Seeking Peace Through War, Peace Endures

At this moment, on the edge of the mountain where the Houtu Tribe was located, huge waves surged in the Great River, carrying strange and grotesque creatures that appeared densely packed as far as the eye could see.

The giant waves surged thousands of feet high, looking down over the valley where the Houtu Tribe was located, as if they intended to submerge the place at the slightest provocation.

Houtu was leading her tribe's warriors to confront them. The warriors were not afraid at all; in fact, their eyes shone as if they had seen countless top-quality ingredients.

"Who are you, and why do you disturb the peace of my tribe?"

A burly man from the Witch Clan stepped forward, raised his head, and demanded an answer. This towering, burly Witch Clan man was Yu, the father of the young Yi, and also the second-in- Houtu Tribe.

Normally, Houtu doesn't speak; he's the one who steps forward to speak.

Behind Yu, the young Yi had already grasped the Great Bow in his hand, and the young Kua was also carrying a wooden stick. The two of them licked their lips at the same time, and their eyes shone brightly.

From among the water monsters standing atop the giant waves emerged a burly man with a blue face, wearing a suit of blue armor and holding a steel fork.

The burly man with the blue face looked down at the shamans and shouted, "I am Qingbo, a warrior under the command of the Great River Water Lord, in charge of this million-mile stretch of water. Since you migrated here, your clan has been constantly killing our aquatic brothers. Today, you even severely injured my little sister. If I don't demand an explanation from you, how can I save face?"

Upon hearing Houtu, Houtu narrowed her eyes slightly. Just as Yu was about to retort, she transmitted her voice to him, saying, "Don't escalate the situation; let's try to calm things down first."

Upon hearing this, Yu paused for a moment, glancing back at Houtu with some confusion. After all, although General Qingbo looked quite imposing, he was certainly no match for him.

To yield to an opponent you could easily defeat...

Houtu nodded slightly to him. Seeing this, Yu did not ask any further questions. He turned to General Qingbo and said, "We were unaware that this area was under the jurisdiction of Fellow Qingbo. We are truly sorry! Now that we know, we will certainly restrain our people from harming you, our aquatic brothers, in the future. We hope that Fellow Qingbo can understand this."

Upon hearing the other side's admission of weakness, General Qingbo straightened his back even more and demanded, "What about the aquatic brothers you killed before? And what about my sister who was injured by you today?" As he spoke, he snorted twice, paced back and forth on the giant wave a few times, and continued, "This Great River Water Lord is now a powerful figure from the Dragon Clan's Royal Court. If you do not give me an explanation for the cruelty you have inflicted on my aquatic brothers today, I fear that the River God will unleash a colossal wave and turn this place into a vast swamp!"

The words of the blue-faced general immediately provoked the anger of the group of Witch Clan Warrior.

The two leaders' previous words of submission had already surprised and angered them somewhat, so hearing the blue-faced general's threatening words now only made them more displeased.

However, since the Great Leader Houtu stood there without saying a word, they dared not act rashly.

Houtu was well aware that if things escalated, it would only put her second brother, Torch Dragon, in a difficult position. Because Torch Dragon also had Witch Clan identity, he had never shown any special care to the Witch Clan in the past, and she was worried that someone would use this as an excuse to accuse him of being a traitor.

The Witch Clan has always been aware of this and has not provoked the Shui tribe.

It's just that the Houtu Tribe lives near this Great River, so it's perfectly normal for them to hunt a few aquatic beasts for food when they have nothing else to do.

No aquatic creatures had spoken up before, so I thought this area of water was unmanaged!

Just as Houtu was pondering how to quell the situation without resorting to force, Hong Yun, accompanied by Wu Chu, appeared in the distance with lightning speed.

The appearance of Hong Yun caused General Qingbo and the densely packed aquatic creatures to show a hint of apprehension. This was because Hong Yun, carrying Wu Chu, had unleashed his full power as a Daluo Realm cultivator in order to speed up their journey. This powerful aura was enough to intimidate the entire scene.

Wu Chu and Hong Yun stood at a distance, communicating Divine Sense with Houtu, "Sister, what's going on? Why are we fighting with those aquatic creatures?"

Houtu briefly explained the whole story to Wu Chu and the others, and concluded by saying, "That's how it is. I'm wondering if there's any way to calm things down without resorting to force. I don't want things to escalate and put my second brother in a difficult position."

Upon hearing this, Wu Chu shook his head slightly and transmitted his voice, saying, "That's impossible. That blue-faced general is clearly relying on the Dragon Clan's backing to extort a large sum of money. Therefore, we still need to use force. After all, peace is achieved through force, while peace is lost through compromise. This is an age-old truth."

Upon hearing this, Hong Yun stroked her chin, seemingly lost in thought.

Then Houtu asked directly, "Has A Chu come up with any plan?"

"It's simple in theory. Don't let the fierce appearance of this blue-faced general fool you; he doesn't actually want war. If he truly wanted war, he wouldn't give you any time to react, much less swagger around like that..."

After all, this period was not yet the Zhou Dynasty, which later emphasized Rites of Zhou.

I heard that during that period, wars would begin with both sides lining up their battle formations and announcing to each other, "I'm going to attack you, so please prepare," before the fighting would officially begin.

This period is more like the later Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, where people fight whenever they want, confront each other head-on, and launch surprise attacks from behind, using whatever means are effective.

The saying "There were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period" implies a lack of morality.

"Judging from his expression, he probably wants benefits, so I prepared benefits on one hand, and used force to intimidate him on the other, letting him know that I just don't want bloodshed and the collapse of the land, not that I'm incapable of handling the troubles he mentioned..."

As Wu Chu spoke, he looked at Hong Yun and transmitted his voice, "Brother Hong Yun, I'll need to borrow your Daluo Realm power again later..."

Upon hearing this, Hong Yun laughed heartily and said, "It's alright, it's alright. Speaking of which, I have some connections with those old dragons of the Eastern Sea Dragon Court!"

At this moment, on the Houtu Tribe's side, Houtu directly released her powerful aura that looked down upon all living beings. In an instant, she transformed into a colossal body tens of thousands of feet tall, causing wind and clouds to surge. Like a god, she looked down from above at the group of Water Demons on the giant waves.

General Qingmian felt his legs tremble as he looked at the powerful aura emanating from Houtu's enormous body, and he almost lost control of the giant wave.

Houtu slowly spoke, "My name Houtu, and I am the leader of the Houtu Tribe. I understand what you said earlier, fellow Daoist. My desire to avoid trouble does not mean I am afraid of it. I cannot bear to see the people suffer and only wish to quell the situation, but you have repeatedly pushed your luck..."

"Houtu Daoist Houtu, wait, wait..."

At this moment, the young master Hong Yun from the Primordial World made his appearance.

P. S.: Thank you so much to Liu Liu Feng Feng for the generous Dragon Boat Festival gift! Happy Dragon Boat Festival everyone!!