"A good man bears the guilt of others!" exclaimed Liu Zhenhan, showing off his only known proverb.
"Your words carry a philosophical taste." Helen smiled bitterly, "For thousands of years, a story about Fox Tribe girls has circulated across the Pan Continent. It is said that many years ago, two Fox Tribe girls were sold as slaves by traders to the remote Eastern Continent and given to the kings of the two most powerful kingdoms there. The traders earned an astonishing wealth of fine porcelain and gold-like silk, spices, and more, just from these two girls..."
"...Those two Fox Tribe girls captured the hearts of the Eastern monarchs with their unparalleled beauty. One once wise and war-tested king, to win the favor of the Fox girl in his arms, repeatedly sent out signals for aid in self-fabricated crises. Loyal nobles rushed to his aid with armies, only to find that they had been deceived. When barbarians eventually invaded the royal capital, the king once again signaled for aid, but no noble came to rescue him...because they didn't want to be duped again. And because of this, the king of this once-mighty kingdom lost his life."
"And the other fox girl?" Liu Zhenhan asked.
"The other Fox Tribe girl bewitched her king, so much so that he neglected to attend to state affairs. The bards of the Eastern Continent even composed a widely-sung epic about this. The main theme of the poem was 'Why is the droning noise...of the leaking clock never ending? Great king...why aren't you holding court the next day?'"
The poem wasn't well-written, Liu Zhenhan thought to himself.
"Later, the Fox Tribe girl fell ill with a heart condition. The king was so desperate for her recovery that he boiled his loyal uncle, a prince's, heart into soup and offered it to the creation gods. Foolishly though, this act actually touched the gods, and the Fox Tribe girl was cured."
"The presumptuous king then constructed a lake of wine and a forest of delicious meat, spending his days indulging in pleasure with the Fox girl, neglecting state affairs until his furious subjects eventually overthrew him."
Through these stories the beauty and charm of the Fox Tribe girls were underscored.
"The Dorott Duchy--this mercenary kingdom neigbouring the Fox Tribe of the Bimon Kingdom--had mercenary groups comparable to locust swarms secretly infiltrating the Bimon Kingdom along ancient roads each year. Their goal was to kidnap a beautiful Fox Tribe girl to secure their fortune for the rest of their lives. Similarly, countless black market traders, savage robbers, petty thieves, innumerable ogres, elves and half-beasts, made irresistible offers to the native tribes of the Donau Wastelands, fuelling a slave trade that greatly angered all Beamon." The little fox seemed on the verge of tears, weeping in her eyes.
"So, you were captured by these slave traders and were on that ship headed for the human kingdoms?" Liu Zhenhan thought about the several fox girls that were locked in wooden crates who were indeed alluring, "Were you..."
"No." Helen cast her eyes down, "The desert robbers who kidnapped me and my sisters were fulsome adversaries of our kingdom's northwestern frontier--always in conflict--they were cunning desert people disguised as traders from a Northeastern kingdom we had trade relations with. They infiltrated the heart of our kingdom, raided our tribe, and because it was an inland area, where no threat was expected, the defense was lax, and the shameless robbers easily got away. The desert robbers hold female chastity in high esteem; perhaps they planned to present us to their king."
"Don't you Beamon have a navy?" Liu Zhenhan was puzzled. "Isn't there any patrol at sea?"
"Richard!" Helen raised her head: "We Beamon do not have the ability to build large warships. There are no carpenters in Beamon who can match human skills."
"But the coastline should be heavily guarded!" Liu Zhenhan, with keen military insight, asserted.
"There is no need for a heavy guard. We only set up a few sentry posts along the coastline," Helen said. "In the sea, the mighty Sea Clan would not tolerate any ship carrying troops to sway over their heads, except for the merchant ships of a few powerful human nations that signed trade agreements with them. All others are sunk on sight."
"Sea Clan?" Liu Zhenhan's eyes widened.
He thought of the East Sea Dragon Palace and its soldiers, the Lobster and Crab General.
And that Turtle Prime Minister.
*****************************************************************************
I've completed the first volume. In the next one, Liu Zhenhan will start to assume the identity of the Dragon Priest, hehe...
There's no hurry to return to the continent; there's another volume of ocean adventures and a few more beauties to encounter.
To the brothers fearing me becoming a eunuch author, it's all unfounded. When have I, Jingguan, ever not kept my word?
I'm a real man, and my word is my bond!