Chapter 221: Who Is Truly The Ancestor Of Deception?
“So, the Fire Tribe’s treasury is your personal property, unrelated to the Lord, and also unrelated to us.
The things you have now produced, because they used the secret recipe provided by the Lord, the materials provided by the Lord, and the manpower provided by the Lord, these are the Lord’s things.
The only thing the Fire Tribe has that the Lord covets is people, so that’s why he asked if you want to kill Huo Minggong and become the clan leader yourself.”
Huo Liao asked doubtfully: “No Fire Tribe treasury?”
Feng An said: “If the Lord wanted it, when he first met you, he would have served you with whips and sticks, how could he let you stay peacefully until now?”
Huo Liao scratched his hair somewhat embarrassedly and said: “Whips and sticks wouldn’t force it out either. Alright, let’s not talk about this. You want Fire Tribe manpower, right?”
Feng An nodded and said: “There are countless construction sites on our side now, of course we need manpower.”
“Do you also want the Fire Tribe people who were previously driven out by my father and Huo Minggong?”
Feng An sniffed and said: “How’s their craftsmanship?”
Huo Liao laughed: “Their craftsmanship is top-notch, otherwise they wouldn’t have been squeezed out of Danwang Mountain together by my father and Huo Minggong.”
1 Feng An said: “It seems your father isn’t a good person either.”
1 Huo Liao gave a bitter laugh and said: “Parents plan far ahead for their children. You can say whether it’s good or bad, but I cannot.”
1 Feng An stood up, pressed down on Huo Liao’s broad shoulders, and said: “Then hurry up and get the people back. We’re desperately short of manpower. Last question: do you want to ask the Lord to take action and kill Huo Minggong to avenge your parents?”
1 Huo Liao sighed deeply, as if expelling all the pent-up frustration from his chest, and only after a long while said: “When I was little, my father was very busy, my mother was often ill, I always lived in Huo Minggong’s house, sleeping on the same bed with four cousins and cousins, eating from the same pot. My aunt treated me no differently from the other four cousins.
1 When Huo Minggong killed my father, mother, and little sister, I hated him so much my heart bled, wishing I could tear him to pieces… These days I’ve been extremely busy here, my body exhausted, but my heart at peace.
1 I’ve asked myself, if the Lord brought back the heads of Huo Minggong and his family of six, would I really feel at ease?
1 With my little sister decapitated, her head bouncing on the ground, could I then take my cousins’ and cousins’ heads to kick around like balls?
1 If I did that, would I be happy?
1 Such scenes have appeared in my dreams a few times. The first time I was so happy, the second time not so much, and by the third time, I didn’t even dare look at their bloody heads.
1 So, Feng An, forget it.”
2 Huo Liao spoke very calmly, without a trace of reluctance.
2 Feng An said incredulously: “Forget it? That’s it?”
2 Huo Liao irritably scratched his hair and said: “Otherwise, later when we catch him, beat him up, just like you said, serve him with whips and sticks?”
2 Feng An hesitated: “This kind of thing usually ends in killing…”
2 Huo Liao jumped up violently, pointed at Feng An, and cursed angrily: “What can I do? Huo Minggong killed my parents and harmed my little sister. Why should I be made to grieve to death? Killing Huo Minggong’s whole family is everyone’s hope. Has anyone thought about what I want?
2 If Huo Minggong’s whole family dies, I’ll have to grieve to death again.
2 I’ve finally found hope here, found peace, and found the thing I love doing most. Why make me restless?
2 The matter with my parents and little sister, when I die too, I’ll naturally account for it with them…”
2 Seeing Huo Liao starting to go mad, Feng An took a book from his pocket and handed it to the frantic Huo Liao.
2 Seeing the book, Huo Liao immediately calmed down, looked at the cover, and said: “Advanced Mathematics? What’s this?”
3 Feng An bit a bean and said: “The Lord said, if you’re too painful, treat this book as Huo Minggong and gnaw on it to death. The Lord said, once you finish gnawing this book, you’ll be this world’s one and only master craftsman.”
3 “Why is such a treasure in your hands?”
3 “The Lord said, if I can gnaw down this book, I will stand on the clouds looking at the world below.”
3 “Did you gnaw it down?”
3 “No, even though this book is already an accessible teaching of advanced mathematics, I still can’t understand it. Honestly, I hope you can understand it, really, I really hope you can understand it and become the most brilliant master craftsman in this world.”
3 Huo Liao carefully wrapped the book in his clothes, didn’t even say goodbye to Feng An, and took the book to his bedroom.
3 Feng An decided that from now on, he absolutely would not mention avenging Huo Liao’s parents again, because in front of a great goal, hatred really isn’t much.
3 Yun Ce flipped through the 《Shu Tuo Memorandum》 Feng An sent and casually asked: “Huo Liao really doesn’t want revenge anymore?”
3 Feng An cupped his hands and said: “Reporting to the patriarch, this subordinate thinks it’s good for the Lord to have a subordinate whose heart is kind enough to forgive a deadly feud. It’s also good for him, free from the torment of hatred, and can focus on his craft henceforth. Excellent.”
3 Yun Ce continued flipping through the 《Shu Tuo Memorandum》 and said: “What if it happened to you?”
4 Feng An shook his head and said: “This subordinate doesn’t know. Thinking of myself being abandoned to death by family, this subordinate thinks Huo Liao’s choice is pretty good too.”
4 Yun Ce closed the 《Shu Tuo Memorandum》 and said to Feng An: “I’m different. I never actively forgive anyone, let alone an enemy. Only when the enemy breathes his last in front of me will I forget him, because once he’s dead, there’s no need to remember him.
4 Also, you gave 《Advanced Mathematics》 to Huo Liao, did you never think that someone who hasn’t even seen 《Basic Mathematics》, how could he learn 《Advanced Mathematics》?”
4 Feng An laughed: “What if he does learn it?”
4 Yun Ce recalled the experiences of mathematical geniuses in his mind and felt such a possibility existed. What if Huo Liao was a one-in-ten-thousand mathematical genius.
4 Seeing Yun Ce had nothing more to say to him, Feng An cupped his hands and withdrew.
4 As for the authenticity of the 《Shu Tuo Memorandum》, Yun Ce didn’t ask, and Feng An didn’t plan to say. Ten people spent six days repeatedly questioning, recording, finding loopholes, and tracing roots. Feng An didn’t believe that guy, who had sweated a pool of fat on the ground, would tell lies under such circumstances.
4 This book, to Yun Ce, was like 《Advanced Mathematics》 to Huo Liao—equally incomprehensible.
4 Mainly, the whole book was actually a song, a very long song, all praising the Black Wind Great King, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, Black Wind Great King descends from heaven, powerful and cool…
4 Very similar to the 《King Gesar Epic》 of Uszang. It could be said that without Black Wind Great King descending from heaven, everyone would have died out.
5 《Advanced Mathematics》 is too profound, people can’t understand it; 《Shu Tuo Memorandum》 is too vulgar, Yun Ce similarly can’t understand it. The former needs 《Basic Mathematics》 as a stepping stone, the latter needs Yun Ce to live on Heavenly Peak Mountain for ten or eight years to figure out the meanings of those slang terms.
5 And he can’t directly ask Shu Tuo. If asked, that bastard would talk nonsense—not that he wants to, but he only knows how to talk nonsense. His spoken words are far less truthful than the content of that song he sang.
5 In the early morning, Shehuo brought another moderate rain to Yun Clan Villa. This rainwater is very suitable for irrigating crops. After the rain stopped, the sky was still overcast, the air full of moisture. Yun Ce clenched his fist, squeezing out the moisture from the air in his fist—not much, just enough to moisten his palm.
5 Zhang Min returned last night, with a letter from Chang’an.
5 The letter was written by Liu Changsheng. The old fellow told Yun Ce in the letter that he was conducting some interesting experiments and would tell him the results once they bore fruit.
5 The old fellow also vaguely told Yun Ce in the letter that this Shehuo on his body is different from all Shehuo in Great Han territory; it seems to have strong autonomy and, given time, might become a second Ancestral Fire.
5 The old fellow also told Yun Ce in the letter that dragons have always been here, just unknown where. He had once sent people to search several places he thought might hide dragons, but found nothing.
5 He hoped Yun Ce would search if given the chance. Dragons brought humans here and then ignored them—that’s wrong. Moreover, now the human race is about to face great calamity; dragons can’t just stand by coldly.
5 Yun Ce thought Liu Changsheng was overthinking it. He’d observed that thing up close: the young ones, like Ao Bing, still had some vitality and liked interacting with humans, but such interaction was like a child poking ants or bees with a tree branch—hardly real interaction.
5 As for those adult dragons, they are powerful, glorious, but also indifferent and ruthless. Even if the human race is destroyed by the Gui Fang people, it’s just like an ant nest doused with boiling water—nothing major.
6 Understanding these truths, Yun Ce felt that although Liu Changsheng was over a hundred years old, his mindset remained childlike. Yun Ce now just hoped he wouldn’t do something like supporting Black Wind to deal with the Gui Fang. The ancestral land has enough history proving that such actions only make things worse.
6 After all, Yun Ce still didn’t know how many holes were on Black Wind’s soles.
6 At the end, there was no news in the letter about Shen Lexi and her group. It seemed Liu Changsheng also knew it wasn’t the time to publicize his contacts with the Gui Fang people.
6 This letter was clearly one-way, meaning Liu Changsheng didn’t expect a reply from Yun Ce. In fact, for a high priest to proactively write explaining things was already very rare.
6 As for the dragon matter, Yun Ce of course knew: in the ancestral land, they hid in the great desert; in Great Han, who knows where they hide. Yun Ce had no mood or reason to seek dragons’ whereabouts. That thing is too powerful, too ruthless—what if it accidentally steps on him to death?
6 So, when Cao Kun visited Yun Clan Villa again, Yun Ce told him in the hot spring that dragons were in Great Han.
6 Cao Kun was stunned by Yun Ce’s words and only after a long time tentatively said: “That’s impossible.”
6 Yun Ce sat indifferently in the hot spring and said: “High Priest Liu Changsheng said it.”
6 Cao Kun said in a dazed, soul-wandering voice: “That’s impossible…”
6 Yun Ce persisted: “High Priest Liu Changsheng said it. He even sent people to search before, just didn’t find them.”
7 Continue.
