PNB Chapter 141: Protect the tamed beast or protect the tribe members?
Chapter 141: Protect the tamed beast or protect the tribe members?
Beyond the commotion, several dark figures and ferocious beasts flashed by at the foot of the dark mountain. The people on the mountain were completely unaware of this.
The Xishan tribe built their houses around the mountain, with countless wooden houses scattered among the sparse woods. At the foot of the mountain is the Xishan tribe's meeting hall and ancestral hall.
The bustle outside the hall gradually calmed down as time passed.
Tong Ying led the two men to a wooden house in the village. Several Xishan people were standing outside the house guarding it. When they saw the newcomers, they quickly saluted.
"How is he? Is he okay?" Tong Ying asked, standing at the door with his hands behind his back.
"Reporting to the clan leader, it has been very quiet inside, nothing happened."
Tong Ying nodded, then glanced at the two big men behind him, asked someone to open the door, and went into the house alone.
The facilities in the house are simple, with only a bed, a table, and a dressing table.
The faint candlelight flickered gently on the table, illuminating the delicate face of the young woman sitting beside the bed. The light on the left side of her face flickered with the candlelight, sometimes brighter and sometimes darker. She was bound tightly with ropes. It was Yazhi, who had been brought back that afternoon.
Looking at the person coming, Yazhi's eyes were calm and fearless, with only a hint of resentment.
"Your name is Yazhi?"
Tong Ying moved a stool and sat opposite her, with an ambiguous smile on his face.
A hint of surprise flashed through her eyes. She had always kept a low profile, not liking to show up in public. Even the Beast Tamers might not fully recognize her. How could the Xishan Clan leader know her name?
"Are you surprised that I know your name?" Tong Ying sat at the table with his arms folded across his chest, looking very approachable.
"Don't be surprised. I value your people even more than your clan leader! It's no exaggeration to say that I can recite the names of all the people in your Beast Taming Clan!" He looked at her, and the smile on his face was not as fake as before.
She saw the faint smile on his face and felt a little confused.
What exactly does he want to say?
"Seven years ago, my father, Tong Fei, died at the hands of Li Chuzheng's beast tamers. From that day on, I swore to kill every beast tamer in your Beast Tamer Clan!"
His eyes seemed to be looking at Yazhi, but his pupils were scattered and a little vague, and a hint of imperceptible sadness appeared on his face.
After a pause, he came back to his senses and focused his eyes on Yazhi.
"I've told Li Chuzheng before that if he promises me that the Beast Tamers will no longer raise and train beasts, I can put aside my deep hatred and live in peace with the Beast Tamers."
"But he didn't agree. He didn't want to! He said that even if it meant a fight to the death with our Xishan tribe, he wouldn't give up on taming the beasts!"
"Haha, your clan leader values the lives of some animals more than the lives of your own people! What on earth are you supporting with a clan leader like this?"
There was confusion on his face, and seeing the complex and puzzled look in the girl's eyes, he made a "wuwu" sound, as if he wanted to say something.
He reached out and pulled the cloth out of her mouth.
When the cloth was removed, Yazhi felt as if the corners of her mouth were about to tear. But she didn't care about the pain at this moment and spoke indifferently.
"You're lying!" Yazhi was a little excited.
"It was your former Xishan tribe leader who attacked our Beast Taming tribe, and that's why he was bitten by our leader's tamed beast and died!"
"Does the cause of the incident matter?!" Tong Ying stood up suddenly, staring at her with a fierce look in his eyes, appearing a little excited.
He had a half-finger-long beard on his chin, which made him look very rough. At this moment, his face was no longer smiling, but only angry and cold.
Yazhi shrank back in fear.
"Now it's my father who died at the hands of your beast-taming tribe! Countless people of the Xishan tribe have died at the hands of your beasts! I want revenge, so what's the problem?"
Yazhi straightened her back, clenched her fists tightly, and tried hard to suppress the fear in her heart.
She looked at him coldly, a hint of sarcasm deliberately flashing across her face, and said, "Right and wrong, cause and effect, how can it not be important? Cause and effect, right and wrong, are the only way for Shanwai Valley to have a peaceful and balanced coexistence environment. How can it not be important?"
"According to what you said, should we, the Beast Tamers, be hacked and killed by you, the Xishan people, without fighting back?"
"Of course you can resist!" Tong Ying excitedly took two steps closer to her, his eyes very close to hers.
He saw her panic and fear beneath her forced calmness, and also noticed that her breathing had stopped.
He calmed down a bit and stepped back to give her some space. Otherwise, he was afraid she would be frightened to death.
"You can resist openly! But you Beastmasters use ferocious beasts and poisonous creatures to kill people every day. Don't you think that's also unreasonable? Is that also 'right' and 'wrong'?"
When Yazhi saw him leave, her tense body relaxed a little.
"Chief Tong, what you said is so nice!"
No matter how frightened she was, her mind remained unaffected. She argued back clearly.
"Can the population of our Beast Tamer Clan be compared to that of your Xishan Clan?"
"You can use your population advantage to attack us, so why can't we use our own capabilities and strengths to seek external assistance?"
"We Beast Tamers never cause trouble, and our beast trainers almost never hurt anyone! So what's wrong with raising wild beasts? We're all just doing it for self-preservation!"
Tong Ying's face was very cold, and his lips were tightly closed, almost forming a straight line.
He was stunned for a moment, then smiled and looked at the girl with a new respect.
"Girl, you look young, but you're quite good with your mouth. You have a good brain too! But what good is it? The hatred is already there, so anything you say is meaningless!"
"Chief Tong, what exactly do you mean by coming to see me this time?" Yazhi frowned, not understanding what he was trying to do. Just to explain why he attacked the Beastmaster Tribe?
Tong Ying sat back on the stool, leaning forward slightly and getting closer to her.
Yazhi subconsciously stepped back, looking alert.
"Tomorrow, a war will surely begin!" He watched her retreat, his brows twitching slightly as he withdrew a little. "I know you have a special relationship with Li Ziru, so I want you to be their lobbyist."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
At the same time, she was surprised that he even knew the relationship between her and Li Ziru!
"If you want to save the lives of your people, it's very simple." He smiled again, as if he was sure of victory. "Have Li Ziru hand over all the tamed beasts in your tribe. Kill them all in front of all the Xishan people! I will spare your beast tamers!"
His voice was chilling, like a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth, ready to bite off a piece of flesh from a person at any moment!
Yazhi looked at him. After all, he was still young. Even if he pretended to be calm, he couldn't suppress the fear rising from the bottom of his heart.
He killed all the tamed beasts?
"As long as I kill the tamed beast, I guarantee that every one of you Beast Tamers will be able to find a piece of pure land in the Xishan tribe's territory and live a peaceful and stable life!"
Yazhi tried her best to control the fear in her heart, and a thin mist appeared in her big almond-shaped eyes.
She shook her head, her fingers digging into the flesh behind her back. "Impossible! He won't agree to it! Neither will the tribe!"
"I will never agree to it!"
To the Beast Tamers, tamers are comrades, companions, and tribesmen!
They are also members of the Beast Tamer Clan!
There is no way the tribe members would accept such an outcome, and neither would that person!
Tong Ying looked at her, his heart surging with anger, his face showing a bit of ferocity. He grabbed her neck with one hand, tightening his grip. "I'm not asking for your opinion! I'm informing you and giving you a choice!"
"Protect the tamed beasts, or protect the members of the Beast Control Clan?"
His grip tightened continuously, and a strong feeling of suffocation and severe pain hit her brain.
For a moment, her mind went blank, and a sharp pain spread from her throat, sweeping across her body. She subconsciously wanted to struggle, but her hands and legs were tied, and she was powerless.
Just as her vision was enveloped in a sea of white and blood, the strength in her throat suddenly withdrew. The air in her throat violently rushed, dispersing and rushing to her brain and heart, pulling her back from the brink of death.
She fell on the bed and coughed violently, followed by heavy gasps for breath.
"Why should a woman be so stubborn?" Tong Ying looked at the girl, with ripples in his upturned eyes.
"You might consider this: if you don't kill the tamed beasts, the ones who die will be your people!"
After saying this, he wanted to leave, but suddenly saw the cloth he had thrown on the ground. He froze for a moment and continued, "You don't have to think about committing suicide. With your body, I can still go fight the Beastmasters!"
"Keep this life, maybe you can see that there are still people from the Beast Tamer Clan who can survive!"
Yazhi looked at his back, her eyes bloodshot, fear and worry filling her whole body.
Tong Ying met her gaze. He saw hidden fear in her eyes, but also some courage, determination and composure.
It's really surprising that a teenage girl has such courage!