Free Web NovelChapter 98: Chapter 98: An Ungrateful Person Will Always Be an Ungrateful Person
"They sure escaped fast."
Sane kicked the cave door open, looking at the empty cave, and could not help but click his tongue.
Moharm had led Rylan to escape the moment the young Lion Chief fell into a disadvantage. Accompanying him was also a branch of the Gray Wolf clan. This Sub-Beast truly knew when to yield and when to stand tall.
"Chief, should we pursue them?"
"No need." Sane shook his head: "He will not dare to show his face again. We still have many other things to do."
He swept his gaze over the captured people, the depths of his eyes showing not a single ripple.
"Sane! How could you swing your claws at your own clansmen, you are going against the legacy of Obsidian." The Second Elder leaned on his walking stick, standing amidst the crowd shouting. He looked somewhat disheveled, no longer possessing any of the glorious radiance of the aloof, high-and-mighty elder from the past.
"Obsidian?" Sane slowly stepped onto the high platform; the pressure released by a high-level warrior made it hard for people to breathe: "Second Elder, have you forgotten? Obsidian is no more, it was handed over to Cipher by your very own hands."
Zale brought over an armchair and placed it on the high platform. Sane leisurely sat down, smirking as he said:
"Allow me to introduce myself a bit; I am Sane, the fifth-generation Chief of the Crimson tribe."
The crowd below looked at each other in bewilderment, their eyes unable to hide their shock.
"You... you... actually betrayed the tribe! A traitor like you must be banished to the Avici Hell! You are the disgrace of beastmen!" The Second Elder could not believe it, his eyes widening. Zale jerked his chin; Sorin immediately stepped forward, slapping the Second Elder across the face.
"Old man, keep your mouth clean." Sorin said coldly. His gaze swept over the entire group of clansmen below. This crowd all wore resentful expressions, seemingly agreeing with the Second Elder’s words.
He curled his lips into a smirk. An ungrateful person will always be an ungrateful person; this group of people was truly beyond saving.
"You... insolent Sub-Beast, how dare you hit me?!" The Second Elder, slapped until his head spun, still did not give up pointing at Sorin and cursing. A few beastmen from the Second Elder’s branch stepped forward; several Sub-Beasts in Sorin’s team immediately raised their crossbows, firing a succession of arrows into the ground right in front of them.
This group of beastmen immediately pulled their legs back, their complexions exceedingly ugly.
The Third Elder smirked: "Since when have beastmen become so cowardly as to hide behind Sub-Beasts like this. It seems you are not doing too well as the Chief, Sane. Truly, befriending a lowly demon means one will always be nothing but lowly."
"Oh? Is that so?" Sane rested his chin on his hand, sitting in the armchair, and released the pressure of a level-five warrior. He cast his eyes over the resentful faces below, and with a slight wave of his hand, the group of beastmen below simultaneously released their pressure as well. He said with feigned regret:
"Oh my, my mate even worried about you all, even begging me not to kill you. But his kindness being placed on you is truly a waste, so I shall take it back on his behalf."
From the group below, a middle-aged Sub-Beast spat forcefully onto the ground, cursing: "Who needs that demon’s begging! We would rather die than accept the favor of that cursed thing."
The eyes of the Crimson people instantly turned icy, their killing intent surging to the heavens. Sane said coldly: "Then do not use his favor in the future. Theron, send them on their way."
Theron nodded, stepping up to the front of the crowd, crackling bolts of lightning surrounding his body. Someone gasped in astonishment: "Theron, you... you are not dead? That’s not right, you already lost the Beast God’s protection, how could you return to being a beastman!"
Theron said in a cold voice: "Thanks to your Fourth Elder, I was poisoned and lost all my Beast Energy. It was the Little Priest Kaelen who begged the Beast God to show mercy on me once more. Not just Beast Energy, the Beast God even bestowed upon me Divine Energy, which only his close attendants are granted. You have all been deceived by the elders! You fools!"
"Impossible... how could that be? Second Elder, you should quickly say something!"
"Seventh Elder, are they telling the truth? Did you all deceive us?"
The Second Elder roared: "Nonsense! It is all nonsense! He is clearly cursed! He is a demon now!"
The Third Elder also stood on the Second Elder’s side; only the Seventh Elder remained silent throughout, bowing his head and not speaking a single word. The Small Cat clan seeing their elder acting like this, how could they not understand the situation. They lowered their heads dejectedly, tightly clutching the beast cubs in their hands, sniffing softly.
Hearing the choked sobs of his clansmen, the Seventh Elder finally raised his head, using his clouded eyes to look toward the high platform:
"Sane... No. Chief of Crimson, all the faults are mine, my clan knew nothing, please spare them. I beg you..."
Sane let out a soft "oh" and said: "Want me to spare them? That is fine too. What will you trade for it?"
The Seventh Elder gritted his teeth: "I know some inside information about Cipher, I will use it as the condition for the trade!"
The Second Elder roared: "You sickly cat, you will die a miserable death! I curse you..."
Smack!
Theron coldly delivered a slap; this slap even carried a spark of electricity, directly knocking out half of the Second Elder’s life. The crowd behind recoiled in terror, looking at Theron as if looking at a monster.
Sane, however, did not show much interest, saying: "Speak, I will consider it."
The Seventh Elder hesitated: "Speak right here?"
Sane: "Hmm?"
"I will speak, I will speak." The Seventh Elder broke out in a cold sweat, immediately recounting in detail what he had heard during the meetings. Sane listened for a while, immediately sitting up straight, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.
With every word the Seventh Elder uttered, the group of Obsidian clansmen became increasingly shocked, looking at the elders in disbelief. Under the gazes of their clansmen, the Third Elder and the Second Elder had nowhere to hide, only able to lower their heads and play dead.
"You deceived us!" Words of resentment gradually emerged among the crowd. Without Crimson needing to lift a finger, the group itself had already fallen into complete chaos. After finishing, the Seventh Elder licked his chapped lips:
"I have said everything I know, please spare my clansmen."
Sane waved his hand, signaling to Zale. Zale took a step forward, saying: "You may leave. However, the territory from Obsidian eastward all belongs to Crimson; you best travel far away, do not let us run into you. If we see one, we kill one!"
The Seventh Elder excitedly led the Small Cat clan to kneel down, kowtowing in gratitude, and then they supported each other to leave this place.
The remaining group, seeing that the Small Cat clan had been spared, also disregarded their previous grudges and knelt down in unison to beg for mercy. Theron turned his head toward Sane to seek instructions. Sane narrowed his eyes, saying:
"Raise your heads!"
The group below all fearfully raised their heads. Except for half of them who truly harbored remorse and repentance, for the rest, under the keen eyes of the warrior beastmen, the unwillingness mixed with resentment hidden within their fearful gazes was laid bare, unable to be concealed.
Sane snorted coldly; a person who awakened Wood-element Divine Energy immediately swept all the beast cubs along with those who truly submitted to one side. Without another word, Theron stomped his foot.
Lightning rain from the sky crashed down, carrying immeasurable heat as it struck the remaining crowd. If they knew how to repent and truly knew fear, then Crimson naturally would not pursue them to the bitter end.
It was just that the eyes of this crowd all glinted with hatred. On what grounds did they dare to hate?
Zale said to the surviving people: "Just like the Cat clan. Scram as far as possible!"
The remaining thirty or so adults hugged nearly a dozen beast cubs, scrambling away in panic. They knew there was one more path, which was to beg to become slaves; at least they would receive Crimson’s protection, but they did not dare. They also understood clearly that they themselves were not welcome by Crimson.
Sane shook his head: "Clean up this place. From now on, this will be Crimson’s territory. Tell those slaves, if they work honestly to earn contribution points, in the future they will have their slave marks removed, and whether they become Crimson citizens or leave will be their own choice."
Having said that, Sane quickly led a detachment of the army away from this place, setting off for the tribe. Having been away for so long, he was very anxious to return to his mate’s side. Even though Kaelen currently did not need to always be by Sane’s side to nurture the pregnancy anymore, Sane was still as if addicted to him; being away for a slightly long time was unbearable.
Waylon looked in the direction the young Chief left, lowering his eyes, his emotions unreadable. He was precisely Richard’s attendant; the day the Crimson army attacked, Richard did not hesitate to abandon him, taking Moharm and Rylan and running away. Waylon had heard about the grudges of the Obsidian tribe’s group a long time ago, and he did not hesitate to sneak in among the slaves.
The surrounding slaves all saw it but no one exposed him, perhaps because they knew his status was not much nobler than theirs, or perhaps because he was pregnant.
Anyway, having escaped death, Waylon had also decided that from now on he would live his days peacefully. The Crimson people looked ferocious, but they treated slaves very measuredly, not beating or scolding them at all. Furthermore, the conditions Crimson offered were truly excellent; only a fool would choose to rebel. freewёbnoνel.com
On the other side, Richard led Moharm and Rylan along with some Gray Wolf clansmen, fleeing southward. They were now changing direction to head north, wanting to take another path through the magic beast forest to return to Cipher.
"Moharm, drink some water, wait a bit and I will find you something to eat."
Moharm nodded, accepting the water skin, drank a little, and then passed it to Rylan. It was rare for Moharm to give Richard a pleasant expression, and Richard was ecstatic. However, he did not know that it was thanks to Crimson’s sudden attack that his life had not yet met its end. freēwēbnovel.com
Because he still needed Richard’s escort, Moharm had stopped applying slow-acting poison to him. Once they reached Cipher and stabilized their position, Moharm would not hesitate to send him on his way.
Rylan, however, remained constantly silent. He recalled Sane’s valiant appearance on the battlefield, a wave of hatred surging in his heart.
Why?
Such an outstanding beastman had never once looked his way.
It was solely because of Sane’s presence that he could not find any other beastmen appealing; Sane was like a ghost relentlessly haunting Rylan, dragging him down into the foul-smelling mud.
Sane... Sane!
If I cannot have you, then I will destroy you, destroy you completely!
