Chapter 28 – Ancient Tribe
(TL By: PiggyBottle and 生豆)
From inside the hole Su Ming carefully advanced, walking further and further towards the depths all the while being extremely cautions. Advancing forward only after carefully inspecting the road ahead of him each time and as he walked, he tightly held onto the sharp bone axe with his blood qi circulating ready to at anytime burst forth with the power of his eleven blood veins.
Every so often Su Ming would look out for places where his body can hide in, such that he could take cover if danger arises or if NightWings rush at him he would have places to hide.
With regards to things that have yet to happen, Su Ming was very curious but, he knew it would be better to put aside his curiosity for now, especially since he knew that this place was very dangerous.
As he advanced the cool air coming from the cave got gradually clearer and as there were few forks in the road, Su Ming’s advance too gradually got faster.
Surrounded by utter darkness, the walls surrounding him had many cracks of varying sizes which from the looks of were caused by the heat when it was formed, however he could also see some cracks which were clearly more recent because the colours within the walls were clearly different.
“Strange, these cracks were definitely formed recently…… just kind of force did it take to make these new cracks appear in this wall… …” Su Ming’s Eyes flashed, in his heart he already had a guess.
“Possibly after cooling down from extreme temperatures in an instant, an explosive force should be possible…….” Su Ming scratched his head, not thinking too much more about it, just nothing this in his heart.
After walking an unknown distance, he felt that time was pa.s.sing very slowly, suddenly the advancing Su Ming stopped, the tunnel ahead obviously expanding, the deeper it went the wider it got.
“Could I be at the end!” Su Ming carefully inspected his surroundings, he slowly advanced as the tunnel in front of him got wider, eventually he reached the end. Taking a deep breath he took in the sight before him, losing himself in thought.
Ahead of him was a cavern large enough for a whole tribe, densely surrounding it were many smaller holes, with one look one can tell there were over ten of them, the pa.s.sage he came out from was one of them.
Deep in thought Su Ming stepped forward his eyes flashed, taking a few looks at each hole before his eyes stopped at one hole where he stopped to smell.
When he reached that hole, without hesitating Su Ming walked into the hole he stared at, this small hole was the one which brought the faint scent of blood into the cave.
This means that this hole was the one the NightWings flew out from.
While rushing through, Su Ming occasionally stopped and cut out a piece of stone about the same size as those in the tunnels from the walls with the axe he is holding.
Although it was troublesome, he continued doing cutting out such rocks as he progressed and ended up cutting out many of them.
After cutting out each rock, he would align them to a specific angle at one side.
Gradually, Su Ming advanced faster and faster, he could also feel that the direction he was headed to was towards the base of the mountain as the slope got steeper. Su Ming rushed forwards in the tunnel, feeling like he had come a long way. Eventually, he could start to see a red glow
The red glow was like a flame, although it seemed unclear at first.
Seeing the glowing flame dance in the distance Su Ming’s footsteps slowed, his heart pounding. He had the feeling that he should be near the end, but as he approached he felt as if the blood in his body was burning, but he was no stranger to this feeling……
The walls surrounding him were covered by numerous scratches, some even looking like teeth marks which gave the place a strange atmosphere causing Su Ming to feel nervous. But even so his footsteps did not stop, he slowly got closer and closer to the place where the fiery glow originated from.
This was indeed the end of the tunnel, leading into another large cavern. Su Ming cautious as before, stood there while looking below him.
Seeing what was there, he stood there stunned as he unconsciously gasped and took a few steps back.
It was a huge basin where there were an innumerable number of spikes sticking out, those spikes were all grey and constantly gave off cool air which enveloped the whole basic making even this cavern cold.
If it was just this then Su Ming would not feel that shocked, however there was actually something more shocking than that there.
There was actually a tribe!!!
There were stone houses, fences and even stone lookout towers spread throughout the basin, Su Ming could even see cooking tools made of stone there.
In front of each house was a totem, each one burning with a vibrant flame.
Each of those stone houses were very large and were extremely orderly built, in fact they even seemed more luxurious than those back at the Wushan tribe
Su Ming also saw a b.u.mpy road that was paved with stone. Watching it for a moment, he could not guess what the road was for.
This was not just an ordinary tribe. It was not even the entire tribe.
Su Ming’s gaze landed on some houses at the edge of the tribe. They seemed as though they were split into two by some mysterious power. Only half of it remained existing on the land.
As for the other half, it had just disappeared..
Besides the roads that were paved with rocks, the rest of the land was soil and dirt, and not that of the cavern rock.
Su Ming’s breath hastened as he watched his surroundings. He can’t help but recall Grandpa speaking about the legend of the Fire-Mán. Gradually, an image surfaced in his mind. It was a tribe of an immense size that dominated the land as far as the eye could see.
In that tribe, all houses were made of stone, and had a flame totem. That totem symbolised the name of the tribe!
However, a drastic change took place one day. An unknown power divided the tribe into many parts as the land collapsed. Even more mysterious was that the separated tribesmen, along with the ground they stood, mysterious disappeared as if teleported by some unseen power.
Among them, a small portion of the tribe and land, were teleported into WuShan.
“So that was not just a legend…” Su Ming watched the incredulous scene in front of him, and muttered disbelievingly.
Ae swept his gaze across the tribe, something caught his attention near the middle.
Over there in the distance, was a strange object!
It was a big tree, or rather, it looked like a big tree. It’s entire body was red, as though radiating heat. The light that Su Ming had previously seen in the tunnel, was emitted by this tree.
The tree had a huge circ.u.mference whereby even if ten people with their arms outstretched they would not be able to reach around it, its roots were deeply entrenched on to this land, as though penetrating straight through the Black Flame Peak into the ground, its length immeasurable.
The tree had not branches, and its tip penetrated the cavern rock. It seems as though what could be seen was only the branch.
“A tree that grew in Black Flame Peak…” Su Ming stared at that branch. On it were some red flowers not unfamiliar to him.
Looking at the red flowers, Su Ming was reminded of the mysterious swamp in the jungle.
In silence, Su Ming adverted his gaze. While watching the tribe lost to time, a sense of sadness came over him. With a light sigh, he leapt and landed within the tribe. He was standing on what was long ago, one of the eight great Mán-tribes, the Fire-Mán tribe that dared fought the Mán-G.o.d.
“This means that the legend is true… The Nightwings are those that the Fire Mán-Patriarch bestowed immortality upon… But it is still too unbelievable. Such a technique, just what was his cultivation level… The beast skin scroll stated that after blood condensation was awakening, and after awakening was bone sacrifice stage. As for after the bone sacrifice stage, there isn’t an description other than being called Mán-Masters.” Time pa.s.sed as Su Ming observed the ancient tribe in silence.
The tribe was mostly empty, besides some houses and a.s.sorted objects. Su Ming did not see any corpse or bones. The solitary silence surrounding made his breathing uneasily.
Just as he pondered about the legends, he stepped onto the uneven stone road. Su Ming could feel the b.u.mps on his sole, and lowered his head to look, unable to guess what the path was for. As he walked, suddenly, he paused. Looking ahead, something caught his attention. At the edge of the tribe, near the cave wall, was a skeleton!
That skeleton was obscured by the houses earlier, thus Su Ming could not see it previously. From where he stood now however, it was obvious.
Su Ming’s eyes narrowed when he saw the skeleton. It was the only one in the place. Hastening his steps, he came to the skeleton’s side. Observing it carefully, he was shocked.
The skeleton was abnormal. Its upper frame looked shrunken, while it lower half was even more uncanny, seeming as though the bones had merged. They were unlike ordinary humans. Furthermore, on its back, a pair of wing bones seemed to be protruding. From its look, the skeleton does look somewhat like a Nightwing!
It was as though before this person died, he was experiencing his skeleton mutate, undergoing the painful transformation into a Nightwing. But from the skeleton’s expression, there was no trace of pain, but a hint of mockery and pride instead!
Only, just who on earth was it mocking…
Its right finger was pointing at the cave wall, deeply embedded into it. Following his finger, Su Ming saw a clear line of words on the cave wall!
It had characters of the Mán-tribe!
The moment Su Ming’s gaze landed on that line of words, suddenly, the sounds of wings flapping reverberated from the tunnel. Howling sounds could be head, and faintly, the cries of despair!
The Nightwings are back!
Su Ming’s expression quickly changed!