"Xiangshan, do you know what you're saying? The Mu tribe has helped us so much, and we can't repay them, so we'll just leave it at that."
Lu Shuang took a deep breath, "You actually have the nerve to imitate their amazing fire-making abilities?"
The people of the Water Tribe lowered their heads and dared not utter a sound; they understood what the priest was saying.
However, only a priest would so clearly refuse the ability to create fire out of thin air.
Why blame them?
Shen Nong had long noticed that the little priest of the Water Tribe was very cautious about accepting anything from the Wood Tribe and dared not accept too much.
He smiled gently, soothing Lu Shuang's emotions, and said softly, "I didn't teach you this for nothing. Live well and do everything you can to get through the winter. When spring comes, I want the Water Tribe to come and work for the Wood Tribe, okay?"
Lu Shuang's eyes instantly reddened. After the old priest left, no one had ever spoken to him so gently.
The burden of the Water Tribe had always been on his shoulders, and no one had ever helped him like this before.
Suddenly, Lu Shuang missed the old priest.
“The Mu tribe goes to the river to catch fish every three days. Make sure you know the time and remember to go.” Shen Nong took out a leather handkerchief and wiped away Lu Shuang’s tears. “Don’t cry.”
As the soft animal hide gently brushed against her cheek, Lu Shuang felt a lump in her throat and could no longer hold back.
He threw himself into Shen Nong's arms and began to wail, calling out the priest's name repeatedly with deep longing.
Looking at the dirty little head pressed against her chest, Shen Nong raised her hand, wanting to push it away, when she suddenly remembered her younger self.
I was too young then, and too playful. I hid in the storage room of the research team's spaceship, wanting to see the outside world.
As a result, they encountered space pirates along the way and were kidnapped, enduring immense fear and psychological pressure.
He was later successfully rescued and saw his master, who had rushed over, covered in dust.
He rushed over and hugged his master, covered in dirt. He hadn't cried until now, but he was sobbing uncontrollably.
He still remembers how his master's white coat was stained black by him.
Shen Nong mimicked her master's actions, placing her hand on Lu Shuang's head and saying the same words as her master, "Keep your voice down, lots of people are watching."
Perhaps thinking that the people of the Water Tribe were still watching, Lu Shuang buried her face even more deeply upon hearing this.
Shen Nong was really afraid that the child wouldn't be able to breathe.
...
On the way back, Lu Shuang clutched a fur handkerchief tightly in her hand, wiping away her tears from time to time.
Although the people of the Water Tribe dared not utter a word about it, they were genuinely astonished.
Their priests even cried.
They had never seen the priest cry except on the day the old priest left.
Lu Shuang sniffed; the cold wind stung the tip of her nose.
Before they left, the priests of the Wood Tribe not only gave them several earthenware pots and bowls, but also fire-starting tools and several large animal hides for bedding.
Lu Shuang folded the animal skin handkerchief that Shen Nong had given her and held it tightly in her palm.
Once winter is over, he will definitely lead the Water Tribe to properly repay the Wood Tribe priest.
——
Winter is long, but it comes to an end before we know it.
The snowstorm has stopped, and the temperature is rising.
In a stone house in a distant beast city, an oil lamp was burning, and on a wooden table sat an irregularly shaped green crystal about the size of a palm.
A faint, dim light shone on the face of the crystal's owner. He looked at the pattern displayed on the crystal and suddenly stood up from the stool.
He muttered to himself, "The divine child isn't in the Water Tribe, he's in the Swamp Tribe. This is a Swamp, not Water..."
"Wrong, wrong, all wrong..."
...
Cannibals.
After counting the number of people, Wu Shan reported to Priest Wu Ming, "Priest, fifteen people in the tribe froze to death this time."
"so much?"
In the past, the number never exceeded five per year.
Although the attacks on the Wood Tribe before winter destroyed many thatched huts and caves, the remaining caves still provided shelter from the wind and snow for a few more people to squeeze into.
Moreover, the Wood Tribe did not steal the animal hides they had stored for the winter.
The only difference between this year and previous years is that so many people froze to death this time, and this year there was no divine blood sent by the Ze tribe.
After finishing the last bite of meat, Wuming spat out his finger bone and said, "The weather is getting warmer; it's time to go visit the Ze tribe."
Cannibals always begin hunting in the last few days of winter, when each tribe is at its weakest, and they always return with a full load from their hunts at this time.
They could even capture young orc warriors to serve as priests in raising their bloodline suppression levels.
Although these orc warriors were not of high rank, they were better than the old man and the unawakened child.
The Ze tribe never expected that the cannibals would come to their tribe for their pre-spring hunt.
Black patterns spread across Wuming's body, and the snake was pinned under his foot, unable to move.
The old priest of the Ze tribe pointed a trembling finger at Wuming, "Priest Wuming, didn't my Ze tribe and your cannibal tribe have an agreement that you wouldn't come to the Ze tribe for the hunt before spring?"
The snake under his feet tried to struggle, but Wuming pressed down harder, stomping even more heavily. He sneered, "There was an agreement, that's true, but didn't you miss the trade fair before winter?"
The old priest lowered his head in distress. The agreement between the Ze tribe and the cannibals was entirely based on divine blood.
The Ze tribe originally kept the divine blood very well hidden, and they did not want other tribes to know that they possessed divine blood that could bring people back to life.
The power of this divine blood is too great; exposing it would do them no good.
Therefore, the Ze tribe unanimously decided to carefully hide their activities and develop slowly.
However, no one expected that the cannibals would choose the Ze tribe for their pre-spring hunt.
Seeing that the tribe's powerful orc warriors were about to be captured as orcs, the old priest had no choice but to step forward and use divine blood to negotiate with them.
He concealed the source of the divine blood, saying it was a secret blood pool bestowed by the Beast God.
He also stated that only he knew the location of the Blood Pool and how to open it.
After testing the divine blood, Wuming agreed to the request made by the Ze tribe.
If the orcs of the Ze tribe are released, they will not target the Ze tribe during the pre-spring hunt.
To avoid arousing suspicion from other tribes, the Ze tribe did not demand that the cannibals spare the Ze tribe during other hunting times as well.
They simply proposed exchanging the blood of a god for the blood of a cannibalistic priest.
The blood of cannibalistic priests is not exchanged by any tribe other than the Salt Tribe.
Moreover, other tribes would offer human flesh at the trade fair in order to prevent the cannibals from capturing their orc warriors.
Out of respect for the divine blood, even when the cannibals came to hunt the Ze tribe, they only captured the elderly.
The young orc warriors of the Ze tribe will not move.
The old priest knew that all of this was based on the divine blood of the Ze tribe.
The cannibals' pre-spring hunt at the Ze tribe is meant to tell them that with divine blood, everything is fine; without divine blood, there's nothing to say.
But where can he find divine blood?
If he knew where the divine blood was, he would have sent enough to the cannibals to ensure their safety.
But there's no use hiding it now, the cannibals won't let them go anyway.
Moreover, it's unlikely that the Ze tribe alone will be able to find the divine blood.
If we could get the cannibals to help us search, there might still be hope.
The old priest, in a fit of desperation, bluntly stated, "The divine blood is lost."
Lost?
Wuming's face clearly said, "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Did the Blood Pool Long Legs run away on its own?"
The old priest glanced at Wuming. To be honest, if he didn't know that the cannibals had always thought that the Divine Blood was a pool of blood, he would have thought that the cannibals had deliberately kidnapped the Divine Blood that time.
There's no point in hiding it now. "Divine Blood is from a person, not a pool of blood. I was lying to you before."
Wuming stomped his foot hard, causing the snake to cry out in pain. He said fiercely, "Old man, if you don't tell the truth, I'll turn the Ze tribe upside down. I don't believe I can't find that blood pool."
What was thought to be a very powerful threat turned out to be completely ignored by the Ze tribe priest.
Wuming watched as the old man from the Ze tribe turned to the side, his meaning all too clear: "You turn over."
Now that things have come to this, Wuming has no choice but to believe that the divine blood of the Ze tribe is indeed a person, and that he has been lost.
Wuming was somewhat confused. This divine blood was perfectly fine; even if it were a person, it couldn't just be thrown away like that.
He asked, "How did you lose it?"
The old priest glanced at Wuming but said nothing.
Wuming felt there was something strange about the old man's gaze, so he pressed him for an answer: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
The old priest moved his lips but did not speak.
He didn't know how to say it so that the demon wouldn't go berserk.
"How did it get lost! It's all your cannibalistic tribe's doing!"
An angry sound came from below. Wuming stopped questioning the old priest and changed the subject, "What does this have to do with my cannibalistic tribe?"
Snake snorted, "It doesn't matter? The two escapes of the divine blood were entirely thanks to the cannibals!"
Wuming was completely confused and grabbed Sheyi's messy hair, "Explain yourself clearly."
Despite the excruciating pain in his scalp, Snake recounted the two instances of the divine blood being lost.
The further he talked, the looser the hand that was gripping his hair became.
After finishing his story, the snake collapsed to the ground.