Free Web NovelChapter 102: Chapter 102: The Price of Intelligence
"What happened to the tribe?"
Walter looked in surprise at the land reclamation and livestock farming area that had expanded all the way to the periphery. The forest in this area had been almost entirely leveled, replaced by neatly lined fields of sweet grass.
The guard beastman laughed and said: "You guys have been gone for too long, the tribe has changed a lot. Counting it up, our tribe can be considered an Intermediate tribe now."
"Intermediate?"
Everyone took a deep breath. Anthony blurted out to ask: "Has someone in the tribe reached level four?"
Not just that. The guard beastman smiled mysteriously, speaking ambiguously: "You will know soon enough."
Just as he finished speaking, loud shouts echoed from afar, and a group of people tore through the wind, steadily stopping in front of them at a distance of about fifty meters. The beastmen returning from afar simultaneously took a deep breath, restraining themselves again and again, but ultimately could not hold back, simultaneously transforming into their beast forms, roaring in excitement.
The army coming to welcome them also let out roars in response.
This aura, this majesty, made the one hundred and seventy-two people who decided to join the Crimson tribe both joyful and fearful. Joyful because such a powerful tribe would definitely be able to protect them; fearful because they themselves did not have much practical value, afraid that they would not be welcomed.
At this time, Sane leisurely walked over; everyone transformed back into their human forms, simultaneously placing their hands over their left chests, bowing and shouting loudly:
"Greetings, Chief!"
The deformed group hastily followed suit to pay their respects. Sane gave a faint ’mhm’ in response, swept his gaze over them, and then asked:
"Where is Wofu?"
Anthony had not yet recovered from the excitement of discovering that Sane was already an Intermediate warrior; hearing Sane ask this, he froze slightly. He choked up: "He is injured, lying in the sled over there." Saying that, he waved his hand, and the beastmen joined forces to push the sled forward. Draven followed closely without leaving a single step; his face was pale, looking incredibly haggard.
Sane observed the condition of the white tiger beastman lying completely still on the sled, inspecting Wofu’s body, but found absolutely no abnormalities. He swept his gaze around, glancing over the unfamiliar faces over there, and then gave the order to take them to the periphery of the land reclamation area.
"Barton, you arrange accommodation for them. Anthony, Walter, Draven, you three bring Wofu and follow me. The rest will temporarily camp in the old valley, clean yourselves up before you are allowed to return to the military camp."
"Understood!"
Sane led Anthony’s trio to Kaelen’s place. Zale was in the process of leveling up, having entered Kaelen’s supportive array for a day; Kaelen was not at ease so he had set up a guard tent right here.
Kaelen channeled spiritual aura to inspect Wofu’s body, but did not discover any internal injuries. He then tried probing Wofu’s sea of consciousness. There was absolutely no resistance; inside was also a hazy, empty expanse of nothingness.
He frowned, saying: "It does not look like an injury, but more like... like there is no soul. Completely empty."
Draven bit his lip tightly, clutching his chest. What did ’no soul’ mean? Did it mean he was dead?
Sane rubbed his chin: "Like that white lion beastman, a ’vegetative’ state?"
This phrase ’vegetative’ Sane had heard from a cartoon while in Kaelen’s illusion, and also had a certain understanding of it.
Kaelen rubbed his face, nodding: "Exactly the same. It can be said that they are still alive, but their souls are in a deep sleep or somewhere else."
Kaelen was not a doctor, he did not know the specifics of this state, nor could he explain it clearly to everyone. He could only use a slightly fantastical way of speaking to give the beastman’s family a bit of hope.
He said: "Right now we can only provide prolonged care, everyone can talk with him, say some stimulating words to him; who knows, it might wake him up. As for the time, I truly cannot say for sure."
After finishing examining Wofu, Sane and Kaelen finally asked the three about everything that had happened. Anthony organized each event, reporting them in detail.
"When we were on the other side, it went quite smoothly. However, on the way back, we continuously encountered three waves of pursuit, all from the Temple..."
At that time, the situation was very perilous; if it were not for Draven’s Divine Energy, the death toll would not have been only three. Speaking up to this point, Anthony’s complexion turned somewhat gloomy: "People’s hearts began to waver, and those people began to harbor resentment. After Draven was unsuccessfully sneak-attacked and Wofu nearly died, we decided to eliminate those people."
Kaelen glanced at Draven, seeing him looking down; the scolding words on his lips circled right back. He carefully considered his words for a moment before saying:
"You are very smart, Draven."
Draven raised his face, his tear-streaked face filled with astonishment. He did not understand why Kaelen suddenly praised him for being smart. At this time, Kaelen added:
"It is precisely because you are too smart that it is easy to overlook the small details. Because you are smart, you see everything very simply. But it is exactly because of that you do not know that what is simple in your eyes is a difficult problem for others. They do not understand or intentionally refuse to understand the things you consider obvious, which is why so many things happened afterward."
"Draven, although this lesson seems a bit costly, I hope you remember it well. Because the one paying the price is not just you alone."
Kaelen did not say it outright, but Draven could extract the meaning Kaelen wanted to convey within it. Because he considered himself smart, arrogance was born. In this world, arrogance was the fastest path leading to death. Draven sniffled, choking up as he said: "I understand now."
Walter really wanted to say a word in defense of Draven, but ultimately kept his mouth shut. In the past, wasn’t he also very arrogant? If that Sub-Beast named Caleb had not appeared, he would surely still be arrogant enough to look down on everyone.
The five people then discussed many other issues together; after summarizing the good points and pointing out what needed improvement, it was already late afternoon. Anthony and Walter were chased back to the old valley to deal with the lice on their bodies. Draven was allowed to stay in another tent to take care of Wofu.
Kaelen took a sip of porridge, lowering his gaze, seemingly pondering something. Sane sat beside him deboning fish for him, not speaking up to interrupt. After thinking for a while, Kaelen finally said:
"There is less than a month left until the end of winter. Our tribe originally did not need to go to the Spring market to trade, but I have decided, we must let them go outside to see the world."
Sane smiled, nodding: "It is true that we should let them go outside. I want to establish a merchant caravan, what do you think?"
"A merchant caravan?" Kaelen was a bit startled: "Why did you suddenly think of this issue?"
Sane fed a piece of fish into Kaelen’s mouth, saying: "Previously, when people wanted to trade something, they usually had to wait until the Spring market, or send a team of people. Why don’t we establish a merchant caravan, bringing goods directly to sell to others, and exchanging for the things we need?"
Kaelen’s eyes instantly lit up: "Why didn’t I think of that? That way, not only is it convenient for material exchange, but we can also grasp information across the entire continent. But this matter cannot be done carelessly; it must be discussed very thoroughly."
First, a merchant caravan wanting to venture out must be large enough and strong enough that no one would dare to rob their goods or people; second, not only the leader but even the team members must be very shrewd, well-versed in business tricks so as not to be taken advantage of; third, the goods must be abundant enough to tempt people.
The two discussed for a while, deciding to take the territory from Crimson extending back to the South as the first testing ground. Once they gained more experience and expanded the scale, they would gradually start encroaching onto the other side of the magic beast forest, continuing to attack the Northern continent.
"I think we should take this opportunity to scout the entire Southern region; if we can entice any other tribes to join us, that would be best. After all, we are currently lacking people."
"Alright, I will listen to you completely." Sane dotingly fed him a spoonful of porridge, saying: "Perhaps in the future, Crimson will go from a tribe to becoming a city, or a small Kingdom."
Kaelen wrinkled his nose: "You sure are ambitious. A city can still be considered, but a Kingdom is out of the question. The kings in the movies all died before they even reached fifty; I do not want to be a widow."
Sane burst out laughing, using his greasy hands to cup his mate’s face, planting a peck on his lips. Kaelen got a face full of grease; he rolled his eyes and swung his hand, wrapping Sane into a green cocoon.
While the two were discussing establishing the merchant caravan, on the other side, Walter looked away from the fire, snapping out of his dazed state. He turned to ask Anthony:
"Hey... earlier Kaelen opened his mouth to speak, right?"
The hand Anthony was using to set up the tent suddenly stopped. At that time, the atmosphere in the tent was too tense; even he himself had unconsciously overlooked this issue. Now hearing Walter ask this, he finally remembered.
"It seems... that is really the case."
Another beastman hearing this immediately sidled over, recounting the gossip he had just picked up. Anthony and Walter listened to the story, clicking their tongues endlessly.
So it turned out that while they were absent, the tribe had undergone such earth-shattering changes. Walter asked:
"If so, I can comfortably return to Obsidian now, right?"
The beastman nodded: "I heard they are going to build a road through the canyon, going straight to Obsidian. If that road is finished, it will take us less than half a day to reach Obsidian."
Anthony asked Walter curiously: "You plan to go back there? What for?"
Walter turned his face away, ignoring him.
He naturally could not tell Anthony that he planned to return to retrieve the feathers he had accumulated since he was eight years old.
The feathers that Avian clan Sub-Beasts saved from childhood held great significance; even if he could hunt a bunch of birds to get feathers now, it still could not compare to those feathers.
Not knowing what he was thinking of, the tips of Walter’s ears flushed slightly pink, making Anthony’s hands itch just watching, wanting to reach out and pinch them twice. freёwebnoѵel.com
Of course, Anthony only thought about it; if he really reached out to touch him, Walter would shoot him into a hedgehog.
