While Karatz released the Red Falcon to deliver important intelligence to Summerhall Castle, Red Guard City in the upper reaches of the Crimson Guard River Valley welcomed its third major harvest of the year.
Horse-drawn carriages piled high with grain completely blocked the Red Guard Road, and hundreds of Red Guard City guards continuously directed the carriages on the streets to clear the road as quickly as possible.
Among these grain-filled carriages, there were a dozen very peculiar ones; they were not carrying grain, but rather piles of firewood tied with ropes, various weeds in bags, and some dried insects that looked absolutely chilling.
It was precisely because the items on these carriages were too bizarre that the surrounding carriages would instinctively steer clear of this convoy, and they would eye Viken, who was leading the convoy, as if he were a monster.
Viken was a Slayne Person; he had not left the Crimson Guard River Valley with his tribesmen to settle elsewhere, but had stayed behind to continue tending his farmland.
This was not because he particularly enjoyed farming, but because his only family member had been killed by his fiancée's father in a conflict caused by greed. He truly didn't know how he could face his fiancée and her father in the future, so he chose to stay.
Initially, he grew wheat, soybeans, and corn as he always had, but later, officials from Red Guard City approached him and asked if he would be willing to cultivate some herbs.
It was the first time Viken had heard that herbs needed to be cultivated; they usually just picked them directly from the mountains. So, he was very curious about what kind of herbs they were, and since he was already a bit tired of farming, he agreed.
He soon discovered that herb cultivation was not as simple as he had imagined; it was completely different from growing grain.
He needed to hire special people to look after the herb garden, and he also had to record the growth of various herbs every day. Furthermore, several Scholars would come every ten days to check on the herbs, and if they found any problems, they would immediately tell him to adjust his cultivation methods.
All in all, the first batch of herbs yielded very little due to lack of cultivation experience, and after paying wages, he had little left in his pocket.
Fortunately, Red Guard City also understood his situation and exempted him from a year's taxes, and also gave him an interest-free loan with no set repayment date, allowing him to continue cultivating herbs.
Because of his first experience, the second harvest was much better, and he also started making money. He found that the profit from herbs was much greater than from growing grain; just one slightly better harvest offset his previous losses and even earned him a profit.
Afterward, he took on the task of breeding insects, which also made him a famous eccentric in the Crimson Guard River Valley. Every time he came to the castle to deliver harvested herbs and dried insects, he would encounter the current situation, which he had become accustomed to.
As Viken dozed, waiting for the grain convoy ahead to move forward, a team of castle guards approached him. One of them, a Captain with whom he had dealt several times, said to Viken, "Viken, an Earl wants to see you and ask you some things. Come with me quickly! My subordinates will look after the things on your carriage."
Viken felt confused but still followed the Captain towards the castle.
Red Guard City was built on a hill. Except for the main castle, which was made of stone, the other parts were made of wood. Walls composed of wooden stakes encircled the hillside, dividing it into areas of different sizes. To get from the bottom of the hill to the castle, one had to walk around the hillside, passing through at least four districts. This made the entire castle look more like a fortress.
Viken did not go to the main castle above. Led by the Captain, he arrived at a two-story building in the second district. He remembered that this two-story building belonged to the Silent Monks of the Redemption Sanctuary.
Silent Monks are a special order of monks within the Seven Gods Church. Those who join them shave their heads, wear robes made of coarse cloth, take a vow of silence, never speak again in their lives, and believe in asceticism and labor.
Although the daily needs of the Silent Monks are provided by the Seven Gods Church, they still insist on working every day. Therefore, they also have a plot of land in the Crimson Guard River Valley specifically for growing vegetables for the Silent Monks' daily needs. This two-story building is where these working monks reside.
Viken actually liked these Silent Monks very much, because after they finished their own tasks, they would help others, and they worked quietly, and after finishing, they would clean their tools before leaving.
Viken really wanted to hire a group of Silent Monks to work, but unfortunately, Silent Monks never accept employment; they only help those in need according to their own will.
The Captain led Viken to the outside of the small building, then motioned for him to go in by himself, while he waited at the door.
Viken entered the small building. Although there were many monks busy inside, it was very quiet. Not to mention talking, even the sound of walking was very faint.
A monk saw Viken walk in and came before him, inquiring about Viken's purpose with gestures.
Viken indicated to the monk that he had been called there, and the monk showed a look of understanding, then led Viken to a room on the second floor.
Inside the room, two people were already seated: one was an old, serious-faced Silent Monk, and the other was a very kind-looking old man. If one only looked at the old man's appearance, they would certainly think he was a harmless old man, but at this moment, the old man was wearing a set of chains used to shackle prisoners, and the chains were red.
Within Summerhall's territory, everyone knew that people shackled with red chains were very dangerous prisoners.
Seemingly sensing Viken's fear caused by the red chains, the old man revealed a kind smile and said to Viken, "You don't have to worry. I just made a mistake and was punished by the Earl to wear this necklace. Actually, I am not some heinous person; I am just a Scholar with a very strong thirst for knowledge. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet; you can call me Scholar Koben."
"Scholar Koben, is there something you want to ask me?" Viken relaxed a little after hearing the old man's words, then asked doubtfully.
Koben took out an insect that had been made into a specimen from his pocket and asked, "Do you still remember this insect?"
Viken looked at the insect specimen in Koben's hand and immediately recognized it as a very special insect he had captured not long ago.
The Scholars of Redemption Town had always collected various insects, and they would pay high prices for rare ones. Many farmers in the Crimson Guard River Valley would catch insects in their spare time, and Viken was no exception.
He had encountered this particular insect one night on his way home from the herb garden. At the time, several of these insects were shimmering with silver light, and as they flew, light specks like snowflakes drifted from their bodies, looking extremely beautiful.
He immediately captured all of them with the tools in his hand and kept them in a cage, later selling them to the Scholar who came to the village to purchase insects.
So, Viken immediately nodded, admitting he remembered the insect, and then, without waiting for the other party to ask, he proactively recounted everything from when he first discovered the insect to when he sold it to the Scholar.
After listening to Viken's narration, Koben frowned and said, "Have you seen this insect again since then?"
"No," Viken shook his head and said, "I guess this shouldn't be an indigenous insect species of the Red Mountains. My tribesmen have lived here for thousands of years and have never seen this insect. I think it's more likely that it flew over from the rainforests of the Stormlands."
"Rainforests?" Koben hesitated after hearing this, then said to Viken, "If you see this insect again in the future, please capture it immediately and send it here. Tell any Silent Monk that Black Hollow needs this, and they will pay you a satisfactory price."
"Okay, Scholar," Viken nodded.
Koben did not stay any longer, directly getting up and leaving. The elderly Silent Monk in the room also stood up when Koben did, and followed closely behind Koben, walking out of the room. The old monk's eyes remained fixed on Koben, as if if his gaze shifted, Koben would immediately disappear.
Koben paid no attention to the old monk. He walked directly through the castle and arrived at the shortcut that passed through the Red Mountains.
This mountain shortcut had been renovated. The narrow path that could originally only accommodate one person had been widened to allow three people to walk side-by-side, and a wooden railing had also been installed on the outer side of the path to prevent anyone from accidentally falling off the cliff below the road.
Koben did not take this road, but instead went into the elevator installed on the rock wall beside the road. After the old monk also stepped in, he tugged the bell inside the elevator.
After a while, the elevator slowly ascended, quickly reaching an intermediate platform.
On this platform, they switched to another elevator, continuing to ascend. They changed elevators seven times in total, then walked a very long section of mountain path. They rested at some small checkpoints along the path for a while before continuing. It was almost dark when they reached the end of the path and then turned into a mountain gorge.
Inside this gorge, a fortress had been built, blocking both entrances and exits of the gorge. One could only pass through the central passage of the fortress. If one tried to force their way through, a gate would fall, trapping the intruder inside the passage.
Koben and the monk walked to the middle of the passage, then asked the nearby guard to open the gate to the fortress. After turning a corridor, they arrived at the side of the mountain wall within the fortress.
Afterward, they followed the small path along the mountain wall, walking all the way to a perilous peak next to the fortress, passing through a not-very-dense small forest, and arriving outside a natural cave.
The entrance to this cave had been walled up with bricks and stones, and there was only a bronze door in the wall. At least fifty Chosen of God wearing seven-pointed star armor were guarding the entrance. When they saw Koben arrive, they stopped him.
The Captain of this team of Chosen of God said very sternly, "Scholar Koben, by the Earl's command, you are not allowed to conduct any experiments or approach Black Hollow for the next six months. Please do not make things difficult for us."
"Of course I know the Earl's prohibition order; I won't go in," Koben did not refute the Captain's words, but lowered his posture and said, "Could I trouble you to send someone inside to find Lady Moroa and tell her that I have found a solution?"
The Chosen of God Captain was silent for a moment, then nodded. He then personally entered Black Hollow and found Moroa.
When Moroa emerged from behind the door, she looked somewhat disheveled, with messy hair and a tired expression, making it clear that she was likely in some experimental predicament.
Upon seeing Moroa, Koben wasted no words. He took out the glowing insect and said, "Lady, what do you think about using it as a catalyst for the Divine Revelation Potion?"
"Ghostfire Bug," Moroa froze for a moment, then looked at Koben with a cold face and said, "Why do you still have a Ghostfire Bug? I remember I used up the last one?"
Koben explained, "One of these Ghostfire Bugs died when it was being sent over. I felt sorry for it, so I made it into a specimen and kept it. I only remembered about it yesterday."
Although Koben explained very earnestly, Moroa, who knew Koben, did not believe his words at all. However, she did not refuse Koben's kindness, taking the Ghostfire Bug specimen and immediately turning back into Black Hollow to continue her unfinished experiment.
Koben showed no unusual reaction to Moroa's cold treatment, always maintaining a harmless smile on his face. The surrounding Chosen of God felt somewhat indignant for Koben being treated this way. Only the Chosen of God Captain and the old monk, who was constantly watching Koben, remained unchanged, as they clearly knew what kind of person this seemingly harmless old man was.
Moroa returned to her laboratory with the Ghostfire Bug specimen. She did not immediately experiment with the Ghostfire Bug, but rather set it aside and continued to sort through the documents she had not finished organizing.
After about two or three hours, she finally looked up from a pile of documents, picked up the oil lamp by the table, filled it with oil, and then placed all the organized documents into an iron box, sealing it with wax.
Afterward, she walked to a nearby potion shelf and took out seven or eight bottles from hundreds of finished potions, placing them into a specially designed potion box.
"You are to immediately deliver these things to Lynd. He is waiting to see them. Also, do not use the main entrance; the back secret passage is faster," Moroa handed the iron box in her hand to a Silent Monk who had been standing behind her like a statue, and earnestly reminded him, "It's best to have two teams of Chosen of God protect them. The contents are very important."
Hearing Moroa's words, a solemn expression appeared on the Silent Monk's expressionless face. After taking the two boxes, he silently walked out of the room.
Almost simultaneously with this monk's departure, another Silent Monk walked into the room and stood in the position where the previous Silent Monk had stood, watching Moroa.
Moroa had long been accustomed to these Silent Monks, who were like wooden figures, and completely ignored their gaze. She walked to a nearby workbench, placed the Ghostfire Bug specimen on the table, and began the Divine Revelation Potion experiment that had previously failed.
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