Desolate Era

by RWX

  Ji Ning hurriedly lowered his voice. “Don’t spread the news.”

  “Right, right.” Autumn Leaf nodded hurriedly.

  “Come, let’s go take a look at the Metalstone Tribe.” Ning said. The past few days, Ning had been in the mountain forests, pondering the results of the past two day’s battles. He had also come to realize some mistakes he had made in the previous battles. After careful pondering and consideration of the two sword techniques he had used, he had actually improved quite a bit further.

  Ning led Autumn Leaf towards the gate of the Metalstone Tribe.

  Uncle Dala and a group of tribesmen were there, and they went up to welcome him. Leading the tribesmen was a balding old man with white hair. The balding old man walked over and bowed repeatedly with respect. “I, Tyson of the Metalstone Tribe, would like to thank you, mighty young master, for having repeatedly saved the lives of the tribesmen of my Metalstone Tribe. All the clansmen of the Metalstone Tribe feel boundless gratitude for you…and we’ve been waiting for your return.”

  Ning smiled and nodded. “I’ll stay with your Metalstone Tribe for a period of time. As for ‘rescued’, all I did was help out in passing. Also…for now, I don’t want to be disturbed.”

  “Understood, understood.” The balding old man nodded repeatedly.

  “Dala.” Ning looked over.

  The tall, powerful, bear-like Uncle Dala hurriedly stepped forward, seemingly very excited. “Young master, when I saw that you returned, I…”

  “It’s alright.” Ning laughed. “You helped me for a month in Eastmount Marsh. I told you that when I returned to the Metalstone Tribe, I would definitely reward you heavily. Take this.” As he spoke, within his hands, three ‘beastheads’ of gold appeared. He tossed it over, each beasthead weighing ten pounds. This bear-like Uncle Dala instantly was stupefied.

  And then, he hurriedly caught them all, while the surrounding tribesmen all stared at him with envy.

  “Let’s go.” Ning looked at Mowu and Autumn Leaf, then headed straight into the Metalstone Tribe.

  Ning could easily have given an even more valuable gift, but to a small tribe like the Metalstone Tribe, which had barely a thousand people, truly valuable treasures might cause a disaster instead!

  ––––––––––-

  Within the Metalstone Tribe.

  “Young master.” Autumn Leaf poured some fruit wine for Ning, then offered him some fruit and some delicacies. “Mowu and I have been in this tribe for a month now. Not soon after arriving, we got in touch with our Ji clan.”

  “Right.” Ning nodded.

  While adventuring, every month he had to reach out to and contact the scattered troops of the Ji clan of the Western Prefecture who were stationed in various places throughout the area.

  “There is a letter from the West Prefecture City.” Autumn Leaf withdrew a scroll from her sleeves.

  Ning accepted it. He rolled the yellow parchment open, and as he did, he couldn’t help but reveal a smile. This was a letter his mother had personally written to him! The letter didn’t contain too much; it mainly just consisted of some words of concern. But having just experienced a life-and-death battle, the nagging of his mother actually filled Ning’s heart with a sense of warmth.

  “Enough, Autumn Leaf. It looks as though it’s been many days since you had a good rest. Go get some rest.” Ning said.

  “I’m not tired.” Autumn Leaf hurriedly said.

  “Go.” Ning ordered.

  Autumn Leaf hurriedly lowered her head, obediently going back to her own room to get some rest.

  –––––––—

  Time moved on. Every ten days or so, he would make a trip to Eastmount Marsh. Most of the time, though, Ning remained within the Metalstone Tribe, practicing his sword techniques. In the blink of an eye, over a month had passed.

  Ning was currently seated on the eaves of his house, holding a bamboo reed that was filled with fine fruit wine. “Although West Prefecture City is large, it isn’t as comfortable as these small tribes.”

  Resting at sundown, heading out at sunrise.

  The Metalstone Tribe showed great solidarity. Everyone helped each other, and they all treated each other like brothers.

  “Quick, quick, quick.”

  “Everyone, go back.”

  “Quick, bundle everything up.”

  Suddenly, the formerly peaceful tribe instantly became a chaotic bedlam of activity. This caused Ning, who was drinking wine leisurely on the top of his building, to grow confused. He immediately leapt down from the building, then grabbed one of the running youths. “You.”

  “Young master.” The youth, seeing that it was Ning who grabbed him, immediately greeted him respectfully.

  “What’s going on?” Ning asked. “Why did the tribe suddenly turn so chaotic? Weren’t you training in spear-fighting just now? Why did you stop?”

  “The people of the Blackmount Tribe are coming!” The youth hurriedly said. “The people of Blackmount Tribe have come to collect furs from us. We need to hide some of the finer furs which the tribe has, as otherwise, if the Blackmount Tribe discovers them, they’ll take them for their own. That would be terrible. Young master, I need to get back immediately…”

  Ning, understanding, nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Autumn Leaf was watching this from in front of the building as well. She spoke out, “The Blackmount Tribe is an extremely large tribe with tens of thousands of tribesmen. Each year, these smaller tribes will have to offer them some tribute.”

  “Hmph.” Ning frowned. “This land belongs to the Ji clan! Only my Ji clan has the right to levy taxes. If the Blackmount Tribe is forcing the nearby, smaller tribes to pay them tribute, isn’t that the same as levying a tax?”

  The Ji clan levied and collected taxes from every singlet tribe within its borders.

  At the same time, the Ji clan itself was a subject of the Grand Xia Dynasty, and so most of the tax they collected had to be delivered to the Grand Xia Dynasty!

  “In principle, yes.” Autumn Leaf shook her head. “But how would these smaller tribes dare to refuse? If they were to refuse, the Blackmount Tribe is completely capable of utterly destroying them, then selling off the captives as slaves.”

  Ning let out a long sigh.

  Right.

  Because there were too many tribes, there was no way for the Ji clan to manage all of the internecine squabbles between the tribes, so they usually left them to their own devices. Not just the Ji clan…even the Grand Xia Dynasty, who ruled over an enormous, boundless expanse of territory, had to govern in a loose fashion. Wasn’t the Ji clan and the Ironwood clan also in a state of war, viewing each other as deadly enemies? If one’s territory was too large, it became hard to govern!

  “They are coming.” Autumn Leaf said. “The Blackmount Tribe’s tribesmen are coming.”

  Ning looked over as well. He saw that from afar, a group of half-armored, pelt-clad tribesmen were currently strutting around in the area, looking around as if they were in territory which belonged to them. The leader of the Metalstone Tribe, Uncle Dala, and the others were all by their sides, obediently following them, not daring to disobey them at all.

  The leader of this Blackmount squad, Braveshell, was currently viewing this little tribe with satisfaction.

  “Hmph.” Braveshell glanced at the nearby Metalstone tribesmen. Seeing the frightened, supplicatory looks on their faces, he couldn’t help but feel even more delighted.

  Even within the Blackmount Tribe, he was a high level, central figure. In a small tribe like this Metalstone Tribe…he could act as he wished! If he was angered, this entire tribe would probably be finished. The hundred guards he had brought with him could probably destroy this sort of small tribe all by themselves. In this sort of small tribe, he had absolute authority.

  “Huh?” Braveshell suddenly saw that not too far away, there was a young man and a girl standing together. Braveshell’s eyes instantly lit up. The guards by his side, look
ing along with him, couldn’t help but hold their breaths as well.

  “Beautiful. Mesmerizing.” Braveshell was instantly stunned, and then his heart was instantly overwhelmed with powerful lust and desire. He definitely had to seize this beautiful girl and make her his personal maidservant. Every day, he would definitely ‘bestow his affections’ on her! Just thinking about it made Braveshell feel the blood pumping through his entire body.

  “Hahaha…” Laughing loudly, Braveshell walked directly towards the young man and the girl.

  Ning frowned slightly as he looked at this tall man walking towards him, who was wearing some exquisitely crafted ornaments. The tall men swept Ning and Autumn Leaf with a gaze, as though he were a high ranking tribesman inspecting some goods. In particular, he didn’t disguise the greedy look in his eyes when he was staring at Autumn Leaf. “Your fur clothes were cut and stitched so exquisitely. Did you make it yourself, miss? Your handiwork is quite fine. The fur clothes of the youngster next to you is stitched and cut very nicely as well. Is he your little brother?”

  * * *

  Book 2, Chapter 17 - Sword Energy Flying Everywhere

  “Impudent!” Autumn Leaf’s voice rang out.

  Braveshell raised his jaw slightly. “Impudent? This tiny little Metalstone Tribe…I can do what I wish to it, much less ‘impudent’. I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve taken a fancy to you. Follow me obediently. The last time I took a fancy to a girl, that girl was quite stubborn. She preferred to commit suicide than follow me, so I wiped out her entire family, and sold off her entire clan as slaves! For your little brother here, and your clansmen, you need to make a good decision!”

  Tribesfolk were straightforward individuals. They weren’t very calculating, but at the same time, they were very bloodthirsty. Most of them didn’t fear death, especially beautiful girls like the one in front of him right now. They were definitely the shining jewels of their tribes, and generally they were all very prideful. It was quite common for such beautiful girls to rather commit suicide than to submit to others, once their pride took hold of them. Braveshell didn’t want to see this happen.

  “Venerable Lord Braveshell.” The balding elder, Tyson, hurriedly urged him, “These three do not belong to my Metalstone Tribe. There come from a very large tribe!”

  “A large tribe?” Braveshell’s eyebrows twitched. “No wonder. I was just wondering how a place like your Metalstone Tribe could produce such a graceful young lady. Miss, tell me what tribe you belong to.” As he spoke, he moved two steps forward, wanting to stroke Autumn Leaf’s face. Autumn Leaf directly delivered a lightning-fast kick to him.

  Bang!

  This heavy kick was powered by rage, and it struck heavily upon Braveshell’s chest. Not only did it shatter the ornaments covering his chest, it also sent Braveshell falling back over his head.

  “Impudent!”

  “Clang!”

  The Blackmount guards instantly shouted in anger, and some of them even drew their blades.

  Braveshell quickly climbed up. He wiped away a hint of blood from the corner of his mouth, then reached out to stop his guards. All his guards knew exactly how vicious and diabolical Braveshell could be, for him to have become a high level, core member of a tribe as large as the Blackmount tribe.

  “It’s all over.”

  “This young miss is going to suffer a terrible fate.”

  The guards all understood that when Braveshell was clearly furious but temporarily suppressed his anger, it only represented…that Braveshell was truly livid! He was currently considering how to vent his fury!

  Braveshell was on his feet now. His eyes were narrowed, staring at the three like a poisonous viper. He slowly said, “That kick was rather heavy. Can you let me know where the three of you have come from, exactly? Is it a large tribe, or is it the mighty Ji clan?”

  “Take a good look.” Mowu stepped forward coldly, revealing with a flip of his hand an emblem.

  The emblem had a single word on it: Ji!

  “Ji!”

  Many of the faces of the surrounding guards changed. They all looked at their leader, Braveshell, whose face had turned ashen. He hurriedly bowed in terror, “I didn’t expect that I would accidentally offend you. Please pardon me.”

  Mowu’s eyes contained a hint of pity in them, because he knew how much his young master hated evildoers.

  Autumn Leaf also glanced coldly at Braveshell. Ever since Braveshell said that he had once destroyed a small tribe for the sake of seizing a girl, and sold off all the tribesmen as slaves, Autumn Leaf had felt utter revulsion for him. Because she herself had been sold off after her tribe had been destroyed.

  Ji Ning simply looked at Braveshell. In an instant, he had already determined that he would punish Braveshell with death!

  Braveshell had destroyed an entire tribe for no cause? When Ning thought of how the women and children in that tribe had died miserable deaths or had been sold, Ning’s heart was filled with boundless rage! Although this area contained many hidden evildoers, and Ning couldn’t possibly stop them all, when he encountered them, he could never suppress the fury he felt!

  “Hahaha…” Braveshell, whose face had been ashen, suddenly cracked his lips and laughed, laughed brightly. “It seems the three of you already have a killing intention. I really don’t know if I should call you stupid or arrogant!”

  “Oh?” Ning frowned slightly.

  Braveshell continued to laugh. “So what if you are of the Ji clan? How many youngsters of the Five Prefectures of the Ji clan go out adventuring as part of their coming-of-age, and how many of them have died! How could the Ji clan possibly discover…if their clansmen were killed by monstrous beasts, or by other tribesmen?”

  “Even if you have a high status, in this place, you are nothing more than three people. Thus, even if you want to kill me, you should hide it in your hearts…as the books say, ‘distant water cannot quench a nearby drought’. No matter what your status is, no one will be able to save you.” Braveshell sighed. “I still remember how three years ago, I once enjoyed a young girl of the Ji clan. Her skin was truly fine. My servants all enjoyed her as well, and afterwards, we fed her to the beasts who ate her clean!”

  “Do you understand now?” Braveshell’s eyes were shining. “Status doesn’t represent power. At least in this place, I am the one who determines your life and death!”

  “Everyone.”

  Braveshell raised his head and said in a loud voice. “Make your move. Kill the two men, spare the woman! After I enjoy her first, each of you will have your chance!”

  “Wooo!”

  “Kill!”

  “Haha, let’s do it!”

  Braveshell’s guards all drew out their blades and swords, valiantly charging forward. The high level military leaders of large tribes trusted their own servants and slaves the most. Whether it was Ji Lee or Ji Yichuan, they all had their own trusted servants and slaves, who would definitely obey them without question.

  Under Braveshell’s orders, these guards, who were born into his servitude, all dared to charge forward and kill!

  “How dare you!” Suddenly, a voice rang out like spring thunder, exploding in the skies.

  In the skies above, there was someone standing atop an enormous flying bird. That person drew out his longsword and brandished it downwards. In but a second, sword energy criss-crossed everywhere…one ray of sword energy after another rained down, and each blow of sword energy pierced through a guard, easily chopping their bodies apart, sending fresh blood spewing everywhere.

  “Aaaaah!” “Nooooooo!” “Aaaaah!”

  All sorts of miserable cries rang out, but soon, everything became silent again.

  The hundred-plus servant guards, who had been shouting savagely, all collapsed on the ground. Some had large holes in their chest, while others had been chopped apart. Blood stained the ground. All of them had died miserable deaths! But not a single one of the utterly terrified tribesmen of the Metalstone Tribe had been struck.r />
  “But…but…but…” Braveshell had thought that everything was under his control, but now, his face turned ashen. He stood there numbly, staring at his dead servants, and then at the man standing on the giant bird in mid-air. He stuttered, “Xian…Xiantian…”

  The people of the Metalstone Tribe all raised their heads. Some were dumbfounded, others were awestruck, while some of the girls in particular just stared unblinkingly.

  Ning, Autumn Leaf, and Mowu all raised their head to take a look as well.

  Swoosh!

  The man jumped down from his mid-air position on the back of the giant bird, landing on the ground.

  “Young master.” The man bowed slightly as he said to Ning, demonstrating his respect for Ning.

  This scene caused all the members of the Metalstone Tribe, as well as Braveshell, feel stunned. Because just then, those lines of energy attacks represented that this person was a Xiantian lifeform! A Xiantian lifeform, in any tribe, no matter how large, was definitely a person of the highest status. Even in the Ji clan, they were high level, core members!

  Generally speaking, the adventuring youths of the Ji clan who encountered Xiantian lifeforms all had to pay their respects first. But this Xiantian lifeform was actually paying his respects to this youngster?

  “Spare me.” Braveshell threw himself forward, kneeling in front of Ning, begging, “Mighty young master, those words that I said earlier were all wild ravings. I’ve never done such a thing! In addition, once, when I was collecting furs from some small tribes, I acquired a special treasure. It definitely is a magic treasure! As to what type of magic treasure it is, I don’t understand either…as long as you are willing to spare me, young master, I am willing to give this magic treasure…”

  Before he even finished speaking.

  Hu.