Dharma Ring: Selling dung beetles at the border

Where to begin... the man thought, let's start with Tanith's life experience.

The mask Tanis is wearing was given to her by Master Rakad. It was made with reference to the image of a foreign queen and represents Lord Rakad's love. But Tanis herself is not a queen. She She was just a dancer, but she was favored by my king. During that time, my king was very obsessed with her and ignored her other concubines...

When the man said this, he grabbed the exposed muscles on his cheeks with both hands, drawing blood, with a ferocious expression on his face:

Obviously it was me who came first. I gave everything I had to dig out the hidden spells for the king and Lord Larcade, to allow my king to study the lost ancient secrets, and to give my king the power to resist the golden tree. I tried the law myself and personally Excavate all kinds of punishments for Lord Rakad and experience all kinds of pain...

The man scratched his face, and his sleeves slipped off, revealing a shape like a dead bone, infected with various toxins, covered with pustules and spots, and looked colorful.

Ah, Lord Racade, why, why do you favor that dancer...

La Ya took a step back and stepped on a corpse:

Are you...are you jealous of Lady Tanith? Who are you?

Lord Racade is a great king, and a king will naturally not have only one wife. The man's eyes were filled with turbid yellow, I am also Lord Racade's concubine. Long before Tanis came to the volcano, I That’s it.”

You are a man... Laya whispered.

This sentence seemed to sting the man. He rushed to La Ya and pressed her on the pile of corpses:

Do you think so too? Just because I'm a man, I'm not as good as Tanith, that dancer?

Muddy pus burst out from the man's eyes and flowed onto La Ya's face.

Laya recovered the snake-man's body in horror, burst out with great strength, and pushed the man out.

The man rolled several times on the ground, and there were obvious sounds of fractures.

Ah...are you still alive? Laya covered her mouth.

The man stood up as if nothing happened. Blood was smeared on his body through his clothes, as if there was blood bursting out of his body.

But there was no other expression on his face, as if this level of pain was nothing.

The man saw La Ya's snake-like form and smiled:

That dancing girl... Lord Rakad loves her so much, but she ignores Lord Rakad's love - I know, I can see it very clearly - every time Tanith is visited by Lord Rakad, She would secretly throw away Lord Larcade's favor, and even insist on taking contraceptive herbs every day. Perhaps it is to maintain her figure as a dancer - that stupid woman wasted the blessing she received.

Laya said: Lord Tanis obviously loves my father very much, I can see it. How do you know so clearly?

Of course I know. The man stared straight at Laya, You entered here through the secret passage. Who do you think built the secret passage? In the secret passage, I can see every move in the room. Every time, I They are all watching, and every time Tanis wastes those blessings, I will take them back.

Pick it back... The obvious expression could be seen on Laya's snake-like face, which was very different from humans.

What a delicious blessing Tanis wasted. The man licked his lips, and when she realized her stupidity, it was already too late.

Laya took a few more steps back, but even the mountain of corpses behind her couldn't stop him. The snake man's eyes were filled with uncertainty. It was not fear, but more like a rejection of twisted and abnormal things.

The man laughed: Of course Tanis loves Lord Racade, but she understood her love for Racade too late. By the time she woke up, Lord Racade had already ignored the love between his children. It's me, When Lord Rakad is in trouble, Lord Rakad finds me, not Tanis!”

The man reached into the tattered clothes and took out something from inside. It was an amniotic membrane, sticky and moist, with an embryo of a small snake wrapped inside.

When did you... Laya subconsciously looked at her amniotic membrane and found that it was still there.

If you look closely, you can see that the man's amniotic membrane is much smaller, as if it has become smaller to match La Ya's snake-like shape and human body shape.

When Master Racade raised his sword towards the golden tree, what he needed was more power. But the people under the golden tree have long lost the idea and ability to have children. If the volcano fights against the golden tree, our numbers will only get worse. The less. The man said, Lord Larcade needs new power.

Laya lowered her head and looked at her body:

New power...

The man said, You're very sensible, kid. Remember the church where you got the amnion?

La Ya nodded subconsciously.

In that bright red church, the amniotic membrane was placed on the altar of the church. On top of the holy platform, a huge snake skin covered the top like a curtain.

That's the new knowledge I've gained for my king. It's a way to produce a new force of troops, and it's also the way Lacard can finally resist the golden tree. The man chuckled, There is a tree hanging on the Gemir volcano. Old snake, as long as you let the old snake swallow the power, it will shed its skin and give birth.

The man lifted up his trousers, revealing a pair of bony legs. Not metaphorically, the skin and muscles on the two legs have disappeared, leaving only some bones, reinforced and supported by steel.

In order to verify this secret technique, I personally fed the old snake for a long time, cut off the meat, let the meat grow back, and continued to cut off and feed... I successfully let it shed its skin and gave birth to a nest of baby snakes.

The man looked at the giant snake in the distance:

That's the key to our victory.

...The snake skin in the church is obviously not that big. Laya murmured.

The snake skin in the church can at most be used as a church curtain. If the giant beast in front of him sheds its skin, the skin might not be able to cover the entire crater.

Snakes are immortal and grow forever. The more they eat, the faster they grow. That's why she is the key to our victory. The man said, My king Rakkad said that he saw it, he saw it, I saw a future where the whole world was swallowed up by a giant snake.”

Looking at the giant snake, Laya was indeed shocked and felt the inheritance of blood.

The man didn't lie, he did come from that giant snake.

Is this the truth that Lady Tanis wants to hide from me...

Before La Ya could recover from the shock, she heard the man laughing heartily.

Your mother - your false mother, when she fell in love with Lord Rakkad, she no longer had the chance to bear children for him. Haha, hahaha... I still had the last laugh, for Rakkad I am the one who gave birth to children in Deda!

The man crushed the amniotic membrane in his hands and tore his clothes with both hands, revealing his body covered by the tattered shirt.

The moment she saw the man's body, La Ya's pupils shrank like never before.

The man's thin body was densely surrounded by tumors. It looks like a strawberry, but each strawberry seed is deformed and swollen, but it still looks like it is hanging on the surface with broken roots. It's like the pores all over his body have turned into eyeballs and protruded out, leaving only slender fibers and nerve connections.

In each translucent tumor, there is a small snake squirming inside.

There are still some tumors on the body that have ruptured, and small unformed snakes mixed with amniotic fluid and blood are slowly flowing down from the man's body. They seem to have been crushed when he fell.

The man opened his arms, proudly showing off his deformed demeanor, and his eyes suddenly looked kind to La Ya:

Little Laya, your biological mother is me.

A scream passed through the audience hall, and Laya fell on the pile of corpses, got up in panic, and moved away from the man.

But La Ya couldn't stand firmly and fell down again and again.

The man was also a little unsteady on his feet.

The ground began to shake, and La Ya's screams alarmed the old snake. The fist that was pointing toward the sky twitched and stretched out a snake head.

Just a glance of giant lamp-like eyes made La Ya feel paralyzed.

The eyes like lava lamps were cold and emotionless. The giant snake rubbed on the ground and swam towards La Ya at a terrifying speed.

In a few breaths, he had already caught up with La Ya, opened his huge mouth, and was ready to swallow it in one gulp.

La Ya clearly saw that inside the huge mouths, many bloody hands were stained on the inner walls of the mouths, waving at her and grabbing her.

Mom! Laya closed her eyes and screamed for the last time.

The ground shook again, but this time it came from the other side.

A burly figure flew toward La Ya from a distance, reaching La Ya even faster than the giant snake.

The figure did not stop, lowering his body and crossing the snake's jaw. Then he raised the sledgehammer in his hand and beat it hard from top to bottom.

The big snake's jaw was smashed, and it rose up uncontrollably and slowly fell down.

Uncle Bernard? Laya had no strength left and could only stare blankly at the figure who saved her.

Bernal turned around, picked up La Ya with one hand, left the audience hall in a few ups and downs, and ran out of the small hole.

The old snake was awakened but did not get any food. It raged in the audience hall and gnawed at the pile of corpses at will.

It saw the man who was unsteady on his feet amid the tremors of the earth, and rushed over without hesitation.

The man saw the giant snake and stretched out his arms:

My king, you are finally willing to eat me, let me become your clansman...together forever...

A violent impact and roar sounded behind him, and even though he had run far away, the ground was still shaken.

Bernard threw Laya to the ground:

You're safe, go back to your mother's place.

Mom... who is my mother...? Laya was already in a daze after being frightened repeatedly. Is it that man...

You mean Didica? Bernal sighed softly, He used to be a very gentle person, but since Tanis came to the volcano, he has gradually become extreme.

So he became the leader of Volcano Punishment? Laya said.

That's not true. He has been in this business for a long time. Bernal corrected, He used to be very gentle when peeling off his own skin, but now he has a sense of resentment.

La Ya was silent and said nothing.

Am I... better off being eaten? Laya said.

You can go back if you want. Bernal didn't care.

La Ya looked at the hole she escaped from, but she was too scared to move her feet.

Uncle Bernal, what are you doing here?

Me? I come to see Larcade from time to time. Bernal said, When I heard you screaming, I took you back.

Have you known the truth for a long time? Laya said.

Which one are you referring to? Bernal asked, The descendant of the Golden Tree, or Rakad?

Laya grabbed her arm and drew blood marks:

He said... I am his child. The child of Orochi and his...

He is a man, how can you be his child? Bernal said, He is farting.

But he has those things on his body... Laya recalled the horrific scene and shook her head repeatedly.

Didn't Tanith tell you about your birth? Bernal said.

Mother said I was the child of the great king... Laya was a little lost. Mother... Lord Tanis lied to me...

What did Didica say? Bernal asked.

He...he said the same thing.

Yes, the son of the great king. So do you think he is the great king, or is that big snake the great king?

Bernal picked up the big mallet in his hand and pointed at the sculptural hammer head with a giant snake surrounding a ball.

snake?

Of course it's Racade. Bernal said, In a sense, you are indeed Racade's child, and you can also be regarded as Ditica's child.

La Ya gradually woke up:

Yes, why is it a combination with the king? Lord Tanis... and him, they all said that my father is Lord Racade... But from his story, I didn't see Lord Racade... …”

Bernal said: Have you noticed any difference between the thing in your hand and the thing on Didica's body?

Laya looked at the amniotic membrane in her hand. Apart from the difference in size, the embryo in her hand was obviously more mature and had developed into a human shape.

Human form...

Raya recalled the horrific scene that impressed her so vividly, and discovered the difference.

The amniotic membrane on Ditica's body was turbid on the outside, as if separated by a layer of soft and translucent eggshell, and the embryo inside was also a small snake, not a snake-man with arms and legs.

Only food that is powerful enough can affect the fertility of the old snake. Bernal said, No matter how Ditica feeds his own flesh and blood or transplants the blood of the old snake, he can only breed snakes.

As for the Snake Man, it was Larkard who personally fed the big snake with his own demigod blood, and the Snake Man with hands and feet was born. Only the old snake, which was originally small, could grow to be so huge.

Bernal concluded: So, your father is indeed Rakad, and your biological mother is the old snake, and Didica did make an outstanding contribution to your birth. It is not wrong to say that she is your mother.

Laya murmured: So... this is what it means to meet my parents... This is the truth that Lady Tanith has been hiding from me...

La Ya knelt on the ground and huddled up.

She understood what a white lie was like never before, and Raya could now deeply feel Tanith's love and protection.

But the truth was so shocking that La Ya no longer had the energy to think about Tanis.

All that flashed through his mind were the horrific punishments and cursed rituals, the densely packed snake eggs on the man's body, and the giant snake's mouth full of tentacles that kept waving to him...

La Ya vomited and put her hands on the ground, unable to suppress her nausea.

Putting her hands on the ground, La Ya saw her own hands, those slender hands that did not belong to the human body.

It was neither a snake nor a human body.

La Ya almost panicked and transformed into a human form, curling up into a ball.

But she really huddled up, and that comfortable posture immediately made her aware of her hunchback.

Even if she transforms into a human form, she can always feel her true form.

She used to be proud of this, and it always reminded her of her identity and her pride. Now it has become a nightmare that she cannot escape.

Uncle Bernal...can you...kill me? La Ya's deep voice was trembling, I...I don't dare myself...can I ask you to kill me...

No. Bernal was very decisive, and his voice of rejection seemed to be gnashing out, making La Ya's body tremble again.

Laya looked at Bernal and saw that he was holding the handle of the hammer tightly and his body was shaking slightly, as if he was suppressing some overwhelming anger.

But the anger was not directed at her, it seemed that La Ya's words aroused Bernal's memories.

Bernal noticed La Ya's eyes, took a deep breath, and his tone returned to calm:

Laya, remember, the blasphemy and filth of the volcano, our ugliness... are all because the golden tree betrayed us. The splendid royal court is prosperous, not because they are civilized, but because they are so powerful that they don't need to show their ugliness. .”

Bernal picked up the mallet and walked towards the audience hall:

But you do not belong to the volcano. Tanis has protected you so well. Decide your own future and find a way to carry your blasphemy and filth.

Laya looked at Bernal's retreating figure and curled up with tears silently.

How could anyone carry such filth? Even her mother used lies to cover it up. She wanted to kill herself just by recalling her origins...

========

Look what good stuff I got. Wuming raised something high and smiled happily.

It was a deformed and enlarged branch, in the shape of a column, with small red tumors growing densely on the column.

Wuming picked off a small tumor, stuffed it into his mouth, and ate it with gusto.

Hey, what's so disgusting? Patch and the surrounding employees took a step back.

It's a new product sent from Stone City. Wuming said, Grek's improved Roa fruit relies on limb grafting technology to allow such a plant to grow ten times and a hundred times the size of Roa fruit. The yield has doubled. Great increase!

No wonder it looks so disgusting. Melina said, It looks like a limb replacement. Don't even eat this Toret...

Melina looked down and saw that Torrett was chewing a huge cylindrical plant in his mouth, with red liquid continuously erupting from his mouth.

Torrett? Melina felt for the first time that she didn't know Torett well enough.

Wuming laughed loudly: You are still smart and know the goods.

Wuming mentioned the deformed plant:

You know, our textiles also rely on the Roja fruit. With this thing, the loss of the silk business over the insect can be greatly made up for.

This is good stuff, but you don't know what it is. Wuming lamented the employees' short-sightedness.

The employees expressed their gratitude and stayed away from Wuming's plant, as if some bug would burst out of it in the next second.

Melina also pulled Torret back and gnawed on the octopus leg without saying a word.

Ah, speaking of this, the chef has developed another dish. Wuming saw the octopus legs that Melina was eating, suddenly remembered something, and announced happily to Melina.

What? Melina stopped retreating and took a few steps forward.

Wait. Wuming went to the gangster who had turned into a caravan chef and asked for a plate of thick and sticky white substances. The white substances were intertwined together to form a ball, just like the intertwined... Like an octopus.

Melina lost interest when she saw it: What is this?

Octopus sperm pods. Wuming said.

Melina took a step back calmly.

I heard it's delicious. Wuming said.

Then have you eaten? Melina said expressionlessly.

I have no sense of taste. Wuming said, Come and try this new dish, but you have to pay attention to the angle of your bite when eating, otherwise it will explode in your mouth and burrow into the muscles of your mouth. There are several over there The children of bad omen have been sent to the perfumer for treatment. I heard that it is quite troublesome to dig them out from the mouth.

Thank you, I can't eat it. Melina refused.

Oh, by the way, I forgot that you are also a spirit body. Wuming said, Wait for me to process it for you - in fact, my method is also simple, just inject the soul, and use a curse to make the soul and the entity The boundaries have become blurred...

After some manipulation by Wuming, the sticky white balls on the plate changed as expected - every bulge in the sticky ball struggled to reveal a face full of resentment, as if the sperm pods were filled with seeds other than life. , but a resentful soul.

Or a seed possessed by a resentful spirit.

The food looks good. Wuming was pleasantly surprised by the change in appearance of the dish. It reminds me of an old man. From now on, this dish will be called... Cold Red Turban, how about it?

Wuming wanted to ask for Melina's opinion, but when he looked up, he found that Melina had already run away.

Wuming shook his head: I don't know the goods.

As he spoke, he poured the plate into his mouth along the slit of the helmet. The thick, bubbling white substance seeped into Wuming's mouth along the breathing holes, occasionally bubbling and bursting on the helmet. When it broke, there was a faint roar of resentful souls.

Wuming burped and exhaled a burst of resentment, which vaguely formed the head of a ghost, and then slowly dissipated in the air.

What should I do next? There are too many things to do, but I don't know what to do... Wuming felt the worries of happiness and felt that everything around him was prosperous.

Although the volcano no longer interacts with caravans, a large number of faded people have gone to Yatan, and the business of the unknown caravan has been much better recently. They set up a temporary camp at Sanchakou, and business was very good every day.

The results of other partners are also starting to show.

Malemare sent over many repaired golems, which temporarily alleviated the problem of limited trolls and insufficient labor.

The academy is also making rapid progress. With the brainstorming of various talents, it is said that Lani's new body has been iterated for several generations, and each generation is extremely powerful.

Wuming counted the time and realized that the faded ones had been in the Asian Altar for a long enough time. It must have been as he imagined, and they must have greatly impacted the old order of the Asian Altar.

It's time to go to the royal city. Wuming thought to himself.

Wuming found Mengt, Lance Sanks and others and asked them to discuss arrangements, while he prepared the fleet and tribute gifts, and planned the details of the business.

Just as they were planning, an army from the royal city came over, well-dressed, well-equipped, and resolute. The knights and soldiers arrayed themselves in a majestic array.

Are you here to pick us up? Wuming asked, thinking it was Mengt and the others who came for them.

He's here to expel us. Pachi, who was responsible for welcoming him, came back and replied to Wuming.