I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 346: Chapter 197: Pillar

The banquet could only be described with a single word: chaotic. There was dancing, then singing, then more drinking, and someone would laugh heartily as they handed you a large leg of lamb. The merrymaking continued late into the night, and the people of the Great Desert remained as enthusiastic as ever, showing no signs of stopping. The Grand Elder ordered jar after jar of stockpiled wine to be brought out, as if they were prepared to drink until dawn.

A cool breeze sobered Zheng Xiu up a bit. He noticed that during the feast, couples would hold hands and slip away—the men panting, the women bashful. He wasn’t sure if they were just going to the latrine or something else entirely.

Some left and others joined, but the bonfire was always surrounded by a crowd.

The moon climbed high, hiding behind the clouds.

The starlight was dim, but the bonfire burned bright.

"Let’s go."

Xie Luohe, who had been dancing with Zheng Xiu, suddenly pressed her entire body against his. Her full, firm pectoral muscles pressed into him, making it a little hard for him to breathe. She leaned close to his ear and chuckled, "Here now, sway a bit. Act like you’re drunk."

Her sudden intimacy made Zheng Xiu wonder, ’Did she do that on purpose, was it an accident, or was it a deliberate ’accident’?’ But the mood was right, so he didn’t ask. He just nodded silently and let Xie Luohe lead him away.

Zheng Xiu swayed back and forth. His acting wasn’t half bad; he really looked like he’d had too much to drink.

When the others saw this, the men and women in the crowd laughed even more heartily. As the star of the evening, Xie Luohe was already the center of everyone’s attention. With a loud laugh, she simply slung Zheng Xiu over her shoulder and, in a flash, was gone.

Zheng Xiu, slung over Xie Luohe’s shoulder like a piglet to the slaughter, was utterly dumbfounded. As she carried him away, he could faintly hear thunderous applause from behind them.

Xie Luohe’s laughter, like the ringing of silver bells, was crisp and clear. It echoed through the city, wild and unrestrained.

Zheng Xiu, however, only grew more confused. ’What the hell are you all clapping for?’

"What on earth are you doing?"

Zheng Xiu couldn’t help but ask from his position over her shoulder.

"Taking you to see the murals," Xie Luohe answered.

"Did you have to make it so weird? Besides, it’s pitch-black out. How can we see them as clearly as we could in broad daylight?"

"But at night... it’s more exciting," Xie Luohe chuckled.

Zheng Xiu was speechless.

’It really is exciting.’

Having silenced Zheng Xiu, Xie Luohe carried him as if he weighed nothing. In the blink of an eye, she passed through Richan Valley, entered the depths of the oasis, and began to feel her way up a mountain path in the pitch-black night.

Zheng Xiu noticed the mountain path she followed was lined with bizarrely shaped stone carvings.

"CAW—CAW—CAW—"

From time to time, the shrill cawing of crows echoed through the darkness.

"Crows?"

The cawing instantly stirred unpleasant memories in Zheng Xiu. His heart lurched, and he patted Xie Luohe’s shoulder. "Put me down! There are Ravens!"

"Ravens?" Xie Luohe was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "What do you think this place is? Where would we find Ravens? Those are ’Vulture Crows’." She clearly knew what he meant by ’Raven’ and even understood what he was worried about.

"Vulture Crows?"

’Sounds like a cross between a vulture and a crow.’ he thought.

’Whether or not those two species can even crossbreed, it doesn’t matter. As long as they aren’t Ravens, I’m fine.’

At this thought, Zheng Xiu laughed at himself. ’Ever since I was ambushed by the Crow Fosterer, I’ve practically jumped at the sound of a crow’s caw. This is two hundred years ago. Ye Weiyang hasn’t even been born yet, so where would the Ravens come from?’

While these thoughts flashed through his mind, Xie Luohe carried him to a spot halfway up the mountain and set him down.

Here, on the slopes of Sunset Mountain, at the end of the winding path, was a flat clearing. The area was surrounded by ancient stone Pillars, and in the center was something that looked like an altar.

Behind the altar was a series of ancient murals. Their colors had long since peeled away, worn down by wind and sun, leaving only their forms behind. Zheng Xiu looked from a distance, focusing his eyes in the darkness, and could vaguely make out that the images preserved on the murals were still largely intact.

"Are these the murals you were talking about?"

Zheng Xiu walked forward to investigate.

From behind him, Xie Luohe replied with a laugh, "They are."

"Don’t tell me," Zheng Xiu said, suddenly understanding why Xie Luohe had used such a method to bring him up during the feast. "Outsiders aren’t allowed here, are they? Is this some kind of forbidden ground?"

"Heh, not so slow this time," Xie Luohe said, covering her mouth with a smile. "Even though I’m their benefactor, I’m still an outsider. They wouldn’t just let me into the forbidden grounds of their Sun Tribe."

"Just let you?"

Xie Luohe grinned and held up three fingers. "As I see it, there are three simple ways to get into the Tribe’s forbidden grounds. One: marry a man of the Tribe and become one of them. Two: kill them all. Three: sneak up here. So... which one do you think I chose?"

"Got it."

With that understood, Zheng Xiu began to study the murals.

Xie Luohe already knew what the murals depicted, so she wasn’t particularly interested in them. Instead, she fixed her gaze on Zheng Xiu, silently watching his serious profile as he concentrated on the ancient art.

"This mural tells of the birth of Zhu."

The mural showed an infant at its Birth from the mother’s womb; the mother had died during the difficult delivery.

The second mural depicted many small figures. The scene was split in two, with a group of people on one side and Zhu on the other, clearly separated.

Zheng Xiu murmured to himself as he interpreted the mural, "This must mean that Zhu didn’t fit in with others from a young age, or rather... was different. This image is likely a subtle way of saying that Zhu was an Innate Mystic."

In the third mural, Zhu was fighting a group of people and had his hand severed.

The fourth mural showed Zhu walking with all his limbs intact while a group of people watched him from a distance. The artist had used exaggerated, curved lines to depict the fearful expressions on the faces of the ordinary Humans.

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