Huo Yan's bull-like eyes stared at Lu Chen for a long while, then slowly put him down. His expression also softened. After a while, he suddenly said, "I am only one person, and not even the tribe leader. Even if I make such an oath, it may not necessarily be retribution to the tribe."
Lu Chen nodded. "Yes, what you said makes sense."
Huo Yan looked at him. "Then you still want me to make an oath?"
Lu Chen calmly said, "It doesn't matter whether it counts or not. I just want to be at ease."
Huo Yan stared at Lu Chen, and Lu Chen stared back at him. Neither of them had any intention of avoiding each other's eyes. After a while, Huo Yan nodded, took two steps to the side, and knelt down on one knee facing the vast wasteland. One hand on his chest, the other pointing to the sky, he repeated the oath that Lu Chen had just said.
At this moment, Lu Chen's expression finally changed. When he looked at the barbarian Huo Yan again, his gaze became a little more complicated. There was a bit of caution, but also a bit of admiration.
At the same time, the last ray of light in the sky finally disappeared.
The sky darkened.
…
"What do you plan to do next?" Lu Chen asked Huo Yan.
Huo Yan said, "I will bring you to the Fire God Altar to see if the Fire God has any orders. That place is quite far from here, and it is very well hidden. It is also very dangerous. Without me, you will not be able to find it. "
Lu Chen glanced at him. "Just the two of us?"
Huo Yan said, "Just the two of us?"
Lu Chen pointed at the tribe's camp in the darkness. "Are you going to ignore them?"
Huo Yan was silent for a while. "With my father here, the tribe will not fall into chaos. In addition, we have just defeated the Mountain Spirit Tribe, so there will not be any sudden wars in this period of time …"
Before he finished speaking, a figure suddenly rushed out from the darkness. It was Huo Yan's son, Huo Ying.
The young man's face was filled with excitement as he ran in front of Huo Yan, shouting, "Father, what are you doing?"
The muscles on Huo Yan's face twitched slightly. He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Son, I need to leave the tribe for a period of time. During this period of time, you have to help me lead the tribe. Don't be willful … "
"Why?" The Fire Hawk looked furious and incomprehensible. He pointed at Lu Chen and said, "Just for this human who suddenly appeared? Father, what's wrong with you today? Why do you seem like a different person all of a sudden? "
Huo Yan shook his head and said, "This is the will of the Fire God. Son, everything I do is for our Black Fire Tribe."
The Fire Hawk let out a low roar, but looking at his father's determined expression, he seemed to know that he could no longer persuade him. He could only turn his head and glare fiercely at Lu Chen. If looks could kill, Lu Chen would probably be dead by now.
Then, the Fire Hawk clenched his teeth and ran back with large strides. He seemed extremely disappointed in his father.
Lu Chen looked at the back of the young man and suddenly said, "Actually, what he said is somewhat reasonable. Anyone would feel that your decision is somewhat unimaginable."
Huo Yan silently looked in the direction that the Fire Hawk disappeared, as well as the blurry shadow of the Black Fire Tribe's camp in the night. After a while, he suddenly threw the Fire God's Staff to Lu Chen, then turned and walked into the distance. At the same time, he said, "Let's go."
Lu Chen caught the Fire God's Staff and turned it around in his hand. The smooth feeling made him feel somewhat familiar and intimate. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He casually leaned against his chest and the Fire God's Staff instantly disappeared. He then called out to Atsu and quickly followed Huo Yan.
As they walked, Huo Yan intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Lu Chen's chest. A strange look flashed in his eyes, but in the end, he didn't say anything.
After walking like this for a while, Lu Chen suddenly asked him, "There's something I still want to ask you."
Huo Yan said, "Speak."
Lu Chen said, "The entire Black Fire Tribe doesn't believe me. You're just one person. With your status and identity, why would you take such a great risk and do something so reckless that you almost fell out with your tribe?"
Huo Yan silently walked forward. After a while, he said in a low voice, "They can't see the danger."
"What danger?"
"The danger of the tribe's extinction."
Lu Chen frowned. "What do you mean?"
Huo Yan's face darkened, then he slowly said, "Ever since the ancestors of the tribe escaped from the north a thousand years ago, bad luck has been haunting our Black Fire Tribe. This is because those ancestors committed a great sin and were punished by the Fire God."
Lu Chen thought for a moment, then looked at him and asked tentatively, "You mean to say, what did the ancestors of the Black Fire Tribe do when they escaped from the north?"
Huo Yan smiled bitterly, then said bitterly, "Back then, your human cultivator army was too strong. After a bloody battle, the outcome was clear. Back then, the Black Fire tribe was second to none, and was responsible for covering the retreat of the other tribes as they fled south. But at the most critical moment, our ancestors abandoned the shamans, priests, and warriors who were engaged in a fierce battle. They crossed the Great Snow Mountain and the Broken Spirit Sand Sea and ran back to the Wilderness. "
Lu Chen was startled, then seemed to think of something. "Later, your powerful ancestors didn't come back?"
Huo Yan sighed and said, "Later on, the war became extremely intense. Your human race had unrivalled masters who fought, causing the mountains to collapse and the earth to crack, the terrain to change … The only path was also sealed. After that, those people were never able to return."
Lu Chen was speechless.
After a moment of silence, Huo Yan's tone seemed to have calmed down. Soon after, he said, "From then on, our Black Fire Tribe suffered a disastrous decline, becoming a small and weak tribe in the wastelands. Until now, we can only mingle with small tribes like the Ghost Eye and Thunder Lizard. But even so, after a long time, the people in our tribe gradually got used to it. They felt that there was nothing wrong with continuing like this. "
Lu Chen said, "But you don't think so?"
Huo Yan shook his head. "Living like this, there is no vitality and no hope. Even if we can continue to live for decades or even centuries, there will be a day when an accident, a storm, a defeat in a battle, is enough to make our Black Fire Tribe disappear."
He stopped and turned to look at Lu Chen. "They can't see it, but I saw it. Originally, I was at my wit's end. But I happened to meet you. No matter what, I have to take a gamble. The Black Fire Tribe is too weak. Only by having a priest in the tribe can we have hope to rise again in this harsh wilderness. Even if … "
Lu Chen said lightly, "Even if that priest is a human?"
Huo Yan was silent for a moment. His cheeks twitched as if he was gritting his teeth. Then he said in a low voice, "Yes."
Lu Chen nodded. After taking a few steps forward, he suddenly asked, "Then have you ever thought that maybe the others in the Black Fire Tribe are not wrong, and you are the only one in the wrong?"
Huo Yan strode forward, facing the boundless night. As the cold wind blew past, his tall and burly body showed no intention of retreating. He walked forward proudly and said loudly, "Then I've lost. That's fine. I'll compensate you with my life. Just think of it as me dying for the Black Fire Tribe!"
Lu Chen looked at his back and suddenly sighed. He nodded and said to himself in a low voice, "What a good man. I didn't expect there to be such a resolute and resolute person in the Barbarian Tribe. Amazing! "
…
Huo Yan led Lu Chen into the depths of the wilderness for a day and a night. Apart from resting and sleeping in between, he had been walking forward the entire time.
Later, Lu Chen couldn't help but feel curious. He asked, "Isn't the Fire God Altar the sacred land of the Black Fire Tribe? Why didn't you guys guard the sacred land nearby?"
Huo Yan shook his head. "That won't do. Firstly, the sacred land of the Fire God Altar is different. It's not suitable for ordinary people to live near it. Secondly, living too close would easily attract the attention of other tribes, which would endanger the safety of the sacred land."
Lu Chen raised his eyebrows. "Other tribes also know about the Fire God Altar, so they want to spy on you?"
Huo Yan nodded and said, "Back then, our tribe was the largest tribe in the Wasteland after all. Therefore, many people thought that there might be many treasures in our sacred altar. After the north and south were completely isolated, many people from the tribe tried to coerce and bribe us for this secret, but we rejected all of them."
"They didn't use any tricks?"
"Of course they did." Huo Yan said indifferently. "Kidnapping, murder, interrogation, war. Our Black Fire Tribe has experienced it all. Otherwise, our strength wouldn't have declined so quickly. Later on, they used all kinds of methods, but they still didn't get any news. Therefore, this matter gradually faded. They probably thought that the Fire God Altar was just a legend. "
Lu Chen wanted to say something but stopped. He felt an inexplicable pressure on his body.
Such an important secret had been kept by the Black Fire Tribe for so many years. It had only been passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. But now, Huo Yan was bringing him there just like that.
Part of this was because of the so-called Fire God. Carrying a Fire God Staff was too attractive. But Huo Yan, this barbarian's decisiveness, once again made Lu Chen exclaim in his heart.
He raised his head to look at Huo Yan. He thought to himself, this barbarian is probably the most gambler and craziest of all the barbarians in all these years.
Just like that, they walked for two days, but they still hadn't reached the place that Huo Yan had mentioned. However, on the second day, when they were walking on the desolate wasteland, a gust of yellow sand and dust suddenly blew towards them. Then, there was a shrill whistling sound, as if someone was howling towards the sky, and also as if there was a magnificent army floating over from the depths of the wasteland in front of them.
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