Chapter 268: Shifting the Blame

Qiexin roared at the sky, then decided to temporarily abandon their territory and flee elsewhere, even though he knew that once they fled, their Xin Tribe would decline in every aspect, and the lack of food and supplies might even lead to the tribe's disintegration; but there was no other way, for if they did not flee, they likely would not even survive this night.

So he hurriedly told everyone to take whatever they could carry—food, supplies, weapons—and hide whatever they could not in their caves, so that if they had the chance to return in the future, this would be their capital to start over.

Everyone was frantically packing their things, and Qiexin could hardly suppress the panic in his heart; the great tribe his ancestors had built for him was, from this day on, going to be destroyed.

Because of the gathering, their Xin Tribe had been constantly growing, and he had originally thought everything would continue to develop so smoothly, and that he would leave a stronger Xin Tribe for the next Tribal Chief, his own son; he had not expected that all the ruin would also begin with the gathering.

Down the mountain, Baoxi watched the fire developing exactly as he had predicted, feeling very pleased; the things Wangzuo asked about during the sacrifice were always so accurate, so it seemed that keeping him all those years ago was a very correct decision.

At such a happy time, how could one not drink a cup of Wine? He then had a Soldier go to the Bronze box, take out a Wine jar wrapped tightly in fur, bring out a Glass cup, pour a cup, smell the wonderful aroma of the Wine, and then tilt his head back to pour it into his mouth, savoring it carefully.

Baifeng also saw the sky-high flames from the river, and he understood that Baoxi was playing with fire; he just didn't know if he could control the fire, for fire would not listen to people, even if he was a descendant of the Suiren clan.

The Xin Tribe packed their things as fast as they could and then ran in a direction parallel to the fire; there were fewer trees there, and in every respect, it was the best escape route, though many people had already run away secretly, taking their tribe's belongings with them.

Qiexin could no longer manage such matters and could only stabilize the main group.

Baifeng was fishing in the river breeze, and the fishing was good; it didn't take long after casting the line to catch a fish. They were not short of food now, so Baifeng only kept the most delicious types of fish, and the rest were taken off and thrown directly back into the river.

On the bank across the river, the people of the Zisheng Tribe had already set up a fire and were roasting fish on wooden sticks; they would also sprinkle a few grains of salt on each fish, and if Baifeng knew, he would certainly say they were far too petty.

Baifeng had just thrown back a small crucian carp when he felt the wind pick up; the wind was blowing in his direction, and it was very humid, which was definitely not just because he was on the river.

Baifeng stood up, waiting for the next gust of wind, feeling it carefully with the back of his hand and his face, and then he judged that the Suiren clan's fire attack this time was likely going to be in vain.

Baoxi also felt the change in the wind; he stood up immediately when the first gust blew over, as he was very sensitive to changes in the wind at this time.

After clearly feeling the change in the wind, his mood instantly soured, and regardless of how valuable the Glass cup in his hand was, he threw it directly onto the ground and roared, "Wangzuo!"

Wangzuo was enjoying himself and didn't hear at all; Baoxi was already furious and ordered the Soldiers to drag Wangzuo out.

Before long, Wangzuo, who had just been in the lap of luxury, was thrown naked in front of Baoxi; he didn't know what was going on and wanted to ask, but a gust of wind blew over, carrying a hint of smoke, which instantly sobered Wangzuo up.

He stood up and stared at the fire in the distance; the direction had already changed, and it scared him so much that he collapsed to the ground. He had never even considered that the wind direction might change, and now he was at a loss.

Baoxi asked through gritted teeth, "Wangzuo, didn't you say the spirits told us to use fire? What is the situation now? Why did the wind direction change! Did the spirits change their minds?"

Wangzuo stammered and couldn't give a reason; his brain was already spinning rapidly, looking for excuses to shift the blame. He couldn't lose the wealth he had worked so hard to obtain, and most importantly, given Baoxi's current mood, he might even lose his life.

But as angry as Baoxi was, he still had his reason; he certainly wouldn't kill Wangzuo, for if he killed Wangzuo, he would lose one of his most capable subordinates. But in the current situation, he had to get to the bottom of it, as he was unwilling to believe Wangzuo would lie to him.

Wangzuo raised his head tremblingly: "Tribal Chief, would you like me to ask the spirits again?"

Baoxi flicked his sleeve: "Ask! If there is another mistake this time, then you can go and apologize to the spirits yourself!"

Wangzuo nodded hurriedly; he had already thought of a countermeasure. At this time, he couldn't say the spirits were wrong, nor could he say he was wrong, but rather he should shift the blame to others, such as those Soldiers who had fainted.

He hurriedly had someone bring out his clothes; if the things inside were gone, how could he perform the sacrifice, and how could he invite the spirits to descend?

Baoxi appeared very impatient: "What clothes to wear? Isn't it fine like this? Other Great Shamans wear ornate robes and feathered crowns when they sacrifice; you have never worn them, isn't it all the same?"

Wangzuo hurriedly explained: "My sacrifices don't need ornate robes and feathered crowns because I don't need those things to communicate with the spirits, but my own clothes must be worn; otherwise, it will anger the spirits. To be naked before the spirits will offend them!"

Baoxi accepted Wangzuo's explanation and had no choice but to tell him to put on his clothes quickly and ask the spirits. The wind was getting stronger, and the black stuff in the sky—he didn't know if it was smoke or clouds—made Baoxi feel increasingly restless.

Wangzuo quickly put on his clothes and then skipped many steps; anyway, the things he had summarized were not understood by others, so he could just do whatever.

Repeating his old trick, he threw out the Fire Essence, and the flame turned blue again. This time, everyone stayed far away from the fire, fearing that if something happened to them, they would end up like those Soldiers, who had only just recovered and were still dizzy.

When the color of the flame returned to normal, Wangzuo hurriedly knelt at Baoxi's feet: "The spirits say this is because our tribe's Soldiers did not respect them, so they gave this punishment."

"None of us touched the sacrifice, how could we have offended the spirits!"

Wangzuo pointed his hand at the lying Soldiers, giving Baoxi a response.

"The spirits say they were too close when they descended."

Baoxi knew the reason, so he could only sigh; those men were his elite Soldiers, could he kill them just because of one mistake? To be honest, Baoxi really couldn't bear to.