After Yu Su finished speaking, everyone fell into silence.
After dealing with the bodies of the Shaman Warriors and cleaning the village entrance, Yu Su and the others sat together in the house of Dao Village's chief.
Yu Su said, "With the disappearance of those Shaman Warriors, the Lion Tribe will surely send someone to investigate. I suggest you temporarily leave Dao Village, avoid this crisis, and then decide what to do."
The old shaman nodded, "Lord Yu Su's words make sense. Move the village; don't hesitate anymore."
The village chief gritted his teeth, "Alright, I'll have them prepare to move immediately."
The villagers of Dao Village had originally planned to move. After this battle, they realized the severity of the situation. Following the chief's orders, they started preparing to relocate.
Due to the concern that the Lion Tribe would soon send people to investigate, they only brought essential items such as food and money beads. Led by the village chief and the old shaman, they prepared to head north.
Before leaving, the old shaman asked Yu Su, "Lord Yu Su, are you still going south?"
Yu Su nodded, "We must make this journey."
The old shaman, knowing that both he and Lu Yan were powerful individuals, didn't try to stop them from going south. He just told Yu Su, "We will move to the north to Daji Village. If you reach the north, be sure to find us."
Yu Su nodded, "Alright."
*
After bidding farewell to the people of Dao Village, Yu Su and Lu Yan continued southeast.
As they were about to enter the territory of the Lion Tribe, they coincidentally encountered Shaman Warriors returning from an expedition outside the Lion Tribe. They hid after exchanging a glance.
These Shaman Warriors, each with bloodied knife tips, were transporting a large amount of goods. They were also driving a group of frightened and anxious men and women, evidently having just wiped out a small village.
They were urging the captured men and women to move faster.
The captives wore expressions of numbness and despair, some quietly weeping.
"Why cry? If you cry again, we'll slaughter you."
"Move faster. Whoever walks the slowest will be fed to the wolves in the desolate wilderness!"
Threatened, the captured men and women had to quicken their pace.
At that moment, another group of Shaman Warriors walked over, led by two normal-looking and burly men. Seeing the approaching team, they asked, "Did you come out from Dao Village?"
"No, we came out from the east, from Xiaohe Village."
"Xiaohe Village? Did you see the team heading to Dao Village?"
"No."
Listening to their conversation, Yu Su and Lu Yan, who were hiding, exchanged glances, understanding that these were the Shaman Warriors who hadn't been sent to slaughter Dao Village and had returned to check.
Calculating the time, the people of Dao Village had likely moved far beyond the range of pursuit.
At this point, going after them would be difficult.The bodies of the Shaman Warriors who attacked the village were either burned or buried, making it impossible for them to be found.
As Yu Su suspected, when this group arrived at Dao Village, they found nothing. Not only were there no traces of the Shaman Warriors, but the villagers of Dao Village were also nowhere to be seen.
"They escaped?"
"They took away the village's food and valuable items."
"It's also possible that those Shaman Warriors consumed everything. Remember the batch of Shaman Warriors that escaped last year?"
"But the bodies of the villagers weren't found. Did they take the people with them?"
"Search the nearby areas, don't overlook the forest."
Before leaving, Yu Su scattered grass seeds over the places where they fought at the village entrance and where the Shaman Warriors were buried. With a healing spell, all traces on the ground were covered by thick vegetation.
After searching nearby for a while, the Shaman Warriors couldn't find anything. In the end, they could only conclude that the batch of Shaman Warriors had betrayed, taking the villagers of Dao Village with them.
"What should we do? How do we explain when we go back?"
"Tell the truth. We didn't make them escape."
The leaders of the Lion Tribe looked grim. Another group of Shaman Warriors had escaped, and the leaders would surely be furious.
*
At this point, Yu Su and his group had reached near the Lion Tribe. The Lion Tribe was on their way south, and they had entered the tribe's territory.
Yu Su and Lu Yan hid nearby, allowing the all-encompassing spirits to scan the situation in the village.
"How is it?"
[The village is too large; some areas are beyond my scanning range. I've created a map of the scannable areas; take a look.]
The all-encompassing spirits provided Yu Su with a scanning map. He observed it and realized the village was indeed extensive, well-defended, and had far more people than Dao Village. Considering the current strength of Dao Village against this tribe, it would be challenging.
Moreover, this was an incomplete scanning map.
Yu Su stared at the Lion Tribe. He had always been curious about the mysterious "Shamanic Fruit" of the Lion Tribe. If the tribe continued to develop unchecked, it might engulf the entire plain, posing a threat to Yu Village on the other side of the mountains.
"We need to find a way to get a Shamanic Fruit."
"Go in now?"
"First, find the Tree of Life, and then come back."
The most urgent matter now was the Tree of Life. If he could obtain the treasure of the Wood Spirit, it would enhance his elixir field, and his strength would increase. They could return to investigate the Lion Tribe afterward.
The two quietly left the Lion Tribe's territory, continuing south.
On the other side, the Lion Tribe quickly learned about the batch of Shaman Warriors taking Dao Village people and escaping. The leader was furious and demanded an investigation into the whereabouts of these Shaman Warriors, insisting on capturing and executing them to set an example.
"How about checking the foothills of the western mountains?"
"Yes, we must thoroughly investigate where they went."
"Understood!"
The Lion Tribe warriors assigned to investigate reached the foothills of the western mountains. They scoured the area but found nothing.
"I don't think they went into the mountains. With so many people, what could they do in there? Most likely, they found a place, established dominance, and declared themselves rulers."
"This is strange. Let's go back to Dao Village and check again."
Returning to Dao Village and thoroughly searching, they still found no clues, mirroring the previous investigation results.
"No discoveries. Shall we go back?"
"I still find it suspicious. There's not a single corpse here. Did the people of Dao Village obediently follow the Shaman Warriors without resisting?"
"With your point, it does seem odd. Could they have colluded beforehand?"
"It's possible, but the likelihood is low. Lord Xuli once said that the old shaman of Dao Village is a very stubborn old man who used to look down on the Lion Tribe. How could he collaborate with Shaman Warriors?"
"Then, what do you think happened?"
"If I knew, why would I be here investigating? We must report this to Lord Xuli."
...
Lion Tribe.
"Your suspicions were correct; there is indeed a problem." Xuli, an elderly man like the old shaman of Dao Village, with a face full of wrinkles but still sharp eyes, addressed his subordinates.
"Let me divine and ask the Shaman God what's going on."
Upon hearing that he would divine and ask the god, everyone in the room respectfully retreated, not daring to disturb.
Once alone, instead of using the divination tools on the table, Xuli took out a few black stones from under the table. These stones had bizarre and discomforting ghostly patterns. Despite their unsettling appearance, Xuli's gaze was fervent. After spreading them on the table and offering a solemn prayer, he began divining.
The divination was conducted twice. The first time was about the fate of the Shaman Warriors, and it showed a dead end.
Xuli's expression darkened. Dead? How was that possible? Wasn't it said that nothing was found in Dao Village?
Xuli proceeded with the second divination, this time about the whereabouts of Dao Village's people. One stone pointed north.
Xuli understood; Dao Village's people had escaped to the north.
He collected the stones and concealed them back under the table.
Either the people of Dao Village had secretly killed the Shaman Warriors and escaped, or the Shaman Warriors had been killed by someone before reaching Dao Village.
Xuli leaned toward the latter; based on his understanding of Dao Village, they definitely didn't have the strength to kill the Shaman Warriors.
But the fact that these Shaman Warriors died without a trace indicated that the ones who killed them were no ordinary individuals. He needed to find out what happened.
He had a gut feeling that not investigating this thoroughly would pose a significant risk.
Xuli immediately stood up, requesting to lead a team out of the tribe to investigate the cause of the Shaman Warriors' deaths.
The leader of the Lion Tribe was shocked, "The Shaman Warriors died? How is that possible?"
Xuli said, "This is the guidance of the Shaman God; it won't be wrong."
Hearing that it was the guidance of the god, the leader immediately believed it.
"Who could have killed them?" The leader recalled that on that day, thirty Shaman Warriors went to Dao Village. If all thirty were dead, perhaps only the large Ji Village to the north with over two thousand people could manage such a feat.
"Could it be Ji Village?"
Thinking of the divination's hint, Xuli's eyes darkened. "We'll know after investigating."
...
At the same time, Yu Su and his group had moved far from the Lion Tribe's territory and reached a watery area. The place was lush with water plants and rich in species, but it also concealed many invisible swamps—a seemingly beautiful yet perilous place.
Yu Su had a premonition that the Tree of Life, as mentioned by Qingze, was in this extensive watery area, and they needed to enter to find it.
Lu Yan: "It's getting dark. Let's enter tomorrow morning. Going in now might lead to stepping into mud swamps and sinking."
Yu Su nodded. The two found a dry, flat place nearby to spend the night.
Yu Su gathered
firewood and lit a campfire.
Lu Yan went to find something to eat.
Once Lu Yan left, the surroundings suddenly quieted down.
While Yu Su was adding more wood to the fire, he heard the comprehensive spirits suddenly alert: [Something is approaching.]