Damn it, this boss really has no normal skills.

Chapter 391 Compromise, one step at a time

Ji Ming had no way of knowing how the Wendigo would react, so he simply circled the name of the Viper on the camp of the Jungle Church with a pen.

"Thyme, in fact, it's not just you and Bai La. She is also one of ours, and it started from the time of Jueqiao Pass."

"Jueqiao Pass... Ugh!"

Thyme suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Viper, who was known for his strong beliefs, mental illness, and impatience, actually started to learn to make plans after launching his first assassination.

——It turns out that the brain was restored by God!

As expected of God, he can even fill this IQ gap. He is indeed more powerful than that old guy in Mi Lin (thumbs-up).

After that, Thyme, whose desire for research was aroused, originally wanted to stay in the underground world for a little longer. After all, there was a lot of knowledge in the library here that the Jungle Church did not have.

But Ji Ming couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be any other accidents tomorrow, and he needed to move the teleportation array, which could only change its location once a day, to another place, so he returned to the Vine Valley as soon as possible.

After reuniting with Chloe outside the valley, Ji Ming took a few steps along the stream and summarized the current operational results.

On the Jungle Church side, those who do things have to listen to him, and those who supervise have to listen to him; and on the Northbound Team side, he can also participate in key decision-making within the team.

In addition, he also has more or less say in the Church of Holy Light, the Holy Throne of Souls, the Church of Shadows, the Pioneers, and those small insects who believe in God or not.

In other words, on this court, whether it is the referee or the players on both sides, they all seem to be his people now.

...It's amazing. What's the feeling of playing chess with myself, and playing Four-Nation Military Chess?

But it's a good thing to be able to be sure of success. Now that the layout is completed, we just need to follow the procedures step by step to completely eradicate all the layouts of the Jungle Church in the Glowing Kingdom, and at the same time let the northbound team return to the capital with peace of mind.

But they had finally arrived at the center of the kingdom, which was relatively, perhaps, safer. The terrain had also changed from hills to plains, making the road much easier to walk on. However, the team's movement speed had slowed down.

Because they began to selectively take detours and briefly stop in the territories of some nobles, it was obvious that they were trying to do something. Ji Ming watched for two days and asked Thyme about the situation of these nobles.

All I can say is that a hero is a hero. No matter how bad the enemy is, you have to straighten your expression when you mention him.

"Their ancestors were all military heroes. Although they did not openly take sides more than a decade ago, they secretly provided manpower and money to support Marquis Changge's career."

So this wave can be regarded as... the old ministers of the imperial dynasty are taking the prince's orphan daughter to pay homage to the mountain?
It’s a pity that everyone supported the Marquis back then because they still held their breath in their hearts and there was still some light in the sky shining on the grave of their ancestors where no smoke was coming out.

However, that humiliation more than ten years ago...

Tsk.

Therefore, Tenis and Eleanor had the green light all the way and were welcomed by the local nobles with the highest standard of hospitality.

But as for actual support...

Sorry, even though Tenis was almost making it clear, they still avoided the question and said that they could only provide any support except support.

Only an old nobleman who was already very old and had once been a general said something at the end of the conversation.

"Just give up and let the future little princess live a peaceful life, isn't it good?"

Tenith frowned.

"Brother, do you think I'm talking to you about her personal affairs?"

The old fellow had a strange expression on his face when he was called "brother", but he could only respond like he did when he was young, with vague words.

"She... isn't she? I think she is."

"Don't pretend you don't understand! It's not just a trivial matter on the surface. Don't you understand what the Deep Forest Man means?"

"I……"

The old nobleman was cornered by her words. After a long while, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

"Yes, and not only do I know, but everyone knows it!"

Tenis asked immediately.

"If you know, then why do you still..."

"Because there is no other way!"

The old nobleman blushed as he uttered this sentence, then stood up tremblingly with the help of his cane.

"That battle back then... was so traumatic! Everyone has lost their will... At worst, we can just change one... That's it!"

Watching him fleeing from the secret room, Tenis slowly pondered over these words, and gradually understood what all the nobles along the way were trying to express.

compromise.

It's just history repeating itself again...

Since Deep Forest and Glow were good brothers who could join hands to divide the civilized world five hundred years ago, there must be very complicated reasons why it has become such a delicate situation today.

But in the final analysis, it’s just two points.

——As a time traveler from Yanhuang, although the Deep Forest was built by Little Lion according to the standards of the Han and Tang Dynasties in the alien world, plans can never keep up with changes, and many things cannot be solved by one or two tough guys sent from heaven.

Therefore, he died young and only had time to teach Shen Lin what it meant to pacify the barbarians and what "barbarism" meant, but he failed to teach them what it meant to stop fighting and what "civilization" meant. As a result, Shen Lin, which was born without a foundation, gradually turned into a pure war machine.

So more than a hundred years ago, the entire Deep Forest was hit by a disaster, and the equally hungry northern nomads also brazenly moved southward. In this national chaos, the eastern border troops who had not had any pay for months simply sent soldiers to act as bandits, rushed into Huiguang, and plundered eighteen villages in a row.

With such rampant behavior, the second reason began to emerge.

——After suffering such a great humiliation, the Huiguang court was furious, but when everyone was waiting to see a war between the two countries, they... were really just angry for a moment.

The core aristocratic group, who were cautious and hesitant, did not send out troops at all. Instead, they announced that they had sent people to negotiate with Shen Lin, asking them to restrain their troops and stop the looting.

But it was useless to reason with the people of Deep Forest. Having tasted the sweetness, they would never stop. What they got in return was naturally the mockery of "They are just border bandits. What do they have to do with us in Deep Forest? If you are unhappy, you can also send troops to suppress the bandits."

"Damn it, this is an insult to us!"

Even in such a situation, the Glorious Nobles at that time still had some backbone. Under the leadership of the Northeast Noble Group, they pooled money and manpower and actually formed an army to suppress bandits.

But the Huiguang Wuhou, who had been at peace for a long time, was no longer the iron-blooded warrior who waved the Sun King's flag and broke through the 18 formations of the elves. Now even the small bandits who followed him were sweating profusely. After one of them accidentally entered the encirclement of the bandits in the deep forest, he was completely defeated and charged in the opposite direction in an instant, as if Cheng Wan was reborn; he was defeated like Kaishen, and lost miserably.

Such a simple, easy and satisfying victory even left everyone in Shenlin stunned.

I just... please, I just want to disgust you out of politeness, why are you so upset?

Moreover, capturing so many Glowing nobles at once was quite a hassle, so Shen Lin quickly contacted the Glowing royal family.

"We have redeemed the person for you. If you help pay the principal, we will return him to you in the same condition. Please do it quickly!"

But this great defeat has torn off the last fig leaf between the major aristocratic groups within Huiguang, so that the Northeast Group, as the largest force, has only redeemed the group of people that belonged to it. No matter how the Deep Forest people hinted at the rest, they almost shouted the slogan of buy one get one free.

It was only then that the petty nobles from all over the country scraped together some money and food, with the help of the Duke Jueqiao of that time, and even wrote IOUs, that they were able to redeem their relatives and bring them home.

And having said so much, the only ones who can go home are the nobles who serve as the backbone of the team.

As for those veterans who have been through many battles, the knights who have practiced martial arts...

This is the good thing about aristocrats: when they pretend to be blind, they really can't see anything.

But the people of Shenlin collected the money with their eyes open, and all this fell into their eyes, that was -

"Hehe, I think no one wants this Western Territory anymore."

After that, the Deep Forest people became even more unscrupulous. If they had nothing or needed anything, they would just rush down the mountain to ask the Glow People for it.

It was precisely under this kind of thinking inertia that the two sides maintained a "peaceful" relationship of eating and being eaten for decades until twenty years ago.

At that time, the lion from the grassland had established the Pemos Khanate and unified the grassland tribes with absolute force and kingly way. Therefore, the nomadic migration to the south that year was particularly exciting.

The Northern nobles, who were used to playing PVE tower defense games and might even be able to plunder in return, turned the difficulty up to the maximum and were blasted through their defenses by a counterattack.

Even though they took great pains to finally drive away all the invaders, the losses were astronomical when they saw the northern border towns being looted.

So……

This time they were so rampant that many soldiers didn't even bother to take off the Deep Forest Badge and rushed directly into the Glow People's village to loot.

Not only did they rob, but after their defeat they also vented their anger on innocent civilians. Countless settlements were massacred, and for a time the entire western part of Glorious was filled with grief.

The Deep Forest people, who had suffered heavy bleeding, were particularly greedy this time. They penetrated deeper into the borders of the Glowing Country than ever before. After encountering resistance from the locals, they actually launched a massacre in the Glass City. Countless civilians were slaughtered, and even the viscount who was the lord "disappeared" in the chaos.

Friends who often play "Mount & Blade" know that in the medieval environment, even if they are all part of the army, lords of noble birth and soldiers of commoner birth are two different things.

Soldiers, or civilians, have cheap lives. No one cares whether they are killed or sold. But it is different for nobles. You can only feed them well and wait for the ransom from their families. If you kill them, you will lose the favorability of all lords in the whole map, no matter they are enemies or friends!

After all, this is the master, the master, the master... Can the master be killed! ?
If they dare to kill the young master today, I dare not even think about what they will dare to kill tomorrow!

So there was an uproar in the Huiguang court, and everyone from top to bottom was waiting for the opinions of the great nobles.

——If I don’t say anything this time, I’ll really lose all my face!

The nobleman: Haha, it doesn’t matter, I have no shame.

It was also in this situation that, after repeated tolerance, people who were willing to resist finally stood up.

but.

This is Marquis Changge, the most dazzling star of the younger generation in the Glowing Kingdom. From his family background to his strength and ability, not to mention his peers, even old guys have to admit defeat when they see him.

This is Princess Mengquan, the youngest princess ever to be granted the title of princess. She is first-rate in both domestic affairs and intelligence, and has managed to become a favorite in the royal circle where people can't wait to tear each other apart as soon as they meet.

These two alone can write a sweet and refreshing CP lock-in career article. Their subsequent battles have been smooth sailing, which can be said to be a heaven-defying fortune.

But that's it.

That’s it!
In the end, both of them died in exchange for the orphan girl's survival.

So, we still...

"forget it!"

When the northbound team was about to leave the noble territory, the old noble looked into Tenis's eyes, shook his head and repeated the sentence again.

Tenith said nothing, but got into the carriage in silence.

The old lady's defense was probably really broken. After that, the team heading north never went to the nobles' castle again. Even if they needed supplies, they would go to towns and villages along the way and would not have any communication with the local nobles.

And although the direction of travel has not changed, many turns along the way have been cancelled. Now the team is heading towards the royal capital in a nearly straight line.

Although Eleanor did not participate in the entire process, she could roughly guess what the outcome of the negotiation would be. However, due to her past education, her expectations were not that paranoid, so she acquiesced to Tenis's temporary giving up.

As for the little lion... he was very ethical and knew he was a prisoner, so he didn't have any opinions throughout the whole process. He just wanted to be well fed and watered.

but!

Ji Ming: I have an opinion!
I've worked so hard running around just to overthrow the Jungle Church and all the insects along with it, and now I'm just one step away and you guys are letting me down. You're really only thinking about yourselves!
So on the second day, a caravan traveling through a forest was surprised to find a giant wolf lying across the road in front of it, and it didn't move away when it saw people coming.

"What! Even a dog dares to bully me?"

As a result, the appearance of Chloe became the last straw that broke the camel's back for the Archbishop. Upon hearing about this, she rushed out with her lance in hand.

Chloe: I'll test it.

Seeing that she was about to be shot to death, she ran at full speed like thunder and lightning, moving flexibly in the mountains, and "accidentally" lured Tenis to discover a cave with traces of burning.

"Wait, there is the aura of evil god sacrifice here!"

Tenis had to give up the idea of ​​kicking the big dog in the stomach and stayed to carefully examine the cave. As a result, she actually discovered something with her keen perception.

"...This damaged emblem belongs to...the Deep Moon Family?"

(End of this chapter)