Chapter 322

Xu Shan Tribe.

The camp was brightly lit by bonfires. Meat roasted over the flames, its aroma filling the entire camp.

People formed a large circle, cheering and pounding the ground continuously.

"Go!" "Go!" "Go!"

In the center of the arena, a huge rock was placed, tied with several thick ropes pulled taut. Two robust horned beast men stood back-to-back, straining with all their might to move forward difficultly.

"Roar!" One horned beast man glared furiously, veins bulging on his neck, and with a mighty effort, dragged the boulder into his designated area.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

"Ban won!" "Won!" "Won!"

Hu Ran laughed heartily, slapping Yun Jing's shoulder heavily: "Don't look down on Ban just because he's a slave; he's the strongest beast man in our tribe! You didn't lose unjustly!"

It was precisely to have Ban demonstrate his strength that the Xu Shan people came up with this competition method. An ordinary beast man probably couldn't even move that huge rock on the field, let alone drag both a person and the rock together.

Yun Jing accepted his loss gracefully and tossed a piece of animal hide to Hu Ran. "Your slave is indeed extraordinary. What's his price? Trade him to me."

Hu Ran refused outright: "Don't even think about it. Even the city lord of落日之城 (Setting Sun City) asked, and our tribe leader refused to give this slave away! You have no idea how much effort we put into raising this slave."

Shu You, holding a bowl of meat soup, asked: "What counts as effort?"

"I'm only telling you this because our two tribes are close," Hu Ran said mysteriously. "To give him such strength, we feed him a bowl of beast blood and a beast gallbladder every day!"

Beast men believed that the blood and gallbladders of wild beasts could make them braver and more powerful. Especially beast gallbladders, which were scarce and usually only given to beast man warriors who performed exceptionally well in hunts. This showed that the Xu Shan tribe had truly invested heavily in Ban.

But hearing Hu Ran's words, Shu You felt somewhat uncomfortable. When Hu Ran spoke, it didn't sound like he was giving food to a beast man, but more like they were feeding cattle, sheep, or ducks every day.

Shu You subtly tightened his linen clothing, properly covering the slave mark on his body.

He hadn't been outside for too long and had almost forgotten that this wasn't Hei Yao. Even if he was the vice-captain of the trade team, if his slave身份 (identity) was discovered, he could still be in danger at any moment.

Yun Jing unobtrusively blocked half of Shu You's body and said listlessly: "If you won't trade, then you won't."

But Xiong Qi found it very interesting. He stood up and knocked his fists together: "What 'greatest strength'? I don't believe it! Let me try!"

Xiong Qi had just been promoted to a first-level warrior before setting out. He wanted to see for himself if this slave's strength was greater than his, a first-level warrior.

Xiong Qi walked to the center of the arena, pulling off his animal hide vest and tucking it into his waistband as he went. He said to the slave named Ban: "Come! Let's have a contest. If you win against me, I'll give you a sheep!"

A Xu Shan beast man heckled: "Xiong Qi, you're destined to give away that sheep!"

"I will definitely win," Xiong Qi retorted, chin raised towards the Xu Shan beast man, "but you reminded me. There needs to be an additional condition."

Xiong Qi turned to Ban and said: "Even if you lose, I'll still reward you with a sheep's leg!"

Ban licked his dry lips and said in a muffled voice: "Sir, you must keep your word."

Xiong Qi said: "I always keep my word. Come and earn your sheep's leg!"

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

"Xiong Qi!" "Xiong Qi!" "Xu Shan!" "Xu Shan!"

With Xiong Qi's bold declaration, everyone cheered their names.

The Hei Yao tribesmen waited for Xiong Qi to win back their honor, while the Xu Shan tribe hoped their slave would continue his winning streak. The atmosphere grew even more heated.

However, just as the two tightened the ropes and assumed their starting positions, waiting only for the signal to begin...

A beast man rushed over in a panic: "Leli is here! The Leli tribe is here!"

"What!" "The Leli tribe!"

"Beast God above, those demons are here again!"

Cries and shouts instantly replaced the previous laughter and cheers. The crowd instantly fell into chaos. Sub-beast men grabbed the young and ran into the tents without looking back.

Hu Yan ran out of the large tent and shouted to the chaotic crowd: "You few, quickly move the goods Hei Yao brought into the tents! Hurry!"

Yun Jing looked at Hu Ran, his expression serious: "What is going on?"

It was normal for beast man tribes to encounter enemy attacks, but the Xu Shan tribe's reaction was somewhat strange, as if they had been prepared.

"A group of demons who plunder supplies and sub-beast men everywhere is coming!" Hu Ran said urgently. "There's no time to explain. Your Hei Yao team has several sub-beast men, right? Quick, quickly hide them!"

After speaking, Hu Ran rushed urgently to meet the Xu Shan tribe leader, shouting as he ran: "Horned beast man warriors! Horned beast man warriors!"

Upon hearing the commotion, Xiong Qi immediately dropped the rope and quickly ran to Yun Jing and Shu You: "Is someone attacking the Xu Shan tribe?"

For this trip, Yun Jing was the captain, with Xiong Qi and Shu You as vice-captains. Now that something had happened, the tribesmen were counting on them.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Yun Jing said. "Gather all warriors! Prepare for battle!"

"Yes!"

None of the three had forgotten狼泽's (Lang Ze's) instructions before the trade team departed: on this trip, they should try their best to build friendly relations with the tribes of Bei Huang and Hun Rong.

Now that Xu Shan was under attack, they naturally couldn't stand by idly.

Although the Hei Yao warriors assembled slightly later than the Xu Shan beast men, they reached the area outside the tribe much faster.

Of course, what shocked the Xu Shan tribe even more was the imposing aura coalesced by the five hundred Hei Yao members, which was not at all weaker than that of Xu Shan's nearly fifteen hundred adult horned beast men.

That's right, every single member of the Hei Yao trade team was a full combatant.

The thirty-plus sub-beast men in the team, those with partners sat on the saddles on their partners' backs, holding flying bird long knives, with bows and arrows on their backs.

Sub-beast men like Shu You, who had no partners, quickly climbed onto large trees or rocks around the tribe, concealing themselves and preparing to shoot arrows at any time.

This was the strategy Qi Bai had devised for the sub-beast men. Since their beast forms differed from horned beast men, they needed a better grasp of the overall situation to attack safely.

Seeing Yun Jing leading the team over, the Xu Shan tribe leader was visibly moved. He thumped his chest: "Yun Jing, you did not abandon Xu Shan in its time of crisis. Xu shan will forever remember this friendship."

Yun Jing returned the gesture to the Xu shan tribe leader: "Before we set out, the City Lord and Great Priest instructed us that Xu shan is a friend of Hei Yao. Hei Yao will never abandon its friends."

Hearing this, the Xu shan priest standing beside the tribe leader faced northeast and bowed solemnly: "May the Beast God protect Hei Yao (Black Glory City). May the Beast God protect the City Lord and Great Priest."

They only had time for these few words before the rumbling hoofbeats could be heard approaching.

This sound...

Yun Jing frowned, exchanging a look with Xiong Qi. How many horned beast men was the enemy sending to create such a huge commotion?

"There's no time to explain the rest in detail," the Xu shan tribe leader said quickly. "The Leli tribe is a clan that can control wild beasts! Pay attention to their heads—the beasts don't have single horns!"

After speaking, a tiger's roar sounded, and countless single-horned tigers charged towards the enemy.

Control wild beasts? Could it be that the Leli tribe also possessed Wu Wang Grass?

Yun Jing and Xiong Qi didn't need to ponder for long. The next moment, they knew it definitely wasn't Wu Wang Grass, and they understood what the Xu shan tribe leader meant by distinguishing beasts from beast men.

Because the Leli tribe actually advanced and attacked alongside the wild beasts. No wonder they could create such a loud noise.

This force of nearly two thousand beast men was actually accompanied by thousands of wild beasts.

Yun Jing immediately made a decision: "Attack from the flanks!"

The Leli tribe's vanguard consisted of large, strong bison. Hei Yao and Xu shan were already outnumbered. A head-on confrontation with the beasts would be a waste of effort.

"Roar!" "Awoo!"

The Hei Yao warriors split into two streams, quickly dispersing to the two wings.

They soon discovered the pattern of the Leli tribe's advance: let the charging beasts pass and only attack the horned beast men on the sides.

Although the Leli people could control the beasts, they couldn't change the beasts' charging direction now. Their forces were too massive; a sudden change in direction would only throw themselves into confusion.

And as long as they got close to the Leli horned beast men, they could see that although they were numerous, individually they weren't very strong. They probably couldn't even match the Xu shan horned beast men head-on and were even more no match for the valiant Hei Yao warriors.

After all, to ensure the trade team's first expedition went smoothly, these five hundred beast men were all outstanding members of the Hei Yao warriors.

With the Xu shan tribe's horned beast men holding the front, Hei Yao's tactics were surprisingly effective, quickly tearing an opening in the attacking ranks.

"Ooo! Ooo!" "Ooo! Ooo!"

Just as the two armies were locked in battle, the sound of a horn suddenly echoed over the Xu shan tribe.

The Leli tribe and Xu shan tribe people still didn't know what was happening, but the Hei Yao warriors simultaneously received the command.

The enemy actually had more than just this wave.

The giant panda Xiong Qi swatted away the enemy in front of him, stood upright, and roared. All Hei Yao warriors on the left flank decisively broke away from the battle and charged towards the source of the horn sound.

The right flank team led by Yun Jing was slightly farther away, but the clouded leopard's beast form was more agile, and they soon caught up with the giant panda team.

Guided by the horn, the two teams reached their destination in the blink of an eye.

They saw a force of four to five hundred horned beast men had already broken through the Xu shan tribe's fence and were brazenly carrying supplies out as if no one was there.

"Awoo!" "Awoo!"

A clouded leopard and a giant panda leaped into the middle of the path, emitting threatening growls.

The sudden appearance of beast men truly startled the horned beast men carrying supplies. They turned, goods held in their mouths, and ran out, scattering things along the way, straight towards the beast men ahead, intending to regroup with the force outside Xu shan.

Their task was only to steal things, not to fight. Not to mention, the size of these two beast men looked almost comparable to the leaders. This was too terrifying.

A Hei Yao warrior wanted to give chase, but Yun Jing growled lowly and stopped him.

Yun Jing's gaze was locked tightly on the largest, most massive Pale beast man among the group.

This person was at least a first-level warrior.

The two forces stood facing each other across the damaged fence of the Xu Shan tribe.

Suddenly, the pale dog beast form vanished, and a tall, slender man with dark skin appeared in its place.

His dark golden pupils looked towards the tall trees behind Yun Jing and Xiong Qi, and he said amusedly: "It was you who ruined my plans."