novelnext Chapter 85 Full of Vitality, All Things Flourish
Chapter 85 Full of Vitality, All Things Flourish
Chapter 85 Full of Vitality, All Things Flourish
To ease the tension, Nan'an took the initiative to change the subject.
"What attempts did you make before Linem was born?"
Wahdien doesn't seem to be the head of a large, long-established family that has passed down the family business for generations.
He casually put his feet on the wooden table, leaned against the chair, and let the wooden "legs" creak and groan.
"We've tried almost everything you can think of, but it's no use."
That clean-cut face, with its long hair and shaved beard, carried a frivolous and carefree smile.
"Taking the initiative to attack means being hostile to the Mist of Weeping, and hostility breeds ferocity, which takes the form of a physical entity."
Suiyue couldn't bear to hear such a dejected, almost resigned, self-deprecating tone, and couldn't help but offer her opinion.
"Is it feasible for a resolute ascetic to empty their mind?"
"An ascetic's focused meditation can fool the Weeping Mist a hundred times, but one mistake will surely kill him," Vahedien countered. "To delve deep into the mist and find the core, one needs rationality. Emptying one's mind and drifting with the current is feasible, but how can he shift his thoughts and avoid being caught by the mist?"
Suiyue was unwilling to give up: "The entities generated by the mist must have a power limit, right? Suppose we find a team that specializes in mental training and maximizes the suppression of the amplification of imagination brought about by fear, then we can repel the generated entities."
Wahdien clapped softly.
"It's a good method, provided that the entities generated by the fog are only hostile to those who provide the nutrients."
"Perhaps you and Nan'an are lucky, and the Mist of Sorrow generates physical entities that are simply fighting separately. The reality is that once someone in the team suffers a mental breakdown, the physical entity it generates will remain in the mist, wandering aimlessly."
Nanan flipped through the scroll and confirmed that Wahdien's words were not an exaggeration.
The terrifying creations generated and left behind by the Mist of Lamentation will linger for some time before completely dissipating.
The more you try, the more unfortunate you become.
Entering in a team format means that any one incompetent teammate could be a disaster for everyone.
Wahdien pulled out a bottle of liquor from somewhere, unscrewed the cap, tilted his head back, and started chugging it down.
The magenta liquid rolled down his throat.
He drank too quickly, and the wine spilled from the corner of his mouth, slid down his chin, and dripped onto his robe.
In just a short while, he had smoked and drunk alcohol.
Suiyue's gaze inadvertently swept over his neck, and a faint dark red mark could be vaguely seen at the edge of his collar.
It's a hickey.
She reasonably suspected that the moment this guy landed in Kren, he went to reward his little brother.
The two high-ranking members of the Erlu family, Bewitching Raven and Gunn, remained tight-lipped about the matter and never commented, clearly out of consideration for the elites of the previous generations of the Riode family, and to give the current head of the family some face.
She simply couldn't imagine that the head of the household, who held the secrets to overturn Nora's existing order, was a drunken, self-destructive individual.
"Don't think about it, it'll give you a headache." Vahdine hiccuped. "Until they've been messing around with the Living Eclipse and found a new solution, Linem is the best tool—don't try to be a hero, you'll die quickly."
The weather in Suiyue was tense.
"Does someone like you even deserve to inherit Leo's glory?!"
"Look at the sacrifices of our ancestors depicted on the scroll, don't you feel ashamed?"
If you don't scold, you're not Suiyue.
It's only natural that a hot-blooded idiot who can go against the tide when there's a lot of stagnation would get angry and start cursing at those who are just giving up.
"I told you, the truth is always hard to hear," Vahdeen said with a self-deprecating laugh. "When I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a hero who would save the world—and for that, I prepared myself thoroughly, passing on all my accumulated experience and knowledge to my children after becoming the head of the family—haha~"
~~y
Nan An reached out and pressed down on Sui Yue's arm, stopping her from attacking further.
Suiyue stared at him, her chest still heaving, but she didn't say anything more—she always listened to the old man.
Wahedeen laughed so hard he almost fell over, tears welling in his eyes.
He wiped his eyes, licked the wine stains from his lips, and swayed as he got up, allowing the chair, which looked like it might break at any moment, to finally touch the ground and catch its breath.
"Nan'an, this cow looks a lot like me back then. How was it getting along with her?"
"It's alright, a bit clumsy, but I like it."
Wahdien grabbed the reel and sealed it away again.
"Since you don't know why you met Linem, I'll just give you one piece of advice."
"Please speak."
"Don't extend too much goodwill," Wahdien cautioned. "Don't let the value of love diminish; we can't afford to pay an inflated price."
"I thought you would sign a contract to further ensure everything was in order."
"No need. If the fragile balance between Linem and the Weeping Mist collapses because of you, it only proves—this is Nora's fate."
He paused, then grinned.
"It's a miracle that Nora, in its dilapidated state, has lasted this long—374 years. It wouldn't be surprising if one day we woke up to find everything gone, wouldn't you agree?"
Suiyue's arms showed prominent blue veins.
Others might hesitate to take action against Wahdien because of his identity and appearance.
She won't.
She wants to pin him to the ground and beat him up right now!
They left the mansion one after the other and went their separate ways.
After holding her breath for a long time, Suiyue finally managed to compose herself: "Why did you stop me from continuing to curse him?"
He lost two children.
Suiyue opened her mouth slightly, gritted her teeth, and swallowed back all the words that were about to come out, without regurgitating them.
On the way back to Lianshui Town, Nan'an received a communication from the Bewitching Crow.
Unsurprisingly, it's related to Wahdien.
His excellent mental state was no secret among the upper echelons of Solitz.
With only the Leod family's direct bloodline remaining, no one can temporarily take on the heavy responsibility of fighting against the Mist of Sorrow.
Moreover, even though Wahdien is in decline, the responsibilities he should bear are still no less.
The communications statue lights up again.
Confused, Nan'an triggered it again.
"Old man, you've got a lot going on."
Upon hearing Pirion's voice, Nan'an's eyelids twitched, and an ominous premonition loomed over him.
"What did you do?"
"It wasn't me, it was the great Baron Batu." Pirion's sarcastic tone could no longer conceal his anger, and his voice gradually rose. "He reorganized the security patrols and the Knights, restoring a portion of the security management system."
Suiyue murmured, "Isn't this a good thing?"
Even the worst order is better than no order at all.
"That's wonderful news!" Pirion exclaimed excitedly. "Our great Baron Batu, in order to establish his authority, has led his guards to expand the search area for several days to track down the living eclipse outside of Kren."
"He also rigorously investigated Karen's caravans, strictly ordering all caravans to register their goods to ensure that important supplies, such as food, winter clothing, and medicine, would not fall into the hands of the Karens through the black market or smugglers!"
Suiyue was still confused: "This seems like a good thing, doesn't it?!"
Nan'an narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Let me guess, you either turn a blind eye to smuggling channels in winter, or you specifically assign familiar merchants to regularly sell supplies to the small groups of the Living Corruptor."
"Huh?" Suiyue was stunned. "Right, right? This is aiding the enemy!"
"Supplies are limited, and channels are limited," Pirion scoffed. "The Eclipses that band together will fight each other to survive."
This aligns with Nan'an's guess.
The roaming erosions in the wild are not Elmar Hern, but just a group of incompletely awakened scraps.
For Living Eclipse to achieve a one-for-one exchange, the prerequisite is that it must be brought within the effective range of the divine and demonic power.
Most of the living, eroding divine and demonic power has a coverage area that is not as far as that of ranged magic attacks.
Therefore, as long as there is still hope, they will generally not consider fighting to the death with organized groups of mages.
The main challenge in combating erosion lies in the cost of maintaining order and security.
Pirion is good at calculating economics.
Therefore, every winter, he only needs to slightly control the outflow of resources to make this group of living eroders fight each other to the point of bloodshed.
On the surface, it seems like it's aiding the enemy, but in reality, it's like an airdrop crate in a battle royale game, destined to become a battleground for all sides.
The wise Baron Norn Batu was completely unaware of this.
The newly formed guard is designed for actual combat.
Real-world operations require tangible results.
Achievements can be used to curry favor with those behind the double crown and boost one's own profile.
A tough, ruthless approach can subdue even the local Karen observers.
Hunting live worms to improve public security is a way to win the hearts of the people.
In his view, this is a sure-fire way to make money, and it deserves to be written about in detail and pursued vigorously.
Thus, what was possibly the largest-scale erosion sweep and hunting operation since the rise of Kren City was transformed into notices that were posted all over the streets and alleys of Kren.
Now, even a drunkard soaking in barrels of liquor, reeking of alcohol, can confidently say this when he crawls out of the back alley of a tavern.
"The great Baron Norn Batu is about to do something earth-shattering!"
"He will, after this winter, pile up mounds of the eroded heads."
His bold words did indeed gain some recognition from the Karen people.
There is only one problem —
Will the living eclipses wait for him to come and slaughter them?
Pirion was absolutely furious.
This fool is using the management logic of the central city-state to manage Kren, who is close to the front line of the Black Mist.
The central city-state is located in the relatively safe core region of the continent. The number of active erosions there is small, scattered, and insignificant.
In the event of an emergency, Solize's administrative and coercive forces can respond quickly and deploy support.
But Kren can only rely on himself!
It is a border town, and once an incident occurs, it will be difficult to get outside help in a short period of time.
For the past 10 years, Pirion has been dedicated to preventing the wandering, unregulated activities from forming an efficient and centralized organization.
He did a good job thanks to the toxic nature of mutual animosity and infighting.
Wild erosion is composed of countless small groups after being infinitely divided.
Now, Baron Nornbatu, possessing extraordinary wisdom, has successfully reminded the Living Eclipses of something—
Since we're at our wits' end, why don't we unite?
Nan'an sighed.
"Suiyue, look what I said! Wahedeen is a normal person, right?"
This time, it was Suiyue's statue that made a sound.
Nan'an felt as if she had returned to a time before she traveled through time, her heart trembling at the sound of an incoming call.
"Uh—old man, Corella said she received two gnawed, mangled corpses today. I wonder if you'd be interested in taking a look."
Nan'an loves this land of Karen so much.
Full of life, everything is flourishing!