The portable grandfathers that appear are all problematic.

What kind of jobs could there be in a place like the capital city that doesn't produce anything? Only birthing factories!

Seeing this healthy, cheerful, and energetic border girl going to work in that hellish place, Lan Lin'er felt nauseous just thinking about how this girl would be given large amounts of veterinary drugs to induce arousal, and then, under the influence of hormones, become like a sow, and then be turned into a machine that kept breeding like a pig.

Those of your clansmen who originally went to work in the capital may never come back!

They've all become pigs, relegated to the breeding factory...

Don't go! I'm begging you, that place is hell!

She finally understood what the slave-catching team in the birthing factory was for. She guessed that her capture was just a side effect. The professional slave-catching team of the birthing factory in the capital was there to capture these children from the countryside who had come to work in the capital.

Chapter 273 A Countryman's Lament

Lan Lin'er realized she was bad with words, and she desperately tried to stop the group of boys and girls from going to work in the capital.

Because if they really went to the capital, the only outcome would be that the boys, if they had talent, would become exploited seed machines, while the girls would be given aphrodisiacs and turned into pigs.

Without magical talent, they wouldn't even have to wait until they were exploited; they would be hung in trees and become sworn brothers with millions of others.

However, these cheerful and optimistic rural children, who had high hopes for the future, were completely unaware of this reality. All they knew was that they could go to the city to work and make a lot of money, and that their families and villages would no longer have to rely on hunting monsters for a living.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying? Let me tell you, we didn't bully you." Seeing that Lan Lin'er was about to cry, the leader immediately told her friends to take a step back.

Xue Dinglu and Lan Lin'er looked like a prince or princess from the capital, and they were not to be trifled with by country folk like them. She stayed behind to chat and try to get closer to them, hoping to find out where there were high-paying jobs in the capital.

If the noble lords revealed some information, they would be thrilled to be able to secure a job like tending horses for them.

Although raising horses is tiring and dirty, it doesn't matter. For these rural folks who rely on the magical beasts in the icy plains to survive, and who seem to have regressed to a primitive tribal form, raising horses is a piece of cake. They have raised dragons and all kinds of livestock.

"No, no, don't go to the capital, it's hell. If you go there, you'll be tortured... Don't go... it's hell..." Lan Lin'er could only repeat these few words. She was really at a loss for words and didn't know how to explain. She was at a loss.

"If you want to become livestock that can only reproduce in cages, then go and work in the capital." Xue Dinglu, on the other hand, spoke the truth without any reservations.

"Huh? Eh?" The children were stunned, and even doubted that they had heard correctly.

"The only way to make money in the capital is to have children. There is no other way. If you are delusional and want to make a lot of money there, then go ahead and drown your ideals in a pig cage." Xue Dinglu directly revealed the cruelest side. He had already told them the truth. If they still wanted to go and die, there was no way to save them.

The children were stunned; they never imagined that the truth would be like this.

They wanted to argue back, but when they saw Xue Dinglu's face, they suddenly didn't know how to respond.

Xue Dinglu's face and white robe seemed to possess a magical power, exuding a strong persuasive force. It was as if anything he said had the power to convince everyone.

"Then, what about those of our clansmen who went to work in the capital before..." The leader of the children's group asked angrily, clenching her fist.

“They’ve become livestock that only know how to give birth.” Xue Dinglu ignored them, turned around, and got into the carriage.

“But… sir, if we don’t go to the capital, we won’t survive…” The leader kept her head down, looking unwillingly in the direction of the capital, her fists clenched tightly, biting her lip.

Actually, they said they were people going to work in the capital, but more importantly, they were people the tribe could no longer support...

Hunting alone can only support a limited number of people, and they often go hungry. Especially with winter approaching, the monsters will go berserk and gather to form a beast tide that can travel south to hunt.

At times like these, one can only stay in the city and dare not go out hunting, for going out means certain death.

The only option is to hold out until the beast tide passes, and then see if you can get lucky and pick up a lot of corpses that died in the beast tide. However, this is rare, as the corpses that die in the beast tide will soon be devoured by the surrounding monsters.

So every winter, all the tribes would gather together to check their remaining food supplies and count the tribe's population. If there wasn't enough food, the elders would leave the city and go to the vast ice fields to commit suicide, thus reducing the tribe's food supply.

But even if all the old people die, there still won't be enough food...

That means we can only send some people to the capital to see if they can find other ways to make a living.

And these are the people who, when they can no longer survive and there isn't enough food to get through the winter, will either starve to death or have no choice but to go to the capital to seek a living.

This is their way of surviving.

The capital city doesn't mind that people in the border regions don't adhere to the survival-oriented approach, because the land isn't in their hands, and how many people can they support solely by hunting? Those who can't support themselves will inevitably come to the capital city.

Now that we've arrived in the capital, there's only one fate: to become an endless source of fertilizer for the divine tree, causing the number of corpses hanging on it to increase.

This is the siphon effect of the capital city on all border regions. Ultimately, all arable land is in the hands of the divine nobles, and they have no choice but to follow the structure set by the divine nobles in order to survive.

As for resistance?

How many combat personnel could border tribes that rely solely on hunting for a living have?

And these divine nobles, who can cultivate all the farmland in the world through those plant-like monsters called "Deadpools," how powerful would they be if the Deadpools stopped farming and instead gathered together to start killing?

Not to mention that the divine nobles also control the entire magic academy, and even have the God-King backing them up. To the natives of this world, the Mind Flayer who holds part of the world's power is the true and undisputed God-King. How can these border tribesmen possibly resist?

The greatest resistance they could offer was to secretly steal a few of the city lord's gold coins.

This is the lament of these country folk.

The carriage slowly made its way towards Rosmar, the original home of the Wild Hunt warriors and the region that once nurtured the elite legions of the entire Papacy. But now, it was all in ruins.

The vines and the city walls are now covered with the marks of time, and there are countless gaps in the walls.

The high walls that were originally meant to protect against the beast tides from the north from plundering southwards have completely lost their original purpose. As for the tribespeople living here, they simply hide when the beast tides come, close the city gates, and let the beast tides go south.

Anyway, the beast tide is just heading south to wreak havoc on other cities, or to wreak havoc on the fields in Winter Valley that those gods and nobles sent their dead servants to plant.

Deep Purple-Red heard that at its most outrageous, the beast tide was almost reaching the capital.

The fierce hunters who once braved the wind and snow to defend against the beast tides are gone, their glory is gone, and only the border tribesmen who now barely survive remain.

Not knowing what the angel thought, Xue Luding looked at the Frost Signal Halberd floating behind Lan Lin'er. In fact, in an older story, the Wild Hunt tribe here was the second tribe that the angel conquered. She promised to give the Wild Hunt tribe glory and a future, and the Wild Hunt tribe would forever guard the north.

I wonder what the angels think now.

The angel remained silent. Perhaps she was filled with regret, anger, or perhaps she was thinking of the covenant and vows she had made. But with the passage of time, all of that seemed to have been buried deep within this icy plain.

"Wild Hunt warriors, at least they haven't betrayed me," came the angel's voice.

"Ah."

"It's my fault. I didn't protect them and didn't give them the future they deserve."

"Ah."

Xue's law simply responded with a single word. Behind the carriage, the group of children who were preparing to go to the capital to work were dejected, some even covering their faces and crying. At that moment, they only felt confusion and fear about the future.

I could only follow the carriage numbly, not knowing where else I could go.

“Xediles,” Lan Lin’er’s voice rang out.

"I am listening."

"You say, is what my father... no, the divine nobles, really right? Why is everything I see different from what is described in the books?" she asked, voicing her doubts.

"What do you think?" Xue Dinglu did not answer directly, but asked in return.

“They made a mistake, a terrible mistake. This world shouldn’t be like this, and humanity shouldn’t be a race that can only survive this way. My mother said that humanity had an incomparably glorious civilization and culture, so why do I only see suffering and despair now…” she said, as if she was so suppressed that she had to find someone to confide in.

Xue Dinglu smiled, because at this moment, she was truly contemplating the rationality of this world and what it should really be like.

She is now like that angel who, before ascending to heaven, looked up at the sky in the tribe.

Even when the angel was just a little girl in a tribe, wrapped in animal skins, she believed that the world shouldn't be like this. Why did tribes have to fight each other? The threat of monsters had wiped out many tribes, so why couldn't they unite?

Now, Lan Lin'er has also started to have similar thoughts, and this is not a view imposed on her by Xue Law, but rather she has truly begun to think about the irrationality of the life-centered world.

"Then what do you consider reasonable?" Xue asked.

"Gods shouldn't interfere with the human world. Gods should only be responsible for good weather and maintaining the balance between good people and monsters. Gods shouldn't interfere with anything else, such as the change of dynasties and social changes. That's normal, not like now..." She couldn't continue.

Because she discovered that the root of all suffering was her own father, the emperor.

She gripped the Frost Signal Halberd tightly in her hand, and suddenly the halberd seemed to give her endless power.

It was an illusion of being able to defy the power of one's father.

"Then go do what you think is right," Xue simply said.

"oh, I understand now."

She immediately lifted the curtain and said to the people following behind the carriage, "We need to see the situation in Rosmar. We need a guide and servants, including food and lodging. The price is about 1 gold coin. Are you all willing?"

Her words stunned the children behind her.

1 gold coins?

Xue Dinglu covered his face. This princess really didn't know the prices. One gold coin was enough for a family of three in a god-like world to live on for more than a month. In this remote border area, it was probably enough for a family to eat for more than two months.

“One gold coin per month,” Xue Dinglu said, although they wouldn’t even need a month.

Chapter 274 The Descendants of the Wild Hunt

This time, the children no longer felt lost. They excitedly followed behind the carriage, and then the leader volunteered to be the driver, vowing that they would protect the two of them if they encountered a beast tide.

Otherwise, they would feel uneasy about receiving the money.

As the carriage entered the city, Xue Dinglu saw an even more dilapidated and desolate scene. This city should have developed into a major medieval metropolis, but now…

This place is more like a tribe in ruins.

The scene here fills the gap in Xue's understanding of how Viking barbarians lived after conquering cities.

The streets that were originally markets for trade became places where tribes exchanged leather and animal carcasses, and the former noble mansions became places where tribesmen lived together.

On the streets where horse-drawn carriages traveled, people were resting on the spot, wrapped in straw mats.

Every now and then you could hear shouting and fighting, and then everyone around would gather to watch the spectacle, completely ignoring the fact that the winner of the fight would simply chop off the loser's head and then drench his own body in blood.

It's barbaric, but there are no degenerate people here.

There were no degenerate humans or half-orcs; instead, they maintained their pure human nature.

The leader of the group first led Xue Luding back to her tribe.

The entire tribe seemed very excited today because Xue Dinglu saw them dragging the carcass of a monster that was tens of meters tall, and everyone was dividing up the tasks to deal with it.

But when people saw the group of children returning, they were all stunned.

The last elder of the tribe asked, "Why have you returned?"

“Hey, old man, we’re not back. We’ve found an employer. This gentleman is a magician who’s traveling throughout the entire Holy Kingdom, so we’ve become their coachmen and servants,” the leader said.

This surprised the elders of the tribe. Who would come to such a dangerous place for tourism?

They were lucky enough to catch an injured ground dragon today, but even so, several people were injured, one of whom was barely breathing. How could these magicians want to play in such a dangerous place?

I don't understand.

However, if they couldn't figure it out, they simply stopped thinking about it. The tribespeople never engaged in internal strife, so they naturally treated Xue to a warm welcome. The food was freshly hunted ground dragon meat, but they subtly implied that it would cost money, and not cheap at all.

What surprised Xue Luding and Lan Lin'er the most was that one of the cat-like furry creatures was helping to deliver ingredients and cook, while also helping to cut up the carcasses of the earth dragons.

Some cats even took it upon themselves to become the chefs and start grilling meat.

"Where are those injured people? We also possess some healing magic; perhaps we can heal your people," Xue Dinglu said.

The tribespeople were taken aback, and then soon, several cats pushed a cart with people lying on it, groaning in pain.

Xue Dinglu didn't listen to any descriptions or waste any words; he immediately stepped forward.

The most seriously injured patient had his abdomen and even half of his chest cut open, with his internal organs hanging out. He has now started to have a high fever.

Without a word, Xue Dinglu used the cursed blood. The next moment, to the astonishment of all the tribespeople, as if they had seen a ghost, the internal organs seemed to come alive and return to their proper positions on their own. The opened chest and misaligned bones seemed to beat themselves up, forcibly straightening and returning to their original positions, and then healing visibly.

The person who was originally taking in more air than exhaling instantly fell into a baby-like sleep.

This miraculous healing caused many tribesmen to run away, seemingly to inform someone.

"Prophet! Prophet! The god has returned! The god has fulfilled his oath! He has returned! Everything that once was has returned!" A tribesman rushed into the largest stone-filled courtyard and excitedly told an old man.

But Xue didn't care. The cursed blood continued to heal the remaining people. Soon, the wailing people were healed, and even several disabled and injured cats were healed in the process.

But now, the entire tribe was eerily quiet, and this miraculous healing spell left them all astonished.

Even when they saw blood slowly seeping from under his white robe, they all knelt down, which puzzled Xue Dinglu.

Could the tribespeople here really guess the effects of the cursed blood in an instant? This doesn't seem like the kind of knowledge and understanding that tribespeople should have.

He picked up the Frost Signal Halberd, and that suffering was instantly infused into the halberd.

But at that moment, the wooden door was suddenly opened, and a young man helped the trembling old man in.

The old man was so excited that his hands were trembling. He was holding a wooden statue in his hand. After seeing Xue Dinglu, he knelt down and said, "God, you have finally recovered. We have waited for you for thousands of years in accordance with our covenant and oath!"

He seemed to be weeping, yet also worshipping, devoutly placing the idol in his hands on the ground while kissing the earth.

But the idol was an image of an angel.