Chapter 655 The Jing People (1/2)

After Shao Xuan’s group left the Gu tribe, the shaman contemplated for a while and sent a few members of the Ya tribe to bring a letter over to the Jing tribe. The people of the Ya tribe travelled faster through their underground route, and they wouldn’t have to face any fearsome beasts on the way, so perhaps they could arrive at the Jing tribe before Shao Xuan’s group did.

With the Ya tribe there, maybe the Jing tribe would behave more amicably towards the Flaming Horns.

However, the Gu shaman never expected Shao Xuan’s ships to travel so fast, arriving even earlier than the Ya tribesmen.

Although the Ya tribespeople didn’t need to go around mountains or natural barriers to get to the Jing tribe, not everywhere was suitable for digging, especially places near the river. Sometimes they even had to go around an obstacle or rest on the way if they’re tired.

In contrast, Shao Xuan’s group never stopped to rest besides stopping once in a while to put up wooden signs on the riverbank. They travelled nonstop day and night.

After the giant beast was slaughtered, the part of the river near the Gu tribe became more peaceful. Smaller fishes began to swim in the area actively, and not many larger offensive beasts appeared here. The large fish that attacked Bo Luo from before might have been driven to the site by the giant beast.

Travelling downstream, there weren’t any significant geographical changes on land. The riverbanks resembled the parts where the Gu tribe resided, but the woods were denser compared to the Drumming tribe’s territory.

Shao Xuan sat inside the cabin on the ship and sat with his legs crossed. He set the sword on his feet, and there were still bloodstains left on it. This was Shao Xuan’s blood. He was thinking about how he successfully ignited the net back in the Gu tribe. He wanted to test if he could use his own blood to ignite the fire, but he never succeeded. He felt like something was missing, but he didn’t know what.

“Someone’s there!” the people outside shouted.

Shao Xuan also sensed the Jing fire seed nearby, so he set down his sword and walked out from the cabin.

“We’re here.”

The Jing tribe also lived beside the Flaming River. They didn’t live too close to the river, but they weren’t too far either, just slightly closer to the banks than the Gu tribe.

People were staring in their direction from the forest, and there were even sharp sounds of birds chirping, but Shao Xuan’s group knew that those weren’t birds. They were people hiding inside the forest, sending out signals.

As the two ships got close to the shore, the people inside the forest also retreated, but continued to hide in the woods. They observed the two ships with vigilance.

They had never seen ships, so they were more defensive towards foreign tribes.

It was clear that others had settled the land where the ships anchored. There were no tall giant trees there. Besides some smaller wooden stakes, the rest of the land was grass. Even the grass was shorter compared to the ones in the forest.

These little wooden stakes were probably used to tie a raft to the shore. There were rope marks left on the stakes, and there were clear footprints in the dents on the grounds. That was the only reason the grass tilted from their original upright position.

Walking up the riverbank, Shao Xuan lifted his head and looked toward the forest in front of him.

There was a road leading from the riverbanks into the woods. It was only two to three metres wide, but on this dense and grassy field, this road was very conspicuous.

The Gu shaman said that the Jing tribesmen used their nets for fishing in the river. So this was the road they used to go there.

Shao Xuan approached the woods with his people. They didn’t go far into the forest but stood still before it.

“Is this the Jing tribe? We are from the Flaming Horn tribe. We have matters to discuss with you. Please inform the Jing shaman.”

There were definitely other traps in the forest, but Shao Xuan was not afraid of those. He just didn’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble, not to mention he also needed to search for the “eye” from the Jing tribe. It was better to leave an excellent first impression.

After Shao Xuan shouted his message, the forest became quieter, but afterwards, there were a few more bird-chirping sounds. Whooshing sounds came from afar. It was clear that the people went back to deliver his message.

Shao Xuan was not in a rush. He sat on a rock beside the forest and waited while the others looked around. They were checking the difference in the plant species in this area compared to the land upstream.

After about twenty minutes, sounds of footsteps came from a distant place. They even heard low voices of people speaking.

Quite a lot of people came, no fewer than two hundred. It was about the same number as the people on their ships.

The crowd walked closer to them. The road was too narrow, so some people travelled in the forest. They could hear clear sounds of branches snapping under their feet.

Very soon, figures appeared in the forest. The sunlight shone through the woods, and the branches from above cast a shadow down on a section of the road. It was darker in the forest on both sides of the road, so the people who were on the road were the clearest in their view.