Chapter 1186
If I can hear the Tao in the morning, I can die in the evening.
The nights in the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi were quite cold. It was a dry and lonely kind of cold, unlike the snowy winters of the Daffodil Duchy. The howling wind was barely audible, the silence so profound that one could almost hear the heartbeat of a lizard crawling across the sand. Moonlight cast itself upon the dunes, making the golden sand gleam like silver frost. Unlike the daytime, sandstorms were uncommon at night.
According to the Anxi people, this was because the wild Spirit of the Desert ended its nightly patrol. Those who disrespected the desert, wasted water, or showed insufficient reverence for Anxi traditions, if discovered by the Spirit, would be consumed in its fury. If such a person were within a caravan, they could endanger the entire group; if a blasphemer were found in a settlement outside the city, the whole village could be destroyed. Only those who offered sincere devotion to the Lord and respected traditions could receive the Spirit’s protection and survive every sandstorm.
Of course, based on Hassan’s studies at the Mage Tower, this phenomenon was likely related to the heat brought by the sun. The sun could continuously heat the surface of the sand to nearly eighty degrees Celsius, causing the nearby air to rise and create strong thermal convection. Another reason, surprisingly, was also related to the Lord. The air humidity in oasis areas could be as high as that in coastal regions, which in turn generated temperature differences and thus significant atmospheric pressure differences. As for why sandstorms were uncommon within oasis cities, it was because the areas near the cities were more moist. The sand grains absorbed water and stuck together, making them less prone to being blown away.
“Heh…” Hassan let out a mocking laugh by the campfire. How ironic. He himself had once been a fervent believer in those “traditions.” It was only after he studied more and touched upon the Truth that he realized how ignorant he had been, and how incorrigible his own people were. It was at such times that Hassan felt genuinely grateful to Mr. Grandet. Although, even now, Hassan fully understood that Grandet’s sending him to study at the Mage Tower wasn’t purely out of kindness. It was a desire to use him as a pawn to expand the Goblin Merchant Guild’s influence into the desert’s heart.
The Goblin Merchant Guild’s influence was intrinsically linked to water veins. Regions closer to the sea were more heavily controlled by the Goblin Merchant Guild. The food, resources, industrial goods, luxuries, and specialty products they brought were essential for a nation’s production and development. The goblins had already controlled the world’s sea routes. They had even eradicated pirates; or rather, they had controlled their own pirates. Their power was such that even national forces found it difficult to contend with them.
The depths of the sea held forbidden powers; even Transcendent beings who fell into the deep sea could not escape death, and randomly appearing sea monsters inflicted fatal damage on ships. Without sea charts, random navigation was prone to getting lost. Moreover, the more ships one brought, the more supplies were needed. Not to mention, after arriving at their destination, they had to communicate with strangers in unfamiliar foreign lands, avoid being robbed or deceived, navigate the obstructions of the local government, and establish trade contracts that could continue even after the first group left. They also had to maintain the shipping lanes, ensuring they weren’t disrupted or robbed.
This was incredibly difficult. The economic cost of simply opening up such a route was far greater than the price of cooperating with goblins, not to mention the costs in time and manpower. They also had to consider potential sabotage of trade if they fell out with the goblins. Seeking revenge against the goblins by directly attacking their homeland was also ineffective. They had long anticipated such a scenario, and thus, they had never established a nation. Like the Children of the Moon, they were scattered and dispersed among various countries.
However, unlike the Children of the Moon, the goblins had no desire for their own nation. Because, unlike the Children of the Moon, they lacked a unified culture and history. These goblins had grown by parasitizing other nations and races, learning their traditions and cultures. Each goblin faction was distinctly different from the others, only loosely united under the banner of their race. They had no faith, no obsessions. Their spoken languages even differed. Establishing a nation under such circumstances would lead to internal strife. Therefore, seeking retaliation against the goblins on equal footing was almost impossible. Consequently, these coastal nations, to some extent, had to accept the settlement of goblin groups, thereby forming a cheap and reliable long-distance overseas trade system.
But the goblins’ tactics were completely ineffective against the Lords. You say these resources are useful for national development? It doesn’t matter; if I don’t want them, I don’t. I’d rather not develop. You say they bring cheap food? What does that have to do with me? I won’t starve if there’s less food. You mention luxury goods? Overseas specialties? I can just buy them from the Church, can’t I? You threaten me with overseas sanctions? Do I look like someone who can reach the sea?
The Lords only needed to take care of themselves; they were completely uninterested in the “nations” they established. Under these circumstances, the goblins’ usual tactics were useless. The Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, however, produced vast amounts of gold, rare ritual materials, exotic slaves who were almost extinct elsewhere, and rare minerals that could be forged into Extraordinary equipment. This allowed the cities bordering Anxi to feast.
Yet, when it came to negotiating with them, these Lords were incredibly arrogant. One had to kneel to negotiate, speaking to them as if they were spoiling overgrown infants. And the Lords were extremely fickle; if they were in a bad mood, they would break contracts on a whim, even if those who provoked them weren’t from the same group. They were mostly Transcendent beings, or had Transcendent individuals among their subordinates, making breaking contracts not difficult for them.
Furthermore, the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi was essentially a fragmented nation, with contracts between individual city-states not being mutually recognized. The Lords’ relationships were often antagonistic. If they learned you had reached an agreement with a Lord in another region, they would tear up the concluded transaction, or even act spitefully to sabotage it, even if they gained nothing from it. Barbaric, truly barbaric! It was as if trolls had become refined…
In fact, goblins privately referred to the Lords as “chieftains.” This was a title used for the kings of trolls—hereditary rulers who were also leaders in judicial, commercial, religious, military, and political affairs. Their sacred authority derived from the gods. From this perspective, the city-states established by the Lords could indeed be called chieftaincies.
And precisely because of this… the ones who most couldn’t stand these Lords were the cunning, deceitful goblins merchants, who were adept at fraud, theft, and causing the downfall of nations. What proverb says the wicked need the wicked to subdue them?
Hassan knew that goblins were hardly any good. He had personally witnessed how Star Antinomy collapsed due to goblin conspiracies, and he was indeed extremely wary of those short, cunning, and ugly creatures. Yet, even so, it did not diminish his respect for Mr. Grandet. Ignorance… or death upon touching the Truth.
“If I can hear the Tao in the morning, I can die in the evening…” Hassan whispered a proverb from the East. If it were his past self, he would have undoubtedly chosen the former. For him then, as long as he could live, he would do anything. But for his current self… death was no longer a terrifying taboo. It was the inevitable end, the moment each flame burned out. Before then… he clenched his left hand slightly. The ruby inlaid on the back of his left hand suddenly radiated astonishing heat, burning his left arm. If his left hand weren’t a prosthetic resembling a staff, he would have died in agony. This was the price of forcefully using a Heavenly Envoy Fragment.
Although Hassan was considered reasonably intelligent, he did not meet the standards for using a Geometric Heavenly Envoy Fragment. Because the one truly using the Heavenly Envoy Fragment was a phantom that only he could see.
“–What do you say, Hassan?” A robust lizardman with deep red skin suddenly appeared beside him, enthusiastically hooking his arm. “When are we going to burn Holy Spring City to ashes? Time to show them what divine power is, buddy!”
Today, he was appearing in the guise of a “passionate lizardman…” Hassan thought to himself before replying coolly, “We’ll go eventually, but not now. First, let’s find clues about the Ouroboros Ring ritual… Burning everything down like this, when will it ever end? It would be better to let the Abyss Heavenly Envoy descend upon this sinful land and see what kind of karma His servants, these Lords, have accumulated… What do you think, Autolycus?”
