"Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop."
The sound of horseshoes rang continuously.
At the forefront of the group were Carter and his son Fez.
"Lord Father, how long do you think that kid can persist before he resells the territory and the city?" Fez asked with a cold smile.
Carter's eyes flashed with slyness, looking at the desolate mountains in the distance. "This kid is a bit capable, but he probably won't be able to stay there next spring."
"He he he..." Fez laughed coldly, turned his head, and glanced behind him. "Lord father, as long as these kinds of idiots keep coming, we'll be able to gather enough money to leave this place and buy a high nobleman status extremely quickly."
Carter's eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed. He said coldly, "Not everyone can be the city lord in this place. If they are hungry enough, those beasts can even swallow people."
"Ptui!¹ Those damn bastards! If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have to sell our territory and city." Fez's face had a savage expression like he was an evil wolf that devoured people.
"But..." Fez regained his calmness in the next second and smiled coldly. "But it's thanks to those beasts that we have so much extra income. Otherwise, does he really think that 30 gold coins can purchase everything?"
"Ha ha ha..." Carter burst into laughter. Carter clamped the horse's belly with his feet, raising the horse's speed and increasing the group's traveling speed.
Two hours later, the group appeared in a city.
Liu Feng couldn't help but smile as he looked at the wheat fields around him. He was an orphan on Earth and had also planted fields² before. Seeing this gave him a sense of nostalgia.³
"How is it? This territory is pretty nice, isn't it?" Without Liu Feng realizing, Carter had appeared beside him.
Liu Feng smiled. Compared to the situation on Earth, this place actually wasn't that good.
"Let's go! Let's go into the city first. After today, this territory will be yours," Carter said, smiling.
"En!"⁴ Liu Feng nodded and followed behind, observing the situation around him from time to time. He found that this territory was governed poorly and the residents were very poor.
Liu Feng reached a conclusion in his mind. "This Carter doesn't seem like a good person."
After traveling for a dozen more minutes, they arrived at the city. There was a rammed earth wall⁵ with a height of about 3 meters.
Above the city gate hung a wooden board with large words engraved on it: Xi Yang City!
Liu Feng estimated the size of the territory to be about the same as the size of a town on Earth.
The inside of Xi Yang city was so disorganized that Liu Feng thought he had entered a pigsty. But seeing how Carter and the others weren't acting unusually, Liu Feng realized that it was probably normal in this world.
In the middle was a street with a width of about five or six meters. On both sides of it are houses made of wood and stone. They were so crooked that it seemed like a stronger wind could blow them down.
Liu Feng could feel that people were looking at him from inside the houses. The people on the sides of the road with lifeless eyes⁶ made his brows furrow.
Carter saw Liu Feng's expression and smile lightly. "My friend, they're just a bunch of lowly commoners⁷. If you're unsatisfied, you can kick them out."
"It seems like life in this territory isn't that good." Liu Feng didn't give Carter an answer.
Carter smiled, rode his horse forward, came to a castle made of stone bricks, and said, "My friend, this is where you will live: a tall, safe, and comfortable castle."
Indeed, this castle was the most satisfying place Liu Feng had seen during the whole trip. Even the castle wall was higher than the city wall, standing at about 5 meters tall.
People can even stand on top of the wall, which means that the castle can actually be used as a war fortress.
Liu Feng glanced at Carter. Living in this type of castle indicated that the other party didn't have a sense of security. It seemed that this place wasn't very safe.
After entering the castle, which is also the city lord's mansion, they sat down in the living room. Carter made people get out two items.
"This is the baron nobility medal and the proof of the status of a noble."
Carter handed an exquisite bronze medal the size of a baby's palm to Liu Feng. The medal had one word engraved on it: Baron.
"This is a noble inheritance document. As long as you sign your name on it, you will be Baron Liu Feng from now on, a noble." Carter passed him an exquisitely made sheepskin.
Liu Feng couldn't help but frown when as he looked at the contents of the document. It represented a baron nobility's proof and history. The blank space at the bottom had 4 or 5 names signed, with the most being Carter's name.
Carter, who had been paying attention to Liu Feng's expression the whole time, said in distress, "This isn't my first time selling my territory, but the previous buyers all felt this place was too boring after they brought it and asked me to buy it back again. That's why there are so many signatures."
"Oh!" Liu Feng was surprised. He raised the corners of his mouth and revealed an intriguing smile.
The expression made Carter's heart tense. He suspected that Liu Feng might have found out about something, and he quickly said, "Alright, my friend, quickly sign your name, and this territory will be yours."
Liu Feng took out a fountain pen from his pocket, signed his name on the sheepskin, and left his thumbprint on it. Carter then also put his own thumbprint on top of the name.
"Ha ha ha... Baron Liu Feng, congratulations, from now on, you are a noble." Carter said, laughing.
² The raw sentence only said field, not the kind of field.
³ 亲切. Close or familiar.
⁴ 嗯. A sound made to express agreement.
⁵ 土墙. Literally, dirt wall. Pretty sure it refers to rammed earth wall in this context, it's made by using wood as framework for the wall and dirt, soil, sand, gravel, and other "earth" as the main material for the wall.
⁷ 贱民. Literally, lowly/cheap people.