Chapter 613: Bestowal and Unwillingness
When the kneeling young man heard the question that contained a profound implication in it, thousands of thoughts of mixed feelings rose in his heart.
The scenes of the most profound memories of life flashed in Yeegan’s mind. The intense expression of despair, rage, unwillingness, and self-blaming that only a king of a perished nation would have appeared on the face of his father, who ordered him to change into servant’s clothing a few years ago when the king castle was destroyed by the Atandin people. The hopeful look that forever etched in the eyes of his excellent teacher and worthy friend, Holby, who always followed him despite being captured and sold as slaves by the abominable foreign tribe’s chaos army. The greedy faces of the slave merchants who did not give a damn when his thin partners were stabbed by the barbarian warriors in the throats because of their cries of panic after the slave ships sent them to the desolate Hellfire islands. The Wizard Li God’s inexplicable smile when he risked his life to see the god to borrow an army to resurrect his nation after he put in great effort to become a Holy See knight when the Wizard Li’s expeditionary army raided the Green Leaf Mainland and gained a strong foothold on the mainland. The ecstatic cheers and shouts of his compatriots who had been persecuted by the foreign tribes when he ascended the Skybeast that was as big as a city to lead tens of thousands of army to return to his ancestral habitat that was thousands of miles away and raided his first oasis in the desolate corner of Songee Desert…
Yeegan fell into a moment of silence before answering dryly, “Great God, the reason I present myself in front of you is to grant you with the devout faith of millions of the sand people and ask your Holy See in the mortal world to take over all the oases I recovered.”
When Zhang Lisheng heard that the reason why Yeegan, who decided to disguise himself to meet with him, was to give up his authority, a subtle change suddenly could be seen on his expression.
After a moment of silence, he said, “Knight Yeegan, you had a vengeful battle against the Atandin people in Songee Desert by just relying on 50,000 paladins and managed to gain the support of millions of sand people in a short time. You have shaken the Atandin palace and tied the limbs of the Atandin people, causing them to be unable to join the mainland coalition forces. You have accomplished a merit great enough for me to bestow a land to you. However, the world of the theocratic world that I created can never retain the aristocratic class of the feudal lord, so I can’t let you restore your country. However, as a god known for his generosity, I’ll not be stingy to a believer who has a prominent accomplishment. I’ll grant you the status of a chief priest, and Songee Desert will be designated as your parish in the future.”
In the land shrouded by the Wizard Li faith, the religious authority and the political power were merged into one body. A chief priest who held a parish equivalent to a kingdom had power and influence similar to the ancient king. Although his status was not hereditary, Wizard Li priests were allowed to get married and possess private properties. It was not difficult for the high-ranking people to protect their children, and so, the bestowal that Yeegan received was not too harsh compared to his merits.
However, to an ambitious king who resurrected his kingdom and shone surprisingly bright through the short period of hardening in the battle of life and death, Yeegan felt a strong unjust in his heart. Nevertheless, the current situation was no longer the same as a few months before. Even a fool would know that it was only a matter of time for the Wizard Li faith to shroud the entire mainland. A hindrance would inevitably be crushed, so he had no choice but to yield.
“Thank you for your kindness and generosity, Great God,” Going against his own wishes and listening to his aides’ suggestion, this sand king who sold himself at a high price in advance could only show his gratitude on a delighted pretense.
Zhang Lisheng did not give too much care despite seeing through the unwillingness in the eyes of Yeegan, who had a delighted expression. A true outstanding monarch and wise man would not hold a superstitious belief in other existences beside himself, so it was just natural for the young man to not force it.
Secretly smiling to himself, he ordered the choresman beside him, “Send for Sarunono, Dupanki, and Sulusasa… The nine Legion Commanders will accompany Chief Priest Yeegan to return to Songee Desert on airship and attack the enemy from behind. The rest of the regiments will fight in the front line of the battlefield. It’s important to prevent the Atandin people from defending its front and back, so they can be wiped out in one fell swoop.”
“Yes, Great God!” The native choresman kowtowed and retreated. Then, Yeegan also left the tent respectfully.
Looking at his disappearing back, Zhang Lisheng muttered to himself, “I hope that you’ll not transform your unwillingness into action…”
Standing up, he waved his hand and consolidated thick fog to hide his figure. When he reappeared once again, he was already on an airship’s pod that looked indistinguishable from a typical public transport airship.
A few minutes later, the airship slowly lifted off, buried itself into the sea of clouds, and quickly disappeared…
The heat in September was gradually dissipating. In the flat plains that had four distinct seasons, the Lange City, located in the Hedontee Province that was initially part of the Fran Kingdom was already bathed in pleasant and comfortable autumn.
When the Wizard Li army conquered Fran, other than some medium-scale battles in the frontier region, the kingdom caught in the civil war already won with unstained swords. Most of the cities were unaffected by the conflicts, so other than a lack of surrounding walls and an additional majesty gloomy temple, there was not much change in this vast industrial city built in the mining area compared to the era of the king.
In the early morning, the airship station in the suburbs of Lange City was already crowded with merchants engaged in seasonal goods business and travelers who planned to travel far.
After the Wizard Li theocracy regime replaced the secular system in ruling the mainland, besides rebuilding temples, the most essential affairs carried out by the government was to improve the traffic. Spacious cement avenues and the railways were built connecting one another. Airships could be seen in the sky all the time, and right now, the carriage that used to be the original primary vehicle in long-distance trek had long been completely eliminated, except to be used as transportation within the city only.
At first, the mainlanders did not understand why the god who conquered them was so keen on building roads and various stations, but soon, they discovered that the time between crossing the eastern and western regions of the Green Leaf Mainland was shortened from more than ten months to only more than ten days. The land of the entire mainland seemed to have been shrunken, and naturally, it gave off a feeling of integration.
The foreign country that seemed to be extremely far away suddenly seemed to be within reach. Other than the powerful officials who used to live a luxurious life with great power in their hands, many of the honorable people who used to be the backbone of the old times slowly felt that the opportunities around them had not only not been reduced, but increased instead after widening their perspective. It had both gains and losses compared to before, so it was not entirely bad luck at all.
Slowly, some of the wise people realized that the way of thinking of Wizard Li God was completely different from the powerful gods ruling the mortal world using theocracy in ancient history. He did not intend to fool the mortal nor to impede the wisdom of the people to cultivate billions of ignorant believers who only knew how to worship and nothing else.
Instead, he actively spread knowledge, opened up the wisdom of the people, and let the world feel his kindness. Contrary to the harsh torture and punishment methods, he lashed on the heretics, making his believers more pious in gratitude and fear.
Such practice carried out by the Wizard Li God made the very few wise mainlanders who had a harmful intent to become more and more desperate. This was because a cruel suppression of the general public could discipline the heretics but would eventually create a disaster in the long run, but a more prosperous and happier life compared to the old days would cause most people to forget their hatred. In that case, the heretic’s soil would decrease and eventually disappear, and this was precisely the plan and conspiracy that allowed Zhang Lisheng to be confident in uniting the entire Gaia World.
“It seems that the order of the Green Leaf Mainland’s hinterland has become more and more stable. In this case, I may be able to recruit troops from the mainlanders and make an expedition to other mainlands next spring. However, before that, perhaps I should go back to Earth,” Looking down at the noisy crowd from the window of the slowly descending airship, the young man whispered smugly.
While he was speaking, the pod landed onto the ground. A young woman dressed in a blue uniform as an airship attendant walked gently to Zhang Lisheng from behind and said softly, “Lord, we’ve arrived at Lange City.”
“Thank you,” The young man thanked her with a nod like an ordinary person before heading to the cabin’s door. He walked up to the entrance and stopped, before giving his order, “Don’t forget to bring some guests when you leave. You must disguise perfectly to the last bit.”
Then, without waiting for anybody to answer him, he briskly walked on the ladder to the ground.
Under the rising sun, a cool breeze blew the silk shawl that wrapped the young man’s black hair, causing the two silk ribbons behind him to flutter in the wind, making him appearing to be slightly unconventional and unrestrained.
Several carriage coachmen who had been waiting for the guests laboriously since early morning saw only one young man wearing strange clothes that were made from beautiful materials walking down the airship. Their eyes lit up as they ran over in unison and rivaled to shout at him, “Sir, do you need to rent a carriage? My carriage’s seat has been especially changed; it’s spacious and comfortable…”
“Customer, I can tell that you’re an artist! Are you going to paint in the old mining area of Lange City? I’m very familiar with that place…”
“Sir, hiring my carriage will be your wisest choice. I used to drive for the royal family Sir Connor.”
Zhang Lisheng ignored the noise of the crowd and looked at the carriages parked at the specially designated carriage area. Pointing at a carriage that appeared to be old on the exterior but was exceptionally neat on the interior, that had its mounts’ fur brushed to the cleanest, he asked, “Whose carriage is that on the third to the right?”
“Mine, sir. That’s my carriage,” A boy with a seemingly innocent face glanced at the people engaged in the same business beside him and announced loudly and smugly.
“Do you know how to go to the Golden Tin Road?”
“Of course, Sir! All 35 roads of the Lange City are deeply carved in my mind,” Without any hesitation, the young man replied while pointing to his head.
“Very good. I’ll hire your carriage then,” Zhang Lisheng nodded in satisfaction before taking out a gold coin to flick it to the young coachman. Then, he strode towards the carriage that he had chosen.
When the guest left, those carriages who had not managed to get a business watched the shining gold coin grabbed by the young man with jealousy and sighed as they scattered away, continuing to wait for the next airship to land. The young coachman, on the other hand, smugly followed next to the Wizard Li God and walked back to his carriage.
“Sir, which part of the Golden Tin Road are you going?” After beating Zhang Lisheng to it and sat on the driver’s seat, the young man asked diligently.
“The No. 29 Golden Tin Road No. 29,” Zhang Lisheng told him the address and boarded the carriage as he asked casually. “Do you know that place?”
