Chapter 11: Ji Ning Is Here

The child trembled as he looked at the youth sitting on the black flood dragon beast, feeling that the youth was a very important figure, and the entire tribe feared him.

"Qingshi." The youth dismounted from the black flood dragon beast and came directly to take his hand.

"Come with me, to your sister's grave, to kowtow to your sister." Ji Ning held Qingshi's small hand, and Qingshi, stunned, was led along without daring to resist. Beside them, Heiya and the other tribesmen naturally dared not speak.

Thus they crossed the tribe and arrived at the large graveyard behind it.

They came again before that grave.

"Chuncao, I've come." Ji Ning had also prepared some offerings, all prepared when passing through a tribe on the way here. He placed them one by one before the grave, carefully arranging them while speaking softly, "Jiang He of Jiangbian Tribe is dead, and the Winged Serpent of Winged Serpent Lake is dead too. All your enemies are dead."

As his words fell, Heiya and the others were startled. What? The Winged Serpent demon was also dead?

"Qingshi should be your only brother." Ji Ning reached out and pulled the dazed Qingshi before him, "I swear before your grave that I will teach Qingshi well!"

The child Qingshi was bewildered, but his father Heiya was overjoyed and quickly said, "Thank you, young master." He himself was just the chief of a small tribe; what future could he give his son? But if this noble young master of the Ji clan was willing to help, his son's future would be different from his.

"As long as you don't object." Ji Ning glanced at Heiya, "I will be living at Winged Serpent Lake for a long time. If you want to see your son, come find me there."

"Yes." Heiya said respectfully.

"Qingshi, kowtow to your sister." Ji Ning looked at Qingshi beside him.

"Mm." The child Qingshi knelt and kowtowed three times.

Ji Ning waved his hand: "All of you, withdraw."

"Yes, young master." Including Qiuye, everyone withdrew, and even Qingshi was taken away by Heiya. Only Ji Ning remained in the desolate graveyard.

"Just the two of us." Ji Ning took out a bamboo tube and drank wine, "Today, your young master will chat with you and keep you company. It may be a long time before I come to see you again."

...

Ji Ning drank fruit wine before the grave and chatted with 'Chuncao'. Half an hour passed in a flash.

"Hm?" Ji Ning's brow furrowed. As a being like a god or demon, his senses were extremely sharp. He easily detected the faint vibrations in the earth. "There should be several thousand warriors! About twenty li away. Several thousand warriors gathered twenty li away? Could a tribe be attacking the Heiya Tribe?"

The Ji clan generally turned a blind eye to inter-tribal conflicts.

"Heiya was a traveling merchant, adept at socializing." Ji Ning was puzzled, "Since he founded the Heiya Tribe, no tribe has attacked it. Why would a tribe attack now? And with several thousand warriors?"

"Let's go see." Ji Ning stood up.

Whether for Chuncao or Qingshi, he couldn't stand by and do nothing.

Although the Ji clan turned a blind eye to such matters, once they intervened, the subordinate tribes naturally dared not disobey.

...

Ji Ning walked through the tribe, heading straight for the main gate.

"Young master." Mowu and Qiuye quickly followed.

"Young master." Heiya also followed with some tribesmen. Ji Ning shouted, "Twenty li away, several thousand warriors are marching here. Should be between two and three thousand. Your Heiya Tribe, prepare quickly."

Heiya was shocked: "Two to three thousand warriors? Impossible. A tribe that can field two to three thousand warriors must be a large one. Such a large tribe wouldn't look down on our Heiya Tribe. Our tribe, counting men, women, old, and young, totals only about a thousand. Not worth such a large force!"

"I say it is, so it is!" Ji Ning glanced at him and said no more.

"Yes." Heiya naturally dared not argue, and shouted, "Quick, quick, quick! Enemy attack! Assemble immediately!"

"Ugh..." The low sound of a horn soon rang out, spreading throughout the tribe. The able-bodied men, the elderly, and the women all picked up swords, knives, and spears, while the children hid themselves.

...

Ji Ning stood at the main gate, gazing into the distance. The entire Heiya Tribe gripped their weapons, holding their breath, all staring at the distant forested hills.

Gradually...

The sound of footsteps could be felt. After all, how could two to three thousand warriors march without making noise? This made Heiya and the others even more horrified, knowing that Ji Ning had already judged the approximate distance and number long before.

"So many."

"So many warriors."

The Heiya tribesmen were stunned. From the distant forest, figures emerged densely, those in front all clad in armor. At a glance, it seemed like a steel flood rushing toward them, chilling the hearts of the Heiya tribesmen.

"Halt!" At the command, the three thousand warriors gathered half a li before the main gate of the Heiya Tribe.

"Listen, Heiya Tribe!" At the front of the dark formation was a burly bald man, who roared, "We are the Firewing Tribe. Open your gates and surrender quickly, and you may live. If you resist, the resisters will be killed, and the rest sold into slavery."

The voice echoed in the sky.

The Heiya Tribe fell into panic.

"What to do?"

"So many warriors, several thousand at least."

"We're doomed."

"Isn't the Ji clan young master here?" The Heiya Tribe had completely lost morale. First, the tribe had been founded not long ago, and the tribesmen were refugees from elsewhere, not yet feeling a sense of belonging. Second, the Heiya Tribe had fewer than five hundred able-bodied warriors, while the enemy had three thousand!

Once battle began, they would be quickly crushed.

"Honored members of the Firewing Tribe." Heiya stepped forward and shouted loudly, "May I ask why you have come to my Heiya Tribe? Whatever your demands, our tribe will do our utmost to satisfy them."

"No more nonsense!" The bald man at the front of the enemy formation roared, "Surrender, or fight!"

Ji Ning frowned and glanced at Mowu beside him. Mowu nodded and stepped forward, shouting, "Our young master, Ji Ning, is here! The chief of the Firewing Tribe, come pay your respects!"

...

"Come pay your respects!" "Come pay your respects!" "Come pay your respects!" ... The voice echoed through the forest, causing commotion among the Firewing Tribe.

In the center of the formation, a group of people sat on mounts.

"Young master Ji Ning?"

"The Ji Ning from Jiangbian Tribe?"

"Other than this Ji Ning, who else would dare to make the chief come pay respects?" The high-ranking members of the Firewing Tribe were immediately shocked. The Firewing Tribe was a large tribe with over twenty thousand people, but because they had no innate lifeforms, they had reached their limit and dared not expand further. Compared to the Jiangbian Tribe, the Firewing Tribe was clearly inferior.

The Jiangbian Tribe was not too far from them. Over a month had passed since the incident, and the high-ranking members of the Firewing Tribe naturally knew about it, as well as the name Ji Ning.

"Chieftain."

"Chieftain." They all looked at the black-bearded man surrounded at the front.

Beside the black-bearded man, a youth with disheveled hair said in a low voice, "Just a member of the Ji clan. Inter-tribal conflicts don't require paying attention to that Ji clan member. Attack."

"Attack!" The black-bearded man immediately shouted.

"What?"

"What? Attack?"

"Chieftain!"

The high-ranking members around the black-bearded man were stunned. They hadn't expected their chieftain, known for his wisdom and courage, to be so foolish. As chieftain, he should clearly understand the meaning of the name 'Ji Ning'. If it were an ordinary Ji clan member, that would be one thing, but this was Ji Ning, to whom even the Jiangbian Tribe had to bow!

"Kill!" The three thousand warriors were ordinary tribesmen. They didn't know the meaning of the name 'Ji Ning'. Hearing the chieftain's order, they naturally roared and charged forward.

"Kill!"

"Charge!"

Like a steel flood, those in the front wore armor, while those behind wore animal hides. The earth trembled, and the sky seemed to darken. The Heiya tribesmen were dumbfounded; some even shouted, "We surrender, we surrender." "It's over." "Run for your lives."

...

Ji Ning, at the main gate, saw the dark mass charging toward him and was puzzled: "My name should be known to any moderately large tribe. Especially after I acted at the Jiangbian Tribe, it should have spread throughout the Ji clan's territory. Why did that black-bearded chieftain still order an attack?"

Ji Ning was perplexed.

The Heiya Tribe was a small tribe with little wealth. Mobilizing three thousand warriors to attack was strange in itself. And after knowing his name, still attacking was even stranger.

But since the Firewing Tribe ignored his name, for the sake of the Ji clan's prestige, he had to act. Not to mention the reasons involving Chuncao and Qingshi.

"Hmph."

Ji Ning, at the main gate of the Heiya Tribe, leaped suddenly, like a great bird soaring across the sky. As he leaped, surging waves formed around him, as if a flood had burst its banks. Rushing and roaring, the endless waves rolled directly toward the three thousand tribal warriors.

"Waves."

"Where did the water come from?"

"It's an innate lifeform! An innate lifeform!" The three thousand warriors panicked. Their morale had been high, but the surging waves knocked them over, throwing them into chaos. These warriors knew that controlling water, fire, poison, and the like was something only innate lifeforms and great demons could do. If an innate lifeform wished, slaughtering three thousand people was easy.

Indeed, Ji Ning did not want to slaughter, so he only used the water waves to knock them down. If he had frozen them to death or burned them to death, it would have been a different outcome.

"Whoosh." Ji Ning himself leaped over a li and landed directly beside the black-bearded man, grabbing him by the neck.