Ch59 – Ambush
Zhou Ji wasn’t worried at all about Xiong Ye going back to investigate and find out more information.
Based on Xiong Ye’s current strength, he would probably be alright even if he encountered the Giant Tiger Tribe’s forces straight on, let alone when there was a high likelihood that they wouldn’t run into anyone.
He had joined the salt team so that Xiong Ye wouldn’t be in danger, but he didn’t mean for Xiong Ye to be unable to experience anything at all.
Zhou Ji still had that thought in his mind when he looked towards Niu Er and the others, “Sit down by the tree and pray silently to the Beast God, asking the Beast God to watch out for us.”
After they had found a place to hide, Xiong Ye had already carefully swept away any traces that they might have left behind, but it was possible that some hints might still have remained. Now that these people were pacing back and forth with worried expressions, it only increased the likelihood that someone would discover that something was off.
Since that was the case, it was better to have them be well-behaved and sit down instead.
Niu Er and the others were a bit confused when they heard Zhou Ji’s instructions, but they still obediently sat down and began to pray, their expressions turning pious.
Zhou Ji was someone beloved by the Beast God. He must have a reason for saying such a thing.
Great Beast God! Please bless and protect us!
Seeing that these people were no longer moving around, Zhou Ji, who had originally already used some plants and flowers to isolate their scent, increased his energy output to make them even more effective.
With that done, their side would be safe. But he didn’t know how it was going over on Xiong Ye’s side…
Xiong Ye had led the people with him to kill the people that the Giant Tiger Tribe had left behind.
This was his first time killing people, but he had started killing prey from a very young age and had already killed countless prey. These people were their enemies and were also clamoring to attack his tribe… Although he wasn’t used to killing people, he adjusted quickly.
After those people were killed, Xiong Ye opened up the rooms where the people of the Little Brook Tribe were being held.
All of the elderly and children of the Little Brook Tribe had already been killed, and most of the survivors were adolescents and people in their prime. The people of the Giant Tiger Tribe had locked them up so that they could play around with them and also so that they could win them over.
The Giant Tiger Tribe had many slaves who worked for them. These slaves were survivors from the tribes they had destroyed.
Generally speaking, if someone was beaten and left to starve for a period of time, some of them would be willing to yield. As for those who didn’t give in… They would kill them.
It hadn’t been long since they attacked the Little Brook Tribe, and they were still in the starvation phase, so there were still plenty of survivors.
When Xiong Ye opened the door, he became the recipient of these people’s angry, hateful glares.
Fortunately, Xiong Qi quickly crowded in behind him and recognized a few acquaintances, “Bao Cheng?”
Xiong Qi and the others had been in a very haggard state the last time they had come to the Little Brook Tribe to trade for salt. The Little Brook Tribe had been on high alert against strangers, refusing to let them enter the tribe, but their tribal chief Bao Cheng had come out to negotiate with Xiong Qi, which was how they came to know each other.
“Xiong Qi?” After Bao Cheng’s initial shock passed, his face twisted with grief and indignation, “You joined the Giant Tiger Tribe?”
“You are…” Bao Cheng looked at Xiong Ye.
“He’s Xiong Ye, a warrior from our Big Bear Tribe! He’s very powerful!” Xiong Qi’s expression was full of reverence.
Seeing that Xiong Qi, who was someone he couldn’t beat, respected Xiong Ye so much, he also became inspired.
Bao Cheng was in good health. Although they had been starved for a few days, he still had quite a lot of his strength. After he came out of the house and saw the bodies of the people from Giant Tiger Tribe who had been killed, he finally believed Xiong Ye’s words and was extremely grateful. “Thank you!”
“No need for thanks.” Xiong Ye looked at these people and suddenly came up with an idea, “Do you guys want to cooperate with us and kill off the people from the Giant Tiger Tribe?”
The people from the Giant Tiger Tribe had gone out. According to the conversation between those guards who had been left behind, they had probably gone out to chase after them.
If they were unable to catch them, these people would definitely return. If they were able to kill them all…
Of course, he would need to go back and check in on Zhou Ji before that happened.
They had come out this time for the sake of trading for salt as well as protecting Zhou Ji. He couldn’t let anything happen to Zhou Ji!
When Bao Cheng heard Xiong Ye’s suggestion, he agreed without second thought, “Yes! I must get revenge!”
The environment in the Little Brook Tribe was similar to the Big Bear Tribe in that everyone in the entire tribe was like a large family with very close ties to each other.
The Giant Tiger Tribe had killed off two thirds of their people. They hated the Giant Tiger Tribe to death; of course they wanted revenge!
Xiong Ye immediately made the arrangements. After that, he left the Little Brook Tribe and went back to the forest.
He discovered that the people of the Giant Tiger Tribe had followed the direction that they had traveled in, but hadn’t discovered the rest of their team.
He didn’t know when the people of the Giant Tiger Tribe would come back, but Zhou Ji and the others were definitely safe.
If he brought Zhou Ji back to the Little Brook Tribe now, Zhou Ji might get hurt during the fighting… Xiong Ye quietly went back the way he’d come.
Zhou Ji, who had discovered that Xiong Ye had come back and then left again through his spiritual power, “……”
When Xiong Ye returned to the Little Brook Tribe, the people from the Little Brook Tribe had just finished eating the earth eggs that they had brought for the salt trade.
Earth eggs could help people recover their energy faster than meat.
After eating, the people of the Little Brook Tribe went back to the houses and continued to lie down while the people from the Big Bear Tribe hid inside the Little Brook Tribe and covered up their scent with mud and dirt.
It wasn’t difficult for them to find places to hide with the help of the people of the Little Brook Tribe who were familiar with their own home.
The people from the Giant Tiger Tribe returned not long after they had hidden themselves.
Hu Tiao had led people out to chase after the people from the Big Bear Tribe, but he had been unsuccessful no matter how hard he tried. He had told the person whose animal form was a bat to fly ahead and search for them, but that hadn’t worked either.
Those damned people from the Big Bear Tribe must have gone into hiding!
The forest was so big. If fifty people wanted to hide, they wouldn’t be easy to find… Seeing that it was getting dark, Hu Tiao decided to lead everyone back to the tribe first.
The Big Bear Tribe would be destroyed sooner or later anyway. There was no need to rush to get their revenge!
“Those people from the Big Bear Tribe are so cunning!”
“I’ll make sure to kill them when we take down the Big Bear Tribe in the future!”
“They had a lot of earth eggs. We can ask the tribal chief to take them down earlier!”
……
While they were talking, they smelled the scent of roasted earth eggs coming from the tribe.
Hu Tiao immediately became disgruntled, “Those damned guys, they took advantage of the time while we were away from the tribe to secretly roast the earth eggs and eat them!”
Hu Tiao strode into the Little Brook Tribe with thoughts of making things difficult for the people he had left to guard the tribe.
During the day, Hu Tiao had intended to trick the people of the Big Bear Tribe into the tribe so that he could catch and kill them all in one go.
And now… He was bringing people in himself, and was caught and killed all in one go. Only one bat was able to slip out of their grasp and escape.
Xiong Ye had discovered the bat’s escape, but the bat was too small and flew too fast, so he had no way to stop it.
The Giant Tiger Tribe wanted to attack the Big Bear Tribe. Since things had already come this far, there was no need to chase after the bat either. It was more imperative for them to enhance the strength of their own tribe.
Xiong Ye’s gaze landed on the people from the Little Brook Tribe who were weeping and grieving after killing off all the people from the Giant Tiger Tribe and hesitated.
These people from the Little Brook Tribe all had fighting power. If they were willing to join the Big Bear Tribe, the Big Bear Tribe would become much stronger.
It was a very normal thing for larger tribes to absorb small tribes. A few decades ago, the Big Bear Tribe had once absorbed a smaller tribe that had escaped and run their way with only a dozen or so survivors.
However, the Big Bear Tribe had a problem right now––they didn’t have enough food! Additionally, the Little Brook Tribe might not necessarily be willing to join them.
Xiong Ye spoke up. “We are going to go back to the Big Bear Tribe. What are you guys planning to do?”
Bao Cheng was dumbfounded.
“You guys can come with us and settle near the Big Bear Tribe.” Xiong Ye offered.
Bao Cheng had been very uncertain. On one hand, he wanted to join the Big Bear Tribe, but on the other hand, he also hoped that the Little Brook Tribe would continue on. Now, when he heard Xiong Ye’s words… he agreed immediately.
Next came the distribution of supplies.
Xiong Ye had brought people to save the Little Brook tribespeople. Based on their customs, everything in the tribe should belong to him, but Xiong Ye was very generous and left the Little Brook Tribe with many things. “The earth eggs, animal hides, insect shells, and such are all yours. You can use them to make weapons and equip yourself, but we need to take some salt and various other things.”
“No problem!” Bao Cheng replied. He looked at Xiong Ye gratefully; these earth eggs could be planted after they had found a new place to settle in. As for salt… Their tribe was already in such a state. They might not be able to keep their bellies full in the near future, so salt was no longer a necessity.
Not to mention that Xiong Ye hadn’t taken it all and had still left them with quite a bit of salt.
“By the way, what is this?” Xiong Ye pointed to a bag of something that looked like seeds.
Zhou Ji was very fond of all sorts of plant seeds, so they had collected many types in their cave. Sometimes, he would even find many seeds scattered on the bed that he and Zhou Ji shared when they slept together.
Now that he had accomplished such a big task, it would be best if he could give Zhou Ji some sort of gift. Seeds were a good choice.
“This is a type of edible seed. After the Green Hill Tribe encountered troubles, other tribes gave this to us when they came to trade for salt.” Bao Cheng said.
Seeds that could be eaten were an even better gift… Xiong Ye directly picked up the entire leather bag that contained the seeds. “Let’s go!”
The people from the salt team hadn’t rushed out to the front when they fought the Giant Tiger Tribe, and everyone who had come to fight had been strong fighters, so nobody had died. However, the Little Brook Tribe had lost about a dozen people who had either been weak or had originally been wounded even before the fight, and they only had a little over forty people left.
Xiong Ye led both the salt team and the people of the Little Brook Tribe, which added up to around ninety people, to a nearby… stream.
“What are we doing here?” Bao Cheng was confused.
“Washing up.” Xiong Ye jumped straight into the water.
He had already discovered that Zhou Ji didn’t like the smell of blood, but he was now covered in it.
So, he had better wash up first before going to find Zhou Ji.
Xiong Qi and others obediently bathed as well.
The reason why they hadn’t looked so dusty and all appeared very clean when they arrived at the Little Brook Tribe yesterday was because Zhou Ji always made them wash up during their journey over.
At first, they had been a little reluctant and unhappy about it, but after they washed more often, they felt that… it was very comfortable being clean.
Washing up at this kind of time… what kind of ritual was this? Bao Cheng led the people of the Little Brook Tribe to wash up as well, and then discovered that… Xiong Ye had even started catching fish!
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