Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 1185 "The One Hidden in the Horse's Belly"

"—and you sponsored him."

Aiwass confirmed.

He looked into Grandet's eyes, as if he could see into his heart: "Because you are, 'the one hidden in the horse's belly'...right."

In fact, Aiwass did not remember Grandet's past specifically.

He just vaguely remembered that he seemed to have had a serious illness and crawled into a horse's belly when he was a child... and then the illness was cured. The result was that he became so ugly.

"Yes, just like me."

But Grandet spoke frankly, without any taboo about this matter: "From the perspective of the prospective priestess named Nia, Hassan had every chance of being handsome, but because of the difficulties of fate, he became dark, ugly, thin and short - you should have heard my story, right?"

"Well, he was forced to hide in a horse's belly, which resulted in his appearance being deformed... something like that."

Aiwass answered vaguely.

"That's right," Grandet nodded slowly, "My parents have provoked an enemy - the goblins from the 'Golden Teeth' clan. They belong to the Shining Gold clan and tend to buy and monopolize various mining industries within the Chamber of Commerce. The Dead Eyes clan is from the Trickster clan... Our business is mainly investment and fraud."

At this point, he gave Aiwas a frank smile: "For big customers worth maintaining, we are the best investors. Other goblins will not always give us such favorable prices. Because we understand what the future is--"

"And if there is no future, then just turn to fraud and squeeze every last penny out of them, right?"

Aiwass chuckled.

He also knew about this - even if there was no relevant knowledge in the game, the factions of the Goblin Chamber of Commerce were not secret and could be found out with just a simple search.

Grandet did not argue, but just smiled at Aiwass and went straight to the next part: "We goblins have a festival called March Festival, which is similar to the custom of you humans celebrating a birthday. The reason is that in the past, troll wizards liked to eat goblins under three months old, so it was a blessing to be able to survive for more than three months... It means that it is not easy to be eaten in the short term, and it is a festival worth celebrating.

"During the March Festival of my sister and I, our family was cursed and poisoned. All of us died - my parents, my fourteen brothers and twelve sisters. My sister and I were also poisoned because we drank our mother's milk.

"But my mother knew a little bit of witchcraft. She killed a horse and sewed me inside its belly."

"The horse's belly..."

Aiwass thought thoughtfully: "In the ceremony, the white horse symbolizes the midday sun, which is bright and warm, and full of yang energy. The blood of the white horse's heart is said to bring people back to life... But didn't the killer notice that one person was missing?"

"That's the coincidence. My parents didn't announce that the babies were twins. After the killer counted the number of people and found that they matched, he left."

Grandet narrowed his eyes. "The reason why my mother chose me instead of my sister... is because I am quieter than her. She was crying because she was in pain, but I didn't say a word. And I didn't make a sound until I was found, so I survived.

"Later, I asked someone about it... The simple ritual my mother performed only had a 20% chance of successfully detoxifying. I was lucky, but the price I paid was that my face became distorted. From then on, I vowed to always be calm and composed. I would never reveal a single flaw... and I would never let an enemy go."

"And before that, you found that you and Flame Fist were quite similar, right?"

Aiwass said.

He did not ask what became of the "Gold Teeth Family."

Grandet now stands here safely and steadily, becoming the head of a branch of the Goblin Chamber of Commerce, a strong man who is almost at the double fifth level... he has already given the answer.

"Yes." Grandet chuckled, but not much laughter was heard: "They all survived because of luck, they are all the last members of the family, they all had the opportunity to become beautiful but became ugly... So after hearing his story, I decided to give him a chance.

"The resistance he joined was originally my faction. I gave him a chance to seek revenge, but the price was an 80% chance of dying on the spot. He accepted it without hesitation and survived.

"——That's the 'Flame Fist'."

"What exactly is the Flame Fist?"

Aiwass pressed, "This isn't Star Antimony Alchemy."

"This is blasphemous dwarven craftsmanship."

Grandet answered without reservation: "The dwarven magicians already have the ability to create extraordinary equipment. But they have researched a new technology... They compressed and sealed the complete phantom into a piece of equipment, and then made it into a prosthesis. Through the concept of 'the prosthesis is connected to the body', the human soul is connected to the phantom. In this way, mortals can obtain the memory and power of the phantom. The price is that they will see illusions that only they can see... and they have to communicate and interact with the phantom in the illusion."

—Sounds a bit like Johnny Silverhand.

This thought crossed Aiwas's mind.

He said slowly: "Since you survived with a 20% chance, do you plan to let him endure this trial as well?"

Grandet spread his hands and said, "I'm not trying to make things difficult for him, but this operation involves the fusion of souls, and the success rate is low. Or, it's because I just learned about this technology and the success rate of this coincidence... that I had the idea to contact a disabled mortal across the ocean.

"This is fate. Don't you think so, sir?"

Aiwass did not answer him, but continued to ask: "So, he became Hassan the Flame Fist?"

"He is one of the very few rebel leaders who has ever launched a successful rebellion."

Grandet nodded and said, “With my sponsorship and support, he successfully assassinated the good man and burned down the entire oasis that was doomed to fail.

"In the midst of the flames, the story of Hassan the Flaming Fist could no longer be hidden. He proved that good leaders could be killed, and provided an example for rebels in other regions.

"Because of this, this level of rebellion could not be tolerated by the benevolent leaders. Many benevolent leaders in the surrounding areas sent people to encircle and suppress Hassan, but Hassan escaped eight encirclements. On the ninth time, he was finally caught.

"—and I gave him another chance."

Grandet smiled slightly and said, "Just consider it an investment. I sent someone to intercept him and told him that Parthia can no longer accommodate him. He can kill a good leader and burn down an oasis, but he cannot destroy a civilization like this. The reason is that he has no culture.

"Because he has no knowledge, he cannot understand why this is happening; because he has no culture, he cannot let others know the anger in his heart.

"So I sent him to the Narcissus Principality and used my connections to find him a wizard tower master as a mentor.

"I told him to accumulate strength, learn, and think... The remaining rebels were firewood, burning to guide him home in the dark. He only had one chance... If he failed next time, I would never save him.

“And now, he’s back.

"I guess he is ready to take this once-in-a-lifetime exam."

(End of this chapter)