Chapter 101: Chapter 101: A Costly Lesson
The story of the Chief being hung on a tree in front of his house by the Little Priest for an entire night right after returning quickly spread throughout the tribe.
Although no one dared to talk about it in front of the parties involved, they still gossiped animatedly behind their backs. They didn’t feel that their Chief had lost any face either.
With the Chief’s strength, couldn’t he break free from those vines himself? Impossible! The Chief was merely doting on the Little Priest. A beastman cherishing and pampering his mate was nothing to be ashamed of. If it were them, they would also be willing to let their mate hang them on a tree all night...
"These people! How could they spread such wild rumors! I clearly only hung you up on the tree for half an hour!"
Kaelen puffed his cheeks in anger, crossing his arms and turning his face to the corner of the wall to sulk. He didn’t know if it was due to pregnancy reactions, but he was becoming increasingly clingy and whiny. Sane, however, found his mate acting like this very adorable, very genuine, looking more and more like the carefree Plant Master from his previous life.
He scooped Kaelen up, placing Kaelen on his lap, planted several consecutive kisses on his cheek, and said: "Do not be angry, they just have too much free time. Later I will just increase their training time."
The tribesmen who were working or training simultaneously shivered, having a premonition that something bad was about to happen. As expected, only a few minutes later, they received a notification that the training program had three new mandatory events including: long jump, high jump, and rolling through thorn bushes in the mud pit - the area left over after harvesting clay. That meant they would have to wallow in the mud continuously for hours.
The tribesmen, whose love for cleanliness had seeped into their very bones: [... Badmouthing the Priest and the Chief will lead to Divine punishment; from now on we will tie our snouts shut!]
Watching the ’wishing for death’ reactions of the crowd outside, Kaelen nodded in satisfaction. Gossiping wasn’t bad; who didn’t like to gossip? But becoming the subject of gossip oneself was very unpleasant~
"Serves them right for daring to spread wild rumors." Kaelen changed position, sitting facing Sane, wrapped his arms around Sane’s neck: "Yesterday I was busy ’exchanging pheromones’ so I forgot to ask you about the matter at Obsidian. I heard you let Moharm and Rylan escape; aren’t you afraid of leaving a seed of disaster?"
"I did that on purpose." Sane pressed Kaelen’s head against his chest, slowly explaining to him: "Before Moharm escaped, I did not reveal the true strength of the Crimson army. I gave them the illusion that Crimson could win thanks to me, a level-five warrior. With the habitual arrogance of the Cipher tribe’s Chief, he naturally would not take a Crimson tribe with only one level-five warrior seriously. If you were him, what would you do?"
Kaelen thought for a moment, then affirmed with absolute certainty: "According to his previous tactics, first he would send scattered squads to feign a siege to make the opponent lower their guard, next he would plant spies inside the tribe to look for defensive loopholes, and finally, he would launch a pincer attack from both inside and outside."
Sane nodded: "Exactly. Therefore, I want him to personally swallow the bitter fruit of his own arrogance. Tactics must always change unpredictably, but him, using the same trick for so many years, does he really think everyone is honest and naive."
Kaelen agreed with this viewpoint. In fields that required fierce competition, stubbornly sticking to a single tactic was simply handing the hilt of the knife to someone else. He could apply this to beastmen with straightforward brain circuits, but there was no way he could apply it to Sane, someone who had been nurtured by modern political and military ideologies.
The book he gave Sane only contained dead words, but Sane’s brain circuit was always active; he could freely transform those strategies to make them the most optimal.
"Alright, is there nothing you want to say to me? We have been apart for over ten days, do you plan on talking about the tribe’s matters forever?" Sane brought his face close to Kaelen’s, dotingly rubbing his nose against Kaelen’s.
Kaelen pouted: "You say that as if the person who did the ’pheromone exchange’ exercise immediately after being let down yesterday wasn’t you."
"It was only for one night, naturally it is not enough. How about today we..."
Kaelen immediately covered his mouth, blushing as he scolded: "Not decent at all. Today I want to go outside to sunbathe, do not bother me!"
"I will take you." Sane just like that scooped Kaelen up, then with a whoosh jumped over three mountains, arriving at a secret cave.
"Mhm... you are bad..." Kaelen was pinned against the rock wall by his beastman, subjected to a series of indescribable, shameful actions. Sane bit his ear, lowering his voice to say:
"The other day when I returned to Obsidian, the familiar scenery there made me recall our days of sneaking around in the past. It was truly very stimulating back then, my Little Priest~"
"You... shut your mouth..."
Kaelen buried his head into the crook of Sane’s neck in embarrassment, letting Sane thrust. The two wrestled with each other until late afternoon before sneaking back to the tribe. Sane laid Kaelen on the bed, then took warm water from the stove to wipe his body. Kaelen lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, feeling as if there was nothing left to live for.
"What is wrong? Is there somewhere uncomfortable?" Sane lifted one of Kaelen’s legs, cleaning the intimate area for him. The shameful feeling on his buttocks made Kaelen blush. He turned to grab a pillow and threw it at Sane’s face:
"I am dying of embarrassment! What kind of Chief and Priest of a tribe abandon the tribe to go outside and do indecent things like us? I won’t dare to look anyone in the face anymore!"
Sane chuckled, kissed his shin, and said: "We are mates, isn’t that a perfectly normal thing?! I just won a major battle, shouldn’t I be allowed to celebrate?"
"Your way of celebrating... truly leaves me speechless." Kaelen was at a loss for words, not wanting to say another sentence to this stinky snake. Sane finished wiping his body and added: "You rest, I will go to the gathering place to show my face for a bit, then I will return to you right away."
When Sane said a bit, he truly meant a bit; before Kaelen even had time to feel sleepy, Sane had returned, even bringing food back for him. This time Kaelen was truly speechless. He had never seen a Chief who hated gatherings as much as this Chief!
He lay in Sane’s embrace, eating every spoonful of rice Sane fed him; his mouth expressed disgust, but in his heart, he felt incredibly happy. Sane patiently fed every spoonful of rice to his mate, occasionally stealing a peck on his face, his eyes brimming with passionate love.
Neither of them knew that today was a rare day they had the opportunity to leisurely enjoy such a peaceful life...
---
In the large forest a day’s journey from the Crimson tribe’s periphery, Walter’s group was setting up camp to rest.
On their way back, they encountered three ambushes, resulting in one-third of them being injured and three dead. These three people were all young beastmen who lacked combat experience.
Draven’s complexion looked incredibly heavy, sitting by the fire guarding Wofu. Only now did he deeply understand Kaelen’s teachings: Divine Energy was not omnipotent, and those carrying Divine Energy would also have moments of powerlessness.
Throughout this entire return journey, Draven had naively believed that everyone clearly understood the nature of those carrying Divine Energy. Therefore, he had not hesitated to thoroughly utilize his skills, saving many lives.
But it was also because of this that everyone became more reckless, causing him to become utterly exhausted. Those three young beastmen who did not survive were because they relied too much on Draven’s Divine Energy, resulting in their hearts being gouged out.
The people were already dead, how was Draven supposed to save them?
Despite having heard the stories ’Rokley’s Adventure’ and ’The Glorious Era’ many times, some people in this group completely did not take them to heart.
When Draven’s Divine Energy was no longer effective, they turned their backs on him.
As a result, while everyone was fighting the Temple’s pursuers, he was almost stabbed to death by the mate of one of those three beastmen using a bone spear. It was Wofu who abandoned the frontline and desperately rushed over to save him.
The spear aimed at him was knocked away by Wofu, but Wofu’s throat was pierced through by the enemy’s claws.
At that moment, Draven’s heart nearly stopped beating. Their companions quickly surrounded and protected the two of them; Draven had drained all his Divine Energy to save Wofu from death, but at the same time, many people were severely injured, and Draven could no longer heal anyone.
The secret complaints within the team gradually increased; Walter and Anthony took it all in their eyes, deciding they could not bring these people to the tribe. Therefore, during the final attack before leaving the magic beast forest, the Crimson tribe’s people intentionally created a loophole for the Temple’s pursuers to kill off those ungrateful individuals.
From a team of nearly three hundred people, one hundred and seventy-two remained; except for Simson, all were special people.
Draven rested Wofu’s head on his lap, closing his eyes to channel the meager Divine Energy he had just recovered into the beastman’s body, his own body swaying on the verge of collapsing. Greyson supported him, fed him some warm water, and softly advised:
"His life is no longer in danger, do not overexert yourself. Pay a little more attention to your own health."
Draven stroked the white tiger’s head, his pale lips moving slightly, but ultimately he said nothing. It was his fault; he was clearly well-educated, yet he remained passive in every situation. This was the costly lesson Kaelen often mentioned, it was just that, it was too costly...
Anthony went on a patrol round, erasing all tracks. After ensuring that the Temple’s people definitely could not find the tribe’s location, he finally returned to the campsite. He swept his gaze around, saying in a cold voice:
"Arriving here is currently considered a safe zone. You have one night to think; tomorrow, if anyone does not want to go to Crimson, you can leave, all the remaining supplies here will be left for you."
He paused for a moment, emphasizing: "Crimson does not harbor those with double hearts; if you cannot determine your loyalty to the tribe, then do not get involved right from the start."
That night, the whispers inside the animal skin tents never ceased. The next morning, the team setting off was completely prepared, not a single person absent.
Parker took a step forward, making the decision on behalf of everyone:
"Anthony, we are willing to dedicate our lives to Crimson, please allow us to follow you."
Walter’s gaze swept over them. Within the team, some were timid and fearful, some nervously furrowed their brows, but in their eyes, there was determination. He looked at Anthony, seeing Anthony nod at him, before turning and saying:
"Remember your determination today. Anyone who dares to rebel, the arrow in my hand will pierce through their skull."
Anthony added: "Since you have decided, then let’s set off."
