Chapter 99

With such thoughts in mind, no matter what the people said next, Zhao Chen would nod in agreement. And for every nod from Zhao Chen, the crowd of over a hundred natives would burst into thunderous cheers, their gazes growing increasingly fervent and reverent.

This is too much!

Behind him, Cheng Chumu, seeing such a scene, was so surprised that his mouth dropped open, his face looking as if he had seen a ghost.

Actually, this was quite easy to explain. These people lived in the mountains all year round, almost completely isolated from the outside world. To put it nicely, they were simple-hearted; to put it bluntly, they were ignorant!

Due to their isolation, these people had much simpler minds than those in the outside world, with fewer complex thoughts. They spent their entire lives in the mountains, and apart from struggling for survival, they spent most of their time worshiping deities.

All kinds of deities, anyway, whenever they encountered something they couldn't explain, they would attribute it to the deities. So, in their hearts, they could go without food, but they could not go without worshiping the deities!

Zhao Chen didn't know what kind of deity these people had taken him for, but from the fervent expressions on their faces, he guessed that this 'god' he was supposed to be was no small deity.

The man standing in front of the crowd was still mumbling, and every time he said something, Zhao Chen would nod. After a long string of mumbling, the man suddenly turned around and raised his hands sharply towards the crowd.

It was clear that this man had a very high status among the people. The originally cheering crowd, upon seeing the man raise his hands, suddenly fell into an eerie silence, as if their mouths had been clamped shut.

"‰$，？‰∑￥<∝!" Seeing the crowd quiet down, the man paused slightly, then opened his mouth and spoke a long string of words that Zhao Chen couldn't understand. Whatever the man said, the crowd gradually became restless, with many people raising their hands and speaking to the man, their emotions clearly agitated.

The man's gaze swept over the people who had raised their hands, and he pointed to one of them, a burly man who looked like a bull. The man who was pointed at immediately cheered, a look of pride on his face as he walked out of the crowd.

Following this man, several more burly men were selected by the man. Those who were selected all seemed to feel greatly honored, and their faces showed a look of pride.

"Brother Chen, what are they doing?" In the middle of all this, Zhao Chen and Cheng Chumu both stood quietly, silently watching everything. But at this point, seeing the strange actions of these people, Cheng Chumu couldn't help but ask curiously in a low voice.

"Let it be, we just need to watch!" Zhao Chen, hearing this, lowered his voice and said to Cheng Chumu. Although he didn't explain, Zhao Chen had already guessed some of what was happening. Probably, these selected people were going to do something for them.

As soon as this thought arose, the man who was speaking suddenly turned around and said something to Zhao Chen and Cheng Chumu.

Then, the selected men quickly disappeared into the jungle. Not long after, they emerged carrying two newly made stretchers.

They are going to carry us back to their village, right?

Seeing the newly made stretchers, Zhao Chen immediately understood. Indeed, as soon as the man saw the selected men carrying the stretchers, he immediately bowed to Zhao Chen, showing great respect.

Since they have extended an invitation, we should accept it!

"Brother Chen, are we really going to their village?" Cheng Chumu, seeing this, his face fell, and he said in a dull voice.

"Do you think I want to?" Zhao Chen, feeling extremely distressed, immediately lowered his voice and said irritably in response.

At this point, he still didn't know what kind of deity these people had taken him for. If they were going to carry him back for a human sacrifice, that would be truly disastrous. However, looking at the current situation, if they refused, Zhao Chen immediately shook his head vigorously at the thought of the consequences.

The burly men carrying the stretchers came to Zhao Chen and Cheng Chumu, their faces showing respect. Seeing this, Zhao Chen sighed inwardly, forced a smile, and sat on the stretcher reluctantly.

Seeing this, Cheng Chumu, who was behind him, didn't dare to refuse and also sat on the stretcher, his face showing a look even more miserable than crying, which made Zhao Chen unable to bear looking at him.

After Zhao Chen and Cheng Chumu sat on the stretchers, the hot air balloon was still there. Zhao Chen, after much gesturing to the man who had been speaking, finally made him understand what he meant.

Then, the man said something to the crowd, and those who hadn't been selected immediately swept away their disappointed expressions, rushing to the big tree to untie the ropes.

Following Zhao Chen's instructions, a dozen people struggled to pull the ropes, dragging the hot air balloon behind the procession as they headed towards their village.

The path was rugged, especially in the jungle. The procession of over a hundred people looked quite grand. Zhao Chen and Cheng Chumu, sitting on the stretchers, led the way, with the hot air balloon being dragged behind by the crowd.

At first, the dozens of men selected to drag the hot air balloon had a look of pride on their faces, but once they started dragging this big thing from the sky, they realized that this task was not as easy as they had thought!

After just a short while, the dozen people were being dragged around by the hot air balloon, sometimes even being thrown off balance, the situation was quite embarrassing.

Zhao Chen occasionally looked back at the scene behind him. The hot air balloon was extremely precious to him, and if it were to be damaged, even he would be in trouble.

The level of the Time-Space Supermarket had returned to its initial state, and the items inside were just some cheap trinkets, just like when he had first come out of the Qinling Mountains.

Perhaps sensing Zhao Chen's concern, the man who had been following them closely turned around and said something to the crowd behind them. Then, another dozen burly men joined the ranks of those dragging the hot air balloon.

With the addition of these dozen new helpers, the hot air balloon became much more manageable, and it moved smoothly with the procession towards the village.

The path twisted and turned, and after an unknown amount of time, Zhao Chen finally saw the wooden stilt houses in the distance, similar to the small wooden houses that Zhao Chen had asked He San and others to build in the Qinling Mountains.

However, these stilt houses were taller than the ones Zhao Chen had asked He San to build, resembling small wooden buildings with two floors. The lower floor was open to the outside, and from the open area, one could see some livestock penned inside.

The upper floor, on the other hand, was more refined, made of logs of similar length, with doors and windows.

As the procession approached, more and more wooden houses came into view, and more and more people appeared along the way, mostly women, children, and the elderly from the village.

Originally, these people were standing at their doorways, curiously watching the procession, especially the hot air balloon being dragged by the dozen burly men. But once someone mumbled something to them, the entire village suddenly erupted in excitement.

Cheers rang out around Zhao Chen as he was carried into the village, and the crowd followed him, with Zhao Chen forcing a smile and waving to the cheering people.

The cheers were so loud that Zhao Chen could hardly hear anything else, a constant buzzing in his ears. Looking back at Cheng Chumu, he found that Cheng Chumu looked even worse than he did, barely able to wave.

Zhao Chen guessed that Cheng Chumu was completely overwhelmed by the scene!

When guests arrive, they should be given the best accommodation, especially since Zhao Chen was now considered a deity, making him even more honored!

At the very end of the village stood a particularly large wooden building. Although its style was no different from the other houses in the village, anyone who wasn't a fool could see that this was the core of the village, and the people living inside were the most respected in the village.

Perhaps it was the village chief or an elder, someone with absolute authority in the village!

The crowd following them stopped here, all watching as Zhao Chen and Cheng Chumu were carried towards the highest wooden building.

At the entrance of the wooden building stood an old man with white hair and beard, leaning on a black cane, his back slightly bent, looking as if he could pass away at any moment.

However, from the moment Zhao Chen saw this old man, he felt a sense of unease. He didn't know what kind of deity these people had taken him for, but whatever it was, the final decision would be made by this old man, who was on the verge of death.

Just like in the jungle, the hot air balloon was tied to a tree, and Zhao Chen and Cheng Chumu were carried straight to the old man.

As soon as the stretchers were set down, the man who had been speaking in the jungle came to the old man, his face showing respect, and mumbled something.

The old man, while the man was speaking, kept his cloudy eyes fixed on Zhao Chen, his face expressionless, his eyes as calm as a well, showing no emotion.

Zhao Chen hated encountering such people. At their age, they had experienced so much that even a fool would have become wise by now!