Chapter 13 – Fury
“Dad!” Pihou rushed out of the village while crying. He threw himself towards his father. Holding one of Shi Shoushan’s arms, tears streamed down his face. “What happened? Who hurt you?”
His mother ran over, and tears were running from her eyes as well. She grabbed Shi Shoushan’s other hand while crying softly.
“What are you all crying for? So what if I got shot by an arrow? Fierce beasts often tear apart our bodies while hunting, so this small amount of blood is nothing!” Shi Shoushan stared straight into their eyes and told them not to cry. He was an extremely strong-willed man.
Half of his body was covered in blood. A metal arrow pierced his iron armor, stabbing through his right lung straight through the back. The 1.3 meter long arrow shaft sticking out from his body was shining with gold radiance. It was stained with blood, forming a ghastly sight.
“Elder sister-in-law and nephew, don’t cry anymore. Brother Shoushan isn’t in critical condition. He’ll be moving around like an ox again if we allow him to recover for a while. He’ll get better soon!” Shi Feijiao consoled them.
The injury was truly not light. Even though Shi Shoushan’s body was strong and sturdy, he still had to be careful. Otherwise, his body might suffer, and his body’s condition would gradually decline.
Fortunately, Shi Linghu and the others had already temporarily treated his injuries. Within the mountains, they broke up the old medicine and applied it to his wounds. They also fed him the medicinal powder the clan elders refined from the true-blood of vicious beasts.
“Don’t cry. We’re lucky that he was able to return alive.” Chief Shi Yunfeng walked over and pulled out the iron arrow, causing a stream of blood to spout out as a result. His hands moved swiftly, and the center of his palms illuminated. Symbols began to light up like stars, and after their quick descent, blood stopped flowing and the wound closed.
Shi Yunfeng brought out a jade jar from his chest and poured out two fragrant purple medicinal pills. He squeezed one of them into powder and applied it onto the wound. He then gave Shi Shoushan the other to swallow.
Shi Shoushan was lifted up and taken back home. The village’s residents, male, female, young and old all gathered to visit him. The villagers were all sincere and warm-hearted. This place was full of activity as all types of supplemental medicines and dried meats were brought over as gifts.
“Uncle will definitely get better soon!” The little guy also came over. He brought him a basket of his favorite red berries.
“What happened exactly?!” In the chief’s courtyard, a group of important people had gathered. Shi Yunfeng wrinkled his brows as he asked.
“Chief, it was all because of Wolf Village’s people. They’ve crossed the border into our territory, forcibly seized a six-footed camel that Shoushan killed and even tried to kill one of us! If not for Shoushan moving out of the way in time, that arrow really might have pierced through his heart!” Shi Linhu spoke furiously.
Everyone’s complexion changed. This was clearly an act filled with murderous intent!
“To go this far, they really are ignorant of what is considered upright and honest. Even though our two villages are only separated by ten li, we both have our own territories to defend and almost never meet each other. However, we both live on the same mountain range, so we should still give each other some face at the very least, right? It definitely was not like this before!” an elder exclaimed.
Shi Feijiao said, “A child shot the arrow, one that was about 14 or 15 years old. His outward appearance wasn’t bad, being rather fair and attractive, but he truly had a vicious heart. The arrow he shot straight at Shoushan was fired in the same way one would to kill a wild beast. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in those cold and fearsome eyes.”
At that moment, Stone Village’s villagers were all infuriated. All of them rushed forward together. However, their opponents were not weak either, and roughly ten individuals from the opposing party gathered right away, unyieldingly holding their ground.
Suddenly, a Suan Ni went mad within the mountain range depths. If not for its mountain-shaking roar that caused mountain boulders to tumble chaotically, a serious blood-filled battle would have broken out. Both sides quickly backed off out of apprehensive fear.
“Why are they so overbearing? Do they really feel so superior that they can ignore our feelings? How can they bully us like this!?” Several elders were also furious. “We live in the mountains, so strong and robust males are all extremely important to the village. The other clan actually dares to act in such a fashion and kill whoever they want.”
A few people added, “That child is not simple. The impression I got from him was that he was quite dangerous. It was as if I was facing a powerful, savage, and unfeeling adult Pixiu.”
“It seems like Wolf Village has developed an exceptional youth. Their clan has strengthened quite a bit, and because they are doing quite well, their ambitions are also growing,” a village elder said while squinting his eyes towards the Wolf Village.
Soon after, he turned his head towards Shi Linghu and the others. “We do not want to cause any trouble, but we also aren’t afraid of trouble. Be mindful of them in the days to come. If they act up again, do not hesitate to take action.”
“I understand.” Shi Linghu nodded.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. Wolf Village overstepped their boundaries so often to the point where they would even set up traps for vicious beasts in Stone Village’s territory. These traps were often triggered by Stone Village’s people, and the wounds they received from the iron spikes below were incredibly severe.
Blood was almost shed due to these events. In the end, however, Wolf Village retreated.
“How can they act so overbearingly when hunting fierce beasts? Even if their population increased, acting in this way is quite abnormal. A major event must have happened within their village.” Chief Shi Yunfeng inferred.
After several conflicts, Wolf Village’s people mostly disappeared. However, the villagers of Stone Village were not relieved one bit. They decided to send some people over at night, and these spies heard yelling from within the village; it was quite strange.
“Do not take action first. As long as they do not go overboard, there’s no need for bloodshed. Living in this mountain range is not easy.” An elder said.
Just like this, peace was restored again.
For a few days, Stone Village’s luck was pretty good, and their hunts were rather successful. They came across several carcasses of fierce beasts that perished after internal conflict in the mountains. There were many strong mysterious beasts that engaged in battles that brought disaster within the mountain wherever they went, causing many wild beasts to suffer.
In the depths of the mountain range, archaic descendants conflicted from time to time. They were fighting with the intent to kill each other, causing irreparable calamities. This was the case, but fortunately, it did not spread to the village.
“Chief, just Dragon Horned Elephants alone accounted for eight of the bodies, and there were also several Snow White Moon Rhinoceroses, as well as other types of huge beasts. If we make them into dried meat, it could feed us for a long time to come.”
Shi Linghu brought back a portion with some of the others. He then gathered some more manpower to bring back more vicious beasts.
“Good, good, good!” The elders were all elated.
Many villagers left together to provide support in the mountains.
“Wow, so many huge beasts, let’s go too. We can certainly gather a lot of true blood!” A group of children clamored and shouted.
After seeing the little guy’s skills improving more and more over these past few years, the children couldn’t sit still any longer. They no longer resisted the medicine baths and obediently received the cauldron’s baptism. Now that they saw that there were large amounts of precious blood, they were naturally quite excited.
“I’ll go as well. Big Peng, Little Green, Purple Cloud, wait for me in the village and behave yourselves.” The little guy Shi Hao also followed.
However, when everyone was just halfway to their destination, they saw Shi Feijao return with a group of villagers while covered in blood. Their hair were all over the place, and they were in miserable states.
“Feijiao what happened?” Shi Linghu asked loudly.
“Brother Linghu, it’s Wolf Village again. They intercepted us and seized all of the remaining prey!” Shi Feijiao grimaced in anger.
“What?! They truly bully others intolerably. We’ve been putting up with them repeatedly, yet they treat our patience as a sign of weakness?” Shi Linghu was furious.
Stone Village’s people could no longer ignore this matter. Again and again, the opposing clan arrogantly took advantage of them; this was not the first time the other clan provoked them.
“Did any of our brothers lose their lives?”
“No, but there are a few with severe injuries. Their inner organs were penetrated by iron arrows, and we do not know if their injuries are fatal.
“What! To commit such fierce actions, if it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get!”
The villagers immediately exploded. After repeated humiliations, even a reserved person would become angry.
“That 14 or 15 year-old child was truly vicious. All of those arrows were shot by him, and had it not been for one of their village elders stopping him, he truly would have killed us.” Er Meng’s father said. His entire body was covered in blood.
“He’s just a child whose hair hasn’t even grown yet, how strong can he be? Don’t tell me that you guys are unable to do anything about it?” A crippled villager resentfully spoke in support.
“Naturally we are not scared. However, they have much more people. Their numbers are many times greater than ours.”
“That child is quite formidable. Despite having a rather handsome appearance, he truly has a ruthless heart. Do not be careless. Some of our brothers were covered in three layers of iron armor, yet they were still penetrated by his arrows. In our village, only Shi Linghu and I can do that,” Shi Feijiao added.
“We need to take back what is rightfully ours. We absolutely cannot take this lying down!” Everyone felt as if a flame was ignited within their hearts, as if their five viscera were doused with oil, making them burn with anger.
A formidable group of people rushed into the depths of the mountains. This time, Wolf Village truly went too far and crossed the bottom line.
“Ah, Uncle Fu, you’re hurt too. Everything will be alright, it will get better quickly.” The little guy looked at the bloodied body of Shi Fu who always picked his favorite berries while out on hunts. He clenched the little guy’s tiny fists, and after comforting him a bit, he began to chase after the group that went ahead.