Chapter 928: Knowledge And Trust
“You two know each other?” The guards of Green Willow City looked at the Captain who escaped from the Hei Ling City.
“…” The former Captain of Hei Ling City frowned.
He couldn’t say no because this d.a.m.ned pathfinder thief had already greeted him. Looking at his familiar appearance, anyone would think that they were childhood friends, so who was going to believe him if he said that he didn’t know who he was! However, if he said that he did, wouldn’t that mean he would be in the same faction? That was something that the former Captain would never admit to as the consequences of admitting so would be dire!
There was no other way to answer his question, so the former Captain merely pretended that he didn’t hear his question.
However, the pathfinder thief who offered a large bag of tax money nodded his head unconsciously and admitted, “Yes, we are together!”
As soon as these words were said, the former Captain of the Hei Ling City Gate wanted to kill him.
It was a pity that his strength wasn’t enough to win against his opponent, so he only stayed silent and once again, pretended to not hear anything.
Anyway, it was very unwise to turn against the other party here. He chose to just wait till they got into the Green Willow City before figuring a way out of his predicament!
The former Captain of the Hei Ling City gates forced his way through the crowd of people that were entering the city. He advanced forward through the busy street quickly, intending to get rid of the terrifying slave-hunting team behind him. If it was possible, he wanted to rush to another city gate as soon as possible; from there he would go further and escape. He did not want to partake in any activity with them no matter what would become of the Green Willow City! Although the Country Lord of Zhi Feng was at the 5th Level of the Heaven Rank and there were many warriors of the Heaven Rank under his command, in a few days, nearly ten Cities were completely taken over and subdued. The terrifying slave-hunting team’s arrival that dared to drag the respective City Lord captives in prison carts across territories did not sit well with the former Captain of the Hei Ling City. With such a ma.s.sive strength in tow, he was not enthusiastic about siding with the Country Lord of Zhi Feng.
Unless there was an absolute a.s.surance that they would win, who would just barge in to die trying?
This slave-catching team dared to come— which meant that they knew they were going to succeed.
If he took another look at the City Lords and the Garrison Generals of the respective captive countries in their carts, tortured and marred from head to toe, his heart was going to jump out of his body.
Unless it was done by one of the Domain Emperors, how was it possible for them to win against that many City Lords in one go? Yang Ti City, Sha Yan City, Ge Bi City, City of Thorns, Hu Tao City, Buffalo City and the Hei Ling City— every single one of the City Lords and Garrison Generals were all suppressed in the prison carts. This- what sort of power was this to be able to do something like that?
Moreover, if it wasn’t a powerhouse that wielded the same level of abilities as that of a Domain Emperor, how could anyone use a big-footed earth dragon to catch up with him who flew a Griffin at its highest speed and even used a s.p.a.ce rift to escape?
Although his strength was not very strong, the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates had worked as a Captain for a long time. There, he had seen countless people, but never once did he ever see a pair of silver-armoured warriors as strong as the couple sitting on the golden throne. He couldn’t judge the magnitude of their strength solely by sight alone, but in his heart, he could feel the undeniable presence of a strong coercion. Could it be that this couple was the ‘Vengeance Domain Emperor’ among the Three Great Domain Emperors? Only Lord Vengeance Domain Emperor would have such mercy on pariahs and female slaves! But how could the Vengeance Domain Emperor appear here in the Zhi Feng Country? The Wind-Stopping Swamp was too far away from the area of control of the Vengeance Domain Emperor and this wasn’t an actual war-zone either!
The captain of Hei Ling City gates did not understand where this slave-catching team originated from.
He didn’t know their purpose of coming here either.
However, he had no time to think about these questions.
The only thing he wanted to do was to quickly escape to a place as far away from the Green Willow City as he could, never encountering the slave-catching team ever agiain!
“Wait,” The pathfinder thief riding on the Dromaeosaur chased after him again and said with a smile on his face, “Although your strength is pretty useless as it’s a lot worse than mine, your eyesight is good and your speed is not too bad. If you want to, shall I introduce you to join our escort team as a member? You seem very promising, so as a veteran member, I will warmly welcome you to join! Ah, my name is Feng Ji, what is your name?”
“Feng Ji? Are you not the City Lord of the Golden Sun City?” The city gate Captain of the Hei Ling City felt that it was no wonder he seemed a little familiar. It turned out that this guy was the legendary Golden Sun City Lord who almost starved to death!
“That was more than ten days ago; now I am a qualified, loyal bodyguard,” Feng Ji admitted generously.
“You gave up the City Lord position to be a guard?” The Captain of the Hei Ling City gate thought that this kid was mentally disabled. However, after thinking about it in his mind, being able to serve as a guard for the Domain Emperor was indeed more promising than being a City Lord. Besides, the Golden Sun City was nothing but a rotten place with no food, water or any form of sc.r.a.ps to live by, so becoming a guard was not exactly humiliating. The most important point was the fact that he guessed the people who did not agree to be their guards were all placed in the prison carts behind them. So thinking about it, the guard Feng Ji was actually treating him with the maximum politeness! The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates thought so as he shuddered, pleading in a low voice, “Sir, please raise your n.o.ble hand and let this lowly one go! This humble one only desires to live, so I definitely won’t speak about your team to anyone! Brawls between the upper ranks have nothing to do with an ant like me, so please spare me!”
“How boring, I thought you had good eyesight and you were a talented person, but I didn’t expect you to be a coward!” Feng Ji waved his hand boredly, “Then get out of my sight!”
“Thank you my lord, this ant will leave immediately and will never come back again!” The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates bowed lowly before turning around. That was close, thankfully his abilities were too weak and his rank was too low, which was why the opposing team didn’t continue insisting.
Just when the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates was about to leave at the fastest speed of his life, a voice echoed from behind.
It was one of the two silver-armoured warriors on the big-footed earth dragon, “Why have we stopped?”
Feng Ji sauntered forward and reported, “Master, you see, I found someone that I want to introduce to join the guard team. He has good eyesight, but he is very timid, so I didn’t know how to handle things for the time being,” After he finished speaking, he also turned around and pointed at the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates. With his words, the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates wanted to cry there and then— it’s over, he’s done for!
On the golden seat, the female warrior of the silver-armoured warrior couple refused, “No matter how smart you are, we don’t want cowards!”
Hearing what she said, the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates was granted amnesty and wanted to kneel and kowtow to her.
However, he did not dare to move.
In front of such a strong person, saying any wrong word or making any mistake might lead to his death.
He was waiting for the final decision of the mysterious man, who he suspected to be the Vengeance Domain Emperor. He hoped that he would also share the same opinions with the mysterious female warrior and be someone who hates cowards so he could escape.
“Naturally, we don’t want cowards,” The mysterious man nodded and said, “However, not all of a person’s courage can be seen on the surface; some are related to growth and need to be stimulated. Courage was usually proportional to strength, so the greater the ability, the more courage one would have. It would be impossible for everyone to be born as a daring guy. Especially for an intelligent mind, you’d have to give them some time to be courageous as they have always relied on their heads to overcome a situation. How about this? Give him a chance and let him handle a task— if he succeeds, we can take him as a temporary guard and nurture his abilities.”
“If the task cannot be accomplished, just kill him right away; I hate timid and incompetent guys!” The female warrior added.
The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates felt that it was getting dark.
He was screwed.
Completely screwed!
What sort of c.r.a.ppy chance is this? They’re obviously forcing me to do it!
It wasn’t a matter of wanting to commit as a guard-in-training; it was a matter of whether he could retain his life. If he couldn’t succeed, he was going to be bested into the claws of death. What kind of misfortune was this? Could it be that he collected too much from the taxes all these years, causing him to face this sick form of retribution?
The mysterious man threw a magic crystal at him and the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates caught it subconsciously. When he saw it, he s.h.i.+vered with fright.
My goodness, this is a Dragon-Devouring Beast Magic Crystal unique to the area around the Wind-stopping Swamp. It has the strength of a 3rd Level Heaven Rank; a precious treasure that has been purified by an unknown energy and in a flawless state. If I were to own one, I might even be able to become the City Lord of the Zhi Feng Country.
But what did he mean by throwing it into my arms?
“Your task is to hand it over to any of the Three Chief Executives under the command of the Country Lord of Zhi Feng and tell the other party that our t.i.tan Commerce Group wants to partic.i.p.ate in the birthday celebration of the 88th Concubine of the Lord,” The mysterious man dispatched a task to the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates.
“…” The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates did not dare to refuse, so he forced himself to accept it.
When the slave-catching team had pa.s.sed by, Feng Ji, the pathfinder thief, patted the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates affectionately on the shoulder like a boss covering for his younger brother, “This is very simple; I did this in the Hei Ling City, the Buffalo City, the City of Thorns and so on. I believe that with your abilities, this would not be a problem. Do it well and maybe you’d still have a chance to join our escort group.”
The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates actually wanted to strangle him to death. If this kid hadn’t stopped him, he would have fled long ago.
Of course, he could only think about it.
If he were to really strangle him, the former City Lord of the Golden Sun City was still a Quasi-Heaven Ranker. With his mere strength of the 7th Level in the Earth Ranks, going against him would basically guarantee a gruesome death.
Under the situation that he was not stronger than the enemy, the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates could only force a smile that looked less like a smile and more like a crying expression, “I’ll give it a go!”
Feng Ji was very happy when he saw this expression, but he shook his head, “It’s not ‘giving it a go’. You have to be 100 % committed to this, otherwise, I can guarantee that your end would be distasteful. Actually, I think you’re being treated quite nicely. Out of so many people that tried running away from us, you’re the only one who’s survived for now. If it weren’t for the fact that our Master thinks you’re a capable person, do you think you’d be able to escape the Green Willow City? With your level of abilities, let’s not mention the others, even I can kill you with a swoop of my hand! Just do it properly, aright? Maybe you might be able to join us and be a real guard. Then, Master would grant you a Heaven Ranked beast and you’ll be able to turn the tides… Naturally, this position is not something that anyone can just take when they feel like it; even I’m a temporary escort, so you’re going to definitie;y be further from bearing a permanent position! Ahahaha!”
The boy went ahead and the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates found himself sweating profusely, his legs shaking like a convulsion.
He was going to have to fight for it as the outcome would determine his life or death!
Should I tell the secret?
If the Zhi Feng Country knew about this, they would definitely take the necessary actions. Should they win, his contribution towards ensuring the safety of the country would be immense!
But if that mysterious young man was truly the Vengeance Domain Emperor, then he would be getting into deep trouble. Even if the other two Domain Emperors were to come and save him, he wouldn’t be able to survive, let alone relying solely on the power of the Country Lord!
I should probably just do it obediently; if I think about this any longer, my life is going to be at stake.
G.o.d knows if anyone was spying on him in the shadows.. The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates glanced around and shuddered secretly before he hurriedly stepped forward, heading straight for the Country Lord’s Palace of the Green Willow City.
***
Ten minutes later.
He was simply thrown out of the Palace.
The Dragon-Devouring Beast Magic Crystal that was at a 3rd Level of Heaven Rank was indeed accepted and the promise to partic.i.p.ate in the birthday banquet was also received, but he knew that everything was over by then. Because the Three Chief Executives didn’t show up and the ones who tended to him were just ordinary stewards. There was no invitation card either and the guy’s promise was completely invalid, which meant that the Magic Crystal that he presented must have been tucked into the b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s pockets.
Things like this didn’t only occur frequently in the Green Willow City, but in the Hei Ling city as well.
If it wasn’t sent by someone merely at the 7th Level of the Earth rank and was given by a Quasi-Heaven Ranker, perhaps these imbeciles wouldn’t have been as daring.
As the strength of the messenger was too weak and the quality of the item was too high, the opposing party must have taken the opportunity to sate his greed.
That Dragon-Devouring Beast Magic Crystal probably wouldn’t ever be received in the hands of any of the Three Chief Executives.
Which also meant that his mission had failed!
The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates, who had been punched more than a dozen times on his face, got up from the ground in despair. He had exhausted all means— he begged hard and even revealed his true ident.i.ty as the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates. He repeatedly stated that he was entrusted by the powerful t.i.tan Commerce Group to present gifts, hoping to actually get the invitation to the birthday party. However, the guy who received the offering still ignored him and said, “When the time comes, the Lord will make the arrangements; if you are to cause any more trouble, I will kill you” and then sent some guards to throw him out.
This was because his strength was too weak— weak to the point where even the opponents didn’t see a point in bullying him.
Even if they stole the treasure, there would be no adverse consequences.
If it weren’t for the entrustment of the Council of Commerce, he would have probably been killed and destroyed there and then!
“…” The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates suppressed his anger and shook his head. This d.a.m.ned Country Lord’s Palace was truly robbing others in broad daylight, but it’s useless to complain as he didn’t have a high enough strength! If he had enough power, he would definitely kill all those incompetent fools and set fire to this d.a.m.ned ‘Palace of h.e.l.l’ that was almost made up of the bones of the pagonised civillians!
“Things don’t seem to be going well?” At some point, Feng Ji was right behind the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates.
“I failed,” The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates closed his eyes and waited for death.
“Now do you understand the helplessness of not having strength? A person must not only have sight, but also strength and finally— courage. If you have all these, then you are qualified to be the guard for the Master!” Feng Ji patted the other party’s shoulder, “Master t.i.tan knew that you would fail, but he saw your hard work and thought you were actually kind of talented, so he gave you a second task.”
“A second task?” In the heart of the Captain of the Hei Ling City gates, suddenly, he felt a like he was going to be reborn as he started to cry.
In despair, he saw the dawn of hope again.
He was not going to fail a second time!
He vowed to put in all of his effort; even if he was going to die, he wasn’t going to fail his second task!
If for nothing else, the appreciation and trust of the superior being was what he was going to work for; even when he failed, the man still trusted him so much and entrusted him with a second mission. In his entire life, when has anyone ever placed that much trust on him? When had anyone offered him a second chance?
Only that mysterious and powerful young man— only he felt that the Captain was a man of talent!
The Captain of the Hei Ling City gates clenched his fists. For the first time, he felt that he had an unprecedented power of faith bursting in his body!