Tribal Shadows, Exposed Upon Opening One's Mouth (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

The next day, Ox-Nose Mountain.

"Chieftain, there are scattered arrows and crossbows here."

When the group arrived at the foot of Ox-Nose Mountain, they found it crisscrossed with waterways, the water only reaching their ankles.

"There are footprints in the water."

Huo Tang looked at the messy footprints, but they all stopped in the water.

Near the footprints, there were also drag marks.

An hour later.

"Chieftain, we've searched everywhere nearby. The arrows have no direction, they're everywhere. Huo Chi and the others..."

The six tribesmen who came to investigate Ox-Nose Mountain were all warriors of the Stone Splitter Realm.

Strangely, besides the messy footprints of varying depths and scattered arrows, there were no other signs of a struggle, not even bloodstains.

"Let's go."

Soon, Huo Tang had his tribesmen retreat.

He had already deduced that the ones who had swallowed the six tribesmen were likely water beasts from the water, and like the third-tier water beast hunted before, they possessed abilities similar to Witchcraft Spells.

Otherwise, the tribesmen wouldn't have been unable to leave any trace of a struggle.

He had already witnessed Witchcraft Spells from Shen Can. Bringing so many tribesmen now would only make them more vulnerable to a surprise attack.

After all the tribesmen had left the water area, Huo Tang slowly retreated.

After retreating for more than ten miles, he instructed Huo Yan on some matters, then took Huo Qiu, a tribesman selected by the scout team, and quietly crept to a small mountain near Ox-Nose Mountain.

Huo Tang hid his body among the rocks, wearing a straw cloak woven from grass and trees, and quietly observed the direction of Ox-Nose Mountain.

Huo Qiu, in similar attire, was on the small mountain behind him.

If anything happened to him, Huo Qiu would leave and return to inform Huo Yan to bring the team back to the tribe quickly.

He had the confidence to return because the tribe now had a new Celestial Meridian Realm warrior.

In fact, when he fought Huo Shan before, he had confirmed that Huo Shan's pure qi was no weaker than the newly promoted Celestial Meridian Realm warrior Huo Kui.

Calculating it this way, excluding himself, the tribe already possessed the combat power of two Celestial Meridian Realm warriors. No, it was two and a half; Huo Qi wasn't much worse.

If the momentum continued, catching up to the Shanghuang Tribe was only a matter of time.

He quietly gazed in the direction of Ox-Nose Mountain.

Three full days passed.

In the water area below Ox-Nose Mountain, besides the splashing of small fish, there was nothing else.

This forced Huo Tang to guess if Huo Chi and his group had just encountered a water beast emerging from the water.

For this reason, Huo Tang quietly retreated again and had Huo Yan lead people to find a desolate beast Rock Mountain Antelope and throw it at the foot of Ox-Nose Mountain.

Another two days passed.

Besides attracting some small fish to nibble, there was no sign of the water beast. Huo Tang, having found nothing, had to retreat. On the way, he encountered Huo Shan, who was rushing over.

"Brother Tang, are you alright?"

Seeing the weariness on Huo Tang's face, Huo Shan asked anxiously, "The news has reached the tribe, and A-Can sent me with the witch rune and witch knife. Haven't they found Huo Chi and the others yet?"

"Let's go back."

Huo Tang splashed water on his face. This was the first time a tribesman had died while out on a mission since the tribe's reform, and six warriors had died at once.

"It was probably a water beast that emerged from the water. We've been guarding here for days with no movement."

The water area was so vast that finding the water beast was too difficult.

Indeed, migrating the tribe to a better location for development was not as easy as imagined.

If such isolated incidents occurred, it wouldn't be a problem, but he was afraid of too many desolate beasts appearing near the water's edge.

Seeing Huo Tang's expression ease, Huo Shan said, "Chieftain, I've brought Huo Yu's team. You go back with Huo Yan and the others to rest. I'll take over the investigation."

Huo Tang shook his head. "Haven't we encountered enough things over the years? If we go back at the first sign of trouble, how can I be a chieftain?"

"You go back and have A-Can arrange for the tribe to properly compensate the families of Huo Chi, Huo Zhi, and the others."

"Then I won't go back either. The two of us can investigate faster. If we encounter the water beast again, maybe we can beat it up together."

Saying that, Huo Shan took out the witch knife and handed it to Huo Tang, while he tucked the witch rune into his own pocket.

"I haven't awakened my blood qi yet, so I can't use this knife."

Huo Tang finally understood. It turned out Huo Shan really didn't plan to go back after arriving.

That was fine.

The investigation of the waterside area in recent days had indeed revealed it to be an excellent location for the tribe.

The surroundings were shallow waters reaching only to the ankles. Although unsuitable for growing wheat and millet, it was suitable for growing rice, and there were many fish and shrimp in the water.

For someone who wanted to develop and strengthen the tribe, the presence of water beasts was not a reason to retreat.

"I was careless before and didn't anticipate this. Let's adjust our methods, capture more desolate beasts, and place them as bait in various waters we need to scout. This way, we can also see what kind of fish, shrimp, and water beasts inhabit those areas."

Blazing Flame Tribe.

Six tribesmen were scouting outside the tribe's territory. They vanished without a trace. As the Temple Guardian, Shen Can personally established a divine position and integrated it into the ancestral temple.

His family members also received compensation.

In the following days, Huo Tang and Huo Shan, working together, led nearly two hundred tribal warriors in a large-scale, meticulous investigation of the eastern waterside region.

They assessed fishing grounds, shallow waters suitable for paddy fields, the environmental conditions suitable for growing specific witchcraft medicinal herbs, and the desolate beast herds at the junction of the marshlands and the main arteries of the Giant Peak Mountain Range. They also mapped out the terrain and landforms.

Although some tribesmen were injured, thankfully, no one perished.

Two months later, Huo Tang returned to the tribe with his men to rest.

Night fell.

On the ancestral temple's sand table, a more detailed sand table, interspersing earth and water, appeared before everyone.

At the top of the sand table was the Giant Peak Mountain Range running east-west. Below it, the eastern and western regions were divided into land and water.

"A-Can, the iron ore deposit we discovered is right here. It was likely washed out by a mountain flood," Huo Tang said, comparing the sand table with the map in his hand. He pointed to a spot that wasn't marked on the map.

If nothing else, discovering an iron ore deposit in a waterside location was reason enough to consider migrating the tribe.

"There are also many big fish here. One of them is enough to feed one person," Huo Tang said excitedly.

Before the flood disaster, if anyone had told him about such a resource-rich environment, he wouldn't have dared to bring his tribesmen here.

The tribe was quiet under the night sky.

On the city wall, bonfires flickered.

The tribesmen led by Huo Ning were on duty tonight, divided into several teams, patrolling back and forth along the city wall.

In the passages between the houses within the city, a soft, limp figure suddenly straightened up, revealing a fish's body and a human face.

"They've even built a city. These savages have quite the ambition. It's like how our tribe's trained monkeys learned to wear hats," it muttered with disdain. The figure then went limp again and headed towards the water pond excavated below the Tribe Mountain.

"Hahaha, how amusing. Such a small tribe, yet so well-equipped." Wu Zhiqi nodded as he glanced at the pond. Having water made it even easier for him to hide.

With water and people, this tribe was destined to become his blood tribute. Wu Zhiqi's eyes gleamed as he looked at the clustered houses.

In the dim night, he could do as he pleased.

"Damn them for exiling me. I never thought this desolate place, plundered and plagued by disease, would have such a tribe. Once my Ling Yu bloodline fully transforms again, I'll definitely go back and give them a proper greeting." Wu Zhiqi easily pushed open a house door and quickly slipped inside.

A gurgling stream of water instantly rushed onto the stone bed. The two figures lying asleep on the bed were immediately trapped by the water, their mouths and noses covered.

Wu Zhiqi's figure rose in the room, his mouth widening rapidly as he lunged towards the bed.

When he emerged from the house, only dry, shriveled bones soaked with water remained on the bed.

Then, he quickly headed for the next house.

"Boom!"

The sound of a house being smashed open echoed, and Huo Lei, a tribesman at the Mountain Opening Realm, burst out, his body drenched and water splashing.

"A-Yue!" Huo Lei's enraged roar reached the city wall.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Instantly, torches were lit on the city wall and thrown towards various parts of the city, landing precisely in the large fire pits.

The wood, already soaked in oil, ignited and flared up.

Boom!

Boom!

Starting from the east city wall, one fire pit after another erupted in blazing flames, dispelling the darkness within the tribal city.

These were prepared earlier to guard against plague insects. Although the plague insects hadn't returned, the tribe's defenses were not dismantled.

Bonfires stood like a chessboard within the city, illuminating every corner and ready for any event that might occur under the cover of night.

The shattered houses and the upright, human-faced fish-bodied monster were illuminated by the flames.

Wu Zhiqi, who was about to finish off Huo Lei, was startled by the suddenly illuminated night sky and instinctively looked down at his own body.

Then, he suddenly looked up.

He saw the process of one fire pit after another being lit from east to west.

The surrounding city walls were also encircled with torches.

This directly exposed him in broad daylight.

No, is this tribe sick, setting so many bonfires?

Who are they even trying to defend against?