Chapter 1371: The Recognized Boundary (Part 7)

The Soldier stammered, "Y-yes, our Tribal Chief thinks that since you have already captured this place, it belongs to you; we will just have to take it back ourselves."

Xuanyuan looked at Lu, his eyes filled with heavy doubt. He did not really believe this explanation; such a person could not possibly exist under Heaven. Even Guangchengzi, he feared, would not act this way.

Naturally, Lu did not believe this explanation either. Having stayed in Huaxia for a long time, he knew that once something defied common sense, there was definitely a problem. Since this Jiebing Tribe would not occupy this hill and was unwilling to seize the advantage here, it meant they must have some other means that required sacrificing this good slope, yet would yield even greater benefits.

Lu returned a look, and Xuanyuan now felt that no other useful information could be extracted from the Soldier's mouth, so he let him leave: "Take my words back to your Tribal Chief. Go back."

The Soldier felt a sense of relief and left directly without looking back, his pace quickening by a few degrees. However, he still searched for the footprints he had made on his way up, not daring to step quickly or tread on ground he had not walked upon before.

Yet, from the perspective of Xuanyuan and the others, his path of movement was a bit strange. This slope was relatively gentle and had no pits or bumps; why take such a strange, irregular route? This was too abnormal. Even if one were to walk in a large zigzag to slow one's speed, it would be fine, but acting like this was definitely suspicious.

After watching for a while, the group immediately returned to the main Tent to discuss what had just happened.

Limu stated his view first: "Tribal Chief, General Lu! When he spoke of the Jiang Ming and Jiang Cheng tribes just now, his words were clearly inconsistent, so I think the Jiang Ming and Jiang Cheng tribes are definitely here this time too."

"Regarding the status of the Jiang Surname Tribe within the Shennong Clan, it is impossible for them to be punished too severely for a single failure. If that were truly the case, tribes like Jiebing would likely not be willing to continue following this generation's Shennong."

Xuanyuan did not respond, but looked at Lu to ask for his opinion. After a moment of thought, Lu said, "I don't understand the Shennong Clan as well as you do, but what he said just now was indeed inconsistent, and there were too many abnormal things. I don't believe there is anyone in this world who would truly identify with a totem. If there were no war and we were neighbors, that would be one thing, but now we are at war and must occupy every favorable condition. Yet, he gave this place up, so I believe there must be something we haven't seen."

"There must be some Trap prepared around here to deal with us, so my view is that for these two days, we should first keep a close watch on the surroundings to see if anything is amiss, or we could simply fire a few shots; even if they have people in ambush, we could blast them out."

Limu scratched his head: "How do you know there are Traps around here? Not one of our Soldiers has encountered or triggered any yet."

Lu explained: "The Traps I am referring to here mean everything prepared for us that is disadvantageous to us; it doesn't necessarily mean a literal Trap..."

Lu's speaking speed slowed down: "It's not impossible. Look at the path he took, and the way he kept his head down while walking back and forth; it feels as if this slope is covered in Traps. This is actually quite possible."

Limu suddenly stood up again, rushed out of the Tent, ran to a position where he could see the Soldier, and stared carefully for a short while before returning: "General Lu, I think what you said makes a lot of sense. Looking at his behavior, there might really be Traps here. What do you think we should do? Should I take some Soldiers to scout it out?"

Xuanyuan raised a hand: "No rush, no rush. Let's see how they move first. However, the Traps must be checked, but do it at night. Have the Soldiers carefully use sticks to scout; dismantle any Traps that can be dismantled. If there are no Traps, it will at least eliminate some risks."

"What about the Jiang Surname Tribe? I feel they are hiding somewhere too," Limu said, still uneasy.

Lu said, "In any case, we occupy the high ground, and we can see this entire circle clearly. If they are hiding, they are either hiding behind the Jiebing Tribe or hiding on these two sides. As long as we watch carefully, we will definitely be able to keep an eye on them."

"However, I suspect they are behind the Jiebing Tribe, acting as a reserve tribe. The woods on these two sides are relatively sparse and cannot hide many people; if there were any movement, it would be easy to spot. From last night until now, I haven't seen a single spark of fire or a wisp of smoke, unless they are capable of extreme endurance."

Xuanyuan remained very serious: "But we cannot rule out the possibility. As for the Jiang Surname Tribe, both of their Tribal Chiefs are ruthless enough and have the heart for it; perhaps they really could stay hidden."

"Jiebing is too confident and ruthless enough. Let's see what he is actually planning to do."

The Soldier returned to the camp without incident and, not daring to delay for a moment, went to report at Jiebing's Tent. Jiebing was closing his eyes and basking in the sun; he was a bit surprised to hear someone arrive: "Back so soon?"

"Tribal Chief, I have returned. They said they want to fight and will not surrender, and they also had me bring a message to you."

Jiebing did not even open his eyes: "Did you see that Great Shaman? And what did they say about the Great Shaman?"

"I saw the Great Shaman, but they said that last year's Great Shaman and this year's are not the same person. Furthermore, this year's Great Shaman is also the Leader of their Soldiers. Looking at him, he seems more like a Soldier than a Shaman."

As soon as these words were spoken, Jiebing opened his eyes: "Two Great Shamans? How can there be two? Is the matter of the Heavenly Thunder also true?"

The Soldier nodded repeatedly: "They said that although they are not the same person, both can summon Heavenly Thunder, and they even said they could produce two Heavenly Thunders right now to show us."

Jiebing's waist went limp, and he lay back down: "It really exists? Could they truly be that powerful?"

"Did they say anything else about the Great Shaman?"

The Soldier recalled for a moment and shook his head: "No, that was all."

"Oh... alright, you may leave and get back to your work," Jiebing waved his hand casually.

The Soldier hurriedly said, "Tribal Chief, they asked me to bring you a message; they said..."

"Enough!" Jiebing interrupted the Soldier: "Hurry and get out."

The Soldier had no choice but to shut his mouth, walk away with his head down, gather his Weapon and other belongings, and go to work. He muttered to himself that it was fine not to listen.

Jiebing himself knew that Xuanyuan and the others had surely just sent his own words back to him, and there was no need to listen.