Chapter 1176 Slave Knights of Paradise City
The ancient kingdom of Parthia, the city of Heaven. Twenty miles outside the city.
A group of scattered civilians, wearing long robes and wrapped in cloth on their heads, were trudging through the desert with difficulty.
They were accompanied only by two camels, which were heavily laden with luggage, which also slowed their progress.
"Uncle, I'm so tired..."
A dusty child with a childish voice said tiredly: "I want to drink water..."
Whether it was her appearance or her voice, it was impossible to tell whether she was a man or a woman. Her dark skin and skinny body made her look as ugly as a little monkey.
"Hold on a little longer, Kasan!"
The man leading the camel whispered, "We're almost there..."
He looked around and carefully pulled a palm-sized, flat black clay pot from the camel's saddlebag. It could hold about a liter of water, but now, as it swayed, a clear, rain-like sound could be heard—it was obvious that the water inside was almost empty.
Pairs of eyes were staring at them vaguely. The man leading the camel tried his best to straighten his back and use his body to block the gaze.
The little girl had only taken a small sip when the man snatched the kettle away. He didn't want to drink the water, so he just used the water on the bottle mouth to scrape his chapped lips to moisten them, then put the cork back in.
After getting the water, the girl calmed down.
The convoy continued to move forward silently in the whirlwind of yellow sand.
In the desert, midday heat is intense, while nights can be incredibly cold. Comfortable walking is rare, and the early morning hours are one of them. They had been walking since they left camp at four in the morning.
"The oasis is just ahead. What a great oasis. An oasis of this size... Praise be to the generous Adil."
A middle-aged woman muttered mysteriously, "Everything will be fine once we get to Paradise City."
Her clothes were the best of the crowd, and you could even see several gold chains around her neck, and gold bracelets and jeweled rings on her hands. Clearly, in her other city-state, even among the free people, she was considered wealthy and well-off. Even in her new city-state, she was confident she could redeem her fate.
But a skinny man in the corner of the convoy didn't think so.
His name was Jaber, and he was the lowest among the group.
Of course, he was a free man, not a slave—when they first fled the city-state that had been ruined by the defeat, they actually brought slaves with them. But soon, these slaves died of starvation and thirst one after another.
Although the price of buying a slave could buy half a camel, not to mention the food and water, in the desert, nothing is more precious than food and water.
When Jabir got up to go to the bathroom a week ago, he clearly saw... some people sipping blood in the dark.
They were thirsty, but water was scarce, and they sought blood to moisten their mouths.
They soon spotted Jabir, who was watching from the shadows, and invited him to come along.
Jaber agreed.
He didn't dare to disagree.
When they woke up the next day, no one cared about the slaves who had died in their sleep, and they were on their way again.
But at least he was alive and opened his eyes.
From then on, the surviving slaves were given a gift: a mouthful of water and urine. However, Jabir knew that this was only for the purpose of keeping the animals fed before slaughter.
The number of slaves decreased by two or three per day, and occasionally he could drink a sip to quench his thirst. It was then that he realized... blood is salty, and the more he drinks, the thirstier he becomes.
That was the curse in his blood. He was even thirstier.
The bad news is... since yesterday, all the slaves have died. After the slaves died, he became the lowest-ranking member of the team.
Jabir was unemployed. He was a beggar, or rather, a charlatan. He used a tortoise-shell tablet inherited from his grandfather to tell fortunes. But he didn't actually know how to tell fortunes. His grandfather had died young, and he had never learned. And it was widely known that he couldn't tell fortunes.
Because of this, Jabir's divination was more of a performance than a divination—and he later incorporated more performances, such as spitting out a sharpened stone to pierce a loaf of bread he had thrown into the air, or shooting an arrow with his backhand to shatter a pottery jar containing different tortoise shells.
But Jabir was clever. No matter what the divination result was, he would interpret it as ambiguous good news. Because of this, people loved to listen to his divination, and his business continued to grow.
One day, when he felt that he was in the right state, he excitedly said the same words to the 30th person, solemnly guaranteeing that he would be safe.
And after that, the city-state was suddenly destroyed.
That's the Dry Water Army!
After some good leaders of their own city-states were killed by the rebels and lost their water sources forever, they retaliated by attacking and looting bandits in other city-states!
They hated the civilians and slaves living in the oasis. While they would capture and kidnap some slaves to sell to the goblins in exchange for supplies, they would otherwise kill anyone they saw. They were jealous of those who lived in the oasis, and also because the rebels who dared to rebel against the good lords were born among them.
Out of hatred and jealousy, these civilians who had seized the property of the good man and were armed, mercilessly swung their machetes at the civilians of another city.
On his way to escape, he came across a field of corpses. All thirty people he had blessed had fallen to the ground, not a single one alive.
As they regrouped outside the city, word spread—everyone knew that Jaber had promised to kill the thirty safe men.
So he became a trickster. Jabir the Trickster... and some even call it a curse. It was his curse that brought the Dry Water Army, destroying their families and forcing them to flee here.
The only option they had was to go to other city-states.
Almost all city-states would capture refugees from other city-states and enslave them.
Every Parthian knows this truth: today's free men could become slaves tomorrow, and once a slave, they would always be slaves.
There are very few city-states that accept outsiders, and Paradise City is one of them.
Many travelers and merchants passing through Paradise City would praise its sacred splendor. Many freedmen came from other city-states, living peacefully and contentedly in a clean, beautiful city filled with green trees and clear springs, enjoying an endless supply of delicious food. Their only duty was to praise it.
——Can money buy holiness?
If this question were to happen in a foreign country, it might be debated: Money can buy happiness, peace of mind, success, prestige... but can it buy true holiness? Can a wealthy person truly become a saint, venerated by the people?
And in Rest, the answer is self-evident—only money can buy holiness.
Anything that cannot bring them a good life is considered "false holiness" in the eyes of the Parthians.
Jabir couldn't help but have a simple doubt in his heart -
...Where does the money of the benefactor of Paradise City come from?
He is good to everyone, so why can't other good people do the same?
Is it really true that he doesn't need to pay any price to do these things?
And just at this moment.
Suddenly, a group of camel cavalry rushed out from the oasis ahead.
There was a cloud of dust behind them, and voices of surprise appeared in the crowd: "He's here to pick us up!"
"wrong!"
The man leading the camel had better eyesight, so he noticed the details and his expression suddenly changed drastically: "It's a slave-catching team!"
There was a sudden chaos among the crowd, but the mysterious middle-aged woman said firmly: "This is to welcome us! Praise the generous Adil - you should also praise Adil, he will not attack us!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the cavalrymen rushed to them at an extraordinary speed.
The middle-aged woman immediately shouted at the top of her voice: "Praise the generous Adil! Praise the kind Adil! We are here..."
Before she could finish her words, a pair of transparent dim yellow shackles were wrapped around her neck!
——Those are soul shackles.
Slave-hunters only use this spell when capturing slaves or performing sacrifices—it can directly bind the soul, thereby suppressing and sealing the opponent's mana pool. Even extraordinary beings, without the ability to use their mana, are as vulnerable as mortals.
She clutched the shackles with both hands in terror as she was violently dragged through the desert, her words choked back by the dust.
"Hahahaha! I'm a rich kid!"
The one who caught him was a man wearing fine leather armor.
He boasted to another person, "All the mutton fat is mine!"
"Sir, we are all free men!"
The man who was watching the camels called out, "We have come to the generous Adil!"
"Oh," the man said lazily, dragging the middle-aged woman back violently like a fisherman pulling in a net, a cruel smile on his face, "Who knows."
"Generous Adil blesses the free people—"
The man felt a strong sense of uneasiness and fear, but he still protected the little girl and tried his best to straighten his chest.
The next moment, he was caught by the throat by a chain flying from the hands of another camel cavalryman.
"I don't see any free folk."
The dark-skinned slave knight showed his white teeth: "Aren't these all slaves we captured?"
The slave knights moved swiftly through the crowd, chains flying out amid shouts and screams.
And they soon surrounded the slave knight who took the lead.
"Huo, you're rich. These big gold chains."
"This fat woman can't be sold for a price anyway, so just kill her."
"No hurry, let's go back to the city. It's a shame to waste all this mutton—do me a favor and chop off her finger. It's too fat, and the ring can't be pulled off."
"Hahaha, then you have to give us some!"
"Brothers, you really believed me when I told you everything belonged to me!"
The slave knights burst into laughter, and as their swords chopped off, the blood-stained severed fingers and golden rings flew into the yellow sand.
But the moment Jabir was entangled in the chains, his mood became extremely peaceful.
He finally understood why so many people came to seek refuge with Adil, but Paradise City didn't overflow...
If the free people arrive at the City of Paradise, they will naturally enjoy Adil's protection and kindness.
But the question is...can they get there?
They can't get there.
I have a bit of a headache today, so I'll update one chapter first. I'll post whatever I write!
(End of this chapter)
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