The young lady in the white dress wanted to say something but a voice came. “Wait!”
Another carriage arrived from behind. However, instead of horses, a bull pulled the carriage. It was physically larger than the horses.
Although it was pulled by a bull, the fabric on the carriage was the same as the one in front. Both the material and the workmanship were exquisite.
The bull carriage slowed down due to the horse carriage in front. The large yellow bull exhaled hard through its nostrils and lowered its head to angle its horns at the horse carriage.
The horses and the bull seemed to be old enemies, both angered the moment they saw each other. The bull horns and horse horns banged against each other. Although it was two against one, the bull still fared well. This was the advantage of having two horns.
At this moment, two young adults, one man and one woman, hopped off the bull carriage too. They looked similar, the guy was a little older.
“Ji Yan, Ji Wan? How dare you crash into my carriage?!” roared the lady clad in white.
Too bad the other two did not even look at her. They strode towards Black Bear.
“So it’s Brother Black Bear! Mr Black Bear, apologies for what just happened! We have an emergency today that we cannot tell you about but for any inconvenience caused, we will offer compensation to you another day,” said the young man. He was the guy who yelled ‘wait!’.
“Ji Yan?” Black Bear looked at the young man before him. He knew this person and knew that this matter had now ended. There was no point in fighting so he kept his knife. “Compensation” meant he would send someone to him with a gift.
The lady clad in white in front seemed to sense that this person was not someone they could anger. Knowing she was in the wrong, she did not speak. That meant she agreed to Ji Yan’s offer for compensation.
Black Bear looked at the three from the Ji family and was too lazy to nitpick. Perhaps Ji Ju might talk to him as a favour to them? That old man had a bad temper but they did not know how he treated his grandchildren. Plus, Ji Yan’s emergency might be related to Ji Ju.
When he thought about this, he had no plans to continue being in their way. His face broke into a smile. “Are you all on the way to Master Ji Ju, the Golden Grain? That’s great, we’re also here to visit the old man.”
Ji Yan cocked an eyebrow, his eyes swept across Shao Xuan and Guang Yi then to Black Bear. To him, the other two were not important, the most important person here was just Balck Bear.
“Since we are taking the same path, why not come with us. We have space in our carriage,” offered Ji Yan.
Here, other than nobles, ordinary civilians could not unless they were invited.
These were the exact words that Black Bear wanted to hear. He laughed. “Great, then I shall accept your invitation!”
Seeing Black Bear so nonchalant, Shao Xuan hopped on along with Guang Yi.
Ji Jing was stunned to see the three getting on Ji Yan and Ji Wang’s carriage, then was furious. They were recruiting supporters! They were cheaters! Too cunning!
The path was not very wide and the carriages were large so when the bull passed, the horse carriage was almost squeezed into the ditch.
The bull carriage was large, three meters wide and about eight meters tall. There were main seats and guest seats. Shao Xuan and the other two sat at the guest seats.
“May I ask, what are you here for today, Mr Black Bear?” asked Ji Yan.
“Me? No no no, I’m just accompanying,” said Black Bear.
Accompanying?
The leader of the Black Bears was just accompanying someone? Who?
Ji Yan and Ji Wang looked at Shao Xuan and Guang Yi. They did not look anything special. There were obvious savage, tribal vibes but there were no familiar symbols they were familiar with.
“And you’re both…” Ji Yan looked at them.
Shao Xuan smiled. “Shao Xuan from Flaming Horn.”
“Guang Yi from Flaming Horn,” said Guang Yi.
Shao Xuan recalled that Ji Ju once said many people no longer remembered Flaming Horn. Only the older ones might know. That was why he paid attention to their expressions. He saw a blank look in their eyes. Although it was not obvious, Shao Xuan knew that they really did not know Flaming Horn.
“I think I’ve heard of it.” After a moment of thought, Ji Yan said, “Your tribe must be quite far from King City?”
“Yeah, it’s quite far,” said Shao Xuan.
Ji Yan asked a few more questions and learned that Shao Xuan was here to learn from Ji Ju. His curiosity vanished and did not ask any more questions. There were so many people here to ask Ji Ju questions all the time, the line could span from King City to their fence.
Ji Wan stared at Shao Xuan.
After half an hour, the bull carriage stopped.
When they got off, Shao Xuan saw a large mansion. When he looked around, he saw tall fences around the fields and groups of patrol guards. All of them were in striking uniforms, differing from the guards at the city gates.
A stone slab near the entrance bore the Ji family sigil.
When the bull carriage stopped, the horse carriage behind arrived too. However, here, they did not argue and were very civilised. Even the animals were quiet there.
Ji Yan and the other two entered first. They were Ji family members after all, the guards did not stop them. Shao Xuan and the other two were stopped, even when ‘Black Bear’ uttered his name.
Ji Yan wanted to persuade them but he had no choice, There was only one boss here, and that was Ji Ju.
Ji Yan gave Black Bear an apologetic look and entered the house with the other two. The guards at the entrance glared at Shao Xuan and the other two as if they owed them something. Even the Black Bear had no special treatment.
However, this time Black Bear didn’t feel insulted, merely looked at Shao Xuan worriedly. “What do you think? Do you have any other methods?”
They definitely couldn’t force themselves inside. It was too risky.
Shao Xuan gestured for him to calm down and walked to the entrance. Under the sharp glare of the guards, he took out a peculiar bronze knife from this pouch and handed it over. “Please pass a message to Ji Ju, say someone’s here to visit him.”
The people at the entrance were secretly laughing at him. Who the hell did he think he was? And he even wanted to speak to the head of the house!
However, they realised this person was the real deal!
If he was just passing a message, the guard would force this guy out of the property. Many people used this excuse. However, it was different when he had something to offer.
When they saw the knife, the guards looked at him differently and stopped glaring at him. Instead, they regarded him with curiosity.
Once the guard studied the knife in his hand, he retracted his arrogance and held out two palms respectfully to take Shao Xuan’s knife.
“Please wait a moment.” The guard sprinted into the house with the knife, disappearing in an instant.
When he heard the guard say the word ‘please’, Black Bear stared at Shao Xuan as if he were a two-headed monster with his mouth agape. “You know Ji Ju?!”
“I do, I told you I met him yesterday?” said Shao Xuan.
Black Bear realised he had mentioned this during dinner yesterday but he didn’t take it seriously, thinking Shao Xuan had only seen him from afar like himself.
“Shao Xuan, are you really here to learn about planting from Ji Ju? Any other matters?” Black Bear asked curiously. If Ji Ju had entrusted an item to him, he must have a special relationship with the old man.
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“What else?” asked Black Bear curiously.
“To get back what he owes me.”
Black Bear was speechless. He did not believe it at all. Ji ‘Golden Grain’ Ju owes him something? Hehe!
On the other side, on a piece of land.
Ji Ju was looking at the land around him with a horrid look on his face. There were more than ten people listening to him, bowing in respect.
“I said this before, an arm’s distance! An arm’s distance! What is this you show me? Are your arms as long as your legs?! Do it again!”
“Also this piece of land. Have you prepared the grain chaffs? We’ll need it in ten days, if they’re not all covered, and all the plants die, you all might as well die too!”
“Heh, also this part! I said dig in squares! Squares! You’ve worked for me for so long, don’t you know what squares mean? If you don’t know it, get the hell out of my land!”
Ji Ju cursed as he paced, his expression worsened by the second. The ten people next to him had spit flying in their faces but they dared not wipe it off. They carefully answered Ji Ju’s questions, quickly promising not to make the mistake again. They did not want to be chased out of this land. It was great here. The food and rewards here were great. Many people were jealous. Even if they had to be the lowest-ranked slaves, many were willing to work here.
When he walked by another piece of land, Ji Ju looked at the ground, expressionless. “This. Who buried these bones?”
All ten people were screaming in their hearts. Oh no, oh no! He was going to explode!
After a while, they were familiar with his temper. His scoldings were fine because it meant they could still save themselves. However, if he stopped yelling, that meant someone would suffer and everyone there would be collateral damage.
One of the people paled. He had been in charge of this square. Although they hadn’t planted anything, burying bones was one of the preparation steps. These were beast bones that Ji Ju had sent people to get especially for this purpose. The plants would grow well with these bones. But looking at Ji Ju’s expression, something must have gone wrong!
Ji Ju’s glare was deadly. His eyes swept across the lands. He was very familiar with the fields. IF he said there was a problem, then there definitely was a problem.
The person in charge of the piece of land wiped the sweat off his forehead, sending someone to get the person who buried the bones.
Soon, two slaves were brought before him. They were the ones who buried the bones.
The person in charge glared at them like he was about to spray poison out of his eyes.
When they saw Ji Ju, the two slaves realised they had been found out. They did not have the courage to defend themselves, merely crouching on the ground, shaking.
To be honest, although Ji Ju had a bad temper, compared to the other slave masters who tortured and killed their slaves, he was alright. As long as his crops were planted well, he gave generous rewards too. When he was in a good mood, he was generous to people who helped, even if they were slaves. However, some people were greedy. Like these two.
They had switched the bones. They had stolen the original beast bones for a profit somewhere else. It was a large piece of land, they were familiar with Ji Ju’s planting procedures. It was possible for anyone to start having these plans.
However, to a person so familiar with planting, one bone was enough to reveal all the secrets.
Ji Ju’s face was cold as ice, his tone flat. “Take them outside.”
Guards came immediately, covering their mouths and dragging them off for interrogation. No matter what, they were not going to live.
Some people liked using humans as fertilisers. Other slave masters sometimes used slaves who were executed as fertilisers. However, it was different here. Ji Ju was precise in using every bone, rock, handful of soil and bucket of poop as fertiliser. That was why he produced the best goods.
The person in charge of this piece of land would definitely have his title taken away. The escalation of the situation would depend on him.
Just as Ji Ju was still furious, the butler hurried over.
“Master, the young master and miss are here…”
“I’m not meeting them!” Ji Ju waved impatiently.
“Also a few traders…”
“Tell them to get lost!” This was Ji Ju’s answer before the butler could finish.
The butler already knew this was going to happen, he merely went for formalities. It was his job. The traders must be here to see his master’s precious crops. Hmmph, they were looking to get a scolding.
After a few steps, the guard from the door spoke a few words and handed a knife to him.
He was shocked to see the knife. The butler hurried to look for Ji Ju.
“Master…”
“What?!”
“Someone came…”
“I said, tell them to get lost!”
“But he showed us this knife.”
“Did you hear me, I said… Wait! What knife?”
Ji Ju snapped out of his rage and looked at the little bronze knife in the butler’s palms. He cocked an eyebrow, twirling the knife out of habit. “Who is this person? Is he called Shao Xuan?”
“Uh, I don’t know. The guard said he was a young man, he looked like a tribesman.”
“It’s that kid! Bring him in!”