Chapter 256

The disguise mentioned by Wuyang was not as simple as Tang Luo and the others changing clothes.

She gave Tang Luo and the other two a potion, which, combined with her witchcraft, temporarily altered their appearances.

They became Wuyang's two personal bodyguards and one personal maid, each with their original identities, wholeheartedly following Wuyang and rarely interacting with outsiders.

This made it very convenient for Tang Luo and the others to impersonate them.

As for where the original owner was, aside from Wuyang, probably no one else knew.

"Just leave the horses here," Wuyang said to Tang Luo and the others, then produced a horse carriage model no larger than a palm, exquisitely crafted, and tossed it onto the ground.

During the toss, the carriage emitted a jade-green light, and upon landing, it had already transformed into a real carriage.

Only the horses pulling it were made of wood.

"Get on board, just sit, no need to drive," Wuyang said. "It will find its own way."

The space outside the carriage for the coachman was quite spacious; sitting down posed no problem for Tang Luo and the other two. The Heavenly Howling Dog lay at Tang Luo's feet, lazily squinting, occasionally shaking its mouth.

As the true witch's carriage, entering the Fusang tribe was naturally unobstructed.

Along the way, Tang Luo and the other two clearly felt that the Fusang tribe's defenses were indeed strict, with both open and covert arrangements weaving a terrifying net.

They were waiting for someone to walk into the net; even if it appeared to have a loophole where the Great Mystic Immortal Master could employ his methods to enter, it was actually a deliberately set trap.

"Without me, you cannot possibly infiltrate," Wuyang's voice entered the three's ears.

"We never even thought of infiltrating," Gang muttered, sounding somewhat lacking in confidence.

After all, not infiltrating relied on Tang Luo, not his own strength.

"Not infiltrating to seek death also wouldn't give your companions a chance," Wuyang said. "Rest assured, I won't inquire where your companions are."

"Inquiring doesn't matter; we don't know either," Gang laughed.

They did not share Tang Luo's mission of transmitting news, but Tang Luo had told them a few days prior that the mission had already been completed.

This meant the news of the Northern Wasteland Great Witch's impending birth had already been successfully brought into Zhongdu by "Kongxuan" and others, known to the Great Yin court and the Longya Dao Sect.

How the Great Yin side would respond was not something Tang Luo and the others could know.

Tang Luo's side had also received no information about returning.

Regarding Gang's words, Wuyang neither confirmed nor denied.

As the "bait" in a feint-to-the-east, strike-to-the-west maneuver, these three were almost like suicide attackers; to prevent capture and leakage of information, not informing them of the main force's situation was normal.

But judging by their strength, they were certainly not nameless fodder to be casually discarded; they should probably know something.

If one were a suspicious person, they would inevitably try every means to probe.

But Wuyang only sought to obstruct the Great Witch's birth and did not wish to ask further; she merely mentioned it casually to ease Tang Luo and the others' minds.

The gathering place of the Fusang tribe was bustling, people coming and going, appearing harmonious at first glance.

However, many wore knives and swords, their eyes carrying a hint of murderous intent; ordinary pedestrians kept their distance, much like avoiding fierce, large dogs on the street with no leashes and bared teeth.

Yet when these people saw the carriage carrying Tang Luo and the others approaching, they all avoided it as much as possible, standing by the roadside to perform respectful salutations, not daring to raise their heads.

"Hmph," Wuyang's cold snort came from inside the carriage, "The Fusang warriors are getting worse and worse."

The so-called warriors were the higher-status class in the Fusang tribe, equivalent to Great Yin military officers or similar roles.

However, Fusang tribe warriors were rampant; any family with some influence could produce a warrior clanging about—even if they had only a name and no authority.

That is why Wuyang said they were getting worse and worse.

Her words were blunt, and the group of bowed warriors dared not utter a single complaint.

Even though this was their Fusang tribe, the Wuji tribe's witch could kill them as easily as eating and drinking, and the tribe's two witches would not, at such a critical moment, quarrel with another witch over some minor warriors.

"What's wrong? You look in a bad mood—indeed, you haven't found anyone, have you?" a voice came from the end of the street.

From afar to near, a tall man strode over with the gait of a dragon and tiger.

"None of your business!" Wuyang dismounted the carriage, simply put it away, looked at this man who was a full head taller than her and could match Gang in stature, and spoke bluntly, "You should have been stationed here today with me, yet you ran off alone. You know I'm not good at saving people. Three have already died, so I had to pause and wait for your return."

The man said, his identity becoming apparent—indeed, he was also a witch. "You say it's not my concern?"

This person was the witch of the Heishui tribe, named Batu.

The bout among the five tribes had actually begun yesterday.

Since it had just started, both sides were mainly probing, with no major casualties; only the Heishui tribe had lost one person.

Today was the second day; originally, Wuyang should have been stationed, but she could not restrain herself and went out to search for those few who had caused a great disturbance in the Northern Wasteland.

Left alone, Batu, who excelled at killing but not at saving, ended up causing a death even after shouting surrender—this was rather awkward.

So he simply stopped, Batu intending to go find Wuyang, and happened to meet her.

"That's because you're useless," Wuyang said bluntly.

It seemed this guy not only had poor relations with the two witches of the Fusang tribe, but also with the witch of the Heishui tribe.

One might even guess he had poor relations with all other witches.

No wonder he opposed the Great Witch's birth.

"Cut the nonsense; since you haven't found anyone, just go back," Batu said. "Your Wujin tribe has lost two people."

"Batu, are you doing this on purpose?" Wuyang's thick brows rose, as if about to turn hostile.

"It was you who left on your own; none of my business!" Batu snorted coldly, turned, and walked away.

Wuyang cursed twice behind him, chose not to fight, and walked toward that direction.

Tang Luo and the other two followed behind, saying nothing more, temporarily obeying Wuyang's arrangements.

Waiting for the right moment to act would definitely be safer than the three rashly barging in—at least for Gang and Tang Yuhan.

For Tang Luo, it was waiting by the stump for the rabbit, waiting to catch them all in one net, to finish the battle in one engagement.

Soon, Wuyang brought Tang Luo and the other two to the site of the bout.

A spacious round training field, with five observation platforms built around it, all luxurious and comfortable, clearly having required some effort.

These platforms were naturally for the leaders and witches of the five tribes.

Under the high platform were wooden sheds, where the participants from the major tribes stayed during the duels, but the number of people there far exceeded ten.

Many people were attending to them nearby, and there were also healers for treating injuries—everything was fully prepared.

Wu Yang climbed onto the high platform and sat down. Beside him, a middle-aged man who bore some resemblance to Wu Yang looked over and said in a deep voice: "Don't be willful. Our side is at a disadvantage—we have only eight people left, and one of them is seriously injured; it's impossible for him to return to the field within three to five days."

Wu Yang glanced at the man, said nothing, and responded with cold indifference.

The middle-aged man did not get angry, or perhaps showed no sign of anger, and redirected his gaze back to the arena.

Even the three attendants who had accompanied Wu Yang failed to show proper respect in their gaze.

This man was Wu You Chao, the chieftain of the Wu Jin tribe.

He shared the same surname as Wu Yang, but it was not that all members of the Wu Jin tribe believed in Wu; rather, the two were uncle and nephew.

Rumor had it that the previous great king of the Wu Jin tribe—Wu Yang's father—had been secretly murdered by Wu You Chao, not died of illness as it appeared on the surface.

Whether this rumor was true or false remained uncertain, but it was certain that Wu Yang and Wu You Chao had a cold relationship.

Fortunately, neither showed any obvious tendency toward internal conflict; they merely treated each other with cold indifference, which did not threaten the Wu Jin tribe's standing among the five major tribes.

"Let's begin again," Batu returned to the high platform and said loudly.

Tang Luo swept his gaze across all the high platforms.

The chieftains of the five major tribes were all present, but among the six shamans, only Batu and Wu Yang were there; the other four were absent, and no one knew where they had gone.

Most likely, they were quietly cultivating in their respective dwellings.

Shamans were not like chieftains; their status fundamentally came from their own strength, and they clearly understood that strength was the foundation—there would be no reversal of priorities.

Or rather, a priest obsessed with power could never reach the realm of the "shaman," unless they were a super genius with extraordinary talent—such a person had not yet appeared in the northern wilderness.

The strength of the shamans was formidable, and the chieftains of the five major tribes also bore an aura of authority.

Tang Luo glanced over and could see faintly visible "totemic power" behind these five individuals.

The totemic power behind the Wu Jin tribe's chieftain appeared as a cluster of flames, with what seemed like a bird faintly visible at the center of the fire.

The totemic power of the Fusang tribe truly resembled a great tree, yet within it hovered a circular red sun.

The totemic power of the Xiongxiong tribe was not a great bear, but a massive, heavy black mountain.

Behind the chieftain of the Heishui tribe, the Black Sea waves surged and churned, within which a creature resembling a black turtle rose and sank—this was the tangible form of the totemic power behind the Heishui tribe's chieftain.

Behind the chieftain of the Tengshe tribe, it was comparatively simple: a yellowish-brown snake with strange wings twisted its body.

These totemic powers could both shield the tribal chieftains from harm by shamanic or Daoist arts and, during battle, provide them with tremendous assistance.

However, these powers did not belong to the chieftains themselves; they could not consciously or actively wield them, and thus functioned as a kind of "passive" force.

In fact, the chieftains themselves had little awareness of this power.

On the contrary, the priests could sense the presence of the totemic power.

Following Batu's voice, a person soon stepped forward from the Tengshe tribe—but it was a priest, likely the high priest, whose gloomy gaze swept over the duelists of the remaining four tribes before finally settling on the seriously injured individual from the Wu Jin tribe.

The high priest of the Tengshe tribe revealed a cruel smile and curled his finger: "You, come up."