Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

Shasta didn't know what Morry was thinking.

She only knew that she had followed the merchant ship into Sige Town and had been there for three days, yet she still hadn't achieved anything.

Shasta was somewhat anxious. She said to Morry, "I don't care what the Lord here is doing, I can't continue wasting time here. If you still can't find it, then let me do it."

Morry subconsciously shook his head, "No, no, no, you can't expose yourself, it will implicate me."

Shata replied, "The Church hasn't reached this place yet, and no one would think you are related to us!"

"That still won't work," Morry argued. "Sige Town is so large, the probability of you being exposed is too high. We are the only merchant group that has entered Sige Town these past days. Do you think people are fools?"

The two began to have a heated argument.

Morry was extremely frustrated. This wasn't the first time Shasta had suggested something like this.

This stubborn fellow, with an extremely sensitive identity, hadn't considered his situation at all.

Although what Shasta said was right—the probability of being exposed was extremely low—it was still possible.

Once exposed, it would mean doom and might even implicate his family behind him.

Shasta said, "Do you think the Nobles and the Church have a good relationship? The descendants of Grand Duke Riptide would not leak information to the Church."

Morry knew that the relationship between Grand Duke Riptide and the Church wasn't good, but that was no reason to support Shasta's risky proposal.

The latter could just dust off and leave, while he had to bear the consequences. No matter how low the probability, it was unacceptable.

Morry said, "Listen to me, just listen to me. It's not that I've found nothing. I think she may not be in Sige Town."

Shasta frowned, waiting for Morry to continue.

"Purple Crystal can sense your power, but I have traversed Sige Town and haven't detected any abnormal response from Purple Crystal. It's very likely that she isn't here—most likely, she has been exposed. If you think she's still alive in this land, then she must have fled deep into the mountains."

This was not a difficult conclusion to make.

There were only two possibilities for her to enter the deep mountains.

One was that she voluntarily left human settlements to live among wild beasts.

The other was that she was exposed and had to leave this place.

The first scenario was less likely.

Even with great power, it would be difficult for one person to escape unscathed from a forest filled with dangers, let alone live there alone.

Thus, Morry thought it was the latter.

Shasta frowned, "If that's the case, this matter should have caused an uproar. It couldn't possibly be unknown."

She felt that the exposure of such significant powers would definitely cause a scene too big to go unnoticed.

Morry asked, "Is there a possibility that only a very few people know about this?"

Shasta had to admit that this situation was not unusual. Not all powers come with destructive force, or rather, destructive abilities are in the minority.

The only thing Shasta could be certain of was that she was still alive.

According to the information Morry had gathered, there were no reports of missing young girls in Sige Town recently.

If that was indeed the case, then it was very likely that the girl had fled into the mountains long ago.

This was a terrible scenario.

Morry said, "If Roman Riptide is a person with strong control desires, then he should be able to help us find the girl."

Shasta's pupils dilated in shock, "What have you done?"

Morry spoke truthfully, "I mentioned the mountain dwellers to him. In Sige Town, only Roman Riptide could find her, but we foreigners would have no knowledge of the specifics of the mountain."

Shasta's eyebrows shot up in anger, "You self-conceited fool, how do you know Roman Riptide wouldn't do something to her?"

"You were just saying that the Riptide family wouldn't help the Church."

Shasta's forehead veins popped out as she gritted her teeth, "That doesn't mean he has no hostility towards us!"

Morry was also frustrated, "What else, then? If you don't have enough manpower, are you going to go up into the mountains alone to find your companion? Can you even find her? If you die in the mountains, should my merchant group wait here for you forever?"

Shasta stood up abruptly.

Morry immediately took a step back, maintaining a safe distance, and tried to appear calm, "What are you going to do?"

"Hmph!" Shasta snorted coldly, walked past Morry, and left the cabin.

Morry was beside himself with irritation, quickly following behind Shasta, urgently questioning, "Don't tell me you are going to negotiate with him. Nobles would never accept such a thing. You have no standing, he would only feel insulted by you..."

Shasta, wrapped in a black robe, left the merchant ship without stopping.

Without looking back, she coldly said, "I don't trust nobles. I will find that child before then and take her away from here!"

"The Church is hunting you all over. If you expose yourself, the Lord here will know you are not a local, which would then be traced back to me. On the other hand, if you don't expose yourself, even if Roman Riptide finds your companion and confirms her identity, he will realize she's just a helpless girl and her chances of survival are quite high…" Morry chased after Shasta, trying to persuade this stubborn person.

With a sudden swing of her hand, Shasta released a thick cloud of smoke from her palm, forming a wall of fog.

Morry, feeling helpless, stopped in his tracks. He shouted, "I will only wait here for you for two days. Whether you return or not, I'm leaving!"

Are all these damned witches so irritable?

No wonder you've fallen to this state!

He angrily kicked a stone by the river and quickly put on a mask of pain.

...

Night fell quickly.

The residents of Sige Town went to sleep amidst unease.

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A spectral figure, shrouded in smoke, entered a farmhouse in Sige Town.

It was the most common type of thatched cottage in Sige Town.

The smoke approached the sleeping farmer, emitting a faint haze, and asked in an enticing voice,

"Where is the witch of Sige Town?"

The man slept deeper on his straw bed, murmuring in his dreams, "I don't know..."

Shasta was not discouraged, left there and walked a few dozen meters forward, entering a second household.

"Where is the witch of Sige Town?"

"What witch..."

The early spring night was moonlit like water.

On the dirty and foul-smelling road.

Shasta moved through this aggregated area of Sige Town, asking many people.

She did not notice that in those farmhouses she passed, farmers who were tossing and turning and not yet asleep suddenly heard the neighbor's door open. Curiously looking, they witnessed a terrifying scene.

A sinister smoke moved like a legendary creature from Hell occasionally entering a farmhouse as if devouring their spirits.

Those who discovered it widened their eyes, instinctively covering their mouths with their palms, not daring to breathe, fearing to alert the sinister smoke.

...

Shasta's search pattern was intermittent.

After querying a dozen households, she found nothing.

She was prepared to search a bit more before giving up.

She entered a certain thatched cottage.

"Where is the witch of Sige Town?"

"Gwivelle..."

The gaunt old farmer murmured in his sleep.

His answer was unrelated.

But Shasta was suddenly invigorated, knowing she had a lead. Lucky.

Morry was indeed useless!

"Where is Gwivelle?"

"Gwivelle, the Lord is coming to catch you... that damn merchant called the Lord to catch you..."

Shasta knew her ability could put mortals to sleep and have them reveal secrets in their dreams.

But dreams lack logic, so Shasta did not know what the man had dreamt of; therefore, she had to analyze to find answers.

So, had this witch called Gwivelle escaped into the deep mountains?

Shasta sighed inwardly.

"What is your relation to Gwivelle?"

"No no no! She's not my daughter; she's an evil witch. Lord of the Church, please show mercy, don't burn us alive..."

Shasta frowned and repeated,

"Where is Gwivelle?"

"Where is Gwivelle?"

She repeated the question many times, finally getting a clue from this elderly-looking farmer...

"I don't know..."

Shasta clenched her fists; after so much effort, she finally found Gwivelle's family.

And yet this fellow knew nothing?

She was deeply disappointed and was just about to leave when she noticed a woman sleeping beside the farmer.

She must be Gwivelle's mother, the wife of Gwivelle's father.

Furthermore, four children were also sleeping in the room, looking to be about 10, 7, 4 years old, and a toddler about two years old, lying asleep in the woman's arms.

After glancing at the woman and child, Shasta shook her head and left the room.

As she left, the feigned-sleeping woman suddenly opened her eyes in terror.

When she sat up to wake her husband, she found she couldn't rouse him.

"Don't shake him; he's in a deep sleep phase now."

From behind, a faint sentence came.

The woman stiffened, turned her head, and saw a pillar of smoke standing on the floor with a pair of bright red eyes quietly watching her.

The farmer's wife screamed almost fainting, her face contorted in horror,

"No! You devil! Don't hurt my children!"

The smoke suddenly closed in, asking in an enticing voice,

"Where is Gwivelle?"

...

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