Chapter 694 Sacred Relic
Before the dizziness from the dissipation of the light had subsided, a wave of scorching heat rushed towards me, carrying a pungent, burnt smell that filled my nostrils.
Yueqing coughed and brushed away the smoke and dust in front of her.
The sensation underfoot wasn't the cold, barren rock, but rather warm, even slightly scalding, stone slabs.
She squinted, her gaze piercing through the billowing black smoke to make out the surrounding scenery.
This is the altar of the Tiger Clan.
The place where bonfire parties were once held, where orcs laughed and played, and where cubs chased and frolicked, is now nothing but a sea of fire.
The huge totem pole broke in two and collapsed on the ground, its surface blackened by smoke.
The once neatly arranged stone houses are now mostly ruins, with red flames greedily licking the remaining wood amidst the crumbling walls.
The wind was no longer a whistling sound as it swept through the canyon, but instead crackled and popped like the sound of a raging fire.
"No……"
The silver tiger beside him let out a broken, low growl.
He staggered forward two steps, his usually steady and powerful legs now feeling somewhat weak.
His resolute face was flushed red by the firelight, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He rushed back desperately after Chi Yan left, wanting to protect his last home, only to be met with this hellish scene.
Corpses lay on the ground.
There were familiar tiger warriors, still in the fighting posture before their deaths, their claws still embedded in the soil; there were old men who couldn't escape, huddled in a corner, a broken spear stuck in their backs.
The blood pooled into a dark red stream, meandering through the cracks in the stone slabs, before being evaporated by the high temperature into a nauseating, sweet-smelling mist.
"ah!"
Silver Tiger raised its head and let out a shrill roar.
The sound was mournful and angry, even drowning out the howling of the flames, and echoed throughout the valley.
He was like a wounded, trapped beast, his muscles tense, the veins on his arms bulging, as if he were about to tear the world apart at any moment.
Yueqing's heart clenched suddenly. She rushed over and hugged Yinhu tightly around the waist.
His body was incredibly hot, and his muscles were as hard as iron.
"Silver Tiger! Look at me!"
Yueqing shouted loudly, trying to bring him back to his senses, "It's not over yet! There are still people alive! Look over there!"
She wasn't just offering empty words of comfort.
Just now, a series of red warnings popped up on the system interface in her mind; it was feedback from the life detector.
Although faint and intermittent, there were indeed signs of life flickering beneath those ruins.
Silver Tiger's stiff body paused slightly. He lowered his head, his crimson eyes fixed on Yue Qing.
“Alive…” he repeated hoarsely, his voice like sandpaper scraping against a table.
"Yes, alive."
Yueqing released his grip, quickly pulled out a first-aid kit and a life detector from his spatial storage, and his eyes instantly became sharp and professional. The calm emergency room doctor was back.
"We must save people. Now, immediately."
She shoved the detector into Silver Tiger's hand, pointing to the flashing lights on the screen: "This is the location of our people. You're faster than me, go and move the stones that are pinning them down. I'm the doctor, I'll treat the wounds."
Silver Tiger stared at the small screen, where the faint light was like the only spark in the darkness.
The madness in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a more terrifying, extremely repressed calm.
"good."
There is only one word.
He turned and rushed toward the nearest ruin.
That place used to be a warehouse for storing dried meat, but now half of it has collapsed.
Silver Tiger didn't even use any tools; he simply grabbed the scorching hot stone with his calloused hands and pried it off.
A boulder weighing hundreds of kilograms was as light as a feather in his hands.
Yueqing followed closely behind, the scalpel in his hand gleaming coldly in the firelight.
"Help...help me..."
A faint cry came from deep within the crack in the rock.
Silver Tiger's movements became even more violent and rapid, sending stones flying everywhere.
When the last beam was removed, a small figure covered in blood was exposed to the air.
It was a tiger cub, no more than five or six years old, with its left leg smashed and bloodied, and its face covered in dirt and tear stains.
The moment the cub saw the silver tiger, a glimmer of survival appeared in its dull eyes.
"Great...Commander..."
The cub cried even harder, its voice hoarse, "You're back..."
Yin Hu knelt on one knee, his hands trembling as he tried to touch the child, but he was afraid of hurting him.
Yueqing had already squeezed through and quickly cut open the animal skin on the cub's leg.
The wound is deep enough to expose bone. Although the major artery is not severed, the ruptured vein is causing a lot of bleeding. If it is not treated in time, the child will not survive more than half an hour.
"Hold him down," Yueqing ordered without turning her head.
Silver Tiger immediately reached out and held the cub's upper body in place.
Yueqing took out a bottle of silver spray from her first aid kit; it was a hemostatic agent from the interstellar era that she had redeemed with points.
"It will hurt a little, but bear with it."
She pressed the spray nozzle onto the wound.
A blue medicinal mist covered the wound, making a hissing sound.
The cub convulsed in pain, but could not move under the silver tiger's iron pincers.
A few seconds later, the gushing blood miraculously stopped, and a transparent film formed on the surface of the wound.
Yueqing quickly wrapped the bandage around her neck, tied a knot, and then looked up at Yinhu: "Next."
Her face was covered in soot, but her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.
In this desolate wasteland, she was the anchor that held everything together.
As Yin Hu looked at her, the rage that had been burning him to ashes in his chest finally found an outlet—not destruction, but salvation.
He picked up the cub, placed it in a relatively safe open area, and then turned and rushed back into the sea of fire.
Night fell, but the village remained as bright as day.
That was the light of the flames.
As Yueqing and Yinhu continued their excavation, more and more survivors were rescued.
Most of them were injured, their eyes filled with terror, huddled like frightened quails in the open space below the altar.
This place was originally the most sacred place in the tribe, but now it has become a temporary refuge.
Yueqing was extremely busy. She not only had to treat her external injuries but also comfort the frightened members of her tribe.
Fortunately, she had the system's assistance, along with the rapid triage skills she had honed in the emergency department in her previous life, so although the scene was chaotic, it was still under control.
"Water, water..."
A young female, who had just been rescued, groaned weakly.
Yueqing handed her the water pouch and fed her two sips.
She recognized the female; her name was Alan. She was usually very lively, but now she was missing an ear, and half of her face was swollen.
"Alan, who did this?" Silver Tiger stood to the side, his voice as cold as a stone in an ice cellar.
He was covered in black ash and bloodstains, and his battle sword remained unsheathed. A layer of dark red blood scabs had even formed on the blade, left by the hyena orcs he had casually killed during the search and rescue operation, who were still wandering around the tribe and trying to finish them off.
When Alan heard Silver Tiger's voice, he trembled all over, and large tears rolled down his cheeks.
"It's Elder Xue."
The moment the name was uttered, the survivors who had been weeping quietly fell silent instantly, and the air became eerily still.
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