Chapter 132- Desert Part 4

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As they were led by the middle-aged woman, they came to a slightly larger tent than the rest with a little bit more decoration to make it appear more lively and less bleak, unlike the others. Pushing the cloth cover that acted as the door, they went into the tent.

There they saw a decrepit old man with a long white beard, something that was rarely seen in the tower due to the blessing of shinsu, sitting in the center of the room.

Seeing there were a few young and good-looking guests coming, the old man looked at them and gestured them to take a seat across him.

"So, young travelers, what do you need to even come here, to such a barren desert?" The old man said with a calm and amiable face.

"As you probably have guessed, elder. We are C-ranked regulars who are taking the floor test. Here in the desert, we are looking for the "Death Worms" to capture one of them. If you know how and where to find them, we will be incredibly grateful." Liu Guanyi said casually.

The elder nodded his head lightly. "I see, the death worm, huh? Your group must have offended the Ranker overseeing the test to give you such a hard task." The old man said as he stroked his long white beard.

"Indeed, you certainly have discerning eyes, elder." Liu Guanyi said with a light smile.

"So, can you help us?" Adori on the side spoke out.

"Hm?" The old man turned to look at her and saw her beautiful appearance. Although she only wore a plain white robe, it still looked elegant and regal on her.

However, he wasn't staring at her to appreciate her fine appearance but to notice the conspicuous red hairpin with three eyes on her white hair.

Looking at the hairpin and her beauty, the old man could somewhat guess the reason why they were finding themselves in such trouble. Time and time again, politics.

"Well, the death worms aren't something that you can easily find let alone capture." The old man let out a sigh as he spoke.

"Not only their numbers are small and they are also inherently solitary creatures, but they are also extremely poisonous."

"When they hunt other creatures or if they are threatened, they can eject a fast projectile of their toxic bile that can corrode even steel, and if their poison goes into our skin, we can die in less than a minute unless we completely cut the affected part our bodies just right after we are poisoned." The old man explained in a solemn voice.

"However, they are also nocturnal creatures that dwell deep into this desert's sand and only go out of their home to hunt so finding them is almost impossible, unless they decide they want to find you instead." The old man said with a smile.

"I see…" Liu Guanyi nodded calmly.

It seemed this time some of those at the top were pretty determined to not let Adori have an easy way of climbing the tower. Did they want to stop Adori from getting more reputation and momentum by slowing her climbing and wasting her time as much as possible?

Although the old man explained the death worms as something extremely dangerous, that was for the regular desert folks and average C-ranked regulars, not for a strong member of the ten great families, a princess of Zahard, and certainly him. However, to get to their nest was indeed certainly tricky.

"The question still stands, can you help us or not?" Adori asked again as she looked at the old man's eyes.

"Sigh… you are stubborn, aren't you, your highness? The elder let out a sigh as he answered her.

"I know that you regulars are way different than us normal folks, especially you, your highness. It's not that I disrespect you or undermine your strength but the death worms are extremely deadly in these parts of the desert." Said the elder solemnly.

"Didn't you see how we placed our cattle? It's just not for convenience so we can guard them easily but also to protect us in case if any of the death worms attack our settlement to choose the meatier cattle instead of our skinny bones." The old man explained to warn of the danger.

But looking at her calm and determined eyes and the faces of the two people beside her, the old man knew that he couldn't hope to persuade her.

The old man let out a sigh and started to speak. "I can't help you to find the death worms but I can lead you to someone who most likely knows a lot about them. He is a C-ranked regular who has decided to stop climbing the tower and settle down here."

"He works for many things and many people and has his own ways in the desert so helping you definitely won't be a problem, as long as you have the right price for his service, that is."

Hearing this, Liu Guanyi glanced at Xin who quickly nodded in understanding and moved forward from the side, and summoned his lighthouse to take out a pile of quality foods. Seeing the sudden "gift" the elder was pleasantly surprised and was about to say something-

Before they all got up and Liu Guanyi said to him with a smile. "Then, what are you waiting for, old man? Just lead us to the guy or will you assign someone to lead the way?

"No, I will lead you there personally. If even after such a generous gift I still won't lead personally that will be extremely rude to someone with her highness stature." The old man smiled while stroking his beard as he also got up.

He led them to where the tribe placed their cattle. Although they were still in the desert, somehow there were some grasses and even trees around.

It looked the tribe was located near a source of water, which was the correct decision as water was still crucial for living even with the existence of shinsu. After all, they couldn't just drink shinsu to satiate their thrist.

Standing just right in front of the grazing area, the old man put his fingers in his mouth as he made a loud whistle.

Soon, they could see a big and strong horse coming toward them happily and energetically as her feet created a cloud of dust on the sand.

She stopped right in front of the old man as he stroked her head lovingly.

"Alright, gentlemen and your highness, are you ready? You don't need horses to carry you around like this bony old man, do you?" The elder said with a smile and hopped on his horse.

"No, just take care of yourself, old man." Adori answered with an expressionless face.

"Alright, well then, let's go!" The old man pulled rein as the horse neighed and ran forward.