Chapter 283: Are You Willing?

Baifeng washed up, tidied his appearance, and then walked out of the room with a dignified expression.

All the dogs seemed to have understood Baifeng's words and kept watch around the area all night; seeing Baifeng come down, Changwei and Laifu stood up to greet him, and when Baifeng stroked them, they lowered their heads, letting Baifeng touch the tops of their heads and the backs of their necks.

"Go, go to sleep!"

Baifeng gently patted the two dogs on the head and then got up and left; only after watching their master depart did all the dogs return to their kennels one by one to rest.

Baifeng first went to his office; except for those at the construction site, no one else knew that their Tribal Chief had returned, and they were very anxious about the Tribal Chief who had been missing for several days, because the Tribal Chief had already explained his schedule, so they had originally intended to discuss a plan today to see if they should send people to search for the Tribal Chief.

Unexpectedly, after arriving at the office, they found that the Tribal Chief was already there; they did not fear the Tribal Chief's authority much, because Baifeng had always been very approachable.

So they all ran over smiling, wanting to ask what had happened over the past few days, and to ask if the horse-seeking trip had gone smoothly and what the harvest was like.

Baifeng sat upright on the high platform, saying nothing; his stern expression made everyone stop in their tracks, and many words reached their lips but could not be spoken, and looking at the Tribal Chief's appearance, they did not know what to do.

Baifeng just stared at the crowd with a playful gaze for a long time, staring until everyone dared not raise their heads, except for Xiong and Chi, who stood with their heads held high; Xiong had confidence in himself, believing that with his own ability and contribution, he had absolutely done nothing to make the Tribal Chief angry, while Chi was slow to react and didn't feel that anything was wrong with the Tribal Chief at all, only thinking that he had nothing to say.

Wherever Baifeng's gaze fell, everyone lowered their heads.

Baifeng gave a cold laugh, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief; whether it was good news or bad news, as long as it was spoken, there would be a way to solve it, and if the Tribal Chief kept his mouth shut and said nothing, that was the most agonizing thing for them.

"I would like to ask you all, I don't know how you feel about the tribe, and how you feel about me; are you willing to give up your lives for the tribe, and are you willing to give up your lives for me?"

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what the Tribal Chief meant; if it were only the first part, they would certainly say yes without hesitation, because the Baifeng tribe could have its current appearance only because of their indispensable contributions, and having put so much heart and blood into it, they would of course protect it to the death.

As for giving up their lives for the Tribal Chief, what did that mean?

Yu, Yi, Lu, and Geng were the first to speak: "Tribal Chief, I am willing!"

They understood that it was the Tribal Chief who had given them everything; from being savages with nothing, to being able to have everything they had today, it all relied on the Tribal Chief, especially Yi and Yu, because they did not have fathers in the true sense, and it was Baifeng who filled the role of their father.

In a state where everyone had a home and a complete family, the two children without fathers naturally projected Baifeng into that role, and what Baifeng did was better than any father, so when Baifeng asked if they were willing to give up their lives for him, they did not have much hesitation.

As for Lu, it was pure loyalty.

Geng did not view his own status too highly; no matter how high his position or how great his power, it was merely a word from the Tribal Chief; if the Tribal Chief willed it, he could manage thousands of people, and if the Tribal Chief did not, he was just a Slave who could die at any moment.

Hearing someone start, the others followed suit and said they were willing.

A smile suddenly appeared on Baifeng's face, though the smile was strange and terrifying.

"Good, good, good!"

Baifeng said the word "good" three times in a row, and only then did the crowd dare to look up, thinking that the matter would just pass like this.

Unexpectedly, Baifeng then asked: "You all say you are willing to give up your lives for me, so I ask you, if my Soldiers, when facing the enemy and facing danger where they might die, abandoned me, their Tribal Chief, and even rowed the Boat away, took the food, and threw me, their Tribal Chief, to the enemy, then how should such people be dealt with?"

Everyone was a smart person, and after a little thought, they knew this was not a hypothesis, but something that had already happened.

A few people ignored everything else and rushed forward to touch Baifeng's body to see if he was injured or maimed.

Finding Baifeng intact, they finally set their hearts at ease.

Although they did not know the specific process, everyone knew that their tribe's Soldiers had abandoned the Tribal Chief and become deserters, so they were all very angry, especially Xiong, because all the Soldiers were under his jurisdiction and training.

Having produced such Soldiers, he could not shirk the blame, and in his view, Soldiers who ran away were the most shameful; if it were him, he would definitely protect the Tribal Chief until the last moment.

Xiong's nostrils flared with anger, and the sound of his breathing could be heard clearly in the room; he suppressed his fury and asked: "Tribal Chief, which ones are the people who ran away? I will catch them and cut off their heads!"

Baifeng said unhurriedly: "Of those who followed me, two fled after fighting for a while, but they are already dead, and I have forgiven their faults, so their families do not need to be punished. Those who returned alive with me are all brave, good Soldiers."

"As for the ones who ran away, you find them yourself; if they have fled back to the tribe, I want you to bring them and their families to me alive; if they have not returned to the tribe, you must also find a way to catch them for me, even if they have died in the wilderness, you must bring their bones back to me."

Xiong solemnly performed the military fist salute that Baifeng had taught them, and then dragged the equally angry Chi out the door; both of them had responsibility for this matter, and neither could escape it.

Afterwards, the crowd cautiously asked Baifeng what exactly had happened, and Baifeng recounted the sequence of events with a calm expression; only then did everyone understand why the Tribal Chief was so angry and why he had asked them such questions.

Then they also lowered their heads and began to think; if it were them, would they have stayed and stood in front of Baifeng at that time? The final conclusion was "yes," even for the Shaman, who felt his own combat power was not worth mentioning, but he was still willing to share some of the harm for the Tribal Chief.

Baifeng did not listen to any more of their professions of loyalty, because he could not read minds and did not know if these people were sincere; he would listen to everything after he had brainwashed them.

Now Baifeng arranged a task for the Shaman, telling him to coordinate with the Military Department and send out a Large Team of people to bring back that bear skin; the value of that bear skin was high and it could not be wasted just like that.

Afterwards, he stopped paying attention to the crowd and got up to leave; he still had four large bear paws that had not been processed, and he also wanted to taste what the bear paws of a man-eating bear tasted like.