Chapter 674: The Imprisoned Archer

["I'll give you one favor for the scales you gave me just now. If you give me nine more scales, I'll give you all my ten favors. How do you think?"]

[The bearded man looked expectant, hoping that you would continue to give out scales. You choose...]

Mu You refused, of course.

This bearded man was quite smart. He could clearly see that he still had scales on him, but Mu You didn't plan to give out too many. These scales were also very precious to him. Moreover, one scale could only be exchanged for a little favor. He only had a few scales in total. Giving them all away wouldn't bring much. Only a fool would use such precious things to collect a thousand points.

[Ask the bearded man if he knew a herbalist named 'Sesia'?]

Sesia was the mother of the wild man Muro.

Fortunately, the wild man had anticipated the situation in the tribe before coming, so he deliberately left a way out for him. Muro's mother was the best herbalist in the tribe. With such a status, it shouldn't be too difficult to just take him to see the tribe leader.

【“Herbalist? Cecia?” The bearded man frowned, recalled for a long time, and shook his head: “There is no such person.”】

【“Is there no one named Cecia in the tribe?” You were a little surprised, wondering if Muro had remembered his mother’s name wrong? 】

【“It’s not that there is no ‘Cecia’. The ancestors’ language ability was not strong, and they often picked up familiar names to name people, so the people in the tribe used the same dozens of names over and over again, and Cecia was a very common name among the ancestors. There are at least 800 people named Cecia in the tribe, and it is difficult to find someone just by name.”】

【“As for the herbalist, that is not something that ordinary people can do. There are only 12 herbalists in the entire tribe, and I know every one of them. There is no one named Cecia among them, I can be sure of this.” The bearded man said confidently. 】

How could it be?

Mu You was puzzled. Could it be that Muro’s mother had passed away?

【You told the bearded man about Muro’s deeds. 】

【“More than a thousand years ago…” The bearded man scratched his head and said awkwardly: “It’s been too long. Who can remember what happened back then? I’ve forgotten it all…”】

Mu You sighed. Sure enough, you can’t have too high expectations for the memory of wild people. If it were a human, things that happened more than a thousand years ago and had nothing to do with them would have been almost forgotten, let alone wild people.

【“But for things like my son’s disappearance, you can look for it in the ‘Stone Stele Forest’ at the west end of the tribe. Many tribe members’ disappearances that happened in the past are recorded on the stone tablets.” The bearded man pointed out a possible way for you. Do you want to go to the ‘Stone Stele Forest’? 】

“Yes.”

This stone steles forest is probably similar to a permanent memo. After all, most wild people have the problem of forgetfulness. Some very important things may be forgotten completely in a few days. Carving some important things on stones is a convenient way for them to store information for a long time.

【Seeing you turn around and leave, the bearded man hurriedly tried to keep you: "Are you sure you don't need to exchange for my favor? One scale is two favors for you! Or three will do..."】

【"No need." You waved your hand and refused, and left the blacksmith shop firmly under the bearded man's resentful eyes. 】

【You came to the 'Stone Stele Forest'. In the open space in front, thousands of huge rectangular black crystal stones stood neatly, like giant tombstones, forming a forest of stone steles. 】

【You walked to the front of the stele forest and found that each ring stone was engraved with a lot of words. 】

【“In 1742 of the Asen calendar, Eugenio’s son Vega disappeared while on patrol and has not returned yet.”】

【“In 1742 of the Asen calendar, Bacchus’ daughter Dasha disappeared outside the Ringwood and has not returned yet.”】

【“In 1741 of the Asen calendar, Karel’s son Lit disappeared outside the Ringwood… and has not returned yet (underlined), and returned in March 1742.”】

……

Muyou read several stone tablets throughout the article and found that almost all of them recorded cases of missing children or family members. Some were found, and some have not been found yet.

These missing savages are basically the same as Muro’s. They went into the fog outside the Ringwood, and then because of amnesia, they forgot the way back. In a hurry, they ran farther and farther in the fog, and finally lost their way completely.

Those savages who were finally found were lucky. After wandering outside for a while, they accidentally bumped back into the Ringwood, or were found by the search team outside, so they could go home.

There are too many cases, thousands of stone tablets, each with hundreds of records. It is impossible to read them all. Fortunately, these stone tablets are arranged in strict chronological order for easy search.

Mu You directly found the stone tablets between 1,300 and 1,500 years ago.

The record density of this part is obviously much sparser than the previous ones. Only a dozen stone tablets were used to record the events of 200 years.

Mu You read all these dozen stone tablets.

Unfortunately, no records of Muro or Cecia were found in them.

"Wasn't it registered at the time..."

Not all missing cases will be engraved on the stone tablets. Only when the family members take the initiative to report and are confirmed by the official that it is not a mistake, will a special person engrave the incident on the stone tablet.

There is no record of Muro's disappearance here, which can only mean that his mother did not help him report the case at the time.

After reading the stone tablets, Mu You also had a headache.

There was no record on the stone tablet, and the herbalist named Sesia could not be found. At this time, Muro's backup plan for him was completely interrupted.

"Do we really have to start from scratch to save favors?"

Mu You frowned and hesitated for a moment, then decided to take on two tasks first to check the situation.

Next, Muyou controlled the character to wander around the savage tribe. When he encountered a savage, he would approach him and ask him if there was anything he needed to do.

["I want a favor... arm wrestling... I'll give it to you if I win..." A savage with thick upper limbs, who looked like a fitness enthusiast at first glance, heard your request and excitedly invited you to arm wrestling. Are you invited? 】

"no!"

Mu You chose "No" without even thinking about it, joking, and arm wrestling with the barbarian. What he needed to worry about was not whether he could win, but how to prevent his arm from being broken by the other party.

[A savage with a bruised nose and face stopped you. He hesitated and gestured to you for a long time. You finally understood what he meant: another savage borrowed his money, but the other person forgot about the money he owed. When he went to collect a debt, the other party refused to acknowledge it and instead beat him up. 】

[So this savage hopes that you can recover the money on his behalf. You choose...]

"reject."

Mu Youxin said these were some kind of ghost missions. If you were afraid of being beaten for debt collection, then you should find someone to take the beating on your behalf, right?

Fortunately, not all tasks are so weird, there are still some tasks that look normal.

[A savage woman stopped you and said that her husband wanted to participate in this year's moon festival ceremony and jump into the moon pool as a living sacrifice. She couldn't bear to lose her husband, but because she was clumsy in her speech, she didn't know how to persuade her. I hope you can persuade her on her behalf. To get her husband to change his mind. 】

The Moon Festival Ceremony, also mentioned in Cummings's manual, is held once a year by the Savage Tribe and lasts for seven days each time.

During the Moon Festival, the 'Eye of the Moon' in the center of the Moon Lake will be open. The 'Eye of the Moon' here is actually a cave under the Moon Lake. It is said that the deepest part leading to the Moon Lake is the birthplace of the lake. According to legend If someone can enter the Eye of the Moon and come out alive, he can gain enlightenment from the Moon Butterfly and become a son of the Moon Festival.

But so far, no one has done it except the late king.

The Eye of the Moon is usually closed. Only during the days of the Moon Festival, it will be open for a quarter of an hour every night when the full moon rises. Moreover, once a living creature enters the Moon Lake, the Eye of the Moon will be closed in advance.

Therefore, every year, at most seven savages can jump into the Moon Lake as living sacrifices and accept the test of the Moon Lake.

For ordinary savages, this is actually to die. However, the temptation to become the king of the ancestors is too great. Even though they know that they are going to die, there are still a large number of young savages vying to jump into the Moon Lake every year to prove themselves.

Mu You couldn't understand it. He would rather abandon his family to fight for that illusory fame. In his opinion, it was a completely meaningless sacrifice.

The reason why the savages allowed this trend to prevail is probably because after the death of the previous king, no new 'king' was born for too long, and they urgently needed a new son of Moon Festival to lead them.

The population of the savage tribe is not too large, but there are still tens of millions. Only seven young people are sacrificed every year in exchange for the opportunity for the son of Moon Festival to be born. From the perspective of the race as a whole, it is not a loss.

Mu You sympathized with this female savage, but he still did not accept this task.

He has experienced the stubbornness of savages many times, especially for such passionate young people. It is difficult to communicate with them, let alone persuade them to turn back.

Moreover, even if he succeeds, the female savage can only give him a little favor, which is thankless and she simply refuses to accept it.

What Mu You is looking for is a task that is easy to complete, can be completed quickly, and the reward is high.

After sifting through it, he finally found one that looked pretty good.

[Marsin is a martial arts teacher at the savage training camp, responsible for teaching the savage children to fight, but recently he has a headache: In this year's training camp, a group of restless children came, and they always wanted to leave. Jie Lin went out to explore, but no matter how much he tried to persuade, he couldn't make these naughty kids calm down. 】

[Marsin heard that you broke in from outside the forest. According to his experience, outsiders who can get here are usually the best in the outside world, so he hopes that you can help these children. Some lessons to make them aware of the cruelty of the outside world. 】

[Task: Fight against twenty-three savage children, and you will receive a token of grace for each person you defeat. 】

【Whether to accept? 】

"yes."

This task is quite good, not too difficult, and the reward is generous. The key is that it takes a short time. Even if each child takes two minutes, it will not take more than an hour to complete.

Mu You took it decisively. As for whether he could complete it, he didn't think much about it. After all, he came in a suit of armor. With Ava's assistance and Feng Qilin's four abilities at his side, he could still defeat a few small ones. Damn boy?

After one hour.

[...You were thrown over the shoulder by a savage child and fell to the ground. You were dizzy and your life was reduced sharply. The savage child was unscathed. 】

[You lost to a savage child again. 】

[Unfortunately, you lost twenty-three games in a row and failed to get paid. 】

[Twenty-three children gathered not far away, all looking at you with strange expressions. Then they looked back at Teacher Marcin, with doubts in their eyes: Is this the strong man from the outside world? So weak? 】

[Marcin covered his face, shook his head and sighed unbearably, as if he was regretting his decision. 】

[The battle with you has made these children more determined to venture outside the Ring Forest. 】

Mu You really didn't expect that even children would be so fierce among the savages. He was immediately broken when he saw the text being despised by a group of children.

Damn, you are bullying others by relying on your home advantage, right? If you have the guts, go out and fight one-on-one. I will challenge all of you alone!

[You left the training camp dejectedly under the sympathetic eyes of several children. ]

[Do you want to continue looking for other tasks? ]

"No."

Mu You gave up decisively.

After these tasks, he was completely sure that it would be too slow and too difficult to accumulate 1,000 favors from the beginning. He didn't have the time.

Next, he planned to go to the edge of the sixth floor, find a deserted place, and try to use the Wind Hider ability to sneak into the seventh floor. If no one helped him, he would have to find the tribe leader himself.

[... You came to the edge of the sixth floor. ]

[At the entrance of the seventh floor in front, a large number of savage guards lined up for patrol. The seventh floor is the core area of ​​the savage tribe, and any unknown person is strictly prohibited from entering. ]

[You hide in the wind, quietly bypass the entrance, and come to a deserted place in the forest. ]

[Until you are completely away from the entrance and come to the depths of the jungle, you look around carefully, and after confirming that there is no one nearby, you are ready to cross the border and enter the seventh floor. ]

[An arrow suddenly shot from behind, deeply inserted into a crystal in front of you, and the tail end is still vibrating. ]

[You jumped up alertly, hurriedly hid behind the nearby ring wood, and carefully used the ability of the wind listener to look outside, but unfortunately, you could not find any trace of the archer - this arrow seems to be shot from a very far distance. ]

Mu You was very surprised when he looked at the continuous text.

What's the situation? The savages have such a strong defense for the seventh floor?

He has been as careful as possible, but he was still discovered...

[Another arrow shot, deeply inserted into a round crystal ten meters away from your side, hitting the center of the crystal. ]

"..."

Two consecutive arrows, both hit the center of the crystal, proving that this person's archery skills must be extremely superb.

Mu You already understood that the archer had no ill will towards him, otherwise the two arrows would have definitely landed on him.

At this moment, the other party was shooting stones, and the stones were far away from him, and it didn't seem like he was threatening him to leave... Could it be that he wanted to guide him to go somewhere?

Mu You was not sure, but he still controlled the character to walk out. Facing this level of archers, it made no difference whether to hide or not.

[You walked to the crystal stone that was just shot and pulled the arrow out of the stone. ]

[A new arrow immediately flew over and shot into a rock twenty meters in front of you to the right. ]

Sure enough! The other party was using arrows to guide him in the direction and wanted to lead him somewhere.

Mu You was a little surprised. Why didn't the other party show up directly and had to use such a troublesome way to guide him, but he still followed the arrows at this time.

[Every time you find an arrow, the next arrow will fly immediately. ]

[You followed the guidance of the arrows all the way forward. After walking for several kilometers, you came to a wide open space. 】

【In the depression ahead, a giant ring tree stood upright, extending toward the sky like a crane among chickens, and on the crown of this ring tree, it seemed that a prison-like building was artificially built. 】

【You noticed with the ability of the wind listener that the last arrow just now was shot from the prison. 】

“Hiss…”

Mu You’s face was strange. This place was almost 10,000 meters away from where he started. Shooting arrows from such a distance could still have such accuracy and power. Who was imprisoned in this prison? (End of this chapter)