Chapter 52: A Yue, You Brought This on Yourself

A Yue suddenly fell to her knees, weeping and begging, looking utterly pitiful. She was covered in wounds from the snake bites just now, and now she was about to have a hand chopped off—she could not accept it.

"Bring her over."

"No!"

The tribespeople could not say much. As a Shamaness, A Yue's actions these past days had indeed left everyone very dissatisfied. On the other hand, Om, whom they had not thought highly of, had genuinely helped them get things done, and had even ventured into the Forest to find food for the little ones.

"A Yue, you brought this on yourself."

A Yue kept begging. She was held down by two grown men, one hand gripped, waiting at any moment for Ying's stone axe to fall. Seeing that pleading was useless, she turned to look at Nan Qinghuan. "Om, Om, I was wrong. Tell Ying to stop. I'll never go against you again. I'm begging you."

"Beg me?"

Nan Qinghuan walked to Ying's side. Seeing A Yue's pitiful, pleading appearance, she suddenly felt a thrill of vengeance spreading through her heart. She was no saintly goddess. This A Yue had tried to harm her time and again—chopping off one hand was already merciful enough.

"Yes, I'm begging you, I'm begging you."

A Yue still thought Nan Qinghuan might spare her. But to her surprise, Nan Qinghuan gave a cold laugh. "In my homeland, those who intend to harm others go to prison. A nation has its laws, a tribe has its Tribe Rules. Even as Om, I cannot overturn the rules of the tribe. Ying, strike hard—make it quick so she suffers less."

After saying this, Nan Qinghuan turned and left. As she walked away, she heard A Yue's scream, and the sound of bones breaking.

"Ahhh—"

On the stone slab, one of A Yue's hands was chopped off alive by Ying.

Blood instantly flowed across the ground, splashing some onto Ying's face as well.

A Yue had fainted from the pain. Her severed hand lay quietly beside her.

Seeing this, the tribespeople did not dare even breathe. Ying held the stone axe expressionlessly, then coldly commanded the tribespeople, "This is what happens to anyone who dares defy the Tribe Rules. A Yue, as a member of my Ying Tribe, failed to stand united against outsiders and instead stirred up trouble within the tribe. She deserves this punishment."

Seeing A Yue faint, there were still people in the tribe who believed in her. "Ying, no matter what A Yue did wrong, she is still the Shamaness. She is the Shamaness appointed by heaven. You doing this…"

"The Heavenly God does not help evildoers harm people. Dashan, go burn A Yue's cave. From today on, A Yue is no longer the Shamaness of my Tribe. She is an ordinary tribesperson, living together with all of you in the Cave."

Hearing this, Axi stepped forward and shook her head. "A Yue, you brought this all on yourself. Why couldn't you just get along with Sister Qinghuan?"

Suddenly, a clap of thunder rolled from the horizon. The tribespeople were still somewhat afraid—Ying had punished the Shamaness. Could it be that the Heavenly God was angry?

"Ying, the Heavenly God is angry."

Ying lifted his head to look at the sky and gave a scoffing laugh. "Angry? When I, Ying, get angry, it's fierce too. Everyone, go back."

A perilous night finally passed. When the tribespeople returned to the Cave, lightning flashed and thunder crashed outside, and rain poured down madly like water from a gourd.

In the middle of the night, when Ying brought Nan Qinghuan back, she found that she was barely wet, while Ying was soaked through. She was instantly moved—this man who would give everything for her.

"Ying, go dry yourself by the fire."

She hurriedly pushed Ying toward the fire pit. The wild wolf Mos was very happy to see his master return, running over to affectionately rub against his leg. In the firelight, Ying's face was covered with rain.

Nan Qinghuan led him to sit by the Bonfire, then took out a cloth from her bag to wipe his face. But Ying suddenly grabbed her small hand and gently pulled her into his arms.

"Ah…"

"Huaner, don't move. Let me hold you like this for a while."

Nan Qinghuan indeed stopped moving. Why was this man so clingy? She felt a bit uncomfortable. "You're soaked. Dry yourself first."

"Crack…"

The sounds of lightning and thunder kept coming from outside, echoing endlessly within the Cave. It had to be said that even someone like Nan Qinghuan, who was accustomed to the wilderness, deeply loathed this kind of weather—let alone the tribespeople who understood no science. They would surely believe that tonight's lightning and thunder were because Ying had chopped off A Yue's hand, and the Heavenly God was sending down punishment.

Sure enough, Dashan's anxious voice came from outside.

"Ying, something's wrong."

Outside, Dashan came running through the heavy rain. Seeing Ying still holding Nan Qinghuan, he felt a bit awkward. "Ying, something has happened."

Hearing that something had happened, Nan Qinghuan grew anxious and tried to get down from Ying's arms, but Ying just held her, domineering and refusing to let her down.

Even sitting up, he was very tall, giving off an imposing, domineering presence. Unhurriedly, he looked at Dashan. "What happened?"

"Ying, tonight you chopped off A Yue's hand. A Yue's mother's clan has come to demand an explanation from you, saying you were wrong to chop off A Yue's hand, that you've angered the Heavenly God, and the Heavenly God is punishing the Ying Tribe with a great flood to drown the Tribe."

Hearing these words, Ying remained unhurried. He gave a cold laugh and reached out to play with Nan Qinghuan's long hair, those silken strands impossible for him to let go of.

"Who said these words?" "I said them."

As soon as these words were spoken, several people arrived outside the Cave. Mos, seeing this, wanted to stop them, but when he saw the newcomers, he backed away in fright, not daring to step forward.

Nan Qinghuan immediately stood up as well. She wanted to see who this speaker was that could make even the wild wolf afraid. But to her surprise, in the light of the Bonfire, she saw… an old woman with a face full of wrinkles. In her hand she held a skull Scepter, wearing Beast Skin on her upper body and a Beast Skin skirt on her lower body. Her eyes were very large, and she looked somewhat like… like the old witch from the fairy-tale world she had seen before.

That's right—this was exactly that exaggerated appearance.

Seeing the newcomer, Dashan immediately bowed, nearly throwing himself to the ground. "Old Ancestor, why have you come?"

The old woman walked step by step toward Ying. Ying unhurriedly stood up and faced the old witch. The old witch's gaze had been fixed on Nan Qinghuan beside Ying the whole time, her eyes revealing a vicious glare.

Ying stood beside the old witch. "Old Ancestor, how did you get here?"

The old woman gave a cold snort. "How did I get here? Look at the chaos outside. Are you going to destroy the people of the Tribe for an outsider female?"

Nan Qinghuan did not like hearing this. Who was this old witch, and what right did she have to meddle in the Ying Tribe's affairs? "I say, old woman, at your age you should be enjoying your comfort in the Cave. What nonsense are you spouting here? What's wrong outside?"

"You female, you dare speak to me like that? You have no place to speak here."

Ying paused, then turned to look at Nan Qinghuan. "Qinghuan, step back."

Nan Qinghuan had no intention of hiding behind Ying. She naturally knew that this old witch might hold a rather high status in the tribe; otherwise, Ying would not be so respectful toward her.

"I won't step back. I've done nothing wrong. Old witch, the thunder and rain outside are natural laws. Don't drag this onto us chopping off A Yue's hand—that's completely beside the point."