They watched in shock as the strange man scraped all the flesh off the bones and sucked all the marrow out of the bones.
This strange man had changed a lot compared to when Shao Xuan brought him here. The most obvious change was that he no longer looked like dried meat. He now had the flesh of a normal person, but he still didn't look strong. He didn't have any obvious bulging muscles, but after seeing how he broke a fearsome beast's leg bone, Shao Xuan and the others didn't dare underestimate him.
His skin no longer looked greenish-black. It was still pale and bloodless, but it was different from Yi Si's half-beast slave. At least that was what the half-beast slave looked like. But this strange man gave off a strange feeling. He looked like he was seriously ill, but also very dangerous.
After eating, the strange man's skin softened a lot. Other than some dried cracks and the strange greenish-white color, he looked like a normal person. At least he didn't look like a corpse anymore. His movements were no longer stiff. If he could breathe and have a heartbeat, he would look more like a living person.
After eating, the strange man looked at Shao Xuan with gratitude. He wasn't as wary of Zheng Luo and the Yanjiao warrior anymore.
"Where … is … this place?"
It was probably because his body had begun to recover after eating that his voice no longer sounded like he was grinding a stone with sandpaper. However, his speech was still not smooth, and his tone sounded very strange, but at least one could roughly guess what he was saying.
"This is the Yanjiao tribe," Shao Xuan said.
"Yanjiao … tribe?" The strange man's face was full of confusion. He seemed to remember something, but couldn't.
"Who are you? Which tribe are you from? "Shao Xuan asked. In order to make sure the strange man heard clearly, Shao Xuan said each word slowly.
"Who … am I?" The strange man looked even more confused. He didn't know what to say. He tilted his head and thought hard.
"Then do you remember your tribe's totem? Can you draw a totem? "Shao Xuan asked.
"Totem … Totem …" The strange man repeated the word in a low voice. The more he said it, the more fluent he became. He suddenly raised his head, and his crimson eyes flashed. "Totem!"
"Yes, yes, Totem, do you remember?" Shao Xuan walked into the secret room and took out some paint from a wooden cabinet. He mixed it with water, dipped his finger in it, and then drew a line on a piece of cloth. A black mark immediately appeared on the grayish-yellow linen cloth.
Shao Xuan originally wanted to use a pen, but after seeing the strange man's condition, he decided that it would be more convenient.
The strange man looked at Shao Xuan's actions, as if he was familiar with Shao Xuan's actions. He poked the small stone box with his right thumb. Many tribesmen liked to paint with their thumbs. It was an ancient habit, and the strange man was no exception. Because he didn't control his strength, he almost knocked over the small stone box. Luckily, Shao Xuan held onto it.
Looking at the black lump on his finger, the strange man walked to the stone table and drew a line on the linen cloth Shao Xuan had spread out. He felt that it was too troublesome, so he pushed the linen cloth aside and drew directly on the stone table.
In the beginning, he paused every time his finger moved, as if he was recalling something. Towards the end, his drawing became smoother and smoother, and in the end, he didn't stop at all.
It wasn't a complicated picture. If it was Shao Xuan, he could finish it in two seconds. However, this weirdo took nearly ten minutes. Most of his time was spent thinking, so he wasn't fast when he drew.
But at least he finished it.
Zheng Luo couldn't help but walk over curiously. He craned his neck to look at the stone table. He couldn't get too close as the strange man was still guarded against him.
"This is?" Zheng Luo looked at the words on the stone table and asked.
The strange man looked at Zheng Luo cautiously and made a sound. But the tone was a little strange. Shao Xuan couldn't understand what he meant.
The pattern on the stone table looked like a person with his arms raised, looking up. Above the 'person' pattern was a circle. Usually, when a pattern like this appeared in a pattern, it was most likely referring to the sun.
This was the strange man's tribal totem. Even if tribesmen couldn't remember their names, they wouldn't forget their tribe's totem, especially those tribes that still maintained their primitive fire seed.
This strange man didn't seem to remember anything else, but he really drew this. After he finished, he stared at the totem on the stone table in a daze.
Shao Xuan was sure that he had never seen a totem like this before, so he couldn't figure out who this person was.
He looked at Zheng Luo behind him, who was also confused. He had never seen a totem like this before, but if it was drawn by someone who even forgot his own name but still remembered the totem, the chances of it being fake were very low.
But tribes had always existed. Some tribes might have gone extinct in the past, and this strange man was one of them.
"Your tribe used to be in the desert?" Shao Xuan asked again.
"Desert?" The strange man was even more unfamiliar with this word. He didn't understand what Shao Xuan was talking about.
Realising this, Shao Xuan explained the desert environment, "It rarely rains, there aren't many trees, and it's all yellow sand."
After he understood, the strange man nodded. "It's there, it's there!"
The strange man knew that Shao Xuan wasn't from the same tribe as him, but because Shao Xuan's aura was similar to his own, he initially thought that Shao Xuan was from the same tribe as him. After eating a beast leg, his body was recovering and his senses were much stronger. Only then did he realize that Shao Xuan was different from himself. But he still didn't guard against Shao Xuan.
Even if they weren't from the same tribe, it definitely had something to do with his awakening. So the strange man asked anxiously, "My … tribe … go back …"
Shao Xuan only understood a few of the strange man's words. "You want to go back?"
The strange man nodded.
"But there are no more tribes in the desert," Shao Xuan said.
The strange man was stunned. He shook his head and denied, "No … impossible … impossible!" But then he thought of something, as if he couldn't remember clearly. His face twisted, and he suddenly hugged his head and squatted down. He looked like he was in great pain. His greenish-white skin bulged like veins, and he roared like a wild beast in the forest. It sounded like a strong wind blowing into a cave and then out again. It was very strange.
The stone chips and dust on the surrounding walls were shaken up, and the jar of water in the corner cracked with a bang. There wasn't much water in the jar, so it was mostly broken pieces that clanked against the wall.
The sound echoed in the corridor outside. Duo Kang and the others who were blocking the staircase felt their hair stand on end.
The soundproofing in the Flaming River Castle was quite good, but at this moment, the sound could be heard everywhere in the castle. The people who were close to the Flaming River Castle heard the sound very muffled, but they couldn't help but shiver. It was as if a cold wind swept past their backs.
Where Yi Si was, the half-beast slave Grasshopper's spine sprouted spikes. He looked nervously in the direction of the Flaming River Castle.
Yi Si also felt strange. "What's going on over there?"
Inside the Flaming River Castle, the people who heard the sound rushed over and saw Duo Kang and his men blocking the entrance.
"Boss, is this sound made by a human?" someone asked Duo Kang.
"How would I know?!" Duo Kang was worried. What was going on down there?! This was really making him anxious!
In the secret room below.
Seeing the strange man become agitated, Shao Xuan and Zheng Luo's hearts tightened. Their hands gripped the hilts of their swords. If this strange man suddenly went berserk, they would have no choice but to kill him here. Although he really wanted to get some information from this person, he had to prioritize the safety of his own people over everything else.
However, the strange man only hugged his head and squatted on the ground. He looked like he was in great pain, and after a while, his voice gradually weakened until it stopped.
Shao Xuan waited for a while, but he didn't move.
"Hey, what's going on with you?" Shao Xuan asked.
Without waiting for an answer, Shao Xuan asked again. Still, there was no response.
He could feel that this man's violent aura had calmed down. If they didn't see him squatting there, no one would think there was anyone here. After all, there was no breathing or heartbeat. Other than the obvious signs of breathing before the roar, this man didn't seem to need air at all. If they locked him up in a sealed place, he might be able to survive.
Shao Xuan walked over. With one hand holding his sword, he reached out with the other and pushed the squatting man.
The squatting man immediately fell backwards. When he fell, he was still squatting with his hands on his head. His hands and legs seemed to be frozen. They didn't move at all.
Zheng Luo wanted to ask if this man was dead, but he remembered that this man was different from the rest. He asked, "What's wrong with him?"
Shao Xuan shook his head. From the energy waves around this man and in his body, it was very similar to other people when they were asleep.
"He's probably … asleep?" Shao Xuan guessed.
Asleep?
Zheng Luo looked at the strange man who was squatting with his hands on his head. He looked like he wanted to curl himself into an egg. He thought to himself, 'He's really different. He even sleeps like this!'
Shao Xuan looked at the pattern the strange man had drawn on the stone table. He gave Zheng Luo a look and the two walked out of the secret room with light steps.
"He looks like a normal person when they're asleep. He probably won't wake up anytime soon. You and Duo Kang stay here. I'm going to the Rain tribe," Shao Xuan said in a low voice.
"The Rain tribe? You want to ask about this man? " Zheng Luo knew that the Rain tribe used to live at the edge of the desert. He understood Shao Xuan's plan now.
"Yes, I want to know where this man came from. The people of Rock Hill City must have a purpose for keeping him here. This man said his tribe was in the desert. But we all know that ever since the slave masters came to the desert, there have been no more tribes in the desert. The Rain tribe is so close to the desert and has been around for a long time. Maybe they know something that others don't. "
Zheng Luo nodded. "Okay, come back quickly. If this man wakes up, he won't go easy on us. If there's no other choice, we'll have to kill him. "
"Okay." Shao Xuan knew that this man treated him differently from the others. It was because Shao Xuan used another kind of energy to revive this man. In other words, this man wasn't really dead. He was just in a different state. It was Shao Xuan's energy that woke him up.
Without saying anything else, Shao Xuan immediately left the Flaming River Castle and went to the Rain tribe.
When Shao Xuan arrived, Yang Sui was smiling as he looked at a piece of linen cloth in his hand. On it was written the plants they planted this year, their handicrafts, and the trading situation in the Flaming River Castle. Now that they had a firm foothold here, they didn't need to worry about starvation anymore. The Flaming River Trading Point gave them more options for survival. Textiles, pottery, knitted goods, and so on could be traded. Even if the harvest wasn't good, they wouldn't starve. When the Yanjiao needed labor, their tribe would rush to do it. After all, they could trade labor for food from the Yanjiao.
As he was reading, someone came to report that the Yanjiao's Grand Elder, Shao Xuan, was here. Yang Sui immediately put down the things in his hand and asked someone to invite Shao Xuan in. They didn't dare to put on airs. They had to rely on the Yanjiao tribe to survive here. Otherwise, with their tribe's fighting strength, they wouldn't be able to fend off so many people and beasts.
"Grand Elder, what brings you to our Rain tribe today?" Yang Sui asked with a smile.
Shao Xuan didn't beat around the bush. He handed over a piece of animal skin and asked, "Do you recognize this?"
Shao Xuan had drawn the pattern on the animal skin.
"What is this?" Yang Sui took the animal skin and opened it. The smile on his face froze and his expression changed. His gaze was as sharp as a knife as he stared at Shao Xuan. He asked in a low voice, "Where did you know this?!"
"You've seen it before?" Shao Xuan briefly told him about the strange man. Shao Xuan didn't explain how he brought the man back to life. He only said that the man who looked like an ancient corpse was brought back to life.
Yang Sui's fingers tightened around the animal skin. His hands were trembling and his face was pale.
"Did they come back? They actually came back! " Yang Sui muttered. His eyes were filled with fear and uneasiness. It was as if he had fallen into an ice cave. Even his blood was frozen.
"Who the hell are they?" Seeing Yang Sui's soulless expression, Shao Xuan continued, "He can't remember anything for the time being. He only remembers this pattern. Moreover, they should be controlled by the people of Rock Hill City and kept as puppets."
Shao Xuan's words made Yang Sui breathe a sigh of relief, but his fingers were still trembling and his face was pale.
"The Han tribe, it's the Han tribe!"
The Han tribe?
Shao Xuan had never heard of this tribe.
"The Han tribe used to live in the desert?" Shao Xuan asked.
Yang Sui's mouth twitched as if he was about to laugh. "No, they didn't live in the desert. They lived in the desert wherever the Han tribe was!"
Shao Xuan was stunned by his words. "You mean, the existence of the desert is because of the Han tribe?"
"You can say that." Yang Sui took a deep breath and tried to suppress his emotions.
"That strange man should be very strong. His tribe must not have been weak in the past. But how could such a tribe disappear in the desert?" Shao Xuan was puzzled. If they weren't strong, they wouldn't have been targeted by Rock Hill City.
Yang Sui smiled bitterly. "You only know that the Han tribe is strong, but you don't know that the Rain tribe used to be a big tribe too!"
Just in case, Yang Sui went out and drove the people around the house away. After he entered the house, he drank a bowl of water to calm himself down. He continued, "There are some things that I found out from my ancestor's notes after I became a shaman. My ancestor had some written notes that the Rain tribe's chief and shaman knew, but there were some secret notes that only the Rain tribe's shaman could open. Not every shaman could open them. Without the strength to open them, you wouldn't be able to see them. And from those notes, I solved the puzzle that had been puzzling me for a long time. "
Shao Xuan once told Yang Sui that the primitive fire seed would weaken. Although it wasn't obvious, they could see the difference if they compared it with the fire seed from thousands of years ago.
However, few people could live that long. They were different from the beasts that could grow indefinitely. People with different strength had a limit to their lifespan. Most senior totem warriors could live up to two or three hundred years.
Yang Sui could accept that the Rain tribe's fire seed was weakening, so they couldn't pray for rain. But he didn't understand why the Rain tribe's fire seed was weakening so quickly. The Rain tribe wasn't the only tribe with a long history. Yanjiao was also an ancient tribe, but they weren't as weak as the Rain tribe.
In the end, it was all because of the fire seed.
If the fire seed was strong, the tribe would be strong. If the fire seed was weak, the tribe would be weak.
The Rain tribe had been living on the edge of the desert for so long that they had already broken away from the middle-sized tribes. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, they would soon disappear from this world.
"The fire seed!" Yang Sui raised his head and sighed. "Because of the Han tribe, the Rain tribe's fire seed is weaker than others!"
"Have you fought with the Han tribe before?" Shao Xuan asked.
"A long, long time ago, we fought with them. In the end, we lost. "
Yang Sui told Shao Xuan what he had recorded in his ancestor's secret notes.
The desert wasn't like this in the past. It wasn't much different from other places on the mainland. Although it didn't rain often and some places were even dry all year round, it wasn't as big as the desert today.
The Han tribe lived in a place that was dry all year round, while the Rain tribe lived in another place with fertile soil. It was very suitable for growing a plant that was discovered by the ancestors of the Rain tribe. After crushing the fruit of the plant and baking it with water, you would get a hard biscuit. The biscuit was easy to store and was also good at suppressing hunger. At that time, the Rain tribe valued that piece of land very much and even wanted to expand it.
In order to make the crops grow better, the Rain tribe prayed for rain more often. Naturally, the range of rainfall extended towards the expansion of the farmland.
However, the Han tribesmen didn't like rain. They didn't even like water. They could survive in dry environments for a long time because they liked drought. Just like the cacti in the desert, they themselves were reservoirs. As long as their reservoirs were filled with water, they could live well even if they didn't drink a single drop of water for a hundred days.
The Han tribe also wanted to expand their territory and have more dry land. As a result, even if the two tribes didn't live close to each other, they still had conflicts because of the expansion of their territories.
Later on, the conflict intensified and the two tribes went to war. Tribesmen could fight to the death for territory, so the two tribes had completely different preferences and wanted to drive each other away or destroy each other directly.
The conflict lasted for a long time. Yang Sui didn't know how long it lasted. There was no record of this in his ancestor's notes. It only mentioned that in the end, the shamans of the two tribes fought each other and both used the power of their fire seed.
According to the ancient records left by the Rain tribe's ancestors, during the war between the two shamans, the wind and rain changed with just a wave of their hands.
In the end, the Rain tribe was defeated. At that time, the shaman of the Rain tribe took the fire seed and the remaining tribesmen and left the place where they lived. They settled in another place, which was the edge of the desert.
Because of that war, the Rain tribe's fire seed was severely depleted. It was an almost irreversible loss. At that time, the shaman of the Rain tribe blamed himself and burned himself in the fire pit. Since then, as time passed, the Rain tribe's fire seed continued to weaken, just like the other tribes' fire seeds. However, because of the war, their fire seed weakened faster than other tribes' fire seeds.
When Yang Sui first learned the truth, his heart was filled with bitterness. However, at that time, he didn't know that the Han tribe still existed in the world. Although the desert had expanded to the Rain tribe's territory, the Han tribe seemed to have disappeared from the world. Perhaps because of some natural disasters or other reasons, the Han tribe no longer appeared. When the slave masters from the other side of the sea occupied the desert, the Han tribe became completely unknown.
Yang Sui's people felt that in the end, the Rain tribe survived. It was a victory for them to be alive. As for the cruel history and defeat of the Rain tribe, the ancestors of the Rain tribe didn't want anyone to know about it. Yang Sui also kept it a secret. In the entire Rain tribe, except for him, no one else knew about this history.
Listening to Yang Sui's story, Shao Xuan felt that it was unbelievable.
So the desert was created by the war between these two tribes!
Out of the two veteran powerhouses with a long history, one was defeated and had to retreat to a faraway place. The Fire Company had lost too much of its resources in that war, so much so that it was much weaker than the other tribes of the same period. They couldn't even pray for rain.
The other one disappeared for unknown reasons. Shao Xuan remembered that the strange man looked like an ancient corpse. He should have been in that state for a long time, but he didn't know if their disappearance had anything to do with the slave masters.
However, Yang Sui didn't know. If Shao Xuan wanted to know the reason, he could only ask the strange man. Of course, the strange man had to remember.
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.
