Chapter 819: Chapter 818 Fire Rat Tribe_1
Shi Xiaole could never have imagined that upon reaching the third trial, he would encounter such a scene.
When he awoke, he was locked in a dungeon reeking of decay, with no hint of daylight, wearing a prisoner’s garb that left his limbs exposed. His Golden Silk Inner Armor, Red Left Sword, Tiger Abyss Sword, and all his other belongings had vanished without a trace.
He wanted to break out, but he found he could not use his powers. Worse yet, the suppression of mental force here was more exaggerated than in the second trial. Not to mention projecting it externally, he couldn’t even use the Controlling Sword with Qi Skill!
Which meant, at this moment, Shi Xiaole was nothing more than an ordinary person with great strength.
After being locked up in the dungeon for two days, footsteps finally approached.
"Move!"
Two strong men dressed in strange attire, with feathers in their hair and muscles like hills, walked in and shoved Shi Xiaole forward.
"Gentlemen, may I know what crime I have committed?"
Shi Xiaole asked.
To save himself, he needed to first understand the situation.
"What crime? Your very existence is the biggest crime, foreigner!"
The sturdy man on the left let out a cold, mocking laugh.
The word ’foreigner’ gave Shi Xiaole a clue, but before he could say anything more, the man on the right revealed a ferocious expression: "Blabber one more word, and I’ll rip out your tongue!"
Shi Xiaole deliberately stumbled, bumping into the halberd in the left-side sturdy man’s hand, and his heart sank.
By his estimation, that halberd weighed at least ten thousand catties. Given how easily the two men wielded it, their strength must exceed fifty thousand catties, far surpassing his own.
Moreover, along the way, he saw strong men with stern faces stationed on both sides, just like those two. Shi Xiaole had no confidence in fighting his way out, so he waited quietly for a change in circumstances.
Stepping out of the dungeon, Shi Xiaole’s mood soured even more.
It seemed like a primitive tribe, where everyone wore feathers in their hair. The women were all tall and athletic; the men, even taller and more muscular. Looking around, even the weakest among them must possess at least ten thousand catties of strength.
Many were wrestling. Perhaps their fighting skills were nothing special in Shi Xiaole’s eyes, but their strength made him shiver inwardly. With his current condition, there was no chance of escaping.
The tribal people also watched Shi Xiaole, openly following him, as if excitedly discussing something.
Before long, Shi Xiaole was escorted to a huge stone altar.
The altar covered hundreds of square meters, with a thick stone pillar at its very center. At the base of the pillar was a circular groove about a zhang wide, from which multiple trenches radiated outward, leading to smaller stone pillars.
At the moment, each of these smaller pillars had a person tied to it.
Upon seeing Shi Xiaole, a woman was dumbstruck; it was none other than Yu Yourong.
After tying Shi Xiaole to one of the smaller pillars, an elder dressed much more splendidly walked to the middle of the altar, holding a torch aloft, and proclaimed loudly: "Oh honorable Fire Rat deity, these wicked foreigners seek to oppress your children. Please bestow your strength upon us. With their blood, cleanse their sins."
What followed was a series of prayers, with the men and women of the tribe around the altar looking on in earnest devotion.
In the narrowing gaze of Shi Xiaole, the elder approached the nearest pillar, sliced open the legs of the warrior tied to it, and let the blood flow along the grooves into the central depression.
The giant stone pillar suddenly lit up, as if it had gained some power.
"Let me go, I am Lingmu Wanderer, a visiting elder of Lingmu Pavilion, you can’t kill me."
The warrior, unable to break free from the leather straps, could only shout desperately. After a quarter of an hour, his voice weakened, and a layer of despair appeared on his face.
When the blood drained, the elder burned his body with the torch. A man who might have been influential on the outside died a terrible death right there.
This sight caused the other bound warriors to bristle with fear.
More people struggled in vain, especially the few closest to Lingmu Wanderer, who turned deathly pale and trembled all over.
Some cried out, begged for mercy, or even offered various enticements in hopes of a chance to live.
Once stripped of their martial power, in the face of death, martial artists were no different from ordinary people, if not even more eager to cling to life.
"Any foreigner must die."
Unfortunately, the elder was uncompassionate and his voice carried bone-deep hatred. The tribespeople around him wore satisfied expressions, as if enjoying a spectacle.
In such a situation, not even the God himself could hope for escape—it was a cruel, inescapable gambit!
In an instant, five people were slain, and it was Yu Yourong’s turn.
Yu Yourong was not so pitiful as the previous victims, but her face lost all color and her forehead was covered in cold sweat, as her whole body was nearly frozen stiff.
She was exquisite and one of the seven Saintesses of the Longevity Sect, living a life many envied, yet to die at the hands of these barbarians. If she had known, she would have never set foot on Rainbow Island.
Yu Yourong subconsciously looked towards Shi Xiaole, seeing his indifferent expression as if he was preoccupied with his own survival, she lost her last thread of hope, closed her eyes, and trembled in anticipation of the final torment.
The elder, merciless, swung his knife malevolently towards Yu Yourong’s legs.
"I have to take a chance."
Since the moment of his arrest, Shi Xiaole had been contemplating a strategy to escape. To him, there was only one opportunity, and he must be exceedingly cautious. But now he could wait no longer, as Yu Yourong was an acquaintance after all, and he could not stand by and let her perish.
"Stop!"
With a thunderous shout, a surge of violent energy erupted from Shi Xiaole, shattering the leather straps, as he charged towards the elder under the stare of countless wide eyes.
"Get away!"
The old man was suddenly shocked, but he reacted very quickly, choosing not to attack Shi Xiaole but instead quickly slicing his knife towards Yu Yourong’s neck, obviously intending to take her as a hostage.
The swiftness and accuracy of his reaction were so commendable that even Shi Xiaole felt like applauding.
However, the elder had still underestimated Shi Xiaole.
In the blink of an eye, he had rushed forward, his large hand reaching out first, as if casting a Heaven and Earth Net Force, and before his hand even touched the man, the elder’s neck was already in his grasp.
Small Abandoned Wife Capture Hand!
On the way there, Shi Xiaole had secretly exchanged for the killing skill—Small Abandoned Wife Capture Hand—using the Undying Seven Illusions, plus two thousand reward points successfully redeemed from the system.
This was a skill that Elder had improvised on the spot after being inspired by Di Feijing, a stunning technique that made it impossible for anything or anyone touched by its force to escape.
With his left hand locking onto the elder’s throat, Shi Xiaole smoothly pulled out the Purple Extreme Dagger from his system space and pressed it against the man’s back, speaking indifferently, "Release us."
Chaos erupted, leaving everyone dumbfounded. The difference was that the people from the Fire Rat Tribe were shocked and angry, while the bound warriors were so overjoyed they were close to tears.
"Shi Xiaole."
Yu Yourong stared blankly at the handsome face close in front of her, uttering a voice like that of a dream talker.
"You vile outsider, even if you kill me, don’t even think about escaping."
But everyone had miscalculated the old chieftain’s resolve. His expression unchanged, he commanded the people around him, "Warriors, attack! Kill these ugly fellows and do not disappoint Lord Fire Rat!"
"Come on, try me."
Increasing his grip, Shi Xiaole stabbed the old chieftain in the thigh with his knife, and the fierce and indifferent look on his face instantly deterred the tribal warriors who wanted to rush forward.
Swinging the Purple Extreme Dagger, Shi Xiaole cut the leather ropes binding Yu Yourong, and together they rescued the other warriors. The warriors, being clever, quickly formed a circle to protect Shi Xiaole in the center.
In this manner, the group slowly advanced forward, pushing the tribe members back.
During this, some tried to attack amidst the chaos, but Shi Xiaole’s reactions were exceedingly fast, always managing to stab the old chieftain before anyone could act, splashing a bit of blood with each strike, and after a few times, no one else dared to take the risk.
Finally distancing themselves from the Fire Rat Tribe, until they reached a steep hillside, Shi Xiaole forcefully pushed the old chieftain down, and then scattered to escape with the others. He refrained from killing to avoid provoking relentless retaliation.
"Chase them, kill these foreigners!"
The warriors below the hillside roared with rage, some going to save the old chieftain, while others leaped up the slope in pursuit.
But the location chosen by Shi Xiaole was near a dense forest, which was easy to hide in. By the time they entered, there was no sign of anyone.
"Hmph, they won’t escape. This land belongs to the Water Witch, falling into her hands will only lead to a worse fate. Go, inform the Water Witch Tribe of this matter."
Hearing the report from his subordinates, a man with black patterns on his face sneered ominously.
...
Having narrowly escaped death, Shi Xiaole and Yu Yourong sat down under a tree to catch their breath.
"Miss Yu, tell me everything you know."
As his breathing gradually steadied, Shi Xiaole took the initiative to speak.
Yu Yourong, who had arrived over three months earlier than him, surely knew much more than him.
"The place we were just at is called the Fire Rat Tribe, a fifth-level tribe."
This time, Yu Yourong did not argue and spoke quite gently. Through her recounting, Shi Xiaole learned about the place where he had arrived.
It turned out that within this space, many tribes existed, divided by strength into levels one to seven. A first-level tribe possessed experts corresponding to the Void Origin Realm, a second-level tribe had experts of the Divine Border Realm, and so on.
The Fire Rat Tribe was a fifth-level tribe, boasting several experts of the Xuanqi Realm.
While it might seem like only the Xuanqi Realm, for external warriors unable to use their powers and spiritual energy, it posed a tremendous threat, and encountering them meant either death or capture.
"The tribal warriors firmly believe that foreign warriors, whom they refer to as outsiders, will destroy them, so their strategy is to show no mercy and kill."
"Moreover, it is recorded that our blood can enhance the power of their totems, hence, every killing is performed at the altar. I had drifted from place to place before being captured a few days ago."
Yu Yourong still felt frightened when she spoke about it and asked Shi Xiaole, learning that he had been captured just after waking, which left her stunned by his incredibly bad luck.
As for Shi Xiaole’s sudden outburst of power before, Yu Yourong wisely did not delve deeper, to avoid affecting the mood.
Shi Xiaole could only smile wryly.
Is this the third challenge of Rainbow Island?
A person left with only tens of thousands of pounds of strength, how to survive among these tribes hunting him down?
Cultivation? With even their own martial arts suppressed, how could one cultivate?
Shi Xiaole did not believe that anyone could outsmart all the tribes with cunning alone.
It was well known that outsiders had a different aura, which was easily recognized, and the tribe’s principles were so steadfast that there was little room for maneuvering.
"There must be a way to restore our strength."
As he thought this, Shi Xiaole suddenly heard rustling sounds, swiftly motioning for Yu Yourong to get up. The two of them used their bodily strength to leap onto a tree, and immediately they saw the worst possible situation.
It turned out they were surrounded again, not by the people of the Fire Rat Tribe, but by another group dressed in even more archaic barbaric attire.
