Chapter Ninety-Six: Denial

A Lone Path to Immortality

Elder Ding and the other elders had discussed the matter at length, and almost all of them were opposed.

The position and future of the Xia Nation in the material world could never be secured by one or two deities alone.

Nor did the people of Xia need to find a god to stand above them.

There is no god in communism unless everyone is a god.

What was more, if Mr. Huang truly became a deity, it would hardly be a good thing, either for him or for the Xia Nation.

The power of divinity was unquestionably formidable; more likely than not, it would utterly erase Huang Ze’s humanity and turn him into a higher-dimensional, and far more indifferent, being.

By then, the Xia Nation might gain nothing at all, and instead lose an important dragonfolk friend.

...

The settlement Xia had allotted to the werewolf tribe was actually rather good. It lay less than twenty-five miles from the border, nestled among mountains and water, with fertile land.

According to the plan, roads and railways would soon be extended here as well, making transportation extremely convenient, and it was not impossible that the place might one day grow into a major city.

The werewolf chieftain and the tribal elders were very satisfied with Xia’s arrangements. Right then and there they pounded their chests and made solemn promises that they would reform themselves completely, live quietly and steadily from now on, and never again go about stirring up trouble.

The entire werewolf tribe numbered nearly three hundred, enough to count as a medium-sized clan. In the past, they had also kept quite a few human and gnoll slaves, but after hearing that the people of Xia disliked such things, they had no choice but to painfully set them free before deciding to migrate here.

The werewolves soon came to regret it, because they discovered that those freed slaves had also come to seek a living in the safe zones under Xia’s control, and had repeatedly gone to the Xia authorities to file complaints, denouncing all manner of crimes committed by the werewolf tribe and demanding strict punishment.

When they heard this news, they were so furious their fur nearly bristled out of their skin. The reputation of werewolves was admittedly not great, but what right did those gnolls and human thieves have to complain? They even had the nerve to report on them? If they had known, they never should have shown such mercy and let them go. They should have killed them all and been done with it!

Fortunately, the people of Xia said that Xia’s laws did not reach back into the past, that there would be no retroactive punishment, no widening of the net, and certainly no racial discrimination.

After all, if they truly handled things that way, then among the newly arrived migrant races, very few would have clean hands. Once the seal was broken, a wave of accusations and informants would surely follow, causing the crackdown to expand and undermining unity and stability.

So Xia’s position was to let bygones be bygones, treat everyone equally, judge only by present and future conduct, and hope that everyone would look ahead.

The werewolf chieftain, Antu, was deeply grateful that the people of Xia were so clear-headed. After so many years of wandering and hardship, he and his people truly did need a place to settle down and multiply in peace.

“Big brother... have the people of Xia still not replied?” Several werewolves came panting up to Antu. One of them said, “The hellhound kept by Gril is back again. If it keeps tormenting us like this, the clan won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

“Yeah, Boss. We heard that the people of Xia are powerful, and that they protect the migrant races in the safe zones, which is why we accepted all those harsh conditions and moved here,” another werewolf said. “If they can’t even deal with one hellhound, then we’ve really been swindled!”

“Exactly, Big Brother. If those people from Xia won’t come, then we’ll have to go and fetch them ourselves. We can just run to their base. Surely they won’t stand by and watch us die there?”

“...”

“Absurd! What nonsense is that?” Antu slammed the table in anger. “It’s only a hellhound. What’s the big deal? Our tribe has been hunted by it for a full forty years, and haven’t we still survived just fine?”

“Gril’s curse was something we made ourselves; it is our own affair. It has nothing to do with the people of Xia. If they are willing to help us, that is a kindness. If they are not, there is nothing to complain about. We will shoulder it ourselves!”

“But if you really do as you say and go storming into the base of the people of Xia... can you bear the consequences if something happens?”

“...”

The werewolves looked at one another, at a loss for words.

If this had been in the past, their big brother would never have been able to say anything so responsible, so sensible. Only a month ago, after being fortunate enough to be invited by the people of Xia to attend several study sessions, had he become like this.

No... he did not call it study sessions. Antu had repeatedly insisted that it was advanced training, that it was a state visit to Xia extended to him by the people of Xia.

And through those sessions of “further study,” the advanced nature and power of Xia civilization had dealt a profound shock to Antu, a worldly and self-important werewolf.

He came to a deeply painful understanding of how backward and ignorant he and his people had been, and he swore he would defy fate itself and change the suffering destiny of his tribe.

A lone path to immortality

So after returning, he devoted himself to studying the advanced experience of the people of Xia. Whenever he had nothing to do, he liked to organize meetings for everyone, under the pretense of gathering wisdom from many minds. But in truth, it was basically just him talking by himself, and the words development, reform, instruction, and emphasis had become constants on his lips.

If he had not been able to obtain substantial subsidies from the people of Xia, and if he had not been able to let everyone crack sunflower seeds during meetings, they would have surely driven him from power long ago.

“But how are we supposed to deal with that hellhound?”

One werewolf asked anxiously, “The rebar and cement promised by Xia haven’t even been approved yet. Our village’s defenses are limited, and we simply can’t hold off that mad dog for long.”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

Antu looked entirely confident. “Last time, I specially bought several sacks of top-quality dog food from the people of Xia. Take them and feed the beast. Once it’s full, it will naturally calm down.”

“...”

Heaven help them, the other werewolves were clearly not very intelligent either, and they actually had no objections to the chief’s arrangement. They really did grab two sacks of dog food and rush out.

Not long after, they came scrambling back in disarray. “Big Brother, your method doesn’t work. That hellhound won’t eat it at all!”

“...No reason for that. It tasted pretty good to me.”

Antu muttered under his breath, then stood up. “Forget it. I’ll go myself and reason with it properly.”

...

Then, when the Black Dragon rushed over, he happened to see Antu arguing with the hellhound there.

“...Absolute loyalty is, in essence, a kind of genetic defect. It is especially common among your canine kind, Paros. You should have your own independent thoughts. You should search for the meaning and value of your existence. You cannot leave everything to be governed by others!”