Chapter 85 – Reluctantly parting from home
“Su Ming, you……” Grandpa unconsciously spoke, but as he saw Su Ming’s bloodshot eyes, Su Ming’s haggard figure and his silence, he could no longer continue his words. He too could feel the burden and tragic price paid by Su Ming.
In his eyes, the current Su Ming was like a drawn arrow, this arrow carried with it a terrifying spirit, completely unstoppable!
“Grandpa…… I am back.” Su Ming spoke with a gentle voice, as if he had just came back on one of his normal trips out.
Grandpa gazed at Su Ming, his eyes filled with happiness, sadness, hesitation and a certain other feeling Su Ming could not make out.
“You want to fight for the tribe?” Grandpa finally spoke after a long time.
Su Ming silently nodded.
“Even if you have to pay with your life, is it your wish?” Grandpa paused slightly before speaking once more.
“Everyone has to die, if I can at least die protecting my home, at least I can die without regrets!” Su Ming calmly spoke his heartfelt feelings.
Grandpa shut his eyes as if hesitating his decision before resolutely opening them and saying.
“Fine, Su Ming, Grandpa will no longer stop you, this is your choice, and I will give you that chance!”
In his heart, he understood that he could no longer stop Su Ming, otherwise, who knows what other crazy things he would do, seeing Su Ming’s tragic state, Grandpa’s heart ached yet was somewhat relieved.
At this time, the a.s.sembled Tribesmen suddenly quietened down, their gazes suddenly locked onto the several people walking into the tribe.
The Tribe Patriarch, the Marksman, Shan Hen, Bei Ling and the various other people of the sixth and seventh level of blood condensation all walked back with bloodstained bodies.
Went this group left, there were significantly more of them, but currently many of them were no longer here, those who were left were also covered in injuries, especially Bei Ling whose expression was pale as blood continuously flowed out from wounds near his chest.
In their hands, were many human heads, their return aroused many other tribesmen cheers as they walked towards Grandpa.
Bei Ling noticed Su Ming, but currently he did not have his usual cold demeanor, he just silently followed behind his father, while the tribe is encountering such a crisis, his petty jealousy had to be put aside.
If the tribe is gone, the other tribesmen dead, what use is there for that jealousy……
“Grandpa, the nearby scouts of the Hei Shan Tribe has been personally pursued by us and slain, the outside should be…… safe, we should be able to start migration!” The Wu Shan Tribe patriarch placed two human heads by the side as he seriously spoke to Grandpa, his words laced with blood l.u.s.t.
The people following him too silently put the heads aside, as killing intent poured forth.
Su Ming stood beside Grandpa as he looked at the Tribe Patriarch and company, seeing their injured bodies and their grief hidden beneath their killing intent.
It was not hard for him to figure out that the night Grandpa returned, they started preparing for migration. But as they were preparing to move, they probably met with attacks from the Hei Shan Tribe, stopping their migration. As such, they choose to cleanse the surroundings of any other Hei Shan Tribe scouts so they can more safely migrate…
After all, within the tribe most of the tribesmen were normal people, and there were also plenty of women and children who need protection and were the future of the tribe.
Grandpa nodded, as his gaze swept through the tribesmen, all the remaining tribesmen in turn looked at Grandpa, their gazes filled with antic.i.p.ation and hope.
“My fellow Tribesman……” Grandpa gently spoke… his voice directly travelling to the ears of everyone of the tribesmen.
“We all do not want to leave our homes…… we don’t want to leave the land we live on for generations, we don’t want to move to the Feng Zhen Tribe, but for the survival of the Tribe, we…… have no choice!
We all want to love on, we must live on!
We must tell our future generations, we must tell ourselves, there will come a day where we can return to this land, we can once more rebuild our home, and on that day…… well will repay the Hei Shan Tribe the humiliation they gave us many times over!!!
I believe, but do all of you believe!!” Grandpa loudly spoke
All the tribesman, exploded with a shout, channeling all their sorrows in a single earth-shaking shout. Although the tribe did not have too many people, this one shout was filled with all their wills to live.
“There will come a day…… when our Wu Shan Tribe will return…… but for now, we need to migrate!!!” Grandpa closed his eyes, the sorrow in his eyes hidden from the rest of the tribe. In an instant he had managed to unite the entire tribe, while helping each other, under the support of the Man-Cultivators, they all got to moving as they prepared to leave this mud-flat as they started their migration.
The people slowly left the tribe, black smoke still rising from the tribe behind them, the ground littered with the desolate scars of battle.
Bursts of crying came from the migrating people, those young La Su who had yet to grow up, as well as those frightened little girls who belonged to the Wu Shan Tribe.
The men in the tribe took on the responsibility of protecting the tribe, hugging the sad children whose tears were rolling down their eyes as they slowly advanced, some slightly older children, similarly afraid held on to their family’s hands as they turned back to gaze at their tribe, with tears filling their eyes.
Looking at the familiar scene, etching it forever into their memory, as if afraid to forget this place, afraid that they can no longer recall this path home.
Every single one among them wanted to go back as they looked back at their tribe, their home……
Among the crowd, was an inconspicuous worn old man, Nan Song. His expression was serene, silently walking among the crowd with his small luggage.
It was currently noon, yet the sun was not extremely intense, the snow on the floor still shining with a silver light painful to the eye, yet was insufficient in stopping the tribesmen sad gazes as they frequently looked back towards the direction of the tribe.
Their home got further and further, the silhouette of the tribe no longer visible, leaving only the rising faint black smoke in sight. All their happy memories, had been deeply etched into the memories of their tribe, they…… will not forget, they could not bear to forget.
Su Ming turned around, all the memories of the tribe similarly burying itself in his heart, his youth, all the happy days he had, the time as he grew, every corner of the tribe filled him with warmth. His days at the tribe would always remain in his mind.
If not for the lack of other options, no one would choose to abandon their home. They all did not want to leave their familiar home, they did not want to move to the unfamiliar Feng Zhen Tribe and become a subsidiary tribe there.
But, this was the only choice they had, the only way for the tribe to avoid extermination, their only path to survival, this was a very long, very very long path, one that was by no means smooth, yet it was one they had no choice but to take.
The danger was not yet over, in fact the real danger had just started, previously they had used the cover of the tribe in their first engagement with the Hei Shan Tribe, but now, along this journey, the good majority of the people here were just normal humans, in front of a man-cultivator, they just had no way to fight back at all.
This long migration, will definitely not be a smooth one……
Once the Wu Shan Tribe loses, all that awaits the Man-Cultivators was death, in fact, all the males in the tribe would be killed, even if they were just a child…… leaving only the females behind, who would be brought back to the tribe and treated as property, the only use for them would be to bear children who will strengthen the Hei Shan Tribe further.
As the migration involved hundreds of people, the speed could not be too fast, especially as there were many small La Su and young girls travelling with them. In this harsh winter, in this freezing cold, their tears gradually stopped flowing as silence replaced them.
They did not know what awaited them in the future, perhaps the Feng Zhen Tribe would be their only hope…… only none of them could be certain if they could even make it there to the Feng Zhen Tribe in the first place……
During this journey, how many more of them would perish, how many more of them will lose their loved ones, they just didn’t know……
In the crowd were many young tribesman who were not qualified to become Man-Cultivators, and had rarely contributed to the tribe previously, spending their time in the tribe playing around. Because the Man-Cultivators in their families perished in battle their actions were never really minded.
But now, these dozen or so youths were filled with fear and terror, as they constantly checked their surroundings, wishing that they could arrive at their destination quicker.
Among the people leading the tribe was the Wu Shan Tribe Man-Cultivators, who silently protected the tribe with a haggard expression, frequently going out of his way to help the elderly. At the forefront was the Wu Shan Tribe patriarch who walked on with a resolute expression as he and the Man-Cultivator’s following him vigilantly looked out for danger.
Similarly at the back, Grandpa walked at the end, his hand holding onto a white bone staff as he walked on, constantly on the lookout. Bei Ling held onto Chen Xin’s hand by the right of the party, silently walking with a pale face, the bloodstains on his chest seemingly even more plentiful yet he did not care.
Lei Chen, Wu La and the other Man-Cultivators walked along the sidelines, constantly vigilant.
The left and right flanks were protected by the marksmen and Shan Hen who silently walked onward. The Marksman’s right hand tightly clenched his bow, ready to instantly fire an arrow the instant something moves! In the crowd behind him was an old man calmly walking as he gazed at the marksman.
This old man was someone Su Ming recognised, the old man from the medicine hut, Nan Song!
Shan Hen’s expression was cold as before, no one knew what he was thinking, a complicated expression filled his eyes which escaped everyone’s notice.
Su Ming followed along with the migrating crowd, as he listened to their cries turn into silence, his heart ached as he saw every single familiar face in fear.
“To protect the tribe, to fight for the tribe!” Su Ming thought to himself as he walked near the right, not far behind Shan Hen.
This position was not of his choice, but rather Grandpa’s instruction. In his embrace was a five or six year old girl called, Tong Tong, she had currently fallen asleep, but her eyes were still lined with tears.
Her father had died in combat, and her mother too died in the night, leaving her alone in this world.
“Mama……. Papa…… pipi……” The little girl’s’ body trembled slightly as she slept, as if having a nightmare, tears once more flowed down her face as she clutched onto Su Ming’s clothes.
Su Ming knew that Pi Pi was the name of this young girl’s pet, who was really cute and always in her embrace.
“Tong Tong is a good girl…… ” Su Ming lightly patted her back, his eyes filled with sorrow, feeling that in such a short time, he had aged much much more……