Chapter 469: It Is Merely the Lives of Two Tribal Chiefs

After the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe finished speaking, he also fell silent, because when the situation of the several tribes was synthesized, it seemed that what Chenshui said was all true, for the Chenshui Tribe did not have the ability to plot such a massive conspiracy; he could not have crossed the territories of several tribes and killed those Soldiers without a sound, and the Chenshui Tribe also lacked the strength to scheme against the other tribes; the only answer was that Huaxia had truly come to attack.

Chenshui and the Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe voiced their thoughts together, which was to form an alliance, but when the Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe spoke to the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe, he kept giving him winks; the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe understood the meaning in his heart and did not directly ask.

He was only somewhat hesitant, looking at the embryonic form of the tribe he had managed to scrape together outside the Tent; he truly did not want to let Huaxia destroy it just like that, but if they united, there would definitely be huge losses, and whether his tribe could even exist afterward was a question; the greatest possibility was a complete merger with the Third Tribe.

He felt somewhat lost, so he said he wanted to consider it carefully; this matter was too important, and he could not make a decision immediately.

Chenshui felt this was a normal reaction, but he still said: "It is better to be as early as possible; it is best to decide today. Huaxia might attack at any moment; if we delay any longer, I fear there will be no chance at all."

The Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe said he wanted to discuss it with his Soldiers, then asked Chenshui and the Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe to go out and walk around first, and to notify them once the result was discussed.

The two of them very tactfully left the Tent, but it was freezing cold outside, and there was really nothing to walk around for, and in the middle of the night, nothing could be seen, so the two of them had no choice but to find a campfire group and sit down to warm themselves.

After a long while, Chenshui became somewhat anxious, so he said: "Should we go and urge them again? My heart is in a panic right now, I am just afraid that Huaxia has already attacked."

The Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe sighed: "I am even more panicked than you. Right now, Huaxia's target is our tribes. Your Chenshui Tribe is already gone, what else do you have to worry about? How about this, you wait here, and I will go and persuade him again; our relationship is good, perhaps I can make him reach a decision sooner."

Chenshui did not harbor suspicion and only urged the Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe to go quickly.

The Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe immediately stood up and walked toward the Tent of the Fourth Tribe with a hint of urgency; when he reached the entrance of the Tent, he still called out, saying he had something to discuss.

The Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe had long known he still had things to say, only he had to avoid Chenshui, so he hurriedly called him in.

The small Tent was almost filled with people, all of them confidants of the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe, which was enough to show his current unease.

The Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe was afraid that Chenshui might anxiously come over later, so he cut straight to the point: "What I just told you with Chenshui was actually mostly what Chenshui told me. Much of what he said was false, and I have roughly guessed some things."

That the Chenshui Tribe was completely wiped out should be true, but the number of Huaxia people is likely much higher than what he said. You know how many troops it takes to attack a tribe of one or two thousand people; for Huaxia to have wiped them out at such a fast speed and then gone to the Second Tribe, I think they definitely number no less than ten thousand, perhaps around fifteen to twenty thousand; it is impossible for them to be as few as he claimed."

The Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe hurriedly echoed: "Yes, that is exactly it. When you all were speaking just now, I felt something was wrong, but since you were speaking, I did not say much, and you also gave me a hint. I have been waiting for you to tell me; what else is there? Speak quickly."

"Another thing is Chenshui's goal. He does not truly want us to unite and resist Huaxia at all. I suspect his plan is to blend into the alliance formed by our two tribes and hide his identity as a Tribal Chief, because no matter how we unite or what we do, we are bound to fail without a shred of hope. But as long as he surrenders as a Soldier, he can get a chance to survive. Before we set out, he had already told me he was a Soldier of our tribe, but I did not agree, still considering him a Tribal Chief."

After hearing this, the face of the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe looked even worse in the darkness, and the other Soldiers were also dejected, because no matter how one looked at it, there was not a shred of hope left.

The Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe said with a sorrowful voice: "Alas, perhaps we should take this opportunity to quickly summon your tribe, and let our two tribes flee together. If we go south and compete with those tribes next to the Xuanyuan Tribe, there might still be some chance."

The Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe shook his head: "It won't work, there is no chance. Our tribe has almost no food left, and your tribe is likely the same; we simply cannot support a move south. Besides, those places have already been partitioned by other tribes; if we go there, we won't be able to seize anything. In the past, we were supported by the scattered Villages of the Suiren clan, which was barely enough to sustain us, but now all the Villages have gathered back into tribes like ours, and a small piece of territory cannot support so many people."

The Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe said in a tone of near despair: "Then what can we do? Must we surrender to Huaxia?"

The Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe actually nodded in confirmation: "That is correct. I came to discuss this with you because that is what I meant."

The Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe was full of disbelief: "You... do you really think so? But Huaxia likely hates the Suiren clan now; even if we surrender, our fate will not be any better, especially for the two of us."

"This is the final method. Fighting will only cause more of our tribesmen to die, and it will still result in being wiped out. If we surrender, even if the two of us die, the others still have a great possibility of surviving, right? Huaxia is currently very short of people; they will not kill people indiscriminately. Besides, it was us who led these people out. Now, as Tribal Chiefs, since we have no way to protect our tribesmen with fists and axes, then let us trade our lives for theirs."

After a long silence, the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe finally said: "Fine, let us do it this way. In any case, the two of us are old and don't have many years left to live; if we die, then we die."

Throughout the whole process, those Soldiers of the Fourth Tribe remained silent, leaving the decision entirely to these two Tribal Chiefs. Upon hearing that the two Tribal Chiefs were willing to use their own lives to protect them, they felt a sense of relief in their hearts, but they did not speak out of turn to say things like they would accompany them.

"Then let us prepare to set out now. I will summon all the Tribal Chiefs to go to your tribe together; whether we wait for Huaxia to come or take the initiative to find them, either will do."