Chapter 771

The boy said, “Follow me and keep up. There are venomous snakes in this forest.”
“Okay.” Nina didn’t dare to relax.
They walked for over an hour before the boy finally led her out of the forest. Just as he had said, there was a village not far from the forest’s edge.
Unlike the previous village she had seen, this one, although also made of mud houses, had chickens, ducks, and vegetable gardens around it. There were even people selling goods from their cars at the entrance. The boy led her over.
The boy spoke with the villagers in a language she didn’t understand. After a while, he turned to her and said, “We can stay here for now, but I don’t have any money. My hand is injured, so you’ll have to work with the villagers to gather medicinal herbs to earn our keep.” “I have money.” Nina hadn’t expected to be sold out by the boy, but she had come to the Yaren territory well-prepared. She had asked Scarlet to exchange some local currency for her to carry.
“That’s even better.” The boy said something to the man they were talking to. Then he turned back to Nina, “Pay him upfront.”
Nina took out a 100 local currency note from her pocket. The man accepted it with satisfaction.
The boy translated, “He says 100 can cover ten days of stay. But if you plan to find Pharaoh, take me with you.”
“Pharaoh? The teacher here, Mr. Micah, knows people connected to Pharaoh. If you’re looking for Pharaoh, talk to Mr. Micah.” The man had picked up on the word “Pharaoh.”
The boy seemed surprised, his expression changed, and he questioned the man in the local language, “You speak English? And are you working for Pharaoh?”
The boy’s fists clenched, and Nina could see the tension between them.
The man replied in the local language, “We don’t work for Pharaoh but he’s a good person who has always helped us unconditionally.”
“How is that possible?” The boy couldn’t believe it.
He had seen his entire village massacred by Pharaoh’s men, and everything valuable was looted. If Pharaoh was such a good person, how could he allow his men to do such things? He had even witnessed Pharaoh ordering the destruction of a village.
“Why not? We owe our good lives to Pharaoh’s vision. He taught us about medicinal herbs, allowing us to gather and sell them to foreigners. Without him, we would have starved to death long ago.”
The boy fell silent, but he remained skeptical.
Soon, the man led them to his house. It was a small mud house, but the inside was cozy. The yard was filled with medicinal herbs, with an old woman and a little girl sorting through them.
The man pointed to a room, “You can sleep in that room. I’m going out to collect more herbs. If you’re hungry, my mother can cook for you.”
The boy nodded in acknowledgment.
After the man left, Nina asked, “What did he say to you earlier?”
The boy’s reaction had been evident to Nina. She sensed that the man had said something shocking.
The boy then recounted everything the man had said to Nina.