Chapter 324
Qilin soon realized that this was not an illusion.
"teacher---!"
This was the Nth time that Qilin heard the little cub calling him. It was so lively that it was a little too lively. Qilin wondered if there was something wrong with his brain that made him soft-hearted and want to adopt this little cub.
Having promised already, he couldn't go back on his word, so Qilin threw a branch into the burning fire and went to pick up the cub at the edge where the fire could reach.
Pushing aside the waist-high grass, Qilin saw a bunch of brightly colored mushrooms next to the rotten wood. Some of the mushrooms had been broken, leaving only the stems exposed. Little cubs were squatting next to the mushrooms, giggling. He knew at a glance where the disappeared mushrooms had gone.
"Teacher~" The little cub's tail swung back and forth, and his purring voice was filled with excitement, "You have three heads, nine tails, five paws, and your color changes all the time!"
Qilin: “…”
You idiot, you must have eaten too many poisonous mushrooms!
He skillfully lifted Di Ting by the scruff of the neck, and Di Ting stretched out his limbs in his hands: "Wu Hu~ Fly up!"
The little cub continued to shout: "Come and fly with me, it's fun~"
"Gift! I prepared a gift for the teacher!" Its movements have changed from flat-footed to doggy paddling, with one paw still pointing at the mushroom, "It's super super delicious!"
Qilin: “…”
This is really filial piety to him.
Qilin pinched Di Ting's mouth, ignored its resistance, and forcefully led it away from the mushroom field. The cub in his hands struggled like a turtle that couldn't turn over. Qilin used his spiritual power to travel back and forth in its meridians several times before calming it down.
"...Teacher?" The struggling Di Ting finally stopped his claws, and his eyes revealed a clear stupidity, "Is there something wrong with the mushroom?"
Qilin said unhappily, "What do you think?"
"There must be something wrong!" Di Ting's neck skin was still in Qilin's hand. He reluctantly put his paw under his chin and put on a thoughtful posture, "But the mushrooms are really delicious."
Sincerity is the ultimate weapon.
Qilin threw it to the fire and said through gritted teeth: "You want to eat it but not your life, right?"
Di Ting curled up into a little white ball and looked at him with pitiful eyes.
"Just wait here for me." Qilin rubbed his forehead with his hand, "I'll get you something to eat."
Spots of light emerged from his palms and gathered into a butterfly with a star-shaped tail. The butterfly flapped its wings and landed on the tip of Di Ting's nose. Di Ting tried to see the butterfly clearly, and then his eyes turned pale.
Qilin almost laughed, but soon, the smile turned into sadness, and he emphasized: "Don't run around."
Diting nodded, and the butterfly left a shadow on its nose: "Yeah~"
Qilin stared at it for a while, and then used his consciousness to fumble for the photo stones in the void constructed by his talent. As a result, he found out sadly that he did not have any of the photo stones that the gentleman talked about common sense. They had all been given to other people.
In other words, this silly kid needs to be taught common sense by him step by step.
For a moment, Qilin felt that his future was bleak.
…
After parting with Qilin, Bai Ze chose another direction. After going around a small hill in the other direction, there was a plain. Under the moonlight at night, everything was desolate.
The bronze sword behind him was heavy and had a strong presence. Bai Ze crossed the plain and looked back at the way he came. He had walked a long way. The fire lit by the phoenix was no longer visible. Only the silent mountains were left in the night.
The four of them have been together for so many years, and there is always a sense of emptiness and discomfort when they suddenly separate, but Bai Ze knows that he will get used to it sooner or later.
Bai Ze didn't know where the new race was born between heaven and earth was, but he had enough patience and he believed that he would always find it.
The wind blew across the sea of grass on the plain, and Shirazawa's figure became a tiny dot. In the depths of the mountains in front of him, morning light began to appear.
It's getting light.
*
Bai Ze was still searching for human beings, but Cang Long met them before him. Looking at the crude trap and the trembling people around the trap, a question popped up in his mind -
Is this the new race that Mr. likes and promotes?
So weak that he could crush it to death with just one claw.
Canglong sat cross-legged quietly in the trap. The sharpened wooden stakes and bamboo branches could not cause any harm to him at all. Instead, they were all turned into debris.
The people surrounding the trap thought they had caught some prey, but when they cautiously looked out, they saw a young boy in the deep pit where the trap was set.
"It's not a beast, it's a child!" The leader turned around and shouted, "Go find a cane and get him out!"
After he finished shouting, he turned to look at the Canglong in the pit. The child who had accidentally fallen into their trap had a terrifyingly cold look in his eyes: "Is the little kid hurt?"
Canglong shook his head.
Looking at the vines they threw to the bottom of the pit, Canglong did not reach out to grab them. Instead, he tapped the bamboo branches on the wall of the pit with his toes and got out of the deep pit in a few steps.
"What a great skill! Which tribe are you from?"
The leader's eyes lit up. Although their tribe was not one of the largest tribes, it was not small either. If a child born to a woman was blessed by God, he would be extremely powerful at birth and could even control part of the natural environment. Some could even ignite dry grass and trees to make fire for the tribe. The tribe called such children "chosen children", and each chosen child was a precious treasure of the tribe.
"I have no tribe," said the Canglong. "I did not know you lived here."
They had never seen the clothes on Canglong before, but they looked exquisite, not like those from a small tribe. He also didn't look like he had ever suffered any hardship. The leader guessed that he was a child who ran away from a big tribe. No matter which tribe it was, there would always be some unruly chosen ones who would quarrel, fight, and run away in anger. It wasn't common, but it did happen.
The leader was worried about leaving such a young chosen one out there, who was likely to have run away out of anger, so he invited him: "Little kid, do you want to follow us back to the tribe first?"
When this chosen one figures it out, he will probably go back on his own.
Canglong neither agreed nor objected, but when the hunting team called on him to follow, he slowly followed behind them.
The prey they carried was not much, just a few skinny pheasants and rabbits. It seemed that it was only enough for them, but if you think about it, you will know that these prey must be enough to supply the entire tribe.
There were four hunting teams in this tribe. Except for the one that Canglong encountered, the other three hunting teams had mediocre results. The prey of the four hunting teams was mixed with collected wild vegetables and fruits, but it was barely enough to provide a meal for the entire tribe.
The hunting team returned to the tribe with not much prey, but they were not blamed. Instead, the people who came to pick them up were concerned about whether they were injured instead of how much prey they had.
The tribe was bustling in front of it. Canglong followed from a distance, watching the joyous scene. Suddenly, he made eye contact with the leader who came out from the crowd.
The tribe seemed to have no defenses against an outsider like Canglong, the chosen one. Even though Canglong was taciturn, he was still brought into the tribe. He was given the best seat by the tribe's campfire at night, and a bowl of wild vegetable porridge with meat was stuffed into his hands.
"Our tribe is pretty good, isn't it?" The leader sat next to Canglong. He was no longer young, with gray hair, wrinkles all over his skin, and scars all over his naked upper body, which were the testimony of his contributions to the tribe. "If you like, you can stay for a while."
After observing for most of the day, Canglong knew that this tribe was not very wealthy. Although the tribesmen were not starving, they could not eat as much as they wanted. In addition to providing daily food, they also had to store some food for the future, and the food that could be eaten would be reduced further. At this time, keeping an outsider who could not contribute would only add to their pressure.
Canglong was holding the bowl of wild vegetable porridge, the shadow of the fire casting on his face, making his expression a little blurry. The others by the fire had already started eating, and the slurping sounds sounded rough and harsh. The others also heard what the leader said, but no one showed any objection - even though they knew that the price of keeping this half-grown boy was to take away their edible food.
Canglong took in everyone's expression and finally came to only one conclusion - foolish kindness.
"Today's food has salt added to it." Seeing that the bowl of wild vegetable porridge he was carrying was getting cold, the leader kindly advised, "It's especially delicious."
Looking at that clear gaze, Canglong lowered his head, took a sip, and couldn't help frowning.
Fishy, bitter, astringent and salty.
He had never eaten anything so disgusting.
He put down the stone bowl and walked away without saying a word.
"Where are you going, little kid?" The leader first looked at the wild vegetable and meat paste on the ground that had only been touched once, then looked at Canglong's back, climbed up and chased after him, "It's not safe to leave the tribe at night——"
But the Canglong disappeared in just a few steps, and the leader chased after it in vain.
The others around the fire were also shocked by this sudden change, and everyone talked at once—
"What happened to the child? Why didn't he eat suddenly?"
"Don't you think it tastes good?"
"How can it not be delicious? I added a lot of salt to treat him today!"
"Be careful not to get taken away by monsters when you leave the tribe at night!"
"Do you want to go and get him back?"
"Ouch! We can't run around at night!" The leader sighed, the wrinkles between his eyebrows could almost kill a fly. He pointed to a few strong young men in the tribe and said, "You guys come with me. The kid shouldn't have gone far!"
That kid was a bit willful, but we couldn't just watch him die at night!
Canglong did not leave the tribe very far. He found a stream and rinsed his mouth to get rid of the strange taste in his mouth. The previous doubts resurfaced in his mind -
Excuse me for being frank, but he can't see what's good about this new race that is liked and praised by his husband. They have weak military force, foolish kindness, bad food, messy habits... It seems to be completely useless.
After a quick wash by the stream, Canglong picked a large tree nearby, climbed up and slept on the branches. While half asleep and half awake, he heard noisy voices, saw faint flames, and some familiar sounds that came and went.
It seems...looking for him?
Canglong did not deliberately conceal his whereabouts along the way, so the noisy voices slowly came to the west. Someone with sharp eyes in the searching team saw Canglong sitting on the branch.
"Here! The child is here!"
The leader soon came over, holding a torch in his hand, his face tired, his exposed bronze skin covered with sweat and scratches. After seeing Canglong, he relaxed, but also looked a little reproachful: "It's dangerous in the wild at night, kid, you can't run around anymore!"
Canglong sat on a tree, looking down at those who were looking for him: "Why did you come to me? What do you want from me?"
His words were sharp and straightforward, even a little aggressive and impolite.
The crowd holding torches suddenly fell silent. After searching for most of the night and being questioned so rudely, everyone had a look of anger on their faces.
The leader sighed.
Except for the Chosen One, the eyesight of ordinary people cannot be bad at night. He cannot see Canglong's face clearly, but he can hear the undisguised suspicion in his tone.
Maybe the child didn't run away in anger, but encountered something worse, which is why he is so sharp and defensive.
"We don't want anything from you," he said, "but because you are still young, we are worried about leaving you in the wild at night."
When Canglong was questioning, he had quietly turned on the polygraph circle, and the circle told him that there was no falsehood in what the leader said.
It is indeed foolish kindness.
After a stalemate with them for a while, Canglong finally jumped down from the tree. These stupid and stubborn humans refused to leave. If he stayed here, it would only delay his rest. It would be better to just reluctantly obey their wishes.
On the way back to the tribe, there seemed to be some strange noises in the deep darkness where the firelight could not reach. When the unusual movement was discovered, the people who were previously a little angry with Canglong subconsciously protected him in the middle - the tribe always gives priority to protecting the old and the young, even if the "young" does not seem to need protection.
In the firelight, Canglong's figure swayed slightly, and suddenly disappeared from the middle. The noise in the darkness stopped abruptly, and then the smell of blood began to spread.
Canglong walked out of the darkness, his face still expressionless: "Solved."
A brave man in the team shone a torch behind him and saw a wild boar that was taller than a man and covered with spikes. There were three bloody marks on the boar's neck, and blood was gushing out.
He murmured subconsciously: "Amazing..."
This strange boy who suddenly appeared seemed like he really didn't need their protection.
"Consider this as your reward for coming to see me." Cang Long said calmly, "We're even."
…
After waking up from the stone cave vacated for him by the tribe, Canglong smelled a faint smell of blood. He walked out of the cave and saw three piles of things at the entrance of his cave: a pile of chopped meat, a pile of chopped skin, and a pile of bones with the meat removed.
Guarding these things was a dark-skinned boy who looked about the same age as Canglong. When he saw Canglong coming out of the cave, he jumped up and said, "Are you awake? The chief asked me to watch over the prey for you here. Now move it into the cave quickly, or it will be snatched away by flying creatures in the sky!"
"Didn't I give it to you?" Canglong frowned, "I won't take back what I've given away."
"It's such a big wild boar..." The dark-skinned boy widened his eyes, "and you killed it by yourself. How can we possibly take your trophy?"
"You don't want to move?" the young man asked enthusiastically, "Then I'll help you move!"
"No need." Canglong looked at the blood spreading on the ground with disdain. He didn't want his temporary place to be contaminated by these things. "I said, I don't want it."
He refused several times in a row. The boy didn't know what to do. He stammered, "But the tribe leader said that the prey is yours..."
It seems that yesterday's knowledge can still be supplemented with stubbornness, Canglong thought.
He didn't even look at the things on the ground, and walked straight past the boy: "You followed me today, and these things are your reward."
When they were traveling around with Fenghuang and the others, they also collected some plants that the teacher had taught them. Most of Canglong's seasonings have been used up, so it wouldn't hurt to add some new ones now.
"Oh." The boy immediately followed him, "I can help, but it's not worth that much!"
"How about I call the others to come along?" He used his hands to measure the size, "You don't have to give us so much, just a piece of meat this big will do!"
Canglong turned around and looked at him: "I don't like to listen to nonsense."
The look was so fierce that the young man trembled with fear. He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, no word came out.
When Canglong walked out of the tribe, several half-grown boys were already following him, some of them holding simple homemade stone axes in their hands.
Relying on the plant growth characteristics he needed in his memory, Canglong led these teenagers to find a similar location. After using his spiritual power to dig a few plants as a demonstration, Canglong sat on the tree to rest. Around him, a group of teenagers were working hard with homemade tools. From time to time, poisonous insects, snakes and ants turned over and died nearby. Canglong brought them out, so he would naturally ensure their safety.
So these teenagers happily picked up edible prey while digging grass. On the way back, the things on each of them's shoulders were higher than their heads. From behind, they looked like a pile of plants with legs.
Canglong was still following slowly with empty hands behind them. The boys looked back from time to time, fearing that he would get lost and unable to find the way.
After returning to the tribe, because of the disgust clearly written on Canglong's face, the things piled at the entrance of his cave were finally cleared away by the tribe leader and his men. Because the meat had been left unprocessed for a whole day, it was no longer suitable for storage and could only be eaten. So after dark, the tribe prepared to eat the meat, which was a rare occasion.
Seeing their rough treatment, Canglong couldn't bear it any longer and sent some plants to them using his spiritual power, and then told them in a concise manner how to use them.
After using the plants given by Canglong, the tribesmen were surprised to find that the food tasted better. So the snoring sounds beside the fire were louder than yesterday. Canglong took the best piece of barbecued wild boar that he had been allocated and took a bite - it still tasted bad.
It was only slightly better than yesterday, but the teenagers who followed him out today ate so much without even raising their heads, and their cheeks were so bulging that they were unbearable to look at.
Canglong threw the piece of meat he had only bitten a bite of to the young man he met first that morning, then got up and returned to the cave where he was staying temporarily.
He has to get the filtered salt out tomorrow. He can’t finish a single meal of this disgusting meal.
…
"Are you the chosen one who came to our tribe?"
Bai Ze searched for a long time and finally saw a person who looked like a "person", but when this "person" opened his mouth, the words he spoke were strange.
Bai Ze asked in confusion: "What Chosen One?"
The person he was questioning was a very small child, with vines and leaves all over his body, looking like he had sneaked out. The child answered him without any shyness:
"There is a tribe behind two mountains. Heaven sent them a chosen one. He taught them how to make food more delicious, how to catch prey with more powerful traps, and how to move caves to the ground. They also have salt like in winter and sugar like leaves in autumn..."
The child swallowed as he spoke: "Last time at the exchange meeting, my mom gave me some candy from their tribe. It was delicious!"
"It would be great if our tribe also had a chosen one sent by heaven!" The child had dark skin but bright eyes. "So you are the chosen one sent by heaven to our tribe?"
Shirazawa: “Isn’t that right?”
"It doesn't matter! You look like him!" The child took the initiative to come over and pull Bai Ze's hand, trying to pull him into the tribe, "Try it first, maybe you are, but you just don't remember it yet!"
Shirazawa: “……?”
Why do you still force an identity on someone?
He restrained his strength and was led by the child, and was dragged into the tribe. Thanks to his confidence in his own fighting ability, Bai Ze never thought of leaving halfway, but——
Looking at those people who suddenly became enthusiastic about him, Bai Ze was a little confused. His sensitive hearing allowed him to catch some strange words, such as "nice clothes", "teenage looks", and "doesn't look like someone from their tribe".
They were conspiring loudly not far from Bai Ze, and eventually the conspiracy turned into an open one. Not knowing how the topic took a turn, Bai Ze inexplicably met a group of sparkling eyes.
"Can you cook your prey into something delicious?"
Shirazawa nodded.
"Can you make salt and sugar?"
Shirazawa nodded.
"Will you bring the cave to the ground?"
Bai Ze hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.
"That's right!" The young man who first asked the question had a look of surprise on his face, "He is the chosen one given to us by heaven!"
As soon as these words came out, the crowd surrounding Shirazawa instantly became lively—
"Doesn't the Chosen One know where our tribe is?"
"Are you not very good at directions? It's hard for you to find your way back after you leave the house?"
"You're finally here! We'll all listen to you from now on!"
Bai Ze was surrounded in the crowd, and somehow or other he became the supreme leader of the tribe. Many pairs of sparkling eyes looked at him with undisguised trust and love.
Several children in the tribe ran around him, shouting with joy: "We have a chosen one too!"
The joyous atmosphere of the tribe continued even at dinner time. Bai Ze sat by the fire holding his sword, and his thoughts, which had been stagnant due to all the noise, finally moved.
How did things... develop to this point?
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