The Emperor’s Daily Nitpicking - CH 30

The shaking wasn’t too big, and the few people didn’t even stagger. Only the soles of their feet, close to the ground, felt a slight tremor.

“What happened?” Dan moved his feet and stared at the ground, slightly stunned for a moment, not daring to move too much.

“Don’t know. Let’s go back first.” Without even looking at the ground, Kevin replied casually, lifting his feet and walking away.

Oswald followed behind him, glancing at him a little oddly.

They soon returned to the caves where the dryads had settled, where Nick and the others had been left behind. They were all out of the house by now, and even the physician was standing outside the cave. They looked at each other with puzzled and nervous faces as if they had also been shocked by the shaking.

The Jinshi Empire’s army was a little more disciplined. When the Wujin Iron soldiers and the elite squad saw His Majesty and the commander come back together, they immediately withdrew their bewildered faces and “snapped” their heels together.

The Giant Beastmen were much more dispersed, their nature was aggressive, and there was no such thing as a hierarchy. To them, a leader was just a relatively stronger and more trustworthy companion. So when Dan returned, a few of the other Giant Beastmen waved directly at him and asked, “Hey, did you feel the vibration just now? Do you know what is happening?”

“Know a damn thing!” Dan said while walking, “Is this Whitehead Hill dead or alive? The fun will be bigger if the ground suddenly breaks and lava gushes out. It’ll be too late to run by then.”

“It won’t.” Oswald’s deep voice answered. “There are two living mountains on the northern, and they’re not even connected to this place. Besides, who would build a god’s tomb in a living mountain?”

Dan paused his footstep, his face slightly green. “The fun seems bigger if it’s not a living mountain.”

It was as if something was moving underground, but it was trapped by the six feet of black earth. This would be fine if it were anywhere else, but it was in a tomb, and what else could there be underneath a graveyard?

The crowd in the room looked slightly uncomfortable at his comment, and they couldn’t help but line up the piles of dead leaves with their feet and stare at the wet mud of unknown thickness.

The more Dan thought about it, the creepier he felt, and he couldn’t help but add, “Although the Giant Beastman and Euna Clan look different now, our initial origin is almost the same, correct? You guys are the remnant of the gods, and we can be considered as a collateral relative? God won’t put a hand on their descendants, right? Someone, please tell me I’m right.”

“Right.” Kevin said, not knowing whether he should laugh or not, before continuing, “But, isn’t it common for your people not to believe in gods?”

“Hush –” Dan raised a finger and stopped him. “Since we’ve already entered a god’s tomb, can you not mention this detail? Moreover, who says we don’t believe in gods. We had also seen the legendary story and worshipped what should be worshipped. Do we have to talk about them daily like the Spirit Clan to be called believing? We only respected the history and moved on from God’s era. After all, there’s no god’s existence anymore.”

After speaking, he felt his explanation wasn’t accurate and added, “There’s no living existence.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” An officer of the Wujin Iron Army standing the closest to him couldn’t help but say, “All books talk about the fall of the Old Gods, but the Later Gods –”

“Fine. Fine. You’re being picky about his word choice. We don’t have the time to talk about this topic now.” Nick pointed to the ground under his feet. “The problem is the location of the Tomb of the God Phae. Phae! The god of light, Phae! The most honoured god of the Old Gods. He will only bless us and absolutely won’t harm anyone. So, what are you afraid of?”

When he reminded them of this, they suddenly realised that they were in the tomb of Phae, the eternal resting place of the Supreme God, and even if he really came back out of the ground, there was nothing to fear at all.

The people still in a state of uncertainty just now felt like they had been given a reassurance boost, or at least they no longer looked as if they were at a loss for words, and their nerves were tense. One of the army officers standing next to Nick even patted him on the shoulder and agreed, “Speaking of which, the god of light was the one I adored the most in my childhood.”

“What do you mean? Don’t you adore him after growing up?” Another one asked.

“No, no, no. I didn’t know the meaning of ‘god’ when I was little. After being an adult, I didn’t feel this word ‘adore’ was suitable for a god…..” That person hurriedly waved his hand and explained.

These words received many sympathetic responses from the crowd, and they immediately had a discussion.

Kevin listened to the “buzz” for a while and then raised his hand to rub his temples.

“Why are you smiling?” Oswald asked.

“When did I smile?” Kevin was stunned.

“Just now, looking from my point of view,” Oswald said.

Kevin retorted back, “What is your point of view?”

Oswald: “From a head taller than you.”

Kevin: “…..”

He glanced at the emperor with a scowl and said, “It’s not a smile. I just felt they’re quite amusing.”

Oswald said casually, “You look at people like a laughing matter, so of course, it will be fun.”

“What are you saying…..” Kevin said with his lower chin in the crowd’s direction, “There is obviously a difference between every clan’s approach toward gods. The Giant Beastman Clan takes the gods the leads in the past legendary. The Spirit Clan takes the gods as high and firm belief and guidance. Only the Euna Clan…..”

“What’s wrong with the Euna Clan?”

Kevin laughed. “Don’t you feel like you’re talking about your ancestors?”

Oswald: “…..”

Don’t say it. It really was…..

But Kevin quickly withdrew his laugh, his expressionless face looking somewhat lazily cold. “We need to discuss whether a god will harm people or not. Saying there won’t be any danger….. have you forgotten about the dead dryads just now?”

A question had actually flashed through Oswald’s mind just now: there was no doubt that Phae was the most powerful and highest of the old gods. So……why would such a noble god like him sleep eternally in such a place?

It was dark and gloomy, and there were a bunch of dryads like that, hunting and killing live sacrifices without question.

If such a thing were really a graveyard keeper, Phae would be furious, wouldn’t he?!

Kevin had no intention of discussing it in-depth. Rather than tossing out a question, he was simply lamenting, and when he had done so, he turned his head and returned to what he was supposed to do.

After exchanging greetings with Oswald, he went off to arrange the Wujin Iron soldiers and the elite squad and called on Dan and his group of Giant Beastman to form into three groups, taking turns to be on the watch.

“Keep watch? Are we not entering now?” Dan was slightly at a loss.

Kevin let out an “oh” and asked back. “Enter where?”

Dan answered, “The god’s tomb! Didn’t we arrive at the entrance already?”

“If we don’t eat a little and rest for a while, you will regret it later,” Kevin said without a smile.

“Have you guys heard the legend about the inside of the god’s tomb?” Someone spoke up.

“There are so many versions of the legend. Which one do you mean?”

“The details aren’t told. It just says that when you enter a god’s tomb, you can’t retreat, can’t stop, can’t have a rest. If you’re a little slower, the outcome will be unthinkable. Although we can’t guarantee this legend is true, it’s not wrong to be cautious. I’ll be safer if we enter after recuperating and resting for a while.”

In the end, the group chose to follow Kevin’s advice.

Oswald had come in a small group. It was much easier for them to carry their things because of the help of the raptor-like Giant Beastman. The generals had a lot of experience in camping out, but it was the first time they had ever been down to explore a tomb. So when Oswald told them to pack something helpful to take with them, they picked and chose what they were used to camping with.

Kevin couldn’t help but laugh when he saw they had a copper pot in their bag.

Dan had the men fly down to where they had come down, used the copper pot to catch some of the water pouring in from the mouth of the waterfall, set up a dry wood stand in front of the cave and boiled a pot of soup. After days of eating dried food, the group chopped up some dried meat and threw it into the pot, which was cooked down to a slightly dense meat soup before being divided.

Whitehead Hill was located in the northern part of the country, and the weather outside was cold and damp after days of rain, and the ground was even colder. As soon as the aroma and heat of the steaming bowl of meat soup hit the stomach, everyone’s minds began to drift, becoming a little drowsy.

“It is clearly summer now. Why do I always have to run cold places like this in an unlined garment…..” Dan muttered and laid down unceremoniously on the ground by the open fire.

By rest, they didn’t mean sleeping until they woke up, and they could only rest for an hour at most. Once they had recovered a little, it was time to move on, so it was important to make the most of it.

For those who had been in the army, the ability to “sleep immediately and wake up immediately” was almost perfect. Within a few minutes, apart from the first wave of men on night watch, almost all the rest were still.

Those who had fallen asleep breathed long and evenly in just a few minutes. Some even snored in long and short intervals, drowning out the soft beat of burning firewood.

The first wave of six men on watch, two standing near Oswald, guarding the Emperor’s safety. The other two stood by the left and right cave doors, circling the crowd, while the remaining two sat directly by the fire, watching it so it would not go out while keeping an eye on the movements around them.

After a few more minutes, the two nearest watchmen to the fire were swept away by a sudden wave of drowsiness, their eyelids fighting as they pinched their thighs in a vicious attempt to wake themselves up but to no real avail.

The drowsiness soon overshadowed the sharp pain in their skin, and they barely managed to blink a few times before their heads slowly dropped, dozing off little by little.

Kevin, who was lying there, suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were dark and bright, highly awake and not even half sleepy.

He stared at the emperor, who was not far away and gave a sweeping glance around him. All those who could easily have noticed his movements had fallen asleep, and there was no more movement.

Kevin withdrew his gaze and rose silently, taking advantage of the shadows and darkness to follow the area overlooked by the guard like a demon and turn unhurriedly into the path that led to the tablet.