The snow around Shao Xuan was blown away, especially the spot where Shao Xuan was sitting. It was a salt field. Not a single bit of snow was left. There were marks of varying depths on the ground, radiating outwards.
As for the others, many of them were knocked unconscious like Duo Kang. Some hid in the snow, waiting for the danger to pass before coming out.
At that time, Shao Xuan's reminder was timely. Although most of them were sent flying and suffered some injuries, not many were seriously injured.
Duo Kang and the others who woke up and walked out of the snow field in the distance. They dragged the others out one by one. If they stayed like this for too long, the unconscious ones would freeze to death.
Zheng Luo was the one who was most seriously injured when he went to pull Shao Xuan away. But he was stronger, and Shao Xuan had taken the brunt of the attack. Although he was knocked unconscious and had to be carried by others, it was good that he was still alive.
The bodies of the unconscious and those who had died in battle or for other reasons were found one by one. Those who could not be found were found with Shao Xuan's help. Although the snow was thick, Shao Xuan's special vision allowed him to see things within a certain range. This was much more convenient.
The severely injured and unconscious were carried by the lightly injured and continued on their way.
Shao Xuan told them that the king beast only wanted to chase them away. If it really wanted to kill them, it would have done so already.
Although Shao Xuan described the situation simply, the people from Taihe and Mountain Wind did not dare to underestimate this young Yanjiao elder. They clearly felt the power that sent them flying. It was not an ordinary power.
Yanjiao was stronger than they thought.
"Right, Shao Xuan, you said that the king beast ate salt flowers. I remembered something. Do you think that the king beast is the 'salt beast' that the Chilu people were talking about? "asked Zheng Luo, who was being carried by Duo Kang.
Salt beast?
The others thought about it. They could not remember the totem of the Chilu people. It had been a long time since they had seen the Chilu people who were good at making salt. Ever since the salt lake of the Chilu people had been occupied and absorbed into the city, they had almost lost all traces of the Chilu people in the forest.
"I remember that the totem of the Chilu people was the kind with thorns, not snakes," said a warrior from the Mountain Wind tribe who recalled the past.
"That's not thorns. That's ice. Do you remember what the king beast looked like before it was sent flying? "reminded Zheng Luo.
"Now that I think about it, it does look like it."
Because the king beast looked like a snake at first glance, they did not associate it with the salt beast on the totem of the Chilu tribe, which had a long history of salt culture.
"Didn't the salt beast totem of the Chilu tribe first appear in their salt lake? Later on, the Chilu people learned of the existence of salt and lived around the salt lake. Now that there's not much salt left in the lake, the nobles lost interest and moved on to the newly discovered salt springs, "said the Taihe chief.
"But the salt beast never appeared in the Chilu salt lake again. Instead, we found high quality salt in the salt mines. Why do you think the first person to discover the salt mines walked into the deadly salt fields? He's not from the Chilu tribe, he wouldn't have the ability to identify salt. Was there really nothing to attract him? Or did he want to commit suicide? "Zheng Luo did not believe it.
No matter what the truth was, it had been a few hundred years. No one knew the truth. They did not dare to go back and ask the king beast. Did he want to die?
"Anyway, we can't go to the salt mines anymore," sighed the Mountain Wind chief.
"If I knew there was a king beast, I wouldn't have gone!" The leader of the Taihe tribe still had lingering fears after escaping death. Anyway, they wouldn't come back again. It wasn't like they couldn't survive!
"Anyway, it's good to be alive."
"Yeah, it's good to be alive!"
It was already a blessing that so many of them survived. Salt and fire crystals were secondary. The only thing the tribe wanted was to survive.
"I almost forgot. Are the Fox and Shen people still at the salt mines?" asked Duo Kang.
The king beast had already warned them once. If it found anyone else, would it go berserk?
Even if it roared a few times like this, there would not be another Shao Xuan to protect them.
"When we go back, keep an eye on the two tribes. If they come back, wait for the weather to improve before we fight!" said the Mountain Wind chief.
Speaking of the weather, the joy of surviving the disaster was once again diluted.
They wondered how the tribe was doing in the weather.
The extreme weather was one in a thousand years. No one could truly relax.
There were traces of the king beast on the salt ground. They did not have to walk in the snow but most of the time, they still had to walk through thick layers of snow. Still, they felt better on the way back.
The moment they walked out of the salt flats, everyone roared to the sky.
They had survived the king beast and were about to leave this place where they had lived for hundreds of years. They would leave for good. Perhaps they would never set foot on the salt flats again. The people guarding the mines missed this place. Guarding the mines was passed down from generation to generation. They knew more than others. Wacha had taken over the position from his father. He walked the path his ancestors walked and did what they did.
But when they thought of the king beast, they could only suppress their nostalgia.
Their roars echoed across the snowy plains, causing the snow on the trees to fall.
What used to be a forest was now covered in a thick layer of snow. However, the snow here was not as thick as the salt flats. The average thickness of the salt flats was about ten meters. Outside the salt flats, the snow only reached a person's shoulders. Luckily, their heads could still be seen. If they stepped into a hole, they would be completely buried.
"We've already passed the salt flats. What's there to be afraid of here?!" Zheng Luo had Duo Kang put him down. Then he ordered the soldiers to cut down trees to make a wooden palanquin. It was easier to carry him.
Those who could not walk would be more comfortable on the palanquin. The Yanjiao people were strong. It was easy for four people to carry ten people. After distributing the injured, Zheng Luo was placed on a simple palanquin. He looked at the vast expanse of white in silence.
The forest looked like it was covered with a thick layer of cotton. However, there was much less snow in the forest. This was the benefit of having large and dense trees. It was just that they had to guard against other fierce beasts that were active in the forest.
Some beasts were hibernating. Others came out to find food when they were hungry.
It was not just the humans. The animals were not used to the change in weather either. On their way back, they saw many beast corpses buried in the snow. There were animals eating around the corpses. Crunching sounds could be heard. The meat was frozen.
When they were looking for a place to cook porridge, some brave animals wanted to come over. It was warmer here but there were too many people so they did not come over. However, there were a few small animals that looked like squirrels that jumped to the fire. They did not get too close but they could borrow the heat from the fire.
People in the tribe usually did not eat these small animals. They looked down on them. They would only eat them when there was nothing to eat. Therefore, these little creatures were very lucky to be alive and able to borrow the fire from the side.
The soldiers who were not seriously injured hunted a few wild animals and two fearsome beasts that came out to find food. They roasted the meat and shared it with everyone. After being frozen for so many days, they could still savor the taste of hot food for a long time.
"Shao Xuan, when will the weather change again?" asked Zheng Luo.
"Tomorrow morning." This was the result of Shao Xuan's divination. But he could not tell what it would become.
"We won't rest tonight. Let's continue on our way." Zheng Luo decided.
The other two chiefs had no objections. They only knew that it was better to follow the Yanjiao people than to decide on their own.
It was not easy to travel at night. After all, they could not remember every detail of every place. There were many dangerous places in the forest and they had to cross mountains. One mistake and they could lose their lives.
Shao Xuan had recovered a lot. Even the glowing crystals were not as useful as he was now. He led the way. Beside him was Wacha and his wife. They were most familiar with this place and had been here many times. Shao Xuan would ask them every now and then to confirm the direction before continuing on.
The next morning, the first glimmer of light came. It started snowing again. The wind was strong and those who could not stand still would be blown away.
"Good thing we've already crossed the most dangerous mountain." Wacha sighed.
After leading the way for the whole night, Shao Xuan could take a breather now that someone else was leading the way.
The sky was gloomy, even darker than when they were in the salt mines. Thick clouds made the day seem like dusk, gloomy and dark.
After two days, they finally reached a familiar area. It was not far from the tribe.
The Mountain Wind people had parted ways with them the day before.
"Thank you for this. If you need help, send someone to let us know." The Taihe chief said when they parted ways with the Yanjiao team.
This time, if it weren't for the Flaming Horns, they might not even be able to return ten out of the one thousand people they brought out.
Zheng Luo waved his hand and did not speak. He was still being carried.
"There's a path in front!" The soldier leading the way shouted.
The so-called path was a path cut through the thick snow. They did not need to move anymore.
"The tribe made this! And food! " Wacha untied the animal skin bag tied to a wooden pole. The dried meat inside was cold and hard, but it should have been made in the past two days.
It was good to be back.
That was what every soldier thought.
Before long, they saw people moving around. They were the tribe's patrolling soldiers. Everyone wore thick animal skins, their heads covered so only their eyes could be seen.
They shouted happily when they saw the people who had returned.
"There will be people guarding here every day to sweep the snow away," the patrolling soldier said.
After counting the number of people in the team, the patrol soldiers who came to help felt a little relieved. This was much better than they had imagined. They were all mentally prepared to witness a tragic situation, but they didn't expect that so many people would be able to come back safely.
"Chief, how's the salt mine?" a patrolling soldier asked.
"We'll talk when we get back."
The patrolling soldiers did not ask any more questions.
In the two-meter-high snow, there was a curved path that led to the river in front of the tribe.
The river was already frozen so there was no need for a bridge. They could walk on the thick ice without any problems.
Many people in the tribe had already heard the news and came to receive them. Some even handed them hot meat soup.
When they returned to the tribe and thought about what they had experienced, the soldiers felt like they were in a nightmare. Luckily, they were awake now.
"Elder, Elder Shao Xuan!" Someone squeezed through the crowd towards Shao Xuan.
Shao Xuan blocked the flying snow and looked. It was the one who took care of the duck shed.
"What, did the fat duck cause trouble?" Shao Xuan asked.
"No, it hatched! The duck's egg hatched! "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
