Chapter 019: Wisdom with Age

Of course, Bashah himself was unaware of this.
“Huh, Chief Huh Erhan, it’s been so long since we last met, yet you’re still so strong!” Bashah said with a smile.
“It’s all thanks to the protection of the Dwarf King. It’s only because of him that I, an old man, have been able to live to this day,” said Chief Huh Erhan, smiling with a mouth full of missing teeth.
“Oh, so there are also human friends and friends from the elf race. Welcome, welcome to our Yifu tribe. Ah, when I was young, I envied humans the most. Your civilization truly fascinates me!” said the old Chief Huh Erhan to Du Fan.
“Hehe, I’m also fascinated by Chief Huh Erhan’s love for life,” Du Fan said with a smile.
“Where’s that? When one gets old, if one doesn’t take the chance to enjoy life, then this whole life has been wasted,” said the old Chief Huh Erhan, also smiling.
It seemed that this old Chief Huh Erhan still had a sharp mind, as he immediately understood the meaning behind Du Fan’s words.
“Since you’re a distinguished guest who’s come from afar, you must not have had breakfast yet. If you don’t mind, have breakfast with me,” said the old Chief Huh Erhan.
At the mention of breakfast, Bashah’s stomach grumbled loudly. This sound caused a slight reaction on the old Chief Huh Erhan’s face, but unfortunately, his face was covered in deep wrinkles, making it impossible to tell what that slight reaction meant.
While having breakfast at Chief Huh Erhan’s home, Du Fan finally learned that even among the dwarves, there could be such exquisite breakfasts—shiny tableware, fragrant goat milk, delicious roasted steaks, and freshly picked fruits.
Watching Bashah gobble down his food, the old Chief Huh Erhan’s expression changed, and he asked, “Lord Bashah, has something serious happened in your Grassland?”
“How did you know?” Bashah asked in surprise.
“Ah, Lord Bashah, you’ve rushed here to our Yifu tribe all in a hurry this morning, looking extremely hungry. Besides, you’re surrounded by humans and elves. I’ve lived for thousands of years—I can tell such things,” said Chief Huh Erhan with a sigh.
“Yes, I’m being hunted,” Bashah said with a sigh as well.
Bashah was straightforward. Once Chief Huh Erhan guessed something, he immediately told him about being hunted.

“Lord Bashah, do you know who wants to kill you?” Suddenly, upon hearing Bashah say this, Elder Hu Erhan narrowed his eyes and asked right away.
“I only know now that those pursuing me are the Mountain Giants and the people from the Tata tribe. Surely, those who are hunting me also have accomplices inside Grass City,” said Bashah.
“It seems this is a conflict within our dwarf race,” said Elder Hu Erhan, his narrowed eyes returning to their normal state after hearing Bashah’s words.
“Elder, what do you mean by that?” Du Fan asked with a smile.
“Oh,” Elder Hu Erhan was momentarily stunned by Du Fan’s sudden question, then casually glanced at him.
“This issue may seem complicated, but it isn’t actually that hard. Since someone dared to attack the son of the Dwarf King in Grass City, the person behind this must have strong connections with Grass City. Otherwise, how could they manage to attack the lord of Grass City while the city’s defenses showed no reaction at all?” After saying this, Elder Hu Erhan took a slow sip of goat milk. He paused briefly before continuing his analysis.
“From this, it’s clear that there’s a significant force inside Grass City helping others against Lord Bashah. Otherwise, with Grass City’s strength, how could outsiders penetrate it?” Hu Erhan said softly.
Du Fan, who had been observing Elder Hu Erhan secretly, suddenly thought of a word at that moment: “wise from age.” This elder of the Yi Fu tribe claimed to have lived for thousands of years. Watching him calmly analyze the situation for Bashah, Du Fan thought of that phrase—wise from age!
Indeed, after hearing Elder Hu Erhan’s analysis, Bashah stood there in silence for a while before nodding. “Elder, you make a good point. If there weren’t problems within our dwarf race, I don’t think those four metal brothers from the Tata tribe would dare to attack me. But how did those Mountain Giants get involved?” Bashah mused again.

“Mountain Giants? It’s been thousands of years since we last heard of them. The last time Mountain Giants appeared was in the previous millennium, during the great war between the dwarves and humans. Those battles were truly bloody—had it not been for the Mountain Giants helping us cut off their retreat at the last moment, five hundred thousand of our dwarves would have been wiped out!” Hearing Basha talk about Mountain Giants, Han suddenly began to recount such an ancient story.

Thousands of years ago, the dwarf race grew too rapidly, their population reaching over seven million! Yet the resources in the Dusk Mountains could only support five million dwarves, leading to severe shortages. Under these circumstances, the dwarves boldly expanded westward, invading human territories.

This invasion prompted several human factions to unite to fight back against the dwarves. The human coalition numbered two million strong! Under the leadership of the legendary general General Katon, they surrounded the ninety thousand invading dwarves in the Bloodstained Valley. In the end, the dwarves managed to escape only after suffering four hundred thousand casualties, with the help of a hundred Mountain Giants sent by the Mountain Giants race at the critical moment.

The Bloodstained Valley once had a beautiful name, but after that battle, it was renamed Bloodstained Valley, and its original name was forgotten by all.

Later, General Katon led his troops into the Dusk Mountains, killing, burning, and plundering three million dwarves before retreating. After that battle, General Katon became known as the ultimate butcher—three million dwarves was almost the entire population of the dwarf race at the time!

From then on, the dwarf race feared General Katon like a god or demon!

After returning to human society, General Katon became extremely famous. On the continent, people might not know the names of the emperors of various empires or even the Pope, but no one could ignore General Katon’s name.

Half a year after his return, the rulers demoted him to a commoner, claiming he had committed too many killings.

When General Katon learned of this, he simply smiled, took a long sword, left the capital, and vanished without a trace.

Of course, when Du Fan read this history, he praised General Katon’s killings highly! That was the true way to eradicate the root cause of the dwarves’ invasions of human lands!

“Since the Mountain Giants are friends with the dwarves, why did they attack Bashah this time?” Du Fan asked.
Since the Mountain Giants and the dwarves were races bound by life and death, there was no reason for the Mountain Giants to attack the son of the dwarf king.
“Times have changed. When this young man first became friends with the Mountain Giants, it wasn’t still the era ruled by the dwarf king.” Suddenly, Hu Erhan spoke, reaching out to stroke his beard.
“As the elder chief knows, who ruled over the dwarves before the era of the dwarf king?” Du Fan quickly asked again.
The dwarves had no habit of recording history in books; much of their history was passed down orally from generation to generation. Thus, compared to an old relic like Elder Chief Hu Erhan, they were practically a living history book!
The dwarves’ long lifespan was also one of the reasons why they didn’t keep written records of history. In the eyes of the dwarves, thousands of years of human history could be fully remembered within the course of a single dwarf’s life.
Upon hearing Du Fan’s question, Elder Chief Hu Erhan gave him a meaningful look.
Under that gaze from Elder Chief Hu Erhan, Du Fan felt as if he were facing an abyss.
“What an astute old man!” Du Fan thought in admiration.
Elder Chief Hu Erhan could be considered the wisest dwarf Du Fan had met since entering the Twilight Mountains. The impression he gave Du Fan was that even the most intelligent humans were only on par with him.
“Young man, your question is excellent. Let me think carefully—who was the ruler before the respected dwarf king? Hmm, that’s not right either. Before the dwarf king ruled, we dwarves were governed by families.” To Du Fan, it was unclear whether Elder Chief Hu Erhan was truly forgetful or pretending to be so; he couldn’t tell the difference at all.
Because while talking to himself, Elder Chief Hu Erhan showed no signs of pretending, but Du Fan certainly wouldn’t believe that he was pondering such a question.
“The Modo family, the Hao Hai family…” After listing several family names, Elder Chief Hu Erhan suddenly said, “Oh, I remember now—it was the Dao Qi family!”

“Yes, before the Dwarf King unified our people, it was the Dodge family that held dominion over the dwarves.” Suddenly, Hu Erhan seemed eager to smile.
“Elder Chief Hu Erhan, what’s the point of talking about these things?” Bashah asked abruptly.
Hearing Bashah’s question, Hu Erhan’s expression froze.
Soon, the old shrewd creature, who appeared to Du Fan as a cunning old fox, said, “I don’t know either. Since this noble guest from humanity asked me, as the leader of the Yifu tribe, I have to answer him. Ugh, Lord Bashah, if you want to know the meaning of this, ask your human friend instead.” With ease, the old shrewd creature passed the ball back to Du Fan.
“Younger brother Du Fan, what’s the point of asking this?” Bashah quickly asked Du Fan.
“Second brother, as Elder Chief Hu Erhan mentioned earlier, these Mountain Giants must have had a very good relationship with the previous ruling family of the dwarves. So, their appearance is definitely related to that former ruling family! What I want to ask is, what kind of family is the Dodge family?” Du Fan asked seriously.