, Mo Xiaobai did not worry about whether they could successfully find the coal mine.

These two were just a move he made casually when he was bored. If they succeeded, it would be a good thing. If they failed, Mo Xiaobai would not be too disappointed. It was just a loss of one gold coin. To Mo Xiaobai, paying this price to get a chance to find the coal mine in a short time was a very worthwhile deal.

As time quietly passed, besides monitoring the Lingshi output, Mo Xiaobai also received reports from his Rattan Armor Soldiers one by one.

Although the monsters in the mine had been cleaned up the previous day, some wild beasts from outside still tried to enter this habitat today.

However, with Tier 3 units guarding them, these beasts did not cause much harm to the Rattan Armor Soldiers. They only contributed their fur and meat to Mo Xiaobai. The most troublesome thing was just that two Rattan Armor shields were damaged, and it was not easy to replace them in a short time.

When the sun set in the west and day and night began to alternate, Li Guang finally returned with a fully loaded convoy. The wooden-wheel carts were mostly filled with grain, along with some tools used for long-term stationed outposts.

“My Lord, I have sent all the Lingshi back to the Territory.”

“The Flying General has worked hard and traveled far. Was there any risk along the way?”

“The road was calm and peaceful. The robbers around seemed to have been cleared long ago, and all the Beast Territories had been eliminated. A beast or two blocking the road cannot cause any trouble.”

Hearing Li Guang say this, Mo Xiaobai finally felt relieved.

Security in the mine was crucial, but this transportation route was equally important. If trouble kept popping up along the way, even if it just scared the villagers, Mo Xiaobai thought it was a loss outweighing the gain.

He did not want the Territory Populace Sentiment, which he had just raised, to drop so quickly.

After Li Guang directed the soldiers to store the brought supplies, Mo Xiaobai told him about the events at the mine today. Since he did not know how long it would take those two Players to successfully find the coal mine, he needed Li Guang to verify it later if Mo Xiaobai was not there.

The night passed without further discussion. When the sun rose on the second day, the villagers responsible for transporting the Lingshi set off again. This time, Li Guang did not accompany them, but only ordered his Rattan Armor Soldiers to escort them along the way.

A round trip every day. They went down the mountain in the morning and had to return in the evening.

Although mining and transportation were very hard work, the results were equally significant. After two days of mining, there were at least several thousand jin of ore. Mo Xiaobai estimated conservatively that they could fire one or two kilns of porcelain.

Perhaps by the time he returned, every household in Daming Village would have new porcelain tableware.

Two days.

Three days.

Five days.

Mo Xiaobai stayed at the Lingshi Mine for a full week. He failed to wait for A-Dai and Little Yue to return from their exploration mission. Instead, he saw Boss Cheng, a medicine merchant from Juancheng, arrive.

“We haven’t seen each other for half a month, and Boss Cheng still looks so rosy and healthy.”

“Lord Baron, what are you doing here?”

In this broken place in the wild, Fatty Cheng was first startled by a group of Rattan Armor Soldiers. Then, seeing Mo Xiaobai here, he was even more puzzled.

He knew that Daming Village was not in this area, was it?

Did this Lord Baron decide to give up his post as a Lord and become a bandit?

No wonder the fat man was guessing wildly. Mo Xiaobai had a bad reputation in Juancheng; he was even familiar with the “female murderer.” Plus, Fatty Cheng knew Mo Xiaobai’s brother had been a Renxia for a while. It was not impossible for Mo Xiaobai to have become a bandit too.

“I have set up a mining area on the mountain and have not been in the Territory for this period.”

Mo Xiaobai’s answer slightly eased Fatty Cheng’s doubts. At the same time, he felt his tongue click in amazement at the Lord Baron’s boldness. After just buying a large batch of medicinal herbs from him, he had now come to the deep mountains to mine.

However, although he stopped guessing wildly in his heart, Fatty Cheng still had no intention of being polite with Mo Xiaobai. He spoke up: “Since the Lord Baron is here, shall we hand over the remaining medicinal herbs at this location?”

“Take your time. I have been away from the Territory for a long time and should go back to check. Since you have come today, I will return to the village with you.”

Seeing Mo Xiaobai say this, Fatty Cheng could only give up, nodding to indicate his default consent.

With a free ride available, Mo Xiaobai immediately called Li Guang over and instructed: “I am returning to the village today. I leave the care of the mine entirely to the Flying General.”

Li Guang knew that Mo Xiaobai valued the mine highly, so he immediately patted his chest and made a “as long as I am here, the mine stands” guarantee:

“My Lord, do not worry. With me here, no one will ever try to harm the mine.”

“Then this is the best.”

Mo Xiaobai was still somewhat relieved about Li Guang, so he left with Fatty Cheng along the small path down the mountain.

It had been ten days since he last returned, and Mo Xiaobai was already eager to go back.

…

“Do you see the stone wall passage ahead? That is our Daming Village.”

A convoy moved forward slowly. After walking for a full half-day, Mo Xiaobai finally saw his own Territory.

“Lord Baron has excellent eyesight. The terrain here is quite impressive.”

Fatty Cheng was a professional merchant who traveled far and wide. How could he not see Mo Xiaobai’s pride in his Territory? He offered a bit of flattery, but there was not much change in his heart.

Accustomed to the thick walls of the Prefecture City, the stone walls of Daming Village were really hard for him to take seriously.

“You will know when you enter. It is even more lively inside.”

Mo Xiaobai was very happy. Ignoring whether Fatty Cheng’s flattery was true or fake, he nodded and continued: “I have not been back for a while. I imagine there are now over a thousand people in the village.”

A thousand people?

Hearing this number, Fatty Cheng finally showed some reaction.

He was very clear about what a thousand mouths meant.

If Daming Village could really support over a thousand people, then it was definitely not just a small Village Level 3 Lord. He knew that many Nobles in Juancheng could not even support so many people.

Leading the Cheng Ji convoy into the village calmly, Mo Xiaobai raised his eyes and saw that the whole Daming Village had changed quite a bit compared to when he left.

After summoning Li Ji to help verify the remaining transactions of the herb purchase, Mo Xiaobai sniffed his nose and smelled a rather special scent.

It was the scent of wine!

“Maogong, did you break a wine jar in the Winery? Why is there such a strong aroma of wine drifting out?”

“My Lord, Li Ji is just about to tell you the details about this matter. Three days ago, a master winemaker came to the Territory again. The wine aroma you smell is indeed from his family’s ancestral ‘Lingzhi Wine’. Once this wine is opened, its scent will spread four or five Li away in an instant, which is quite extraordinary.”