May is the transition between spring and summer.
Fragrance of flowers fills the air, and the mountains stand green and lush. The sunlight gradually begins to reveal its passionate side.
Under the clear azure sky, white clouds drift like cotton wadding.
On Qing Mao Mountain, the Green Spear Bamboo forest still stands straight as spears, pointing toward the firmament. Wild grass grows everywhere in profusion, dotted with nameless wildflowers among the blades. When a gentle breeze blows, the grass ripples, and a rich scent of pollen and fresh grass rushes to one's face.
On the mountainside lie extensive terraced fields. Layer upon layer, step upon step, tender green wheat seedlings have been planted, and from afar they resemble a sea of verdant green.
Many farmers toil in the terraces. Some clear ditches and waterways to channel irrigation, while others roll up their trouser legs and stand in the fields, planting rice seedlings.
These people are all non-clan mortals. The Guye Clan does not engage in such lowly work.
Ting-a-ling-ling...
In the spring breeze, the faint sound of camel bells drifts over.
The farmers straighten up and turn toward the foot of the mountain.
A merchant caravan appears like a colorful, long serpent, slowly poking its head out from the mountain path.
"It's a merchant caravan!"
"Indeed. It's already May, so the caravan should have arrived by now."
The adults understand. The children, however, abandon their water play and the mud in their hands, skipping and hopping toward the caravan.
The Southern Border has a hundred thousand great mountains, and Qing Mao Mountain is merely one of them. On each mountain, stockades are nestled, bound together by blood kinship.
Between the mountains, the forests are deep and dark, with perilous cliffs and steep stone walls. The environment is treacherous, harboring many fierce beasts or bizarre, eerie Gu Insects.
Mortals cannot traverse these barriers at all. A lone individual trying to push through these obstacles would need at least the cultivation of a Third Transformation Gu Master.
Thus the economy is destitute and trade is difficult. The primary form of trade is the merchant caravan.
Only by forming a caravan on such a large scale can a group of Gu Masters have the ability to help each other overcome the dangers of the journey, traveling from one mountain to another.
The caravan's arrival is like a bowl of boiling water suddenly poured into the peaceful and tranquil Qing Mao Mountain.
"In previous years they always came in April. This year it's May before the caravan has finally arrived. But at least it's here." The innkeeper let out a long sigh of relief upon hearing the news. Business at his inn is extremely slack in other months. He can only count on the caravan's arrival to bring in revenue that sustains him for a year.
He still had some Green Bamboo Wine in stock, which he could sell to the caravan.
Not only the inn — the tavern's business would flourish as well.
The caravan filed into Guye Stockade one after another. At the head was a Treasure Aura Yellow Copper Toad. This toad stood two and a half meters tall, its body orange-yellow, with a broad, thick back covered in warty bumps, like the massive copper rivets on an ancient city gate.
On the toad's back, thick hemp ropes secured large bundles of goods. At first glance it looked as though the Treasure Toad was carrying an enormous bundle.
A middle-aged man with a round, pockmarked face and a fat, bulging belly sat cross-legged atop the toad's head. His eyes crinkled into slits as he smiled, clasping his fists in greeting to the surrounding residents of Guye Stockade.
This man's surname was Jia, given name Fu. He possessed Fourth Transformation cultivation and was the leader of this caravan.
The Treasure Toad hopped forward gently, and Jia Fu sat steady and stable atop its head. When it jumped, his height reached the level of the second-floor windows. Even when it landed, he was still above the first floor of the bamboo buildings.
The originally spacious street suddenly seemed somewhat narrow. The Treasure Aura Yellow Copper Toad was like a monstrous beast crashing into the forest of bamboo buildings.
Behind the Treasure Toad came a large fat insect. Its eyes were like stained-glass windows, vivid and brilliant in color. Fifteen meters long, its body resembled a silkworm, but its surface was covered in a thick layer of black-glazed armor plating. On the armor, piles of goods were stacked, secured with coiled hemp ropes. In the gaps between the goods sat various Gu Masters — some old, some young.
There were also mortals, all sturdy warriors, following alongside the Black-skin Fat-armored Insect on foot, moving steadily forward.
Behind the Fat-armored Insect came colorful Camel Chickens with variegated plumage, fluffy Mountain Big Spiders, Winged Snakes bearing two feathered wings, and more. But these were only a few; the majority were still Toads.