Chapter 649: Old Friends on the Wind-Rising Path

Crossing the Xikar Mountains, there is certainly more than one mountain road from Deraerion into Kasenrike, but the Wind-Rising Path is the most unobstructed road that can be passed by carriage, and it is also the easiest road to travel.

Even in the contemporary era where steam trains have already passed through the Xikar Mountain pass, this mountain road, which has existed since ancient times, remains the most important trade route in the nearby area.

The Wind-Rising Path winds and spirals on the Xikar Mountains, and finally, after crossing the border line, leads to a foreign city on the other side of the mountains. And the Red Water Camp is the largest outpost and military camp set up by the Deraerion Royal Army in the border area. On one hand, it bears the responsibility of defense and reconnaissance, and on the other, it also cooperates with checkpoints and tax officials to manage the issue of import and export goods.

Of course, besides the Red Water Camp in the Xikar Mountains, there are other military camps, but those are not things that ordinary people can know.

The Red Water Camp itself does not allow any irrelevant personnel other than soldiers to enter, but resting in the mountains and preparing goods also requires a place. After all, it still takes time to go down the mountain from the Red Water Camp into the city.

Therefore, travelers spontaneously gathered into a small camp outside the military camp. As merchants who saw business opportunities used unknown means to get the commander of the Red Water Camp to agree to build buildings, there were also small inns, freight stations, and taverns in the traveler camp.

Although the buildings were simple, having them was better than not having them.

When Xia De went up the mountain, he happened to run into a farmer from Midehillburg who wanted to pass through the Wind-Rising Path, pulling a donkey cart of grain to sell in the southern country. So he spent two pennies to hitch a ride, sitting behind the grain cart and chatting with the old man while walking toward the mountains.

Xia De was very curious; the other party looked like he was in his fifties, so why was he still out transporting grain? The old man smiled and told Xia De:

"The children have all gone to big cities like Midehillburg, but the land cannot be left barren. This is land passed down by ancestors."

Even riding a donkey cart, it wasn't until nearly one o'clock in the afternoon that Xia De finally saw the towering sentry tower of the Red Water Camp. You must know that although he didn't set off until after ten o'clock, he set off from the abandoned tower in the mountains, not completely from the foot of the mountain. In other words, unless riding a horse or taking a cart, an ordinary person would have to wait until almost evening to reach the Red Water Camp even if they entered the mountains in the morning.

Xia De bid farewell to the very talkative old man at the edge of the camp. The latter had to head to the checkpoint ahead and could only get the customs clearance documents after paying taxes. Xia De waved his hand, and only then stood by the road sign written in the languages of both countries, looking to his right.

On the right hand side was a small peak, where wooden steps and verandas were built on the steep parts, leading to the military camp surrounded by rough stone fences and wooden wall fences at a higher place. It was unknown whether the top of the small peak was flattened by humans or was flat to begin with; the Red Water Camp was located on it. With just a few arrow towers and gun ports, it could easily block any enemy wanting to attack from here.

Standing by the road, one could see the patrolling soldiers standing on top of the wooden wall, and could also hear the faint sound of shouting slogans.

And the "Traveler Camp" written in two languages on the road sign was the camp surrounding the small peak, located next to the checkpoint of the Wind-Rising Path. Forest trees were cut down and cleared into flat land. Wooden buildings no higher than two stories were scattered in the camp, and simple wooden fences used to defend against wild animals crookedly circled the range of the traveler camp.

Although it was in the mountains, it looked very lively here. Merchants driving horse-drawn carriages and travelers passing through here shuttled through the camp, people speaking different languages gathered together to complain about the inconvenience of water usage, propaganda slogans for fire and theft prevention were carved everywhere, and military personnel on vacation walked in and out of taverns laughing and hooking shoulders.

There was even a tavern owner specifically serving travelers who was trying to nail a wooden board with advertisements on the wooden fence on the periphery of the camp, but when Xia De approached the camp, he was driven away by the rude butcher collecting mountain goods near that fence, holding a knife for chopping meat:

"This is my territory; go hang your dirty sign somewhere else!"

That butcher with a heavy accent added two words Xia De didn't know how to translate into his sentence to describe the despicable behavior of the innkeeper, which made the people who saw this scene laugh out loud.

Although the camp had an entrance, no one was there to stop people to collect road tolls or similar fees.

The Outsider who hadn't seen this kind of scene looked around with great interest after entering the camp. But the area of the traveler camp was at most only 3 times the size of St. Deran Square, and at least one-fourth of the area was a warehouse, so although it looked fresh here, after looking at it for a few times, he felt it wasn't actually that interesting.

Captain Rads had invited Xia De to meet at the Blue Rose Tavern in the traveler camp today after the Midehillburg Mechanical Academy incident last week. This should be a tavern with a relatively high consumption level in the camp. The reason for making this judgment wasn't because the name was slightly elegant, but because the travelers coming in and out here were all dressed relatively decently.

Pushing open the tavern door, the noisy sound and the smell of fermented food mixed with alcohol rushed toward him.

After taking a look and not finding Captain Rads' figure, Xia De guessed that the Captain probably thought he would arrive in the afternoon, so he walked to the tavern counter first and ordered a glass of cider.

The prices in the traveler camp seemed to be higher than in the city, but this was understandable. After all, no matter what was pulled from the city to the mountains, it all required travel expenses.

There were really many guests in the tavern at noon. Besides cider, Xia De also ordered a portion of carrot-fried meat as his lunch. Sitting at the table in the corner, he called the tavern waiter and ordered a copy of this morning's "Xikar Morning Post" to have something to do while eating.

The newspaper, which only sold for 3 pennies in the city, actually sold for 4 pennies in the traveler camp. Although it was only one penny more, expensive was expensive. Xia De knew that bargaining probably didn't work here, so he didn't say anything more, but just as he counted out the change and handed the four small coins to the waiter, the tavern door was pushed open again.

Xia De subconsciously looked in that direction, and the person who entered also noticed Xia De's gaze and looked over at the same time.

"Hmm?"

It was a pity that the person who entered wasn't Captain Rads, but it was also an acquaintance of Xia De. His hair was extremely short, only fuzzy stubble could be seen, his skin was dark, and the double-eyelid degree of his two eyes was extremely severe. He looked to be in his thirties, his figure was thin, and he was wrapped in an old-fashioned brown robe often worn by people in desert regions. His right hand held a notebook, his eyelashes were extremely short, and his black eyes were abnormally spirited.

"Mr. Sean Asmon?"

This was the "Demon Scholar" Xia De had once encountered at the Pink Rose Inn in Cold Water Port. That gentleman had even lost a demon-series Rhode card to Xia De in that not-so-proper inn and told him a story about a person with no wishes and a demon. ===== CHAPTER 650 =====