CHAPTER 108: CHAPTER 74: BIG HOTPOT MIX_1

Near the oasis where the Earl of North Border’s Mansion resides, there are Barbarian tribes. However, they are no longer pure Barbarian tribes, much like wolves on the grasslands that have been tamed into domestic dogs.

When the First Earl of North Border began his watch over the northern frontiers, he took the chieftains of four Barbarian tribes as his adopted sons, granting them the surname "Li." Generation after generation, their descendants were considered the Earl’s "adopted sons."

Thus, history recorded instances where a newly ennobled Earl of Shatuo North Border, barely in his twenties, would sit in the seat of honor while four white-haired chieftains prostrated themselves before him, calling him "Adoptive Father."

During times of war, the four surrendered tribes would be conscripted, their able-bodied men forming Barbarian cavalry to assist the North Border Army. From the perspective of other Barbarians, they were traitors.

But the First Earl of North Border’s harshest trait was his penchant for establishing rules—not just for his own descendants, but for outsiders as well.

For example, to prevent the four surrendered tribes from growing strong under the protection of the Earl of North Border’s Mansion and becoming a future threat, he stipulated that the population of the surrendered tribes be assessed every three years. Based on the varying needs of each period, their numbers would be culled; any surplus beyond the set limit was dealt with immediately.

Consequently, in each assessment year, many newborns among the four surrendered tribes were drowned by their own parents. This was known as... the population reduction policy.

This policy was indeed cruel, yet highly effective. For a century, the four surrendered tribes remained bound to the war chariot of the Earl of North Border’s Mansion, daring not to make the slightest transgression.

However, tonight, within the territory of the Nadu Department—one of the four surrendered tribes—a particular tent was unusually animated.

Ten priests, clad in black robes and adorned with human skull necklaces, formed a circle and began to chant and dance. Incomprehensible incantations issued from their mouths.

This was the most ancient song of this desolate desert land.

Once, countless eons ago, the ancestors of the Desert Barbarians would sing this dirge when bidding farewell to their departed kinsmen.

A scepter the color of ancient jade stood in the center, glowing brilliantly with the priests’ chanting.

Outside the tent, an old man in a red robe gazed at the starry sky.

Beside the old man stood a robust, middle-aged man. Though night had fallen, he remained bare-chested, revealing black patterns that seemed to writhe slowly under the starlight.

"Naduo Jiayang, have matters on your father’s side been concealed?" the old priest asked.

"Reporting to the High Priest, tonight I had the woman my father currently favors drug his wine. He will sleep until noon tomorrow. The warriors guarding this area are all my trusted men; there will be absolutely no problems."

"Commendable, truly commendable. It is rare to find such a loyal warrior as yourself within the Nadu Department."

"The Barbarian God is supreme! Naduo Jiayang has never for a single day forgotten that he is a descendant of the Barbarian God. Every day, I pray for the Royal Court’s return, to lead us in expelling the Yan people!"

"Mm, alas, your father is obstinately blind, and the other three tribes have also forgotten their identities."

"My father... he has grown old. He fears death. He has forsaken his faith. He has brought shame upon the Barbarian God! The Yan people are savage! Every three years, I must watch as our tribe’s newborns are drowned amidst their parents’ weeping. The Yan people treat us as they would dogs beneath their feet!"

"And yet, so many wish to be those dogs!" At this point, the old priest’s voice was filled with clear anger.

It’s not that the Royal Court hadn’t tried to recruit the four surrendered tribes. But to date, they’ve only managed to sway Naduo Jiayang, the eldest son of the Nadu Department.

This was also quite understandable. For the past century, the Earl of North Border’s Mansion had consistently held the dominant position.

When there was trouble, they attacked the Barbarian tribes.

When there was no trouble, they attacked the Barbarian tribes even more.

The previous Earl of North Border was even more excessive.

For his birthday, he’d attack the Barbarian tribes to celebrate.

For his mother’s birthday, he’d attack the Barbarian tribes to celebrate.

For the Yan Emperor’s birthday, he’d also attack the Barbarian tribes to celebrate.

The weather’s nice today? Let’s go attack the Barbarian tribes!

The current Earl of North Border, however, wasn’t as belligerent as his predecessor.

But the old priest knew this wasn’t because the current Earl of North Border had suddenly developed a kind heart. It was purely because his father, during his time, had led the North Border Army in crushing the Barbarian tribes so relentlessly that any further campaigns would have caused the Royal Court to collapse.

Perhaps, in the eyes of the current Earl of North Border, only such Barbarian tribes—seemingly organized yet fundamentally incapable of true unity—were the most compliant, for they would constantly be consumed by internal conflict.

Unless the Earl of North Border’s Mansion showed signs of decline, how could these four surrendered tribes dare to take the initiative to ’abandon the darkness and embrace the light’?

"And that Left Valley King, he’s also a scoundrel!" the old priest cursed, turning his ire again to Shatuo Queshi.

He was a gifted Barbarian youth the priest himself had discovered from the Shatuo Department. Although he ultimately didn’t pursue the path of a Barbarian Shaman, his talent in the martial arts was astounding.

A Third Rank Martial Cultivator on the battlefield could single-handedly hold off a thousand cavalry!

To use a later-era analogy, he was equivalent to a nation’s strategic nuclear weapon.

Yet, upon learning that the Shatuo Department had been wiped out, Shatuo Queshi first knelt before the Barbarian King’s Tent for three days and nights, imploring the Barbarian King to grant him three thousand Barbarian cavalrymen to seek vengeance against the Yan people!

The Barbarian King dared not see him.

The implication was clear: the Shatuo Department was destroyed, and that was that. If the Royal Court reacted too strongly, thoroughly provoking the Earl of North Border’s Mansion, and the North Border Army’s three hundred thousand iron cavalry were all deployed, even the Royal Court itself might not survive!