Chapter 7

"Successor competition?" The intelligence that Kuitu inadvertently revealed made Gaofeng's heart skip a beat. The news of the successor competition was not something that Queethu or ordinary tribal warriors were qualified to know. This meant that Black Claw had already begun preparing for a successor. Although he was aware of this, he didn't care much. However, when it involved him and Dazhao, it was a different matter.

Kuitu turned to Dazhao and said these words with a meaningful look, his eyes cold and ruthless. This was his true face when he was calm. Dazhao was too young to understand Kuitu's hidden meaning, but Kuitu was his biggest supporter, so he hesitated.

Gaofeng sat cross-legged on the ground, glancing at the indignant Dazhao, and lightly flicked the blade of his dagger. He said in a very annoying tone, "If you want to make a move, do it quickly. Missing this place means no such good opportunity will come again. I don't want the position of successor, but I will take one more head than you. What can you do about it?"

Gaofeng's words made Kuitu's face change. His probing came to nothing. Dazhao told him that in the trial hall, Gaofeng was despised by Black Claw for trembling, and he once thought Gaofeng was not to be feared. He didn't expect Gaofeng to be so uncompromising, which ruined his subsequent plans.

Dazhao's desire to kill Gaofeng was a young man's impulse, but Kuitu was not a young man. Without some cunning, he couldn't control the warriors of the Great Elder's faction. He knew Gaofeng couldn't die here, at least not in his house. Black Claw wouldn't forgive him, so he wanted to play along and look for an opportunity later. Now that the facade was torn, he was at a loss.

"It seems not everyone is as stupid as you?" Gaofeng slowly stood up from the ground, pulling up Xiao Qinu. He felt a bit strange, not knowing if Xiao Qinu was a boy or a girl. If it was a boy, he felt a wave of disgust. Was his first kiss in this world taken by a man?

"You... I will kill you..." Before Kuitu could taste the sharpness of Gaofeng's words, Dazhao lost control first. His sweaty palms, which had been clenched, tightly gripped the knife handle and slashed down at Gaofeng. The moment Dazhao's shoulder moved, Gaofeng pushed Xiao Qinu away and suddenly lunged back.

Neither side backed down, like two young bulls colliding.

Dazhao didn't expect Gaofeng to predict his next move from the movement of his shoulder. Caught off guard, the fang knife whistled and missed.

A cold sensation on his neck made Dazhao's hair stand on end. The unique cold touch of the steel military knife made Dazhao's neck hairs stand up. Gaofeng smiled at Dazhao, whose eyes were about to pop out, but he felt a chill. A fang knife with a rugged design was also at his neck, the handle in Kuitu's hand.

Gaofeng was very confident in his speed; otherwise, he wouldn't have survived the sandstorm. But Kuitu's speed wasn't slow either. In the instant Gaofeng changed his stance, Kuitu, relying on his intuition, placed the blade at his neck, forming a standoff.

This was the second time Dazhao was so close to death. The last time was his twelve-year-old attendant test, but that wasn't as dangerous. The Great Elder had given him equipment made from mongrel horns, and he passed with the fang beast's teeth. This time, a sharper military knife was embedded in his neck.

Sweat dripped from his nose, and Dazhao struggled to keep from trembling. Even the slightest tremor could cause the blade to cut his neck. Gaofeng's smile never left his lips, and the blood droplets seeping from his skin mixed with the blood on his neck. The pain he endured was a thousand times more than Dazhao's, but he controlled every part of his body.

"Let him go, and I'll let you go..." Kuitu swallowed dryly, trying to sound as calm as possible, not wanting to provoke Gaofeng. His eyes, however, flickered, sometimes gritting his teeth, sometimes filled with hesitation.

"Make him drop the knife..." Gaofeng's eyes swept over Dazhao's trembling right hand. The fang knife was heavy, and the weight of over ten pounds made Dazhao's arm tend to cramp. If not for the anger in his heart, he would have been dragged away by the fang knife.

Before Kuitu could speak, the fang knife clattered to the ground. Dazhao felt as if he had dropped a heavy burden. Kuitu's heart stirred, and he relaxed his grip. He saw that Gaofeng didn't intend to kill Dazhao; the dagger never cut through Dazhao's skin, unlike the fang knife, which had already drawn a trail of blood on Gaofeng's neck.

The moment the blade loosened, the dagger suddenly moved away from Dazhao's neck. Kuitu hesitated, wondering whether to kill Dazhao. But this moment of hesitation was met with Gaofeng's lightning-fast counterattack.

As Dazhao threw the knife, Gaofeng tilted his head slightly, not enough to alert Kuitu. But in the instant the dagger was withdrawn, like a flash of lightning, Gaofeng dodged the fang knife and elbowed Kuitu's arm holding the knife. The fang knife flew out of Kuitu's hand, and the serrated military knife plunged into Kuitu's neck without hesitation.

The entire process took less than a second. Dazhao blinked, and Kuitu's eyes bulged, making a gurgling sound. He grabbed Gaofeng's right hand and slowly knelt to the ground.

"Ah!!!" Dazhao screamed like he had seen a ghost, Gaofeng's cold and fierce image etched in his mind.

"Boom..." The door was torn open by Black Claw's sharp claws, shattering like a crisp cookie, revealing Black Claw and a group of tribal warriors. The next second, they all stared in shock at Gaofeng, who had pierced Kuitu's neck artery.

Gaofeng's cold gaze swept over the crowd at the door, and he kicked Kuitu's chest, pulling out the serrated dagger. The sharp serrations cut through Kuitu's neck, severing his head and fingers.

The severed head and fingers splattered black blood and rolled on the ground. The headless body fell like a pump, spraying blood in waves, washing away the dust on the ground, forming countless small, dusty cylinders.

"A Da, save me, Dazhao is trying to kill me..." Dazhao, suddenly alert, ignored Gaofeng and crawled towards Black Claw, his face pale with fear, reaching out to grab the leather pants of Black Claw, seeking his father's protection.

"Thud..." Black Claw kicked Dazhao away, stepped forward, and glared at Gaofeng with a fierce and cold look. The palpable killing intent was like a blade, but Gaofeng didn't look at him, cleaning the blood from the blade on Kuitu's body.

The moment Black Claw appeared, Xiao Qinu, hiding in the corner, trembled. The supreme leader of the tribe was a god in the hearts of the lower ranks. Both Xiao Qinu and the tribal warriors behind Black Claw were worried about Gaofeng, fearing that Black Claw would tear him apart in anger.

"What do you have to say?" Standing over Kuitu's headless body, with Kuitu's head still showing the last moment of shock and fear, Black Claw's question was also the question of the other tribal warriors. The tribe's system was strict, and they detested internal strife, which would give other tribes an opportunity.

"I have nothing to say..." Gaofeng really had nothing to say. He was no longer the lost soul in the hall worrying about the future. He had killed, and if Black Claw hadn't come, he would have killed Dazhao and set the house on fire, turning it to ashes. As for the consequences, he hadn't considered them.

"Kuitu is the son of the Great Elder, and Dazhao killed a tribal warrior. What should be done?" Black Claw didn't press further, surprised by his son's response. Gaofeng's current state was pitiful, most of his muscles worn through by sand, with fresh red blood droplets on his skin, and large black and purple bruises from the sandstorm. But the ferocity and defiance in his eyes gave Black Claw a genuine sense of surprise. After all, he was his son. A woman's face flashed in his mind, and he felt some disgust towards Gaofeng.

In his heart, it didn't matter whether Kuitu died at Gaofeng's hands. What mattered was what had happened to make Gaofeng change so much?

Black Claw's question surprised the tribal warriors behind him. Soon, the oldest and most scarred warrior stepped forward, frowning at Gaofeng and the bodies on the ground. This warrior was the Second Elder, in charge of the tribe's weapon manufacturing and equipment management, and also oversaw part of the law.

The Second Elder was observant. He first examined Kuitu's body, then the two fang knives on the ground, and finally the cut on Gaofeng's neck. He shook his head and leaned in to whisper something in Black Claw's ear.