Who kidnapped whom?

  Who kidnapped whom?

  Deqi's dissatisfied response: "Of course, everything has been delivered. Haven't you seen the convoy outside? But I'm here to ransom people, not deliver gifts. Since what you wanted has arrived, shouldn't you release Princess Xiao Yan now? I want to see all of them." The scene before him was not quite as he had imagined. These people didn't even mention Princess Xiao Yan. Kidnappings weren't negotiated like this.

  Yousi smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry, you must be tired from the long journey. Sit down and have something to eat first. The princess of the kingdom is fine, but I need to figure out if what you brought is what we want."

  Someone had arranged the wild game from the mountains and dried fruits on the table, and there was even wine. This setup looked like they were being treated to a meal. However, Armon and the others didn't sit down; how could they have an appetite for food in this place? Teqi pulled out a roll of grass paper from his pocket and handed it to Yucil: "Everything is on here, do you want to check?"

  Yu Xil took over the paper roll and just unfolded it, when a big man next to him shouted angrily: "We've gone through so much trouble for this? Is it all on this piece of paper? Let me take a look!"

  Yousi's expression was a bit awkward, and he turned his head to scold: "What nonsense are you talking about? This is the inventory list, all the items are on the carriage outside, I can check them with you one by one. Can you read?...I've reminded you many times before, if you don't talk nonsense, you won't lose face, but you just can't remember."

  If it were in a different setting, Ahmon might have burst out laughing, but at this moment he couldn't help but cry. Yucil began to loudly read the contents of the list: pancakes, dried meat, seeds, farming tools, fabric... and so on. The highlanders cheered every time he read an item, some even asked in disbelieving tones: "Really? Are all these things really for us? That's great!"

  "Of course, it's yours," replied the mayor of Teqi Town. "As long as Princess Xiao Yan is safe and sound." The giants cheered again: "Princess? She's definitely fine, these things are all ours!" Upon hearing this, Emperor Qi and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the princess was safe, everything else would be easy to handle.

  All the items and quantities were read out, the last item on the list was a large sum of money. The mayor of Deqi Town asked: "The goods are clear, but how much do you want? The messenger didn't mention the amount."

  A giant with a beast's tail hanging from his head chimed in, "Of course it'll cost a pretty penny, at least thirty gold coins."

  Upon hearing this, Amun nearly stretched out his hand to support the table. Thirty gold coins were indeed a large sum of money for ordinary people, but after kidnapping the princess of the kingdom and having the other party bring a large team of horses and carts to extort a pile of worthless things, they only got thirty gold coins in cash. If Princess Xiao Yan herself heard about it, she would definitely be furious - was she really that worthless? Although the goods brought by the horse team were not valuable, the quantity was huge, and the total amount was far more than thirty gold coins.

  "What? You want thirty gold coins?" Even the usually calm Mayor of Deqi Town couldn't help but exclaim.

  The giant who interrupted rubbed his big head: "Too many? Then... at least twenty gold coins should be fine"

  Yousi glared at the giant who had interrupted and shouted: "How much more, is a princess of the Kingdom of Balen worth only this much?"

  Another giant with a ring on his nose chimed in, "Right, what you're asking for is too little, twenty gold coins aren't enough. At the very least it should be fifty gold coins."

  Deqi and the others fell silent, their faces twisted in an indescribable expression. Yuxi's nose was almost crooked with rage, and he nearly fell off his chair. He slammed his hand on the table: "You want fifty gold coins?"

  The giants finally realized that fifty gold coins were still too few, and another giant with a tattoo on his forehead said in a deep voice: "I've long told you not to talk nonsense. If it were me, I'd want a hundred gold coins." These highland giants weren't stupid after all; seeing the situation wasn't favorable, they started raising their prices on the spot.

  The town head of Diqi hurriedly waved his hand: "One hundred gold coins are just one hundred gold coins, I gave them to you, but that's all, can't increase anymore." But he didn't bring so many gold coins, and instead brought five divine stones. He indeed didn't bring any gold coins, only divine stones, and seeing this scene also adapted quickly, agreeing to pay the "huge sum" of one hundred gold coins.

  Amon also noticed that this group of highland giants had not fully discussed it beforehand. The goods were what they wanted, but the money was not considered. These giants should come from different tribes, with distinctive costumes, respectively hanging animal tails, wearing nose rings, and tattooing tattoos. With a little attention, you can tell them apart. The giant in the tent is the leader of the tribe, and the three who spoke earlier are probably the leaders of each of the three tribes, equivalent to the role of tribal chief.

  It's really a headache to organize these people to take collective action. Just looking at Yousiel is already making me feel like I have a headache.

  The giants were in an uproar again when they heard that the town chief of Deqi was going to give away five divine stones. "Five divine stones? How are we three tribes going to divide them up? Who gets one, who gets two?"

  Their voices were very loud, shaking the tent with a buzzing noise. Yuxi really couldn't take it anymore, drew out a short stick from his waist, and knocked on the table: "Stop arguing, I'm in charge, two divine stones for each tribe." Then he turned to Diqi Town Lord and said: "The last condition is the divine stone, hand it over quickly."

  The number of divine stones was much less than what Diqi Town had expected, but he didn't dare to be too pleased. He grumbled in dissatisfaction: "From twenty gold coins to one divine stone, you're being too excessive! I'm doing this for the princess's sake, so I'll give you the money first." He placed each of the divine stones on the table, and the three big leaders immediately took them away, holding them in their hands and admiring them with gleeful faces.

  You Xi'er glared at them fiercely, her eyes filled with a sense of "hating iron for not becoming steel", and then turned to the town head of Di Qi: "The money has been paid, shouldn't the rest of the things be handed over one by one?"

  The silent Medanzo finally couldn't bear it and shouted: "In short, you always want something. Where is Princess Xiao? Hand her over safely, and we can give you what you want."

  "You can't just take Princess Xia away and then go back on your word, what if you don't give us the things?" Yousi said with a straight shake of his head.

  "Wait a minute, this is your territory, and you've already sent the goods to the mountain. It's not that easy to take them away, is it? We have good intentions, but you can't negotiate like this either. First, we need to know where Princess Xiaojing is and confirm her safety."

  The leader of a tribe patted the divine stone and said, "That princess is naturally safe now. She's fine for the time being, but if we're to bring people over, she has to agree herself."

  As soon as they heard this, Diqi and the others were shocked. Yuxi hurriedly knocked on the table again: "I told you not to speak, just shut up, otherwise I won't care."

  Yusil was really angry, the three big heads quickly nodded and said: "Okay, we won't say anything, let's just listen to you. You said that one word can get everything I want, and indeed someone sent it up the mountain. From now on, everyone will follow your orders." Then he shouted at the small heads behind him: "All of you shut up, only listen to Lord Yusil's words."

  The tent finally quieted down, and Yuxi said to Dike: "I only saw this list, the materials on the list have not been checked yet. We must know if everything has arrived as scheduled... As for the princess of the kingdom, as long as we get all the things, she will definitely be released."

  For some reason, the town chief of Diqi no longer wanted to entangle with Yuxi'er and did not insist on seeing Princess Xiaoqian first. He thought for a moment and replied: "You can take stock of the supplies first, I have three tribes here, take stock of them and divide them into three parts, and then send someone to transport them away... When you really need to transport things, just hand over the princess and her entourage, it's okay like this... Send someone over to take stock of the goods first, we'll wait in the carriage team."

  They finally ended the laughable and tearful negotiations, returned to the motorcade, and Yu Le Du anxiously came up to ask: "How was it? Did you see the princess? Is she okay?"

  Jie Kai waved his hand and said, "The situation has changed, Little Xi Princess may not be in their hands, let's discuss it later."

  Just now, listening to the chaotic conversation of those Highland Giants, Armon and the other three were not fools, they had already detected the flaw - which tribes should still not have caught Princess Xiaoyan. According to the report of that injured warrior, Princess Xiaoyan was trapped in a mountain valley, and the Giant Tribe was anxious for something, so they sent an envoy to extort the town. It's not easy to organize these people to act together, the leader who made the decision should be Yuxi'er.

  Back in the carriage team, everyone hid behind a horse cart to discuss, Youle Du asked Emperor Qi Town: "Since that's the case, why did you agree to let them come and check the supplies?"

  Deqi Town Lord sighed and said, "They didn't capture Princess Xiao Yan, this is just our speculation. Even if that's the case, the princess must still be trapped and unable to escape... You saw how those Highland Giants negotiated today, they're probably not even able to count their own fingers, wanting to sort things out before dividing them up, who knows how long it'll take?"

  Amon nodded in agreement: "It's almost dark, they want to clear up these supplies and at least drag it until dawn tomorrow. Using these things to attract their attention, we can sneak out tonight to investigate the situation, at least first confirm Princess Xiao's location and whether she is safe?"

  Meadows nodded in agreement, "Yes, we should do it this way. We know the location of Princess Xiaoyan and can sneak to a high place nearby under the cover of darkness. The warriors of the Giant Tribe are fierce, but they can still be bypassed at night. If they really release Princess Xiaoyan at that time, everything will be fine; if they go back on their promise, we can also rescue her from inside and outside."

  Yu Le Du said, "Kidnapping a kingdom princess must be severely punished. If not, it will only encourage and condone such behavior, and they can get a large ransom. We must send the city-state's army to eliminate them. But these are secondary matters, for now, the safety of the princess is most important, and it's best if we don't provoke conflict."

  The mayor of Deqi Town unrolled a scroll, which was the Akkad town's collection of city terrain maps, and marked the location where Princess Xiao Yan was trapped. It was an open valley, backed by a steep peak, with mountains on both sides forming a ring-shaped enclosure, and the entrance to the valley was very narrow, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. However, if someone were to be trapped inside, it would also be difficult to break through. If flying devices such as high-level air scrolls were used, one would have to beware of the giant tribe's extremely long-range crossbows and not let the princess take risks.

  Deqi Town's plan was to take advantage of the night's cover to traverse the mountains and quietly climb up the mountain peaks on both sides of the valley. If they confirmed that Princess Xiaoyan was still safe, they wouldn't rush into action for the time being. After the agreed-upon time had passed and the giant tribe still hadn't released the princess, they would launch a surprise attack from both sides to escort the princess in her escape. Deqi had also arranged the retreat route after rescuing the princess, but when assigning specific tasks, some differences of opinion arose.

  The mayor of Deqi Town himself wanted to go, but Jie Kai and Amon were determined to let him stay behind, because he was the leader of this group, supervising the other party's inventory, and if there was any situation, they would need to negotiate in a timely manner. If he left, it would definitely arouse Yuxi'er's suspicion, so in the end, Amon and others went instead.

  Youle decided to go in person this time, and Jieke had no choice but to nod in agreement. In that case, Jieke insisted that the five of them should form a separate team and act alone, saying that it would be inconvenient to bring others along when sneaking through the mountains and forests at night, and they needed to be very familiar with each other and good at coordinating with each other.

  This is somewhat an excuse, Jie Ke doesn't want to expose You Le Du's identity, and in any case, the first thing to protect is still this "Your Highness". The five of them have all received good training, they cooperate with each other smoothly, and Jie Ke obviously doesn't take ordinary warriors seriously, not wanting to bring along Amon and Mei Dan Zuo, these two burdens.

  The result of the discussion was that they split into two groups, Jake and five others, Amun and Maidan Zuo, approached from both sides. If the princess is found unharmed after dawn, they will quietly lie in wait. The action time set by Emperor Qi is tomorrow at noon, by which time everything should be settled, and the giant tribe should also order the release of the people. If they still don't let them go, this side can only take action to rescue the princess and escort her out.

  Having a skilled diviner leading the way, walking on mountain roads at night has a great advantage. The detection of divine techniques can detect the position of the giant's ambush in advance and sneak past it quietly. No matter how many giants are besieging the princess, they cannot guard all places densely, and such a large mountain wildness can always be approached quietly from the surroundings.

  But after a night of continuous danger and hardship, he had used his divine technique to detect the complex terrain situation, discovering all hidden enemies at a distance without missing any. This was not something that an ordinary divine technique master could do. In this team, probably only Jie Kai had this skill.

  The mayor of Deqi Town wanted to assign a wizard to accompany Amun and Medanzo, but Amun smiled and declined: "I am a hunter from the mountains, used to chasing wild beasts in the mountains and detecting various dangers. That's why I dare to take the night road into the mountains, and I have confidence that I can sneak past quietly. This kind of road is generally impassable for ordinary wizards, and one careless step could lead to falling off a cliff. Only strong warriors have this physical strength and agility, so it's enough for me to bring Medanzo along."

  Amon's words made sense, so the mayor of Dejiky didn't insist anymore and could only wish them good luck and remind them to be careful. Walking at night and deploying detection magic at any time, Amon, a fifth-level magician, was more skilled than Jie Kai, a ninth-level magician. This was his usual habit. Therefore, Amon also did not want to go with others, as it would be inconvenient to use magic, and he might accidentally expose his identity as a magician.

  Jie Kai didn't have much hope for these two, but out of kindness, he still warned Mei Danzuo: "This isn't a battlefield where you charge forward, wearing heavy armor and climbing mountains is actually cumbersome. Even if your armor is very light, the accidental metal collision sounds will reveal your position, and shields are even less suitable to carry. This spear gun of yours isn't a weapon for jungle warfare either; if you must bring it, I suggest applying mud first, because it will reflect light at night."

  Jie Kai is a teacher at the Balun God Technique Academy, and he not only teaches god techniques but also various combat skills and precautions. He provides systematic guidance and training to his students. His words made Amon feel deeply convinced, so he left behind his armor and shield and handed them over to the town mayor of Deqi. After setting off, he put away his crossbow, and Amon gave Medanzo an axe and a set of soft armor to wear under his clothes.

  As for Ah Mon himself, he didn't wear armor or hold any other weapons, and still just leaned on a tree branch-shaped staff.

  Two rescue teams left one after another, quietly going down the mountain and bypassing the dense forest without being discovered by anyone. The Giant Tribe also sent people to check the supplies, led by those leaders, with Yuxi standing aside supervising the statistics, accompanied by the mayor of Diqi Town and his secretary. As they unloaded the goods truck by truck, sorted them out one by one, the scene was chaotic and noisy.

  The town chief deliberately didn't send anyone to help, letting these highland giants do it themselves, enough to keep them busy till dawn. Many torches were lit on the plateau at night, illuminating this vast open space like daylight, and making the surrounding mountains and fields appear even more gloomy and dark.

  Without mentioning how they took stock of the supplies on the mountain, Armon led Medanzo down the mountain first, traversing through the mountains and forests to head towards the location specified on the map. Medanzo had been to the cave-dwelling savage tribe in the deep mountains many times before, and he was now also a Three Extremes Sect cultivator. He paid attention to his footing and walked as if it were daytime without any issues. Armon's disciples were different from ordinary cultivators - they didn't use their staves even at critical moments, and they naturally used magic to help them in everyday life, even just to shield themselves from the wind and rain.

  As for Ah Mon himself, it's even more unnecessary to mention that walking on mountain roads at night is something he's probably more skilled at than a great divine magician. To be prepared for any situation, he also used the Iron Branch Staff to monitor his surroundings at all times.

  They had to go around to the other side of the valley where Princess Xiao Ai was trapped, the road was farther, but they arrived much earlier than Jie Ke and others. At midnight, the two had already quietly climbed up the ridge on one side of the valley. From a high place, there were indeed people stationed in the center of the valley, and the bright light of the bonfire could be seen in the dark night.

  Amon felt a bit strange, because when he climbed the mountain ridge, he didn't find anyone guarding around. To be cautious, he asked Maidanzo to hide somewhere and himself took his staff along the mountain ridge to quietly investigate, and found the giant warrior guarding near the valley entrance.

  On the mountain ridge where Amun was, there were seven or eight giant warriors, hugging their bows and arrows, with clubs by their sides, fast asleep. Amun did not disturb them and quietly retreated back to his original position.