1169 The Sword Is Cold, but the Blood Is Supposed to be Warm (1/2)
Chapter 1169 – The Sword Is Cold, but the Blood Is Supposed to be Warm
The Chinese had a saying that even though a husband and wife were like birds in the same forest, when a calamity struck, each would fly their own way.
Since the Great Zhou Dynasty ship was having problems, there were naturally people who sought a way out. The one who sent the letter to Ouyang Shuo was Great Zhou's Wu Marquis Xiong Ba.
He revealed in the letter that for this country war month, Di Chen was prepared to treat it with disinterest, just sending a small number of troops as a gesture. He reminded Ouyang Shuo to be mentally prepared.
Di Chen was prepared to go all out and not bother about the reactions of the China players. He did not want to try to hide it like during the country war last year, where Great Xia abused the fact.
In his eyes, no matter who Ouyang Shuo targeted, Great Zhou could not get anything good out of it. Since that was the case, why not just give up?
As for the thoughts of the players, in his words, ”Things have already come to this, what am I afraid of?”
When Ouyang Shuo read the letter, he fell into deep thought.
Di Chen's plan did not surprise him much, but the meaning behind Xiong Ba's actions did. Xiong Ba was not a fool and telling this matter to Ouyang Shuo was obviously to express his good intentions.
Maybe the Great Zhou dynasty was going to welcome yet another split.
”It's time to end this!” Ouyang Shuo's eyes glistened.
...
Due to Di Chen's lack of cooperation, on the 5th month, 20th day, Ouyang Shuo revealed on the forums that they were targeting India. From now on, players could move toward Hetao Province or Tibet dynasty to save traveling time.
Who knew that there would be only a few replies.
For this country war, not only Great Zhou was not interested, but even Great Jin did not show much interest.
For last year's attack on Japan, Great Jin took action to obtain an ocean territory to start voyage trading. Meanwhile, this attack on India did not mean much to them.
Furthermore, Great Jin's foundations could not be compared to Great Xia. Moreover, NPCs could not be revived, which made Feng Qiuhuang treat this matter carefully. The risks and rewards did not match up, so no matter who it was, they would not be interested.
As the Jin queen, Feng Qiuhuang had a responsibility regarding the millions under her and could not do as she wished.
Ouyang Shuo could understand that.
But in that case, this country war was a solo one for Great Xia.
”This is a tough one if we go alone.”
The moment they infuriated India, and they worked together to attack China, Hetao Province would take the brunt of the hit. At that point, who was attacking who would be uncertain.
If Ouyang Shuo was Durava, he would not miss such a chance to use the power of India and the opportunity of the country war to take down Hetao Province to win back some face from the lost in the last battle.
If both Java and Russia declared war against China, Great Xia would be in an even worse spot. Not mention taking down India, but even self-preservation would become a problem.
Thinking about the problem within, Ouyang Shuo shook his head bitterly.
The cons of Great Xia's expansion were evident here. Any region that was connected to China was connected to Great Xia.
On the contrary, Great Zhou and Great Jin were inland and had no pressure.
One could not escape responsibility for their actions, much less Great Xia who had many enemies. Be it Silver Hand or Azure Badge, they would not give up on the chance to set back Great Xia.
More problems were coming.
On the 5th month, 21st day, the news that said that Great Zhou and Great Jin were not interested in the country war month spread from who knows where. Smart players immediately noticed the danger within.
Just thinking about it, one could guess that things would not be so smooth like the previous year. Players who were planning to make some easy gains lost that thought too.
Some who were prepared to proceed toward Hetao Province were influenced by the people around them and stopped.
The entire China region was in a really weird atmosphere.
...
5th month, 22nd day, Shanhai City.
Within the Xia Palace, Ouyang Shuo brows were locked tight. The news from yesterday was undoubtedly by Di Chen, and the goal was to create problems for Great Xia.
”There really is nothing he would not do.” Ouyang Shuo was disappointed in Di Chen.
The China region players also disappointed him.
He did not expect that after the game update, a battle for achievement value had made them cherish their lives so much that they had lost their fighting spirit and patriotism.
All of their hot blood became ice cold.
Although this was normal, Ouyang Shuo felt that something was up. He always felt that them being so self-protective went against what Gaia was aiming at.
If the players were not hot blooded even in the game world, how could one hope for them to fight for the survival of mankind in the harsher environment of Planet Hope?
The blood was cold, but the blood was supposed to be warm.
Under such circumstances, Ouyang Shuo invited guild leaders like Blood Romance to be guests in the Xia Palace.
Imperial garden, west lawn.
As they were not ruler and servant, Ouyang Shuo chose a less serious meeting place. Everyone sat on the lawn, chatting as they are afternoon tea.
After talking for a bit, Ouyang Shuo asked, ”Toward the rumors of these two days, what are your views?”
Blood Romance and the others exchanged glances, not knowing how to reply. They were all smart people and guessed before their arrived the reason why Ouyang Shuo would summon them.
Even if they were mentally prepared, they did not know how to answer the question.
After all, this was not a glamourous thing, and Ouyang Shuo pointing it outright made things really awkward.
When Ouyang Shuo saw that, he sighed silently. He looked around, and every guild leader he looked at tried to avoid his gaze and did not dare to look him in the eye.
Even Xie Siyun looked at him apologetically.
”I can understand your considerations. Putting myself in your shoes, there is not anything wrong with that.” Ouyang Shuo gave them a way out of the awkwardness, relieving the atmosphere.
”The main thing is the people under us are making too much noise.” Moon Shines over the River tried to explain.
Ouyang Shuo nodded, ”I can understand what you are doing, but I cannot agree with it.”
When Blood Romance heard that, he said solemnly, ”What views does Brother Shuo have? Please tell us.”
Blood Romance had a lot of respect for Ouyang Shuo. This Lord, who was of similar age to him, always saw things others could not. Hence, Blood Romance's words were not sarcastic.
Ouyang Shuo understood his character, ”The relationship between individual and group cannot be changed. To the guilds, the player is an individual, and the guild is a group. Meanwhile, to Great Xia, the guilds are the individual. In China, in Chinese civilization, is Great Xia not an individual too?”
When Ouyang Shuo said that, the expressions of Blood Romance and the others looked really weird. In their eyes, Ouyang Shuo was trying to say some patriotism values, which was amusing and a huge drop from his standards.
To convince them using that was totally impossible.
Ouyang Shuo's expression did not change, ”Gaia pushing out the achievement value update seemed to be emphasizing on individuality, but in truth, it is trying to strengthen the overall strength of mankind such that we are able to survive on Planet Hope.”
”If this time, in front of the country war, guilds agree with the players and back off, once we have a conflict of interest in the future on Planet Hope, can we survive as a group?”
”....”