Chapter 354: The Desert (1/2)
The princes, who originally wanted to cause a mutiny suddenly turned quiet, their hearts wavered, but their innate arrogance told them that they could lead just as well as Xue Wei had.
There were, of course, a few exceptions. Three princes had not been able to gather enough power to struggle in the fight for the Crown Prince position, and hence they were not as arrogant.
They felt that the words said by the woman held some strength, and one of these princes even nodded his head while being deep in thought.
A second one spoke up, ”you are correct,” he said apologetically. ”I can see that we once again got arrogant. It seems that we have never experienced real danger back in the Demon Phoenix Continent, and now we expect everything to be a walk in the park for us.”
Many of the geniuses were also embarrassed and quickly changed their attitude towards Xue Wei, but this time he had had enough.
His face was emotionless, but a heavy storm was brewing in his eyes.
”This is all very good, but for how long?” Xue Wei asked, his voice apathetic and his eyes sharp.
The others looked at each other guiltily.
”This is not the first time you are questioning my leadership,” Xue Wei continued, this time a bit of impatience could be heard in the voice. ”I am not doing this for my own vanity's sake, nor am I helping you because I feel I owe you anything. I am doing it because your Emperor asked me to do this.
”I am doing my best here to bear with the unhappy glances you guys send out. I am trying to ensure that we get the richest harvest, but all you do is complain. You don't even protect yourself!”
”I am here to benefit from the realm that has opened, not to be a nanny for you guys. Either you start taking this serious, or we split up here and no longer have any responsibility towards one another.”
The princes were choked when they heard his words. They were also split between wanting to take the people with them, and staying with Xue Wei.
In fact, they wanted to leave on their own, but they knew that if they did, then the geniuses might not follow them.
Right now, when they looked at the regular members of the clan, they could see the reverence these geniuses felt towards Xue Wei. If they left, it might end with a group consisting purely of princes, and that'd be quite bad. Not even all the princes would go with them, so their group would likely be small. Walking in a small group was suicide in this realm, even they understood this.
Realizing that Xue Wei had once again countered them, the First Prince's face turned malicious for a moment before it returned to the gentle expression he usually wore.
”I am afraid you misunderstood,” he said with his melodious and calm voice. ”You said it yourself, there is the most treasure in Summer, and we are heading more towards spring right now. We just wanted to get the best rewards from this year in the realm. We did not mean anything offending with it.”
Xue Wei looked at the First Prince and praised him in his mind. He was sure good at turning black into white, good at hiding in the shadows, and never showing his real thoughts.
This First Prince was without a doubt the most dangerous amongst them all; it was him he had to watch out for.
The other princes, although they had managed to fight for the throne of the Crown Prince, they did not have the ability to hide as deeply as the First Prince, neither could they endure as much as him.
”Since it has been solved, if anyone questions me again, they can leave our group.” Xue Wei said casually, his words were neither loud nor low, but it caused a chill to rise in the hearts of all present.
If they were chased out of the group, then they would be unable to survive. It was evident that Xue Wei was not some vegetarian; he was not pleased with being questioned time and time again.
They understood this and felt ashamed. He was the one who had saved them time and time again. He was the one who had gotten them a lot of treasures, but all they gave him was doubtful eyes and questioning his leadership.
It was natural that he had become upset with them.
Truthfully, Xue Wei was not really upset. If he had been upset, then he would have left a long time ago an let them do whatever they wanted to do on their own.
He wanted to continue working together with the ones from the Demon Phoenix Continent, but to do so, they had to understand that he was not one to be trampled upon.
It seemed that his gamble had paid off. Instead of them attacking him, he had attacked them, knowing full well that it could go both ways. If they had been insulted, they would have left, but instead, they still have a sense of shame and were able to be trained into becoming his personal Vermilion Bird Army.
Of course, these geniuses and princes were unaware of Xue Wei's thoughts. Although he wanted to use them to gain more resources and treasures, he also wanted to share equally with them, so they felt it was worthwhile working together with him.
Xue Wei sighed and continued towards the southeastern directly, all of the others following him closely, but this time they were alert and solemn. They understood that it was not as friendly a place as they had initially thought.
They continued forward for a full five days before they exited the jungle-like forest. At this point in time, all their storage treasures were bulging with herbs, spirit fruits, beast cores, and other resources they had come across.
Although they had all these resources, they could not help but want other items. More rare items. These things were all useful, but they were not the most unusual things that could be found within the realm - if they were, they would not be so numerous.
As they headed forward, Xue Wei was extremely vigilant when he saw that the forest ended. Their new surroundings were in sharp contrast to what they had come from, and a frown surfaced on his face.
In front of him, as far as the eye could see were dunes. San was flowing in the wind, and nothing living could be seen. Even then, Xue Wei had a feeling that this place was filled with life underneath the sand, and that they might have an opportunity here to find real treasures.