"Look over there." Vanessa raised her engineering spyglass. "There's a huge fortress south of the road. Yrel, what place is that? Take us over to have a look."
Yrel shook her head repeatedly. The little hoof, who was usually fearless, showed a rare look of apprehension:
"Spare me. I wouldn't go even if you beat me to death."
Robbie looked where Vanessa was pointing and could just make out an enormous fortress built among the towering mountains.
Its walls were built from massive blocks of stone, with sharply defined edges and jagged spikes like fangs that seemed ready to pierce the sky. It had the rugged style of the Orcs.
It was a stronghold protected by a massive magical barrier: the Bastion of Pain, belonging to the Shadowmoon Clan, whose leader was the Orc Shaman Ner'zhul.
From talking with Yrel, Robbie learned that even before the Orcs had established the Iron Horde, relations between the Draenei and the Shadowmoon Clan had not been harmonious. Their disputes and conflicts were mostly settled by Draenei concessions.
Yrel had been born on Draenor and raised in the Temple of Karabor. She had never experienced the hardships of their great flight across the stars to escape the Burning Legion's pursuit. It was hard for her to understand how difficult it had been to win this peaceful life.
Yrel had been warned from childhood to stay away from Orcs and avoid disputes and conflicts with them. As a result, she feared the fierce-looking Orcs from the bottom of her heart.
Every race had warmongers and battle maniacs who delighted in expansion and slaughter.
At first, most of the Eredar on Argus had followed their two leaders, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, into the Burning Legion, becoming the main force in the Legion's conquest of the universe.
Only a small number of their gentle, kindhearted people had fled Argus under Prophet Velen's leadership. They called themselves Draenei, meaning "the exiled ones."
On Draenor, the Draenei regarded themselves as outsiders, kept a low profile, and lived quiet, semi-secluded lives.
The members of this race were nearly immortal, which made it easy for them to pass their beliefs on to the next generation. Most were gentle and kind, peaceable, open-minded, and serene.
In times of peace, such a temperament did little harm. But once war came, the consequences were bound to be devastating.
It was precisely because of this weakness in their character that the Draenei, despite possessing the technology for interstellar travel, could be bullied so terribly by the backward, savage Orcs.
With the establishment of the Iron Horde, tensions between the Draenei and the Shadowmoon Clan deepened, and clashes continued. The Orcs hunted Draenei without reason, and war was imminent.
As soon as Robbie entered Embaari Village, he felt the tension.
The Draenei were clearly unprepared.
Numerous wounded lay near the inn in Embaari Village. The hastily organized Draenei youths all looked lost and bewildered, with no sign of any combat experience.
The adventurers, on the other hand, came and went with composure and high spirits.
In the adventurers' eyes, the Shadowmoon Clan's Orcs were nothing more than piles of gold, hefty bounties, and walking cash machines.
After entering Embaari Village, Yrel led the way to the quest officer Eremor in the hall, ready to turn in the "Ku'rat's Fangs" bounty quest.
"You're asking about the bounty quest, Ku'rat's Fangs?" Eremor was a female Draenei. She checked the quest records in a daze:
"You're too late. The quest has already been canceled."
"Why was it canceled?"
"Because someone already completed it." Eremor took out the quest records:
"Look. Three days ago, a human warlock named Luobo'an brought back Ku'rat's Fangs and collected the bounty. That youngster looked timid, but I never expected him to be such a remarkable warrior."
So it was that kid Luobo'an. Not bad, Robbie thought. He's actually made progress.
Vanessa was puzzled. Was there more than one Elekk named Kurat?
Robbie pulled her aside and explained in a low voice, "It's quest fraud."
"What do you mean?" Vanessa didn't quite understand.
Robbie shrugged. "It's been happening for a long time. Back at Light's Hope Chapel, the Argent Dawn was short-handed in its fight against the Undead Scourge, so it hired adventurers. One quest, called Beyond, was to kill Baron Rivendare. It required fighting deep into Stratholme, which was full of Undead, and at first everyone thought no one could complete it. But in just one month, they received over a hundred of Rivendare's heads."
"And then?" Yrel joined in with interest.
"Paying the quest rewards nearly bankrupted the Argent Dawn. Not long afterward, word came that Baron Rivendare had been promoted and become one of the Scourge's Four Horsemen."
After hearing this, Vanessa looked as though she understood, though it was impossible to tell whether she was pleased:
"Interesting. I didn't expect such a thing. They've brought this disgrace all the way to Draenor. It looks like the Alliance needs to clean up its ways."
Just then, Robbie heard a familiar voice.
"I'm here to turn in a quest." Luobo'an looked travel-worn as he spoke eagerly to Eremor. "I killed eight Shadowmoon void mages, closed the void portal, and rescued the three Draenei children, Stak, Alaina, and Hakkama."
"Champion, on behalf of Embaari Village, I thank you..."
"Wait, wait!"
Yrel stepped over with the Hammer of the Naaru in her hand and said with a faint smile, "Hero, thank you for your efforts. Thanks to your help, peace has returned to Embaari Village."
Luobo'an put on a modest expression and replied politely, "It's what we should do. The Alliance and the Draenei will always be friends."
Yrel kept smiling. "By the way, where are the three children you rescued?"
Luobo'an grew nervous. "Oh, those three little rascals! I don't know where they've run off to play."
"Is that so?" Yrel's smile grew colder. "When you rescued Alaina, what did she say to you?"
"N-nothing!" Cold sweat poured down Luobo'an's forehead.
"You damned liar! Don't think you can deceive the Draenei." Yrel raised the Hammer of the Naaru as if to bring it down on him.
"Don't hit me! I was wrong!" Luobo'an dropped to the ground in fright. Under Yrel's intimidation, he confessed every detail of how he had committed quest fraud and even handed over a fine of his own accord.
Robbie felt that Luobo'an was naturally as timid as a mouse and not particularly bright. He shouldn't have had the nerve to commit quest fraud, so someone had to be behind it.
When Yrel left, Vanessa gave Robbie a slight nod, and Robbie understood.
"Luobo'an, are you all right? Come on, I'll buy you a drink."
In the tavern, Robbie ordered Luobo'an a drink to calm his nerves.
Robbie sighed. "Luobo'an, of all the things you could have done, why did you have to commit quest fraud? Is that something you can pull off? The people who dare do it have already bribed the right people beforehand and set up the scheme together to divide the spoils. The Draenei are honest and simple, but they won't fall for that."
Luobo'an nodded meekly and said dejectedly, "You know me. How could I possibly have what it takes to complete quests? An expert gave me some pointers and said the Draenei were easy to fool. I tried it last time, and it actually worked, so I got bolder."
"That expert must have been setting you up."
"That can't be. The expert is the famous Lord Li Yueke. Everyone in Lunarfall knows him." Luobo'an felt wronged.
"Who's Lord Li Yueke?" The name was unfamiliar to Robbie.
Luobo'an glanced at Robbie. "Oh, look at my memory. I almost forgot you aren't a commander. Lord Li Yueke is the one who sells commander certificates. All three hundred commanders in Lunarfall bought their certificates from him."
If Khadgar personally sold something as shady as commander certificates, he would lose too much face. Lord Li Yueke was the middleman.
Luobo'an was new to the world and easy to fool. No wonder Li Yueke had used him.
Robbie shook his head and warned him, "Luobo'an, be more careful. Lord Li Yueke used you to test the Draenei's reaction. Whatever the case, you're the one who got burned."
Luobo'an looked dejected, then suddenly pleaded, "Robbie, help me out of a tight spot. I don't have enough money left. Could you lend me some? I'll pay you back soon."
Robbie took out a hundred gold coins and gave them to him. "That's all I have. I'm poor too."
Luobo'an took the gold and hurried away. Vanessa returned after turning in her quest, sat down beside Robbie, and whispered, "The show is about to start."
More and more adventurers gathered in the tavern. Robbie could see that every one of them had come with ill intent, and they seemed to have an understanding. When the place was almost full, a human man walked in.
The man was dressed in spotless white and had a cultured, refined air, but his little eyes darted about. At a glance, he was plainly a sly and cunning fellow.
The group of four who had tricked people into killing the Elekk followed behind him.
"That's the female Priest," the Dwarf Warrior said, pointing at Vanessa.
The human man smiled calmly. "Miss, may I ask your name?"
Vanessa ignored him. Robbie stepped forward and shouted, "Who are you? Say what you came to say. Don't try to get familiar with us."
The human man smiled faintly. "I am Lord Li Yueke. I have a modest reputation here in Lunarfall Camp. When adventurers have a dispute, they generally come to me to mediate. Thanks to everyone's esteem, they're willing to show me that respect."
"We have nothing to do with you."
Lord Li Yueke glanced at Robbie. "Young man, as the saying goes, cats have their paths and mice have theirs. We adventurers are out here making a living. Without rules, wouldn't everything fall into chaos? That would be bad for everyone, and anyone who breaks the rules must be punished."
The other adventurers chimed in. "That's right. There have to be rules. His lordship is right."
Robbie frowned. "Then may I ask what rule we broke?"
"Were you the ones who completed the bounty quest for Kurat the Elekk?"
"That's right, we did it. What about it?"
"Then there's no problem."
Lord Li Yueke said coldly, "You ruined someone else's source of income. By the rules of adventurers, you must be punished. I won't make things difficult for you: one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins and the Enchanter's Robe, and we'll let the matter rest."
Robbie pointed at the Dwarf Warrior and his three companions. "Do you know what their source of income was?"
Lord Li Yueke shook his head. "I don't care what they did. I only know that you cut off their income. As for what they did, adventurers live on the edge of the law to begin with. If they committed crimes, murdered people, and robbed them, others will deal with it. It has nothing to do with this matter."
Interesting. This was a textbook case of quoting selectively and twisting arguments. Robbie really didn't know how to respond. It looked like he could only resort to force.
All the adventurers in the inn stood up and gathered behind Li Yueke to support him.
This guy really has a lot of influence. Things don't look good. Robbie saw that Vanessa's expression remained unchanged and hesitated. Should he try Mass Repentance and catch Li Yueke with it too?