Chapter 204 - 180: Desert Ruins
[Level 1 Nan Bamboo Forest: Level 1 Bamboo Body Hardness, Level 1 Bamboo Body Resilience]
As far as he could see, there were a total of twenty fruit trees in the forest. Each tree bore between nine and twelve fruits.
There were about two hundred in total.
’I just don’t know how fast these Water Dew Fruits grow.’
Furthermore, the shell of the Water Dew Fruit had a detoxifying effect. It resembled a coconut shell, although it was more brittle. ’It would probably be difficult to eat it directly, though.’
After some thought, Qin Ziwen concluded they needed to be processed. For instance, it would probably be better to grind the shells into a powder and mix it with water.
’These Water Dew Fruits could become a unique product to sell.’
His work done, Qin Ziwen prepared to rest.
The next morning, Chen Pi successfully produced a sample of Leather Armor. He demonstrated its Defense Power for Qin Ziwen by first fitting it onto a wooden stake, then testing it with both a Blunt Weapon and a Sharp Weapon.
First, against blunt strikes, the Leather Armor demonstrated impressive shock resistance.
Next came Sharp Weapons. The Leather Armor performed well against dragging cuts and slashes.
It offered some protection against chopping attacks.
However, thrusting attacks exposed the Leather Armor’s weakness. It was powerless against stabs and was easily pierced.
Bows and Arrows also demonstrated a similar armor-piercing effectiveness, much like the thrusting attacks.
’No wonder the Desert Giant Worm had been killed by three Crossbow Arrows from the Car-Mounted Crossbow. Its natural Armor was weak to piercing.’
Jia Liangcai immediately offered his congratulations. "Congratulations on acquiring such fine armor, my lord! Please, bestow a name upon it!"
"Since it’s made from the armor of the Desert Giant Worm, let’s just call it... Sand Worm Armor." Qin Ziwen didn’t choose a flashy name, picking Sand Worm Armor because it was simple and easy to remember.
Jia Liangcai showered him with praise. "Magnificent! My lord, that name is artfully simple, a return to true essence. It really rolls off the tongue."
Chen Pi listened, dumbfounded. ’Is the name really that amazing?’
’It seems pretty ordinary to me.’
Qin Ziwen felt a little awkward.
"Oh, right. The Home has some new plants. I have instructions..." He told Jia Liangcai about the properties of the Water Dew Fruit trees and asked him to pick a few fruits to experiment with, to see how to process them to extend their shelf life after harvesting.
"Yes, my lord." Jia Liangcai bowed.
At the same time, Qin Ziwen found Du Yu and had him learn from Chen Pi how to make Sand Worm Armor.
He told him to craft a suitable set of armor for himself.
An extra layer of armor would provide more safety when hunting Dragon-like Creatures.
Du Yu thought the full suit of Leather Armor looked a bit cumbersome. In the end, he decided to make a simplified version for himself, sacrificing coverage area in favor of a modified design that protected only vital areas to maintain his agility.
At noon, the Beaked Eagle, which had been out scouting for prey, flew back in through the balcony.
Once inside, it immediately let out an impatient, urging cry.
It rested its talons on Qin Ziwen’s arm and shook its head repeatedly.
It was signaling its master to remove the phone from its neck.
"Okay, okay, I’ll look right away."
After removing the phone, he found footage of a Desert Raptor in the day’s recordings.
The environment in the video looked unfamiliar, unlike the locations from previous recordings.
’Did the Beaked Eagle fly farther than usual?’
Puzzled, Qin Ziwen scrubbed through the video. He confirmed that after taking off, it had flown rapidly northwest from the Gated Community.
If he remembered correctly, the area to the northwest used to be the sand dunes where the Desert Giant Worm had lived.
But after the sandstorm, the dunes had been blown away. The massive shift in the landscape had exposed ruins that were once buried beneath the yellow sand.
It was a small city, once buried deep in the desert.
It had an outer wall, and inside were scattered, sparse buildings.
A Desert Raptor was roaming within the abandoned, derelict city.
The great sandstorm had blown the dunes a considerable distance away. Now, nearly half of the small city was still buried under the yellow sand.
The Desert Raptor was wandering through the exposed section.
"Du Yu, I’ve found a target," Qin Ziwen turned and shouted.
"I’ll have the Beaked Eagle and Red Hare take you there first. We’ll follow behind."
By this time, the yellow sand within the Gated Community had mostly been cleared away.
Qin Ziwen assembled the core hunting party. They packed food, water, and two Car-Mounted Crossbows, then headed toward the dunes.
When they arrived, the Desert Raptor was already dead.
Du Yu was leaning against an earthen wall, sitting on the ground, holding a Long Spear in his hands, covered in blood.
"You’re injured?" Qin Ziwen hurriedly took out a cup filled with water from the Healing Spring.
"I’m fine, my lord. This is the Raptor’s blood." Du Yu waved him off. "My lord, all of you need to be careful. I heard a noise from the direction of the dunes just now. There might be worms."
Qin Ziwen looked to the east, where some buildings were still covered by yellow sand.
He immediately shouted, "Everyone, be careful! Don’t go over there. Stay away from the dunes!"
Everyone acknowledged the order.
"This place seems to be well-preserved," Wang Yun said, looking around. He realized it was like an ancient architectural ruin that had been buried beneath the sand.
"This house has collapsed."
"This part looks a bit like a field. Look, there are still ridges around it."
"This must be a well. It’s full of sand."
The group investigated the surroundings.
They were certain there had once been signs of human life here.
𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
They were likely the first to discover this place.
After searching, the group found that inside these buildings, things like stone mills, stone foundations, and stone steles were still well-preserved. In some houses, they even found porcelain and pottery jars.
Many still retained traces of their use from back then.
"Leader, there’s a Bronze Sword here."
"There’s a copper mirror here."
"There’s a desiccated corpse here."
In the room, a desiccated corpse, its dark brown skin stretched taut over its bones, lay silently on a bed.
Its eye sockets were long since dried out, leaving two black holes. A woolen blanket covered its body, having long ago fused with the flesh.
Its hands were placed flat on its chest, and the posture was quite serene.
"There’s paper on the table, but unfortunately, it’s too old and was buried for too long. The writing is illegible," Wang Yun said with some regret.
Yang Cunshen came in from outside and whispered in Wang Yun’s ear.
Wang Yun’s eyes lit up. He turned to Qin Ziwen and said, "Captain, the stele is clean. Cunshen found some writing on it."
Qin Ziwen walked over to the stone stele inside the city. They had found it earlier, but the carved inscriptions were completely filled with sand and illegible.
So they had left two people here to dig out the sand and clean the stele.
Now the stele had been roughly cleaned, and the text could be seen clearly.
The text on it was the blocky and square Songti script.
With the group working together, they finally deciphered the text on the stele.
The general meaning was that they were originally residents of the Yangzhou Iron Workshop’s Marketplace. One day, the Marketplace suddenly arrived at the edge of a lake.
Since the Iron Workshop had smelting and forging capabilities, and many of the residents who came with it were blacksmiths from the city, they were able to survive.
In the beginning, they relied on iron wares for hunting and barely managed to survive by the lake. They renamed the Iron Workshop "Tie County," changing it from a marketplace to a county. A highly respected elder was appointed County Magistrate, and a valiant warrior was chosen to serve as the County Captain.
Afterward, relying on a mysterious power called Cards, they gradually established a foothold.
Under the guidance of the Home, they successfully crossed the grasslands. This Gobi Desert was the second world they had experienced.
Unexpectedly, after arriving in the second world, they clashed with newly integrated residents. A conflict erupted over power, and although they eventually quelled it, both sides suffered heavy casualties.
Later, because they failed to complete a task within the one-month time limit, they were trapped in the Gobi Desert forever.
At the time of this inscription, they had survived in this world for eleven years. The survivors from the Iron Workshop had become increasingly scarce, so they carved this stele as a memorial.
Cao Biansheng was stunned. "Yangzhou... Is that from our ancient history? Could something like this have happened in ancient times?"
"Not necessarily ancient people from our world. They could have come from a parallel world." As he said this, Wang Yun hesitated. Before they were transported here, none of them had high social status. ’Perhaps the upper echelons of society knew something that ordinary people didn’t.’
While the others were still in shock, Qin Ziwen thought of something.
A memory surfaced in his mind.
He had once asked Li Tieshan if he remembered his past, and Li Tieshan had answered loudly, "My name is Li Tieshan, a blacksmith from the West Market of the Iron Workshop in Yangzhou City."
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