Chapter 171 – Li (1/2)

Translated by Magpie’s friend

Shao Xuan sensed that the totems in his mind were rolling and jumping; the sudden movements woke him up from his light sleep.

His surroundings were closely sheltered by wooden walls, leaving him no way to see the outside. On the hay-covered ground there were many people lying or sprawled on their stomachs as they snored one after another.

Shao Xuan was quietly trying to feel where the source of movement came from.

It’s over there, in that direction.

But what in the world had happened that would make his totems move in this way?

Shao Xuan intended to go out and see, but soon, the movements stopped. The totem flame in his mind stopped rolling about and returned to normal.

He immediately gave up the thought of going out for the moment, as the people around were all strangers and this was also the territory of the slaveholders. If he casually went out at night, he would probably be taken as a malicious person and be attacked by the patrol guard.

After checking again and confirming that the totems were not moving, Shao Xuan closed his eyes and continued to rest.

People in the Pu tribe didn’t have any plans for the next day. Only a few main figures like Fan Ning in the traveling group would go and negotiate with other traveling groups, so there was nothing to do with the others in the group.

Therefore, Shao Xuan was going to go in the direction he had detected last night to investigate and see if he could find out the reason for the movements of his totem. But the moment he went out of the house, he was taken away by Yu. Yu had found a new poisonous frog from the other traveling groups. This kind of frog was nowhere to be found in their tribe. Yu originally planned to go and see it all by himself, but he had remembered what his grandfather had told him before they started off. So he took several more people with him, including Shao Xuan.

“Shao Xuan, what are you looking at?” One of them asked.

“Are they all wanderers over there?” Shao Xuan pointed to the direction of the wanderers.

After taking a look over there, someone from the Pu tribe who had several years of traveling experience, said, “Almost all of them are wanderers. Yet, I advise you not to go there. The people over there are very crazy. If you go there, you will probably be badgered. Quite a few of them like to join other tribes, but no tribe would want to take them, as they are too dangerous.”

Despair would make a person go crazy, and fierce emotions are easy to arise after a long time of depression. This was why many people who came here avoided them.

“You want to check out that place?” Yu asked.

“I just want to take a look.” Shao Xuan answered.

Shao Xuan took a glance over at the wanderers and found there were indeed a few walking outside. So he went away with Yu and the others, planning to go there when he returned.

But not long after Shao Xuan and the others left, in the place where the wanderers lived together, Yan Shuo moved the wood plank away from the entrance of his house.

Although there was a weary look on his face, he was in a good mood. Compared with his dead-fish eyes in the past, his eyes now were bright.

Last night, for the first time, he saw the totem patterns of the legendary totem warriors on his body; moreover, it was the totem pattern of the Flaming Horns tribe.

Though the totem patterns weren’t clear and didn’t last for long, Yan Shuo felt the light in his life again. He was too excited to sleep all night.

Only a little bit of light could ignite the fire of hope for those who were in the dark for too long.

Last night, apart from the appearance of the totem patterns, Yan Shuo also sensed some slight changes in his body. His body looked the same as before, however he felt that his power had increased a little; as he had moved the wooden plank with ease.

Yan Shuo had originally planned to leave here with the others, but he gave up the thought of leaving for the moment after the situation had changed last night. After getting up and discussing their options with his wife for a while in the morning, he left the house later than usual.

The others had already gone out in search for food. Yan Shuo also wanted to start off, but as he was about to leave, he saw someone coming over from the river bank.

Seeing him, Yan Shuo frowned with knitted brows and turned around, saying to his wife, “Stay inside. Don’t come out!”

The man was coming up leisurely, with a vine whip in his hand. Over on the river bank where the slaves handled goods, you would often see people like this man.

They were also slaves, but they were better off than the lower level slave.

They took charge of supervising the lower slaves, and would whip with no mercy those who loafed on the job. This small bit of power gave them such joy that they would whip those they felt dissatisfied with, and sometimes even whipped some to death. But as long as the slaveholder did not pursue it, no one dared stop them.

Well, the man walking over was called “Li”. He had moved together with Yan Shuo, until they reached this place. He couldn’t stand being refused by other tribes again and again, so he chose to become a slave.

Li was the first one who chose to become a slave among those who came here together.

At first, Li was just a slave of the lower level. Every day he had a lot of work to do, with little time to rest; at times, he was so dog tired and had also suffered being whipped. But he ran into a good opportunity, as someone offended a leader from one of the relative big traveling groups. The slaveholder directly killed some slaves to make amends to the traveling group. It was at that moment that Li was promoted.

After becoming slaves, they could get new strength from the slaveholder; while being promoted to a higher level meant they could get more resources and strength from the slaveholder. Their powers would surely improve.