LSLFBW: Chapter 42

Qi Bai’s eyes were as cold as ice as he held a bone knife across his body. The red bird bone emitted a cold red light under the moonlight.

The green eyes that met Qi Bai’s seemed to be frightened. It lowered its body, bared its teeth, and slowly retreated into the forest behind it.

Qi Bai didn’t dare to relax his vigilance at all. He stared closely in the direction of its retreat. Sure enough, he saw more greedy eyes behind it.

Qi Bai tried to slow down his breathing and looked down the mountain with his peripheral vision.

The moonlight was obscured. There was nothing in the open space in front of the dark collective cave. However, in the forest outside, dozens of nearly two meter long figures were wandering and flickering in the darkness like ghosts. Qi Bai seemed to see the saliva dripping from their mouths.

Finally, Qi Bai found a gray wolf nearly three meters long in the wolf pack. Half of its body was hidden in the darkness, and its ferocious eyes were full of bloodthirsty greed.

It was a wolf, a wolf pack.

Unexpectedly, when everyone was on guard against the other beastmen attacking their tribe, a pack of wolves arrived first.

“Yang Ling!” Shu Lin exclaimed. He quickly stepped forward to help up the sub-beastman, who was protected by Qi Bai.

Xiong Feng, who had run out with Shu Lin, roared and turned into a beast. Seeing this, the wolves in the forest retreated a few steps. Qi Bai saw that Xiong Feng wanted to chase them and whispered to stop him, “Don’t chase.”

At this time, the tribe members living in this area had gathered together. Anger was burning in their eyes. Qi Bai said in a deep voice, “Calm down. There are too many of them. Go to the collective cave.”

At this time, a loud whistle echoed in the valley. It was a secret signal for the tribe to gather.

“Quickly!” Qi Bai urged.

At this time, the place where they gathered was halfway up the mountains. As long as they jumped down two levels from the stone platform in succession, they could reach the square in front of the collective cave. Xiang Yu and Quan Lie had already turned into beasts and were protecting the tribe members who landed on the ground to enter the collective cave.

Seeing the beastmen hiding in the cave one by one, the wolves staring at them became agitated.

“Awoo!”

The wolf king howled to the sky. Dozens of wolf shadows came out from all directions, heading straight toward the Black Mountain Tribe.

“All beastmen! Fight!”  Hou Yan gave the signal to attack. Then he changed into a beast and pounced on the leading wolf.

“Fight!”

”Fight!” The shouts of the beastmen seemed to pierce the darkness.

This time, unlike when they were fully prepared and took the initiative to attack the wild boars, the wolves’ sudden attack plunged the unprepared tribe into brief chaos.

In addition, there were only a dozen beastmen in the tribe who were suitable for fighting. They needed to face nearly a hundred cooperative wolves.

However, the wolves would be making a big mistake if they mistook the Black Mountain Tribe for a flock of sheep. The horned beastmen rushed to the front to fight with the wolves. The sub-beastmen didn’t sit still and wait for death. They used bone knives, stone axes, stone shovels, or simply waved bamboo. No one retreated. Everyone was ready to fight to the death.

Zhu Ya and Niu Yong used their sturdy bodies to block the entrance of the collective cave. They might be covered with blood, but they didn’t move away because they knew that behind them were the younger children of the tribe.

Hou Yan’s legs were entangled by four little wolves, and his flesh and fur were bitten off directly. He simply gave up on defense and let them shake their heads and bite him. Then he grabbed a wolf with both hands and twisted its throat directly.

Time passed extra slowly. It was unknown how long the battle had lasted. The snow in front of the collective cave was covered in blood, but the wolves’ attacks continued.

There were too many of them. Hou Yan felt despair. If they continued like this, they wouldn’t be able to hold on sooner or later.

“Awoo!”

A loud and murderous wolf howl sounded again.

The youngest Li Li had never seen such a bloody scene. She buried her head in her arms and said, “They are coming again. They are coming again.”

However, the scene that frightened her didn’t happen.

A light gray figure rushed straight towards the wolf king like a sharp blade.

Qi Bai dodged the wolf’s feint attack. Then when another wolf approached, he stabbed the bone knife fiercely into its fur. With a shrill cry, he gritted his teeth and stabbed the bone knife deeper. Blood instantly covered his head and face, making him look like he was immersed in a pool of blood.

Qi Bai finally had a moment to breathe. He thought with relief, ‘Lang Ze is finally back.’

The fight between the two giant wolves instantly knocked down a group of trees. Lang Ze let out a roar from his throat and accelerated to climb onto the back of the wolf king. His beast form was smaller than the wolf king, but he seemed to have tremendous momentum at this moment. His sharp teeth bit the wolf king’s neck.

Xi Zhou, Hu Qiao, and Hu Meng cooperated well behind Lang Ze and quickly drove away the little wolves that tried to come forward.

“It is Lang Ze!”

“Lang Ze!”

Perhaps everyone didn’t realize it, but the Black Mountain Tribe became excited the moment Lang Ze appeared.

Xiong Feng burst out with power. He raised his hand and slapped the gray wolf that wanted to climb onto his back with one palm. At the same time, he let out a deafening roar to the surroundings. The wolf fell heavily to the ground and never got up again.

Xiang Yu stepped on the little wolf who was trying to go back to support the wolf king. Quan Lie took the opportunity to bite off its throat.

The moonlight finally shone into the valley. The offense and defense of both sides were reversed in an instant. The little wolves desperately wanted to return to the wolf king. Behind them, all the beastmen who could still move were chasing them closely.

“Awoo!” The wolf king’s heart-wrenching cry echoed in the valley. His body struggled and twitched on the snow before finally coming down.

Lang Ze shook off the wolf king’s body and turned his head. His wolf eyes were like sharp blades that could pierce everything. The blood all over his body made him look like a ghost crawling out of hell.

Lang Ze stared at the hesitant wolves before suddenly rushing forward.

There seemed to be an invisible air current. All the little wolves were shocked and retreated violently.

Finally, another large wolf in the pack whimpered softly. It howled loudly before running away with all the little wolves, its tail between its legs.

Qi Bai seemed to lose all strength in an instant and collapsed on the blood-soared ground. The snow that should’ve been cold only made Qi Bai feel burning hot.

It was finally over.

This was the only thought in everyone’s mind at the moment.

In the empty space that seemed to be frozen, She Li’s voice rang out among the silent crowd.

“It is a lot of meat.”

The Black Mountain Tribe, who won the battle, not only got scars all over their bodies but also more prey.

Qi Bai didn’t have the strength to stand up, but his chest was shaking. QI Bai simply fell back on the snow, unable to suppress his laughter any longer.

This laughter seemed to be contagious. If someone passed by the Black Mountain Tribe at this time, they would find a group of wounded beastmen, grimacing in pain and laughing loudly for their victory.

Everything that happened before was like a nightmare. “Yes! So much meat!”

Lang Ze stood in a high place like a true king. He let out a long roar. Several beastmen in the crowd stood up immediately despite their fatigue.They quickly went to the hillside to gather together, as if following their beliefs.

Yang Luo looked at their backs as they left, and he knew that it was time.

But even at the last moment, he was the priest of the Black Mountain Tribe. He had to fulfill his duties as a priest.

Yang Luo supported himself and stood up with the bear bone stick. This was the weapon he had just used to fight. He walked into the collective cave in a trembling manner and took out all the herbs he had collected.

It was still Qi Bai and Diao Lan who helped him. They moved among the wounded.

Hou Yan dragged his injured leg and commanded the tribe members who were still able to move to gather all the dead wolves in the middle of the square and build a huge fire.

Many people’s caves had been ruined beyond recognition, but as long as the people of the tribe were still here, nothing would be a problem.

The sky was slightly gray when Lang Ze led the beastmen back to the tribe. The wolves had been driven away to a further place, and the area around the tribe had also been carefully patrolled.

Lang Ze, who had just transformed into human form, had no animal skin clothes on. Qi Bai discovered that his figure was no longer as thin as before. His broad shoulders seemed like they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by any difficulties in the world.

Behind him, there were several horned beastmen following. It wasn’t just Xi Zhou, Hu Qiao and Hu Meng, who had been traveling with him, but also Xiong Feng and Huan Peng who followed him out.

Yang Luo seemed to already know the arrangement of fate, and his figure looked much older in an instant. He walked out step by step.

Seeing Yang Luo coming out, Lang Ze just looked at him indifferently. Neither of them spoke, and time seemed to have stopped.

Even Hu Meng, who was usually thick-skinned, noticed something wrong. He looked at the completely opposing auras between Lang Ze and Yang Luo. Then he turned to look at Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao, who had resolute faces. Suddenly, he felt that the companion who had been with him for 20 days was a bit strange. He subconsciously took a step back.

Hou Yan closed his eyes silently. They had underestimated Lang Ze’s growth. After all, he wasn’t someone they could control.

Yang Luo’s voice was full of vicissitudes. “I knew that this day would come eventually. I didn’t expect it to come so soon.”

Lang Ze nodded, his face stern. He spoke to Yang Luo, but his eyes were on QI Bai. “I have waited for so long. Now it is time for you to fulfill your promise.”

This wasn’t the scene Yang Luo had expected. As the absolute power in the tribe, Lang Ze didn’t take his life or expel him from the tribe. Lang Ze’s attitude towards him could even be considered kind. Yang Luo’s face was blank for a moment. “What promise?”

Qi Bai walked out from behind Yang Luo and stood beside the two of them. His eyes were gentle and firm. “You promised me to build a tribe without slaves.”

Qi Bai’s words rang in everyone’s ears like thunder, and everyone looked at Yang Luo with surprise.

A tribe without slaves?

The priest actually wanted to establish a tribe without slaves?

No one had ever heard of such a tribe. Some poor tribes didn’t have the ability to support slaves, but in their hearts, they never confused slaves with their tribe members.

“There are no slaves.” Yang Ling asked in disbelief, “Are you going to drive us out of the tribe?”

Yang Ling looked at the prey they had just obtained last night, not understanding why the tribe would abandon them.

“Of course not,” Qi Bai said. “But from now on, there will be no more slaves and ordinary beastmen in the Black Mountain Tribe. Everyone in the tribe is equal.”

Yang Luo saw Qi Bai’s sharp eyes and finally understood what he meant by ‘promise.’ Qi Bai had already made plans as early as when he was making pottery.

All along, they had been waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity for him to clearly realize that the tribe could no longer do without these slaves, an opportunity for him to personally agree to abolish slavery in the tribe.

Yang Luo shifted his gaze to Qi Bai, who understood the question in his eyes. ‘Why? As an ordinary beastmen, why do you support these slaves?’

Perhaps it was because he saw Lang Ze pretending to be indifferent to the fact that he hadn’t received the blood sacrifice, or perhaps it was because he saw Lu Guo asking her child not to call her ‘Mother’ for the sake of the child’s future.

A seed had long been planted in Qi Bai’s heart, allowing Qi Bai’s immature heart to feel the hardness of the world.

If possible, he hoped he could do something, even if it was just a tiny role. He also hoped that his arrival could bring some changes to these lovely and kind people.

Of course, if he had to say it, he might also be afraid of the future. He thought more than once that if there wasn’t the Black Mountain Tribe, would he have ended up becoming a slave?

Hu Xue murmured, “Is this okay?”

Qi Bai replied, “Of course. Many slaves were once members of the tribe. They only became slaves after the tribe was defeated. They are no different from us except for the mark of a slave.”

Lang Ze’s eyes always followed Qi Bai as if looking at his hope.

Since he escaped from the tribe, he never thought about joining any tribe. The Silver Moon Tribe had fallen long ago, and he no longer had a home.

He just wanted to be a lone traveler and look for his people in the boundless Beastman Continent. This was the only mission he would never abandon.

He didn’t care about the Black Mountain Tribe, Yang Luo’s attitude, or other people’s reactions. This was just a place where he was staying temporarily, and he could leave at any time.

However, everything changed due to Qi Bai. He watched Qi Bai’s contribution to the tribe, his vision of life, and the clear eyes looking at him…

Lang Ze started to crave the warmth around Qi Bai. He wanted to stay with Qi Bai all the time, and his hope was rekindled.

The sun and the moon alternated every day. Could his Silver Moon Tribe be rebuilt?

Silence spread again.

To Qi Bai’s surprise, Hu Huo was the first to speak. ‘I agree to follow the changes made by Priest Yang Luo.”

The others looked at him.

Hu Huo hammered his right leg. He looked at the not-so-bright sky in the distance, and said lightly, “Everyone in the tribe despised me when my leg was broken. Even my father and mother let me fend for myself. I gradually gave up on myself in the day-to-day struggle. No one reminded me to get food until I almost starved one day.”

At this point, Hu Huo’s blood-stained face revealed a faint smile. “It was him, a slave, who saved me and accompanied me in the days that followed, allowing me to gradually accept my disability.”

“It is a pity that we got lost during the wrath of the Beast God. If we had established a tribe without slaves, would there be such tribes in other places? Would he also find such a tribe?”  Hu Huo’s voice was a bit hoarse. “I think Bao Bai is right. He is no different from us.”

No one answered Hu Huo’s question.

Tu Ya’s eyes quietly turned red. She thought about how she was deceived and missed the time to escape. In the end, no one found her or came to look for her. Even if those people weren’t slaves, they were no longer her people. “That’s right. I am willing to build a tribe without slaves.”

Shu Lin quietly clenched his fists and looked at Xiong Feng, who was separated from him by the crowd. “Yes, there must be such a tribe. Perhaps our Black Mountain Tribe is the first such tribe.”

Seeing the other people’s wavering eyes, Qi Bai softly wove a future for everyone. “I once heard a wise man in the tribe say that there was a city on a high mountain. In that city, the beastmen live in beautiful houses and use exquisite utensils. Everyone can eat enough. There is no way, and there are naturally no slaves. That is the ‘City of Hope’ that all beastmen yearn for.”

In the midst of the drizzle and the light snow and above the corpses and blood, Qi Bai’s voice seemed to be magic that made everyone yearn for the ‘City of Hope.’

Niu Xi murmured, “Is there really such a city? It seems to be even better than the Beast God City in the center of the continent.”

The winter sun finally penetrated the clouds, emitting a different warmth from usual.

Qi Bai said, “Yes, there will be one. As long as we all come together, we can definitely build a tribe like that.”

Yes.

Lang Ze responded silently in his heart. ‘I will definitely achieve what you want.’

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