Chapter 470: Bearing the Title While Waiting for Death

The member of the Third Tribe stopped the group that was about to stand up, then glanced outside the tent; seeing no suspicious shadows, they whispered, "Actually, I have another way, though its reliability isn't very high, but at least there is a small chance we can save both of us."

The Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe's eyes lit up: "What is it? Speak."

"We still have to form the alliance, but how about this: we two don't take the position of chief for these new tribes, and instead install Chen Shui? Regardless of whether he is willing or not, since he is just one person compared to our two tribes, he has no choice but to agree. When the Huaxia come to question us later, we can just say he was afraid and wouldn't admit it. How about that?"

The Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe clapped his hands, just about to say it was excellent, but realizing the noise was a bit loud, he quickly lowered his voice: "This is a good plan, but I think we should wait until our two tribes have merged before telling him. We can't reveal it now; it would be bad if he ran away."

The two hit it off immediately, and the Tribal Chief of the Third Tribe expressed that he had the same thought. Afterward, both let out a long sigh; although the chance wasn't great, it was at least much better than just waiting to die.

After sitting quietly for a short while, footsteps sounded outside. A figure was pacing back and forth outside, hesitant and seemingly wanting to enter but not daring to. The group guessed it was Chen Shui who had come.

It was indeed Chen Shui outside. He had waited by the fire for a long time without seeing anyone, and his anxiety grew. He couldn't wait any longer and came over, but there was no sound in the tent. If not for the faint firelight inside casting a circle of shadows, he would have thought they had all fled.

Seeing that the time was about right, the two Tribal Chiefs exchanged glances with a few Soldiers, then slowly stood up. They made their expressions very serious, and then, in silence, walked out of the tent one by one.

Chen Shui was a bit uneasy, but the anxiety on his face was obvious. He really didn't want to come to the Fourth Tribe. If he had been left in the Third Tribe to quietly be a small Soldier, how good that would have been. Now he had to worry that the two tribes wouldn't reach an agreement and he would end up finished.

Fortunately, after they came out, the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe said to Chen Shui solemnly: "We have already discussed it: we will form an alliance to resist the Huaxia. Let's set off tonight. I will bring all the food and people and go to the Third Tribe. I am afraid it will be too late if we go tomorrow, and even if you let me sleep now, I wouldn't be able to."

These words were exactly what Chen Shui wanted. Compared to the torment of the soul, physical exhaustion was nothing. Now that his life was almost at an end, what did one night of no sleep matter? If he hadn't been afraid to go into the wilderness alone, he would have gone to the Second Tribe that very night.

Chen Shui nodded repeatedly in agreement after hearing this and urged the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe to make arrangements quickly.

The members of the Fourth Tribe still didn't know what had happened; they had already fallen into a sound sleep. Once the Tribal Chief gave the order, those few Soldiers hurried off to call people loudly.

The tribespeople who were woken up were all bewildered and bleary-eyed; they shivered in the cold wind and waited for the Tribal Chief to speak.

Seeing that everyone was up, the Tribal Chief of the Fourth Tribe used brief language to explain the situation to everyone. Now, all their sleepiness was completely gone, because this concerned their very survival.

The Tribal Chief did not care about the tribespeople's silence; he had already thought of a way out for himself, so he sternly demanded they quickly pack their things and travel through the night.

The tribespeople began to pack reluctantly. When they were with the Suiren clan, they hadn't had a good life. They had finally heard a Leader say they could leave the Suiren clan with him to establish their own tribe and not have to live such a bitter life anymore, so they had followed him happily. They hadn't expected that not only had life not improved, but now they had reached a point of life and death.

But everyone had no choice and could only do as arranged.

In the middle of the night, everyone held up rows of Torches and began to cross the forest, heading toward the Third Tribe, completely abandoning their own tribe.

Xiong had also joined up with the first group escorting captives yesterday. They were gradually advancing toward the territory of the Third Tribe. The easy resolution of the first two battles had given everyone full confidence, and they felt the next two battles would be just like the previous ones, without any difficulty.

The speed of travel at night was slow, and since everyone was very tired, it wasn't until noon the next day that they reached the territory of the Third Tribe. Seeing their Tribal Chief return, the Third Tribe's panicked hearts finally settled slightly. They hadn't dared to go out hunting again, fearing they would encounter the Huaxia, and were willing to go hungry instead.

The people of the Fourth Tribe set up camp next to the Third Tribe. Then the three Tribal Chiefs sat together and first gave the order to eat the stored food directly today, to eat freely, and to worry about it after they were full. The tribespeople cheered upon hearing this, but the cheering stopped after only a few short sounds, because they realized that eating the stored food meant that if it snowed for a few more days, or if they didn't catch any game for a few days, they would only have starvation awaiting them.

Seeing that everyone had doubts, the two Tribal Chiefs could only say: "Eat! If you aren't full, how will you have the strength to resist the enemy? And don't be afraid; the Huaxia have many Ironware items. As long as we seize one or two of their Weapons, the food we get in exchange will be enough for you to eat for a long time!"

After hearing this, the tribespeople of the two tribes felt it made sense, and only then did they dare to take out the stored food to eat. However, only the two Tribal Chiefs looked at each other and smiled bitterly, because they felt that rather than handing all the food over to the Huaxia after surrendering, it was better to let their own tribespeople have one or two full meals first.

While everyone was eating, the three Tribal Chiefs sat together to discuss the specific matters of the alliance. They believed the most important thing at present was who would be the Great Tribal Chief to lead this Tribal Alliance; they couldn't each fight their own way.

Chen Shui very tactfully said nothing, because he believed this was a competition between two chiefs who still had tribespeople. He just wanted to be a small Soldier now; never mind some bullshit Great Tribal Chief, he didn't even want the title of his current chief.

What he didn't expect was that the two Tribal Chiefs of the Third and Fourth Tribes said in unison that they wanted Chen Shui to be it. Chen Shui's face turned pale upon hearing this, and he waved his hands repeatedly in refusal: "No, no, no, I can't take this. You have seen it yourselves, I don't even have a single tribesman left; I can't be considered a Tribal Chief at all. I only need to be a Soldier; you two should go and choose."

But the two of them had already reached a consensus and said with a smile: "Tribal Chief Chen Shui, you were the one who first proposed the alliance, and you know the Huaxia's combat power better than we do, while we know nothing. Moreover, you are wiser than us, so this Great Tribal Chief must be you."

Chen Shui said loudly: "No, I cannot take it! It must be chosen from the two of you!"

The two Tribal Chiefs stopped pretending and directly threatened Chen Shui: "This Great Tribal Chief position—you must take it whether you want to or not! You have no choice!"

Chen Shui then realized he had been set up, so he stood up angrily and said: "You two teamed up to screw me over?!"

But his questioning was met only with a cold: "Wasn't it you who screwed us over first?"

Afterward, the two Tribal Chiefs directly ordered people to come over and keep Chen Shui under strict guard, preparing to let Chen Shui wear the title of Great Tribal Chief and wait for death, not giving him a single chance to run away.