Chapter 15: The Turtle Sage
In the quiet room, the sound of pages turning rustled continuously. Qingyin's eyes, resembling autumn waters, seemed to have frozen in place, while the little elf beside her was curled up, sleeping sweetly in its cage.
The fat man, still without an answer, persevered in flipping through the development history book, which was as thick as a brick. He constantly analyzed and judged, seeking a response.
Perhaps to others, the development history was just an useless book, but for the fat man, it not only meant he could learn about the differences between this world and that one, but also uncover many things others might never encounter in a lifetime.
Political dirtiness, military despicability... Although some things have been obliterated by historical victors, through analysis and judgment, one can still find traces of evidence to deduce some unknown truths and then learn from them.
Those who spend some time with the fat man will discover his talent. However, they will find more that he doesn't just rely on his talent to achieve success; he relies more on his hard work.
Hard work and perseverance are qualities that shouldn't naturally be associated with the fat man, but they are perfectly combined in him. The only reason is that the fat man is afraid of death.
To avoid being plotted against, one must first discern others' conspiracies. To win a war, one must know oneself and know the enemy. According to the fat man's distorted theory, knowing the enemy not only means understanding the strengths and weaknesses of both sides in terms of military force, quality, and quantity, but also means understanding the enemy's strategic intentions and tactical movements. If possible, the fat man is even willing to pay a high price to investigate insignificant details about the enemy, such as their personality, family background, living environment from childhood to adulthood, the number of their wives, and what kind of people each wife is.
After flipping through the book for half a day, the fat man's eyes suddenly rotated, and he slammed his hand on the table, saying with a joyful expression, "I found it! I found the answer."
"Answer?" Qingyin looked at the fat man with a slightly confused expression.
"Yes, Emperor Tansi'en, the first ruler of the Magic Dynasty, issued a secret order when founding the dynasty. This secret order is a mystery in history, but if I'm not mistaken, its content should be that the Yuxin Fortress, adjacent to the orcs, must be garrisoned with magicians capable of deploying the Star Magic Array." The fat man said proudly.
"Is that it?" Qingyin slightly furrowed her brows, placing her delicate hands gently on her skirt, feeling somewhat puzzled.
"According to historical records, this secret order was given by Emperor Tansi'en to Xu Ye, the Grand Mage and commander of the Magic Legion at that time. It was a secret order passed down from generation to generation. In other words, only the commander of each Magic Legion had the potential to know about it. In other words, even the emperor of the Magic Dynasty probably couldn't change its content." The fat man spoke confidently.
With Qingyin's intelligence, she quickly grasped the key point from the fat man's words. Combining it with the facts she knew, Qingyin's face showed an incredible expression.
"No wonder when the Feisi Empire conquered the capital of the Magic Dynasty, the then commander of the Magic Legion, Pis'er, surrendered without a fight. According to history, Pis'er was moved by the corruption of the dynasty and didn't want the people to suffer more… Perhaps, it was more to defend against the orcs." Qingyin's thoughts raced.
"Qingyin, why do you think Emperor Tansi'en was so wary of the orcs? He even left more than ten thousand magicians to guard against them?" The fat man glanced at the development history book and then frowned, asking Qingyin.
"I don't know…" Qingyin shook her head, her teeth slightly parted, saying softly. If there was no answer in the history books, then there was no answer to be found. It would remain a mystery, one that could never be solved.
The fat man slightly closed his eyes, his thoughts racing, trying to find an answer from the facts he knew. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't come up with one.
Just then, a delicate voice suddenly rang out: "I know…"
The fat man opened his eyes and looked towards the source of the voice. He saw the "bird man" with his arms crossed, his upper torso slightly leaning forward, wearing an expression that seemed to say, "If you want to know, ask me."
Looking at the little elf and the fat man staring at each other, Qingyin helplessly shook her head. It was like running into an obstacle; they had stumbled upon trouble.
Then, Qingyin directed her gaze towards the fat man, wanting to see what he would do.
It was just a leftover question from history, and whether the answer was known or not was irrelevant. The Magic Legion had disappeared, and the orcs recorded in history had been conquered several times by the human race. In fact, if the orcs really had something that made the Magic Dynasty wary, it had long disappeared.
So, even if this question was a mystery, there was no need to dwell on it any further.
At this moment, looking at the little elf's expression, which seemed to say, "If you want to know, ask me," Qingyin felt annoyed. If she were in the little elf's position, she would have left in a huff.
The fat man never stormed off in a huff, but his eyes subsequently glowed with a hint of green light, reminiscent of a hungry demon wolf on the wilderness.
"I'll give you ten seconds. If you don't tell me, I'll really tear off your wings," said the fat man, viciously yet firmly.
The determination in his eyes reminded people of the hardest rock. This time, it seemed that the fat man was serious.
"I won't tell you..." The elf snorted, puffing out her cheeks, but strangely, a fleeting, barely perceptible smile flashed across her thin lips.
The fat man's eyes began to rotate, and he walked over to the golden cage, then chuckled.
"One, two..." The fat man counted aloud, and seeing the elf's stubbornness, he skipped the intermediate numbers.
"Ten..." Then the fat man suddenly lifted the cage with his plump right hand and began to swing it vigorously.
The swing's amplitude made it seem as if the fat man was holding not a cage containing an elf, but a brick that could be wielded with ease. Watching the fat man, Qingyin stood in astonishment beside him.
"You... shameless..." As the cage shook violently, the elf, who hadn't even gripped the cage tightly, struggled to utter a few words. The fat man had skipped the intermediate numbers directly, and she couldn't react in time.
At this moment, the elf was not feeling well. Her face had already turned a dark purple, and her tiny eyes, like fragmented gemstones, were filled with stars. She clung desperately to the cage's golden wires with her small hands.
"I'll give you one more chance. Will you talk or not?" Wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead, the fat man panted and spoke to the elf in the cage, who was almost foaming at the mouth.
"You... fatso, I... princess won't let you off..." The elf, unable to distinguish directions, stumbled and spoke in a distorted, stammering voice while doing a swan dance.
With a "clang," the elf doing the swan dance bumped into the cage's golden wires and fell to the ground.
The golden wires were not thick, merely a relatively thick thread in the eyes of ordinary people. But for the elf, they were not threads.
A red bump appeared on the elf's forehead, but this bump awakened her.
"You fatso... you're bullying me... boo-hoo..." Covering the bump on her forehead with her small hand, the elf's tears began to flow down.
Her charming and endearing expression evoked sympathy from the bottom of one's heart.
Even Qingyin's eyes couldn't help but show affection.
However, the fat man remained insensitive: "I'm still a kind and forgiving person. I'll give you ten seconds..."
"One..."
"..." Looking at the fat man with a simple smile, the elf saw a wolf, and a hint of fear appeared in her dark pupils.
"Hei Jin..." Qingyin pushed the fat man aside and softly asked the elf, "Come and tell sister."
Looking at the kind Qingyin, the elf glanced at the fat man with a squint and softly said, "The elf elders once said that thousands of years ago, the Orc race had a commander who, in collaboration with Orc priests, created a sacrificial ritual similar to the Star Magic Array. That sacrificial ritual could easily destroy a fortress."
"What..." Qingyin couldn't help but express her surprise. What the elf said was not recorded in history, even in a single word.
Orc priests were a profession similar to human magicians, but they were far inferior to human magicians.
And this was also the reason why the human race could match the Orc race in strength. Orcs were natural warriors with strong physiques far superior to ordinary human warriors. However, although Orc priests possessed incredible powers, they could not compete with magicians.
How could the Orcs create a sacrificial ritual comparable to the Star Magic Array? This was too unbelievable.
Upon hearing this, everything became clear. Both Qingyin and the fat man understood why Emperor Tansi'en needed ten thousand magicians. The Star Magic Array was the last defense against Orc invasions.
At this moment, Qingyin felt like a heavy stone was hanging in her heart, making her breathing slightly heavy. Due to the fall of the Magic Dynasty, the Star Magic Array was soon lost in history. If the Orc sacrificial ritual still existed, it would be a disaster for the human race.
Fortunately, the elf wasn't as hostile to Qingyin as she was to the fat man. She then said, "I heard from the elders that the Orc sacrificial ritual was lost after the commander died."
Listening to the elf, the fat man suddenly realized something was wrong.
"The Orc sacrificial ritual was lost after the commander died, but the Magic Dynasty existed for hundreds of years. The Magic Legion also existed for hundreds of years. How could the Orcs exist for such a long time?"
Before the fat man could ask, the elf spontaneously said, "The commander's name was Turtle Immortal..."