Chapter 845 - Epilogue 1 (1/2)

Chapter 845  Epilogue 1

Yi Ce of Flaming River (1)

Within the dense forest, the gigantic trees covered the skies, unaffected by the past winter as every strong branch extended outwards.

The past winter season did not affect the plants here, the area was still teeming with life.

This was not within the Flaming Horn tribe’s territory, also not along their hunting routes. There were no signs of human activity here, just the cries of birds and animals.

Yi Ce looked at a little mound of soil protruding from the ground. Twenty years have passed. The rock placed on the mound was already covered with soil, grass and flowers, no longer retaining its initial look.

This was where Yi Ce’s father was buried.

“It’s time.”

Yi Ce touched the jade stone hung around his neck. It was one of the jade stones that Yi Cong used during his readings. Other than this stone left behind for Yi Ce, the rest were already buried with Yi Cong.

He looked at the sky, then turned to leave.

After an hour, Yi Ce arrived at another spot. He soon heard a sound from deep in the forest.

The sound approached quickly from far in his direction.

Crack crack crack— Boom—

There was the sound of human conversation, as well as the sound of broken branches.

A wolf taller than a man sprinted over like the wind with a girl of fifteen or sixteen years sitting on its back, wearing hunting clothes and her face painted with her tribe’s patterns.

Without looking at the fearsome beast charging at himself, Yi Ce smiled and lifted an arm planning to wave to the girl.

However, before he spoke, the figure on the wolf’s back suddenly grabbed Yi Ce by the collar and tossed him on the wolf’s back.

“Shao Duo, is the hunting team back yet?” asked Yi Ce, grabbing on to the wolf’s fur.

Shao Duo was Shao Xuan and Gui Ze’s second child.

She had a brother older than her by two years, Shao Cheng, who was currently visiting Eagle Mountain together with Chacha. He had not returned and so did not participate in this hunt.

Shao Duo also had a younger brother three years younger than herself, Shao Xu. Although Shao Xu was not very interested in hunting, he loved studying herbs with Gui Ze, as well as meddling with strange, new substances, such as explosives.

Hearing Yi Ce’s question, Shao Duo gave a brief answer. “They’re back.”

“Was the hunt…”

Yi Ce wanted to ask about their haul from this hunt but Shao Duo interrupted him, “Shut up, we’ve got to deal with the pig behind!”

He turned around and saw a figure closing in, and heard tree branches snapping. Although he could not see it clearly through the trees, he could tell who was behind. It was Siya the fearsome beast as well as Uncle Mai’s youngest son.

Yi Ce grabbed on to the wolf’s fur with one hand, then swiped across the trees they passed, finally tossing the object in his hand seemingly casually on the ground.

A fearsome beast with tusks and looked like a boar burst through the forest. On its back rode a young man clad in hunting clothing.

He was no longer obstructed by trees and both parties were not too far apart so the young man could see the wolf and its riders. He was about to catch up when he saw Yi Ce turn around and grin. His chest tightened instantly, before he could yell ‘CAREFUL!’, Siya squealed and slipped, crashing into the ground.

The youth on Siya’s back reacted quickly by grabbing onto a branch and flipping onto the tree.

“Shao Duo! Yi Ce! Just you wait!”

Siya had been running just fine, how could it have stepped on a slippery fruit?

It’s just a fruit, one did not usually slip when stepping even on a pile of fruits, unless Siya’s hoove had landed at the exact spot that would throw it off balance.

Somehow, Siya landed in that exact position.

This had happened too many times. Other than Yi Ce, no one could do something like this… Though maybe the Grand Elder could. But Grand Elder would just ignore these children.

Siya, who had slipped and fallen, scrambled to its feet while huffing angrily, venting its anger on the fruit. It was not injured from the small slip, just very annoyed.

“Stop kicking the fruit, we’ve gotta catch them!”

The young man flipped unto Siya’s back, stopping Siya from wasting its time on the fruit, their main goal was to catch up. He was currently competing with Shao Duo to arrive at the tribe first.

At this moment, several teenagers of similar ages, guys and girls all clad in hunting clothing carrying their weapons, all passed him while laughing mischievously when they saw Siya slip. They were all riding on various fearsome beasts like the Phorusrhacos and cave lions.

Shao Duo was far away on Caesar, ignoring the other guy’s furious curses. He was the one who struck first! There were many juice stains on Caesar’s fur, and they dried in clumps, knotting up his fur.

Shao Duo rode Caesar, sprinting to the mountain in the tribe, left Yi Ce on the peak, then went to the stream to brush out his fur.

Yi Ce straightened his clothing and walked into the stone house in front. This was Flaming Horn Grand Elder Shao Xuan’s office.

When he arrived, Shao Xuan was writing on an animal skin scroll. Shao Xuan was already a husband and father now, but his face had not changed too much. He was just much calmer, as if any commotion in the tribe would naturally quieten down if Shao Xuan appeared.

The Flaming Horns and other tribesmen in the Flaming River district loved to spar whenever they met other warriors but in Yi Ce’s memory, very few people would want to fight Shao Xuan. Even the boisterous, short-tempered Water Tiger tribe became very quiet in front of Shao Xuan.