127 A Significant Loss (1/2)
Time went by slowly, Xue Wei and Hei Gou were still confined within the tent, unable to leave.
They spent their time cultivating, waiting patiently for the time for the tribe to start migration once more.
Xue Wei had been summoned a few times to the Elder's tent to be informed about their plans, but not once did they seek his input. It was clear that they would not permit him to disagree with their plans.
Last time Xue Wei had been summoned, he had been informed of the marital rites of their tribe and what he could expect. He was also informed that he was supposed to marry the Little Tribe Chief.
Xue Wei had not blamed the Little Tribe Chief too much previously. They were no longer on good terms after their freedom had been taken away from them, but he had initially felt that it was all because the Elders had forced it on her.
When he saw her red face after they told him of his arranged marriage, he felt annoyance. Was the reason they had forced him and Hei Gou to stay because their precious little girl had fallen for him?
”I've done nothing to warrant such emotions from her,” he muttered to himself while sitting in the tent reminiscing about what had happened the last month.
The nuptial rites were explained to Xue Wei. In the Chaos Vulture Tribe, one would be engaged for a hundred days before the marriage ceremony took place.
This was something that caused Xue Wei a bit of relief. It seemed that it would take some time before the marriage was finalized.
He was also informed that the Chaos Vulture Tribe would be migrating soon. Their tribe had a cycle of relocating twice a year, depending on the seasons.
They would at random swap between seven different locations in their territory each time. When they had exhausted the population of Fierce Beasts in one place, they would move to the next, and so on.
It had now been three and a half years since they had last been at the location they were moving towards, and the Fierce Beasts were back in abundance.
Albeit always fighting against the beasts and losing good men and women to the cause, this very same fight for survival was also their livelihood. They got everything they needed to sustain their lives from these Fierce Beasts, from the leather required for their tents to the food they put on the tables.
Without the Fierce Beasts, these tribes would not be able to sustain themselves. The Flowing Blood Prairie was unsuited for the cultivation of crops, and thus all they could eat were a few herbs, nuts, roots, and berries that one could harvest in the wild.
Their engagement ceremony would be held as soon as they had migrated, and then the wedding would be held a hundred days later.
As to who Hei Gou was to marry, no one knew just yet, but it was certain that it would be a talented young woman from the tribe.
Xue Wei had broken through to become an eight layered Earth Warrior during the time they had been held captive. The recent boost in his cultivation speed was slowly dying out, the energy that had been stored in every cell of his body was slowly being depleted, eventually normalizing his pace of improvement.
Hei Gou, on the other hand, was still rapidly advancing. His body had now reached a level equivalent to a first layered Heavenly Warrior in raw strength; and his Qi was now incredibly pure and on the level of a fourth layered Sky Warrior.
The Elders and the Little Tribe Chief were the only ones aware of Hei Gou and Xue Wei's rapid progress in strength. At first, they had felt relieved and excited to see their rapid improvement, but after a bit of time, they frowned. Were these two sacrificing their future prospects for the sake of rapid advancement so they could escape?
That had frightened the Elders, and Elder Zhang had immediately summoned Xue Wei and Hei Gou. After observing them, he realized that they were not sacrificing their future for short-term gains.
This made him feel even more puzzled. How could they advance so fast without suffering from Qi deviation?
”They must have eaten some precious herbs back in the Heping Kingdom,” Elder Zhang concluded. ”Their talent is above average, and then they consumed some sort of treasure that allowed them to promote their ranks so drastically.”
The other Elders nodded their heads, accepting this reasoning, and waited for the cultivation to stabilize.
Another three weeks went by, and a lot of sounds entered the ears of the duo imprisoned in the tent. During these three weeks, neither of them had had any breakthrough, but they had managed to stabilize their cultivation bases, once more resulting in their foundations becoming as stable as mountains.
”There is much more activity outside the tent,” Xue Wei said with a compressed voice to Hei Gou while sitting across from him, watching the shadows that were being cast upon the tent walls from the procession of people outside of the tent.
”It seems that they are getting ready for the migration,” Hei Gou agreed with a nod of his head. The two were eager to see them migrate, as this was the best chance they had to escape from their wretched fate as the tribe's pawns.
Suddenly, a strange sound of someone blowing a horn sounded. The sound seemed to come from far away, but it was enough to cause widespread panic outside.
The guards that had been guarding their tent day in and day out were suddenly gone, and the previously bustling area was devoid of life. It was as if every last person who had been in this area of the tribe had ran off towards the horned sound.