Tiki replied very dissatisfied: "Of course the things have been delivered. Didn't you see the convoy outside? But I'm here to redeem people, not to give gifts. When the things you want come, you should let Princess Xiaoqian go." Right? I want to see all of them!" The scene in front of me was different from what I imagined, these people didn't mention Princess Xiaoqian at all, that's not how kidnapping was talked about.
Ussier smiled and said: "Don't worry, you must be tired from the long journey, sit down and eat something first. Of course the princess of the kingdom is fine, but I have to find out whether the things you sent are what we want."
Someone put wild game from the mountains, dried fruits, and even wine on the table. It was like treating guests to dinner. Amon and the others didn't sit down, how could they have the heart to eat here? Tiki took out a roll of straw paper from his pocket and handed it to Yusier: "Everything is on it, do you want to count it?"
Ussier took the scroll and just unfolded it, when a big man next to him shouted angrily: "It's all on this! We have spent so much trouble, do we need this piece of paper? Show me quickly!"
Ussier looked a little embarrassed, turned his head and scolded: "What nonsense are you talking about? This is a list of items registered on it, and the items are all on the carriage outside, so you can check them against each other! Let me show you, do you know how to read? ... A long time ago I reminded you that if you don't talk nonsense, you won't be ashamed, but you can't remember!"
If it was another occasion, Amon might have laughed out loud, but at this time he couldn't laugh or cry. Ussier began to read the items on the list aloud, bread, dried meat, seeds, farming tools, cloth... etc. There are quite a lot of messy things. Every time he read one item, the plateau giants cheered, and some people asked in disbelief: "Really, are these things for us? That's great!"
Mayor Diqi replied: "Of course it is for you, as long as Princess Xiaoqian is safe and sound." The giants cheered again: "Princess? Of course she is fine, these things are ours!" Hearing this, Diqi waited. Talent was relieved, as long as the princess was safe, other things would be easy to handle.
After reading all the types and quantities of the supplies, the last item on the list is a large sum of money. Mayor Diqi asked, "The things are very clear, but how much do you want? The messenger didn't say the amount."
A giant with a wild beast's tail hanging from his head interjected, "Of course it will cost a lot of money, maybe thirty gold coins!"
Hearing this, Amon almost didn't reach out to support the table. Thirty gold coins is indeed a lot of money for ordinary people, but they kidnapped the princess of the kingdom, asked the other party to bring a large team of horses and horses and asked for a bunch of worthless things, but in the end they only extorted thirty gold coins in cash. If Princess Xiaoqian heard it, she would definitely jump up in anger! —Is she so worthless? Although the items sent by the convoy were not valuable, they were huge in quantity, far more than thirty gold coins in total.
"What? You want thirty gold coins!" No matter how calm the mayor Diqi was, he couldn't help crying out.
The giant who interjected touched his head: "Is it too much? Then... it must be twenty gold coins!"
Ussier glared at the interjecting giant, and said, "How much, is the princess of Baron Kingdom worth this little money?"
Another giant with a ring on his nose chimed in smartly: "That's right, what you want is too little. How can twenty gold coins be enough? At least fifty gold coins!"
Di Qi and the others fell silent, their expressions were indescribably weird. And Ussier's nose was almost crooked, he almost fell off the chair, he slapped the table and said, "You only want fifty gold coins?"
The giants finally realized that fifty gold coins was still too little, and another giant with a tattoo on his forehead said in a low voice: "I told you to stop talking nonsense, it would be embarrassing! If it were me, I would ask for a hundred gold coins! "These plateau giants are not so stupid. Seeing that the situation is not right, they started to sit on the ground and raise prices.
The mayor of Diqi quickly waved his hand: "One hundred gold coins is one hundred gold coins. I gave them, but that's all, so I can't go any higher! But I didn't bring so many gold coins, so I will give you five god stones." He It is true that he did not bring any gold coins, but all he brought were divine stones. When he saw this scene, he reacted immediately and agreed to pay a "huge sum" of one hundred gold coins.
Amon also noticed that this group of plateau giants hadn't fully discussed it beforehand. Supplies are what they want, but money is not considered. These giants should come from different tribes, and their costumes have their own characteristics. They have animal tails, nose rings, and tattoos, and they can be distinguished with a little attention. The giants in the tent are all the leaders of the tribe, and the three who spoke just now should be the big leaders of each of the three tribes, which is equivalent to the role of the patriarch.
It is really a headache to organize these people to act together. Seeing Ussier's appearance is already a headache.
When the giants heard that Mayor Diqi wanted to give five sacred stones, they quarreled again: "Five sacred stones? How do we divide the three tribes? Who gets one and who gets two?"
Their voices were so loud that the tent was buzzing with thoughts. Ussier couldn't listen anymore, took out his short staff from his waist, knocked on the table and said, "Stop arguing, I have the final say, six sacred stones, two for each tribe!" Then he rushed to Mayor Diqi Said: "The last condition is six divine stones, you should hand them over quickly."
The six sacred stones were much less than Mayor Diqi had expected, but he didn't dare to take them out too happily, and shouted dissatisfiedly: "The increase from twenty gold coins to six sacred stones is too much for you! I In order to save the princess, I can give you the money first." He put the six sacred stones on the table one by one, and the three big bosses took them away on the spot, holding them in their hands and looking left and right, grinning happily Incredible.
Ussier glared at them for a few times, with a feeling of hatred in his eyes, and said to the mayor of Diqi: "You have already paid the money, and you should hand over the rest of the things one by one. right?"
Mei Danzuo, who had been silent all this time, couldn't bear it anymore, and shouted: "After all, you always ask for things, where is Princess Xiaoqian? Only when she is safe and sound can the things be given to you."
Ussier shook his head and said: "No, no, what if you take Princess Xiaoqian away and regret not giving anything?"
Magician Jie Kai also interjected: "This is your territory, everything has been sent to the mountain, how can it be so easy to take away? We are sincere, but you can't negotiate like this. First of all, let us know that Princess Xiaoqian Where, make sure she is safe!"
A leader of the tribe picked up the sacred stone and said, "Of course the princess is safe. She is fine now, but she has to agree to us bringing her here."
Hearing this, Di Qi and the others were shocked. Ussier quickly knocked on the table again and said, "I told you to stop talking, just shut up, or I won't care about it!"
Seeing that Ussier was really angry, the three big leaders quickly nodded and said: "Okay, we won't talk anymore, it's all up to you. You can get all the things I want with a message, and someone sent them up the mountain From now on, everyone will obey your orders." Then he shouted to the little leaders behind: "Shut up, all of you, and only listen to Master Ussier."
The tent finally quieted down, Yusier said to Tiki: "I only saw this list, and the supplies on the list have not been counted yet, so I have to know if all the things have been delivered?... As for the princess of the kingdom, just wait for us Get everything and definitely let her go."
For some reason, the mayor of Diqi no longer wanted to entangle with Yusier, nor did he insist on seeing Princess Xiaoqian first. He thought for a while and replied: "You can check the supplies first. I have three tribes here, so check them out first." Divide it into three parts, and then send someone to transport it away... When you really need to transport things, hand over the princess and her entourage. .”
They finally ended this dumbfounding negotiation and returned to the convoy. You Ledu came up to meet him anxiously and asked, "How is it? Did you see the princess? Is she all right?"
Jie Kai waved his hand and said, "The situation has changed. Princess Xiaoqian may not be in their hands. Let's discuss it later."
Listening to the messy conversation of those plateau giants just now, Amon and the four of them are not fools, and they have already noticed the flaw - which tribes should not have captured Princess Xiaoqian. Just like the letter reported by the injured warrior, Princess Xiaoqian was besieged in a valley, and the giant tribe was anxious for something, so they sent messengers to the town to blackmail her. It's not easy to organize these people to act together, and it should be Ussier who took the lead.
Back in the middle of the convoy, everyone hid behind a carriage to discuss, Uledo asked the mayor of Diqi: "In this case, why did you agree to let them come to count the supplies?"
Mayor Diqi smiled wryly and said: "They didn't capture Princess Xiaoqian. This is just our guess. Even so, the princess must still be besieged and unable to escape... You didn't see how those plateau giants negotiated today. I can’t count with my fingers, how long will it take to sort things out and divide them up?”
Amon echoed: "It's getting dark soon, and they want to take inventory of these supplies, at least until tomorrow morning. Use these things to attract their attention, and we can move quietly at night to find out the situation, at least first Determine where Princess Xiaoqian is and is she safe?"
Mei Danzuo nodded in agreement: "Yes, it should be done this way. We know where Princess Xiaoqian is, and we can use the cover of darkness to touch the nearby high places. Although the warriors of the giant tribe are fierce, they are still strong in the dark. It can bypass the guards. If they can really release Princess Xiaoqian at that time, everything will be easy to talk about; if they go back on their promises and don’t keep their promises, we can work together to rescue her.”
You Ledu pondered: "Kidnapping a kingdom princess must be severely punished! If you don't bear serious consequences, you can get a large amount of ransom instead. You can only encourage and condone this behavior. You must send the city-state's army to Exterminate them. But these are things for later, the safety of the princess is the most important right now, and it is best not to avoid conflicts."
Mayor Diqi opened a volume, which was the city-state topographic atlas collected by Akkad Town, which marked the location where Princess Xiaoqian was besieged. There is an open valley, backed by a steep peak, surrounded by mountains on the left and right sides, the entrance to the valley is very narrow, the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it is difficult to break out if people are blocked inside. If you use flying objects, such as advanced air scrolls, you must also beware of the extremely long-range crossbow arrows in the giant tribe, and you must not let the princess take risks.
Mayor Diqi's plan is to take advantage of the cover of night to walk through the mountains and quietly climb up to the peaks on the left and right sides of the valley bottom. If it is confirmed that Princess Xiaoqian is still safe, don't rush to act rashly. After the appointed time, the giant tribe did not let the princess go, so they outflanked and raided from both sides to meet the princess and break through. Tiki also arranged the retreat route after rescuing the princess, but some differences occurred when assigning specific tasks.
Mayor Diqi wanted to go very much, but both Jiekai and Amon insisted on letting him stay, because he was the leader of this group of people, and he had to supervise the other party to count the supplies, and he needed to negotiate at any time in case of any situation. If he left, it would definitely arouse Usser's suspicion, and finally decided to go with Amon and others.
Uledu insisted on going in person this time, so Jiekai had no choice but to agree. In this way, Jiekai insisted that his group of five should act alone in a team, and said that they must be familiar with each other and be good at cooperating through the mountains and jungles quietly at night, and it would be inconvenient to bring other people.
This is more or less an excuse, Jie Kai doesn't want to reveal the identity of Uledo, and the first thing to protect in any situation is this "His Royal Highness". The five of them have all been well-trained, and they cooperate and are skilled with each other. Jiekai obviously doesn't pay attention to ordinary mid-level warriors, and doesn't want to bring the two burdens of Amon and Medanzuo.
The result of the discussion was that the troops were divided into two groups. Jie Kai and his party of five, Amon and Mei Danzuo, touched the mountain from the left and right sides. If the princess is found to be safe after dawn, then quietly lurk. The action time agreed by Diqi is at noon tomorrow, by then, the things should be counted no matter what, and the giant tribe should also order the release. If they still don't let people go, they can only rescue people here, and cover the princess to break through and leave.
With the leader of a skilled magician, there is a great advantage in walking the night road in the mountains. The detection magic can detect the location of the ambush of those plateau giants in advance, and can quietly go around. No matter how many giants besiege the princess, it is impossible to densely guard all the places. Such a large mountain can always sneak around.
However, during the continuous night of trekking, using divine magic to detect various complex terrains and discover all lurking enemies from a long distance, without any omissions, this is definitely not something that ordinary magicians can do. In this team, probably only Jiekai has this ability.
The mayor of Diqi also wanted to send Amon and Metanzor a magician to accompany him, but Amon refused with a smile: "I was born as a hunter in the mountains, and I am used to chasing wild beasts and detecting various dangers in the mountains, so I am a hunter. Dare to walk the night road into the mountain, but also feel sure to touch it quietly. This kind of road cannot be walked by ordinary magicians. If you are not careful, you may fall off the cliff. Only strong warriors have this kind of physical strength and skill. Just go with Metatron."
Amon's words made sense, and mayor Diqi didn't insist any longer. He could only wish them good luck and tell them to be careful. Amon, a fifth-level magician, is better at walking at night and launching divine detection skills at any time, than Jiekai, a sixth-level magician. This is his usual habit. So Amon didn't want to be with others. It would be inconvenient to use magic like that, and he would expose his identity as a magician if he was not careful.
Jiekai didn't expect anything from these two people, but out of kindness, he still warned Medan Zuo: "This is not fighting on the battlefield. Wearing heavy armor, climbing mountains and rocks will be a burden. Even if your armor is light, The sound of metal clashing accidentally will also reveal your position, and the shield is not suitable for carrying. Your shuttle gun is not a weapon for fighting in the jungle. It's reflective at night."
Jie Kai is a teacher at the Barron Academy of Theology. He usually teaches not only divine arts, but also various combat skills and precautions, and systematically guides and trains students. Amon took his words seriously, and asked Mei Danzuo to leave the armor and shield to Mayor Diqi. After setting off, he put away the shuttle gun again, and Amon replaced Medanzo with an ax and a set of soft armor worn under his clothes.
As for Amon himself, he didn't wear armor and take other weapons, he was still just leaning on a stick like a branch.
The two rescue teams left one after another, quietly went down the mountain and circled the dense forest without being noticed by anyone. The giant tribe also sent people to count the supplies, led by those leaders, Yusier stood aside to supervise the statistics, Mayor Diqi accompanied him with a clerk. Unloading those things one by one, sorting and counting them again, the scene was messy and noisy.
The mayor of Diqi deliberately didn't send anyone to help, and let these plateau giants do it all by themselves, which was enough for them to be busy until dawn. At night, many torches were lit on the plateau, illuminating the open land as if it were daytime, and it also made the surrounding mountains and fields look extremely gloomy and dark.
Not to mention how to count the supplies on the mountain, Amon took Mei Danzuo down the mountain first, crossed the high mountains and detoured upwards, and rushed to the location specified on the map. Mei Danzuo has traveled to the tribe of cave dwellers in the deep mountains many times. He is also a tripolar magician now, and it is not a problem to pay attention to the condition of his feet as if walking during the day. The apprentices taught by Amon are different from ordinary magic masters. They don't use staffs at critical moments, and usually use magic to help them naturally, even if it's just for shelter from wind and rain.
As for Amon himself, not to mention, he is probably better than a great magician at night walking on mountain roads. Just in case, he also used the iron branch staff to monitor the surrounding conditions at any time.
They had to go around to the other side of the valley where Princess Xiaoqian was besieged. They had to walk a longer distance, but they arrived much earlier than Jiekai and the others. At midnight, the two had quietly climbed up the ridge on the side of the valley. Looking from a high place, there is indeed a group of people stationed in the center of the valley, and the light of the bonfire can be seen in the dark.
Amon felt a little strange, because when he climbed to the ridge, he didn't find anyone on guard nearby. For the sake of caution, he asked Metanzor to find a place to hide, and he carried his staff to investigate quietly along the ridge, and found the giant warrior guarding near the valley entrance.
On the mountain ridge on the side where Amon was, there were seven or eight giant warriors, holding bows and arrows in their arms and sticks beside them, sleeping soundly. Amon didn't disturb them, and quietly retreated to his original position.