Chapter 508: Envious Saliva

The Majie chief's white-fur sweat hadn't yet fallen when he heard his clansmen's questions; running, he shouted, "Those are gu worms—surely the Wuke tribe preparing to loot our tribe's goods. Why ask? Run!"

"Gu worms!"

"Chief, you're amazing—you can even kill gu worms!"

The tribesmen were first terrified, then they worshipped their chief without reserve—those were gu worms controlled by a gu shaman, ah~

The Majie chief, however, raised his hand to touch his chest; there had been a leaf-shaped object there, which Shaman Yue said was a kind of protective shamanic art.

He still planned to take it back to the tribe and keep it safe, to pass it on to his offspring later—who knew this protective shamanic art would be used before he could even return to the tribe?

"Damn the Wuke tribe!"

Because the four great tribes possess strong battle power, the items meant for exchange had already been mostly traded at the gathering, so they hardly ever go looting other tribes.

After each year's gathering, the ones they loot everywhere are merely somewhat stronger medium-sized tribes.

"This year the Wuke tribe didn't obtain any goods in the exchange, so they're targeting us."

The Majie chief gritted his teeth: "Just wait—once I meet up with Shaman Yue, I'll definitely give you a good beating."

He showed with his strength what it means to speak harshly without impeding his escape; moreover, those harsh words were merely kept in his heart.

Meanwhile, the Wuke tribesmen hiding ahead were somewhat dazed—the Majie tribe hadn't even reached their encirclement, yet they suddenly seemed frightened, turned, and fled at full speed.

Meow?

What's going on?

Could it be that our ambush posture today is wrong?

Only the Wuke and Niluo knew why; the Wuke's small eyes furtively glanced at the female beside him.

They had always been confident in their own gu worms, only having suffered a loss at the hands of fellow shaman Shaman Yue; now the Niluo shaman was full of resentment, his face as black as could be.

"Shaman Yue, you bitch, you ruined my plans!"

Venomous curses rang in his ears; the Wuke chief swallowed and said, "Shaman Yue... is here?"

The title "Sir" that had reached his lips was swallowed back with a gulp under Niluo's fierce stare.

"It must be that Shaman Yue gave the Majie something able to resist my gu worms, letting them detect it in advance."

Niluo said resentfully.

Wuke silently curled his lips: "Fine! All this effort was your sabotage, wasting my ambush posture!"

But the cowardly world is just so strange; the inwardly timid Wuke stood up and said, "Then let's still go loot the goods of those small and medium tribes—many tribes didn't come forward to trade at the previous gathering, and I had our people note them."

Niluo gave him an approving look: "Not bad."

Wuke's small eyes squinted with pride: "Hehe."

Wu Yue and her two companions followed behind the wanderers, heading all the way toward the Majie tribe's territory.

"Stop!"

Yuan Lang raised his long arm high, and everyone looked over with bewildered faces.

"What's this?"

"There are footsteps ahead—lots of people."

As soon as the beastman warrior said that, the surrounding wanderers grew tense.

Everyone knows that after the gathering they'll be looted, but...

The wanderer chief, bitter and dejected, muttered: "What tribe? Even us they're looting?"

Wu Yue beside him nearly laughed out loud upon hearing that.

"Yue, we're still one tribe short of completing the mission—see if we should do another."

Tongzi bounced up again, excited for the lottery—it was eagerly anticipated, nerve‑wracking.

"Shaman Yue!"

Wu Yue was about to answer her own Tongzi when a mournful howl came from ahead, nearly making her fall backward in fright.

"Holy crap, what's going on!"

She looked up and saw that the Majie tribe folks, who had been fairly orderly before leaving yesterday, now resembled a bunch of driven refugees, running wildly toward her.

Especially the Majie chief running in front, shouting his own name while sprinting, the scene was once utterly miserable.

"Yue, what heaven‑anger‑and‑human‑resentment deed did you do?"

Wu Yue gave him a cold glance: "You don't know whether I did it or not? We've been living in the same cave all along, haven't we?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Teng Qian's scalp went numb, and the hairs on the back of his neck involuntarily stood on end.

He tremulously turned his head and saw his boss looking at him with a grim expression.

That guy, without any hesitation, said: "It's not me, I didn't do it, don't spout nonsense!"

Seeing his cowardly demeanor, Wu Yue grinningly bared her teeth in a toothy smile.

"We three all live in the cave—what's there to have or not? You make it sound like I and Yuan Lang are abusing you."

Teng Qian panted heavily, while Yuan Lang smiled narrowly.

Looking again at his little brother, life seemed able to continue.

Wu Yue gazed at the Majie chief, who had run up to her and collapsed like a dead dog, panting heavily: "What's wrong with you?"

I had thought they were being pursued, but the Majie tribe had been running for a long time already, and no tribe was seen chasing them.

"The Wuke tribe was lying in wait on our way back to the tribe; fortunately, the protective shamanic leaf you gave me let me detect the Niluo shaman's gu worms, so I immediately led the tribespeople away."

Having said that, he still wore a look of pride.

Shaman Yue looked at this simpleton and simply didn't know what to say.

"We're heading to the wanderers' gathering place, which happens to be within your tribe's territory—let's go together."

Since we're already in our tribe's territory, there's no need for any wanderers to guide us; the Majie chief shoved a few wanderers aside with a thrust of his rear, taking the best spot to lead the way.

This time, without worrying about the Wuke tribe behind us, the group finally reached the wanderers' gathering place after five days.

Looking at this godforsaken mountainous area, the Ma Ji chieftain pursed his lips: "Shaman Wu Yue, stone tools are enough; if you need stones from here, when our tribe's people go to the Snow Moon Tribe to study, I'll have them bring some more for you."

"I need to pick them myself, so I'll stay here for a few days, Ma Ji chieftain—you don't need to accompany us; go back and check on the tribe."

Although the Ma Ji chieftain is carefree, as a chieftain he is still quite sharp; of course, it's best to keep iron tools in one's own hands.

"Then I'll first take the tribe back for a trip, and come find you in a few days."

Wu Yue smiled and shook her head: "I won't be staying here for more than a few days before I leave; just have the learners go straight to the Snow Moon Tribe—we might even return before they do."

Saying that, she patted the giant beast beneath her.

The Ma Ji chieftain gave a dry chuckle, then merely drooled with envy as he led his people away.

At that moment, the wanderers gathered there had already learned from their leader the identities of Wu Yue and her two companions.

When Wu Yue finished bidding farewell to the Ma Ji chieftain and turned around, she saw a circle of people with their heads pressed to the ground.

The wanderers' fear of tribal people had truly been etched into their bones.

"I need the kind of stone that can be ground into sharp stone tools; just take us there."

She looked toward the wanderer leader kneeling at the front and said.

The wanderer leader relaxed inside, nodding repeatedly: "Yes."

After turning around to instruct his people, he respectfully led the way ahead.

The valley containing the iron ore wasn't far from the wanderers' gathering place; after walking less than an hour, they saw a very obvious entrance.

"We've thrown the overly hard stones into the valley, but the ones too big to move we left outside."

After the wanderer leader said that, he anxiously glanced at Wu Yue.

Wu Yue took a stack of corn cakes from Teng Qian's back basket and handed them to him: "You show us the way, and take these foods back with you."

The wanderer leader trembled as he took the food, never expecting he'd actually get to bring food back.

"Sh-Shaman Wu Yue, you don't need us to haul these stones, do you?"

Seeing a hint of fear in his expression, Wu Yue finally understood why he'd been so nervous; she immediately smiled: "I only need to pick a few nicely shaped stones to bring back—I don't need anyone to haul them. Go back to the gathering place."

The wanderers were overjoyed, their eyes brightening; they immediately bade farewell to Wu Yue and her two companions and took off running.

"Yue, they probably aren't afraid we'll conscript them for labor, are they?"

Teng Qian stood to the side, watching the wanderer leader gradually disappear into the forest, and said.

"Could guys like that even be called laborers?"

Yuan Lang looked down his nose at his little brother, each one so thin a ghost would be frightened—like skeletons just crawled out of a coffin—where would any laborers come from?

Teng Qian choked, thinking of the people at the wanderers' gathering, and couldn't help but click his tongue: "Quite a pair—being that skinny and still alive is a skill in itself."

"You two have time to study others' physiques here—better to quickly find a spot with concentrated iron ore, gather some, and aim to return to the tribe sooner."

Wu Yue's mouth twitched as she spoke.

The mouth of the valley had already been blocked by iron ore the wanderers had thrown in, so nothing inside could be seen.

But what delighted Wu Yue was that the iron ore at the valley mouth was still of high quality.

She turned her head to Yuan Lang, eyes glinting with teasing: "The iron we'll get from these ores will surely be more than what we exchanged at the gathering place before."

Yuan Lang raised a hand and tapped her forehead; thinking of the iron he'd painstakingly refined, he couldn't help but laugh too.

A chunk of iron ore the size of a beastman's head yielded less iron than a corn kernel—not enough for a weapon, not even enough for a needle.

Meanwhile, unlike the fortunate Ma Ji chieftain, the Dong Sang chieftain, on his way back to the tribe, suffered a joint ambush by the Wu Ke and Sen tribes.

All the items exchanged at the gathering were looted, and even two of the tribe's Half-Beast warriors were killed, leaving the Dong Sang chieftain furious.

Thinking of the black worm that had been burned to ashes before his very eyes, his body shuddered with cold.

If it weren't for the protective shamanic arts Shaman Wu Yue had given him, he probably would have perished there himself.

In the chieftain's mountain cave, seeing his wounded, grief-stricken tribesmen, the Dong Sang chieftain furrowed his brow: "Alright, you all go out now."

"Ying Fei and Bu Lun stay behind."

The crowd withdrew with heavy hearts, no one expecting that the Dong Sang tribe, one of the four great tribes, would be completely looted and flee back in disgrace; the once proud Half-Beast warriors now wilted like limp vegetables, returning miserably to the cave to nurse their wounds.

"Earlier I agreed with Shaman Wu Yue to send tribespeople to learn how to turn corn fruit into food— which of you two will go?"

Ying Fei bared his teeth: "I'm not going!"

Bu Lun gave him a listless glance: "Then I'll go."

Although going to the Snow Moon Tribe would be fun, thinking of the items looted from his own tribe, Bu Lun's anger at the Wu Ke and Sen tribes surged in waves.

"Alright, go on down— you don't need to worry about the items; I, the Ma Ji chieftain, and Shaman Wu Yue have an agreement: next next year Shaman Wu Yue will help our tribe seize a quota, so we still have plenty of time to stockpile goods."

But the next moment, his usual faint smile darkened again: "Although we have plenty of time, the fact that the Wu Ke and Sen tribes looted our goods can't just be left as is."

"We must deal with them!"

"Let them know the Dong Sang tribe isn't to be trifled with!"

"Our tribesmen can't die for nothing!"

Upon hearing this, the two also shouted in agreement.

Meanwhile, while the Ma Ji and Dong Sang tribes were thinking about going to the Snow Moon Tribe to study arts, Wu Yue and her two companions huddled together, staring at a small iron rod placed on a stone before them and laughing foolishly.

"As expected, with enough effort, stone can become a rod!"

Yuan Lang's eyes lit up, as if he saw himself in the future wielding a long spear, looking down on battle... uh...

"The look of the forest?"

Wu Yue glanced at the thing that was still thinner than the surrounding grass, barely worthy of being called an "iron rod"...

"At this thickness, grinding it straight into a needle would actually be quite good."

Teng Qian: "..."

He furtively glanced at his big brother.

Yuan Lang: "..."

Saying that is pretty awkward; at a time like this, shouldn't you be encouraging me a bit?

Wu Yue stood up and patted Yuan Lang and Teng Qian on the shoulders: "Alright, brothers, tidy up, wash up, and go to sleep; tomorrow we'll set off back to the tribe."

Tongzi, can I still complete that mission?

Wu Yue, lying on the animal-skin bed, posed a soul-searching question to her own Tongzi: "Everyone's gone back to their own homes; do I still have a chance?"

The short-statured Tongzi sprang up at once upon hearing this: "Host, you have to believe me; opportunities are created. The Wuke Tribe and the Sen Tribe snatched the Dongsang Tribe's supplies a few days ago."

As long as you move fast, the Sen Tribe definitely won't get away.

Why the Sen Tribe?

In fact, she'd rather rob the Wuke Tribe; don't ask—if you ask, it's just because she finds Niluo unpleasant, sigh… she just wants to mess with her!

You damn host, when doing reading comprehension before, what was the first step?

Tongzi asked in a ghostly tone.

Wu Yue gave a look of caring for the intellectually challenged: "Definitely read the whole text."

So you don't even look at the mission details before taking on a task?

Wuyue:...

For some reason, she felt that the look of caring for the intellectually challenged just now seemed to have bounced back onto herself...

-----Side Note-----

Thanks to little partners Xiaoxiao Xinrou, Mo Mo Na, for their monthly ticket support, (? ′??? `) a heart.

Thanks to little partners Wumingtian, Wutian, book friends, 66w, book friend 249***545, Xiao Yu No. 4, ★, Mu Xi?, Yu Er, Bian Hua, Shi Shui Liu Nian, Feng, Qing Ping Guo, Mo Mo Na, Long Er, Yu Ye, Die Meng Qing Wu, Xiang Si's Hong Dou part, Mo Xi Mo Xi, Meng, a De Yun girl duck, twelve's recommendation ticket support, (? ′??? `) a heart.