Chapter 88: Forming an Alliance

Over these years, through the efforts of Baoxi, the number of Soldiers he can control now reaches three thousand; although this is not much in the context of the entire tribe, among all his brothers, he is only slightly behind Qi.

Furthermore, at the gathering last year, he only gave a small portion of the things he seized to the tribe, while other items that could be stored for a long time had already been hidden away by him; he was just waiting for an opportunity, as those supplies were the capital for his start and the guarantee for his comeback after failure.

His father, Baoxi believed, was not killed by anyone but had truly died of old age; after all, having lived for more than thirty winters and summers, his teeth had begun to loosen, which meant he was no longer a qualified Soldier, and since even eating meat had become difficult, it was time for him to die.

It was just that he felt the death came a bit too early; it would have been better to wait until after the Autumn Harvest, for even if a fight broke out then, it would not affect the grain harvest; if they fought now, although they could best preserve the strength of the Suiren clan, the short-term trauma would still need time to heal.

His father was dead, so throwing the corpse into a mountain cave would suffice; what was important now was what to do about the power.

Qi felt that he should be the new Tribal Chief, and coupled with his powerful martial strength, he was fearless; his arrogance and conceit also made him unable to see how many enemies were lurking in the shadows.

The Tribal Chief of the He Tribe, Changhe, was also an elder of the Suiren clan; the He Tribe was a large affiliated tribe relatively close to the Suiren clan, and he was his father's younger brother; strictly speaking, Baoxi still had to call him uncle, even though Changhe was only a few winters and summers older than him.

The combat strength of the He Tribe was powerful, and the number of Soldiers he could mobilize reached four thousand, so in front of others, he did not hide his desire for power at all; it was just that Qi could not react to it at all, and had never even thought that a Tribal Chief of an affiliated tribe would want to contend with him for the position of Suiren Tribal Chief.

Other Tribal Chiefs of nearby affiliated tribes also rushed to the Suiren tribe after receiving the news of the old Tribal Chief's death; they were also tribal elders and had a certain right to speak, and the Suiren clan, whether going to war or defending against enemies, needed to rely on the strength of these affiliated tribes.

However, they did not have such great ambition, because they were also old, having lived for thirty winters and summers, and might suddenly die at the dinner table one day just like the old Tribal Chief; managing their own tribes well was enough.

As for Baoxi's younger brothers, he did not expect that two fools would actually want to try and snatch the position of Tribal Chief; they did not even look at whether the people they could control exceeded a thousand, whether they had enough Weapon and grain supplies in their hands, or whether they had the ability to be a Tribal Chief; they probably just thought that a Tribal Chief could eat meat and sleep with beauties without restriction.

Baoxi's evaluation of them was that they might as well go to sleep early, or find a cliff to jump off; once he mastered the tribe, these brothers definitely could not be spared, as they were the bane of the tribe, and those younger brothers were of no use anyway, so killing them would be just that—killing them.

But now his older brother Qi still controlled the most powerful combat strength of the tribe; how could he snatch the power from his hands? Looking at the smiling Changhe, a plan came to Baoxi's mind.

Although as a younger brother, he could go to Qi's side without obstruction, Baoxi was still young after all, his body not fully grown, and he could not compare to Qi, who had dominated the wilderness for many years; even a sneak attack could potentially be countered.

Taking his own Soldiers there was impossible; no matter how stupid Qi was, he would not let his younger brother bring Soldiers to see him at this juncture.

Baoxi set his sights on Changhe; since their goals were the same, why not unite? He believed that the two of them fighting one would always have a chance of winning, and even if the sneak attack did not succeed, the Soldiers the two of them could command, when added together, were certainly not fewer than Qi's Soldiers.

Moreover, Qi's Soldiers did not like Qi; no one liked a Tribal Chief who hogged food and had a violent temper, whereas Baoxi, whenever he had good things, would always share them with his Soldiers after eating, and he treated his Soldiers relatively kindly, never beating or scolding them without cause, so Baoxi's Soldiers loved him dearly; if Baoxi were to become Tribal Chief, they would certainly fight with all their might.

Baoxi sought out Changhe, who was not sad at all and was even smiling extremely happily even though his older brother had only passed away a few days ago, and pulled him aside, away from the other Tribal Chiefs.

Baoxi did not hide anything and asked straightforwardly: "Uncle, do you want to be the Tribal Chief of the Suiren clan?"

Changhe naturally did not expect Baoxi to ask so directly, but thinking of his four thousand Soldiers, he was naturally full of confidence, and raising his head, he said proudly: "Why not? I command so many Soldiers, and the tribe is managed in an orderly fashion; the previous Suiren Tribal Chief was your father and also my older brother, so I naturally have the qualifications to be this Tribal Chief."

As long as you have the guts, Baoxi sneered in his heart, but his face showed a look of panic: "Uncle, if you want to be the Tribal Chief, I naturally support it; with your ability, you will certainly make the Suiren clan even more powerful, but now they all seem to support my older brother Qi."

"He has a violent temper, a wicked character, no talent for managing the tribe, and is fond of killing; I am afraid that if he becomes the Tribal Chief, one day my head might be chopped off by him for amusement, or he might forcibly collect more grain and Cloth from the tribe I manage."

Changhe naturally agreed with Baoxi's words; based on his understanding of Qi, killing a younger brother for amusement was something he could truly do.

"So I say, Baoxi, why don't you bring your Soldiers and join me in killing Qi? Once I become the Tribal Chief, I will definitely give you grain and Cloth like a mountain, and I will absolutely not collect extra things from your tribe."

Baoxi, of course, did not really believe him, and he had never even thought about letting Changhe be the Tribal Chief.

However, Baoxi still pretended to be very panicked and wanted to ask Changhe to take an oath, the more vicious the better; only then would he be willing to help Changhe.

After Changhe was stunned for a moment, he loudly stated his oath, but what he thought was that he promised to give Baoxi a reward of grain and supplies as big as a mountain after the deed was done, but mountains could be big or small, and he had not told him how big the mountain was.

Then he also wanted Baoxi to take an oath; Baoxi felt no pressure at all regarding this and immediately took an even more vicious oath; in any case, he knew the oath would never be fulfilled.

Seeing that Baoxi was so obedient, Changhe felt relieved; after all, no one dared not to abide by an oath.

However, taking several thousand people over would be too obvious a target; they might not only fail to kill Qi but instead be counter-killed by Qi's people; a safer plan was still needed.