62 An Exiled Tribe (2)

"Eastern Changzhou? Does that means Yulan Emperor and his Yulan Enforcers no longer exist in this land?" the queen spider asked with the expression stating that she cannot believe what Mu Qing Lang has said.

"I'm sure there's no longer a Yulan Emperor or his enforcers here. There's only the Donghai-Orcs, Mushan Tribe, and various small Yulan Mountain Sea villages housing different people and creatures." Mu Qing Lang replied.

"That's means... Our Yulan Confer Spiders can come out look at the sunlight again... Children, we're free!" the queen spider is so happy she started to go around tapping on those gigantic spiders. After her touch, their attitude turns gentler and no longer continue to attack them out of confusion.

"Changzhou Warlord, Lord Mu. May I ask for your reason to come inside this hellhole? Truth to be told, there's nothing here except our tribesmen spending the last of our life here." the queen spider knows that there will be no cat that will not eat the fish before it.

Since the Yulan Emperor is no longer here, doesn't that means the ownership of their life just went from one to another? At least, such Law of Jungle is known to everyone present since birth until now.

"A few survivors from Mushan Village found out about the richness of resources like Confer Stones, Ash Stone, and Water Gravels here. This news got our interest to come here and have a look. Additionally, I believe this queen spider knows how valuable is the silk your tribesmen spun on their daily basis?"

Mu Qing Lang has no intention to hide his mean of exploiting both the spiders and whatever mineral resources found inside of the cave. Since he knows the story behind these Yulan Confer Spiders, why should he let them go without some benefits?

"My lord is here for the stones and gravels?" the queen spider knows that their silk is precious commodities, even back to the time when Yulan Emperor is still around. Although there's no record explaining what happened to them to made them exiled from the Yulan Emperor's reach, one should never underestimate the older generation's ability in using and creating materials far above what they have at present.

"Is there a problem?" Mu Qing Lang felt tensed up worrying his sentence might have brought a different result from what he wants.

"Oh! There's no problem at all, it just..." the queen spider hesitates slightly, afraid that the next word she says might change the fate of her tribesmen.

He worries continued until Mu Qing Lang gave her a nod.

"Answering to Lord Mu, the resources mention is indeed easily found within this cave. To not keep this as a secret from my lord, the further you went, the more you'll notice the resources scattered everywhere on the ground."

"You might be met with difficulties when collecting them. Not because of we Yulan Confer Spiders, but because the resources are too much for a group of forty-fifty people to handle." the spider queen answered.

"How can there be so many resources scattered on the ground without a place to use them? Does the Yulan Emperor not know about this?" Mu Qing Lang cannot believe it. With so many resources scattered here, it was more than enough to arm every settler with a weapon and covered the Eastern Changzhou with metal from the ground to the roof.

"It is Lord Mu that doesn't know about it. The Yulan Confer Spiders, Stone Spiders, and Gravel Spiders came from one origin. We're known as the trash creature since Yulan Emperor's age until now because of a few reasons..." the queen spider hesitates to continue. With a word trash placed on their name, what kind of position and treatment they suffered?

"Your Highness, please continue." Mu Qing Lang starting to lost his patience toward the queen spider for her continuous stop between mattering keyword.

"Because it was hard to sustain the Yulan Three Spiders Tribe, the Yulan Emperor decided to leave us to feast on ourselves until we no longer exist in this world. The Confer Stones, Ash Stones, and Water Gravels are nothing else but the corpses of all our tribesmen after they died."

With this sentence, Mu Qing Lang understands.

How much food do they have?

What kind of life was the Yulan Emperor and his Yulan Enforcers went through during their most glorious period?

Do they farm and sustain themselves or resort to natural resources to fill their belly?

Through this reason alone, Mu Qing Lang could understand the Yulan Emperor's decision to banish the Yulan Three Spiders Tribe inside this cave maze to let them end their life inside here.

Since there's no light in this cave, all they know is to survive one day after another, until now. And out of their effort to keep surviving, they rely on eating the flesh of their own companion, digging open the tunnels and chambers one after another, until this cave maze is twenty to thirtyfold bigger than before.

Mu Qing Lang assumes that the spaces it covered are at least three-quarters of the Eastern Changzhou, only separated with tunnels and chambers. It was an amazing underground world, only if it was not that bad in term of lighting.

"Your Highness, I have an attractive deal that you might be excited after listening to me. My Eastern Changzhou had focused on agriculture far before we start until now, and we're confident that we can provide food for you and your tribesmen."

His starting speech immediately caught the Queen Spider's attention as she went closer to Mu Qing Lang, afraid that she missed one or two words in between.

"I'm listening, Lord Mu," the Queen Spider said.

"Instead of wasting the life of your tribesmen for nothing, why not you work with Eastern Changzhou? I'm sure our multi-racial tribes in Eastern Changzhou will not have any discrimination towards your tribesmen." Mu Qing Lang started to tell her what benefit he could give them if they're willing to work for it.

"We're here for the resources. If we can do it without bloodshed, it would be best. Of course, as the local of this place, I have the intention to rely on the Yulan Confer Spiders to help us to use this cave properly. I wonder if your highness could consider backing Eastern Changzhou to reclaim this cave?"

Mu Qing Lang wasn't going to hide his motive. He wants both the locals and resources available in this cave and willing to pay whatever price to obtain it. Although the Queen Spider may choose her next step, those that weren't given by Mu Qing Lang cannot be included in her option.

The Queen Spider remained silent.

"Your Highness doesn't need to decide first. I am no tyrant nor unscrupulous merchant. Therefore, I hope Your Highness is willing to give Eastern Changzhou a chance to prove that we're capable of fulfilling our promises."

"Han Yu, tell a squadron to escort ten of our own settlers back and request Han Xi to deliver the food for five hundred people here. Tell them that our Eastern Changzhou will use that to entertain a guest and her family." Mu Qing Lang pointed at Han Yu as he gave his orders.

"Han Yu understood. Squadron One will remains here to help the master if he needs somebody to replace his hand and feet. The second Squadron will choose a few friends and make your way back to Eastern Changzhou. As for the third and fourth Squadrons, let us go out and bring some supplies back for our friends here!"

Smart and fit, Han Yu is undoubtedly the best choice Mu Qing Lang made when he chose the former as a Platoon Leader. His strict order leads the other outside and rushes for the preparation. As the cave might have no water supply, limited air, and restricted lighting, Han Yu had the food prepared outside before bringing them inside.

Meanwhile, Mu Qing Lang and the Queen Spider continued with their discussion.

"Lord Mu, please be frank with this no longer useful queen. What is your motive to try to satisfy us with the deal? I am sure we have no other value except becoming fuel for your magical fire there or turning into a pile of metal used to make your weapon."

The Spider Queen was not a fool. As the only queen left leading these five hundred Yulan Confer Spiders, she knows that her value was nothing more than becoming a mere pile of resources Mu Qing Lang needs for his Eastern Changzhou.

"I am looking at something farther from my reach and not what is before me." Mu Qing Lang's reply puzzled the Spider Queen.

"What does his word mean?" she asked, deep inside her own mind. Her puzzled expression betrayed what she was thinking, leading Mu Qing Lang to explain things further for her understanding.

"The corpses here, the Confer Stones, Ash Stones, or Water Gravels are not what I am here for. It's you and your tribesmen that I am making my way here." Mu Qing Lang smiled as he replied to her question. But the reply hides more secret than his answer.

"What?" the Spider Queen could not believe what he said.

"Although I lead my people here for the sake of collecting the mineral stones, my real motive is here to cultivate the source. I want you to follow me as I went further, not die for me now while I went away cheating away people's life."

"Can you join my Eastern Changzhou and fight for what you believe in? In return, we will grow up as one, move forward together as one. And we will support each other as one Eastern Changzhou."