‘The leader of the man-eater bees’ aka Brother Yan Mo groaned helplessly as he opened his eyes.
He had sent the bee guards down the sewers to investigate, merely to see just how many “sewers” the dwarves had dug out. He hadn’t expected that one of the bee guards would bring him news that was both surprising and yet, in a way, inevitable.
The scout couldn’t accurately convey what the dwarves had said, but the fact that they’d managed to dig tunnels all the way beneath the council hall was enough to put Yan Mo on high alert.
“Two groups of dwarves? Do you remember the scent of any of them? Were the three dwarves who appeared in the hall among them?” Yan Mo carefully inquired, step by step. He had already roughly guessed the dwarves’ identities, and upon hearing the bee guard report that the dwarves had split into two groups and taken two separate passages, he had a pretty good idea of the situation.
“Is the passage wide? Can I fit through it?”
The information relayed by the bee guard told him that while a dwarf could walk through it, he would have to crouch the entire way.
Yan Mo rose from the bed and walked to the window. There were quite a few insects flying outside, but since he had sprinkled some insect and snake repellent powder around the window, they dared not come too close to the stone frame.
Tonight was not a good night for mischief. The moon hung in the sky like a silver platter, its silvery glow bathing the land. Standing by the window, he could clearly see the silhouettes of warriors patrolling in the distance.
But what if the enemy came from underground…
He touched the herbal pouch at his waist. He already had a plan for that. After all, he was hosting a guest skilled in digging tunnels—a guest who was quite eager to turn the tables on him. It would be strange if he didn’t spend every day figuring out how to deal with that.
Old Sama wasn’t exactly generous, but as long as it wasn’t a Maple Clan seed, he was quite willing to part with it.
It was just that this method still needed time to build up its potency and resistance. As for now, well… heh!
“Someone outside?”
“Yes.” The guard outside the door replied immediately. “My lord, do you have any orders?”
“Accompany me for a walk.” Yan Mo patted the beehive; all the remaining bee guards flew out. He silently gave a command, and after circling and buzzing for a moment, they all flew out the window and into the night.
Yan Mo put away the hive, leaving only Hong Chi and Fei Ci behind, then turned and walked to the entrance to open the gate.
The guards were curious. Hadn’t the Lord gone to sleep? Why was he suddenly going out in the middle of the night?
Yan Mo seemed to sense the guards’ confusion and smiled. “I sense danger approaching the tribe.”
“Ah!” The guards’ expressions immediately grew tense. One of them asked directly, “My Lord, are you going to find Lord Meng?”
“No need to rush. Just go wake up the guards who are resting.”
Yan Mo did not call for Meng or any other warriors; he simply took four guards with him and walked at a leisurely pace toward the West Gate.
Jiuyuan City was extremely quiet at night. With so few people living in such a vast city, and many more stationed on the city walls, it was impossible to create any kind of bustle even if one wanted to.
The dwarves responsible for monitoring the Council Hall spotted Yan Mo and his party. They instinctively sensed something was amiss and immediately rushed back to report it, but at that moment, their chief, Ancestral Shaman, and elders were all absent from their quarters.
Meanwhile, the prominent figures of the Worwo tribe were waiting for the leaders of the Luoluo tribe in a secret passageway within the dirt path running through the center of the western city moat.
Ancestral Shaman Opa had arrived; she had no choice but to come. Having been invited by another Ancestral Shaman, she had to be present if she did not want the Luoluo and Worwo tribes to become mortal enemies.
Kathi cut straight to the point. As soon as she saw Opa, she said, “We have nowhere left to go. We both know the dangers of a long migration. We need a homeland we can defend against enemies, and fertile land to feed our people—and this place can provide everything we need.”
“…What do you intend to do?” Ancestral Shaman Opa asked, forcing her eyelids open.
“I don’t want to become enemies with Jiuyuan, but I also don’t want to remain their guests any longer. Jiuyuan City has only about sixty people, while our two tribes combined number nearly eight hundred. As you’ve seen, Jiuyuan covers a vast area; even if we don’t live within the city walls, we can find a place to settle outside. There’s a larger river outside the city that’s more than enough to protect us from enemies coming from the forest.”
Opa sighed. “If I were the leader of Jiuyuan, I wouldn’t let enemies stronger than my own tribe settle right next to me.”
“I know, but since Jiuyuan can allow the merfolk to live alongside them, they can also let us share the same land with them.”
“On what grounds?”
“On the grounds that our two tribes combined have far more people than they do. Once war breaks out, even if Jiuyuan wins, they can’t afford the cost—they have too few people.”
Neither the chiefs nor the elders of the Worwo and Luoluo tribes spoke up; the words of the two Ancestral Shamans spoke for them as well.
Ancestral Shaman Opa looked up at the young Kathi. She thought she understood Kathi’s plan. “You want to ‘talk’ with the chief and the priest of Jiuyuan?”
Kathi nodded. “You and me together.”
“What if they refuse?”
“They’ll agree—as long as we secure their people first.” Kathi’s tone was brimming with confidence.
Elders Langlang and Zarza also chuckled smugly at that moment.
Ancestral Shaman Opa’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“We dug tunnels while building the houses. We’ve already extended them under the dwellings where the people of East City live. If you agree, send men to join us—at least Level 3 warriors. We’ll target twenty-six houses simultaneously. If we act quickly, we can capture at least half of them.”
“And then?” Ancestral Shaman Opa finally looked directly at the young ancestral shaman. This powerful young woman didn’t seem like an ancestral shaman from the Worwo tribe. She looked more like one from the Luoluo tribe.
Logan, having heard this, could no longer contain himself. He kept giving Ancestral Shaman Opa meaningful glances, trying to get her to agree.
“Then my people will lead our forces out of the inner city. We’ll hide them, and then negotiate with them. For the sake of their own people, they’ll agree to let us stay outside the city.”
“Oh! Have you lost your mind?” Logan leapt to his feet, waving his arms and shouting, “If we can capture even half of them, we can force them to hand over the city! Why on earth would we retreat to the outskirts?”
Kathi ignored him, fixing her gaze on Opa.
Logan was still shouting when Opa raised her staff and tapped him on the head. “Quiet! Stop being so foolish. We’ll secure a foothold outside the city—it’ll be convenient whether we advance or retreat. As long as we dig through the riverbed, we can reach anywhere.”
Kathi nodded. “The chief of Jiuyuan can manipulate the earth. If we stay inside the city, they could easily trap us there. But if we stay outside, the area is so vast—he couldn’t possibly find and seal off every single tunnel.”
“What about the people we’ve captured?” Logan asked reluctantly.
“We’ll keep them until we’ve built our own city and dug all our tunnels. By then, even if Jiuyuan wants to come after us, we won’t have to be afraid.”
“Ancestral Shaman Kathi, don’t forget you said that the chief can manipulate the soil. If he wants to take revenge on us, no matter how many houses we build, he can destroy them all,” Logan continued to object.
“The Chi Clan.” Kathi had already thought of a plan; Logan’s concern was shared by most of the Worwo tribe. “We just need to tell Jiuyuan that the Chi Clan will likely come here, and that we’ll help them fight the Chi Clan—after all, we live right outside the city.”
“But what if Jiuyuan’s chief insists on going to war with us?”
“On the day the Worwo tribe is defeated, perhaps the Chi Clan will follow the tunnels we left behind to find Jiuyuan. And once the Chi Clan crosses the river, with Jiuyuan’s meager numbers…” Kathi didn’t finish her sentence, but everyone present understood her meaning.
It was a threat—somewhat shameless, but quite effective. If the chief of Jiuyuan couldn’t kill every member of the Worwo and Luoluo tribes in an instant, some would inevitably escape—and those who escaped could certainly lure the Chi Clan here.
“You’ve changed a lot,” Ancestral Shaman Opa said after a long silence.
Kathi placed her fists one on top of the other across her chest and replied calmly, “I have the Lord Priest of Jiuyuan to thank for that. I’ve learned a great deal from his teachings.”
“Achoo—!” Yan Mo had barely reached the moat when he let out a loud sneeze.
“My Lord?” The guard looked at him with concern.
Yan Mo waved his hand to indicate he was fine, then walked to the riverbank and sat down.
A mermaid warrior patrolling the river swam over, her upper body breaking the surface. “Lord Mo, aren’t you asleep yet at this hour?”
Yan Mo rubbed his nose and smiled. “Guys, I’d like to ask you for a favor.”
“What kind of favor? Just tell us, Lord Mo.”
“Here’s the thing. You know we plan to remove this dirt road, but it’s quite a hassle. I did some calculations earlier, and since I couldn’t sleep, I came over to test them out. If it works, maybe we can break up this dirt road without all that trouble. But I’ll need your help—only you have the ability to do this easily.”
“Oh?” The mermaid warrior, flattered by the praise, perked up with interest.
“I’d like you to dig a hole somewhere beneath this dirt road and pump water into it. The principle behind this method is…” Yan Mo explained with a smile, gesturing as he spoke. He didn’t know if doing this would add to his Scum Points, but there was no doubt that the dwarves already harbored ill will toward Jiuyuan.
If he had misjudged the dwarves… well, he was prepared to dive in and save them at a moment’s notice.
Locating the spot for the hole wouldn’t be difficult; bees possess an astonishing memory for directions and flight paths.
As the Queen Bee, once Yan Mo received the information from the bee guards, diving down to pinpoint a specific location was a trivial matter.
Although the soil layer was thick, it was merely a matter of digging a hole. This dirt road hadn’t been specially constructed; it was just ordinary soil. There was no need for a formidable warrior like Ramon; any Level 2 merfolk warrior capable of manipulating water would suffice. They could use water to soften the soil and then blast a hole through it with the force of an impact.
Beneath the dirt road, several members of the Worwo and Luoluo tribes were still in discussion. To avoid alerting the merfolk warriors and to prevent the Jiuyuan warriors on the city walls from discovering them, they had not stationed lookouts along either side of the inner moat.
With the overall direction and strategy against the enemy settled, the next step was to divide the spoils between the two tribes. Logan and Langlang both insisted that they could only dispatch their forces to carry out the operation once all these details were clearly defined.
Both tribes agreed not to live together, but they also couldn’t be too far apart. They unanimously decided that the South Outer City was the best option; if they absolutely couldn’t take the South Outer City, then they would go for the North Outer City.
But as they talked, Logan and Langlang began to argue.
Logan blamed the Worwo tribe for not having the resolve to join them in seizing Jiuyuan City outright back then. Otherwise, he argued, all they would need to do today was join forces to kill that priest—they wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble.
Langlang complained that the Luoluo tribe acted without considering the consequences, dragging them down in the process. Originally, they could have negotiated the territorial issue with Jiuyuan’s chief amicably, but now they’ve been forced to sever ties with Jiuyuan.
“Can you two hurry up? If you keep arguing, it’ll be dawn before we know it!” Kathi snapped.
Opa tapped Logan on the head with her staff again.
Only then did the two chiefs reluctantly end their verbal sparring and turn to business.
While the two tribes argued over which side should hold the hostages, the dwarves in the tunnel failed to notice that not far behind them, a circular damp patch was gradually seeping through a section of the wall.
This circular patch was expanding at a steady pace, and soon, a thin stream of water began trickling down the wall.
Buzz—! The bee guards stationed in the tunnel to watch over the dwarves were summoned and flew out en masse. Dwarves lying in ambush spotted them, causing them to let out a scream—but the scream was stifled before it could leave their throats.
Logan suddenly raised his hand. “Did any of you hear a sound?”
“What sound? There’s no one else here but us!” Langlang, who had a guilty conscience, cried out. He had stationed men in ambush nearby, fearing Logan might do something.
Logan, who had also stationed his own men in ambush, couldn’t press the matter further. He, too, suspected that the buzzing sound had been made by his own men.
Plop! A piece of waterlogged mud fell to the ground.
“Something’s wrong!” Ancestral Shaman Opa sprang to her feet and immediately ordered Logan, “Retreat! Get out of here now!”
“Ancestral Shaman Opa?” Logan froze. “What’s going on?”
Kathi also sensed something was wrong. Something deep inside her was telling her: danger was imminent!
“Run! Hurry! We’ve been discovered!” Kathi shouted.
There was no time to waste. With a deafening roar, the waterlogged earthen wall, unable to withstand the immense water pressure, gave way, and half the wall collapsed.
“Water! It’s leaking! Get out of here!” the dwarves shouted, trying to bolt in two different directions.
But how could a person’s speed possibly match the force of a flood?
And since they were so small and the tunnel wasn’t very wide, it wasn’t long before a massive flood of river water surged into both sides of the passage.
The dwarves were doomed! The faster ones were lucky—they might still make it to the nearest exit—but the slower ones were all submerged in the water, struggling as they swallowed mouthful after mouthful of muddy water.
On the river’s surface, the merfolk warriors let out cries of surprise.
“There’s a hole in that dirt path!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the sounds of coughing and gurgling echoed one after another. The river’s surface erupted with splashes as several dwarves struggled and floundered their way to the surface, finally managing to lift their heads above the water.
Yan Mo gasped in surprise, “Good heavens, how did people end up underground? This is such bad luck. Quick! Everyone, jump in and save them!”
Splash! Leading by example, Yan Mo was the first to leap into the water.
