Chapter 187 - Flaming Horns, Shao Xuan
Translated by Lesyt Team
Edited by Ilesyt
Having spoken with the team leader of the Eight Limbs tribe, Huang Ye turned his head and was about to say something to Qu Ce when his eyes fell on Shao Xuan, who stood by Qu Ce’s side, especially looking at Shao Xuan’s clothes made of animal skin with its many bald spots. Huang Ye kept his eyes on him for two more seconds and frowned with discontent, thinking why Qu Ce would know someone from the small tribes.
At this thought, Huang Ye glanced at Shao Xuan again and found nothing special except for the clothes of the same style as the “small tribes”. He was more certain in his mind that this boy was no more than an inexperienced and ignorant nobody as he saw Shao Xuan stare at the clothes of the totem warriors from both the Mang tribe and the Eight Limbs tribe.
No longer looking at Shao Xuan, Huang Ye looked around and took his people away when he didn’t find anything useful.
The people of the Eight Limbs tribe didn’t pay much attention to Shao Xuan either, as they were packing up their things with the intention to leave.
“Xiao Xu, let’s go.” Someone from the Eight Limbs tribe said to the lady in white, who was standing at the side with the white-haired spider in her arms.
“You go first. I’ve got something to do.”
“Ok. We’ll go back first.”
After the people from both the Mang tribe and the Eight Limbs tribe left, only Shao Xuan, Qu Ce and Xu from the Eight Limbs tribe remained.
Qu Ce winked at Xu as he wanted her to test Shao Xuan, but she instead stood still and watched Shao Xuan’s behavior quietly, with the white-haired spider in her arms.
Seeing no feedback from Xu, Qu Ce glared at her. Today he brought Shao Xuan here and intended to let Shao Xuan know the powerful strength of the Mang tribe. Moreover, the team leader of the Mang tribe today was a senior totem warrior. A senior totem warrior of the Mang tribe leading teams for assault in person was rarely seen. For people from the small tribes, they would be stunned the moment they saw this scene.
Yet obviously, this young man didn’t have any big reaction. He had no other expression, and he rather looked more at the clothes of the warriors from both tribes.
Qu Ce couldn’t tell whether Shao Xuan was stunned or not.
He was about to find another topic for more information, when he saw Shao Xuan heading to one area.
“Hey. Don’t go that way. There are traps set by the Eight Limbs tribe……”
Before Qu Ce could finish speaking, he saw that Shao Xuan had already stepped into that area. After a while he began to think that a bit of suffering deserved him right, as Shao Xuan was not taking his advice again.
But after waiting for a long time, he still didn’t see any large movement over there. Getting confused, Qu Ce looked at Xu beside him with his chin pointing at Shao Xuan, inquiring Xu if they didn’t set any trap over there.
Xu was also at a loss. She remembered that one batch of traps were activated when their tribe encircled those people just now, but there were still some traps remaining in place, all of which would not cause great damage, but could still trap people. This was the style of the Eight Limbs tribe, to warn those who came here, making them have a deep memory and fear of the Eight Limbs tribe. Nevertheless, that young man had already walked in for such a long distance, yet no trap was activated.
Getting more and more doubtful, Xu didn’t even realize that she had already plucked out another handful of hairs from the spider in her arms.
Seeing Xu’s expression, Qu Ce didn’t expect her to give him a proper answer. He saw Shao Xuan walking in the woods as if wandering leisurely, so he guessed that people of the Eight Limbs tribe probably removed all the traps before they withdrew just now.
Seeing Qu Ce walking in that way, Xu opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything in the end.
“Hey, your name is Shao Xuan, isn’t it? Which tribe are you…… Ouch”
Not even having walked i two steps, Qu Ce was hung upside down on the tree, with one of his feet being tied up, swaying in the air.
Taking out a knife, Qu Ce cut the string on his foot and fell to the ground. He shook off the leaves on his body, turned his head and glared at Xu, who was standing there without a word. After staring for a while, he looked back again to Shao Xuan who was standing in the woods. The traps were still there in place. Why is he still safe and sound?
By luck?
No. Who would have such good luck?
According to the way on how the Eight Limbs tribe did things, since the traps were not all removed, there should be many hidden strings, ropes, nets, and such within the woods, waiting for prey to come. Even though these remainders were only small-time traps for people of the Eight Limbs tribe, many others would still be caught by those traps, just as Qu Ce got one of his feet tied up thanks to his own carelessness just now.
At the moment, Qu Ce took back the attitude of underestimating Shao Xuan, who could dispose of four totem warriors with extreme speed and could also wander leisurely in the traps of the Eight Limbs tribe. What on earth is his background? He had never before seen the totem tattoos on Shao Xuan’s body when Shao Xuan was in battle.
This time, Qu Ce didn’t move further inside, but waited at the side, watching Shao Xuan wandering about.
Shao Xuan held much interest in the traps of the Eight Limbs tribe. Although those skillful traps had all been dismantled and taken away, leaving only some regular traps, Shao Xuan could still find out the emphasis and preferences in setting the traps of the Eight Limbs tribe from those simple traps. Moreover, the strings used by the people of the Eight Limbs tribe should be spider silk, which had many types as well. Although many of the traps were already removed, but they still left behind lots of slight traces on the tree branches and leaves.
After Shao Xuan walked out of the wood again, Qu Ce gave him the friendliest smile he could make, pointing to himself and saying to Shao Xuan, “Mang Wood, Qu Ce.”
People of the Mang tribe always called themselves as “Mang Wood, xx”. Mang Wood meant this vast wood of the Mang tribe. It’s said that in the Mang Wood there are numerous treasures, and people are also born with gifts here; totem warriors here of the same level would be stronger than those in other tribes.
Of course, this was just what Shao Xuan had heard from those travelers of the Pu tribe. These rumours were probably glossed up truths, becoming a bit exaggerated. Warriors of the Flaming Horns tribe were much stronger than those of both the Pu tribe and the Drumming tribe. Shao Xuan had personal experience on this fact.
Anyway, since this man from the Mang tribe introduced himself in such a formal way, Shao Xuan would also reply formally.
Putting several leaves he picked from the wood into the animal skin bag, Shao Xuan looked at Qu Ce and said “Flaming Horns, Shao Xuan.”
Flaming Horns? This name was kind of familiar to the ear. Qu Ce tried to recall from his memory.
Not only Qu Ce, but at the side with the white spider in her arms, Xu also felt some familiarity from the name.
Looking up to the sky, Shao Xuan said, “It’s getting late. I’ll go back first.”
“Oh, go ahead.” Qu Ce was thinking why the name “Flaming Horns” would somehow sound familiar, so he didn’t say more. After Shao Xuan left, he was still standing in the same place, pondering.
“Well, Xu, have you heard of the Flaming Horns tribe in the past?” Qu Ce asked.
“I seem to have heard of them, but it must have been so long ago that I can’t remember.” Caressing the spider with her hand, Xu was thinking when she heard of this tribe.
Both kept silent, trying to recall when they heard of this tribe.
“Ah, I got it.” Qu Ce jumped up with surprise and then said to himself again, “How could it be possible? How could that be possible?”
“What is it?” Xu asked.
“It’s that one. That tribe!”
“Which one?”
“It’s that sturdily built but simple-minded, violent, brutal and unreasonable tribe. Didn’t you hear of the story of the Flaming Horns when you were young?”
At Qu Ce’s words, Xu got a sudden shock, “Wasn’t it said that the Flaming Horns tribe had died out?”
No matter in the Mang tribe or the Eight Limbs tribe, many kids in the tribes would be ingrained with teachings. Those instructors would tell them a few stories, some of which were true while others were polished and fictitious. The story of the Flaming Horns tribe was one of them.
It was said that once in the past, the Flaming Horns tribe was one of the well-known large tribes in the central area, at the same level as the Mang tribe, the Eight Limbs tribe and the Thousand Masks tribe. But this tribe had an extremely savage manner. The shamans in the tribe knew nothing, the leaders were strong-headed and the people of the tribe were stupid and ignorant, arrogant and sell-willed with great strength. Eventually, natural disasters befell on the tribe. The shaman and the leader of the tribe lent a ready ear to the rumours, which led the tribe to split up and go in different ways separately. Afterwards, that tribe died out. Since then, there had been one less strong tribe in the central area.
Not only had Qu Ce and Xu received these teaching. Before this, they both also thought that way. But now, what’s the story of that man calling himself “Flaming Horns, Shao Xuan”?
The totem tattoos on that young man when he was killing people were clearly seen, nothing like those of an extinct tribe. Moreover, he was at least an intermediate totem warrior, not losing to Qu Ce, who had just entered the team of intermediate totem warriors.
That brutal and forceful manner was exactly what they heard of, but “stupid and ignorant”?
That was not the case. That young man even deceived those four robbers.
The truth of that story that was used as a negative example by the two tribes seemed to be not as what they had thought. When they were young, their instructors told the story of the Flaming Horns with a sigh, that if the Flaming Horns tribe still existed, the situation in the central area would not necessarily be as it was now.
At the thought of this, Qu Ce no longer talked with Xu. He had to hurry back to tell everyone, and ask about what the true Flaming Horns tribe was exactly like. Putting aside whether they were smart or not, just that power could not be overlooked.
What should they do if the Flaming Horns tribe still exists or if the Flaming Horns tribe returns?
After Qu Ce left hastily, Xu also hurried back to the tribe and told the others.
Several seniors of the Mang tribe were still worrying about whether it was “Dao” that entered the Mang Wood. While they were discussing, Qu Ce ran over and told them the story of Shao Xuan.
The attention of those people, who wanted to rebuke Qu Ce from the discontent of his brashness just now, was pulled away.
“Flaming Horns, Shao Xuan?”
“Is it really that tribe?”
“Impossible. Isn’t it said that the Flaming Horns tribe had died out?”
All of them talked about this at once. From the discussion, they still didn’t have a specific image or identification about what the Flaming Horns tribe was like on earth. But they were still surprised.
The leader called Qu Ce over for details and then dismissed all of them. Afterwards, he went with the shaman to a solemn stone house, where the things of the ancestors of the Mang tribe were stored.
They arrived at the place where the scrolls were kept and opened the lid of one big bamboo box at the corner. Inside the box were some scrolls with shaft rods made of special bamboo.
At the bottom of the bamboo box were those scrolls which would never be read for hundreds of years.
The shaman of the Mang tribe took out one scroll at the corner of the bottom. Even the special bamboo and the animal skins would discolor and spread an ancient smell after a long time.
When the scroll was opened, what jumped into sight was a drawing of two horns surrounded by flames.
“The Flaming Horns tribe……”
The next day the Mang tribe sent someone to look for that travel team in the cave, only to find that the team left early in the morning.