Chapter 515
Who Are You
Everyone was stunned by the sudden changes.
What just… happened?
They knew the answer but refused to believe it.
One injured Flaming Horn clutched his weapon, ready to fight to his death but he felt like his opponent had vanished.
Well, not physically, but the person in front looked like a puppet who lost its soul. His face was pale, his eyes empty and in a daze. He stood like a rock in the same position when he listened to the rumbles. Other than the twitches in his cheek, they would’ve thought he was stone.
These people were no longer a threat so the Flaming Horns did not plan to fight any longer. Just like during a hunt. They had been fighting a very strong fearsome beast but after a while, the fearsome beast had suddenly turned into a tiny cub with no teeth that could be killed easily. It was a very odd feeling so no one really wanted to fight anymore.
The pressing feeling disappeared along with the sound of the avalanche. The repulsion from the fire seed vanished too. The Flaming Horns did not feel the presence of another fire seed.
Everything had happened too quickly, the changes too sudden like a person who was slammed from heaven down into hell. They were caught off guard.
“What just happened?” Duo Kang gulped and looked around. He was already used to life without fire seed so he wasn’t as sensitive to fire seeds as the people here. After observing his surroundings, he had a guess. But he dared not speak for it was unbelievable.
“I think… Wanshi’s fire seed is… gone?” probed Tao Zheng. He was in disbelief too.
Gone? That was a physical fire seed! Apparently the most powerful thing a tribe could have!
Little tribes might have weaker fire seeds but Wanshi was a huge tribe. They experienced the immense power crushing on them moments ago. Even fire seeds had different power levels.
After experiencing such a force, the several hunt leaders were already planning to forget about the fire pit and kill all the Wanshi tribesmen first. They would then focus their entire tribe’s strength to fight the fire seed. If that didn’t work, they thought of inviting the shamans over after the war.
They had already prepared for this, yet everything changed in a second.
How could anyone smother such a mighty source of power?
At this moment, everyone wondered, ‘Who destroyed it?’
On Wanshi’s side, everyone walked like dead bodies without souls. This sudden psychological impact had shattered them mentally.
They did not want to believe that this was possible, yet they could clearly feel the absence of totemic power within. Exhaustion filled their body in its absence. Their weapons became much heavier and both feet seemed to be tied to rocks. Every step was difficult. The soreness in their muscles and stinging wounds became more obvious. Totemic patterns on their bodies slowly faded just like a match at its end, slowly reducing into ashes.
They turned their heads mechanically in the direction of the fire pit.
The grey flames had vanished. They saw it.
There was no longer a flame in their fire pit. The source of power guarding their tribe was gone.
They knew what this represented. They had destroyed other tribes before too. When they thought about the tribes they had destroyed, the wanderers that led difficult lives, the slaves that could be slaughtered anytime by anyone…
Everyone understood the harshness of this world. The strong ate the weak. However, in the past, they were always the butcher. Today, they became the meat under the butcher’s knife.
They were birds without protection flying amidst the storm.
It was a bright and sunny day but beneath the sky, the Wanshi people felt an unprecedented coldness in their bodies. This psychological frost penetrated into their bones, colder than a bucket of ice on a winter day. But they had no choice but to shiver in the face of such reality.
By the fire pit.
The Wanshi shaman’s lips moved, like he was about to say something but he could not make out a sound. Not even a word was uttered, as if someone had grabbed him by his throat.
How was this possible?
How was this possible?!
This line echoed in his heart.
There was a person squatting by the fire pit. A Flaming Horn tribesman. At this moment, his palm was right on the ground at where the fire seed used to burn.
The shaman stared at the hand, as if his vision could pierce through matter, checking to see if grey flames would shoot out from under the palm.
Grr–
A pebble rolled away, letting out a faint sound.
Shao Xuan slowly got up and lifted the palm within the fire pit. He looked at the pit.
This pit was dead. From This moment on, it would never burn again.
A shadow rushed over but Shao Xuan did not stop it. He watched as the Wanshi shaman ran hysterically, out of balance, then finally fell on his hands and knees. He dug the pit with his fingers like a madman, as if he could dig something out of the ground.
Pebbles were thrown out of the pit but these were just ordinary pebbles and soil. That was it.
“That’s not possible! That’s not possible!”
The Wanshi shaman dug until his hands bled, his voice cracking as he screamed with all his might. His eyes suddenly darted at Shao Xuan, filled with mania and hatred but also a tinge of fear. In the end, as if he had made a decision, he pulled out a metal dagger, leapt and stabbed it towards Shao Xuan.
Shao Xuan stared at him calmly, then pinched the dagger by its blade with two fingers.
A simple motion enough to hit the shaman back to reality.
His strength was gone. If he still had his strength, he wouldn’t be as weak as this even if he wasn’t one of the best warriors. His opponent stopped his blade with two fingers!
“Aaaaah!”
The shaman did not let go on his dagger, instead using all his might to drive the dagger forward. The dagger did not move, as if it was up against a hard wall. He looked up into Shao Xuan’s eyes only to see a peculiar glow.
Although the Wanshi’s fire seed was gone, he still had residual psychic senses. HE felt a sense of power from Shao Xuan’s being that wasn’t from Wanshi or Flaming Horn. In fact, this source of power wasn’t from any tribe. Was this really the power from a fire seed?
The scene of Shao Xuan’s palm smothering the flames and crushing their hopes kept replaying in the shaman’s mind. This person was not an ordinary tribesman!
“Who… are you?” muttered the shaman.
Shao Xuan did not answer.
“Who the hell are you?! Who?!”
Ignoring the shaman’s hysterical screaming, Shao Xuan flicked a finger and the shaman was pushed away along with his dagger. “You’re asking me? How would I know?”
Shao Xuan knew what the shaman meant but in truth, Shao Xuan didn’t have the answer either.
The shaman once said that to destroy a tribe’s fire seed, one had to follow the protocol or use totemic or inheritance power. However, that power within him hadn’t come from the Flaming Horn’s fire seed at all.
Ever since he came into this world, Shao Xuan had never been able to find out what that power was. Why was he brought here? However, many things told him that his power came from the fire seed. Not just Flaming horn’s fire seed but other tribes too.
While he looked like any child from the tribe, he was different from other people after his powers were awakened.
Shao Xuan once brought back the stone given to him by their crocodiles after returning from the Drumming tribe, yet could turn it into a water moonstone. This was something people say only their tribe could do.
He once went to the Rain tribe, then their prayer ceremony that had been ineffective for a thousand years suddenly succeeded in summoning rain.
…
Everything was related to the force that brought him here.
What force was it? Even Shao Xuan didn’t know.
Turning around, he walked towards his troops.
There was no need to continue fighting.
The Wanshi tribesmen slowly snapped back to reality. They had lost all willpower to fight.
When the Flaming Horns took one step forward, they all treated far away.
Someone screamed in terror, running far away. This became a cue so in the battlefield where two armies collided, suddenly one side was running far away.
The slave masters were shocked that Wanshi fell so quickly but this was still a very good outcome for them.
They now wanted to take in the warriors who had lost their fire seed. Because they once had power, they would thirst for it now. It was the best time for the slave masters to step in now.
Time for recruitment!
The slave masters, initially cowering in fear, were now beasts who smelled blood, extending their claws.
The Flaming Horns suddenly realised things were going in the wrong direction. If the slave masters weren’t here, they wouldn’t be interested in slaughtering the weak. However, the slave masters’ presence meant the Wanshi people would likely regain their power. Then they would return for revenge.
How could they let this happen?!
“Kill them all! Don’t let them slip away with the slave masters! Kill the slaves and their masters, just kill everyone!” shouted Zhang Luo. Although the slave masters here were not too strong, he was still cautious of them.
The three hunt leaders and their warriors continued killing while the two chiefs and the remaining people cleaned up the battlefield, treated the injured and counted the dead.
When Shao Xuan returned, he saw Caesar crouched on the ground, licking its wounds. During the invasion, Caesar and the other animals were in charge of blocking the Wanshi beasts so it wasn’t with Shao Xuan.
There were lots of teeth marks and Caesar was bleeding all over. There was a bloody hole on its back like it was stabbed by a spear.
When it heard Shao Xuan’s footsteps, Caesar’s ear swivelled around. It stopped licking its wounds and turned to look at Shao Xuan.
Shao Xuan’s footsteps stopped.
One of Caesar’s eyes was gone.