Chapter 304: Fire

Time passed quickly, and the annual Matchmaking Conference of the Luca Grassland began.

Deer led twenty adult men and women from his tribe to the Bear Tribe. The Bear Tribe was the largest tribe in the Luca Grassland, with over two hundred people, of which the adult population reached one hundred and five.

Just as Deer and his people, carrying food on their backs, approached the cave of the Bear Tribe, they heard a commotion.

“I have bled for the tribe; you can’t do this to me.”

“My leg was broken to save you; how can you expel me today?”

“Wu ah, I bore thirteen children for the tribe, seven grew to adulthood, and today my children want to drive me away.”

…

More than a dozen strong Bear Tribe men were shoving over twenty elderly Bear Tribe members, forcing them to leave the tribe.

Deer and his people watched this scene, a sense of desolation rising in their hearts for no reason. Their tribe did not have a tradition of expelling the elderly; only in difficult times would the old quietly leave on their own.

But they also knew that many tribes viewed the elderly as burdens. Once they could no longer hunt, run fast, or gather much, they might be expelled from the tribe.

“Chief, should we help them?”

A tribe member, unable to bear it, whispered to Deer.

“No, let’s go. This is none of our business.”

Deer gritted his teeth and rejected the suggestion.

Their food was meant to be exchanged for young and strong people at the Matchmaking Conference; it could not be wasted on the elderly of other tribes unrelated to them.

Ace, possessing Zi’s dream, observed Deer’s choice with interest. This was a very qualified tribal chief; all his choices were for the strengthening of his own tribe.

Bonfires gradually rose. Young men and women from various tribes of the Luca Grassland had arrived, and the scene gradually became lively. Quite a few people had already taken a liking to the strong Deer; with just a wave of his hand, a group of women would be willing.

Many men from other tribes also eyed Zi, surrounding her to display their muscles and strength, hoping to gain Zi’s favor. Regrettably, Zi had no intention of mating. Her purpose here was to guard against accidents. With two warriors present, there was enough deterrent force to protect the food they brought.

Therefore, Zi mercilessly curled her finger at several men and gave them a severe beating. Seeing this scene, Wu swallowed his saliva and ultimately didn’t dare to step forward.

Deer took the food and began negotiating with the chiefs of other tribes one by one. After tasting the meat Deer brought, the Wu Tribe, Tree Tribe, and Horn Tribe finally decided to exchange with Deer.

Deer, realizing the current food shortage in these three tribes, made an exorbitant demand:

“As long as you put these cooked meats in the snow to freeze, they can be preserved for a long time. One bag of cooked meat for one woman plus a child, or one man.”

Wu became anxious upon hearing this and whispered, “Impossible. One bag of cooked meat for at most one child.”

The chief of the Tree Tribe was a rare elderly person. Their tribe had a tradition of respecting and caring for the elderly. He said, “Two bags of cooked meat for one woman.”

The chief of the Horn Tribe also joined the bargaining. Finally, under the pressure of Deer’s eloquence and force, they agreed to exchange one bag of cooked meat for one woman, and two bags of cooked meat for one man plus a child.

In total, they exchanged for twelve women, seven men, and seven children. Witnessed by the six tribal chiefs, the Witch Zi held a solemn and mysterious prayer ceremony for them.

Accompanying Zi’s mysterious dance, a trace of whispers spread. The people present instantly felt dizzy. The Bear Tribe, which originally had some petty schemes, also extinguished those thoughts and actually shouted the name of the Invisible King along with Zi.

In Zi’s right eye, Ace watched all this. The whispers were leaked by Ace. He felt worship, trust, terror, and confusion. These complex emotions were actually absorbed by Ace, who resided in the dream, making his connection with everything around him tighter.

“The emotions of these mortals seem to make my connection with the Pocket World even closer. It’s just that having these emotions linger around my whole body isn’t necessarily a good thing. Let’s pile up the mortal emotions in a corner of the dream first.”

Ace expelled the mortal emotions from himself, piling them aside, slowly sorting and purifying them. He retained the power that connected Ace tightly to the Pocket World and cleared away other distracting thoughts.

“Perhaps I need a fire, a fire capable of purifying these distracting thoughts. Maybe I can learn from the devils, ignite the emotions, let the fire of emotions burn them to ashes, leaving only pure thoughts.”

Ace tried to ignite the emotions. This wasn’t easy and couldn’t be accomplished in a short while.

Outside the dream, the leaked whispers gradually dissipated, but the crowd present found it hard to calm down. They mated frantically. No one dared to approach the Witch; everyone believed Zi belonged to the Invisible King, was sacred, and could not be blasphemed.

Unknowingly, the belief in the Invisible King gradually penetrated deep into the hearts of the tribes of the Luca Grassland. Various petty schemes were suppressed. Due to a common belief, the connection and trust between tribes increased day by day.

The population of the Deer Tribe also reached sixty-one. Women became pregnant one after another, filling this tribe with hope.

As the weather grew colder day by day, the Deer Tribe exchanged food for population again, getting five men and five women from the Bear Tribe and three men and seven women from the Stone Tribe.

With the arrival of spring, the population of the Deer Tribe had reached 81 people, including 25 adult males and 34 adult females, leaping to become the second-largest tribe in the Luca Grassland.

In fact, Deer originally didn’t want to exchange for so much population within a year. Although food was barely enough, he worried that their footing wasn’t solid enough and there were too many outsiders.

However, Zi dispelled his doubts. The new tribe members were incredibly devout to the Invisible King, fearful of yet wanting to be close to the whispers. The population exchange was witnessed under the whispers of the great Savior, the Invisible King; no one dared to harbor disloyal thoughts.

Just at the beginning of spring, Duan’s vitality became abundant, and he actually cultivated Blood Qi on his own, becoming the third warrior of the Deer Tribe.

“This is the grace of the Invisible King. We possess a third warrior. Praise the great Invisible King.”

Zi performed a mysterious dance, smearing red paint all over Duan’s cheeks, forehead, and shoulders, and signaled Duan and the crowd to kneel.

This time, Duan looked at the one-eyed Witch Zi, his gaze no longer struggling. The flame of ambition was still there. His knees hit the ground heavily, and he shouted, “Praise the great Invisible King, You are the Savior of humanity!”

Everyone in the tribe prostrated on the ground. Zi stood tall, looking down at the crowd. From her right eye, Ace also observed everyone, especially Duan, in whose eyes the flame of ambition danced.

Boom!

In the dream, this ambitious emotion emerged through Duan’s complex belief in the Invisible King. In the dream environment, it was amplified by Ace, instantly igniting the piled-up emotions, burning fiercely.

Ace said joyfully, “So that’s it. The most steadfast desire in the heart is the tinder for the fire of emotions.”

(End of this chapter)

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