Chapter 45

The long-suppressed emotions erupted in an instant, how intense it was. Ji Ning stood silently by the side, watching the suffering Hei Ya without saying a word.

"Since Young Master knows, I won't hide it. Young Master, follow me." Hei Ya got up and walked out of the house.

Ji Ning and Qiu Ye followed.

Hei Ya led the way, walking all the way to the back of the entire tribe. At the back of the tribe, there was a small gate in the wooden fence. Following the small gate and continuing to walk further... it was a cemetery, with many undulating graves, many of which were new, clearly newly made graves.

"Young Master?" Qiu Ye looked at Ji Ning, with a hint of unease in her eyes.

Ji Ning also held his breath, understanding where Hei Ya was taking him.

"Right here." Hei Ya pointed to a seemingly ordinary grave, in front of which stood a tall stone. On the stone were carved just a few words — Female, Miwa, Father Hei Ya established!

"Chuncao." Ji Ning silently looked at the grave.

This grave held one of the most important people in his life.

Life rarely has heart-wrenching emotions. In fact, compared to heart-wrenching and grand emotions, Ji Ning preferred the gentle, heart-warming kind. In the daily interactions of every year and every day, the feelings between them gradually permeated deep into each other's hearts.

Ordinary and simple is the true essence!

In life, they became a part of each other's lives. At least during the period from infancy to adolescence, Chuncao spent more time with him than his parents did. When she was alive, Ji Ning didn't feel much, but once he realized she was dead, it felt as if a part of his heart had been cut away.

It hurt!

"Hei Ya." Ji Ning stood there, looking at the tombstone, and said slowly, "Tell me everything, everything about what happened after Chuncao came back."

Hei Ya nodded.

"At the time, I brought her back, and she was very sad, sad to leave Young Master." Hei Ya sighed, "But once we returned to the tribe and saw her two younger brothers, Miwa was clearly much happier, often accompanying her two younger brothers... life was very happy, and Miwa also looked forward to when Young Master would come to see her."

"However!"

Hei Ya's voice was low, "One day, a great winged snake demon came, like a nightmare, causing countless deaths and injuries in our tribe, including one of my sons, Lin Shui."

"The death of her younger brother Lin Shui made Miwa very sad."

Ji Ning also recalled the animal skin letter from before, where Chuncao wrote about the trivial matters of returning to Hei Ya's tribe, many of which were stories about her two younger brothers. Clearly, Miwa was very fond of her two younger brothers, which made Ji Ning silently decide to help Chuncao's only surviving younger brother, as a way to comfort Chuncao's spirit in heaven.

"The attack by the great winged snake demon plunged the entire Hei Ya tribe into pain and fear! The tribe's people were afraid, afraid that the great winged snake demon would attack again, and some of the tribe's people quietly joined other large tribes."

"The people in the tribe were in a state of panic." Hei Ya continued, "People often left the tribe. In fact, after the great winged snake demon's attack, our tribe's population was already less than a thousand. Now, with more people fleeing... if this continues, the Hei Ya tribe will not last long."

Ji Ning nodded.

"I went through endless hardships to rebuild the tribe, and I naturally don't want it to disintegrate like this." Hei Ya said, "Chuncao was also heartbroken for me, so she wrote a letter and had a tribe warrior deliver it to Young Master in Xifu City, hoping that Young Master would help the Hei Ya tribe."

"But soon the news came back, it turned out that Young Master had already gone out to adventure." Hei Ya shook his head.

Ji Ning gritted his teeth.

Indeed.

I had already set out on my adventure before the great winged snake demon reached the peak of its innate power, so they naturally couldn't find me.

"The people in the tribe suggested that our Hei Ya tribe seek the protection of the super-large tribe, the Jiangbian tribe." Hei Ya said in a low voice, "As long as we get the protection of the Jiangbian tribe and can temporarily live in Jiangbian City, everything will be fine."

"Jiangbian City?" Ji Ning murmured to himself.

The Ji Clan, as one of the overlords of the Yan Mountains, naturally controlled the countless tribes within its territory. The population of any tribe must not exceed 50,000! Once it exceeds 50,000, it could threaten the rule of the Ji Clan, and the Ji Clan would certainly take harsh measures to intimidate the surrounding areas.

A tribe with 50,000 people is considered a super-large tribe, and the Jiangbian tribe is such a tribe! Because the tribe is large, the protective walls of the tribe are made of huge rocks, like a small city. Although it doesn't match the large city of Xifu City with hundreds of thousands of residents, it is still very powerful among the countless tribes.

Generally, tribes that can be established are those with innate spirits.

"Jiangbian City has two great innate spirits, even great demons dare not invade." Hei Ya said, "Our Hei Ya tribe has only a few hundred people, as long as we can live in Jiangbian City! Once the great winged snake demon is subdued by the Ji Clan, everything will be over."

"We went to meet a big figure in Jiangbian City, Jiang He, and offered treasures to ask him to take us in, to help our Hei Ya tribe escape this disaster." Hei Ya gritted his teeth, "But Jiang He had high standards and didn't even look at the treasures we offered, but he was interested in Miwa."

"He wanted Miwa to become his woman, and he would help the Hei Ya tribe once. Miwa was so proud, of course, she refused and wanted to leave!" Hei Ya's eyes had a hint of ferocity, "But Jiang He had his subordinates grab Miwa, trying to take her away by force."

"But Miwa was very powerful, and her sword technique was also very high. Jiang He's group of servants were beaten half to death... Miwa even said, my master is the young master of the Ji Clan, Jiang He, don't go too far!"

"But Jiang He laughed loudly, saying, even if you are a servant of the Ji Clan's young master, you are just a slave. If you could get your young master to help, you wouldn't have come to me. Besides, how could a servant of the Ji Clan's young master end up in such a small tribe?" Hei Ya gritted his teeth, "Jiang He even said... if you become my woman, I will protect the Hei Ya tribe! Otherwise, you will die. After that, we left Jiangbian City."

Qiu Ye was furious: "How could Sister Chuncao agree to him!"

"Chuncao wouldn't agree." Ji Ning shook his head and looked at Hei Ya.

"Yes, Chuncao didn't want to." Hei Ya shook his head in pain, "But seeing the tribe in a state of panic, with people often fleeing. Seeing my pain... for the sake of this father, she struggled for three days and finally agreed."

"How could Sister Chuncao be so foolish!!!" Qiu Ye was anxious.

Ji Ning also closed his eyes.

He could imagine Chuncao's inner struggle for those three days. Was it worth it for her father?

"Miwa became Jiang He's woman." Hei Ya's voice trembled slightly, "But Jiang He took advantage of Miwa's lack of guard and broke her dantian with one palm, making her inner strength completely dissipate. He also mocked her... you stupid woman, there are many tribes that want the protection of the Jiangbian tribe, becoming my woman will definitely help you? Ha ha ha, what a dream!"

"Damn it!" Qiu Ye was shaking with anger.

Ji Ning gritted his teeth.

Chuncao, Chuncao!

Why did you believe that bastard, why did you have to sacrifice yourself for your father, why?

"The great winged snake demon incident was quickly resolved, and the Ji Clan quickly suppressed the great winged snake demon in the Winged Snake Lake, making it dare not come out again." Hei Ya said, "Once the news from the Ji Clan was spread, the tribes quickly stabilized. The people of our Hei Ya tribe also calmed down, and even some who had just fled returned."

"I was worried about Miwa and went to find her." Hei Ya said in a low voice, "This search revealed a change. I had to find a way to meet Miwa alone. When Miwa saw me, she burst into tears! Burst into tears!"

Ji Ning closed his eyes.

He could imagine Chuncao's pain, regret, unwillingness, and sadness at that time.

"She said, this was her own mistake, her own stupidity, and she didn't blame me, her father. Everything was voluntary." Hei Ya was in pain, "She also said... she didn't want Young Master to know, didn't want Young Master to be sad, so she made up the story of marrying a merchant and left a letter for Young Master."

"After giving me the letter, Miwa died, she died by poisoning herself." Hei Ya said softly, "I knew my daughter was in great pain, and death might be a relief. Actually, when she died, she also mentioned Young Master, not wanting Young Master to know the cause of her death."

Ji Ning nodded gently.

He understood.

He understood.

Growing up together, how could he not understand Chuncao's thoughts?

She wanted a happy Chuncao to live in Ji Ning's heart... she didn't want Ji Ning to know these humiliations!

"Every woman has a destined man, I knew he was the one the first time I saw him. Seeing him smile made me happy, seeing him frown made me worried, seeing him practice sword techniques made me watch by his side, just watching him was a blessing from heaven..."

"I was really, really happy. Chuncao was just a maid, and Young Master came to the Hei Ya tribe to see Chuncao, at least... Chuncao still had a small place in Young Master's heart... Chuncao was really, really happy, really, really happy."

Ji Ning opened his eyes, with a hint of tears in them.

He silently walked to the tombstone and sat down, taking out a bamboo tube and said softly, "Chuncao, it has always been you who poured wine for me, this time I will pour wine for you." The fruit wine from the bamboo tube was sprinkled in front of the tombstone.

"I know, I understand, I know you were always happy, Chuncao, happy!"

"Your foolishness is really cute."

Ji Ning smiled, but there were tears in his eyes, "I know about you, I don't despise you, how could a younger brother despise an older sister? Although you are a bit foolish, you are my forever sister, Ji Ning."

Hearing the word "sister," Qiu Ye covered her mouth and sobbed.

"Sister is too tired, sleep, sleep, have a good sleep." Ji Ning said softly, "Those who bullied you, those who made you sad, I will not let any of them off, not one of them."

"Let's go."

Ji Ning put down the bamboo tube, stood up, "To the Jiangbian tribe, I want to see this Jiang He!"