At night, the three sat around the fire.
After listening to Manghu's story, Li Qing nodded. "I understand. In other words, you were originally from the Qingye tribe. You were on your way to the Huya tribe for some business, but you were captured by the Mishan tribe and enslaved. You went through a lot of trouble to escape from the Mishan tribe. Now you want to go back to your tribe as soon as possible because you are worried that your people will also be attacked by the Mishan tribe."
Mang Hu nodded.
Li Qing was silent for a moment, then said, "So that's how it is, Mang Hu... Hmm, is that your nickname?"
"?"
"I mean, is your real name Manghu, or did someone give you the name Manghu based on your personality? Or... are your ancestors from the Tiger Tooth tribe?"
Mang Hu frowned. "What do you mean?"
Li Qing, realizing he had made a fool of himself, could only say, "It's nothing, just a joke."
Li Qing had heard of the Qingye tribe before. It was a tribe with relatively weak overall strength, but with an excellent environment and a very secluded geographical location. It was said that even if outsiders knew the location of the Qingye tribe, without the guidance of the tribe members, they would probably not be able to find even a trace of the Qingye tribe, even if they went through all sorts of hardships and spent their entire lives.
The ancient Chinese phrase "Shangri-La" perfectly describes the Qingye tribe. Not only is it hidden in the mountains and forests, but it is also surrounded by abundant fruit trees, game, and herbs, even more so than the combined resources of the Baiyu tribe and the Heifeng tribe, which occupies the best geographical location. This is the biggest reason why the Qingye tribe has been able to survive to this day with nearly half the population of the Honghua tribe. This is also the biggest reason why warriors from many tribes stronger than the Qingye tribe are desperate to join them!
After all, if one could have a happy and stable life, who would want to be constantly on the move?
However, Li Qing had never heard of the Tiger Fang Tribe and the Mishan Tribe that Mang Hu mentioned.
Li Qing didn't care what kind of tribe the Tiger Tooth Tribe was; what he cared about was the Mishan Tribe.
Mang Hu's account was very vague. His general idea was that after he and Yi were captured, they were imprisoned in a place similar to a mine, where they spent their days mining a type of ore called Qinuo Rock.
The term "Qinuo Rock" was also entirely new. Li Qing had once asked Mang Hu why they were sent to mine the Qinuo mine, but the answer he received was that he didn't know either. The Mishan tribe was very concerned about this kind of topic. Someone had once asked the Mishan tribe what Qinuo Rock was, and the result was a beating and the cancellation of dinner that day.
Suddenly, Manghu said to Li Qing in a gruff voice, "According to what we just agreed on, you should give us some food, right?"
His gaze was fixed on the few fish on the ground that Li Qing hadn't touched yet.
During the conversation, Mang Hu's eyes would occasionally reveal a hint of hunger. Several times, Li Qing noticed that he seemed about to burst into a fight at any moment. However, whenever this happened, Yi would gently grasp Mang Hu's restless hand, and the irritable Mang Hu would calm down again.
Li Qing saw all of this, and when they were recounting their experiences, the two of them didn't hide anything from him. They had been keeping their promise to a complete stranger like him, so it would be unreasonable for him to break his word.
Li Qing picked up a tree branch, stuck a fish on it, placed it above the fire, and twirled the branch.
"Didn't we agree that you'd give me fish to eat!" Manghu stood up excitedly. "You just said you'd keep your word!"
Li Qing continued what he was doing.
"We haven't eaten in ages!" Manghu exclaimed excitedly, but he quickly realized that it was getting late and that his shouting was tantamount to playing with fire. He lowered his voice and cursed, "You Black Wind Tribe people are truly a bunch of beasts!"
"Wild Tiger".
Mang Hu took a deep breath, looked down at Yi, and softened his tone, but it still carried a hint of command, "Listen, I can go without food, but Yi, she hasn't eaten in a long time, you must... could you give her a piece to eat?"
“Manghu,” Ira pulled Manghu, “he doesn’t know us. It’s already very kind of him not to chase us away.”
Yi stood up and tugged at Manghu, "Brother, let's go."
Mang Hu was somewhat indignant, but he couldn't break free from Yi, so he could only glare angrily at Li Qing.
"So you really are his brother?" Li Qing saw that the fish was about 70% cooked, so he removed the branch from the fire and handed it to Mang Hu. "Eat up, I'll grill another one later."
Mang Hu was taken aback.
Li Qing smiled and said, "Roasting it fully cooked doesn't taste good. It will taste better if you eat it now. I hope you will like it."
"Tch!" Mang Hu snatched the branch from Li Qing's hand and handed it to Yi. "Here, you eat first."
Yi declined, but Mang Hu's attitude was very firm, even stating that if he didn't eat it, then he wouldn't eat it either.
Now, Yi had no choice but to take the branch, carefully walk up to Li Qing, and whisper her thanks, "Thank you, Li Qing."
"It's nothing," Li Qing shrugged. Seeing Mang Hu standing aside looking unhappy and ignoring him, he asked with a wry smile, "By the way, are you siblings?"
"What's it to you!"
In the distance, the roar of a wild tiger could be heard.
Li Qing laughed and said, "Can't I even ask? Besides, it's not like you won't get a share of these grilled fish."
"snort!"
“Don’t take it too seriously, that’s just how my brother is,” Yi said gently as she sat down next to Li Qing, taking a bite of fish. “Yes, we are siblings, and my brother is a year older than me.”
“My brother seems very rude, but he’s actually a very good person,” Yi lowered her voice, glancing at Mang Hu. Seeing he wasn’t listening, she continued, “Back when we were forced to mine in the Mishan tribe, whenever I was too weak to work because I hadn’t eaten for a long time, and the supervisors found out and were about to whip me, my brother would stand up for me and take the whips for me. That’s how he got his injuries. And, and, every time we ate, my brother would try his best to share some of the food with me, always worried I’d go hungry. Oh, and remember that one time…”
Yi suddenly realized she had said too much, and she hurriedly said, "I... I just wanted to say that my brother is a good person, very kind, and he's very good to me... Could you... please not be angry with him?"
Li Qing muttered to himself, "But if I'm not mistaken, before we even met, your brother was already plotting to secretly kill me and steal my food, right?"
Yi's face changed, and she exclaimed in panic, "Ah, no, that, back then..."
Just as she was about to speak again, she saw Li Qing toss the branch in her hand to Mang Hu, who was standing aside and glancing at them from time to time, and say, "Catch your share. I won't be responsible if it falls on the ground."
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