Chapter 1328: Longevity: My Farming-Style Cultivation Is Too Steady Chapter 1328: One Year Later!

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Protagonist:

Xu Zhangqing

"What if we lose?"

The Female Witch's words were like a bucket of cold water splashed out.

The man's throat moved, but no sound came out.

Many words turned on the tip of his tongue, only to be swallowed back down.

From last night until now, he had been pushed around by others, never once considering the consequences.

Seeing his state, the Female Witch shook her head in disappointment: "You haven't even thought of the worst outcome, yet you dare come here to propose cooperation.

Forget it, don't mention this cooperation again."

The Clan Leader of the Wave Tribe snorted through his nose, raised his hand and waved toward the door, preparing to see them out.

However, the man did not move; he glanced behind him once more.

Xu Zhangqing saw this and stepped forward, his pace unhurried, walking straight to the center of the room.

Zhang Daoxuan followed behind him.

At this moment, Xu Zhangqing raised his right hand and gave a light wave.

No mantra, not even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual power.

The air inside the room suddenly grew heavy.

A thin film of water rose from the ground, climbing up along the four walls, and in the blink of an eye, the entire room was wrapped inside it.

The birdsong outside the window ceased.

The footsteps at the door ceased.

Even the sound of the lake water striking in the distance disappeared at this moment.

The whole world seemed to be placed inside a giant water bubble.

So quiet that only the breathing of those inside the room could be heard.

Seeing this scene, the Female Witch's expression changed, and she suddenly stood up.

The Clan Leader of the Wave Tribe could not sit still either; his two legs sprang, and he jumped up from the chair.

"People of the Dao Gate?!"

Zhang Daoxuan glanced at the two and said: "You just cooperate; if something happens, the Dao Gate will bear the consequences."

The Female Witch fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked: "What if we don't cooperate?"

Zhang Daoxuan stepped forward.

His shoes stepped on the damp wooden floor, making a "pa" sound.

This step seemed extremely ordinary, but the sound falling into the ears of the Female Witch and the Clan Leader of the Wave Tribe was more terrifying than the surging lake water outside.

They only felt a "rumble rumble" ringing in their ears, as if muffled thunder rolled over.

Zhang Daoxuan said with killing intent: "If you don't cooperate, you die now!"

Cooperate, and you might die in the future.

Don't cooperate, and you must die right now.

Which is lighter and which is heavier, no one here is a fool.

Sweat beads emerged one after another on the Clan Leader of the Wave Tribe's forehead.

The Female Witch stared at Zhang Daoxuan for a good while, slowly sat back into the chair, and after a long moment, said softly: "Actually, I have wanted to cooperate for a long time."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room looked at her.

The Clan Leader of the Wave Tribe even stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he had heard.

"Water Jade is becoming fewer and fewer."

The Female Witch said to herself: "The good jade at the bottom of the lake has long been mined seven or eight out of ten.

The remaining ones are either too broken or too impure.

To gather a decent piece of Water Jade, dozens of people must be sent out each time, and they must go down to the deepest part to grope.

Of the best swimmers, if three go down and one comes back, that's already not bad.

This one this year was exchanged for several people's lives!"

Suddenly, she looked at the man again: "I roughly guessed where the Blood Jade comes from."

"You fill it with lives, and we fill it with lives too."

"It's just that you fill it with outsiders' lives, while we fill it with our own people's lives."

"If this continues..."

The Clan Leader of the Wave Tribe stood to the side, his lips twitching once: "But... but that is a great god who governs the Eight Hundred Li Bi Bo Hu!"

"If that one just sneezes, both our sides are finished."

"No matter how powerful the Dao Gate is, can it defeat a great god?"

"If they miss, we people here might not even leave a complete corpse in the end!"

The Female Witch said nothing.

Her gaze fell on Xu Zhangqing, waiting for a definite answer.

Xu Zhangqing glanced at the Clan Leader of the Wave Tribe and said in a deep voice: "We will bear the consequences!"

The Clan Leader of the Wave Tribe opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing more.

He knew perfectly well that Bi Bo Jun had everyone gasping under his pressure.

Moreover, the Bo Tribe had lived on the water for who knows how many years, and their entire livelihood depended on these eight hundred li of Bi Bo Lake.

Wind and waves depended on Bi Bo Jun's expression.

The fish run depended on Bi Bo Jun's mood.

Among the young people, those with ability had no other path except serving as Martial Guards to keep watch for the god.

The Female Witch was right; everyone had long wanted to go ashore.

Easy to think about, but they were probably truly afraid.

A god who had exerted pressure for so many years could not be erased by a single word.

Zhang Daoxuan swept them a cold glance: "Enough, the matter is settled as such."

The two tribes unite, and next year only one piece of jade will be offered.

If Bi Bo Jun is agreeable, everyone will live in peace.

If he is not agreeable, then we turn against him!"

The Female Witch and the Bo Clan Leader exchanged a glance, and neither opposed again.

Things had come to this; opposition was meaningless.

Given the current situation, they could only take it one step at a time.

Ordinary people—how could they be a match for gods or Dao sect cultivators?

Xu Zhangqing looked around the whole room, examining everyone's expression, before raising his hand to withdraw the Water Curtain.

The wind outside the window rushed back in, carrying the coolness of lake water and the fishy smell.

The clamor from the distant dock returned, as if nothing had happened.

……

……

In the following year, Xu Zhangqing and Zhang Daoxuan stayed at Bi Bo Lake.

The new Clan Leader of the Bi Tribe was Martial Guard Captain Wu Ying.

On his first day in office, he promulgated several rules.

One, jade-collectors would no longer pay with their lives, and would be given two days of rest per month.

Two, half of the stone house where the former Clan Leader lived would be vacated and converted into a sick ward for jade-collectors.

Three, the rations privately embezzled by the former Clan Leader would be returned to the public granary.

At first, the people in the tribe were somewhat uneasy.

No one knew what sort of person this newly appointed Clan Leader actually was.

As time went on.

Everyone found that though he spoke little, he handled affairs fairly, and they gradually came to respect him.

The Male Witch was also quite well-behaved this year.

Except for special festivals, he hardly ever showed his face.

Instead, the Bo Tribe sent several fresh fish and several baskets of lake shrimp every now and then.

Nominally it was courtesy, but actually to sit down and discuss the details of joint jade offerings; even the Female Witch came three times.

In less than a year, both sides went from disliking each other to being able to eat at the same table.

Such a change, in the past, no one would have dared to even imagine.

In the blink of an eye, the day of sacrifice arrived once more.

On this day, the atmosphere on both banks of Bi Bo Lake was completely different from previous years.

The lake surface was not as calm as usual, and the water color had darkened somewhat.

Wu Ying and the Male Witch of the Bi Tribe brought the tribe's able-bodied men along the Stone Slab Road to the statue before the god, and the Female Witch and Clan Leader of the Bo Tribe also arrived.

The two groups met under the statue, no longer occupying separate sides as in previous years, but standing side by side.

The surrounding people gathered more and more, spreading out in a dense mass, yet strangely silent.

Everyone knew that this year's sacrifice was different from before.

At this moment no one spoke.

Even the children who usually loved to make a fuss were held tightly in their elders' arms.

The wooden box was carried to the center.

Four men knelt half on the ground and carefully lifted the lid.

Inside was a piece of fine jade selected jointly by the two tribes.

The quality was not top-grade, and the water color was not rare.

But the shape was regular, and the color warm and moist.

Carved with two intertwined water patterns, like two fish swimming.

The Male Witch and the Female Witch stepped forward at the same time, each extending a hand to hold up the jade:

"Please, divine beings, inspect!"