Cha and the other five people tended to rush forward but were stopped by Leng Changxi. They only had a few companies, so he didn’t want any of them to be killed in fight. Qin Yunuan guarded Elder Princess, and they stood behind Leng Changxi. Seeing his wide shoulder, she had a great sense of security. No matter how serious the problem was, she wouldn’t be afraid.
Seeing Leng Changxi calmed down, the leading man made a gesture. Then dozens of people behind him also stopped.
“I’ll go with you, but I have one requirement.” Leng Changxi took a look at Qin Yunuan and Elder Princess and continued, “No matter what happens, let them two go. They are just powerless women capable of nothing. Besides, there are many traps in the Yeren Valley. They may even not be able to walk out.” However, Leng Changxi knew clearly that Qin Yunuan was very smart, and she would go out sooner or later.
The leading young man laughed and said, “Cool. No problem. Tie them up and take them back.”
The man holding the thick hemp rope was about to walk to them, but Cha pulled his shiny machete out. Also, Leng Changxi took down the spear tied to his back and said leisurely, “I think there’s no need to, tie us up.”
Leng Changxi mobilized his genuine energy in secret. That leading man sensed that Leng Changxi was a highly skilled martial artist, so he wore a light smile and said, “Alright, as long as you go with us.”
Qin Yunuan took a look at Leng Changxi, and the latter looked back to reassure her. Elder Princess, who was in Qin Yunuan’s arms, asked timidly, “Where are we going? Who are they?”
“Your Grace, we’re playing a game now. I’ll take you to play a game. Is that fine?” Qin Yunuan treated and comforted Elder Princess as a child.
Elder Princess looked up at Leng Changxi and felt reassured. “Alright. I’ll be fine as long as I’m together with Hua.”
Then they were tightly guarded by tribesmen, with seven or eight walking in front and behind. In addition, there were four or five strong young men walking beside them each side. The bush ahead rustled again. Maybe it was a message the leading man sent out.
Leng Changxi didn’t know why they insisted on bringing him back to the tribe. If these tribesmen deemed them as invaders who brought chaos to the tribe, they could directly kill them. Why did they bother to catch them alive? But, this might be an opportunity.
They walked into a thicker wood. Qin Yunuan paid close attention to the direction they walked to. She had calculated the direction that riddle signified in her head. “When the sun went three poles high” referred to the midday. Now, the sun was in the southeast, so trees’ shadow was in the northwest. Judging from where the sun rose, Qin Yunuan could calculate that they were going northwest. So she was right.
The leading tribesman seemed prestigious. The lackey near him called him Mengman, so that might be his name. It could be inferred that their tribe was strictly stratified and classified. Everyone obediently did what Mengman ordered.
The clothes Mengman wore were much more delicate than what those guards near Qin Yunuan wore. Moreover, he could speak Qidan language, West Xia language and so many other languages. But these guards looked dull and reacted slowly as if they were just like animals. She didn’t hear any of them speak. From their looks, Qin Yunuan could conclude that this group of ordinary guards couldn’t speak.
Only the ruling class could learn how to communicate and become civilized. No wonder this tribe was so united. But meanwhile, it was vulnerable.
The view changed as they kept going. Walking out of the thick wood, they entered a tropical jungle. The humid air made Qin Yunuan’s dress hemline wet. Leng Changxi was in front of her. Not looking back though, he kept holding her hand tightly.
Around them were wet vines and old trees, tall and large enough to block the sunshine. They pulled the green vines away to move along but suddenly, Elder Princess screamed out.
“A snake.”
Originally, she thought the long soft green thing above her head was also a vine. However, it moved. It was a tongue-flicking green snake.
A tribesman standing next to Qin Yunuan quickly grabbed that snake. He was way more nimble than Qin Yunuan expected, not the slowly walking man anymore. Then, that man did what Qin Yunuan couldn’t accept. He bit off the snake’s head and chewed its flesh in delight. Qin Yunuan could even see the dead snake was still wriggling in his mouth.
Later, people around became restless. Those who were as strong as that man gathered immediately, tending to grab his food while others just stood watching covetously. It looked as if the man had something extremely delicious.
Mengman was rather dissatisfied with the chaos, and he hinted his lackey who later took out a vine-made whip and threw it out. Precisely passing through the space between Qin Yunuan and Elder Princess, the whip hit the eating man on his mouth.
Mengman cursed with dissatisfaction. That man lay down immediately to let the lackey whip him. The lackey didn’t stop until that man’s back was badly mutilated.
“It seems that they are not as scary as we imagine.” Leng Changxi whispered to Qin Yunuan while looking on indifferently. “They merely have a slave-master relationship. This is a slavery tribe and a very primitive slavery tribe. It means only a few people in it are civilized and only people at the top level hold the power. As long as one or two of their leaders are under control, this tribe will be overturned.”
Qin Yunuan nodded, “I think so.” While speaking, Qin Yunuan carefully listened to Mengman’s intonation and wording. In the past, she learned some North Di language in this way. By listening to people’s words, guessing their thoughts and observing their facial expressions, she could largely know what they were talking about.
“Here we are.”
They had walked for about four hours. The sun already went up, but in the wood, it was still dark. They could vaguely see the rising white smoke and people in the distance.
Walking past the last shield, a huge tribe appeared, surrounded by one-meter-wide stones that were as high as a man. These stones were used to protect the tribe from wood monsters and snakes. In the middle was a castle-like building made of stones. Though not as grand as Qi Palace, it was also a mammoth project, given that it was not easy to find such solid stones in the wood and polish them into a uniform shape.
Qin Yunuan and other people were all stunned by such a grand scene.
“Alright, take them to see my father.” Mengman said in fluent Chinese. Obviously, he deliberately said this to Leng Changxi because he knew Leng Changxi was the leader.
The tribesman behind Qin Yunuan wanted to urge her to hurry up, so pushed her, maybe on purpose. Qin Yunuan staggered and ran into Leng Changxi on his back. Leng Changxi turned around to put Qin Yunuan, who was small and thin, into his arms. He looked at that slave with abhorrence. The longer he looked, the more he wanted to kill him.
It seemed that Leng Changxi was going to kill that slave. The lackey near Mengman wanted to ask whether to stop Leng Changxi, but Mengman stopped him in advance. He’d like to see how far Leng Changxi dared to go.
“You have to pay for what you did to my wife.” Leng Changxi turned around slightly and pulled out his shiny spear, wielding it in the air. Not long, that slave’s ears, eyes and nose were all gone.
It happened so fast. The slave covered his face with hands and howled in pain. His lugubrious cries drew people’s attention, and everyone looked at Leng Changxi.
Slaves around were ready to fight with him. Because Leng Changxi was a dangerous invader for them.
Mengman made a hand gesture to quiet down the crowd and asked people to drag the injured slave down. He looked at Leng Changxi coldly and said, “You hurt my man in my place. How dare you?”
“That’s it,” Leng Changxi calmly put the spear back to the sheath and glanced at Mengman. “So what?”
Mengman paused and then put on a bitter smile. Meanwhile, behind the top window on the castle-like building in the middle stood a man, who watched everything with his sophisticated and shrewd eyes. Compared with those unkempt and dirty slaves, he was as delicate as a king. The clothes he wore were embroidered with golden threads on the edge. But it could be told that his clothes were a bit old from some loose threads.
Next to him was an old man who looked as if he was dying. People might just deem him as a dumb statue. Same as that “King”, he also ran his eyes over the people down. After a long time, he spoke slowly, “Do you think. he is the person you are waiting for?”
The “King” wore a bitter smile and asked, “You are the most experienced augur in our tribe. Shouldn’t I ask you this question?”
The “King” addressed him respectfully. Obviously, the old man enjoyed a high status in the tribe.
“I don’t know.” The old man shook his head and said, “I haven’t divined for long. Don’t you remember that an augur only has 13 chances to divine? Since I finished my twelfth augury seven years ago, I haven’t divined.”
“Well, use your last chance.” The “King” sounded as if he was placing an order. “It’s been so long, and I can’t wait anymore. If he is who I’m waiting for, that’s fine. If not, kill him for heaven worship.”
