Peng Chi dropped to the floor. He lost the capacity to think after getting hit on the head. Amon used the opportunity to perform a meridian points technique that paralyzed Peng Chi. He could poke accurately enough since his target had stopped moving.
He then went back to Peng Xuwa, who remained unconscious on the floor, and performed the same technique. He then summoned two battle puppets holding multiple runic chains. He had them bind his two paralyzed victims.
Nao Mei and the villagers walked in. Nao Dou and Nao Pei watched outside. Entering with them were the five cultivators who marched with the caravan. The five had a blank look and unfocused eyes. Their minds had been controlled.
Amon also had the five bound using runic chains. The effect of the mind control couldn’t last forever. Once the mind practitioners’ focus wavered, they would lose control. One of the five had a cultivation level at the Emperor Stage while the rest were at the King Stage.
The first to regain awareness was Peng Chi. He groaned. His head still hurt. Amon did knock him on the head pretty hard. After getting over his pain, he looked around the room. He was surprised to see most of their attackers were below the Demigod Realm. The only one with a decent cultivation level was the one who attacked him and his sister.
He tried to break free from the chain that bound him, but there were multiple layers of chains, and his body was still weak from Amon’s meridian points technique.
He was afraid, but he tried not to show it. He asked, "Who the hell are you, lot? Don’t you know that a traveling caravan is under the protection of the Holy Temple? You will be in deep shit when the Holy Temple gets a wind of this!"
Amon chuckled. He showed Peng Chi the caravan emblem. He had taken it from Peng Chi when the man was unconscious. He said, "Since I found this on you, I figure you must be the caravan master."
Peng Chi refused to answer. Amon turned to Nao Mei, who answered, "he is. The woman next to her is his sibling."
"I figured as much, considering the resemblance between them. Keep digging everything from him. I want to know everything about his caravan trade. After you are done with him, do his sister and the others."
Nao Mei nodded.
Peng Chi was confused. What the hell were they talking about? He asked Amon, who seemed to be the one in charge. "What do you want from us?"
"For now, just stay still. She will do the rest," Amon said as he pointed at Nao Mei.
Peng Chi panicked when he saw Amon walking away. He called, "What do you mean when you are done with me? What do you people want? Tell me...!!!"
Amon ignored him. He went outside.
"Everything cool?" He asked.
"No one is in the vicinity. We are clear," Nao Pei answered.
Amon observed the two ox-like beasts. They had reins tying them to the caravan. They were twice the size of an average adult horse, with thick plates covering most of their bodies.
"These are Vagor Buffaloes," Nao Dou informed. "They are the favorite domesticated spirit beast for beast of burden. They are higher-superior beasts. They have great strength, are not easily hurt, are easy to tame, but their main selling point is their stamina. They need only one hour of sleep every three days. This means the caravan can continue its journey most of the time."
"Mm... But I notice they are rather slow," Amon remarked.
"The number of beasts of burden pulling the caravan indicates a caravan master’s wealth. The best ones have six Vagor Buffaloes pulling their caravans. Considering this caravan has only two, I’d say that we capture ourselves one poor caravan master."
"We are not doing this to accumulate wealth, so it doesn’t matter. This can be to our benefit instead. Poor caravan master means fewer connections. So, fewer people to suspect that something is wrong with this caravan. Still, the slow pace of this caravan will be a problem. I don’t have all the time in the world. We will look for an opportunity to buy more Vagor Buffaloes when we enter a settlement."
"Um, ignoring the fact we will be searched if we enter a settlement with a large group, purchasing a beast of burden will be rather expensive," Nao Dou said.
"I have enough aer stones," Amon stated.
Nao Dou never mentioned the price. He wondered if Amon underestimated the situation, or did Amon truly have such deep pockets?
"Well, if what you want is speed and you have the funds, you can exchange these Vagor Buffaloes for better beasts of burden," Nao Dou said. "Aside from having more beasts of burden, wealthier caravan masters prefer to use Nogrus Saurians in place of these Vagor Buffaloes. They are lower mythical beasts, so they have more strength and defense. Their stamina isn’t as good, though. They need only two hours of sleep, but they need it daily. However, the time they lose for sleeping they make up for with their speed. They can travel while carrying the caravan more than twice the speed of these Vagor buffaloes."
"Great. Then we will get those beasts when we enter a settlement," Amon stated.
"One issue, though. We can only buy Nogrus Saurians in a large city, where we most likely run into an inquisitor at the checkpoints."
"We will deal with that later. For now, I must get a citizen crest," Amon said. He unfurled the map again. "We will get it in a town instead of a city, where the risk is lower. The closest one is Galmier Town. It is further away from either Ceollach City or Laetus City, but it’s better to be safe than sorry."
Nao Dou nodded his agreement.
*
An hour later, Nao Mei exited the caravan and told Amon what she had learned from the seven they had captured. Apparently, Peng Chi was a struggling caravan master. The ones who remained accompanying him on this venture were his sister and old friends who were willing to accept minimum wages.
Nao Mei explained all the details about caravan trading, which he read from Peng Chi’s mind. Caravan masters’ main task was to transport goods for the Holy Temple. Although the caravan system was developed to handle deliveries the Holy Temple was unable to fulfill for society, the Holy Temple was still the undisputed ruler of the upper world, so they called all the shots.
The first stop after a caravan reached its destination and unloaded its goods was the Caravan Center. It was where caravan masters accepted delivery missions. If there were no tasks from the holy temple or some space was still available in the caravan, only then were the caravan masters allowed to take jobs from other castes, such as the warriors or traders.
The caste system in the upper world was split into four tiers. The highest were Holy Temple members. Next was the warrior caste. This caste comprised those possessing high cultivation levels but were not Holy Temple members. The third tier was traders, who possessed decent wealth. The last and lowest were the devotees. They were called that, but everyone knew them for what they truly were: Slaves.
"I saw a lot of goods inside the caravan," Amon remarked. "Their business seems good. Why do you say that they are struggling?"
"All those goods are the Holy Temple’s properties," Nao Mei replied. "As I said, a caravan master’s priority is to transport goods for the Holy Temple. Sadly, the holy temple paid a minimal fee. To make things worse, they demand tributes from all caravan masters. If a caravan master only did tasks for the Holy Temple, they wouldn’t be able to make ends meet.
"All successful caravan masters gained their wealth by performing tasks outside of the Holy Temple. From what I gleaned from our captives’ thoughts, successful caravan masters built a good rapport with the Holy Temple members overseeing their tasks. That way, they were given leniency to take only a small portion of jobs from the Holy Temple. This opened up their caravan space to take on more lucrative outside jobs.
"Peng Chi here is not a savvy businessman. He is honest and hardworking, but the Holy Temple members don’t see him favorably. Hence, he was forced to take all the Holy Temple’s goods."
"I feel sad for robbing them after hearing that," Nao Pei said.
"We are not robbing them. We will still deliver their goods to the destination," Amon said. "We are taking over their jobs. Where are they supposed to bring their current goods?"
"Ceollach City," Nao Mei answered. "The problem is with the timetable. Their traveling speed is slow because they bring only two beasts of burden. Their deadline is in three days. If they deliver late, there will be a payment cut and punishment."
"We can forget about getting your citizen crest at Galmier Town, I guess," Nao Dou remarked.