Chapter 691
Prisoners of War
The single slap slapped down five of the long-winged birds in the air. The other two didn’t suffer a direct attack, but the giant’s murderous energy made them stumble through the air. They only regained their balance before they almost crashed into a tree.
Those two birds were lucky, but the other five suffered a different fate.
Even though it was just flames, the force that it brought was undoubtedly powerful.
As the Flame Giant’s hands slapped down on them, it passed right through their bodies. The burning energy burned through them, and they felt like they were burning from the inside, a wave of burning pain.
Those were not real flames, but flames originating from the totemic flame of the fire seed. Just like how some people’s skin was covered with a layer of flames as they activated their totemic power. This was similar to it, except no one had been able to summon such a huge giant like Shao Xuan. They could not comprehend this at all. Only those who came for the Flaming River Grand Feast wouldn’t be surprised by this.
Most tribespeople were apprehensive towards foreign powers that were extremely powerful. They were all knocked out of their conscious minds for a while. They only recovered and felt the shivers from the fright after the flames slowly disappeared.
The Flaming Horns who were guarding at the bridge post looked away from the scene. The others didn’t know what that was, but they knew it clearly. They proudly expressed in their hearts, ‘Nice one, Grand Elder!’
Seeing how trouble was still laid out in front of them, the Flaming Horn guards over here became stern and looked at the crowd of foreign tribal members who gathered here. The Grand Elder’s actions already gave them the mental support they needed. They didn’t need to overthink. As long as they did what they needed to do, even if they couldn’t hold these people back, the Grand Elder would be here to deal with these people.
Seeing how the Flaming Horn guards at the bridge were looking at them with stern expressions, the person who was complaining the most suddenly stopped. He forced a smile and turned around to leave after a short “Haha”.
They must be kidding. No one would want to suffer a blow from such a massive flame giant. They no longer thought about barging right across the bridge. What if the person who came by saw them?
Seeing the change in the situation, they no longer thought about forcefully crossing the bridge. Even though the Flaming Horns were not exactly the same as they were described in the rumours, they were quite scary. They didn’t want to start a conflict with the Flaming Horns. As for how they wanted to test the Flaming Horn’s patience…
Whoever had the courage could try. They no longer wished to test their patience anymore.
“Let’s go. We can go check if there are any goods worth trading at the trading point. We shouldn’t go back empty handed.”
“But leader, aren’t we going for a walk on the Giant Bridge?” someone asked.
“We can wait until the Flaming Horns finish with their matters. We can come back next time.” The Giant Bridge of the Flaming River was no longer their main focus.
The most important thing was, they no longer viewed the Flaming Horns the same way as before. The Flaming Horns’ ratings would definitely soar once again.
Since those people who were causing a ruckus already left, the other people were also afraid and wouldn’t stay here any longer. The people at the back of the crowd looked again where the Flame Giant appeared. Since the Chang Le’s were already defeated, the Flaming Horns would definitely not let them escape. They might even kill them right away. The Flaming Horns definitely wouldn’t let them live after they stole their goods.
Luckily they didn’t make any reckless moves. These individuals looked at each other and rejoiced. At least it wasn’t them. For now, it was best to observe and wait a little longer. Change of plans: They no longer wanted to go to the Flaming Horn headquarters.
On the other side, Shao Xuan was running towards the five individuals who had been slapped down from the sky. Two others were escaping in the air. He did not chase after them. He also didn’t summon the Flame Giant from the elder’s bones anymore.
All of them, human or bird, felt terrible after they suffered a blow from the Giant’s slap, especially the bird and human who were already injured. Even if the person who was severely injured was protected by the long-winged bird’s cushion, he also passed out and died immediately after suffering the strong blow.
They finally fell to the ground after struggling through the branches. The Chang Le member was groaning in pain. He was so out of breath that his face turned red. He seemed ready to cough, but somehow he just couldn’t cough. He tried his best to breathe in heavily. The muscles on his face were sore and twitching.
Wu He helped his companions up from the ground and observed Shao Xuan carefully as he approached them. His eyes were focused on the giant green sword in Shao Xuan’s hand.
The blade carried heavy murderous energy. Even if it hadn’t killed any humans, it must have killed a lot of fearsome beasts. Now, this sharp blade was aimed directly at them.
Some of them had broken bones in their legs and some immediately fainted after they suffered the slap. They couldn’t escape together even if they wanted to.
Whoosh-
People were approaching from within the forest.
“Grand Elder!”
The people Ta sent over arrived. Seeing the five strangers, anger flashed across their eyes. They carried a fierce murderous vide as they walked over, but they didn’t make a move right away. Instead, they looked at Shao Xuan and waited for him to speak.
“Tie them up,” Shao Xuan said.
“Huh?” The people who came already prepared axes in their hands and were ready to execute. They were stunned by what Shao Xuan said. They didn’t understand what he meant, so they asked again, “Kill them and then tie them up?”
“No, we need them alive.”
Wu He and his companions heaved a sigh of relief after hearing what Shao Xuan said. They were already injured when they went to steal the grains, but the force from the slap was an injury on their previous injury. Even Wu He, who wasn’t severely injured, couldn’t summon even half of the energy he usually was able to summon. But it was a different case for the Flaming Horns. Shao Xuan had slapped them down from the sky, but they weren’t sure what he was about to do next. More Flaming Horn warriors came to reinforce too, so it was too difficult for them to fight back even if they wanted to. This was the Flaming Horn’s territory after all.
Wu He and his companions initially planned to fight to their death, but after hearing what Shao Xuan said, they were delighted. They no longer wanted to fight with all their strength. As long as they could stay alive, the two others who had escaped would definitely send reinforcements to rescue them.
“Why?” The Flaming Horn warriors who came to help couldn’t understand why the Grand Elder wanted to keep these thieves alive. Before they would’ve killed them immediately. They were no different from those robbers! They all deserved to die! Plus, these people weren’t just stealing any grains. They stole the thousand-grain gold! This was unforgivable! They should be killed and used to make fertiliser!
If other people said this, they would’ve complained, but Shao Xuan was the one who said this, so even if they had other thoughts, they would still obey his orders. They wouldn’t resent him at all. They believed that the Grand Elder must have had his reasons for such a decision.
After knowing how Shao Xuan was not intending to kill them, Wu He and his companions also gave up on fighting back. They were worried that the Flaming Horns might get mad and change their decision if they fought back. If they died now, they wouldn’t have any other chances. The most important matter now was to stay alive. This was the only way to escape.
Very soon, Ta had also arrived with some people. He was also worried about the situation here, and after seeing the crowd dispersed and left on the other side, he came over with a group of people and left only a few of them there at the post.
Ta also couldn’t understand why Shao Xuan wanted to keep them alive. This was not the way Shao Xuan usually acted. They had never done this before during their previous encounters with other robbers, but this was not the time to ask questions. He ordered some people to tie the five strangers up with grass ropes. They even tied up the person who fell unconscious and the five long-winged birds.
They picked up most of the thousand-grain gold that had fallen. A small portion had been eaten by some birds and beasts in the forest. This maddened Ta even more. He wanted to twist the necks of the five people immediately and end their lives right there and then.
When Shao Xuan returned, the matters at the plantation were already settled.
Seeing how Shao Xuan brought back most of the grains that were stolen and even captured the five robbers, Ao was suddenly happier, but he couldn’t understand why Shao Xuan brought them back alive. If it was him, he would’ve killed them immediately. He even heard that two of them escaped. Ao was a little worried and wanted to discuss future security planning afterwards. These people worked too well together and their timing was too well-planned. They even came from the other side of the sea and had more companions. He had to increase security.
“We can keep them. People will pay for them to be ransomed,” Shao Xuan said.
“What could they use to pay for the ransom?” Ao asked carelessly.
Money? The Flaming Horns didn’t lack this at all.
Food? They didn’t lack this either.
Metal? Unless they brought nuclear weapons. They wouldn’t care for typical metal weapons. Their green bronze was better than most of the metal on the other side of the sea.
Ao couldn’t think of anything that could appease them. If it was just some money, why not just kill these people? This would help them release their anger and give them the excitement they needed.
“I need their help with something,” Shao Xuan said.
Even though Wu He was far away from them, he could tell what these people said from observing their lip movements. He could figure out what Shao Xuan and Ao were discussing purely by looking. He didn’t even need to listen.
He already knew that Shao Xuan was planning to use them by keeping them alive. He thought that Shao Xuan only wanted to exchange for some goods, but he never thought that Shao Xuan was going after something else, not money. This guy had other intentions. He probably had his target set on the entire Chang Le, not just the five of them!
After he thought carefully about what happened, Wu He’s heart skipped a beat.
Shao Xuan purposely slapped them down from the sky back then!
He wanted to use them to show off his strength!
With Shao Xuan’s speed, he could’ve used the same method to slap them down from the sky anytime, but he only made a move when they were beside the river. At that time, there were many people watching from the other side. Initially, they wanted to let more people see how cunning they were and how they stole from the Flaming Horns, but they never thought it would end up like this. Those people who had witnessed this probably wouldn’t dare to attempt anything of the like anytime soon.
However, Wu He had no clue about what Shao Xuan wanted them to do.
“Lock them up first,” Shao Xuan pointed at the five of them. “Don’t use the grass ropes. Use metal chains. It’s too easy to escape from grass ropes.”
The people who were thinking about ways to break free from the grass ropes could only give up. The Flaming Horns even made tough metal chains with locks!
After they let a few soldiers carry the five people away, the matters at the plantations were finally settled for the time being. Now, the higher-ups in the Flaming Horn tribe were ready to start a meeting to discuss this matter. Wu He had already told their history. Zheng Luo and the others had also heard about the “Chang Le’s”.
“What else can the Chang Le’s do besides causing trouble?” Zheng Luo looked at Shao Xuan.
“Let them bring a letter to the other side of the sea. After all, we don’t have enough people.”
Zheng Luo didn’t get it at first, but very quickly, his eyes flashed with sudden interest as his clenched fists slammed down on the stone table beside him. “Indeed, we don’t have enough people!”