Chapter 436: The Ancestor Comes to Resolve the Tribe's Conflict

"You..."

A Lei was left speechless by Ying's words. Indeed, how could he have forgotten that this place had been given to Ying by Mother!

This realization made him feel utterly desperate; now he had nowhere to go.

"No one dare drive us away, or we'll die here and won't let you take the treasure."

A Lei, after speaking, was ready to start fighting; even if he couldn't beat Ying, he would still fight to the death.

The few tribe members behind him dared not act rashly, kneeling and pleading nonstop, "Ying, please don't drive us away. We have nowhere to go; the snow outside is so deep we would freeze to death."

These tribe members were all gaunt as sticks, looking terribly pitiful; they only wanted to live in their own Cave, undisturbed, quietly spending their long, hard lives.

Seeing them all pleading, Na Yao felt a pang of remorse and hurried up, "Ying, they have a point. This place has been cleared; where will they live? They are also your tribe members; you can't just drive them out to freeze to death."

"Ying, you disregard family ties; then don't blame me—I will kill you..."

A Lei suddenly brandished a stone axe and swung at Ying; in an instant, Ying thrust out his hand, blocking the attack, then squeezed hard.

Clack! A crisp sound of a bone breaking rang out.

"Ah"

A howl of agony sounded as Ying tossed A Lei aside. A Lei rolled on the ground, veins bulging on his head, looking as if he might eat him.

"You, you dare strike me; I am your..."

"What am I? Everything here is mine. I do as I please; you brought this on yourself. Since you won't let me go, then I will..."

"Stop"

Suddenly, an old man's voice came from outside; everyone turned and saw the Ancestor, whom Mother and the others had sent.

"Ying, are you all right?"

Seeing them here, Mother finally breathed a sigh of relief, but why was there a fight? "Big brother, what's wrong?"

Mother saw her big brother lying on the ground and tried to pull him up, but A Lei, furious, shouted, "Get out of my way. Mother, you're just in time. Look at what your grandson is doing—he's trying to snatch everything here and even wants to kill me."

"Ancestor, help! Help!"

The few tribe members also cried for help; the Ancestor looked at the crowd, and seeing they were all fine, finally breathed a sigh of relief, glad nothing had happened.

"What's going on? We're all from the same Tribe; how did it come to this?"

A Lei immediately stood up, glaring angrily at the Ancestor, "Mother, why are you so ruthless? You gave the bone string to Ying; he comes here to seize our treasure and wants to kill us all."

A Lei's accusation left Nan Qinghuan speechless; they never said they would kill them!

"Ancestor, that's not how it is,"

The Ancestor, without asking for reasons, said, "Stop talking. A Lei, you useless thing, I have already given the bone string to Ying, so he is the master here. Whatever he says is law. If you dare defy him, his killing you is your own fault."

"Mother, why are you so biased?"

Nan Qinghuan stared at him in astonishment—could an Ancient Person even speak of bias? The Ancestor gave A Lei a glance, "If you hadn't taken the old thing's treasure out to trade for food, I wouldn't be like this. This Cave was originally reserved for you, but look—there's nothing left now. I'd rather give it to Ying; he can help me preserve it. Ying, this Cave is yours; everything here belongs to you."

"Mother"

"You fool, get out!"

Even the Ancient People began hurling 'fool' insults; this must have been taught to Ying, Nan Qinghuan knew well that Ying liked calling people fools.

"Mother"

"Enough, Ying. Those few are good kids; see if you want to give them..."

"Ancestor, rest assured, I will settle them. It's just that this Cave is no longer inhabited; Qinghuan discovered treasure here, and we plan to excavate the Cave."

"What, excavate the Cave? What treasure?"

The Ancestor knew nothing; Nan Qinghuan, realizing they didn't understand, grabbed her hand, "Ancestor, look—we've found Coal. The entire Cave is filled with Coal. With this, we can keep warm and even cook without firewood. See, it's very convenient."

"Huh, this stone can burn?"

"Elder, of course it can burn, and look, it's glowing red—very hot, right?"

Li Xiang also stepped forward to persuade the Ancestor to agree to excavate the Cave. He knew the primitive people were still very traditional; a Cave like this had been painstakingly carved with people's blood, and now to dig it out would be hard to let go of.

However, this Cave is essentially a massive coal deposit; if all this Coal could be utilized, it would be a remarkable achievement.

Moreover, it would bring greater convenience to the Tribe.

Sure enough, when they saw the black stones actually burn red and hot, the Ancestor and Mother were stunned, the mother and daughter exchanged a surprised glance.

Mother tugged at her hair, knowing only firewood and leaves could burn—could this stone also? She grew up in this Cave as a child, yet never realized the stone could burn. "Qinghuan, what on earth is happening? Aren't these stones everywhere? How can they all burn?"

"They're everywhere, Mother. What do you mean? I only saw this much Coal in the Cave; are you implying there's more elsewhere?"

Mother's words surprised Nan Qinghuan; everyone turned to look at Mother, and Ying, seeing the Coal was indeed treasure, hurried forward, "Mother, besides this Cave, where else have you seen these black stones?"

They still habitually called the stones 'black and glossy'; the Ancient People were unfamiliar with Coal.

The Ancestor chuckled, "Just these stones. What treasure? We have the same stones on the Back Mountain too. Remember when Mother, as a child, went berry‑picking and dropped something in the Back Mountain grass? I recall that patch was full of black stones."

"Ah, I remember now. Mother is right; there are also black stones there."

Their words thrilled Nan Qinghuan and Li Xiang. If that too is Coal, this place is truly a blessed land; endless resources would be wonderful. They could start a coal‑based life early. In an era of scarcity, where gathering firewood was a skill, this was an extraordinary discovery!

Nan Qinghuan hurriedly looked at Ying, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go check there. If it's really Coal, we won't excavate the Cave. Ying, what do you think?"

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