Chapter 293 - 265: It’s Not My Fault

Chapter 293: Chapter 265: It’s Not My Fault

In the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, Bald Hide bowed respectfully to the High Priest. The High Priest, however, did not look at him, his mind instead occupied with what Bald Hide had just said.

"Are these goblins really that powerful?" the High Priest inquired.

"Yes, but they’re not invincible. They have a strange freezing Ability, and they also..." Bald Hide paused to think. ’The Giant Eagle that defeated the Flying Goblins... how did it turn into an Owl Bear later? What kind of creature was that?’ He couldn’t be sure, but after a few seconds, he came up with a story. "They also raise Giant Eagles and Owl Bears to help them fight."

THUD. The High Priest struck the floor forcefully with his Bone Staff, then stared intently at Bald Hide. Met with such a gaze, Bald Hide immediately lowered his head.

"Are you deceiving me?" The High Priest’s voice was filled with authority.

"No, High Priest," Bald Hide hastily explained. "Those goblins are truly formidable. The Flying Goblins I sent were easily killed and brought down by the Giant Eagles. And when the Owl Bear charged into our ranks, it completely ignored our attacks. We were scattered in an instant."

"And what about the Petrifying Lizards? Don’t tell me something went wrong with them, too."

Bald Hide kept his head low, his eyes darting about as he racked his brain for an excuse. "The Petrifying Lizards did indeed run into a problem..."

"Hm?"

"Those... those Dongtou," Bald Hide said, gritting his teeth. He abruptly raised his head and pounded his chest. "The Dongtou refused to follow my orders! Even though you appointed me the leader, they stuck with the goblins from their own caves. When I gave a command, the Dongtou just paid me lip service. I explicitly told them to be cautious, but those fools didn’t listen. In their greed for loot, they just drove the Petrifying Lizards to charge straight ahead."

He pounded his chest again, a pained expression on his face. "I never expected those goblins to know a Freezing Spell, and a powerful one at that! With a single cast, they froze all the charging Petrifying Lizards solid."

"A single cast?" The High Priest’s tone was heavy with disbelief.

"Yes, just one cast. If you don’t believe me, you can summon some of the other Dongtou for questioning. I’m sure they wouldn’t dare to lie. But I suspect," Bald Hide lowered his head again, forcing his voice to sound dejected, "they will certainly exaggerate and twist the truth about my command, doing everything they can to shirk their own responsibility. I admit I had my shortcomings, but my tactical decisions were sound."

He kept his head bowed, silently waiting for the High Priest’s response. But the High Priest remained silent, and the atmosphere grew quiet.

After nearly a minute, the High Priest finally spoke. "You may rise."

Hearing this, Bald Hide, who was kneeling on one knee, felt as if he’d been granted a pardon. He slowly stood up, discreetly rubbing his knee while the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. He risked a glance up at the High Priest on his high seat. In truth, he hadn’t been kneeling for long; the gestures were all for show.

"They just let all of you go? None of the Feathered Serpent God’s subjects returned?" The High Priest’s voice had returned to its original, level tone.

"That is correct, High Priest. We lingered in the forest for half a day but saw no sign of the other goblins being released," Bald Hide replied, his voice still respectful.

He wasn’t telling the whole truth, however. The reality was that after being driven off, the Dongtou had fled a great distance before stopping. Only then did they reluctantly group up to make the journey back to the Feathered Serpent Kingdom. But they were all just Dongtou now. The goblins who used to obey their commands—or rather, hunt for them—had all been taken by Shire. Now, they could only rely on themselves to find food.

Unfortunately, these cave chiefs had grown accustomed to lording over others and were completely unwilling to cooperate. Back in the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, incidents were common: one would lead his subordinates to steal another’s harvest, and the other would send his minions to snatch a captured grouse. Such events were endless, and the enmity between them ran deep. The fact they hadn’t started fighting each other already showed a surprising amount of sense.

As a result, the Dongtou had to gather their own food. But it was winter, which made foraging difficult. After half a day, they had barely managed to scrounge up enough to quiet their stomachs.

"I see." The High Priest tapped the floor again with his Bone Staff. "We were too hasty this time. I didn’t expect those goblins to be so capable. It seems the enemies the Feathered Serpent God has commanded us to face are never simple. It is true for the goblins, and it was true for the Naga."

"Then... should we continue?" Bald Hide asked at the opportune moment. His tone was laced with a hint of confusion, betraying no trace of his inner delight. But while his head was bowed, his eyes shone with a fiery eagerness.

"Hmm..." The High Priest fell silent again, thinking. A few seconds later, he asked, "You said you saw those goblins with Centaurs, and that they didn’t seem primitive?"

"Yes, High Priest." Bald Hide thought for a moment before recounting what he’d seen. "It seemed as though the Centaurs were taking orders from the other goblin leader. At first, I assumed the goblins were slaves under the Centaurs’ Enslavement, but after watching them converse, I realized something was wrong."

"What did they say?"

"Er, High Priest, I couldn’t understand their language," Bald Hide said, pursing his lips.

"Couldn’t understand?" The High Priest frowned, then suddenly switched to Common Speech and asked, "He, Centaur, command?"

Bald Hide looked up at the High Priest, bewildered. He was only a goblin and could only speak goblin speech; he hadn’t understood a single word of Common Speech.

’Not goblin speech,’ the High Priest thought, looking down at Bald Hide. He muttered to himself, ’Could they have been speaking Common Speech with the Centaurs? How is that possible? A goblin in this forest who can speak Common Speech... Can it be that, like me, he was raised by humans?’

Bald Hide stared up at the High Priest, completely dumbfounded. The High Priest had spoken that last part entirely in Common Speech, and to Bald Hide, it sounded like nothing more than birds chirping in the forest.

"Idiot," the High Priest muttered in Common Speech, glancing at Bald Hide before switching back to goblin speech. "I understand the situation now. For the time being, we will take no further action. We will wait until the Feathered Serpent God inquires about this matter. As for this failure, the blame does not lie entirely with you. The insubordination of the Dongtou is also a major issue."

"You may go," the High Priest said, dismissing Bald Hide with a wave. "Oh, and one more thing. After you leave, find the goblins who were on duty today and tell them to gather bubbling leaves as quickly as possible."

"Bubbling leaves? Have the humans not arrived yet?" Bald Hide asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. They are nearly a month late. Now go," the High Priest said, his tone impatient.