Chapter 137

Not long after Ai Er Hai Sen left.

The fervent Red King follower Luo De had been longing for finally arrived.

Perhaps out of wariness of Kantisi, they did come, but they didn't set foot in A Ru Cun at all; instead, they found a representative who, via the fellow mercenary Dixiya, 'invited' Luo De over.

La He Man.

Another very familiar name.

Although he isn't an exceptionally strong mercenary, his name still carries weight among the Red King followers, and his mercenary band also holds considerable sway in the desert.

This person is exactly the kind of fervent and radical Red King follower Luo De was looking for.

Moreover, this guy is fervent, but he hasn't lost his mind.

After Luo De went to keep the appointment and displayed his inherited holy rite.

He neither blindly accepted Luo De's identity nor immediately slapped a big label on him, preparing to use the Red King divine envoy's authority in his hand to carry out some call-to-action expansion scheme in the desert, nor did he shout insults at Luo De for being an Academy scholar.

In fact.

Upon hearing the news that the Red King divine envoy had appeared in A Ru Cun, La He Man immediately set out and had already arrived at A Ru Cun before Ai Er Hai Sen came.

Making use of these two days of free time.

He found out everything Luo De had done in A Ru Cun in clear detail.

Thus their conversation was barely still fairly smooth.

As La He Man put it, considering what Luo De has done for the desert, even if he had joined the Academy and become a lackey of the Dendro Archon, he would be magnanimous and temporarily not hold Luo De's betrayal of the Red King against him.

However, this obstinate and fervent radical Red King follower ultimately still refused Luo De's invitation, merely saying, 'I can overlook your actions of aligning with the Tree King, but that doesn't mean I will cooperate with someone who is a lackey of the Dendro Archon, even if you are nominally called the Red King divine envoy.'

La He Man is a very stubborn person.

So stubborn that even with Dixiya, whom he knows extremely well, acting as a go-between, he still calls Luo De a lackey when he speaks and a traitor when he stops, insisting he hasn't lifted a hand only because he is looking out for Luo De's genuine help to the desert people; otherwise, talking to Luo De would be his curved blade.

'These radicals' heads are truly completely bewitched.'

This is Luo De's evaluation of La He Man after the failed negotiation.

Actually, if you think about it carefully.

Such fervor isn't entirely due to them themselves.

The Red King civilization has vanished long ago; many classics were completely lost in the disaster of that year, swept into history's river, and besides, the Academy has been stirring up trouble between the rainforest people and the desert people ever since the Tree King fell.

Up to the present day.

Even Sai Nuo, a desert person originating from the Priest Lineage, regards the Red King and the Tree King as hostile, and is completely unaware of the ancient three‑god covenant.

Let alone those Red King followers who know nothing of the inside story.

In their eyes,

The Red King's death and the destruction of its civilization are entirely due to the advent of the Great Merciful Tree King, and furthermore she stabbed the Red King in the back when disaster struck the desert, which caused the once‑prosperous Red King civilization to decline to its present state.

With such a view,

As time accumulated, their hatred for the Great Merciful Tree King gradually developed to the point that anything even remotely associated with it triggers a mindless boycott.

For La He Man, who has taken to heart the claim that 'the Red King was killed by the Tree King',

Luo De does not intend to continue appealing to emotion and reason.

Nor does he plan to take him to seek the relic that records the true circumstances of the Red King's death, for after all, relics of the Red King are as numerous as stars in the desert, and who knows which one is the genuine article.

As for the Priest Lineage that knows the truth, given La He Man's contemptuous attitude toward them, going there would probably be useless; this bewitched fellow would surely think the Priest Lineage is also deceiving him with lies.

So there's nothing much to say.

Dealing with the bewitched calls for some unconventional methods.

So Luo De directly tied Lahman and all his subordinates up in A Ru Cun, bringing him to properly see what Ka Wei and Felu Shan, these proper rainforest people, were doing.

It took one day.

After forcing Lahman to tour the new A Ru Cun, Luo De sat down with him, facing each other, and said:

"As fellow followers of the Red King, what have you been doing these years?"

"Oppose the Academy."

"Kill rainforest people."

"Always look down on desert folk who have ties to the rainforest region."

"Aside from further intensifying the conflict between rainforest and desert, what benefit have your actions brought to the Red King's desert?"

Without waiting for Lahman's reply,

Luo De then continued: "I know you hate the Great Merciful Tree King, and by extension hate her followers, but have you ever considered that all the Red King left you is faith?"

"Is all that the Red King left behind just faith?"

This remark made Lahman, who was furious from being tied up, involuntarily furrow his brows: "What do you mean by that?"

"I just think you lot of fanatics are utterly outrageous."

Luo De said with a hint of mockery: "I've only been in A Ru Cun for about a year, but look at how the village lives now—does it retain any shadow of the Red King's civilization in its heyday?"

Lahman opened his mouth, unable to rebut.

Life in A Ru Cun is indeed several times better than before, plainly visible.

Then Luo De continued: "You've seen Ka Wei, you've seen Senior Felu Shan; the person investing in the village's construction is Sanggemahabai Elder, whom you also know, and now Elder Shazaman has also decided to invest a sum. Are these people desert folk? Or are you planning to kill such rainforest people as before?"

"Impossible!"

As soon as he said that, Lahman was stunned.

"Look."

"Here comes the problem."

"What good does it do to hate all rainforest people indiscriminately? Can it bring the desert a chance? Does slaughtering all rainforest people really turn the desert back into what it was during the Red King's civilization?"

Finally, Luo De added: "Believing in a dead god isn't bad in itself, but believing to the point of madness is excessive."

Compared to those Red King followers who are so radical they have no brains.

La He Man is still a sensible person.

This is also why Luo De is willing to speak calmly with him; if it were those brainless people, Luo De would not have this patience.

After a brief moment of thought.

La He Man narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "What exactly do you want to say to me? Don't beat around the bush to shake my faith; speak straight. How could the man favored by the Blazing Mane Lion be someone like you, such a nagging, meddlesome person!"

I don't have much to say.

I just want to ask if you're willing to cooperate with me, go together to Xu Mi Cheng to overthrow the Academy, rescue the imprisoned Dendro Archon, and bring fairness to the desert.

Luo De calmly laid out his plan.

Including the fact that blocking the Academy's guards would definitely cause casualties, he also mentioned that.

The Dendro Archon is imprisoned?

Upon hearing this news, La He Man's pupils constricted slightly, then he snorted coldly and said: "What reason do I have to believe you, lackey of the Dendro Archon!"

After that, he even gloated: "Even if what you say is true, why should I help the Dendro Archon? The followers of the traitor betray their own god—heh, this is such a satisfying thing!"

Say it again.

I am not a follower of the Dendro Archon.

Having been called a lackey too many times, Luo De is now somewhat impatient.

Talking to a fanatic is really exhausting.

If it weren't that La He Man could still be used, Luo De would have already started beating people.

I'll say it one last time.

Fighting desperately with the rainforest region only brings endless slaughter and poverty to the desert, with no benefit at all.

Rescuing the Dendro Archon and giving the desert a fair and just treatment is the fundamental solution to the problem.

Before leaving, Luo De turned to look at La He Man and grinned: "Actually, I don't really care what the desert will become in the future; my life in A Ru Cun is quite good now, and I also have the identity of a scholar, so whether I'm in the desert or the rainforest, or even in other countries, I can live very comfortably. So, if you're willing to help me, I'll try my best to make this place better; if you're not willing to help me, then there's nothing I can do—we'll just keep the status quo, after all, it's not me who's going hungry."

(End of chapter)