Chapter 155: Visiting Qingqiu

There is no talk of etiquette when meeting now; not drawing a Weapon is the greatest courtesy. Although Changxian had been staring at their clothing from afar, he felt too embarrassed to look once they walked up to him. Mostly, it was because such a display of being unworldly would lose face for the Xuanyuan Clan.

Leizu stepped forward and spoke: "I am Leizu, Tribal Chief of the Xiling Clan. Guided by our spirits, we have arrived in this land, but I did not expect it to have masters. I wonder, which of you is the Tribal Chief of the Xuanyuan Clan?"

Leizu stared at Changxian; he was the Leader of these men, so he was the most likely to be Xuanyuan.

Changxian turned slightly to the side, feeling uncomfortable under Leizu's gaze. He had not expected such a small woman to be the Tribal Chief of the Xiling Clan; if not for her magnificent Silk clothing, he truly would not have believed it.

As for why he concluded they were the Xiling Clan because of a piece of clothing? He had heard of the price of Silk; it was extremely precious. Ordinary tribes would at most trade for a small piece to use for sacrifices or to wrap a Ritual Vessel. Only the Xiling Clan could use it to make clothing, and dared to do so. After all, it was made of Heavenly Worm Silk, a gift from the gods, not just any random worm.

Because there was a significant gap in their status, Changxian did not speak as firmly as before: "I am merely a Soldier Leader under the Xuanyuan Tribe. Our Tribal Chief, Xuanyuan, is still very far from here."

"By the way, our Tribal Chief, Xuanyuan, has just taken charge of the tribe. Our previous Tribal Chief was Shaodian, of the Qingqiu Youxiong Clan."

"We are a tribe from the Shennong Clan; you should have heard of them."

Mentioning the Shennong Clan, Changxian straightened his back a little. No matter the tribe, hearing the name of the Shennong Clan would make them feel a head shorter. After all, the first-generation Shennong was a human predecessor on the same level as, or even stronger than, Suiren and Youchao. In this era, who would dare not give them face?

Leizu had not heard of the Xuanyuan Clan and assumed it was a small tribe. Upon hearing "Youxiong Clan" and "Shennong Clan," she understood where she had arrived. This tribe was not only not weak, but it was likely even stronger than the Xiling Clan in its prime.

However, had the direction been wrong again? Leizu glanced at Boyu, who lowered his head in shame. Was the gnomon calculation not accurate? The gnomon's face turned red, and he did not know what to say. He was so ashamed he wanted to stick a Knife into himself and jump into a fire. After all, his initial divination said to head north, and they had now reached the northeast, but the final divination said they had arrived.

Leizu had no heart to question their mistakes now. Since they had arrived at this massive tribe, it would be better to visit as guests and perhaps conduct some trade. As for whether they could go north, that would have to be reconsidered.

"If you speak of the Shennong Clan and the Youxiong Clan, we naturally know of them. The first-generation Shennong made such great contributions to the human race; naturally, he will be remembered by all humans upon the earth."

Then, Leizu shifted to a sadder expression: "Our Xiling Clan was destroyed in a disaster sent down by the earth. Even after the Great Shaman performed sacrifices, we did not receive forgiveness. In the end, only those of us remaining left our original territory and, under the protection of the Heavenly Worm, followed the guidance to arrive here."

"Since this is the Xuanyuan Tribe, may you take me to see your Tribal Chief? Consider it a visit as a guest, and at the same time, we would like to trade for some grain and supplies."

Leizu laid their situation out on the table; it did not matter, as everyone would know sooner or later. Moreover, they were not a Cannibal Tribe, so there was no danger in visiting other tribes. Furthermore, the Xiling Clan had a reputation abroad and the protection of the Heavenly Worm; if other tribes wanted to harm them, they would have to consider whether they might anger the spirits of the Xiling Clan.

Changxian dared not be negligent. Even if the Xiling Clan had suffered a disaster, their status remained. Thus, he decided to take them to the settlement at Qingqiu Mountain to find the Tribal Chief. This trip would take two days, and the village construction would have to be left to the tribesmen themselves.

He sent most of the Soldiers back, firstly to pass on the news that there was no enemy attack and to put away their prepared Weapons, and secondly because pulling away too many people would affect the village construction. He himself took twenty-some Soldiers to lead the way.

They certainly would not provide food along the way. As for lodging, Heaven and Earth are vast, and one can go anywhere. Even when coming as guests, at most, one meal would be provided for the Leader; other ordinary tribesmen would either have to bring their own food or trade supplies for it. Otherwise, if a tribe ran out of grain and went to another tribe to beg, that would be a disaster.

But Changxian and his men did not bring grain either. The Xiling Clan had a small amount of stored grain, but they mainly relied on hunting and gathering along the way. Now, many Grass Seeds were ripe, and the gathered food could not be called enough to eat their fill, but no one would starve.

Fortunately, Changxian and his men were familiar with this territory; they knew exactly where the fruit trees were and where the water sources were. So, even if they did not catch any prey, there was food to eat. Moreover, there were other villages on the road where they could ask for some grain; they were all of the same clan, so these things were not a problem.

The Xiling Clan was quite strapped. After all, they were in someone else's territory, and their numbers were large. Although they could hunt after receiving permission from Changxian and his men, they were all restrained. They caught very little prey in a whole day and basically could only eat soup made of Grass Seeds and wild vegetables. They would even have to provide compensation to Xuanyuan when they met him; these were implicit rules. If you hunt the prey in our territory, our own tribesmen will have less to eat.

However, everyone had a strong ability to endure hunger; even if they did not eat for a day or two, it was fine. After all, they usually ate whenever they caught prey, unlike the Baifeng Tribe, which was so extravagant as to have two fixed meals a day, and the leaders even ate breakfast. If they slept late at night and were hungry, they would get up to eat a little. There was no other reason: they had plenty of grain, so they ate when they wanted.

Their entire group traveled at a steady pace, but other Soldiers had already rushed toward Qingqiu Mountain at a faster speed to notify Xuanyuan. Otherwise, it would not do to have no news at all; this way, Xuanyuan could prepare a plan for dealing with the Xiling Clan in advance.

More than two days later, in the afternoon, the group arrived at the location of the main force of the Xuanyuan Clan after passing through several villages. Looking at the dense rows of grass houses on the hillside and the humans working incessantly, the people of the Xiling Clan recalled the scenes of their own tribe in the past. They could not help but feel sorrow, shedding tears one by one, and after sobbing for a while, they all began to wail loudly.

This left Changxian and the others at a loss. If they did not know that the others were also a large tribe, they would have thought they had come here to cry about their poverty. Tribesmen who did not know the truth might even think they had bullied these guests who had come from afar.