Chapter Sixty-Eight: The House of Blossoms

Over the next two days, Sun Licheng continued to change the bandages and treat little Medusa’s injuries, while also heading out to search for ore. The ointment he had prepared worked remarkably well, and with Medusa’s robust constitution, the girl’s condition improved significantly—her spirits lifted greatly.

On another front, perseverance finally paid off: Sun Licheng discovered a small copper mine. Though not large, it had the advantage of being very close to the Moon Goddess Tribe—less than a day’s journey away. If a proper road were built, he estimated it would take only half a day to reach. While Sun Licheng had also helped the Silver Moon Tribe find a copper mine, it was a full two days’ journey from there—much farther by comparison.

Sometimes, when fortune smiles, it cannot be stopped. Not long after finding the copper mine, Sun Licheng discovered a tin mine nearby, and on his way back, he even came across a small lead mine.

“This is wonderful, brother, thank you so much!”

Adair, beaming with excitement, quickly handed Sun Licheng a cup of hot water. He had been anxious these past days.

After some brief pleasantries, the Moon Goddess Tribe gathered their able-bodied miners—a force of two or three hundred strong. With so many people, large quantities of raw materials were soon transported back.

With these materials, the bronze smelter could finally be ignited. As the coke burned fiercely and the various ores were added, everyone in the Moon Goddess Tribe crowded nervously around the furnace, waiting for the results.

At last, when Sun Licheng saw that the process was nearly complete, he used a prepared fork to tip the crucible, and the molten bronze—glowing red—flowed through the channel into the molds.

“We did it!”

Someone shouted, and the entire Moon Goddess Tribe erupted in jubilation. Adair, overwhelmed with excitement, ran over and hugged Sun Licheng tightly, squeezing him so hard his face twisted in pain.

Amidst the elated crowd, Sun Licheng felt a deep sense of happiness. With bronze tools, the warriors of the Moon Goddess Tribe would have better weapons, the craftsmen better tools, and the women better cookware. In short, the tribe was about to take off.

“Brother Sun Licheng is amazing!”

Beside him, Christina was just as excited, waving her small fists and shouting gleefully at Sun Licheng.

Yet no one noticed the dark expressions of the two Silver Moon Tribe goblins behind Christina. The Silver Moon Tribe had long benefited from their monopoly on bronze smelting, but now that Sun Licheng had spread the technology, their interests would inevitably be affected. Unlike the innocent Christina, these two harbored resentment toward Sun Licheng. But did they ever reflect on what the Silver Moon Tribe had actually given him?

“Brother, thank you so much.”

Adair released Sun Licheng, his face still flushed with excitement, and slapped him heartily on the shoulder.

“We are brothers—this is the least I can do,” replied Sun Licheng, a little embarrassed by Adair’s enthusiasm as he scratched his head.

At that moment, Adair waved his hand, and several goblin warriors from the Moon Goddess Tribe brought forward a group of slaves—about ten in total.

“Let’s not stand on ceremony. This group of goblin slaves is your reward for helping us with bronze smelting—you must accept them!”

Seeing Sun Licheng’s puzzled look, Adair explained with a smile.

It turned out that in the recent great battle, the goblins had won a resounding victory—not only killing many enemy warriors but also capturing a batch of prisoners. According to the Moon Alliance’s rules, the spoils were distributed among the tribes, and these captives became their slaves. The ten goblin slaves had just arrived and were now given to Sun Licheng.

Sun Licheng politely declined at first, but in the end accepted them. He was in desperate need of manpower, and more slaves could only help.

“The Moon Goddess Tribe is so much more generous than the Silver Moon Tribe,”

thought Sun Licheng to himself as he looked at the laughing Adair after accepting the slaves.

He stayed three more days with the Moon Goddess Tribe. With his help, their craftsmen mastered the full set of bronze casting techniques, and the quality and artistry of their bronze wares improved steadily.

During this period, Sun Licheng also taught the tribe's high priest the recipe and method for wound ointment, earning even greater gratitude—so much so that they insisted on gifting him three more slaves.

Meanwhile, little Vina’s wounds had nearly healed, and she no longer suffered when walking with her tail.

However, the treatment had one unintended side effect: every time little Medusa saw Sun Licheng, she would blush. Sun Licheng was rather helpless about this, for though Medusa’s tail was indeed alluring, his mind was filled only with thoughts of his wife and child from his previous life. Besides, though Vina was beautiful, she was still a monster, and Sun Licheng, a goblin, was also a kind of monster—if anything embarrassing happened between them, would it be a union of monsters?

Thinking it over, Sun Licheng dismissed this absurd notion.

Two days later, after wrapping up all his affairs, Sun Licheng prepared to return home.

Unexpectedly, the Moon Goddess Tribe showed great hospitality, dispatching six elite goblin warriors to escort them back. Their other important task was to help Sun Licheng manage the thirteen slaves.

Sun Licheng was only too happy to accept this kindness.

“Brother, don’t worry about a thing. The food for the Moonstone Tribe is ready and will be delivered to them tomorrow. And please, visit the Moon Goddess Tribe whenever you have the time,”

Adair said, clapping Sun Licheng on the shoulder as they parted at the camp gate.

Sun Licheng nodded in agreement, waved goodbye to the tribe, and led his group on the road.

This time, with a wagon at their disposal, little Medusa Vina lay comfortably in it. Sun Licheng, seeking to reassure the slaves, walked alongside on foot, while Christina rode her moose as before.

Five days later, they returned to the Silver Moon Tribe. After greeting everyone and escorting Christina home, Sun Licheng led his team toward the forward camp.

Arriving at the site of their first great battle with the goblins, Sun Licheng found that the small camp had taken shape, so he told his group to rest while he rode the Wolf King up the hill to find Master Dexterous.

On the hillside, he saw the military camp had expanded and the defenses improved.

“It seems Master Dexterous has accomplished a great deal lately,”

Sun Licheng thought admiringly as he surveyed the scene.

Soon, Master Dexterous came out to greet him.

Sun Licheng asked him to prepare three of the latest handcarts. These had been recently improved—wooden wheels upgraded with rattan-woven rims, making them more elastic and far easier to push than the old wooden ones.

With the handcarts ready, Sun Licheng loaded them with food, mainly cassava cakes and salted blackfish jerky.

When the Moon Goddess Tribe goblins saw the handcarts, they were overjoyed. They hadn’t expected Sun Licheng to be so generous—not only with food, but with three handcarts, which were treasures in themselves. After expressing their gratitude, the six goblins pushed the carts home.

After they’d left, with a puff of steam, Master Dexterous appeared with Little Cabbage.

The sudden appearance of this strange mechanical puppet threw the goblin slaves into a panic. Only the menacing presence of the Wolf King and Dog Meat kept them from fleeing.

Little Cabbage stepped up and spoke to the goblin slaves in words Sun Licheng couldn’t understand, and at last, the thirteen goblins calmed down. Sun Licheng surmised it must be the goblin language.

To his surprise, the new goblins then stood respectfully before Little Cabbage, as if she were a figure of great importance.

“What a strange person,”

Sun Licheng thought as he rubbed his chin, watching the scene before him.

After calming the goblins, Little Cabbage came to report: “These people were only recently captured and can be trusted. If you’re still uneasy, you can have them swear by the God of Oaths to follow you unto death and keep this place secret.”

Sun Licheng nodded, then considered that the language barrier should be addressed first.

He drew a hexagram on the ground and placed six crystals upon it.

The goblins, seeing this, were terrified—assuming Sun Licheng was about to perform a blood sacrifice. They wailed and cried, but with the Wolf King and Little Cabbage threatening and coaxing them, they finally calmed down.

The magic crystals flickered, “Two Tigers” played, white light surged, and at last, everyone could communicate.

The first order of business was for the goblins to swear an oath to the God of Oaths, pledging their loyalty to Sun Licheng.

Sun Licheng was no bleeding-heart; institution-building came first, and he doubted these primitive people had much sense of honor.

“We swear to forever serve Boss Sun Licheng without betrayal. If we break this oath, may we be struck by lightning and perish without a grave.”

Listening to the goblins’ oath, Sun Licheng felt like a mob boss. Only, his crew was ragged and almost naked—quite a pitiful sight.

“One day, I’ll get each of them a black suit. That would really look the part,”

he thought with a mischievous grin as he rubbed his chin.

With the oath complete, the goblins were now his people. Under Master Dexterous’s leadership, they awkwardly formed a column and marched back to the barracks. Sun Licheng stood on the hillside, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.

“Boss, you said you wanted to form your own tribe. So, does this mean our tribe is now established?”

Little Cabbage’s voice broke his reverie.

Sun Licheng thought for a moment, then nodded. “I suppose so. Today is the day our tribe is founded.”

“What’s our tribe’s name?” Little Cabbage pressed, her excitement clear.

“Zhonghua… Yes, let’s call it the Zhonghua Tribe. Our home, Zhonghua!”

A sly smile played at Sun Licheng’s lips as he raised his fist and declared with gusto.

“Zhonghua? Why that name?”

As Little Cabbage looked on in confusion, Sun Licheng mounted the Wolf King and, singing the national anthem, charged back to camp, the notes of the “March of the Volunteers” echoing across the land.

In his fifth month in this world, Sun Licheng finally had his own armed force. He named this day the first day of the first year of Zhonghua—the founding day of his new tribe.