Douluo Continent: Martial Soul Young Gilas, Sandstorm King!

Chapter 32 This makes me...how can I bear it!

Lin Xia listened quietly, already understanding the situation and Lou Gao's stance.

Looking at Lou Gao's tired and angry face, a clear outline of a plan took shape in his mind.

Lin Xia didn't immediately express her thoughts, but instead poured more hot tea for her teacher and said softly:

"Teacher, you've worked so hard. Have some tea and calm down. We'll get our revenge sooner or later!"

"However, we must be mindful of our methods!"

"teacher."

Lin Xia's voice was steady and clear, breaking the brief silence with a composure beyond her years.

"This disciple dares to ask you a question."

Lou paused in his teacup-holding motion, looked up at Lin Xia, seemingly surprised by her calm and composed demeanor.

He put down his teacup, gesturing for Lin Xia to continue.

"What exactly is your opinion on the Spirit Hall?"

"Putting aside that scumbag Miles, have you ever considered... some form of cooperation with the Spirit Hall itself?"

Lou Gao suddenly turned his head, his weathered, furnace-like eyes widening instantly as he stared intently at Lin Xia, filled with disbelief, astonishment, and profound confusion. His gaze seemed to say something.

"Kid, are you crazy?! Saying this at a time like this?!"

Facing Lou Gao's shocked gaze, Lin Xia showed no sign of flinching or panic, but instead spoke even more earnestly:

“Teacher, this can’t go on. Miles is a greedy man with no bottom line. He treats the Blacksmiths’ Guild as his backyard and ATM.”

"If they can extort Purple Lightning Iron Ore today, they can find another pretext to plunder even more tomorrow! If we confront them head-on, we might be able to hold out for a while, but can we hold out ten or a hundred times? Once they become desperate and resort to desperate measures, or if we make the slightest mistake, the price could be the downfall of the entire association!"

Lin Xia spoke faster, with a sharpness and insight unique to young people.

"And what is the foundation of the Spirit Hall, this behemoth? It is the faith in the Angel God! It is the creed of 'protecting order and benefiting all living beings'! At least on the surface, that's what it is!"

"Does a scoundrel like Miles commit such atrocities and prey on the people in Gengjin City truly align with the Spirit Hall's will and their preached doctrines?"

"I don't believe it! Perhaps... we can take the initiative to contact the higher-ups of the Spirit Hall, seek cooperation, or even... join the Spirit Hall's system!"

"Let's use our true value to gain the Pope's support and protection! This way, we can not only completely eradicate this cancerous tumor, Miles, but also win a more stable and secure future for the association and all the artisans who depend on the association for their livelihood!"

The shock on Lou Gao's face gradually faded, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.

Lou Gao scrutinized the disciple before him intently, as if he were truly getting to know him for the first time.

Lin Xia's words were not a rash statement made on impulse, but rather the result of careful analysis.

Lou Gao was alarmed by that composure beyond his years and his insight into the big picture, and he was forced to take the proposal seriously.

Lou Gao remained silent for a long time, his brows furrowed into a deep "川" shape, his eyes shifting between anger, hesitation, and weighing options.

Finally, he slowly shook his head, his voice carrying a hint of heaviness and helplessness:

“Xia…I understand your thoughts. This idea…is bold enough, and novel enough. But, it won’t work.” Lou Gao sighed deeply.

"In the eyes of the Spirit Hall, our Blacksmiths' Association is ultimately an outsider! We are 'craft households' outside their system! No matter how despicable Miles may be, he is still the Spirit Hall's representative in Gengjin City when he wears that red robe!"

"No matter how heinous his actions may be, in the eyes of the Spirit Hall's higher-ups, they are likely just a minor misconduct by a local official, or even a means of controlling local resources!"

"If we go and complain? If we seek cooperation, in their eyes, it's an outsider trying to interfere in their internal affairs, a provocation! Why should we make them believe us, abandon a capable bishop, and instead support us craftsmen?"

Lou Gao's eyes revealed a world-weary wisdom.

“Child, you are young, and your ideas are good, but… don’t think of people and the world as too simple or idealistic. The Spirit Hall is riddled with factions and deeply entangled in conflicts of interest. If we rashly align ourselves with them, let alone seek protection, we’ll probably be reduced to ashes! Moreover…”

Lou Gao paused, a deep sense of difficulty and pain appearing on his face.

"Moreover, how can I, Lou Gao, face my old friend Titan? The feud between the Power Clan and the Spirit Hall... it's a blood feud!"

"If I were to lead the association to surrender to the Spirit Hall, wouldn't that be... wouldn't that be stabbing my old comrades in the back? How could I possibly accept that!"

Lin Xia was not surprised by Lou Gao's rejection and pain.

He understood his teacher's deep sense of loyalty and righteousness, as well as his deep-seated wariness of the Spirit Hall.

However, after taking a deep breath, he posed the core question that Lou Gao could not avoid.

Lin Xia's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a heavy hammer, striking the most vulnerable heartstrings on the high tower.

"teacher!"

Lin Xia's gaze was sharp as a knife, piercing Lou Gao's heart.

"So, do you think the lives and livelihoods of the ordinary craftsmen in the blacksmiths' association who depend on you and the association to make a living and live with dignity are important?"

"You took me to that abandoned mine... You personally collected the remains of those victims. Teacher, tell me, did the lives of those miners who died in the mine matter? Did their families, who lost their breadwinners, care about their livelihoods?"

“If Miles dares to come knocking on our door to extort money today, he’ll dare to do even worse tomorrow! If he can injure our guards today, his stewards will dare to bully our craftsmen and rob them of their hard-earned money tomorrow!”

"If this continues, the association will be filled with anxiety, the craftsmen will have no livelihood, and their wives, children and elderly parents will suffer from hunger and cold... Teacher, is this the situation you want to see?"

"You uphold your loyalty to the Titans, but can you just stand by and watch more brothers and family members in the association fall into difficulties or even desperate situations?"

Lin Xia's words, each sentence and each word, were like cold steel needles, precisely piercing the softest and most painful part of Lou Gao's heart.

The pale skeletons in the mines, Miles' arrogant face, the humiliation on the faces of the association guards, the worried eyes of the ordinary blacksmiths... countless images collided violently in his mind.

The towering building swayed violently, as if struck by an invisible, powerful punch.

Lou Gao closed his eyes, his facial muscles twitching painfully, his clenched fists so tight that his knuckles turned white, and his nails dug deep into his palms.

The cold touch of the miner's remains seemed to travel through my fingertips once more.

The faces of Titan's old friends intertwined and overlapped with the simple faces of countless Guild craftsmen...

The backyard fell into a deathly silence, with only the faint crackling sound of electricity emanating from Young Gilas due to the surge of energy within his body, which was particularly clear in the frozen air.

(End of this chapter)