However, Wu He did not mind, giving an ‘I admit that I am’ look and did not change his mind.
AS the chief, Su Li should reprimand him for ‘lacking ambition’ which did not align with their ‘values’. The words were at the tip of his tongue when he thought about how the Flaming Horn tribe captured Wu He and a few others, and since then, he somehow became their mailman?
After some thought, Su Li shrugged, “Fine.” He then looked around. “Who thinks the same?”
Four more people did. They were active members of the Changle people and were equally traumatised by the Flaming Horns. Su Li did not insist either because he privately was also traumatised. However, he felt like this time should be fine.
Just as they were itching to make a move, something peculiar happened.
“Look! What is that?!”
“Is there something wrong with my eyes? Why do I see purple light there?”
“I see it too!”
“Yes, it’s purple!”
The observers saw faint purple light shining out of the palace.
At the centre of the palace, within the garden with the Heaven and Earth AGreement Book.
The flames burning on top of the mountain turned from red to purple. In the beginning, only the outline of the flames was purple but the purple was spreading fast.
Shao Xuan’s had remained on the wall but the white flaming lines had turned into a large cross, also the shaman symbol, and was extending unobstructed across the wall!
The shaman symbol took up the entire wall- the wall was twenty metres, meaning the pattern was twenty metres tall!
“Founder Shaman Seal!” gasped the Yi elder.
More and more flames spouted out of the mountain, the red flames quickly replaced by purple. Even the heat and peripheral flames extending outwards were turning purple!
Purple flames?!
What shocked the crowd even more was that while the white shaman symbol formed, all the marks left behind by the other tribes on the wall started to move!
The totems were not moving but the mountain itself. The mountain was moving the parts with other totems away to make more space for this shaman symbol!
The King City folk fell silent, their eyes glazed over.
This scene had far exceeded Ji Fang’s expectations.
The fire seed in the mountain was purple but this colour had not appeared in a long time. Ji Fang only learned of this from their ancestral notes. Afterwards, people told him that the fire seed inside was considered a primitive fire seed so it could not be merged and passed down generations. That was why it was destined to decline.
Ji Fang always thought that the mountain could never display its colours again but the purple flames had appeared once again!
What was the reason?!
Ji Fang’s eyes were glued to the giant Founder Shaman Seal on the mountain wall, as well as the double horn totem at the centre of the seal, his hand clutching the hilt of his sword. Green veins popped out of the back of his palm as all his muscles trembled.
Why must it be a Flaming Horn?!
He suddenly regretted signing a deal with the Flaming Horn tribe because it meant he could not invade the Flaming River region both privately and publicly.
However, a thought crossed his mind and Ji Fang loosened the grip on his sword. A strange smirk spread across his face but he quickly suppressed it so no one saw him.
The entire mountain was on fire now. Purple flames rose to the sky and heat radiated in all directions.
The palace roofs were all dyed a faint purple from the purple flames. This mysterious purple light only brightened with time and the area bathed in purple light quickly expanded.
Purple smoke spread out of the palace until the streets, buildings, people and objects of King City were bathed in purple.
Gasps came from the streets. Everyone dropped what they were doing and rushed out of their houses.
People dressed in all types of clothing came out to the streets, gawking at the palace like they were looking at a religious sign.
The sky above the palace had turned purple, far stronger than sunlight itself!
The streets became crowded in the blink of an eye. The once wide streets that could fit giant beasts were filled with so many people no one could move forwards or backwards.
People were everywhere!
This was the first time they felt the size of King City’s population. Most importantly, the Heaven and Earth Agreement became more mysterious to them.
They had only heard from their elders about it- even the ones who had witnessed the agreement-signing before had never seen anything like this. Their elders never mentioned such a thing either.
A fire seed’s aura radiated from the palace. It did not belong to any tribe and did not have a strong feeling of repulsion. IN fact, it made them revere and worship such energy. Those who retained their tribal habits had the urge to kneel.
Within the betting house, the betters had all forgotten about their bets. Abuli and the group also had their attention on the palace, speculating. What happened? Did they need reinforcements? Should they be gathering their troops to save them?
However, there were also people who remembered the bets, for example the head of the betting house, Bo Yi.
Compared to the excitement he felt during the bet, he was currently ghostly pale as beads of sweat dripped off his forehead. He did not even wipe his face, his eyes darting around quickly. Those who knew him understood that he was currently making swift calculations in his head.
Bo Yi was calculating the profits from this bet. Just like how Yi Si could predict the future based on his detailed observations of his surroundings, while Bo Yi had not reached such mastery, he was still good at predicting future events with seventy percent accuracy.
The result of every calculator he made was enough to make him shudder.
During the first ray of purple, he calculated a thirty percent chance of Abuli winning. Although thirty percent was not much, it was still a blow to his confidence. That was merely the beginning.
The second time, when the palace was bathed in purple light, he predicted a fifty percent chance.
The third time, when purple smoke spread across the streets, he calculated a seventy percent chance of Abuli winning.
Now that the purple light was getting brighter, Bo Yi did not dare calculate anymore.
What should he do?
Bo Yi looked at the mountain of goods on his table. Thank goodness he only decided on a five-fold reward. If he had said tenfold or hundredfold, he might as well be dead!
Fivefold was already a lot. As he counted the pile of goods and the compensation… this can’t do!
He gulped secretly, then woke the person next to him from his trance and said a few words in a lowered voice.
The person’s face changed but quickly recovered, showing the same sneaky expression. He took a few steps back, then mouthed a few quick words to someone on the other side, then retreated back again.
The staff members who received the command started to take action. With just a few glances, they had started to work together. Some blocked the crowd’s view of the table, others made loud comments and speculations on the situation to divert attention while others secretly moved the goods off the table.
Bo Yi looked at the stuff that the tribesmen first put down like pouches of gemstones. They hadn’t counted what was on the table, had they? He wanted to take this chance to move some of it inside. If he really had to pay them back, at least he could cut some cost. He wanted to take everything and run but if he did that, that meant giving up on the entire betting house because he would never be able to stay in King City.
Just as he was thinking about cheating the tribesmen, Bo Yi heard a yell, “Someone’s stealing from the betting table!”
Bo Yi almost spat blood. Which idiot was it?!
He turned in the direction of the yell but there was only a crowd so he could not identify the source. This also reminded the entire crowd, who was busy staring at the palace.
“Stealing?!”
“Who?! Kill them!” The betters all had their eyes on the table.
“It’s one of the staff members! I saw it!” came a voice.
Under the murderous glares, Bo Yi had to shout shamelessly, “Nonsense, do not tarnish my reputation!”
Just as the betters were about to fight the betting house’s staff members, a few figures swooped past in a flash, every figure running in different directions. Some swiped the goods on the table while others covered them.
“The house is stealing our stuff again!” yelled a shrill voice.
“I want my things back!”
“Me too!”
Bo Yi was so angry he was about to cough up blood. That was not one of his people! Someone was causing trouble!
Whoosh—
As if a door had been opened, everyone who had private thoughts about stealing, both the betters and spectators, started to rush forward. Might as well take the opportunity of the chaos to steal some? They’ll just take some and run.
Abuli and the other tribesmen’s things had ignited a lot of greed in the room.
The staff members guarding the table were overwhelmed by the manic crowd. In the past, this should be enough but there were too many people around due to the commotion at the palace. They could not guard the table at all! And these people were deliberately breaking the circle of guards too.
“We can’t hold them off, Sir!”
A green vein bulge on Bo Yi’s forehead as he took a deep breath, about to say something when a tiger’s roar sounded from within the crowd.
Roar—
Stripes emerged on the skin of a Water Tiger warrior. His mouth expanded three times its size as he roared, visible sound waves rippling across the air.
Crocodile-scale patterns appeared on Drumming tribe’s Qing Yi, changing his placid demeanour into one of a cold predator, a deep gurgling sounding from his throat.
Yu and the rest from Pu tribes, with their colourful eyelids, released soft frog-like croaks that might not be obvious in the crowd. However, based on the wooden thorns between their fingers, anyone could tell that they were poised for attack.
“Kill everyone who took our goods!”
When Abuli saw that his giant crystal had gone missing, he leapt in anger, his giant feet drumming on the ground.
The people who were not familiar with the Zhi tribe thought they were stomping their feet in anger. The rest knew the reason for their large feet.
A few short and fat tribesmen had their faces stuck to the ground. Other people thought they were trying to dig holes and were about to comment when the few tribesmen leapt and shouted to their mates, “Someone’s stealing our stuff at the betting house!”
The entire group rushed to the betting house in a flurry.
The crowd around them erupted in discussion, for they heard what the short tribesmen said. The pronunciations were not accurate but they could understand the meaning.
