Ye Xi slept long and soundly.
When he woke up, his body was light and relaxed all over. All the pain was gone, his vision was restored, and the buzzing in his mind had stopped.
A cold and icy object was pressed on his chest. Ye Xi got up and took the sleeping Scaly off his chest, placing it on the ground.
Scaly opened its eyes, slithered around Ye Xi's feet, and then crawled up his body and onto his neck.
The little fellow grew quickly. It had started as a little snake that was as thick as his thumb, but after one month, it was as thick as a wrist.
While leaving the cave, he ran into Awl.
Ye Xi smiled and waved at him.
Awl inspected Ye Xi and worriedly said, "Why don't you sleep a little longer? The shaman said you should."
Ye Xi spread out his arms. "Look; I'm all better."
Awl was still concerned. "Is that true? The shaman said half a month. Don't try and act strong."
"I'm really better!" Ye Xi changed the topic. "Right, how long have I been sleeping?"
"Only one night!" Awl loudly said, emphasizing the number in particular.
His heart still seized up when he recalled how Ye Xi had been bleeding from every orifice. How could such serious injuries be healed after one night's sleep?
Ye Xi scratched his head. It was no wonder Awl was so agitated. He had only slept one night, but his body was bursting with energy… He'd thought that he had slept for two days and two nights.
He recalled the shaman saying that he would need half a month to recover. But he really felt fine, without even the slightest discomfort.
Was it because of the miracle flower?
Right, how was Calm Bulrush doing? Was he awake?
Ye Xi couldn't stand still after thinking this. "Awl, I'll go and see Uncle Bulrush first." Before Awl could reply, he ran back in.
"Hey!" Awl called out. He could only helplessly sigh as he watched Ye Xi leave, but his sigh soon turned into a chuckle.
Though he was still worried, he couldn't help but relax after seeing Ye Xi so energetic. Once Ye Xi was gone, Awl turned around and walked out, anxious to tell the rest of the tribe the good news that Ye Xi had recovered.
Calm Bulrush's cave.
Ye Xi was given a fright the moment he entered.
Besides Calm Bulrush, the chief, the shaman, and Courage—the upper echelons of the Mud Mountain Tribe—were also present.
Calm Bulrush had a sallow complexion as he sat on the ground with his back leaning against the wall and his eyes focused on the ground. The other three had solemn expressions and furrowed brows, their eyes fixed on the air as they pondered something. A heavy atmosphere hung over the room.
They raised their heads upon hearing the noise.
They saw Ye Xi standing at the entrance, looking at them.
As one, they blurted out in surprise, "Ye Xi?"
The mood instantly lightened.
Ye Xi chuckled. He first glanced at Calm Bulrush. When he saw that Calm Bulrush, while appearing rather dejected, did not appear in mortal danger, he sighed in relief.
"Shaman, chief, Uncle Bulrush, Uncle Courage, you're all here," Ye Xi called out to all of them.
Courage unhappily frowned. "Why did you get up? Shouldn't you be getting some more sleep?"
"I'm fine already." Before they could criticize him, Ye Xi turned to Calm Bulrush and asked, "Uncle Bulrush, how do you feel?"
Seeing Ye Xi so worried, Calm Bulrush intentionally raised his voice and pretended to be energetic. "I'm fine! These injuries are nothing! Your Uncle Bulrush has taken even more serious wounds before, but I still came back alive!"
Courage silently shot a glance at Calm Bulrush. When boasting, it was best not to make a flimsy story. If he had been more heavily injured, how would he have been able to come back alive?
Ye Xi understood that Calm Bulrush was trying to comfort him, and felt moved. He wanted to say something, but everything he thought of felt foolish.
So he paused for a while, and then he finally managed to say, "…Uncle Bulrush, thank you for yesterday. You were a real hero."
Calm Bulrush recalled how he had been battered and bloodied by the bird of prey, and dryly chuckled. "Haha, not at all, not at all."
Ye Xi saw the embarrassed look on Calm Bulrush's face and immediately understood that he had said the wrong thing, so he added, "That bird of prey was so savage that it was already awesome that Uncle Bulrush dared to fight it!"
The chief chuckled. "Ye Xi, don't you know? The bird of prey you ran into yesterday was a pureblood fiendbeast, with the strength of a Level 3 Warrior. For all of you to fight with it for so long and then slay it with a bow and arrows is truly too surprising."
The chief and the others sighed in praise. It was one thing for Calm Bulrush, but Ye Xi, who was still only a potential provisional Warrior, was able to seize the chance and shoot a poisoned arrow into the bird's eyes, finally killing it. One couldn't help but be amazed.
But the risk had been enormous.
Calm Bulrush earnestly said, "Ye Xi, this was a coincidence. It was good luck that you managed to find something as poisonous as blackbone grass. What if you hadn't found it? Or what if you hadn't hit its eye? Wouldn't you be dead? So, when you encounter a situation like this again, run if you can. Don't do something stupid."
"Uncle Bulrush, didn't you fight to save me even though you knew that you couldn't beat it?" Ye Xi grinned. "So the same goes for you."
Everyone was taken aback, and then they broke into laughter.
Calm Bulrush laughed and slapped himself on the forehead. "It seems that I've got no right to say that to you."
The chief chuckled. "The two of you are so rash…"
The chief felt chills when he recalled the powerful energy radiating from the already deceased fiendbeast. He could tell from the scene just how fierce the battle had been. The slightest error could have meant neither of the pair returning.
Ye Xi questioned, "Have such powerful fiendbeasts appeared near the tribe in the past?"
A pureblood fiendbeast was the equivalent of a Level 3 Warrior. The small Mud Mountain Tribe's strongest was only a Level 2. If they appeared often, Mud Mountain would have been wiped out long ago.
Ye Xi instantly noticed the mood turning heavier.
The chief's smile faded, and he frowned as he slowly said, "Normally, pureblood fiendbeasts would not appear near the tribe."
"Normally?"
Courage explained, "Because our tribe's surroundings, the region to the east of the Blackspine Mountains, is extremely barren. Thus, formidable fiendbeasts normally like to live to the west of the Blackspine Mountains."
"How is it barren? Aren't there plenty of trees?"
"Just think about it. The majority of us have gone our entire lives without seeing any miracle flowers or grasses."
"The west side has many miracle flowers and grasses?"
"I don't know the exact details, but in any case, it's more than we have here. Fiendbeasts prefer miracle plants to humans, so powerful fiendbeasts aren't willing to come to our side."
If that was the case, why had a pureblood fiendbeast abandoned the west and come to the east? Was it just one, or was it…
"It wasn't a coincidence that this bird of prey appeared?"
The chief thought it over and replied, "Perhaps it was, or perhaps it wasn't."
Ye Xi: "And if it wasn't?"
Everyone fell silent.
Calm Bulrush bitterly said, "If it wasn't… then a great upheaval is coming."
Ye Xi shivered. A great upheaval?
The chief soothed, "Don't worry. Even if the sky collapses, we old ones can hold it up."
The shaman broke his silence. "Today, I will perform a divination. For the next two days, the hunting teams and fruit-picking teams should not leave the tribe."
The Mud Mountain shaman's primary specialty was blessing. Divinations were not his strong suit. Not only did they consume much of his shaman power, he would often obtain extremely blurry results. Thus, he rarely performed divinations.
That he had decided to perform one meant that he truly must have felt uneasy.
Ye Xi slowly walked out of the cave. Standing at the entrance, he pensively gazed at the jungle.
A wind blew through the jungle, rustling the tree leaves and then his hair and clothes.
He recalled the bloody dandelions he had seen on the journey to the Blackpond, the pack of giant beasts, and the vague words from the Flint Tribe Warriors.
His heart heavily thumped with ill foreboding.