TRWSB – Chapter 251 Tribal Gathering

Xin Li looked at the eagle feathers scattered across the ground and asked in surprise, “Did you eat a flying eagle?”

Hunting in winter was difficult. Most people in the Flying Tiger Tribe ate meat that had been air-dried in the autumn, which never tasted as good as fresh meat.

The Da Shi chieftain nodded and said, “Yes, Fred and Sindorei caught them. We’re really grateful to them. If it weren’t for their help, I really don’t know how we would’ve made it through this winter!”

The warriors who came with Xin Li all had strange expressions on their faces.

Xin Li thought to himself: The Fred and Sindorei brothers are really betraying their own tribe. The two brothers treated their own tribesmen with indifference but were so kind to people from another tribe—bringing them meat, no less. Meanwhile, the females in their own tribe didn’t even get to eat fresh meat.

“Is there anything I can help with?” Xin Li asked enthusiastically.

The Da Shi chieftain smiled and said, “No need. With Brother Fred’s help, we’re doing just fine.”

Xin Li forced a dry smile and asked again, “Really, there’s nothing we can help with?”

“Yes, truly. Brother Fred has been a huge help. All the issues have been resolved,” said the Da Shi chieftain.

Xin Li left with a calm face, but his heart was full of frustration.

He had originally thought that the Da Shi Tribe was living in dire straits, but when he visited, he found that they were actually living quite well. The stark contrast made him feel extremely bitter.

“Fred really treats the Da Shi Tribe well!”

“I heard a few females from the Da Shi Tribe talking about Fred. Their chieftain wants to marry off several females to him.”

“That chieftain is really willing to go all out—offering several females to Fred!”

“Yeah, and the females from the Da Shi Tribe seem very willing, too!”

…

Jesse overheard the warriors’ conversation and felt quite uncomfortable. It wasn’t just the Da Shi Tribe—even the females of the Flying Tiger Tribe regretted missing their chance with Fred.

…

“Chieftain, what do you think the Flying Tiger chieftain came for?” Bill asked.

“He said he came to help, but who knows what he’s really after,” the Da Shi chieftain said, narrowing his eyes with a hint of hostility.

Having lived for 70 or 80 years, the Da Shi chieftain could more or less see through Xin Li’s intentions. Previously, when the Da Shi Tribe sought help from the Flying Tiger Tribe, Xin Li had made a slew of unreasonable demands. That left the Da Shi chieftain with a lot of pent-up resentment. Now that things had improved for his tribe, he felt a sense of vindication.

“Chieftain, did you give the map to Brother Fred?” Bill asked.

The chieftain nodded. “Yes. He helped us so much—we really have no other way to repay him.”

The Da Shi Tribe’s Blood Spirit Pearl had been retrieved from a bat cave. The tribe took advantage of the Bat King’s slumber to sneak in and steal it.

“That makes sense,” Bill sighed, “but if Fred takes all the Blood Spirit Pearls, it’ll be hard for us to get any in the future.” The thought of the treasures in the bat cave stirred excitement in him.

“Do you think, in our current state, we could still obtain Blood Spirit Pearls? Keeping the map in the tribe is useless—we might as well use it to build goodwill,” the chieftain said, shaking his head.

Last time, six warriors entered the bat cave. Only one came out.

Their success was only possible because the Bat King was asleep at the time. Even then, five warriors lost their lives inside.

Now, with the Bat King awake and aware of the stolen Blood Spirit Pearl, the cave was more heavily guarded than ever.

…

Qi Shaorong looked at the map Sindorei had given him and said thoughtfully, “This bat cave is quite a distance away.”

Sindorei nodded. “It is.”

Qi Shaorong thought for a moment and said, “No need to think about it for now. Let’s wait until spring.”

Sindorei nodded again. “After a while, it should get warmer. It won’t be too late to act then.”

Qi Shaorong looked out at the vast snowy land and thought to himself: In the blink of an eye, I’ve already been in this godforsaken place for several months. He couldn’t help but start missing life in the magical world.

He turned his head left and right, puzzled. “Where’s Ahao?”

“I think I saw him head over to find the Da Shi chieftain,” Mu Tingxuan said, resting his chin on his hand.

“Chieftain, do you know about ‘heguo’?” Zhuang Hao asked the Da Shi chieftain.

The chieftain looked at Zhuang Hao and smiled. “Interested in it, little friend? Thinking about having a child?”

Zhuang Hao nodded, looking a little shy. “Yes.”

The chieftain chuckled. “Heguo is very rare. If you’re interested, you could check out the big tribal gatherings. Even there, heguo is rarely seen, and the cost to trade for one is very high. If you really want one, you’ll need to prepare something valuable to trade.”

“Would a Blood Spirit Pearl work?” Zhuang Hao asked.

The chieftain nodded. “Of course. But the bat cave is very dangerous.”

Zhuang Hao smiled. “It all depends on effort!”

Seeing Zhuang Hao’s confident look, the chieftain felt a strange emotion rise in his heart.

He could tell that Fred deeply respected Zhuang Hao. The chieftain thought to himself: To be able to win over a priest apprentice and even Fred… this guy is definitely not ordinary—even if he does look scrawny, small, and kind of shriveled.

“You really want a child?” Qi Shaorong asked.

Zhuang Hao smiled. “Our child will definitely be smart and beautiful.”

Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes and said, “If the child looks like me, they’ll definitely be smart and beautiful.”

“What if they look like me?” Zhuang Hao asked.

Qi Shaorong curled his lips and said, “And what would happen? Don’t you know? You’re really so dumb!”

Zhuang Hao: “…”

……

After a long period of anticipation, signs of winter’s end finally began to show.

The people of the Da Shi Tribe were busy rebuilding new homes, while Fred and the others were preparing for the journey to the Bat Cave.

Zhuang Hao looked at the map and said, “Everyone, come help think of a way to break into this Bat Cave. This concerns the future of the Zhuang family line!”

“The bats in the cave are vicious. According to the Da Shi chieftain, most of the warriors who entered the cave never came back. The ones who did manage to escape only did so because the warriors inside threw out the Blood Spirit Orbs for them to run with,” Xindore said worriedly.

“I have an idea,” Yi Fan said with a smile. In fact, he was also very interested in the He Fruit, but hadn’t mentioned it.

Qi Shaorong asked curiously, “What is it?”

“Blow it open,” Yi Fan said.

Qi Shaorong looked at Yi Fan and nodded. “Ah, not a bad idea. But what do we use to blow it open?”

“Firecloud Bombs!” Yi Fan replied.

Qi Shaorong nodded. “Sounds good, but where do we get Firecloud Bombs?”

“I brought some,” Yi Fan said.

Qi Shaorong looked at Yi Fan with admiration. “You actually brought those?”

Yi Fan nodded. “Of course. Always be prepared!”

Qi Shaorong: “…”

……

The Bat Cave’s location was very hidden. Without the map’s guidance, Qi Shaorong and the others would never have found it.

Once they arrived, they set up camp near the cave.

After several days of observation, they finally chose a suitable point for detonation and set off the Firecloud Bombs.

It was Xindore’s first time witnessing the power of Firecloud Bombs, and their immense destructive force left him in awe.

“So powerful!”

A piercing screech came from the collapsed mountain. A massive bat, full of fury, burst out of the rubble of the Bat Cave.

Xindore stared wide-eyed at the bat, “The Da Shi chieftain wasn’t wrong. That bat king is really strong.”

Just by its size alone, they could tell how powerful the bat king was. But due to the blast, the bat king was covered in injuries—it really looked like a fallen phoenix now weaker than a chicken.

“Stop marveling and shoot your arrows!” Qi Shaorong commanded.

With the bat king heavily injured, it wasn’t hard to take it down. Once the king was defeated, the rest was just cleanup.

Standing beside the fallen bat king, Xindore muttered in a daze, “Brother… did we really take down such a huge bat?”

Fred nodded. “Seems like it. It’s definitely dead.”

Xindore stared blankly at the bat on the ground. A bat of this size attacking any tribe would’ve spelled disaster. Yet here it was, silently lying dead.

Yi Fan looked at Fred and Xindore with irritation. “What are you two doing? Come help us figure out what to do with the cave. Looks like we overdid it and the whole thing collapsed.”

Xindore blinked. “Oh, okay.”

……

After spring arrived, the Da Shi Tribe had originally been looking for a new place to live. But when they found that all the bats near the Bat Cave had died, they moved into the area instead.

Seeing that Qi Shaorong’s group was still busy, the Da Shi Tribe even sent more people to help out.

“So many bats died! What killed them all?”

“No idea! The cave looks like it was broken open by force. Who knows what did it?”

“Even the bat king is dead. It was so huge… and it just died like that.”

“Is this cave’s destruction the work of Fred? Are three-star totem warriors that powerful?”

……

“Doctor, we found the Blood Spirit Orbs,” Xindore said carefully as he opened a box.

Most of the outer cave’s cleanup had been done by the Da Shi Tribe, while Fred, Yi Fan, and the others personally cleared the inner layers.

Qi Shaorong looked at the box Xindore handed over and narrowed his eyes. “That’s quite a few.”

“There’s probably more inside,” Xindore said.

Qi Shaorong smiled. “Seems like we’re pretty lucky.”

Xindore nodded. “Yeah. With this many Blood Spirit Orbs, if the tribal gathering has He Fruit or Yin-Yang Grass, we might be able to trade for them.”

Qi Shaorong stroked his chin. “That’d be great. Will they have any?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been to a major tribal gathering before,” Xindore said, eyes shifting. Only the favored ones in the tribe get to go to those gatherings—when would it ever be my turn?

Qi Shaorong: “…”

“Will the Da Shi Tribe be going to the gathering?” Qi Shaorong asked.

Xindore shook his head. “In past years, they would’ve. But this year, the tribe doesn’t really have anything to trade, so they’re skipping it. The chieftain said if I really wanted to go, he could send two people who’ve been there before to act as our guides.”

Qi Shaorong: “Oh, how thoughtful of the Da Shi chieftain.”