Chapter 2644: That's a group of lunatics

Thinking of that Fire Spirit Chicken, the sturdy man felt heartache.

After all, this Fire Spirit Chicken was the strongest one they had raised at home.

Raised for many years, it could be said they had poured much effort into it.

That is why, after so many years, even though the Fire Spirit Chicken occasionally ran away, the sturdy man could not bear to kill it.

He never expected that, coming out to look for the chicken, he would not find the chicken but instead run into a group of lunatics.

Without a word, they swarmed over him, giving him no time to react.

Even now, the sturdy man still does not know what he did to make this group of lunatics suddenly fly into a rage—it is utterly strange.

Fleeing all the way, he finally caught a distant glimpse of his tribe's silhouette, and only then did the sturdy man slightly relax.

Once inside the tribe, he would be safe; with the tribespeople around, those lunatics would hardly dare cause trouble again.

He rushed into the tribe in a panic and collided head‑on with a stalwart elder.

And this elder was the tribe's chief.

Seeing the sturdy man's flustered appearance, the elder also asked in their language.

"Qi Taihang, what's wrong with you, you're so flustered."

"Ch……………………chief."

Hearing that, Qi Taihang stopped his steps, but still spoke with a lingering look of fear.

"Lunatics, chief, a group of lunatics has come outside."

"Lunatics? What nonsense are you spouting?"

"I……………… I just went out to look for the chicken, and I ran into a bunch of folks I've never seen before…………………"

Under the elder's questioning, Qi Taihang then truthfully recounted what had just happened.

When he described how everyone swarmed over him, as if they wanted to tear him apart alive, Qi Taihang still wore a look of lingering fear.

After hearing his account, the elder slightly furrowed his brows.

That group of strangers seemed completely unlike any beings of this realm.

As if something had occurred to him, a flash of unusual color passed through the elder's eyes.

"Could they be outsiders?"

It was obvious that the elder knew more secrets than Qi Taihang, and his understanding of the connection between this realm and the outside world was deeper as well.

From Qi Taihang's account, he quickly guessed what it was.

Upon hearing the elder's words, Qi Taihang also froze, as if struck by a sudden realization, and then exclaimed in disbelief.

"Impossible, we and the outside world…………………"

"All I can say is that those good‑for‑nothings probably failed to guard the gate; where exactly did you encounter these people just now?"

"About a thousand li to the west."

Qi Taihang answered truthfully; hearing this, the elder wasted no time, immediately summoning the tribe's strongest warriors, and under Qi Taihang's leadership they set off in a mighty throng.

If they were outsiders, then surely some gate had gone awry, and for them that was certainly not good news.

After all, they did not want any dealings with those post‑natal beings of the outside world—a bunch of worthless wretches unfavored by heaven and earth.

With the tribe's strong warriors at his flanks, Qi Taihang quickly steadied his mind and was no longer afraid.

He straightaway led the crowd all the way to the place where those people had been before.

Meanwhile, Ye Zhangqing and his companions, after a bout of grief, looked at the chicken broth spilled on the ground.

Someone still felt reluctant and said.

"This washed‑off stuff should still be edible, right?"

"Or you could just lie on the ground and eat it."

"How can you eat this? It's full of dirt."

"You damn well know."

Looking at the chicken meat now completely filthy, even though everyone felt regretful, they could only agree to give it up.

This was the first time they had encountered such a top‑grade ingredient, something they had never seen before, and they hadn't even gotten a taste before it was ruined like this.

Just thinking about it made their hearts bleed; they regretted that no one had been guarding the stove earlier.

Who could have anticipated this? Moreover, the sturdy man's attack came without any warning, giving the crowd no time to prepare.

Now that it's destroyed, even if they regretted it more, they could only let it be.

"Forget it, forget it—maybe we'll run into another later; we can try it then."

With no delicacy left, they naturally had no reason to linger; after packing up, they continued on their way.

And just by walking on, they miraculously missed crossing paths with Qi Taihang and his group—despite heading in opposite directions, they never met.

Qi Taihang led the tribe's strong warriors, following the same route, and came rushing in with a mighty, aggressive force.

Meanwhile, the group, by sheer coincidence, headed toward the tribe's direction.

The group naturally did not know any of this, after all, everyone was unfamiliar with this region.

They had no idea where anything was; they simply walked by feeling.

But on the road ahead, the Fire Spirit Chicken ingredient they had been longing for never appeared again.

Not even the big‑snake ingredient showed up again.

What the group did not know was that this place certainly could not have that big snake.

Because this area is already very close to the tribe, Fire Spirit Chickens often appear here, and the food of those chickens is precisely that big‑snake ingredient.

The two are natural enemies; where Fire Spirit Chickens are found, such big snakes rarely exist.

Seeking benefit and avoiding harm is the instinct of all living things.

All along they gained nothing, which left the group in an unusually gloomy mood, the more they thought about it, the angrier they became.

That big pot of chicken soup just now was spilled like that, damn dog thing.

In anger, as they walked, the crowd suddenly saw the outline of the tribe in the distance.

"A village?"

"Are they the natives of this region?"

"It feels different from Beyond the Heavens, and it doesn't seem like the style of Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons."

Seeing the tribe appear in the distance, everyone was stunned and dared not act rashly, after all everything in this place is unknown, and no one knows what lies inside.

"What's their strength, and is there any danger?"

The two leading Heavenly Palace Celestial Officials also gazed at the tribe that had appeared in their field of view from afar.

That strange feeling came again; their divine sense was clearly active, yet they failed to detect the existence of this village.

"Before it was a living thing, now even these inanimate objects can't be detected by divine sense?"

This region seems to have some mysterious power, almost equivalent to crippling their divine-sense investigation.

They can only notice the anomaly when they can actually see it.

This feeling left the two Heavenly Palace Celestial Officials helpless; their divine sense failed, and the impact is not small.

At the same time the crowd discovered the tribe, Qí Taihang also led people to the place where they had previously encountered Ye Zhangqing and company.

But by then there was no one left; only the destroyed stove remained, along with the ground still holding uncooked Fire Spirit Chicken meat.

Blood-colored dust filled the air all around; a group of tribal strongmen searched everywhere but found nothing.

The leading elder frowned and spoke in a low voice.

"Did we arrive a step late? Can we track them by the lingering aura?"

Upon hearing that, a burly man beside him nodded and said.

"Clan Chief, they probably haven't been gone long; we can still pick up their scent and pursue."

"My chicken!"