Chapter 536: Traces of slaves
Chapter 533
Searching for the Green-Faced Fanged Beast
When they found out that the Rock Hill City was looking for the green-faced fanged beast, Ao and Zheng Luo couldn’t wait any longer.
To them, the green-faced fanged beast was equivalent to a weapon of higher rank. With this higher ranking weapon, the power of their tribe would be improved immensely. Who wouldn’t want a weapon like that?
Since the Shi family of Rock Hill City sent people to look for the green-faced fanged beast in the Fearsome Beast Forest, did it really imply that the beast was here?
Not necessarily. But if there was a place on this land suitable for such a beast to exist, it was none other than Fearsome Beast Forest, because there weren’t many other large habitats suitable for it to live in.
Finding green-faced fanged beasts was certainly not easy. If it was, the Shi family of Rock Hill City probably wouldn’t have sent so many people, not to mention the fact that they hired several skilled thieves to do the job.
“Do green-faced fanged beasts really exist in Fearsome Beast Forest? Then why hasn’t anyone from Rock Hill City found it after all these years?” Ta said.
“It might not be the case. Even if they found one, as long as they kept it to themselves, no one would know.” Ao expressed his opinion. “But if they didn’t, why would they keep their eyes on Fearsome Beast Forest? Rock Hill City has existed for almost a thousand years anyways.”
Several generations of rulers in Rock Hill City sent people to look for it. This meant that they had never given up on this forest. If it really wasn’t here, why would they be so persistent? Rock Hill City had too many secrets. If it were not for the battles that happened in the past two years, who would know what conspiracy they were up to? No one would even know about their real strength. Perhaps they still had more, maybe cards they hadn’t revealed.
“That’s true too. Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go look for it! I’ll be the first to join!” Duo Kang was excited.
“We’re not in a hurry,” Shao Xuan looked at the direction of the tribes that have previously settled outside the forest. “Those people aren’t done yet.”
Since the people from the Hui tribe expressed their intention to cooperate, the Flaming Horns would gladly do so too. No matter how arrogant they were, they shouldn’t think that they had the power to challenge several other tribes at the same time. So an alliance was good for them.
“Go tell Gu La to get ready. We will enter the forest,” Shao Xuan said.
“What if people from other tribes want to follow?” Gui He asked.
“Then let them show their sincerity!”
Among the people who came to Flaming Horn, there were actually two factions. One group supported the idea of abandoning the other tribes and joining forces with the Flaming Horn tribe. Another group believed that the Flaming Horn tribe was not worth their cooperation, because they had nothing other than their physical strength. Perhaps they may have some schemes, but they were still far behind the other tribes.
Nonetheless, they still chose to join forces with the Flaming Horns at the end. Their first reason for joining forces was because they wanted to unite with the other tribes, though their relationship with them was not the best. Many times they had to find out about news through their own means and they didn’t really receive any benefits. Secondly, they could no longer stand the overly cautious and hesitant behaviour of those people.
In recent years, the Hui tribe felt that something big might happen, and the Hui shaman also made a prediction during the sacrifice. He predicted that there might be a huge change coming. Although it was not certain when it would come, it was certainly not far away. This made it impossible for the Hui tribe who had just returned and were living fairly peacefully to calm down. If this change was so big that it could affect them, they definitely shouldn’t underestimate it. Unfortunately, their progress had brought nothing but disappointment. They couldn’t wait any longer.
On this day, a few people from the Hui tribe were arguing over their alliance with the Flaming Horns. Since the day Gu La went to look for Shao Xuan, the Flaming Horns had not given them a satisfactory answer. So many days have passed and yet there was no news. Some of them began to worry. Haven’t you seen people from other tribes joking about them? They didn’t even want to leave their houses. They were afraid that once they went out, they would be surrounded by a circle of mocking faces.
Right when they were complaining, Gui He came over to look for them.
“Let’s clean up, we’ll be going into the forest soon.”
“Into the forest?!” Gu La burst into joy. When Gui He said going into the forest, he knew it wasn’t for hunting. They were looking for something!
“Do you guys already know what we are looking for?” He She asked uncertainly.
Gui He did not give them a direct answer but gave a broad smile that
As soon as Gui He left, the surrounding men from different tribes rushed back to the Hui tribe’s living headquarters and heard from them that they desired to follow the Flaming Horns into the forest. Hearing this, they could not sit still so they went to look for the chiefs of the Flaming Horns.
They did not believe that the Flaming Horns knew what Rock Hill City was looking for. All they wanted was for the Flaming Horns to lead the way so they could follow along. They have lived outside for a long time, and would surely experience discomfort if they enter the forest. They also knew that Fearsome Beast Forest wouldn’t give them time to adapt, so rushing in without a plan would only cost them their lives. As for the “sincerity” that the Flaming Horns mentioned, they also knew what the Flaming Horns wanted. They wanted to collect a fee for leading the way. At least this was negotiable.
Thus, after listening to their people’s opinions, the three leaders went to meet Shao Xuan.
“A huge boat from the Longboat tribe, half a carload of jade from the Mang tribe, and a strong bow from the Eight Limbs tribe…”
After they finished speaking, Shao Xuan raised his eyebrows, “Make them double this amount.”
“What?!”
The three leaders were shocked. Even the two chiefs who had been listening next to them felt that Shao Xuan’s requirements were too high.
“Those people may not agree,” Zheng Luo said.
“They won’t agree? Then tell them to leave. I’ll give them two days. Tell them to hand these to me in two days or they leave on their own accord.” Shao Xuan said calmly.
After thinking for a while, Ao nodded, “Alright.” Those people had already been relying on them for too long. Did they really think that the Flaming Horns would keep tolerating them? How funny of them to think that the Flaming Horns could be taken for granted.
Two days later.
The three leaders came again with the results of their discussion.
“Most of the other tribes have agreed, only the Tianshan tribe refused. They have already left, and it seems like they plan to enter the forest themselves.” As he thought about the tribe leaders’ dark faces, Duo Kang felt refreshed. Did they really think they could live off of us Flaming Horns for free? They were only being charged now.
“Oh, and by the way, the people from the Hui tribe said they would send over a group of fine horses on the grassland after this incident.” “That’s very sincere of them,” Gui He remarked with a smile.
The rest of the tribes had already sent messengers back to tell their people to get prepared. Those who wished to enter the forest with the Flaming Horns had a group of people stay behind to pay their promised “sincerity”.
“When are we leaving?” the shaman asked Shao Xuan.
“Two days later.”
“The weather has been acting weird lately,” Shao Xuan remarked as he looked at a flowering tree not far away.
The berries of that kind of tree were used by everyone to make paint, so when the tribes were building their houses, these trees were kept for future use. But this kind of tree usually bloomed when it was getting close to summer, and bore fruit on the hot summer days.
According to regular time, it was almost winter.
But here, although it was winter, the weather was more like summer.
Because of this, the forest may be more dangerous than ever, and the beasts whose lives were disturbed may become more irritable, so they had to stay cautious. This time, they might be faced with dangers they had never encountered in previous years.
They were only searching in the forest, so they had to walk farther in. It wasn’t like hunting. They didn’t need that many people, so Shao Xuan only wanted to bring along five people, but the other tribes wanted to follow along, so now they had more.
On the cabbage field outside the forest,
New leaves were growing, and many small cabbages that had been transplanted were also beginning to grow round-shaped leaves. The leaves wrapped around each other, but it wasn’t clear whether it was the large land size or the abundance in fertilizer that made cabbages grow so fast that it had a different appearance every day.
Due to the strange weather conditions and the incidence from the previous year, they began to plant crops that weren’t usually sown in winter.
The people who were patrolling the field were also using Shao Xuan’s fly swatter. Because metal was so rare, there was only one made. Others used similar swatters, but they were made of wood instead of metal. The Flaming Horns had so much strength in them that they could easily break the swatters. Therefore, every time a swarm came, the guards of the field would be fighting over the metal swatter. When they used that swatter to hit insects, just a wave in the direction of the insects swiftly killed a bunch. To them, it was very satisfying.
In the tribe, everyone lived at the same pace as before. But many times, people felt uncomfortable due to the weather. Spring had just passed into summer, and just a slight movement made people sweat.
Shao Xuan packed up the things he previously prepared, including medicine and other things. This time, he was going into the forest with four other people: Duo Kang, Tuo, Mai and Xiang Chen.
They were only going to look for the green-faced fanged beast, but perhaps they might end up finding some slaves’ traces, and maybe they could get more information from those slaves.
Compared to the Flaming Horns, who were calmer, the people from the other tribes had never really entered the forest, so they already felt uneasy.
All kinds of animal sounds and noises filled the woods, and even the wind brought a feeling of danger. It was the unpredictable danger that made them shiver in fear.
However, in order to understand exactly what Rock Hill City, the ruler of the desert, valued, they had to take a risk.
It was not only the Hui tribe but the other tribes too, who foresaw a huge change happening in the near future. The problem was, none of them could tell exactly what it was, so they could only try their best to resolve their doubts and discover more ways to protect themselves. This is why they were willing to give more than they were asked in exchange for the company. Between giving and taking, they knew which was more important.
With the sun shining from high above, and tall trees without withering leaves gathering together down below, nature seemed to have lost its seasonal patterns. It was near winter, but the trees were still growing abundantly, with a rapid speed, and there wasn’t even a hint of depression (the symbol of autumn).
A variety of flying insects flew between the leaves, and pairs of watchful bloodthirsty eyes watched from behind.
Qu Ce, along with seven others from the Mang tribes, stayed close to Huang Ye. They followed behind the Flaming Horns who led the way. The watchful eyes staring from behind them had strong glares that were hard to ignore, but the Flaming Horns told them not to pay any attention to them. As long as they paid no attention, they would not actively attack.
It’s just that the Flaming Horns had already been accustomed to this practice for a long time, but it was not the same case for the others. Qu Ce couldn’t help but look up at a tree that was ten times wider than him in diameter.
There was a figure laying on the branch, but it was impossible to see exactly what it was. Its skin colour was too similar to the bark it was on, and if it was not for Qu Ce’s sharp vision, he couldn’t have noticed that figure. It glared at them with an intent to kill. Baring its fangs, it was ready to pounce at the next moment.
Qu Ce quickly withdrew his gaze and stopped looking at those eyes on the tree. As he stopped looking, it seemed like the creature’s intent to kill also faded. Sure enough, the Flaming Horns were experienced in dealing with these creatures. No wonder the elders of the tribe were in favour of letting the Flaming Horns lead the way, instead of entering the forest by themselves. It saved a lot of unnecessary trouble.