The shaman froze, raising his head in disbelief. "Chief?"
He looked at Dian, knowing that Dian was not joking, and hesitated before asking, "They're all back?"
“No,” Dian said, his tone heavy rather than surprised, “only Mai Zi and Chu came back.”
"You... what did you say? Really?"
Dian: "Really."
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, Jiewu stood up and quickly ran to Dian's side. "Quick, take me out to see what's going on."
At this moment, Li Qing, Chu, and Da Hei were waiting near the bonfire in the very center of the tribe, where the flames were burning the brightest. A group of night watchmen who had discovered their return had gathered around them, asking them all sorts of questions. Because Li Qing had warned them beforehand, they did not tell the other people in the tribe who were fast asleep about this "good news".
Upon seeing Li Qing and Chu from afar, Jie Wu's heart tightened instinctively, and he turned his head to look at Dian.
Dian's body trembled slightly. At that time, he just wanted to go out of the cave to clear his mind. He didn't expect that as soon as he got near the cave entrance, he saw a large group of people gathered around the fire. At that time, he thought they were the night watchmen chatting together. He wanted to go over and warn them that they should prioritize the overall situation of the tribe and be serious. But when he got closer, he realized that the two people surrounded by the group of warriors were actually Li Qing and Chu, who had crossed the Liangmeng River to hunt!
Dian was shocked. After confirming that he hadn't seen wrong, he immediately returned to the cave and told the witch about it. The witch asked him with her eyes what was going on, and Dian couldn't answer. He could only whisper, "Let's go take a look!"
Dian had a very bad feeling. When the hunting team set off, there were so many people. Why did only two pitiful people come back this time? Where are the rest of them?
Dian was very clever. He could vaguely sense from the behavior of the guards that the remaining men were likely already in grave danger. Otherwise, they, who had been hoping day and night for the hunting party to return with a full load of prey, would not have such expressions at this moment.
However, before he could ask them directly what had happened, Dian still held a sliver of hope.
The two hurried to the fire, where some of the night watchmen had already spotted Dian and Jiewu and turned to greet them.
Li Qing and the other man also wanted to stand up, but were stopped by Dian, who had just arrived.
"You're finally back!"
Dian faced the two of them and said heavily.
The firelight illuminated Dian's face, and his resolute features twitched from time to time. He suddenly frowned, then abruptly turned his back to the darkness. After a moment, he turned back and slowly walked to Chu's side, extending a hand. "Are you alright?"
Seeing the chief again deeply moved this careless man. Overwhelmed with emotion, he grasped Dian's hands, stood up, and said remorsefully, "Chief, it's all my fault. I failed to protect the rest of the hunting party!"
Hearing this expected answer, the witch still couldn't quite accept it, and whispered, "So, it turns out..."
Li Qing stood up and said, "Yes, apart from me, Chu, and Dahei, everyone else in the hunting team is dead."
Dian had subconsciously blocked out what Chu said, but when Li Qing spoke more directly, he could no longer control his emotions. Two streams of tears flowed down Dian's cheeks. He walked to Li Qing's side and placed his hands on Li Qing's shoulders. "Who did it? How did they die?"
These days, the Red Flower Tribe is in the worst possible state.
Countless pieces of bad news every day...
People are dying one after another, the tribe is running out of food, and today we heard this terrible news.
The soldiers who were listening to the two recount their experiences on the road fell silent upon hearing this devastating news, with occasional sobs breaking out.
silence.
A deathly silence.
This silence was so oppressive that every soldier present who learned of the incident felt as if they could hardly breathe.
Ironically, in this silent night sky, they cannot loudly express their emotions, otherwise, the hunters who are not afraid of the flames and hide in the darkness will target the Red Flower Tribe, bringing them an even greater crisis.
Li Qing took a deep breath and said in as calm a tone as possible, "It was the Black Wind Tribe that did it. We were attacked by the Black Wind Tribe on the way."
“Black Wind Tribe…Black Wind Tribe! But Black Wind Tribe, how would they know our hunting party was going to that place? They shouldn’t even know about that place,” the shaman said, his lips trembling. “And they clearly don’t lack food, so why would they do this? Do they really intend to kill everyone in our tribe?!”
At this point, the witch suddenly swayed.
"Jie Wu!"
Dian quickly helped Jie Wu up.
The shaman's health had never been good. In recent days, countless bad news from the Red Flower Tribe had kept him working day and night, exhausting his mind and body. His health was already on the verge of collapse. The deaths of almost all the members of the hunting team were the last straw that broke the camel's back, making him unable to bear it any longer and nearly causing him to faint.
“I’m just too tired,” the shaman said with a wry smile. “This body is too weak, and I couldn’t bear to hear the news. But… you don’t need to worry about me.”
Seeing the shaman's condition, Li Qing began to consider whether he should continue speaking: "Shaman, why don't you go and rest for a while? If something happens to your body now, what will happen to the Red Flower Tribe?"
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