LSLFBW: Chapter 78

There were outsiders in the tribe, so today’s training ended early, and the children were taken back to the cave by Zhu Zhu. At this time, there were only a few tribe members in the square sorting out the dried bamboo shoots on the wooden racks.

A few people walked up the stone steps and saw from a distance that the people of the Xishui Tribe were sitting in a long row in front of the cliff. They held the supplies they brought tightly in their hands, but their eyes subconsciously followed the movements of the figures in front of the stone platform.

The reason was simple. There was a roaring fire on the stone platform outside the cave. Hu Xue and She Li were cutting bamboo shoots and wild boar meat.

The Xishui Tribe didn’t have an easy winter. These people had traveled for such a long time that they hadn’t eaten proper food for many days.

Even though Hu Xue and She Li had told them that the food being prepared was to entertain them for dinner, they didn’t dare to step forward and just gulped silently.

Seeing Yang Luo and Hou Yan coming, everyone stepped back.

Ma Ling, who was guarding outside the cave, stepped forward, shook his head, and said to the others, “It is still the same after we enter the cave. He will go crazy the moment we get close to him.”

Qi Bai looked inside through the bamboo door and saw the old horned beastman named Ma Li curled up in a corner. Ma Tian was standing beside him.

After hearing the sound outside the cave, he met Qi Bai’s eyes through the gap between the arms that were holding his body.

Qi Bai felt something was wrong.

“Ahhhhh!”

Ma Li’s eyes widened in horror and he waved his hands desperately in the air as if trying to break free from something’s control.

A hoarse sound came out of his throat.

This time, everyone finally heard clearly what he said.

“The Blood Bone Warriors, they are the Blood Bone Warriors. They will kill us, kill us, and use our bones to fill the city walls…”

Ma Li’s words made everyone present change their expressions.

What… What did this mean?

Several people from the Xishui Tribe looked up instantly. They stared at the people of the Black Mountain Tribe in disbelief, and their legs subconsciously became weak.

Qi Bai turned to look at Lang Ze, but saw frost in his eyes.

Yang Luo looked stern and scolded, “Nonsense!”

But these words seemed to have exhausted Ma Li’s last bit of strength. His eyes started to roll up, revealing the cloudy whites of his eyes. His hands twitched strangely, and he was about to pass out.

Yang Luo shouted, “Hold him down!”

Before Yang Luo finished his words, Lang Ze had already stepped to Ma Li’s side and subdued him with a few moves.

Yang Luo took off the animal skin bag that had been hanging on the bear bone staff as quickly as possible. He pried open Ma Li’s jaw and poured water directly into his mouth.

Ma Li’s lips were dry, and he couldn’t swallow the powder at all. Fortunately, Qi Bai quickly picked up the bamboo tube next to him and poured the water directly into his mouth.

Ma Li’s twitching gradually stopped and he actually became quiet.

However, forced silence wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

This calm was only temporary. After a while, Ma Li started to raise his head. He took in more air and exhaled less, looking even worse than before. It seemed like he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer.

Lang Ze suddenly looked at Yang Luo with a hint of anxiety in his eyes.

Yang Luo staggered back. He didn’t know how to save this person. He had already done everything he could.

It happened just when Yang Luo thought Ma Li was going to die here today.

Diao Lan, who had been following everyone, suddenly stepped forward quickly. She raised her hand and punched Ma Li’s chest twice. As she hit him, she also loudly recited in a language that no one could understand.

It could be seen that Diao Lan used all his strength in these two punches. Her hands and body were shaking continuously.

“Pfft.”

The medicine powder he had just drunk was spit out. Ma Li turned his head to the side and vomited continuously.

There wasn’t much left in his stomach. He vomited water at first and then black blood clots.

A faint black gas floated out of Ma Li’s mouth, forming the shape of a skull in the air before disappearing.

Qi Bai blinked. Seeing that no one else reacted, he almost thought it was an illusion.

In any case, Diao Lan’s actions worked.

Ma Li’s eyes gradually became clear. He looked around in a trance and asked, “Chief?”

Ma Li reached out as if he had found his backbone. He grabbed Ma Sheng’s ankle, crying and shouting. “Chief, save me!”

Seeing that he had regained consciousness, Lang Ze didn’t bother to talk nonsense with them. He simply picked up Ma Li and strode to the front of the wall.

Lang Ze’s speed was very fast despite having a person in his hand. Everyone had to exert their strength to barely keep up with him.

Lang Ze didn’t reduce the strength in his hands. He pointed Ma Li’s face towards the wall and said solemnly, “Speak clearly.”

Hu Qiao was one of the first to catch up. He had long been dissatisfied with the man’s nonsense, so he couldn’t help shouting, “That’s right! What do you mean by using bones to build the city wall? Our city wall is clearly… Ouch!”

Hu Qiao’s mouth was covered before he could finish the words. Xi Zhou frowned and shook his head. Why didn’t he show any understanding at this time? Now wasn’t the time to mess around here.

Ma Li touched the smooth wall in front of him and murmured, “Smooth, smooth…”

Ma Sheng was worried that Ma Li would really annoy the Black Mountain Tribe if he continued to act like this. Without even catching his breath, he rushed forward and said, “Li, look carefully. We are now in the Black Mountain Tribe to exchange salt. There is nothing here.”

Ma Sheng grabbed his shoulders and asked, “What on earth did you see?”

“I… at that time, I went to the south to look for… the City of the Beast God…”

Ma Li’s voice was intermittent as if he didn’t believe that he could say those words smoothly.

Yang Luo frowned. “Do you know where the City of the Beast God is?”

Ma Li’s body fell down weakly. He would’ve collapsed on the ground if Lang Ze hadn’t grabbed him.

“I don’t know. I met a traveling group while I was exchanging salt. There was an old man in the group who said that the City of the Beast God was in the south of the continent. I believed him, separated from the salt-exchanging group, and followed them to the south.”

Ma Li stared into the distance. “We kept searching in the south direction. After walking for a long time, we finally saw a city wall.”

“No, it should be a city under construction. There were uneven patterns on the city wall like blooming black petals.”

We looked at it from afar and thought it must be the City of the Beast God.”

Ma Li’s voice was choked with sobs. “But we were all wrong. Once we got closer, we saw that bloody beastmen were carrying huge stones to the city wall on their backs. If they slowed down, they would be beaten by the warriors wearing blood and bones.”

“A horned beastmen whose beast form was a bear was beaten to death and turned into human form.”

Ma Li’s pupils trembled violently. “The two Blood Bone Warriors actually tore off his flesh and blood, lifted up his bones, and threw them on the stone wall that was being built.”

“We discovered that these uneven ‘petals’ were actually all the bones of the beastmen…”

“But we were too close…”

Ma Li’s speech slowed down. Even in his recollections, he instinctively wanted to stop himself from approaching there.

“The Blood Bone Warriors discovered us.”

Ma Li’s words made everyone feel a chill down their spine.

Qi Bai asked with some difficulty, “Did you escape?”

Ma Li’s voice seemed to have lost its vitality. “The Blood Bone Warriors were all first level warriors. We were captured and took over the work of those dead beastmen to build the City of Ten Thousand Bones.”

Qi Bai recalled the black gas he had just seen and asked. “They just captured you but didn’t leave any slave marks on you? Did they make you eat anything strange?”

Ma Li had never thought about this question. He shook his head blankly. “There is no slave mark…”

“However, a few days after we entered there, a beastman called ‘Great Witch’ by the Blood Bone Warriors made each of us drink a bowl of black water.”

Qi Bai wondered, “You didn’t drink it?”

“I drank it…” Ma Li covered his head and tried to recall it. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “I drank it, but I didn’t finish it.”

“Yes, that’s right. I only took one sip of the black water that night and gave the rest to Niu Bu.” Ma Li finally found the memories that had never been recalled by him. “Niu Bu, who was in the same team with me, suddenly had a fever that day. We usually didn’t receive any extra water, so I secretly shared the black water with him.”

Ma Li’s emotions broke down again. “What is wrong with that water?”

There must be something wrong with the water. Perhaps it was his kindness that saved his life.

Qi Bai shook his head and didn’t continue the topic. “Then how did you return to the Xishui Tribe?”

“The city wall they built was very high, very very high. It was as if it would go directly into the clouds,” Ma Li said weakly while pointing to the sky.

“Soon, there were no more usable stones around and we were escorted by the Blood Bone Warriors to a farther stone mountain to dig for stones. I accidentally fell off a cliff.”

“I thought I was going to die. I don’t know how much time passed, but I woke up alone in the water.”

“Almost all my companions were built into the wall. I was afraid that they would find me, and I would be stripped of my flesh and blood.”

“I desperately ran towards the north, not daring to look back. I never dared to go places where beastmen gathered. I don’t know how long I wandered before I finally found Xishui and returned to the Xishui Tribe.”

It felt like a huge rock was pressing down on everyone’s heart, making it hard to breathe.

Every tribe on the Beastman Continent was different. Even the ferocious tribes that fed on beastmen might not be as terrifying as the City of Ten Thousand Bones that Ma Li escaped from.

Ma Sheng was no less frightened than the people of the Black Mountain Tribe.

He was terrified after hearing about that tribe’s methods and thinking that those people might follow Ma Li’s trial to the Xishui Tribe. At the same time, he felt a bit resentful towards Ma Li.

His fingers trembled slightly as he pointed at Ma Li. “You… why didn’t you ever tell me this?”

Ma Li collapsed. “I don’t know. I couldn’t say it. I was very scared, but I couldn’t say anything. It wasn’t until I saw this wall today and the priest saved me…”

Ma Li turned to Yang Luo and said excitedly, “Master Priest! You saved me! Master Priest!”

Not only did Yang Luo not let him get close, but he took a few steps back.

Lang Ze let go of his hand, and Ma Li’s body fell to the ground like mud.

Lang Ze’s voice was calm. “How long ago was this?”

Ma Li shook his head. At this time, Ma Tian next to him said, “Eight winters.”

Ma Tian saw everyone look at him and explained, “My second child was born the year Ma LI returned to the tribe. He has been born for eight winters now.”

After Ma Tian’s reminder, the other members of the Xishui Tribe also gathered together. Finally, an older beastman stood up and said, “Ma Li left the tribe in autumn ten years ago and returned to the tribe in the winter eight years ago.”

In retrospect, there was indeed something very wrong with Ma Li at that time. However, it was already winter, and everyone stayed in their own tents. Ma Li’s parents had died, and his siblings were separated from him, so no one noticed his abnormality.

In the spring of the following year, Ma Li joined the hunting team again. The tribe members hadn’t seen him for two years and didn’t pay much attention to his loneliness and eccentricity.

Qi Bai suddenly thought of something and asked with a frown, “Ten years ago, you were at least 70 years old. How could you still go on adventures with the traveling team?”

His words made the atmosphere freeze for a moment.

The members of the Black Mountain Tribe immediately became alert. “Are you lying?”

“No no no, I’m not lying.” The older beastman waved his hands desperately.

But they suddenly realized that Ma Li looked old beyond his age. “He… He is even younger than Ma Tian!”

After seeing that Qi Bai and Lang Ze had asked almost all the questions and that the people of the Xishui Tribe were frightened, Yang Luo snorted coldly at the right time. “That isn’t the City of the Beast God.”

“The Black Mountain Tribe is the people of the Beast God, and the construction of our wall follows the guidance of the Beast God. I don’t want to hear you say such things again, or the Black Mountain Tribe will no longer welcome you.”

Ma Sheng’s forehead was instantly soaked in sweat. Without the Xiaoniu Tribe, they couldn’t lose the Black Mountain Tribe too. He hurriedly stepped forward and said, “These are all misunderstandings. Ma Li absolutely didn’t mean to offend the Black Mountain Tribe. We, the Xishui Tribe, will always be friends with the Black Mountain Tribe.

After a night of tossing and turning, everyone felt mentally exhausted.

There were a total of 15 people from the Xishui Tribe this time. Ma Ling’s cave alone couldn’t accommodate them all, so when they came to the wall, Ma Shu and Tu Ya had already cleaned up Ma Shu’s cave.

The people of the Xishui Tribe settled down in two caves, Ma Shu and Ma Ling’s caves.

Qi Bai and Lang Ze sat at the stone table under the bamboo pavilion.

Qi Bai seemed to be talking to himself. “Will someone really use the corpses of beastmen to build a city wall?”

“Yes,” Lang Ze answered decisively.

Qi Bai stared into Lang Ze’s eyes.

Even though Lang Ze always appeared calm, Qi Bai could sense that something was wrong with Lang Ze.

It was just that there was a tacit understanding between the two of them. As long as one of them didn’t mention it actively, the other person would just accompany them silently.

At this time, there were only the two of them in the bamboo pavilion. Facing Qi Bai’s clear eyes that showed complete trust, Lang Ze finally stopped suppressing himself.

His eyes were red. “There is a tribe called Evil Bones on the grassland. They are the ghosts of the grassland. Wherever they set foot, beastmen will be killed and their bones taken away. They believe that bone tools made of beastmen bones are the most powerful bone tools in the world.”

He would never forget the blood and bones that night when the Silver Moon Tribe was destroyed.

“I will definitely find the City of Ten Thousand Bones.”

There were likely to be the bones of his father and his male mother there.

Lang Ze’s cheeks were held by a pair of hands.

Soft fingertips gently wiped his lips, and he realized that he had bitten his lip.

Qi Bai stared at him firmly. “We will definitely find that city.”

“Let them pay the price.”