Be a lord in the world of Indian mythology

Chapter 7 Trade Routes

The East is rich in gold and treasures, but the road to the East is full of thorns.

Vijay had heard people talk about this many times when he was studying in the temple.

The gist of it is that everyone knows that as long as you trade with the East, you're guaranteed to make a fortune!

It wasn't that no one was willing to try, but rather that the main route to the East passed through the territory of heretics, who had been fighting Brahma for thousands of years and were mortal enemies with Brahma's followers, with whom they could never make peace.

But the profits from this route to the East were simply too tempting.

For this reason, several Kshatriyas near the border organized armies of up to 100,000 men to confront the heretics on several occasions over the past century.

However, the majesty of the heretical gods should not be underestimated. They dared to stand up to Brahma even under his radiance, and the heretical soldiers were equally brave, capable of fighting against a large army and winning the battle.

Over time, no matter how much the Brahmins and Kshatriyas coveted that road, they dared not start a war lightly.

Only a few desperate merchants, coveting this profit, attempted small-scale voyages to the East.

Of course, most people never returned.

Only a small number of merchants, possessing both courage and divine protection, were able to return to their homeland laden with goods and become wealthy.

When others ask them for their experience, most businessmen are unwilling to describe their past experiences, and some even dare not set off again!

These memories surfaced.

Vijay sipped the syrup Maya fed him, carefully searching his mind for images of the East.

In his memory, Vijay's father didn't seem to have told him much about the East. As the last heir of the Mittal family, the only family in Harappa to have traveled to the East multiple times, this seemed unusual.

"Old Bim, how many times have you been to the East?"

The old servant standing before me, who had faithfully followed my grandfather since he was a merchant, is perhaps the final witness to that story.

"My lord, I have gone three times!" Bim bowed respectfully to the ground. "Thanks to Shiva, I followed the great master and the master and tried a total of eight times, and successfully reached the East three times."

"Sit down!" Vijay nodded and gestured to Maya, who was standing next to him, to bring her father some fermented bean curd noodles.

Old Bim bowed respectfully before accepting the reward from Maya and kneeling on the thick carpet on the ground.

"Let's start from the first time!" Vijay nodded, looking at his old servant with newfound respect.

This resume is unique, not only in Harappa, but even among the surrounding megacities!

"I was about the same age as Rajon back then..."

Facing Vijay, who was seated at the head of the table, he recalled the past with a somewhat dazed expression.

"By Shiva's blessing, the Lord chose me and six other companions, with six camels and oxen, two horses, and a full load of goods, to embark on that trade route for the first time."

"We first walked along the main road, heading north towards the holy mountain, and the sunsets were 15 times. It was very easy along the way. It was as if Shiva was guiding the old man, and he was always able to avoid the extortion of those bandits."

"Upon reaching the city of Suliepuri in the north, we replenished our food and water supplies one last time, then headed north again until sunset, before turning east to avoid the main roads and enter a sparsely populated area."

"The road is filled with miasma, there are dragons in the water, two leopards the size of beams in the trees, birds that breathe fire and fish that fly in the sky. Everything there is poisonous, the water is undrinkable, and the ground eats people... No one else dares to go here, but the old man always manages to find a safe place to live."

"In that place, we couldn't see the sun or the moon, but after the sky darkened and then brightened five times, we arrived at the foot of a great mountain where a cannibalistic tribe lived! Their fences were made of human bones, and skulls were their decorations..."

Thinking of this, fear filled Bim's eyes. "By Shiva, those barbarians can't speak human language, but the stones they throw with their bare hands are faster and bigger than catapults! The javelins they throw are like lightning! The old master left us outside the tribe's fence, and at the time, old Bim thought he was going to be sold to those cannibalistic barbarians..."

"Later, the old man returned, leaving behind half of the goods. Then we continued eastward through the barbarian tribes, and after two more sunrises and sunsets, we entered the high mountain region. But the old man did not lead us up the mountain; instead, he led us to a secluded valley where golden lava flowed everywhere, and even walking on the ground would burn your feet."

"At the very end of the valley was a small temple. The old sage told us to take out torches and light them. When we returned to him with the torches, the temple had vanished, and a dark path had appeared in its place. It must have been Shiva's protection!"

"I don't know how long we walked, but when we saw the sun again, the old man announced that we had reached the East..."

Bim paused, took a sip of syrup, and said, "The old master led us for a long time before we arrived at a huge city."

"Even the outer walls were covered in gold and jewels, the streets were so crowded they were like silt in a river, and the goods were so dazzling you couldn't take your eyes off them!"

Bim beamed, "Then the old man led us back the way we came..."

While Old Beam's account was vivid and obviously authentic, the complete lack of detail was both laughable and pathetic.

"My old servant," Vijay interrupted Bim's head-shaking narration, "if you were to go down this road now, would you still be able to make it through?"

"Brahma above, my lord!" Bim put down the flatbread he was holding, bowed deeply, and kowtowed heavily to the ground. "Old Bim can't do it..."

Vijay pursed his lips; he had already guessed the answer.

Although old Bim successfully traversed this path three times, Vijay learned from his descriptions that his grandfather and father must not have explained everything clearly to these servants.

How to find a safe haven in a perilous situation, how to communicate with the barbarians to get them to open the camp, how to open the temple door deep in the valley, how to locate the coordinates in the east...

Without these, knowing only the general road and direction is completely useless.

"Old Bim, now that my grandfather has successfully established the trade route, what were the reasons for your failures?" Vijay continued to press.

There's nothing I can do. These were originally secrets that should have been passed down through generations in the family. I don't know what went wrong, but why is there no inheritance when it comes to me?

There must be some crucial element that has been lost from Vijay Myrta's memory!