Chapter 74: Fire Ding

Zhao Hai stood at the foot of a barren hill, turning his head to look at the lush mountains around him, and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.

At first, when he heard Green talk about it, he found it very strange. A mountain and an estate for just a hundred gold coins seemed too cheap. But when he arrived at the foot of the mountain, he understood why it was so cheap. Indeed, cheap things are often not good.

The mountain truly lived up to the saying, "a glance and you understand." Even if you used just one eye, you could tell what the mountain was like. There were no other specialties on the mountain. If there was anything special, it was only one thing: stones. You could see blue stones everywhere, and from a distance, you could see weeds growing out of the cracks in the stones. On the mountaintop was a not-so-big estate, with walls also made of blue stones. The whole mountain gave the impression of a bald head with a small hat, exposing half of the bald scalp and a few strands of remaining hair, which was quite awkward.

Green stood beside Zhao Hai and naturally saw his expression. His face also turned red. He knew the mountain was really not in good shape, but there was no way around it. The housing and land prices near Casa City were higher than in other places, and they didn't have much money. This mountain was the only one suitable for them.

Green knew Zhao Hai was dissatisfied and quickly said, "Young Master, although the mountain doesn't look good, the estate isn't small. There's a road from the foot of the mountain to the estate, making it convenient to walk. And there's a hot spring in the estate, which is very nice to soak in."

Zhao Hai understood that Green was worried he wouldn't like the mountain and the estate. He smiled slightly and said, "It's fine. This place is good. It's precisely because no one values it that it's safer. If there were any treasures on this mountain, I wouldn't dare to buy it, for fear of inviting trouble."

Green nodded. To be honest, when he bought this estate, he didn't think much about it. He just felt it was cheap and not far from Casa City. But it was best that Zhao Hai thought this way, so he didn't have to worry about Zhao Hai being dissatisfied.

Melin and Meg also stood beside Zhao Hai. To be honest, not only Zhao Hai, but even they felt very dissatisfied with the mountain.

Zhao Hai didn't mind. He turned and entered the room inside the alien's body, directing the alien to walk up the mountain. He really wanted to see what was in the estate.

As Green said, the only advantage of this stone mountain was the stone road from the foot of the mountain to the top, where the estate was. This road was not paved with stones but was carved out of natural rock, about five meters wide. The person who built this road was very smart. They chose the least rugged part of the mountain, so they didn't have to excavate too many stones. They just had to clear some particularly high stones.

However, Zhao Hai found the road a bit strange. Although he had lived on the plains in northern China and hadn't seen many mountains, he knew that roads for vehicles on mountains were generally not built straight to the top. They were usually built as winding mountain roads.

Winding mountain roads spiral up from the foot of the mountain. Although they are much longer than straight roads, they are gentler, making it easier for vehicles to travel.

But the road on this stone mountain went straight to the top, and the slope was inevitably very steep. According to Zhao Hai's calculations, if this were on Earth, it would be difficult to drive a horse-drawn carriage up this road. Even an empty carriage would be hard to pull up.

However, Zhao Hai didn't say anything because he noticed that there were wheel marks on the road, indicating that it was usable. Zhao Hai also understood that the conditions on the Ark Continent couldn't be judged by Earth's standards, so he didn't say anything and just directed the alien to walk up the mountain.

Soon they arrived at the entrance to the estate. There was no sign on the estate, but the three-meter-high blue stone walls looked very sturdy. The tall wooden gate, with much of its paint peeling off, looked old but still gave a sense of solidity. Moss grew on the stones of the wall, indicating that it had been a while since anyone had taken care of the place.

Zhao Hai and the others dismounted from the alien and walked to the wooden gate. The gate was over two meters high and nearly five meters wide, divided into two doors, each made of thick wooden planks and reinforced with iron bars. Although the paint had peeled off, the natural color of the wood was visible, giving it a sense of history.

Green walked up and pushed the wooden gate open with a loud creak. The gate slowly opened.

As soon as the gate opened, Zhao Hai and the others were pleasantly surprised. It wasn't because the scenery in the courtyard was beautiful, but because the courtyard was very large, comparable to the small square inside the inner castle of Castle City.

Such a large courtyard was enough to build a small castle, but it seemed a bit too large for this estate.

Beyond the courtyard was a row of houses, about four in total. These houses didn't seem to be for living in. Each room was made of wood and stone, with a two-meter-wide double door and a two-meter-long, one-meter-wide window. The roofs were flat, covered with what looked like stone slabs, suggesting that these rooms were used for receiving guests.

Although these rooms were somewhat dilapidated, with rainwater stains on the walls and peeling paint on the windows and doors, and many places were cracked, they were still usable.

Zhao Hai looked at these rooms and was quite satisfied. The estate's appearance was indeed not good, but what did that matter? Almost all the buildings were made of blue stone, which was very sturdy. Although they had been neglected for many years, they had not suffered much damage, which was quite impressive.

When they entered the rooms, they found them empty, with no furniture. However, the rooms were spacious, and with a bit of cleaning, they would be livable.

After passing through this row of houses, they found a large courtyard inside. In the middle of the courtyard was a large tree. Zhao Hai had intended to catch a small fish, but the fish was surprisingly agile and quickly escaped his grasp.

Zhao Hai didn't try to catch the fish again. Instead, he stood up and looked around the house, saying, "Good, it seems we can raise more of these small fish here. I'll release a few undead creatures to guard the small mountain and let the slaves out to breathe some fresh air. They've been in the space for so many days, they must be suffocating."

Green smiled and said, "Yes, let them out to fix this place up. By the way, I've seen the stones on this mountain. They are of good quality, hard and suitable for making various stone tools. Young Master, didn't you want to make a millstone and a grinding stone? Now is a good opportunity. This mountain has plenty of stones."

Zhao Hai nodded and laughed heartily, "Grandpa Green, it seems we've really found a treasure. There's a hot spring here, so we can raise more fire ding fish. We can also use the stones to make the things we need. Hahaha, we can save a lot of money."