Chapter 33: Going Home

A small white calf was walking aimlessly in the black valley. Its cries attracted everyone, including Baifeng. In Baifeng's eyes, this scene felt like endless loneliness, just like when he had first arrived here after escaping from the Cannibal Tribe's cave into the Wasteland.

It was just that now, the role of the Cannibal Tribe was being played by Baifeng and his tribesmen. Baifeng's heart was deeply stung, yet he could neither say anything nor do anything. No matter what, it would only expose his most shameless side—wanting to be a whore while still demanding a memorial arch for chastity. But the savages were more frank; they existed for food and for survival. The way they looked at the calf was merely looking at food, and they would not feel there was anything shameless about it.

Baifeng told everyone to keep moving. He took three people down to catch the calf. If left there without the protection of the herd, the calf would soon be snatched away by other predators.

And Baifeng did not shamelessly say he wanted to protect the calf; he just kept warning himself that he needed the calf. He needed to domesticate cattle and bring animal husbandry to his tribe. If the domestication succeeded, cattle would also be the greatest asset when the tribe stepped into a true agricultural civilization.

When Baifeng and the others ran down to prepare to surround it, he did not expect that the calf had no intention of running away. Perhaps it had not eaten, drunk, or rested since last night and had been searching for the herd, so it was now exhausted.

Baifeng walked up to the calf very easily and reached out to touch its head. It did not dodge or resist; instead, it sniffed, stuck out its prickly tongue, and licked Baifeng's hand, completely unaware that Baifeng was the culprit who had caused it and its herd to end up like this.

The guilt in Baifeng's heart had just risen when it was suppressed by his own savagery. He smiled happily at his tribesmen and then tried to put his arm around the calf's neck to walk forward.

The calf was also very obedient and followed Baifeng forward without resisting. Baifeng pulled back its thick lips and saw that its teeth were basically fully grown, which meant the calf could already eat Grass now and did not need milk.

The main group was walking very slowly because they were carrying too much. Baifeng let the three of them follow up to continue protecting them, while he stayed behind with the calf. Letting the calf look at the heads of its dead companions was too cruel, and it might also scare the calf into running away.

Along the way, crows kept jumping and flying in the trees, wanting to sneakily snatch some of the Beef from Baifeng's tribe. The tribesmen did not need to pick up the scraps of meat, blood clots, and viscera that fell to the ground, but these were things the crows were fighting madly over.

After discovering that the humans did not care about them swooping down to pick up things on the ground, they began to charge over boldly, even fighting fiercely with each other right under the humans' feet.

The longer they walked, the more things Baifeng discovered following them along the way. At first, it was just crows and the like, but now he could see sneaky foxes and badgers, and in the sky, Baifeng even saw an eagle with an astonishing wingspan.

Baifeng felt less and less confident. Although they had strength in numbers, having all these various animals following them truly made his heart go cold and his soles sweat.

With a loud shout, he told the tribesmen on guard to be vigilant. Baifeng himself let go of the calf's neck, letting it follow on its own. Baifeng gripped his Spear tightly, and his elbow remained pressed against his Knife.

The cawing of the crows made Baifeng increasingly annoyed. Among the two hundred or so tribesmen, there was only the huffing and puffing sound of those carrying heavy loads. Baifeng felt that singing a work song would be most appropriate right now, but let alone the tribesmen, even he didn't know how to sing one.

After brewing on it for a moment, Baifeng took a breath and roared at the top of his lungs: "A shout to bind outside the tent!" This sound made the calf's legs tremble and it jumped to the side. The other tribesmen couldn't turn their heads because they were weighed down by heavy loads, while the tribesmen on guard all turned to look at what madness their Tribal Chief was up to.

Baifeng didn't care. He only felt that after that one shout, the dark clouds suddenly parted and his unease dissipated quite a bit. Then he continued to roar at the top of his lungs: "Cannot help but let the hero laugh heartily, I alone, single-handedly, trampled the Tang Battalion! Killing until the soldiers feel bitter sorrow, killing until the blood flows like a river into the sea, killing until the corpses pile up like mountains with nowhere to bury them!"

The crows in the surrounding trees were so startled they dared not fight anymore, instead flying far away to observe what this human was doing. The tribesmen, however, felt less panicked by Baifeng's roaring chant.

Baifeng continued to sing: "Little Tang was scared out of his wits by me, who dares to come when the horses trample the five battalions... Twenty years later I shall return to take revenge, the executioners guard me outside the killing field!" The tribesmen didn't know what Baifeng's singing meant, nor did they know that words could be spoken with such a melody and rhythm, so one by one they clumsily imitated Baifeng's singing style.

This passage from the Qin opera "Beheading Dan Tong" was what Baifeng felt was the most tragic and imposing, but he only knew this much. The road was still long, so he started over from the beginning and repeated the song, and the tribesmen also hummed along time after time. By the end, although they didn't know the lyrics, they could already follow the tune.

This troop moved forward with great momentum, mighty and grand, scaring away all sorts of petty thieves and the beasts hiding in the shadows.

Baifeng and his group were very loud. The tribesmen guarding the home base only heard strange sounds coming from the distant forest, and they were all very afraid. Coupled with the fact that those who went out last night hadn't returned, even the Shaman, who could usually serve as the backbone, was now at a loss and didn't know what to do.

Hearing the sound getting closer and closer, walking toward them, but with most of the tribe's fighting force gone, everyone had no choice but to pick up their Weapons and hide in the houses, prepared to fight to the death.

The Shaman put on his feather crown, took his staff in one hand and his Knife in the other, and stood before "Heaven and Earth." He lit a large fire and prayed for the gods' protection. If there was truly no other way, he would plunge the Knife into his own heart and sacrifice himself to the gods to protect his tribe.

The strange sound drew closer and closer. The prayer in the Shaman's mouth was chanted faster and faster, and his hand holding the Knife was covered in sweat. Yet, the gods still gave him no oracle. He had already raised the Knife toward his heart, waiting for the moment the tribesmen rushed out with their Weapons to fight, so he could sacrifice himself.

Listening to the sound, that group of people had already left the forest and entered the plain. He waited for the tribesmen to make the sound of attacking, but that strange roaring sound grew closer and closer, and he heard no sound of the tribesmen preparing to attack.

He thought the tribesmen were greedy for life and afraid of death, and he prepared to go back to supervise the battle and launch the attack himself. He never expected to see his own familiar tribesmen, bringing countless prey, rushing toward home. That strange roaring had also become a beautiful war song.

The Shaman dropped the Knife, nearly stabbing his own foot, but he didn't care. He shouted loudly and rushed out to welcome them. The tribesmen hiding in the houses saw this too, and they also cheered and rushed out.

Xiong, who was standing at the very front, received the warmest welcome. When he was Tribal Chief before, he had never felt this sensation of being praised by everyone, so he was happy beyond control.

The tribesmen carrying the meat put down their harvest, which made a dull thud as it hit the ground, showing off their achievements to the tribesmen.

The tribesmen guarding the home base had never seen such a scene. The meat was piled up like a mountain, and one by one they happily touched this pile of meat and sniffed that pile of meat.

Baifeng walked over last, followed by a small white calf. Everyone first gave the Tribal Chief even greater cheers and praise, and then looked at the calf, asking when it was to be slaughtered.

Baifeng shook his head and said: "I will not slaughter it. It is the future of our tribe."