Chapter 22

(Here is the fourth update... Thanks to Guan Feng, Xiao Hong, Yu Yu, and other brothers for their enthusiastic support!)

After Ge Yi, Gu Shan, and the others withdrew, Chen Xun returned to the original spot, took out the medicine basket from the cliff cave, and loaded the strange beast's skeleton inside. He cut a large piece of snake meat and then returned to the Wuyang Stone Fort.

Apart from the heavy spear of the Black Mountain tribe's martial warrior Gu Lei and the two green nuts that looked like pine cones in his arms, the most significant gain from this trip into the mountains was the snow-white beast skeleton, which was only the size of a cat.

The bone spurs removed from the beast's skeleton were undamaged after such a fierce battle, indicating that they were indeed extraordinary.

Worried that the Black Mountain tribe's Gu Chen and Gu Hu might send people to ambush him again, Chen Xun did not dare to return along the original path. Instead, he took a different route through the mountain streams and valleys, heading roughly north.

When he entered the mountains, Chen Xun had hidden medicinal herbs on him. Moreover, being young and fearless, he thought that after the death of Wulin Jiao, there would be no fierce beasts in its territory, so he boldly ventured in, only to directly encounter the nest of the Green-eyed Hawk.

When he left the mountains, he was much more cautious and, naturally, much slower.

After spending a night in the mountains, Chen Xun did not return to the fort until the afternoon of the next day.

Standing on the ridge in front of the fort, he saw several large copper carts parked on the square in front of the stone hall from a distance.

The copper carts were as large as huts and were certainly not owned by the Wuyang tribe.

There was only one possibility: the green-armored warrior, the two noble youths, and the several Canglan warriors had all arrived at Wuyang today.

If it's a blessing, it's not a disaster; if it's a disaster, it cannot be avoided.

Chen Xun steeled himself, picked up the medicine basket, and walked toward the fort. From a distance, he saw Zong Ya standing on the fort wall, signaling to him.

Seeing that Chen Xun ignored his signals and walked straight into the fort, Zong Ya hurriedly came down from the wall and approached him:

"I was waving to you from the fort wall, but you didn't see me? Did you offend these Canglan people when you went into the mountains the day before yesterday? When these Canglan people saw Grandpa, they asked about you. Two of the youths were gnashing their teeth, shouting at Grandpa, demanding that Wuyang hand you over!"

Chen Xun smiled bitterly. In this era, the one with the bigger fist has the right.

There were some things he couldn't avoid, even if he wanted to. Moreover, if the Canglan warriors really wanted to harm him, he would have had no chance of escaping when Ge Yi and the other two Canglan warriors chased him in the valley yesterday.

The green-armored warrior gave him a feeling of being as deep as the sea, far surpassing the upper-level martial warriors like Zong Sang and Nan Liao.

Chen Xun thought that even a powerful martial warrior would need to be extremely advanced to match him.

Chen Xun did not think the green-armored warrior would be so bored as to come to Wuyang just for him.

Perhaps it was still related to the alliance between the Su clan and the Black Mountain tribe.

Although the Black Mountain tribe had over 5,000 members, its martial strength was only on par with Wuyang.

There might be other hidden reasons for the alliance between the Su clan and the Black Mountain tribe; perhaps it was because of these hidden reasons that the green-armored warrior brought the Canglan warriors to Wuyang.

Zong Ya was young and strong, and he could not tolerate having his hard-earned prey taken away after a day and night of hunting. Chen Xun did not tell him about what happened in the deep mountains, only saying:

"Nothing happened. Go tell Grandpa that I'm back. If there's anything, I'll be in my hut."

******

Returning to his hut, Chen Xun had just put down the medicine basket when the tribal chief, Nan Liao, came in, bowing his head.

"What happened when you went into the mountains?"

Nan Liao, who was over two meters tall, had to bow his head to stand in the hut. He asked Chen Xun, looking tense, about what had happened in the deep mountains.

The arrival of Su Qingfeng from the Xuwu military camp and his specific inquiry about Chen Xun made him very nervous.

Chen Xun knew that Nan Liao would not sacrifice Wuyang for him, but precisely because of this, Nan Liao would be more capable of calmly handling the current situation.

Chen Xun believed that Grandpa Zong Sang had sent Nan Liao to call him for the same reason.

Chen Xun did not mention his intention to kill the two Canglan youths but told Nan Liao about the other events in detail.

"What? You went to that deep place, killed the Black Mountain tribe's Gu Lei, and crippled Gu Shan!" Nan Liao was shocked when he heard about yesterday's events in the deep mountains. He suddenly looked up, and with a "bang," he created a large hole in the roof of Chen Xun's hut.

Chen Xun showed the heavy spear to Nan Liao.

Nan Liao took the heavy spear, feeling its weight, which was more than twice as heavy as the iron spear he used. He knew that this was a divine weapon that could only be forged in Canglan City, likely obtained by the Black Mountain tribe from the Su clan.

"No wonder Gu Hu came today, gnashing his teeth, wanting to devour everyone. It turns out you cut off both his arms and legs. You're quite capable, boy," Nan Liao patted Chen Xun's shoulder. "When we get to the stone hall, don't say much. Follow what the shaman decides."

Chen Xun nodded and followed Nan Liao to the stone hall in the center of the fort.

As they got closer, Chen Xun felt the enormity of the copper carts even more deeply. They were like huge copper houses mounted on six-wheeled iron carts.

The copper carts had complete doors and windows, with intricate carvings of birds and beasts on the walls, as well as many mysterious symbols and inscriptions, exuding a powerful aura that subtly influenced the mysterious forces of the world.

The value of just one copper cart was probably equivalent to several stone forts of Wuyang.

There were four huge copper carts parked on the square in front of the stone hall, each with six strong scaly horses being tended to by a dedicated person.

Scaly horses were also found in Wuyang. Adult scaly horses were five meters tall and ten meters long, with a massive body like a tower that could crash through anything.

Their bodies were covered in iron-like scales, resistant to blades and arrows. Their iron hooves could trample mountains and hills, and they ran as fast as lightning.

Scaly horses were as strong as dragons, and it probably took four of them to pull the massive copper carts over mountains and through valleys.

Grandpa Zong Tu once said that when Wuyang was at its peak, it had over a thousand scaly horse riders, dominating Canglan, with no tribe daring to resist.

Zong Sang's greatest wish was to capture a wild scaly horse in the depths of Wuyang and tame it as a mount.

However, in the three years Chen Xun had been in Wuyang, Zong Sang had never achieved this goal. None of the northern tribes of Wuyang had ever tamed wild scaly horses.

As Chen Xun and Nan Liao approached, the scaly horses all looked at them with alertness, neighing in unison, creating a thunderous sound that startled Chen Xun.

He had never seen scaly horses up close before and did not expect the sound of over twenty scaly horses neighing to be so overwhelming. The scaly horses' eyes glowed with a fierce aura, as if they had experienced countless battles. Chen Xun worried that if one of them went mad and kicked him, he might not survive the blow.

The drivers standing next to the copper carts, though not as powerful as the Canglan warriors like Ge Yi, had muscles like iron, and their strength was not much less than that of Zong Sang and the others.

Seeing these copper carts, scaly horses, and drivers, as well as the six Canglan warriors from the previous day, Chen Xun wondered if the green-armored warrior, who gave him a deep and unfathomable feeling, was the patriarch of the Su clan.

This was the kind of majesty that only a noble clan like the Su clan could have.

Compared to the Su clan, the Wuyang tribe was truly poor, barely better off than having only a pair of underpants.

As Chen Xun and Nan Liao walked toward the stone hall, a copper cart suddenly opened, and a beautiful figure peeked out, exclaiming, "It's so stuffy in the cart..."

Suddenly seeing Chen Xun in front of the cart, the figure was startled, covered her mouth, and retreated back into the cart. However, she did not close the door and curiously observed the young barbarian.

Chen Xun was surprised to find a woman in the copper cart.

She was a beautiful girl, a few years older than him, with a face like jade, wearing a light blue dress that made her skin look like snow. Even in the copper cart, her dress fluttered as if she were a white lotus, exuding a transcendent beauty, like a celestial being, filling Chen Xun's entire field of vision...

In the Wuyang tribe of over a thousand people, women made up more than sixty percent.

However, not only in Wuyang but also in the surrounding tribes like the Black Mountain, Chen Xun had not seen a single slender, fair-skinned girl in the past three years.

This was mainly due to the harsh conditions of the wilderness, where Wuyang women were admired for their strength. Some talented girls practiced martial arts, and when Wuyang men like Wusang and Nan Liao went hunting, these girls were the main force protecting the fort. However, they were all large and strong, which did not align with Chen Xun's aesthetic.

Seeing this girl, Chen Xun was momentarily stunned, never expecting to find such a transcendent and beautiful young woman in this world.

"Ahem!" Nan Liao had been walking for a while without seeing Chen Xun follow. Turning around, he saw Chen Xun standing next to the copper cart, dazed, and lightly coughed to remind him to come over.

"This barbarian is so silly! He's staring at you, Qingxuan!" A bell-like giggle came from inside the copper cart, and Chen Xun was startled, blushing and following Nan Liao.

He remembered that the two Canglan noble youths had mentioned wanting to take the Green-eyed Hawk's feathers to make a feather coat for this girl named Qingxuan, so she must be a Canglan noble girl.

He wondered what her relationship was with the green-armored warrior.

******

The stone hall was built with huge stones, and the stone beam at the entrance was both wide and long, weighing several tens of thousands of pounds.

The stone hall was divided into three sections: the main hall for ancestral worship, the left hall for tribal meetings, and the right hall for receiving guests.

This was the first time Chen Xun had entered the stone hall where Wuyang worshiped their ancestors. The stone tables and benches in the hall looked rough but had a deep, ancient aura.

Although Wuyang had retreated to this stone fort from the northern slopes of Wuyang thirty years ago, the traces on the stone hall and the various stone tools inside suggested that they were over a thousand years old.

The green-armored warrior sat behind the stone table in the center, with the two Canglan noble youths and the upper-level martial warriors of the Black Mountain tribe, such as Gu Hu and Ge Yi, on the left.

Shaman Zong Tu and Zong Sang sat behind the stone table on the right, all watching Chen Xun and Nan Liao enter the hall.

Seeing that Chen Xun was holding the heavy spear used by Gu Lei, Gu Hu was furious, slamming the stone table and roaring:

"You Wuyang people killed my left and right arms and stole the divine weapon granted to the Black Mountain tribe by the Xuwu military camp. Both the person and the weapon are here. Zong Tu, what do you have to say?"

Zong Tu, sitting behind the stone table on the right, narrowed his triangular old eyes. Seeing Chen Xun's calm demeanor, he felt more confident.

Zong Tu glanced at the furious Gu Hu, bowed to the green-armored warrior, and said calmly:

"Xun has been in Wuyang for over three years, having been separated from his father in the depths of Wuyang. He had nowhere to go, so he has been staying with us as a guest for the past three years. I hope General Xuwu will understand this."

"Oh, is that so? I thought Wuyang had produced another prodigy like Shouyang,"

The green-armored warrior opened his clear, bright eyes, staring at Chen Xun as if trying to see through his very soul, and said,

"However, without practicing the Nine Abysses Martial Soul that Wuyang has passed down for a thousand years, he managed to kill Gu Lei and cripple Gu Shan. That's quite impressive..."

Chen Xun said fearlessly, "I practice the Great Peng Secret Fist!"

The green-armored warrior's cultivation was deep and unfathomable, and Chen Xun never expected that he and the Canglan warriors would come to Wuyang just for him.

He remembered Grandpa Zong Tu's words about "possessing a treasure and inviting disaster" and thought that the green-armored warrior probably did not take him seriously. Although he seemed to be targeting him, it was likely that he still had suspicions about Wuyang.

Grandpa Zong Tu had mentioned that Wuyang had a glorious history in Canglan. Although Chen Xun did not know how Wuyang had declined and been forced to retreat to this small stone fort, he suspected it was directly related to the sudden rise of the Su clan in Canglan about six or seven hundred years ago.

If Wuyang had been defeated by the Su clan six or seven hundred years ago, the Su clan, as the rulers of Canglan, would not completely exterminate Wuyang but would certainly not allow Wuyang to rise again.

Chen Xun did not want to bring disaster to Wuyang, so he took out the five diagrams of the Great Peng Secret Fist from his chest.

Although the green-armored warrior gave him a deep and unfathomable feeling, the drop of demon blood in his body, which could tear through the void and shatter mountains, had not been detected even by Daoxu. Chen Xun was not afraid that the green-armored warrior would notice anything unusual.

As the rulers of Canglan, the Su clan controlled hundreds of tribes. The fact that they had humbled themselves to ally with the small Black Mountain tribe suggested that there might be some ironclad rules set by a greater power above Canglan, preventing the Su clan from acting arbitrarily in the area south of Wuyang.

As long as the green-armored warrior, General Xuwu, seemed to be reasonable, Chen Xun was not afraid to reason with him.

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