Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1407: Conscription?

As everyone was deeply engrossed in thoughts about the Goddess Sect and the Dark Moon War, Bingdisi suddenly brought up a topic that seemed unrelated: "Hey, what do you all think about Foolish Big Guy?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Foolish Big Guy?" I was momentarily confused and then casually replied, "A rather naive fellow, perhaps a bit mutated compared to the locals, rough-skinned, but his temperament kind of suits me."

"Is that all?" Bingdisi’s eyes turned slightly, a flash of insight gleaming in the blood-red irises, "I suddenly find myself quite curious about him."

I knew Bingdisi wasn’t the type to... wasn’t the type to speak without... wasn’t the type to randomly... alright, she indeed had that kind of personality, but she shouldn’t be saying random stuff now, so I felt compelled to follow up: "You’re not suggesting that big guy is connected to conspiracy theories, are you? Or did you sense something related to Divine Artifact in him?"

"Not Divine Artifact, but a detail," Bingdisi reminded everyone, "Do you still recall when we were playing billiards just now, how he managed to pierce the cue ball with a wooden stick? Didn’t you find something odd about that?"

I thought it was something trivial, but upon hearing this, I shrugged: "Sure, strong enough. You should let Lin give it a try, forget billiards, she could poke a hole in the Earth with just one finger. Foolish Big Guy can kill a bear with a punch, let alone break a plastic ball."

"Sheer brute force can indeed accomplish many things," Bingdisi said with a profound smile, "but not everything can be attributed to brute force alone. The billiards set Lin Xue brought was from Earth, with the cue being a thin wooden stick. If you only have strength, could you make this blunt thin wooden stick pierce a slippery, hard round ball? Moreover, the most significant part is: when the cue ball was pierced, it hardly moved any distance—it was instantly punctured by a thin wooden stick, with not a single bit of impact wasted."

I got it, it’s like if you were asked to chop a half-centimeter thick thin board with your hand, that’s doable for most healthy adults—it might just get your hand to hurt a bit afterwards. But what if I placed a block of tofu under this thin board?

What if you were asked to chop the thin board without allowing any cracks or deformation in the tofu underneath?

What if I asked you to chop the board without making a sound, and not leaving a single burr on the broken stubble of the board?

I’m sure with all these requests laid out, you would want to chop me instead of the board—but let’s not discuss that now. What we’re discussing is: if someone could do all this effortlessly and unknowingly, they’d at least need years of learning from those white-bearded masters at the bottom of a cliff...

Truthfully, puncturing a plastic ball with a tiny branch under similar conditions wouldn’t be a challenge for any of us. I bet even the dumb fox back home could poke through any ordinary material with noodles: and those noodles could even be cooked. But the focus is: Foolish Big Guy did it! An idiot who theoretically hadn’t learned any Control Techniques other than his brute force managed it!

"By ordinary human standards, you could achieve the same feat, but it would require years of training and precise control over the power. Foolish Big Guy’s strength is hundreds of times that of ordinary people, making his required training all the more astounding," Bingdisi spoke slowly, "and even if he did pull it off, there would be two scenarios. One is the laborious, flushed face kind where you take fifteen minutes to successfully poke something. The other is effortlessly done, with extreme control and power at a muscle-memory level. Foolish Big Guy belongs to the latter."

I thought about it and felt a bit confused: "He accidentally pierced the ball, so he probably spends quite a lot on bowls, and this kind of person could easily disassemble themselves when stretching..."

Bingdisi stared at me angrily: "You’re not helping by jabbering." Then she calmly analyzed, "Big Guy should be encountering this matter for the first time and unconsciously used some techniques out of tension, which also indirectly proves he doesn’t know what kind of ’skill’ he possesses, because a regular fighter surely wouldn’t do a Rising Dragon while handling a gas cylinder: Foolish Big Guy’s move was akin to unconsciously doing a Rising Dragon Punch while throwing a gas cylinder onto his shoulder; unintentional move, yet the style itself was skilled."

Qianqian, who was beside us, rolled her eyes as she thought about it for a while, suddenly leaned forward with excitement: "Hey, do you all think this could be the case? Foolish Big Guy is really a legendary master with unparalleled martial arts skills, and used to have a wife who journeyed across the world with him, with their relationship being incredibly deep. His wife excelled at the Eight Diagrams Dragon Palm, while Foolish Big Guy was adept at stabbing the vita points with chopsticks. Then one day, enemies came for revenge, and his wife died heroically fighting them off. After driving the enemies away, Foolish Big Guy cried bitterly holding his wife, after which he was so overwhelmed that he became amnesiac. He forgot his martial arts and original name, only remembering he came from the Southern region and needed to go to the Northern region to marry his new bride. For years, he wandered the world in a daze, only occasionally unconsciously displaying his unrivaled chopstick skills. His wife couldn’t bear to see him like this and was reborn as a small black cat. Foolish Big Guy and the black cat became inseparable friends from the moment they met, and eventually reached a place called Pine Forest Village, where Foolish Big Guy saw a small river in front of the village and subconsciously recalled the romantic moments of spinning millstones by the river with his wife... And then a few years later, a group of strangers arrived in Pine Forest Village, led by someone called Chen Jun—Ah Jun, this is your entrance!"

Not only did I find it absurd, but everyone else found it absurd too. We all looked at Qianqian with eyes of wonder like looking at a creature in an epic fantasy movie, Bingdisi was the first to react, grabbing Qianqian’s hand and shaking it hard: "I’m so impressed; I’ve seen wild imaginations before, but never ones with so much detail despite being far-fetched..."

"Stop it, stop it," I waved my hand to interrupt them, "Anyway, Bingdisi, you mean that Foolish Big Guy is secretly skilled—but he shouldn’t have anything to do with the Dark Moon War or the Goddess Sect, right?"

Bingdisi thought about it and nodded forcefully: "Oh right, let’s continue discussing the Goddess Sect."

Everyone: "... Tch."

Yet although Bingdisi brushed past this topic, Foolish Big Guy’s hidden talents left a question mark in everyone’s mind. How could a wanderer who didn’t even know how to read acquire a skill that takes years of training under a master? That’s likely a complex mystery—perhaps Qianqian’s wild imagination might have hit upon some truth?

But this wasn’t something the group cared about at the moment. Perhaps when we find the Divine Artifact’s whereabouts and stay a few more days in this world, we’ll try to unravel this secret. But for now, Foolish Big Guy’s matter will be set aside.

We gathered the Bible and various insights obtained during the day for research, eventually with Pandora and Visca going to sleep (trained by Big Sister’s biological clock), leaving a few of us continuing the discussion. Lin Xue summarized some things even Bingdisi hadn’t noticed—I couldn’t determine if it was derived from the Goddess’ Scripture or derived from her observational skills, but it sounded quite convincing.

"The historical records before the first Dark Moon War are rather suspicious," Miss said while scratching the hard cover of the Bible that had a burnt meat smell, looking very serious, "Firstly, in this world, it seems that only the Goddess’ Scripture is considered the sole authoritative ’historical document,’ and anything the Church doesn’t acknowledge is seen as fallacy or, at best, pseudo-history. And in this Bible, there are only a few paragraphs about the world before the first Dark Moon War: how the Goddess created the world, which races existed at the time, how these races coexisted peacefully during the first Heavenly Age, and how they eventually fought. That’s all about the history before the first Dark Moon War. Don’t you think a lot is missing?"

"No details, right?" Bingdisi was quick-witted and seemed to have noticed, "It mentions racial names and their nations during the Dark Moon War, but fails to mention the distribution of these nations across the world at the time or their relationships—this aspect is entirely generalized with the word ’harmonious’. Furthermore, it doesn’t mention how many races existed in the world before the first Dark Moon War, which was omitted even more egregiously, with only a sentence: many races lived on the earth, some perished after the war—not even a rough number."

"Ron said that the war fragmented history," I bared my teeth, "Of course, this has always been the church’s narrative."

Bingdisi chuckled, "Mm-hmm, maybe it’s not all deceit. Given the scale of the first war, it’s normal for there to be historical gaps. It’s just that the ’abridgment’ here is too obvious. Certain things that could be clearly explained are deliberately left out, as if the aim is to tell people: your history begins with the first war; anything prior is just a story, don’t care about it or inquire into it."

Indeed, Bingdisi’s summary is spot on: it’s about intent. The content recorded in the Goddess’ Scripture definitely has quite an evident intent. The content after the first war seems normal, but the material before the first war has clearly been artificially modified into "stories." By abbreviating details that could enhance realism, it guides the populace not to pursue the history before the war. This approach is quite understandable. If I told you a story and set up the historical context, character traits, culture, and even the world map, you’d probably think it’s true, and someone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies might chase down every character’s biography and the national geopolitics in the story. But if I boiled a history down to "Once upon a time, there was a mountain, and on it, an old king," you’d listen to it as a fairy tale. I doubt anyone in this world seriously researches the socio-political structure and social contradictions of Snow White’s era...

The religious classics issued by the Goddess Sect are essentially doing this: compiling the world’s history before the first war in the style of a fairy tale, subtly diminishing the presence of that period of history.

However, we are looking at this religious classic from the perspective of outsiders, so we can immediately see the disjointed connection between its opening Chapters and the subsequent ones. Ordinary people in this world might not be able to see it. Naturally, this doesn’t rule out the existence of devout reformists and those with a keen eye, who can see through the duplicity within the Goddess’ Scripture. Not all Otherworldly People are fools—though I suspect these perceptive individuals have been buried by the Heresy Tribunal in various places, so there’s no point discussing them.

Qianqian soon lost interest in these convoluted topics; she lay on the table yawning, "Just knowing this doesn’t clarify that goddess’s origins..."

"The church is hiding the truth of the first Dark Moon War, possibly to conceal the goddess’s true condition," Bingdisi suddenly snapped her fingers. "Haven’t you noticed? This so-called goddess is constrained in her actions?"

Seeing our curious expressions, Bingdisi continued to guide, "She can’t completely kill the Dark Moon Lord, nor completely eliminate the Dark Moon People. She can only temporarily close the Heaven and Earth Bridge for centuries, but she can’t completely separate the moon and the earth. There are two possibilities here: either she does it intentionally, leaving the Dark Moon People as a threat to maintain the Surface People’s faith. But that possibility is slim, given how a batch of demon armies is too difficult to control, certainly not as simple and direct as natural calamities. Also, throughout five consecutive Dark Moon Wars, only driving away, not killing those demons, would lower the goddess’s authority. Back when I was a scammer, I avoided embarrassing myself in front of followers; if someone bullied my people, I’d always aim to completely annihilate the enemy. So there’s only the second possibility: that ’goddess’ couldn’t handle the Dark Moon People at all. The so-called victories in the wars were just a facade. I even suspect that the goddess needs the Dark Moon War to appear before the world..."

I looked at Bingdisi with a stunned expression.

The female hooligan smiled faintly, "I just thought of it: that so-called ’goddess’ first appeared in recorded history during the Dark Moon War, and she only appeared five times, each time at the end of a war. Considering her ability to only temporarily halt the Dark Moon’s invasion without repelling it entirely and the deliberate downplaying of pre-war history by the Goddess Sect in its classic texts... perhaps the first war ’created’ this acting goddess. The divine artifact we’re seeking must have also been encountered for the first time by the locals during that war!"

Qianqian, after being led around in circles for so long, looked sleepy, rubbing her eyes as she looked at Bingdisi, "Why do you say I have a big imagination? Yours isn’t small either..."

Sister Bing took this as a compliment, smiling as she accepted it, then put away the Bible. The rain outside still poured. She looked at the curtain of rain through the grass-latticed window, stretching lazily, "Alright, we’ll continue tomorrow. The fastest Louse Spirit has reached the Imperial City and is digging through various libraries there. We’ll have leads in a day or two. I’m going to sleep first. If you three want to be shameless, remember to latch the door; I’m pure and chaste."

After saying this, the female hooligan zipped away, leaving Qianqian, Lin Xue, and me staring at each other...

Of course, I didn’t have the nerve to be "shameless" as Bingdisi suggested—honestly, even if I did have the nerve, it’s not something done here. In any case, the night passed without a word, and I slept soundly until daybreak, then...

I was jolted awake by the noise outside.

It sounded like outsiders had come to the village again. Villagers were on the street calling others to bring out the Village Chief and priest. We heard a robust voice shouting something like "gather" from outside the courtyard.

I tidied up and went into the courtyard to find everyone else already up. Lin Xue was squatting beside the black cat washing her face, Bingdisi was gazing at the sun in a daze, and Pandora and Visca were peering over the courtyard wall spying on the commotion outside. I greeted them all, noticing Qianqian was absent. "Where’s Qianqian?"

"Here she comes!" Qianqian’s loud voice rang from outside the courtyard just as I asked, and when her first "here" sounded like it was ten meters away, as her voice faded, she was already standing in front of me. The Foolish Big Guy then arrived a moment later in the courtyard, looking a bit apprehensive, "Some soldiers on horseback have come outside, saying they want to see the Village Chief."

"Looks like the Old Village Chief was right," Qianqian said, hopping in front of me for attention, forcing me to direct all my focus on her. "Recruitment officers from the Northern Fortress are here. They demand at least one-fifth of the able-bodied men from the village to report to the fortress to prepare for war against the Dark Moon. Ah Jun, shall we go watch the fun?"

"All you know is watching the fun!" Lin Xue, having finished her morning routine, wiped her hands on the nearby Little Black cat, then jabbed a finger at Qianqian’s forehead before grabbing my arm. "Wood, let’s go watch the fun..."

Everyone: "..."

By this time, a large crowd had gathered in the village square. About half of them came out after hearing about the recruitment to watch the spectacle, while the other half didn’t know about the recruitment but still came out to watch. Old Village Chief Keto and the priest Ron, who looked as though he planned to take revenge on society, were already negotiating with the recruitment officer.

I, of course, saw the recruitment officer from the National Knight Order. They were three in total, having dismounted and now standing on the ground. The three were dressed similarly: in half-armor that looked maneuverable, with overcoats featuring a sky-blue background and gold-red sword emblems. The armor visible beneath was shiny, clearly well-maintained, indicating that they were official knights sponsored by the state. All three wore longswords at their waists, with shields and other secondary weapons hung on their horses. Since these "recruitment officers" weren’t wearing helmets, I could see their appearances: standing before the Old Village Chief was a stout man with a dense beard and hair, his skin slightly dark but surely fairer than Ron. To his left was a tall, thin young man, his pointed ears catching my attention. His handsome appearance carried an air of valiance, suggesting he had elf blood. However, given his military background, even as a handsome elf, he wasn’t viewed by me as a rival like Yelsen. The third person, somewhat unexpectedly, was a woman under thirty, with red shoulder-length curly hair. Although her military life had coarsened her skin, she was still quite attractive.

Overall, these recruitment officers were somewhat different from what I had imagined...