Ch. 63 - Reward: Vicious Tongue

"Even if my legs really are weak, please stop repeating it over and over again."

Catherine's face flushed red as she brought the ox cart to a halt. She hurriedly pushed at Tang Qi's shoulders, urging him to get off.

"There happens to be a stream nearby. Let's make camp in this clearing tonight."

Tang Qi surveyed his surroundings and discovered this was a sparse, open woodland.

Yet tall trees still stood towering overhead, obscuring most of the hazy night sky shrouded in white mist.

The emerald-green forest leaves surprisingly allowed a few rays of moonlight to pass through, falling upon the densely spread ferns covering the clearing. They swayed gently left and right whenever a light breeze passed by.

Scattered Dawnblooms dotted the banks of the bluestone stream.

Between the delicate petals and at the flower hearts, soft halos of light flowed, shimmering brilliantly under the moonlit night. Even without relying on firelight, one could clearly see the surrounding scenery—they were like lamps that would never go out.

The air was filled with the earthy fragrance of freshness after rain.

Summer seemingly didn't exist within the Dawnmist Forest. Even wearing leather clothing, Tang Qi felt damp and cold.

But this was indeed the most suitable camping spot they'd encountered in several days—

The entire migration convoy consisted of over three hundred civilians, twelve ox carts, and two horse-drawn carriages.

As a result, their travel pace wasn't particularly fast, and they couldn't be too picky about temporary resting places.

During their detour northward through the forest, they'd spent most of their time camping in scattered groups, forcing Tang Qi to frequently patrol various parts of the camp out of humanitarian concern, confirming no one had gone missing.

Fortunately, everyone knew the dangers of the Dawnmist Forest and reminded each other not to wander off.

So since beginning the migration three days ago, aside from those fools who refused to believe Tang Qi and harbored wishful thinking, insisting on "quietly" observing from the forest's outskirts—

The convoy had remained relatively intact.

As for those who thought they were being "quiet," whether they spotted traces of orcs and then decided to rejoin the group only to get lost in the forest—

Or were simply dragged into pens by orcs to become livestock—

That had nothing to do with Tang Qi anymore.

After all, everyone in the migration convoy had faintly felt the tremors from the distant Skyrim Giant Tortoise's footsteps on the day they left town.

They knew Tang Qi hadn't lied.

And Tang Qi hadn't seen those people again since—

He'd already done everything humanly possible. He had no obligation to play "parent" to these idiots, desperately holding them back from courting death.

The clearing now was quite spacious, enough for the wagon train to form an irregular circle around the tall trees, allowing the townspeople to make camp around the bonfire set up in the center.

"To avoid the orc incursion as much as possible, we've been traveling day and night without rest for three days.

Since we're detouring northward, I estimate that given our current position and speed, it may take another twenty days or so to reach Longgold City.

So from now on, we can rest here for a full day and night—that is, eight hours. We'll prepare to depart again when night falls—"

For the Dawnmist Forest where day and night alternated every four hours, following a pattern of "traveling by day, resting by night" was meaningless and time-wasting.

"If any of you feel unwell along the way, please immediately go to the tent in the center to find Father Lynn for counsel and treatment.

If any internal conflicts or disputes occur, regardless of the reason, you'll be immediately expelled from the convoy.

If you encounter any danger, don't hesitate—just shout it out loud until everyone realizes what's happening.

Don't worry about embarrassing yourself—

Trust me, when a wild beast is on top of my face, my 'help' will only be louder than yours."

A relaxed burst of laughter rippled through the crowd.

Tang Qi noticed their expressions no longer seemed quite so heavy:

"One last thing.

If you want to spend this time more comfortably, you can choose to buy some starberry wine from Catherine—

Alcohol always helps you escape reality and live a bit happier, doesn't it?"

Catherine walked to his side at the right moment, wagging her index finger:

"But there isn't much starberry wine left on the cart, and I need to keep enough to bring to Longgold City.

So today I'm only putting out one barrel, 10 copper coins per cup, first come first served—"

"Hey, Catherine!"

Old David was about to eagerly try his luck, but hearing the price made his face fall.

"Normally a cup of starberry wine only costs two copper coins. You can't profiteer off war!"

Catherine hummed unapologetically:

"Haven't you heard that saying? 'What's scarce is expensive.'

If I don't profiteer off war, how will I buy a big house in Longgold City and open the Golden Oak there?

10 copper coins per cup—compared to Longgold City's exorbitant prices, I'm already giving you a bargain.

No one's forcing you to buy."

The townspeople had never left Starberry Town in their lives, but Tang Qi had heard from Black Snake about the rarity of starberry wine in Longgold City—

For Catherine to sell the wine at this time and at this price was practically no different from charity.

But she obviously understood this price was the bottom line in these drunkards' hearts. Any higher and it wouldn't sell.

So even though Old David felt the pain deeply, he still pulled out his life savings from his waistband while his wife grabbed his ear and scolded him for "not being thrifty."

Hearing the drunkards call out "one cup" in an endless stream, Tang Qi thought to himself that this barrel of wine wouldn't last long.

Three straight days of rushing had indeed left everyone mentally and physically exhausted.

They all needed the brief happiness that alcohol brought.

He didn't linger any longer, humming a tune as he returned to the camping spot Catherine had selected—

As an experienced adventurer and a mountain dwarf, Stonecrusher's camping skills were superb.

And having gotten a barrel of starberry wine for free, he didn't mind showing off his skills and serving as manual labor.

Two tents were just enough for four people to rest, while Melade was tied to Stonecrusher's wine barrel, sleeping groggily in the space between the tents.

Tang Qi pointed at the "little white pig": "He still hasn't woken up?"

Stonecrusher laughed heartily and patted Melade's plump, tender face, failing to wake him:

"Isn't it because of your rotten mouth? You've scolded him along the way until he was sobbing and mentally broken, so now he doesn't want to face reality?"

"Is it really that serious?"

"Why don't you carefully recall what exactly you've been saying?"

Hearing this, Tang Qi couldn't help but open his journal to review his actions over these three days—

[Lost Calendar Year 1000, June 11th, Dawnmist Forest, overcast.

First day after leaving Starberry Town, I insulted the kidnapped noble.

Can't help it—who told this little white pig to have absolutely no awareness of being a prisoner, still treating himself like some young master and hoping I'd treat him well?

I could only tell him, "If it weren't for worrying about you, this waste, your steward wouldn't have died so easily."

"If only you could cut off your greasy excess fat, that horse wouldn't have had its leg crippled by your weight."

"You who are utterly useless except for eating—if the orcs caught you, you'd only be good for rendering into lard…"]

[June 12th, Dawnmist Forest, light rain.

Second day after leaving Starberry Town, I scolded Melade again…]

[Third day, Melade deserved another scolding.]

Tang Qi blinked: "Wasn't I speaking the truth?"

Stonecrusher snorted with laughter: "After all, lies don't hurt people."

"If he can't accept the truth, that's his own problem."

Tang Qi shrugged, no longer concerned with Melade.

Instead, he returned to his tent, sat down on the ground, and looked at the new reward he'd obtained from his constant day and night berating these past few days:

"Ha, as expected—

[Vicious Tongue], obtained!"

Then he flipped back to the previous page in his journal.

There, clearly listed, were all the rewards he'd gained since encountering the orcs—

Even without achieving widespread fame, the haul was still quite substantial.

Seeing the final tally at the end, Tang Qi finally couldn't suppress his laughter:

"This trip wasn't a waste of effort after all!"

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