Chapter 124: Silencing the Witnesses

The irksome rainy season was finally drawing to a close. It was as though someone had plugged a hole in the heavens; the wind and rain suddenly weakened considerably.

The rain clouds overhead had exhausted all their strength and slowly dispersed in listless wisps. Standing in the jungle and looking up, one could already see brilliant starlight along the edges of the dense clouds.

Even at night, the jungles of the Southern Wilderness remained intensely alive.

The savage beasts that had curled up in their lairs for months stretched their bodies one after another, honing their claws and fangs in preparation for the hunt. The night wind carried the sound of countless wings beating through the darkness. The flocks of birds, which had likewise been cooped up for months, were eagerly preparing themselves for a feast.

In the dim night, blazing fire mingled with rolling black smoke and surged straight into the sky.

A vast tribe had been swallowed by flames. Warriors who had died in battle were thrown into the fire, gradually burning to ash.

Great lines of worthless old people were bound together with vines and dragged by the warriors of the Fire Crow Tribe to the great river beside the settlement. With each sweep of their blades, heads fell. The bodies were cast directly into the river, where countless crocodiles, turtles, and softshell turtles fought over them in a frenzy, churning the water into turbulent waves.

“Grandfather!”

A youth of about ten years old screamed himself hoarse as he burst from a burning thatched hut and charged toward an old man who had just been shoved into the river.

But a warrior of the Fire Crow Tribe strode after him and brought the butt of his spear down hard on the back of the boy’s head, knocking him to the ground. He planted one foot on the boy’s head, while two other warriors rushed forward and bound him tightly with vines before casually throwing him into a cage hanging from the four-tusked mammoth beside them.

Several hundred four-tusked mammoths stood silently beside the burning tribe. Great cages hung from their bodies, each crammed full of able-bodied men, women, and children from the Blackwater Mystic Serpent Tribe.

When every cage had been filled—not even room remaining for a single child—a long whistle sounded. All the four-tusked mammoths began striding forward together, disappearing into the dark jungle.

Deep within the forest, Ji Shu stood silently amid the tall grass with several dozen trusted subordinates.

A hundred yards away, two men of the Yu Clan stood in silence as well, accompanied by nearly a hundred Jia warriors.

The four-tusked mammoths transported all the captives to the appointed place. A large force of Blade Spiders and Servitor Warriors quietly emerged from the jungle, and every captive was stuffed into the spacious abdomens of the Blade Spiders. Representatives dispatched by both sides carefully counted the prisoners.

After more than half an hour of frantic work, the Blade Spiders and Servitor Warriors carried their countless captives into the depths of the forest, vanishing without a trace.

The two Yu clansmen leading the operation smiled in satisfaction. They stepped toward Ji Shu and said with an arrogant smile, “A pleasure doing business with you, Lord Ji Shu. In truth, the strength of our Nightmare Demon Corps is no weaker than that of the Bloodfang Corps. This time, Lord Ji Shu has finally changed his attitude and chosen to work with us. I hope everyone will come away satisfied.”

As he spoke, the young man withdrew a brocade pouch edged with golden thread from his sleeve. With an air of charity, he casually tossed it to Ji Shu.

Ji Shu weighed the pouch in his hand, loosened the cord, and glanced inside. He then nodded in satisfaction. The pouch was a single-use storage device containing a large quantity of excellent weapons and armor—the exact amount Ji Shu had requested.

After tying the pouch around his waist, Ji Shu looked at the two young men unhappily. “Every time, it is one of these disposable things. Next time, I want a genuine witch artifact capable of storing a large quantity of weapons and armor.”

The two young men smiled with their lips pressed together. Without saying a word, they turned and disappeared into the jungle.

Storage treasures were strategic assets of enormous importance. This was especially true for the tribes of the Southern Wilderness, where roads were rugged and difficult to travel. A storage treasure was essentially a portable warehouse of supplies. Any tribe that possessed one more such treasure would see its combat strength and reserves rise dramatically.

How could the Yu Clan’s slave-trading corps possibly exchange such a precious strategic treasure with Ji Shu?

“Damn them!” Ji Shu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. “Once they take these slaves back, they’ll make at least ten times their value! Perhaps even more. The women of the Blackwater Mystic Serpent Tribe are well built. They can be sold for an even higher price!”

Ji Hong, standing behind Ji Shu, stepped forward and made a slitting motion across his throat.

Ji Shu remained silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head. The Bloodfang Corps had suddenly been wiped out, and Ji Shu had lost his old connections in the slave trade. The Nightmare Demon Corps was a new partner he had only recently secured. Now the Bifang Tribe had launched an all-out war against the Water Ape Tribe, and large numbers of captives were being sold into slavery every day. For the moment, Ji Shu could not afford to lose the people of the Nightmare Demon Corps.

“Wait a little longer. Wait until the Bloodfang Corps gets back in touch with us.” Ji Shu snarled in a low, agitated voice. “All sorts of wretched complications keep cropping up… Why is there still no news from Cold Creek Valley? If the truth about this is exposed, who among them will benefit?”

“Coo, coo.”

As Ji Shu complained, the call of a night bird came from deep within the jungle.

A look of delight flashed across Ji Shu’s face. He hurriedly exchanged a glance with Ji Hong. The two ordered the trusted warriors behind them to return at once, then swiftly vanished into the forest.

They ran wildly through the jungle for a quarter of an hour. With the strength of two Grand Sorcerers, they had covered at least several hundred miles. Following the night bird’s call, they arrived before a small cliff.

Jiang Bo stood silently beneath the cliff in a long robe, staring expressionlessly at Ji Shu and Ji Hong.

Before Ji Shu could make out his father’s expression, he hurriedly called, “Father, is there good news? What happened in Cold Creek Valley—”

Jiang Bo’s body suddenly burst into flame.

A clear, immaculate fire, bright as glazed crystal, rose from beneath his feet and slowly spread to the crown of his head. It refined him into bead after bead, each no larger than a thumb. In the end, Jiang Bo had been transformed into eighteen white pearls—the final trace of his existence left behind in this world.

Ji Shu and Ji Hong stared in terror as Jiang Bo was refined alive before their eyes. They tried to flee, but an incomprehensible chant echoed beside their ears. Their bodies went limp, utterly devoid of strength, and their weakened legs could no longer move.

“What a pity. You are simply too unreliable… A perfectly good situation, and you managed to turn it into a complete disaster. You should have been content to serve as tribal war leaders and sell slaves. Why did you insist on wiping them out to the very last?”

“If you had truly killed that entire family, there would have been no trouble afterward. Yet you were so incompetent that, even after failing and being driven out of Golden Crow Ridge, you still managed to stir up so much chaos.”

“Since that family did not die, the only ones who can die are all of you.”

“Everything is karma. You planted the cause but were unable to reap the fruit. Now the bitter fruit can only fall upon you.”

“Karma… truly terrifying.”

Amid a soft sigh, Ji Shu and Ji Hong’s bodies also caught fire. Pure white flames refined them into white pearls as well.

Compared with Jiang Bo, however, their strength was far weaker. Ji Shu became three pearls, while Ji Hong became only one.

To be continued.

P.S. I want lots and lots of monthly recommendation votes!

Now that Ji Shu has been turned into such a clean, perfectly rounded pearl, please give me a few more votes!

Guaranteed monthly votes, guaranteed monthly votes, guaranteed monthly votes—the important thing must be said three times!

Also, please support the first subscription!

Don’t miss the first-chapter subscription—if you happen to pass by, be sure to stop and take a look!