Chapter 32: Pale White Stone Gate — Giant Scorpion Bandits

Before the pale-white palace gate, a faint, almost imperceptible dragon might drifted out from within.

Fang Shi stood before the palace gate, tilting his head to listen for any movement inside, but heard nothing at all.

Ever since he had witnessed the kobolds' ritual, Fang Shi had noticed the altar built before the palace gate, along with the offerings upon it.

When faced with the kobolds' worship, dragons always gave a response.

For a true dragon, the flattery, fawning, and service of such lowly servants was quite pleasant.

Moreover, dragons had a great need for food; with servants around, they could cut down on their own hunting time, and there would be no question of offerings being left on the altar uneaten.

If a dragon gave no response, there were only two possibilities.

First, the dragon was absent or had entered its Dormant Phase; in that case, naturally it had no strength to spare for offerings.

Second, the dragon was reclusive by nature and disliked being disturbed. The reason a group of kobolds had gathered was entirely because the kobolds themselves sensed the dragon might and took to worshipping it of their own accord.

It was precisely on the basis of these judgments that Fang Shi had dared to slaughter them without restraint.

Otherwise, if a dragon were present, the kobolds would have had a backbone; under the dragon's command they would have charged in howling waves, fearless of sacrifice, serving as cannon fodder.

Hence, to slay a dragon one must first cut away its wings; otherwise one can only flee in disgrace and perish beneath the dragon's servants.

Now that the kobold tribe had been slaughtered to the last by Fang Shi, there was no longer any worry that this young dragon might summon its retainers to swarm him, and his safety had greatly increased.

Fang Shi could now be certain that this young dragon lay somewhere behind that pale-white palace gate.

But now there was a problem: Fang Shi discovered he could not push the gate open.

The gate was very tall, essentially reaching the ceiling of the underground palace, and with a width of ten meters from side to side, a single leaf of the gate weighed several dozen tons.

Fang Shi was certain the original owner of this underground palace would never have opened the door by hand — otherwise wouldn't one need a giant to push it?

Are there giants in the desert?

Fang Shi vaguely recalled a kind of sand giant that lived in desert regions.

But in reality the corridors of this underground palace were only three meters high, clearly unsuited for a giant to dwell within.

There must be some mechanism controlling it, allowing the great door to be opened with ease.

Now the problem arose: Fang Shi had searched the entire hall and found no mechanism whatsoever.

Surely the mechanism wasn't placed on the inside, with entry and exit controlled from within — such a design would be far too foolish.

Or perhaps it was a magical door?

That would be even more troublesome. An early-stage Martial Artist was a physical class; he had never studied so-called magic at all.

Even if a later-stage Martial Artist could comprehend the principles of heaven and earth, that was a matter for later.

In the early stages, one simply had no way to deal with such a Magical Item, short of brute force.

That wasn't impossible either; the material of this gate didn't look particularly impressive, and when Fang Shi struck it with his fine-steel sword, he easily hacked out a small dent.

However, judging by the gate's size, its thickness was at least a full meter.

Even if Fang Shi dug until his time in the Mystical Realm expired, he still couldn't carve out a passage large enough for him to pass through.

And if he dug halfway and woke the dragon, wouldn't that be even worse?

Fang Shi already had a premonition that he likely wouldn't gain any further harvest from here on.

"Returning empty-handed is returning empty-handed; I've already raked in a fortune in experience this time anyway. I'll sit down and eat something first."

"Besides, once the kobolds were cleared out, the exploration progress already hit 85%, so the clear-reward won't be too shabby either."

Fang Shi had been fighting for so long that he was already exhausted, and he couldn't be bothered to study the stone gate any longer, intending to eat something first before deciding what to do.

……

Within the pale-white palace gate, the hall was brightly lit; fire elementals from the Plane of Fire leapt upon the candlesticks, burning on and on without going out.

A spherical object rested upon a high platform at the center of the chamber.

The spherical object was rock-grey in color, its surface dense with clusters of stone, layer upon layer,

arranged in pleasing disorder across the surface of the sphere.

It looked like an exquisite work of art.

The moment the kobold shaman died, the entire spherical object trembled once.

A low, young voice rang out: "Where are my servants? How did they all die out?"

"Useless trash, the lot of them — kobolds are nothing but a garbage race."

After a pause, it continued: "Ah well, their deaths are for the best; saves them from always disturbing me so I can't even get a proper rest."

After those three lines, the spherical object stirred no more, and the entire hall fell silent once again, leaving only the flames on the candlesticks swaying gently.

……

The abandoned temple, before the passage into the underground palace.

"Is this the place?" said a burly, stubble-bearded man gripping a steel saber, a wrapped cloth around his head.

"That's right, this is it," answered a thin, wretched-looking man.

The stubble-bearded man gave a signal with his eyes, and two men behind him, likewise wearing wrapped cloths, stepped forward.

He pointed at the stone slab on the ground, and his two subordinates immediately took hold of the recessed edges, one on each side, and lifted the slab up.

"Are you really certain there's a young dragon inside?" the stubble-bearded man asked again.

"Truly, my lord, this one isn't lying," the wretched man said hurriedly, and as he spoke he pulled a trembling rat from his pocket.

"My lord, look here — this is a treasure-seeking rat; they say it carries a trace of dragon bloodline, so it can sniff out treasure."

"But at the same time, treasure-seeking rats are especially sensitive to a dragon's aura; the moment they catch the scent of a dragon, they start to shake."

As the wretched man spoke, he held the rat up high before the stubble-bearded man, letting him examine it clearly.

The stubble-bearded man's eyes flashed with a fierce glint as he said: "Then how can you be sure it's a young dragon? What if it's a fully grown one — wouldn't the brothers be done for?"

"Well, that…" the wretched man said hesitantly, "I'm not entirely sure either. It's just that after the last sandstorm, I took shelter in the temple and discovered the underground palace."

"At first, when I saw Little Gold trembling, I was hesitant too. But thinking of a dragon's wealth, I couldn't quite let it go, so I crept all the way in and found the kobolds' lair."

"When I was young, I was captured by a kobold and served as a laborer for a time. Later I was rescued, but I also learned a bit of Draconic."

"I overheard a conversation between kobold knights and discovered that the master they serve is called the King of Earth and Mountains. I thought it was some mighty dragon and was about to slip away."

"But I didn't expect that next, the kobold knights said their master is still a young dragon and has already entered the Dormant Phase."

"Hearing this news, I was overjoyed and was about to return to the town to gather men. As for what came after, my lord understands the rest."

The bearded giant naturally understood; the rest was simply that they were captured on the way back.

The bearded giant was no good man; he was the leader of the Giant Scorpion Bandit Gang.

"I don't believe you. Seeing how cowardly you are, I cannot believe that upon sensing the presence of a dragon, you would still dare to go down yourself."

The wretched man sighed, "My cowardice is because I cherish my life; my going down is because I seek wealth. These two do not conflict. In this world, only poverty is the most terrifying thing."

Upon hearing these words, the bearded giant and his men fell silent for a moment.

In this eight-hundred-li expanse of yellow sand, the land is barren, oases are scarce, and it simply cannot support so many people.

Yet even so, nobles and commoners are still distinguished.

The nobles live in extravagant excess; porcelain and silk, worth their weight in gold, fill their storehouses.

They have meat at every meal, bathe every day, and possess countless servants, concubines, and wives.

But the commoners have no guarantee of three meals a day, can bathe only three times in a lifetime, or even never bathe at all.

Some, having no other recourse, turned to banditry, robbing passing merchants, and gradually began living prosperous lives.

Perhaps some initially still held kind hearts, but as the killings increased, each one became ruthless and cruel.

They showed no mercy when killing the old, the weak, women, and children.

"Why can you live in wealth while we can only flee for our lives in the desert? Therefore, I now grant you a just death."

This widely circulated saying came from the famous bandit king Clemens, who was once the king of all bandits in the eight-hundred-li yellow sand.

Thus, his words also became the creed of countless bandits.

In short, from the moment they became bandits, there was no turning back.

"I believe you," the bearded man said, patting the wretched man's shoulder. He raised his hand and declared, "Brothers, today is the day we make our fortune. If we succeed in slaying the dragon, there will be meat we cannot finish and wine we cannot drink."

"Rooms full of gold, rooms full of beauties, enjoying treatment like the nobles of the eight-hundred-li yellow sand."

Having said this, the bearded man shifted his tone: "But slaying a dragon is a dangerous undertaking; one careless move and you die a violent death. Brothers who fear death may withdraw now."

"But once you withdraw, you are no longer a brother of the Giant Scorpion Bandit Gang, and you must wait outside until we emerge before you may leave."

After speaking, the bearded giant scanned the thirty-plus subordinates present. No one proposed to withdraw; instead, all gazed at the tunnel entrance with burning eyes.

This was only to be expected; bandits who could join a gang and survive until now.

They had already died the moment they raised their blades, living day by day with no certainty of tomorrow.

As for leaving the bandit gang, that was even more ridiculous. Having grown accustomed to a life of blood on the blade and feasts of fish and meat, would they return to the hard livelihood under the nobles?

That would be worse than never joining the bandit gang in the first place.

Moreover, with something as precious as a dragon, would the bearded giant truly let anyone depart in safety?

Dare to withdraw, and they would be hacked to death by a flurry of blades immediately.

"May the great Your Majesty Set protect us."

After praying, the bearded giant prepared to lead the members of the bandit gang down into the tunnel.

The wretched man volunteered, "My lord, why not let me go down first to scout for traps? Kobolds are a suspicious race; their lair is filled with traps and mechanisms."

"I am a Level 5 Rogue and have done some research in this area; otherwise, I could not have escaped safely last time."

He saw the bandit gang's determination and decided to join them, perhaps even gaining some benefits.

Otherwise, once the bandit gang saw the dense traps in the underground palace, would they not still force him to clear the way?

The bearded man thought for a moment: "Very well. If you can clear the traps, your share of the credit for this successful dragon slaying will be counted, and from now on, we will all be brothers of the Giant Scorpion Bandit Gang."

"Very well, thank you, Leader."