章 11: Chapter 11
Stepping onto the wide official road, the feeling under his feet was very hard.
This soil and gray stone had been compressed for thousands of years, becoming as steady and quiet as stone slabs.
Although the road surface was gray-white and monotonous, without a blade of grass, it gave Xia Zhi an unusually reassuring feeling.
Following the official road for about fifteen minutes, a merchant caravan approached from the opposite direction, their carts piled high with goods covered by black oilcloth.
Xia Zhi moved to the side of the road to make way for the caravan, while slowing his pace and quietly observing these merchants.
These were the first humans he had encountered since coming to this world.
They were both men and women, young and middle-aged, with various hair colors - some black, some blue - but their facial features weren't much different from the humans in Xia Zhi's original world.
That woman was probably in a managerial position, dressed somewhat luxuriously, emanating a clean and efficient aura.
Xia Zhi continued observing.
They wore cloth clothes and cloth shoes, and some of the stronger men carried swords and bows.
Combined with their use of animal-powered transport, it was clear that this world's level of productivity wasn't very high, at least not as high as Xia Zhi's original world.
This was probably an age of cold weapons.
However, considering that this world had spiritual beasts like the crane and monsters like slimes, it was also possible that this world's technology tree had developed in a strange direction, with civilization evolving in an unusual way.
He couldn't draw conclusions based on just the data from one ordinary merchant caravan.
Although the goods on the carts were covered by oilcloth, Xia Zhi could see them clearly through detection.
Inside were large quantities of dried salted fish and shrimp, along with shellfish and seaweed.
For a merchant caravan to transport such a quantity of dried seafood, it meant that the town ahead must be a coastal port town.
The sea...
For Xia Zhi, this was a distant and longed-for word.
Facing the sea, with spring flowers blooming - this kind of leisurely and beautiful life had once been his dream future.
In his original world, it was difficult for him to achieve this kind of life, but now in this world, he should be able to realize it.
How wonderful, Xia Zhi thought to himself.
Meanwhile, the people in the caravan were also curiously observing this young traveler with a crane.
For Liyue, cranes were special creatures, and the crane beside him was much larger and more beautiful than ordinary cranes, with an extraordinary bearing.
The combination of one person and one crane was quite eye-catching, especially since Xia Zhi couldn't see, carried no packages or weapons, yet his clothes were very neat and clean, looking as casual as if he were out for a stroll.
Though curious, the caravan people only looked a few extra times without rashly striking up a conversation.
Liyue was the "City of Commerce," with countless merchants coming from all parts of the continent every day. Although Xia Zhi was strange, he wasn't the strangest among them.
Both parties quietly passed each other.
Xia Zhi also didn't rashly try to communicate with these strangers from the caravan.
Mainly because he didn't know this world's language; even if they were willing to communicate, he couldn't get any useful information just through gestures and movements.
It was better to just listen and observe more.
Continuing along the main road, Xia Zhi encountered several more caravans loaded with goods.
The setup of carts and guards was basically similar to the first caravan he met, just with different goods.
Some carried exquisite porcelain, some had neatly stacked books, some carried medicinal herbs with their distinct smell...
Every caravan's spirit and appearance were good, their faces wearing satisfied smiles of having made good business and about to make big money.
This showed that the town ahead was not only prosperous but also very stable in terms of public security, giving merchants such confidence and sense of safety.
Xia Zhi's heart grew more expectant about the first town he would encounter in this world.
At night, Xia Zhi found a suitable place beside the official road to build a fire.
After eating a simple dinner, Xia Zhi began browsing items in the [Shop] as usual.
Occasionally, the dull sounds of horses and cart wheels and the crisp ringing of bells came from the direction of the official road, with faint flickering torch lights visible there.
Those were merchant caravans traveling at night.
For merchants, time was often money.
Since they dared to travel at night, they must have some backing, either their own strength was sufficient, or this road section was safe enough.
More likely, it was both.
By the warm campfire, Cloud Retainer raised her head, quietly watching the bright moon in the sky.
After a while, she looked at Xia Zhi in front of her, her glass-colored eyes reflecting his figure, showing no waves of emotion, impossible to tell if she was happy or sad.
Xia Zhi didn't raise his head; using detection's god's-eye view, he could see her watching him.
He noticed that the little female crane's state wasn't quite right tonight.
No, not just tonight.
It seemed that from when he stepped onto this official road today, her state had become not quite right.
She had become too quiet.
Xia Zhi thought for a while and probably guessed the reason why the little female crane was like this.
But there was nothing he could do; they were just passing travelers in each other's lives.
Although he liked having the little female crane around, he wouldn't force her to stay. She was a spiritual beast with her own way of life.
Cranes loved tranquility and nature; human prosperity would only seem noisy and unbearable to her.
What a pity, if only she were a cat or a fox, not only would she eat less, but he could also hug her while sleeping.
Xia Zhi put away these thoughts and continued browsing the [Shop].
This time, he was searching for language and writing-related items.
There were many search results, but they basically fell into two levels: beginner and mastery.
These were experience books - after purchasing, Xia Zhi only needed to select "use" to instantly learn the language.
[Beginner Elvish], [Beginner Orcish], [Beginner Demon Language], [Beginner Hilichurlian]...
[Advanced Elvish], [Advanced Orcish], [Advanced Demon Language], [Advanced Hilichurlian]...
The beginner level would allow Xia Zhi to easily handle daily conversations in that language, most priced at 1 point.
Some special languages like [Beginner Ancient Demon Language] and [Beginner Angel Language] were more expensive at 10 points.
Extremely special languages like [Beginner Divine Speech] were even pricier at 100 points.
The advanced level would make Xia Zhi an expert who could make a living with the language, understanding the story behind every word and their most appropriate usage contexts.
These were typically priced at 10 points, ten times the beginner level.
Simply put, it was like the difference between passing a basic English test and being a simultaneous interpreter in the original world.
This was troublesome.
Xia Zhi looked at the dense search results in the list and fell silent.
So, what language did people here actually speak?
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