Chapter 445: All on the Road

Xuanyuan was moved by what he had been told, but he felt that the journey ahead was absolutely fraught with danger; if something were to happen to him, would the Xuanyuan Tribe still be able to survive under the pincer attack of the Suiren Clan and Huaxia, not to mention the Lieshan Clan, the Shennong Clan, and the Sanmiao and Dongyi groups led by Chiyou?

Shaohao was too young, and Leizu had wisdom but could not contend against Huaxia, so Xuanyuan was very hesitant now.

Zhishou also saw Xuanyuan's inner struggle and comforted him, saying, "If even an old man like me can walk that road, why do you think you cannot?"

Xuanyuan shook his head: "I am not afraid of the difficult journey, and I am even less afraid of wild beasts; if I could truly learn knowledge that surpasses Huaxia, what would those difficulties count for? What I fear is the Suiren Clan and Huaxia. If I follow the direction you mentioned to go to Kongtong, I must pass through the territories of those two tribes. The Suiren Clan does not know yet, but Huaxia already knows that there is a Guangchengzi on Kongtong Mountain."

"If he had not met Guangchengzi before, then after I told him, he would definitely go to find Guangchengzi first. I know Baifeng too well."

Zhishou suddenly laughed. Xuanyuan was somewhat puzzled and asked him why he was laughing. Zhishou replied: "What does it matter if they know? The result divined by Guangchengzi is that he wants to impart the 'Dao' to you. Even if others see Guangchengzi first, he will not teach them anything; without me to lead the way, they would not even be able to see Guangchengzi."

Xuanyuan's heart settled slightly, but he also developed a new doubt: "Then what about you, Zhishou? What kind of status do you have at Kongtong?"

Zhishou looked up, thought for a moment, and said with a smile: "I might just have good 'fate'. I was able to follow Guangchengzi and the others; otherwise, I would have died several dozen springs and autumns ago. And now, how many more springs and autumns do I have left to live?"

"Then what is 'good fate'? And what is 'fate'?"

Zhishou did not answer directly: "When you see Guangchengzi, you will naturally know."

Finally, Xuanyuan made up his mind to go to Kongtong with Zhishou, visit Guangchengzi, and then learn the Dao.

In order to avoid the Suiren Clan and Huaxia, he decided to set out in Winter. As long as he was fully prepared, he believed he would certainly be able to reach Kongtong safely. The most terrifying things in Winter were just the lack of food and the cold; as long as these two were resolved, there would be no problems.

According to what Zhishou said, by the time Xuanyuan returned, it would just be time for spring plowing. If Guangchengzi's 'Dao' was truly that powerful, the Xuanyuan Tribe would be able to save a year's time and quickly catch up to Huaxia.

Xuanyuan had also thought through his backup plan. After he left, he would hand everything over to Leizu to manage the Xuanyuan Tribe first. Limu and Dahong were the commanders he trusted most, but he needed to take Limu with him this time because Limu was the strongest Soldier of their Xuanyuan Tribe, and his own safety had to be protected by someone; Dahong would stay behind to command the army.

Other matters would be handled with the help of Cangjie, Changxian, and others. If he were truly unfortunate enough to die, then after Shaohao grew up, he would inherit the Xuanyuan Tribe, and they would never be allowed to go looking for any Guangchengzi again.

After settling everything, Xuanyuan began to prepare for his journey. He took three hundred Soldiers to protect himself because there had to be enough food along the way, and the most suitable thing that was easy to preserve and kept hunger at bay was Huaxia's pork cracklings. However, they did not have much of it, and they had exchanged for very little.

Xuanyuan immediately decided to send people with Slaves to Huaxia to trade for pork cracklings. Now he no longer cared whether the Slaves would increase Huaxia's strength once they reached Huaxia; after preparing to go to Kongtong, Xuanyuan made everything about Kongtong the priority.

While the people Xuanyuan sent were on their way to Huaxia, Baoxi also decided to head to Huaxia to deliver Wangzuo's head after that light Snow melted.

The Bear group was also getting closer and closer to Huaxia. Although their Dry Rations were almost at the bottom, as the scenery on the road became more and more familiar, the confidence of the Huaxia people gradually firmed up.

After that light Snow, Baifeng understood that this was the cold current that had attacked the Bear group; it had blown south from the northwest and reached them two days after he received the letter from the Bear group.

As soon as the Snow melted, Baifeng immediately had the New City team set out to meet the Bear group. The food supplies of the Bear group were already in an emergency, and they had to bring everyone back to Huaxia safely.

Although the road was muddy, the New City team set out without the slightest delay because they knew that after passing the former Kexiaozhan, the road ahead could not be traveled by carts, or rather, there was no road at all; people could only walk with difficulty. Therefore, besides their simple daily necessities, the team members were also carrying the food on their backs.

It was impossible for them to carry enough food to feed the entire Bear group of over a thousand people, but it was enough to ensure they would not starve to death during the final stretch of the journey back.

Baoxi did not want to walk, so Huangpin used his brain to make a bed that could be carried by people, so that Baoxi could rest while traveling.

Baoxi was becoming more and more satisfied with Huangpin, even having the illusion that as long as he gave Huangpin a little more time, he would be able to surpass Baifeng.

As for the Soldiers carrying the bed, they were cursing Huangpin in their hearts, because it was Huangpin who received the reward, while they were the ones suffering. They were even so hungry that walking was difficult, yet now they had to carry someone else too.

However, Huangpin did not have this self-awareness. Now he had completely detached himself from the lower class, and he did not even have the most basic empathy. Now all he thought about was how to make himself live more comfortably.

To avoid awkwardness and fear, Huangpin and Baoxi did not walk in the same group, and he also had a reasonable excuse: he was supposed to investigate another city of Huaxia, so he did not need to walk with the Tribal Chief.

Baoxi did not take it to heart, only telling Huangpin to handle it himself, but he must see results when he returned this time.

Huangpin promised with certainty, but his main purpose for doing this was that he did not want to walk; he also wanted others to carry him. How could he not enjoy the thing he had made himself? Plus, he was a great Leader; with the Tribal Chief not around, there was no problem with him sitting on a carrying bed, right?

After crossing the border river between Huaxia and the Suiren Clan, the two teams headed in completely different directions. However, Huangpin felt that they should wait a little while; otherwise, if the Tribal Chief arrived a bit late and failed to attract Huaxia's attention, they would be the ones to suffer.