A Certain Twist of Fate

The surrendered Cave Dwellers lived in caves beneath the western mountains. Their leader was an LV13 [Cave Dweller Shaman] named Senjian. Senjian carried a Bone Staff and possessed a certain degree of Wisdom.

Aside from him, the other Cave Dwellers were almost all only LV1 or LV2. Individually, they were stronger than the tribe's little people, but not by much.

The Cave Dweller Shaman was exceedingly humble before Isabelle. He briefly explained the origins of the Cave Dwellers.

"Lord Apostle, Cave Dwellers are actually another branch of humanity."

"Because they lived underground for so long, their bodies gradually changed. Generation after generation, they became what they are now, less intelligent than humans on the surface."

The story began in the previous era.

That was when the Forest God still ruled this land.

At the time, the Cave Dwellers were not yet Cave Dwellers, but a group of believers in the Forest God. They worshipped the Forest God, lived in the forest, and kept company with birds and beasts.

In their daily lives, they cultivated all kinds of Mushrooms and lived off Mushrooms and Berries from the forest. Blessed by the Forest God, the vast, unbroken forest was always rich in food, and they lived stable, natural lives.

Then a tremendous change arrived without a sound.

With the fall of the Forest God, vast stretches of forest withered and shrank. Some places became deserts, while others turned into barren mountains.

Corruptors and Skin-Peelers were everywhere. They were fanatical believers and soldiers of the two Heretic Gods, [Whistleblower] and [Flayer].

The Corruptors captured the Forest God's followers, hanged them, and turned them into new Corruptors. The Skin-Peelers were even worse, skinning people alive and leaving them to die in unimaginable agony.

To escape the slaughter, the people in the forest crawled into mountain caves and fled underground. To stay far away from those terrifying killers, they kept moving deeper and deeper until they reached the dark, frigid Underground Cave.

In those lightless caverns, they survived by growing Mushrooms and catching underground insects to eat.

The underground was far too cold and pitch-black. Many could not adapt to such a life and died from hunger, cold, and disease.

Yet a small number of them stubbornly survived.

They endured the hardest days and gradually found ways to stay alive.

As time passed, their bodies changed. Thick fur grew over their skin, their hair became longer and longer, and their limbs grew broad and powerful. Underground, they moved swiftly on all fours like lizards.

They changed from humans into Cave Dwellers, using masks polished from stone to protect their faces and deter enemies. They made Spears and axes from stone, uttered strange cries, and performed bizarre movements to bolster their courage and frighten prey.

Among the Cave Dwellers, some had not forgotten where they came from. They passed the story down by word of mouth, telling their descendants never to forget that they came from the surface.

As long as they waited patiently for the Gods' anger to subside, they could return to the surface, stand beneath the sunlight once more, stop eating insects, and walk upright again.

The Cave Dweller family [Sen] led by Senjian had never forgotten the past. Their family name, Sen, was also meant to remind future generations that they came from the forest.

They waited in silence.

Not long ago, the mountain suddenly suffered a massive collapse.

Senjian keenly realized that this might be a revelation from the Gods. So he cautiously emerged from the cave and found that the outside world had indeed changed. The pursuers and killers who had once been everywhere were gone.

However, at that very moment, another Cave Dweller family was wiped out.

Senjian's ability was called [Wind Listener]. He could hear sounds scattered through the air by listening to the wind. This was extremely useful underground and had helped his family avoid many dangers and conflicts.

In the wind, he heard about God Yao, the Apostle, and the Garlic Tribe.

The slaughter of [Whistleblower] and [Flayer] had ended.

The God here now was the merciful yet majestic God Yao.

Senjian led his family down the mountain, hoping to join the Garlic Tribe. So the moment he encountered the Forest Wolves, he surrendered to the pack and expressed his willingness to become their vassal.

Lu Yao felt rather strange.

The mountain collapse had happened to be caused by the Earthquake he had created. In that sense, he and this Cave Dweller family did have a certain twist of fate.

Since he already had a City of Ghosts, taking in another group of Cave Dwellers was hardly a problem.

Before that, Lu Yao needed to determine whether the Cave Dweller Shaman had lied.

Isabelle said, "My lord, I used Lingering Prayer to ask the nearby dead souls. What they said was basically consistent with Senjian's account."

Then there was no problem.

Led by their leader Senjian, forty Cave Dwellers left the mountains and arrived at the Garlic Tribe.

The Garlic Tribe had a dispute over whether to accept the Cave Dwellers.

At first, most tribe members objected.

"Cave Dwellers are our enemies!"

"They are underground monsters! They could kill people at any time!"

"They killed Hero Lie Tou!"

"Leader Yu Zou, have you forgotten the Blood Sea of hatred between us?"

Yu Zou faced these criticisms and doubts calmly.

The white-haired leader said, "Everyone, listen to me. Lie Tou's death showed us that the tribe can never stand still."

"If we had been as powerful as the Salt Pool Tribe, would the Cave Dwellers have dared attack us then? They would not."

"Even if we attacked them, they would not dare resist."

"Now, the Cave Dwellers who once attacked us are willing to join the Garlic Tribe of their own accord. Why is that?"

He concluded, "It is not because they have become cowardly, but because we have become stronger."

"God Yao sent Lord Apostle. She showed everyone the power of the Gods. The Salt Pool Tribe is suffering Divine Punishment. This is the power of the Gods!"

Yu Zou continued, "At first, the Forest Tribe was our enemy. Later, the Barbarian Tribe was our enemy. Then the East River Tribe was once our enemy too. But now, we work and live together."

"Why can't the Cave Dwellers do the same?"

Yu Zou delivered his final verdict. "This is also God Yao's will! Who among you dares object?"

Once he invoked the majesty of the Gods, no other voices remained.

Lu Yao was quite satisfied with his boldness. That was more like it—he was finally starting to look like a leader.

Yu Zou was someone Lu Yao had watched grow up.

Once, he had been the unreliable member of the Pig-Fish Brothers.

Later, he became one of the tribe's earliest Heroes. After experiencing Lie Tou's death in battle, the tribe's many transformations, and the passing of first-generation tribal leaders Nong Lai and Lie Cang... he had become the steady, mature leader he was now.

After joining the Garlic Tribe, the Cave Dweller family was given several houses.

They lived in the area closest to the western mountains.

Every day, Senjian led the Cave Dwellers into the mountains with Camel and Copper Hammer to mine. The Cave Dwellers also became the tribe's professional Miners and Stonemasons.

Labor helped them integrate into the Garlic Tribe.

Although the Cave Dwellers still wore Stone Masks, looked strange, and sometimes habitually crawled on all fours, the other tribe members had grown accustomed to it.

Because of the Wisdom and experience he possessed, [Cave Dweller Shaman] Senjian quickly became one of the Garlic Tribe's leading figures, deciding the tribe's direction together with Yu Zou and Shahan.

At that moment, a notification appeared on the screen.

[Senjian has offered you a Sacrificial Offering.]

Lu Yao stretched his wrist.

A long-awaited Sacrificial Offering had finally arrived.

Let's see what item I can draw this time.

Thanks to Star Moon River for supporting with 100 Qidian Coins.