Lin Mu had been wondering how things went outside the Land of Exile. Or more accurately just outside the Rust Hail mountains.
He had learned from Huyun Chuan that there was actually several ports all around the shores of the Island on which the Land of Exile was located. These ports were utilized by the eight kingdoms to drop off their convicts.
Then there was actually a local authority that took care of these prisoners and controlled the array that was used to send them into the Land of Exile.
But this was all that he knew, he didn't know how the prisoners were actually sent inside or how the order was decided. If they wanted to get out of here, they needed to know all this, or the plan would become complex.
Thus who else better to ask than the convicts who had been sent recently.
Even Huyun Chuan didn't know how the things went on the ports since he was directly sent to the Land of Exile though the long distance teleportation array.
"So you didn't know the other two humans at all?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Well… we do know that they were thieves too. But we don't know what they had stolen." Kunzi answered.
"Hmmm… then is there some order to how they send you in? A way to group up convicts or is it random?" Lin Mu inquired.
"There's a register!" Little Gian was the one who spoke this time.
"Oh, a register?" Lin Mu was interested.
"Yes, I saw it when they were shuffling us around." Little Gian confirmed.
"That's true. They don't send us in right away. Depending on how long the backlog of the convicts is, we will usually be kept in the local prison for about a day or two. They will take our details and also confirm them with the details that are provided by the authorities of the eight kingdoms.
As for how they sort us, I think it is by crime. I recall seeing different marks on our shackles when we were brought in. Little Gian, I and the other two men that were sent in had the same type of a mark.
I think it meant the crime for it was thievery. I also saw several others with the same mark on their shackles." Kunzi said, after thinking for a few seconds.
"Hmm, so those that were sent earlier had different marks than you?" Lin Mu asked for clarity.
"Yes, their numbers were less though. But they were pushed to the front of the queue and sent right upon landing. Those should be the worst of the convicts." Kunzi answered.
"Strange… if they were sent before you, then we should have seen them appear." Lin Mu muttered. "Were there any more appearance of humans?" he asked the Haima scouts.
"No, Noble Lin Mu. We haven't seen any and neither have others." One of the scouts answered.
"Then is there other places where they can appear?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Yes! The land on the other side of the Broken Chasm. Our people almost never go there since its too far, but humans have said to have appeared there too." The scout replied.
"I see…" Lin Mu muttered.
Kunzi and Little Gian saw Lin Mu talking in the Haima Tribe's tongue and were lost.
"What language is that?" Kunzi asked.
"It's the Haima Tribe's own tongue." Lin Mu replied. "Most of them do not understand Dao Script."
"Huh, that's surprising. What, or rather... Who are they?" Kunzi asked the questions that had been bugging him for a while now.
"Well… at this point you can probably call them the longest living exiles of the Land of Exile." Lin Mu replied.
"Longest living?" Kunzi narrowed his eyes. "How long exactly?"
"Over a hundred thousand years now." Lin Mu answered, stunning Kunzi.
"Impossible!" he couldn't help but utter. "How can someone live that long in a land like this?"
"It does seem like that. But they managed to survive… and grow." Lin Mu replied with a hint of melancholy. "They are also perhaps the most knowledgeable about this place."
"That is astounding… if the kingdoms were to find out about this, it would cause a lot of issues." Kunzi quickly understood.
"Indeed." Lin Mu nodded his head.
~Sizzle~
At this time, the scouts had finished cooking the Stone Flesh Mushrooms and brought them to be eaten. They were still sizzling hot and looked a bit strange to Kunzi and Little Gian.
"Are they stones?" Little Gian asked.
"They may look like them, but they are edible. They are called Stone Flesh Mushrooms." Lin Mu replied before picking up one of them and cracking it open.
'Interesting…' Kunzi had never seen such a mushroom before and picked one up after Lin Mu ate.
It confirmed that the mushrooms were indeed edible and safe to eat.
~Munch~
But as soon as they took the first bite, they were speechless.
"MMMHMM!!!!!?" One bite was all it took to indulge them in the plentiful spirit Qi and vital energy.
The stone flesh mushrooms were indeed quite good, and they directly forgot that they were supposed to answer Lin Mu's questions.
Lin Mu let them be and allowed them to eat for the time being.
Though that wasn't long either, as Kunzi and Little Gian finished the basket full of Stone Flesh Mushrooms in less than ten minutes. While the quantity couldn't compare to what Lin Mu usually ate, it was still more than what a normal human would eat.
"These are marvelous! How can there be something like this here? That is absurd." Kunzi couldn't wrap his head around why there would be such good quality food here.
"Isn't this already comparable to high grade spirit fruits?" Little Gian said with surprised.
"Easily! No wait! Even more." Kunzi said, after thinking for a moment.
Lin Mu raised his brows and questioned, "how much do you think one of these would sell for?"
"Like Twenty-forty high grade spirit stones? Maybe even more if sold in auctions." Kunzi answered.
