Volume 4: How big is the heart, how vast is the earth Chapter 119 Choice
The sky is like the firmament, and the fields are boundless.
In the autumn grassland, thousands of miles of green fields gradually turn golden. When the strong wind blows, the endless green and yellow waves roll wildly. Although not as beautiful and pure as the ice and snow world on the snow-capped mountains, it also has its own unique rugged style.
A group of snow elf warriors climbed up a low hill where the vegetation had been replaced by golden yellow. The leading female elf warrior walked up the south slope and looked far to the south, and suddenly a look of surprise appeared on her face.
"Is that... a centaur?"
"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Private First Class Yarlin took a few steps forward, put his hands on the pergola to block the autumn light, which was no longer hot but still dazzling, and looked in the direction his companion pointed.
The elves all have excellent eyesight and can see quite clearly the tall Centaur warriors walking slowly in the rolling grass waves two thousand meters away.
"It really is a Centaur!" Yarlin was surprised.
"Look carefully, there is a flock of sheep further away, and the centaur is grazing." Selina, whose rank was promoted to second lieutenant, frowned and pointed to something further away.
“Really?”
“Wow, that’s weird!”
Several snow elf warriors shouted in surprise, but no one said they were tired.
"Wait... look there!" Gilbert, the soldier with the best eyesight, suddenly pointed in another direction and shouted.
Selina and the others looked in the direction he pointed, but because they were too far away and the grass waves rolling in the monsoon blocked their view, they looked for a long time before they could see clearly... It seemed to be a group of people, a group of snow werewolves, and a few centaurs, who were scattered in front of a woodland to rest.
"Werewolves? Centaurs?" Selina had a question mark on her forehead. "When did these two races come together?"
Everyone looked at each other, and no one could give an answer.
"They seem to be migrating, and there seem to be people in the woods," Gilbert said.
"Migrate at this time?" a soldier asked in surprise.
"Lieutenant, do you want to go over and take a look?" Yarlin asked.
Selina thought about it and shook her head: "No... still no, we can't interfere too much in the cursed land."
"Eh..." Gilbert, who had just been promoted to corporal, obviously disagreed. "Second Lieutenant, is this really reasonable? The Cursed Land is almost in chaos, but we still have to abide by the covenant. This is not allowed, that is not allowed?"
"Rules are rules. As the king's royal army, we have an even greater need to strictly abide by the covenant." Selina said solemnly, "No matter what, it was my king, the Beast King, the Forest Elf Queen, and the Dwarf King who jointly agreed to allow the remnants of the empire to enter the cursed land. So, before anyone touches the taboos of the cursed land, we should not interfere in the affairs of the grassland."
Gilbert wanted to say something, but Yarlin stopped him with a slight stretch of his hand and gave him a soothing look.
The snow elf warriors scattered to rest. Yarlin checked the supplies in his backpack, took the water bag, and walked over to Selena who was sitting on the rock.
"You feel dissatisfied, right, Yarlin." Without waiting for her subordinate to speak, Selina chuckled.
Yaerlin spread his hands and sat down next to Selina: "I just don't understand. Everyone knows that the tiger tribe is ready to make a move, so why don't they stop them before they cause more harm?"
Selina said, "More than forty years ago... almost fifty years ago. You should have been in the recruit camp at that time, Yaerlin."
"Yes, I just joined the Imperial Army 20 years ago."
Selina nodded: "I was in the King's Guard at that time. When the Queen's envoy came to visit, it happened to be when I was on duty, so I heard some things."
"What is it?" Yarlin's curiosity was immediately aroused.
"The Tiger King wanted to establish a kingdom in the Cursed Land at that time." Selina said lightly, "He contacted the Tauren and asked for cooperation, but the Tauren refused. The Tiger King was so angry that he prepared to attack the Tauren tribe."
"This?!" Yaerlin was shocked, "How can this be possible!"
"Of course not. The Tauren are the oldest indigenous people of the Cursed Land. When the remnants of the Empire entered the grassland, they also gained their recognition. My king and queen were both witnesses. If the Tiger Tribe attacked the Tauren and our elves turned a blind eye, wouldn't it be a huge joke? So when the Queen's envoy proposed to suppress the Tiger Tribe, my king did not object..." Selena sighed softly, "The content of the proposal is that my tribe and the forest elves intercept and annihilate the elite tiger tribe regiment, the dark elf mistress destroys the tiger tribe's mineral veins, and the dwarf king terminates all trade with the Cursed Land. The Beast King was not allowed to take action to avoid causing greater casualties. However, this is enough to make the Tiger Tribe unable to recover. The strength accumulated over the past 150 years was lost overnight, and there is no possibility of unifying the grassland anymore."
Selina turned to look at the shocked Yaerlin and smiled: "Do you think this is right, Yaerlin?"
"Uh..." Yarlin found it difficult to describe his feelings for a moment.
"Apart from those seemingly righteous arguments, it's hard to say whether they are right or wrong." Selina raised her head and looked at the sky, squinting her eyes. "The Tiger Tribe is the surviving tribe of the previous Beast King. There is already a new Beast King in the Far East. Who wants to see another demigod on the continent? Even if there is only such a possibility, it won't work. Since the Tiger Tribe has already lost, let's keep losing forever ."
"But our king doesn't think so." Selina changed the subject, her eyes full of admiration, and a faint smile appeared on the corners of her mouth unconsciously. "On the one hand, he hates the short-sightedness of the tiger tribe, but on the other hand, he really hopes that the remnants of the empire can stand up again in the cursed land. So this time, our king will not agree to intervene in advance. He wants to see whether the tiger tribe has the capacity of the remnants of the demigods."
Yaerlin looked strange, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "This... based on what we saw in the Tiger Tribe's royal court last year, I think..."
"Do you think the Tiger Tribe will disappoint my king again?"
Yarlin nodded quickly.
"I can't say I'm disappointed." Selina spread her hands. "My king is only looking forward to a possibility, not that he attaches much importance to the Tiger Tribe. The last time I was lucky enough to meet my king, he was also somewhat interested in the Snow Wolf Tribe. If the Snow Wolf Tribe shows a greater possibility than the Tiger Tribe, then my king will naturally shift his attention to the Snow Wolf Tribe."
Yaerlin frowned. He felt that this answer did not meet his expectations. After hesitating for a long time, he chose to ask: "But before you draw a conclusion, the tiger tribe has already destroyed the grassland. The centaurs in the east and the cats in the middle have already--"
Selina interrupted him with amusement: "What are you thinking, Yaerlin, do you think we snow elves must be responsible for all the tribes? You are too arrogant."
"Ah..." Yaerlin reacted, his face flushed red, and he shook his head quickly, "I don't have such arrogant thoughts, it's just..."
Selina stopped teasing him and smiled and shook her head: "All tribes in the Cursed Land are not vassal races of us Snow Elves. They have the right to live their lives as they wish. If we interfere wantonly because of our own strength, it will not be a help at all."
"If all races want to have their own world, they must stand up on their own feet."
"Our elves' surveillance of the grassland is just to put appropriate pressure on the tiger tribe so that they will not be too reckless."
After a short rest, this group of snow elf warriors set out again towards the tiger clan’s royal court.
The transport convoy that passed by them, someone looked up and sniffed when the wind changed direction.
"Strange... Why do I seem to smell the scent of a snow elf? It seems familiar?" A Yan raised his hand and touched his head, looking towards the north suspiciously.
"It's shift change, Ayan. I'll do the patrol and you go eat something." Hongye walked over from the direction of the woods where they were resting and waved from afar.
"Here I come!" As soon as A Yan heard that it was time to eat, he ran back excitedly.
There was a clear stream in the woods, so the troops dispersed to both sides of the stream to rest. Ah Yan ran to the place where food was being cooked. When Huabao Yugu saw him, he straightened up and waved, "This way, Ah Yan!"
"What's delicious?" A Yan ran over with her tongue sticking out.
"We have fish, crispy fish chunks fried in butter. You can eat the bones, too." Fishbone took a plate and filled it up from the big pot and handed it to Yan.
"Hey...are there no more vermicelli?" A Yan asked eagerly.
"The vermicelli is left for the cubs. From today on, the soldiers will have no vermicelli to eat." Yugu waved his hand to drive them away.
"...I was also a cub a few years ago..." A Yan pouted and muttered.
Fishbone amused him: "If you are willing to admit that you are also a cub now, then I will tell the Grassroots Chief to let you distribute the vermicelli."
The disabled cats who were nibbling at the fish pieces nearby couldn't help laughing. Ah Yan blushed and ran away in shame with the plate in her hand.
"If he runs away, he will have no share of the fish soup. Come, let's share his fish soup." Fish Bone also smiled, picked up a spoon and scooped fish soup from the soup pot next to him and shared it with the disabled cats sitting around.
Fishbone and several other cat warriors came out with the transport team originally ready to deal with the cat tribe in the central part, but they didn't expect the environment in the central part to be so dangerous, making them useless for a while... But now they are not idle, they can also take care of the severely disabled cats and gray dwarves in the team.
On this side of the stream, fish bones were being shared with the cats for soup. On the other side, Rosemary was frowning as she examined the old gray dwarf's knees.
"I've already used the medicine, why is it still festering and oozing pus? Rosemary, is there any other way?" The grassroots tribe leader was sitting nearby. She was a little overwhelmed by the delicate work of taking care of people, and she kept scratching her head.
Rosemary used a clean boiled white cotton cloth to wipe off the pus from the old gray dwarf's festering wound, sprinkled a layer of medicine powder on it and bandaged it, then lifted the old gray dwarf's head and fed him some alchemical potion. Finally, she wiped the sweat off her face and shook her head at the Grassroot Chief: "There was already abscess on his wound. I heard from Sayle that it has been intermittent and sometimes better and sometimes worse. In this situation now... I don't know what to do. Maybe it's because he is older and his wounds don't heal as well as others... I can only see if he can make it through it."
The Grassroots Chief's brows were almost knotted. "Tim's medicine is very effective, why doesn't it work on him? Hajime's arm has recovered after the wound was cut off."
The entire right arm of the Snow Wolf warrior Ah Yi was necrotic. After returning with the main force, the condition became more and more serious and even affected his health. As a last resort, he had to undergo an amputation "surgery"... The entire disabled right arm was cut off from the armpit. After the necrotic right arm was removed, Ah Yi's body gradually recovered and he can now walk on his own.
Rosemary could only smile bitterly... The physical constitution of the Snow Wolf Clan was the same as that of monsters, and the old gray dwarves were no match for them.
Rosemary couldn't say this directly, so she could only say it in a tactful way: "The medicine has been applied. We will all take good care of him on the road. As long as he can hold on until we get back to the tribe, Ayun will definitely be able to cure him."
In the next few days, the Snow Wolf warriors took turns leading the old gray dwarf on the journey. The old gray dwarf, who had been in a coma for a long time, could no longer sit on the wolf's back and had to be carefully carried by a human figure.
But even with such caution along the way, the old gray dwarf still didn't wake up after falling into a coma due to fever again... He was really too old, and he didn't receive good care when his legs were injured. The only reason he was able to live for two more years was because the gray dwarf had a physique that was stronger than that of the cat clan.
Touching the old gray dwarf's body which was gradually getting colder and could not be warmed up no matter how hard he held it, the Grassroots Chief had a stern face and tears fell from his eyes.
Rosemary, who had tried every possible way to rescue the old gray dwarf in the past few days but failed, was so upset that she couldn't speak. She buried her head in Fishbone's arms and refused to move.
"Sigh..." Hongye sighed, walked away silently, dug a hole with his claws, and buried the old gray dwarf in it.
The death of the old gray dwarf seemed to be an ominous sign. Over the next month, as the weather grew colder and the nights became chillier, two more gray dwarves and five cats fell on the road... Some of them, like the old gray dwarf, had inexplicable fevers, their healed old injuries worsened, and they fell into comas from time to time; some fell asleep at night and could not wake up, and their bodies were stiff by dawn.
This rate of death scared everyone in the team. The grassroots chief no longer dared to let these disabled cats and gray dwarves sleep in the tents by themselves. He asked the strong snow werewolves to sleep with them and keep them warm with their body temperature.
On the other side, the lightly equipped snow elf warriors had already entered the depths of the grassland, the area ruled by the tiger royal court.
Adhering to the principle of non-interference, the snow elves did not come into contact with any tribe along the way, but the further they went along the central coast of the Brei River, the more confused they became - in the past, when they passed these areas near the Brei River, they could often see snow wolves or cats grazing in the distance, but this year, they saw significantly fewer people than in previous years.
"second lieutenant……"
There was still a day's journey to the Tiger Tribe's royal court. After choosing a spot to camp for the night and having a casual dinner, Yarlin looked for Selena again.
"No need to say, I know something is wrong." Selina sat in the tent and looked at the map. She waved to Yarlin to sit down. "In this swamp, I remember there is a cat tribe in the east and north... Did they migrate as well?"
Not long after leaving the snow mountain, Selina saw the migrating Snow Wolf tribe from afar. After discovering that many Snow Wolf tribes were missing, Selina didn't take it too seriously. But even a few cat tribes were missing, which was a bit strange.
It's impossible for the cat tribe in the central part to follow the snow wolf tribe to migrate, right? This doesn't make sense!
Yarlin hesitated to speak.
"What do you want to say, Yarlin?" Selina looked up.
Arlin made up his mind and said frankly: "The supervision of the cursed land by us and the forest elves is limited. If the tiger tribe attacks where we can't see, and does not attack the tauren tribe but wipes out other tribes, then we still cannot interfere?"
"It won't get to that point." Selina frowned.
" Does that mean we have to wait until they exhaust my king's tolerance?" Yarlin said dissatisfiedly.
"Don't get excited, Arlin." Selina sighed, "My king will not interfere with other tribes based on his own preferences, or presumptuously decide the fate of other tribes. Don't you trust my king?"
"...I was impulsive." Yaerlin was stunned and felt a little annoyed that he spoke without thinking.
"Allowing the remnants of the empire to retreat to the grassland is a blessing to them. Otherwise, the Beast King would not let them go. But only my king has such a generosity. Your Majesty, the Queen, the Dwarf King, and the Dark Elf Matron are just willing to show the new Beast King a little power." Selina said proudly, "If the Tiger Tribe challenges the bottom line of my king's tolerance, they are courting death."
Yaerlin perked up: "Second Lieutenant, do you know something?"
Selina smiled slightly and did not give a direct answer: "Any tribe has the right to choose its own path. This is what my king has always insisted on. Which path to take is entirely up to the tiger tribe."
Over a hundred kilometers away, in the tiger clan’s royal court, an uninvited guest sat in the royal tent, confronting the tiger king with a stern look on his face.
The Tauren chieftain Harold was furious and glared fiercely at his master in the seat of honor.
"I don't understand what you are saying, Harold." The Tiger King spread his hands lazily, "We attacked an unrelated cat tribe? Harold, do you Tauren think that our tiger warriors have nothing to do?"
"Hmph!" Harold breathed heavily from his nose, and his eyes became even more ferocious.
"It's normal to have conflicts over pastures. When the cat tribe took away the snow wolf tribe's pastures, why didn't you minotaurs speak up for the snow wolf tribe?" The tiger king sneered, "Or are you minotaurs who claim to follow the principles of nature prejudiced against us tigers? What the cat tribe can do, we tigers can't do?"
Harold couldn't hold back his fierce expression for a moment, but he still stared at the Tiger King, refusing to admit defeat.
"You said that the cat tribe only forced the snow wolf tribe to leave, but our tiger tribe cruelly captured all the cat tribe and used them as slaves?" The tiger king laughed. "The snow wolf tribe, which lost its pasture, will lose population during migration, and a large number of people will die. But we captured the cat tribe as slaves and fed them well. You might as well admit that you are prejudiced against us tigers, Chief Harold. Anyway, we tigers are used to this kind of thing... It's ridiculous. I'm curious why you don't accuse the elves of enslaving vassal races. They have a much longer history of using vassal races than us tigers!"
Chief Harold retreated in disgrace and left angrily. Tiger King stared at his back and snorted coldly.
Tiger King knew very well that these seemingly stupid cow heads were actually very smart. When his grandfather was forced to lead his people to retreat to the grassland, these cow heads used their indigenous identity to sell a lot of favors to the strong men of the northern continent. His father did not see this clearly, and ended up suffering a great loss, and even died in the incident at that time.
The Tiger King would not suffer the same loss for the second time. Two years ago, he was stepped on the face by these bulls with their hooves, but he endured it. This time, of course, he can continue to endure it.
The Tiger King sat alone in the royal tent, his face as calm as if nothing had happened.
"This bunch of idiots have come to our door. Haven't we been too aggressive in the past two years..." Tapping the armrest with his fingers, the Tiger King muttered to himself, "Food, slaves, soldiers... are not enough. We need more..."
"--More."
The tiger king narrowed his eyes, and a gleam of light flashed in his golden vertical pupils.
The elite warrior group of the tiger tribe was almost wiped out, the mineral veins were destroyed, the trade was cut off, and his father died. This series of painful experiences made the Tiger King realize that although his tribe seemed to be protected by the strong men of the Northern Continent, in fact, in the eyes of others they were like dry bones in a tomb.
Those top strong men want the tiger tribe to linger on, and want the tiger tribe to survive and become a thorn in the heart of the Beast King. If the tiger tribe cannot see its own situation clearly and wants to be strong and prosperous, the strong men who look like protectors in the previous second will change their faces in the next second.
And such a positioning...how could the Tiger King be willing!
His ancestors were also top-level warriors on the continent!
His people were once a powerful race on the continent, just like the elves, which no one dared to underestimate!
The Tiger Tribe should never be a destitute race hiding in the remote and poor mountains of the Cursed Land, living only with cow and sheep dung all day long!
The strong ones would not allow the tiger tribe to become strong on the grassland, so the Tiger King showed a desire to return to the Far East. He made the right bet. When he expressed such an urgent desire, the Dark Elf Mistress no longer sent people to destroy their mines underground, and even sent caravans to continue trading with the tiger tribe. The forest elves no longer cared about the situation in the cursed land, and the Dwarf King was too lazy to cast his eyes over there - the strong ones did not care whether the tiger tribe could return to the Far East, but they were happy to see the tiger tribe make trouble for the Beast King.
The Tiger King tested the bottom line of the strong men little by little, from taking over the east, conquering the centaurs, to gradually attacking the cat tribe... He was surprised and disgusted to find that those strong men who kept saying that war was prohibited in the cursed land actually didn't care about the situation on the grassland at all, how many centaurs were killed by the tiger tribe, and who had ever said a word for the centaurs?
When the Beast Emperor tried to test the purpose of the Tiger Tribe's return to the Far East under the pretext of borrowing troops, the Tiger King nonchalantly drew sixty elite warriors from the obedient Snow Wolf tribe for the Beast Emperor to consume. Since then, hasn't the Beast Emperor also used the Tiger Tribe's "ambition" to return to the Far East and used the Tiger Tribe to bring to the surface the disloyal factions within the empire?
After all, those powerful men who look so glorious on the surface are just using the tiger tribe.
Tiger King stood up from his seat, holding on to the handrail, and strode down the stairs.
"King." The guard heard the noise and trotted in from outside the door.
"Let the big tent come to see me."
"yes."
The big tent in the military tent was manned by the most experienced elite warriors of the Tiger Tribe, and the big tent on duty soon came to the king's tent.
"Select all the warriors from the cat tribe from the slaves and ask them if they are willing to follow the king as vassal warriors. Those who are willing will be incorporated into the third-class guards, and those who are not willing will be sent to the east." The Tiger King ordered.
"Yes, King." The big tent was a little surprised by the Tiger King's order, but did not question it. He took the order respectfully and retreated.
The Tiger King retreated to the inner room of the royal tent with his hands behind his back and summoned his servants to serve him wine.
"We should have learned from the elves and raised a group of 'vassal warriors' a long time ago..." Sipping the dwarven rum, the tiger king narrowed his eyes in satisfaction, "I hope those little kittens can be smarter and know how to make choices... It's not easy to come back alive after going to the east."
If you want to defeat the strong, you must learn from the strong. Tiger King only figured out this truth in recent years.
