Chapter 573
Changes in the Darkness
Shao Xuan and the rest could still clearly hear the sounds of the volcano explosion from where they were resting.
Not just them, the other tribes could hear the explosions too. They had no idea what had happened.
Their original plan was to continue their journey after a rest. After many discussions, they decided to follow the simple map their ancestors left and pick a place where the tectonic plates weren’t so active. Shao Xuan thought that anywhere else from the earthquake belt would be a safer option.
While making the route, Shao Xuan didn’t follow the one their ancestors made that went to where the current Drumming tribe was located. The route Shao Xuan took was mainly inland. With such vigorous tectonic activity, he wasn’t sure how safe the edge would be.
Currently, they only had half of the route drawn out. It hadn’t reached the inland and was quite far from the large tribes.
The snow falcon that was sent to the Hui tribe to deliver a message came back shaking. It landed on Gui He’s shoulder and was completely unwilling to fly again.
“Are we continuing not?” Ao stabilized himself and asked Shao Xuan.
The ground was still shaking with pulses of stronger vibrations coming from time to time. It was hard to even stand when the vibrations were strong.
“No.” Shao Xuan shook his head and looked at the sky. “We will rest here, I don’t think we can travel for a few days.”
“We’re not moving? What does this mean?” Was a stronger wave coming?!
This was the conclusion Shao Xuan got when he used knot divination before the sun came out and the vibrations were weaker.
“We will need to rest for at least five days. Tell everyone to get ready and stay away from the cracks. Don’t stray away from the group. Oh, and take your hats out,” said Shao Xuan.
Although the two chiefs had no idea why Shao Xuan ordered them to do so, they still followed the orders.
The group that was slightly spread out from the ground moving was gathered again. Food and water were passed out and everyone got their hats out.
Soon enough, a shout came from a warrior.
Everyone looked in that direction.
The blackness was spreading over quickly in the sky.
“That...” Ao’s voice was shaky.
The sky was black and it was spreading. It came from the direction of the Fearsome Beast Forest.
The darkness caused a sizable panic in the camp.
“What is that?!”
“What is happening?!”
The rowdy beasts and animals were held down firmly. Shao Xuan comforted Caesar who was beside him and told Old Ke, “Wear your hat.”
The black sky soon was over the group’s heads. Ash and small stones rained down, hitting onto the hats made of different materials.
They were quite a distance away from the forest, the large rocks didn’t fall here. It was mostly just ash and fine rocks so as long as the tribespeople wore their hats, they were safe.
An old warrior used a piece of burlap to cover his face. With a large leather cloak, he took the young child in his family into his embrace and wrapped themselves up, only leaving a small hole. He pulled on the strings, tightened the cloak and looked towards where the chiefs were standing. It was dark but just enough light was there to see some human figures.
As long as the Grand Elder, chiefs, shamans and hunt leaders were there, they should be fine.
Shao Xuan’s actions actually did calm the people down. They felt assured knowing that the leaders predicted this happening and made plans.
Actually, Shao Xuan was facing some problems with his knot divination. He hadn’t succeeded in using it to find out where they should go, maybe he didn’t have enough energy or maybe it wasn’t time yet. He had to push through anyway.
If he could go through this rough patch, he could find out more.
With the black smoke blocking the clouds, the temperature everywhere dropped. From Shao Xuan’s most recent reading, he knew this would last for at least five days. Five days of no sunlight. Shao Xuan also understood that even after things settled down, they wouldn’t be able to go back to the forest and farm like they usually did.
Hunting? It would be tough. With such drastic changes, how many beasts would survive?
Would Flaming Horn even survive if they went back?
Shao Xuan stared at the black sky, deep in thought.
At that moment, on a beach far from them, there was another explosion that emitted more dark dense smoke. It eventually covered the whole area in black smoke as well.
The volcano in the Fearsome Beat forest was shaved down by a few hundred metres. Following its still on-going explosions, the changes would continue to happen.
A wave a few hundred metres tall rushed onward with another higher wave tightly following at the back. The waves went one after another, attacking the land as they crashed.
In the desert, the darkness was spreading. A few confused slaves that were wandering around shouted in fear. Soon enough, their shouts ended when the waves swallowed them whole. The poor slaves who thought they were able to run away from Rock Hill City had their dreams and lives taken away like that.
The people from Rock Hill City rarely went to the seaside to attack the resistance forming there. Even if the resistance was getting stronger, the people would ignore it.
Now people were questioning whether the people from Rock Hill City knew this would happen all along.
It was just a suspicion, they would never be able to get an answer.
The series of tsunamis had swallowed a third of the desert. No, to be precise, a large chunk of the desert disappeared following the strong tremors.
Even in the area that wasn’t attacked by the waves weren’t safe.
The culprits were the sand storms or the suddenly sinking sandpits that swallowed humans and beasts. The only safe place in sight was Rock Hill City.
Rock Hill City seemed to be perfectly fine other than the few weak tremors felt there. No sand storms were present there, any impact the tsunami might have had was weakened by the distance between Rock Hill City and the sea.
A long time ago, someone asked the Rock Hill City’s lord: why did he build a city here? With Rock Hill City’s power, they would be able to get a much better place.
The lord just smiled without a reply.
Every lord knew the reason but they never told anyone, even the descendants of the Shi family had no idea. Only people in line for the throne would find out.
As the darkness continued, between the shaking mountains, many changes happened without anyone’s knowledge.