Ch44 – Unexpected
Xiang Tian stood on the mountain overlooking the valley the Big Bear Tribe had settled in. His energy roiled violently as it flowed out of his body in a constant wave, and some of the weaker beastmen instantly turned into their animal forms from the pressure.
Xiang Tian’s eyes were filled with disgust when he looked down at these people.
He hated the weak.
However, he currently had something to ask of the tribesmen, “Where is your tribal chief?”
Xiang Tian actually knew some things about the Big Bear Tribe. He had discovered this tribe at the same time he had found the divine fruit.
At the time, he had thought about killing everyone in the tribe in order to keep it a secret, but soon came to the conclusion that that might lead people to take note of this place instead, so he gave up on the idea.
In the years that followed, he had monitored the situation in the tribe.
He even had a relationship with a woman in the tribe. That woman had given birth to a child for him.
Originally, he wouldn’t have minded bringing that woman and child back to the Elephant Tribe, but there had been problems with the child that that woman had given birth to. He had been unable to speak even though he was four or five years old. Xiang Tian didn’t lack children, and didn’t need a child like that, so he hadn’t concerned himself with them any further.
Later on, he had worried about it becoming troublesome, so he had never gone back to find another woman from that tribe.
So, he didn’t know if that woman and the child were still there.
Xiang Tian didn’t like this kind of trouble, and when he thought about the divine fruit he had lost, he grew extremely irritated. The energy from his body rushed out even more violently.
Many people in the Big Bear Tribe had already shifted into their animal form as they lay there shivering on the ground, but a few of the relatively stronger ones were still holding on. Xiong He was one of them.
As the tribal chief, Xiong He would always get a lot of meat, but he also had a woman and children to take care of and would still go hunting on days when there weren’t collective hunts. Early this morning, he had intended to do exactly that.
As a result, he hadn’t even left yet when he came across something like this.
Under this kind of oppressive atmosphere, Xiong He couldn’t afford to show even the slightest bit of resistance. He had heard the priest say before that there were many powerful people in the world. At this time, he spoke up with some trepidation, “Lord, I am the chief of this tribe.”
Xiang Tian’s gaze fell on Xiong He.
A low level Beast Warrior. It seemed that he had achieved this through the acc.u.mulation of energy in his body as he grew older… Xiang Tian looked down on Xiong He a little.
In contrast, the young man next to Xiong He, who still still dared to look up at him even during a time like this, seemed pretty good.
Xiang Tian asked coldly, “Have you seen any strangers in the area lately?”
“N… No.” Xiong He replied.
Standing next to Xiong He was Shi Li. He had been the one who still dared to look up at Xiang Tian.
Shi Li didn’t quite understand the situation that was unfolding before his eyes.
He could overlook the fact that Xiang Tian had come early, but his demeanor was also completely different from that of his previous life.
This time, Xiang Tian had kicked up a huge fuss when he came to the tribe. It was also obvious that he didn’t have any good intentions, but in his previous life… Xiang Tian had come here in a very low-key way at first, and only when someone had seen him by Zhou Ji’s side and asked him who he was had he shown his strength.
Why had things changed? Was it because Xiang Tian knew about Zhou Ji and Xiong Ye becoming mates?
But that didn’t seem right either. If Xiang Tian was unhappy about that, why would he ask about strangers?
At the end of the day, Shi Li was someone who had once been a Beast King. While everyone else in the tribe was afraid and terrified, and even Xiong He’s legs trembled as he faced Xiang Tian, Shi Li still dared to look up at Xiang Tian.
And then, he discovered that Xiang Tian appeared to be completely furious.
Xiang Tian was indeed very angry, to the point where he had practically lost control of his temper. He exerted even more pressure, forcing even Xiong He and Shi Li to transform into animals.
The people in the valley suffered badly when faced with Xiang Tian’s pressure, but Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji, who were in their cave, were faring much better.
After Zhou Ji discovered how powerful Xiang Tian was, he no longer dared to use his spiritual power to investigate the situation. However, he quickly discovered that although this powerhouse seemed to have a lot of energy in his body, an amount similar to his own, his spiritual power was actually very weak and far inferior to Zhou Ji’s own.
No, it couldn’t even be called weak. This person might not even know that he had spiritual strength and might not know how to use it at all.
When he became aware of this point, Zhou Ji used his spiritual strength to investigate this man’s condition.
The amount of energy in this person’s body might be about the same as his, but the situation didn’t look very good–he didn’t know what was wrong with this person, but it seemed that the energy in his body was rejecting itself…
Beastmen only had one crystal core. How could the energy contained within it begin to repel itself? If this went on… wouldn’t that just cause this man to break down and collapse?
Of course, it could be that he was simply thinking too much.
Perhaps everyone outside did that. Maybe this was how they cultivated?
Zhou Ji was able to thoroughly investigate Xiang Tian’s situation, so of course he was also aware of the situation outside. He had also discovered that Xiong Ye seemed to be very uncomfortable under Xiang Tian’s pressure.
He wanted to help alleviate the situation for Xiong Ye, but on second thought, he chose not to do anything.
This person had obviously come here to make trouble. It should be for the sake of finding the person who had stolen away that fruit. He couldn’t expose anything.
If the truth came out, and they really started to fight, it would be the Big Bear Tribe that would suffer.
That fruit had obviously come into existence on its own. There had been n.o.body else there when he went in, so he couldn’t be blamed for picking that fruit. However, the person in front of him certainly wouldn’t feel that way.
Zhou Ji sighed and felt that this was a little troublesome.
The person in front of him seemed to be in poor condition. Perhaps he had been waiting for the fruit to ripen in order to preserve his life.
Despite the fact that it was likely this person wouldn’t have made it anyway based on the ripeness level of that fruit when he had gone to harvest it, this person definitely wouldn’t feel that way. Zhou Ji was a little worried that he would lose his mind and do something crazy.
While Zhou Ji was still considering these scenarios, Xiong Ye had already left the cave. A powerful person like this had arrived at the tribe, causing them to fall into a state of crisis; Xiong Ye needed to go out and take a look no matter what.
As soon as Xiong Ye left the cave, he was overwhelmed by the energy from Xiang Tian’s body. He staggered, fell to the ground, and immediately turned into a bear.
Xiang Tian noticed this scene but didn’t pay attention to it at all.
Xiong Ye had only just become a low level Beast Warrior. He had also hibernated through the entire winter and was now relatively thin. His animal form was smaller than Xiong He’s, so Xiang Tian didn’t care about his existence at all.
Even if his animal form was as big as Xiong He’s, Xiang Tian would still have ignored him.
He was nothing but a mere low level Beast Warrior.
But soon, Xiang Tian’s attention was caught by Zhou Ji, who had come out after Xiong Ye.
There was actually someone who hadn’t shifted into his animal form. Was this person very strong?
Xiang Tian’s eyes narrowed. He drew back his energy and jumped down from the mountain, stretching out a hand to catch Zhou Ji’s hand.
Zhou Ji seemed special, which was why Xiang Tian grabbed hold of him. But having caught hold of him, Xiang Tian’s brows wrinkled into a frown–this person was too weak, his body didn’t even have the slightest trace of energy!
Zhou Ji had hidden away his own energy. Although the middle-aged man in front of him was powerful, the energy within his body was chaotic, which made it easy for him to hide his own.
The people in the tribe felt much better after the pressure from Xiang Tian’s energy lifted. At this moment, Xiong Ye once again turned back into his human form and said to Xiang Tian, “Let him go.”
Xiang Tian glanced at Xiong Ye, then looked back towards Zhou Ji. This person had no energy in his body and appeared very weak, but he didn’t have a look of fear on his face at all. He seemed very calm, and Xiang Tian inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity when he looked at that face.
Xiang Tian’s gaze stayed on Zhou Ji, “Who are you?”
“Lord, he is a person of our tribe.” Xiong He replied.
“He’s my mate.” Xiong Ye spoke up.
As for Shi Li, it was only now that things seemed to have returned to normal. Xiang Tian had indeed come here looking for Zhou Ji!
“Why didn’t you turn into your animal form?” Xiang Tian couldn’t find anything odd about Zhou Ji, but he still couldn’t discard the doubts lingering in his heart.
“He can’t transform into an animal form! Let him go!” Xiong Ye hugged Zhou Ji.
Zhou Ji did not deliberately show any weakness, nor did he speak. At this moment, he only felt a bit of helplessness–Xiong Ye wasn’t wearing any clothes again!
Hearing that Zhou Ji couldn’t take on an animal form, Xiang Tian’s face twisted in disgust, and he immediately let go of Zhou Ji.
This kind of person who had no animal form was nothing but trash. The odds were only about one in ten thousand, but he had unexpectedly really encountered one.
After Xiang Tian let him go, Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji staggered back a few steps before finding their footing. Xiang Tian no longer paid them any attention. Instead, he went back to the valley, “Have everyone in the caves all come out for me!”
As soon as Xiang Tian said so, Xiong He immediately followed up, “Everyone, come out. Come out quickly!” When faced with such a powerhouse, they had no choice but to obey.
All the people of the tribe gathered together in the valley. Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji were no exception.
Xiang Tian looked at everyone and asked, “Have any of you seen any strangers pa.s.sing by lately?”
The people in the tribe shook their heads.
“Have any of you discovered any anomalies?” Xiang Tian continued to ask.
The people in the tribe continued to shake their heads.
The anger suppressed in Xiang Tian’s heart surged out again, the chaotic energy in his body impossible to control. He really wanted to kill off everyone in front of him… And it was at this moment that he noticed the sh.e.l.l of the arthropleura hanging from the mountain wall some distance away.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at the people gathered before him, “Where did you guys catch that?”
He recalled that the people of this tribe never traveled to that stretch of forest. Had they gone there recently?
“We caught it about three hours north of here.” Xiong He spoke up anxiously. He also added a description of the area.
“How did you catch it?” Xiang Tian pressed.
Xiong He didn’t understand why Xiang Tian was asking about this and was rather confused, “We caught it when we saw it.” Back then, this arthropleura had been attracted over by Shi Li, but seeing that Xiang Tian hadn’t come with good intentions, Xiong He purposely didn’t go into too much detail.
The people in this tribe were very weak, and the arthropleura they had managed to catch was also a small one. Most likely, this millipede had run out of the forest on its own…
He hadn’t managed to learn anything useful. Xiang Tian became even angrier and broke apart one of the stone pots placed within the valley with a wave of his hand.
“Lord, we really haven’t seen any strangers.” Xiong Ye spoke up even as he shielded Zhou Ji behind him.
Everyone in the tribe was trembling. Xiang Tian also understood that those who had the ability to deal with that group of millipedes and make a move on the divine fruit fruit definitely wouldn’t be found in this tribe… He was too lazy to concern himself with these people and only wanted to catch the thief as quickly as possible, so he soon turned around and planned to leave.
However, as he used the energy he had within his body to walk back up the mountain wall, Shi Li suddenly spoke up. “Lord Xiang, aren’t you going to take your child with you?”
Xiang Tian stopped moving. The people of the Big Bear Tribe were also a little confused–Child? What child?
Shi Li had been a Beast King that the entire world had revolved around for over fifty years. As he grew older, he enjoyed having everything go in accordance with his own plans more and more. Recently, he had been frustrated about everything within this tribe, and it left him feeling constantly uncomfortable everywhere. Not only had Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji become mates, they also showed off their love in front of him every day, infuriating him.
He had been looking forward to seeing Zhou Ji and Xiong Ye separate. He had thought that Xiang Tian would act the same way he had in his previous life, forcibly taking Zhou Ji with him when he left. Unexpectedly, Xiang Tian had only asked some baffling questions before planning to leave.
Could it be that Xiang Tian still didn’t know that Zhou Ji was his son at this point in time?
Xiang Tian turned back to the valley and looked at Shi Li.
He hadn’t told that woman his ident.i.ty, and she hadn’t even seen his animal form.
Between the two of them, it could be considered a chance encounter. That woman had always believed that he was a wandering beastman.
Right now, even if it had been that woman who called out ‘Lord Xiang’, it would still be unusual, let alone when that woman wasn’t even here.
He had previously discovered that the woman was no longer within the tribe. He hadn’t found it strange–It had already been many years, so it wasn’t odd for her to have died by now.
Now, however… Not only had this person called out his animal form, he even brought up his son…
Xiang Tian had paid attention to Shi Li at the start but hadn’t concerned himself with him later on. What was the point in paying attention to someone who hadn’t even become a low level Beast Warrior yet?
However, now that Shi Li had spoken these words, his attention was completely focused on Shi Li, “What did you say?”
“Zhou Ji is your son. Are you unaware?” Shi Li replied, then explained further, “I heard Zhou Ji’s mother mention it before.”
The people of the tribe were even more confused.
n.o.body in the tribe knew who Zhou Ji’s father was. They also hadn’t looked into it deeply; there were many children who didn’t know who their fathers were in this day and age.
Shi Li now claimed that Zhou Ji was this great Lord’s child. Had he gone crazy?
What would they do if this great Lord got angry?
Before Shi Li had died in his previous life, he had already been obstinate, stubbornly clinging to his own views. His rebirth had only served to make him feel even more unique, and even though he had suffered a little setback after his rebirth, his att.i.tude remained unchanged.
At this moment, he pointed to Zhou Ji and said, “He looks very similar to you.”
What Shi Li said was the truth. Zhou Ji really did look like Xiang Tian, and it was precisely because of this that he had never doubted this matter.
Xiang Tian also noticed this point, and his expression turned ugly.
That foolish child from back then had grown up? And hadn’t even awakened an animal form?
He then looked at how intimate he was with the man beside him… Xiang Tian felt like all of his dignity had been lost.
Similarly, Xiang Tian also noticed that other than Shi Li, everyone else here was completely bewildered and confused. They obviously knew nothing about this matter. In that case, how did Shi Li know about it?
Could it be that another Beast King had discovered his whereabouts and done something?
Had his divine fruit been taken away by another Beast King?
Xiang Tian ignored Zhou Ji. Instead, he caught Shi Li and took him away with him as he left.
The people of the tribe: “……” Exactly what was going on here? Didn’t he say that Zhou Ji was this person’s son? They did look quite similar…
Why had he taken Shi Li away instead?
Juurensha: hahaha Shi li, you get what you deserve