"YAHHH~~"
A loud shout, accompanied by the "ROAR! ROAR!" of hundreds of burly n, set a giant wooden fra ablaze with fireballs, sending flas leaping up over thirty ters high.
A grand clan bonfire celebration officially began.
Under the starry sky, groups of sturdy n and won, dressed in animal hides and coarse cloth garnts, danced and sang around the bonfire. The n held hands and sang ballads praying for a bountiful hunt. The won shouted a few tis, perford so symbolic leaps, and then began to wrestle in pairs.
At the top of the hillside, Wu Wang, nearing adulthood as per clan tradition, wore an animal hide robe. His chest was bared, showing off his abs, as he sat next to his parents, enjoying the songs and dances.
He turned his head to glance at his mother.
Ah, such light! So bright!
His mother sat on her exclusive cold jade chair, dressed in an ice-blue, figure-hugging long dress devoid of any extra adornnt, resembling a new moon in the night sky.
"Ba’er, what are you thinking about? Are you not happy?"
A gentle call ca from beside him. A hand, seemingly wrapped in soft light, reached over to pat Wu Wang’s head but then hesitated and retracted.
Wu Wang looked up at his mother, revealed a ’pure’ smile, and said softly, "Mother, please release Father first. Everyone is watching, and the Clan Leader’s dignity is quite important too."
A certain bear-shaped Ice Sculpture on the main seat squeezed out two tears of gratitude.
This son of mine! My doting has not been in vain!
The bonfire celebration continued. Lin Suqing did not go inside the main tent to mingle; instead, she stayed outside to dance and frolic with a group of girls from the Xiong Bao Clan, thoroughly enjoying herself.
Xiong Bao Clan Leader Xiong Han, once freed, stood up. He drank a pot of wine with his clansn and then hurried back to the tent with so people, getting straight to the point: treating the illness.
"My lady, I swear to the heavens I don’t have a single improper thought! It’s purely to treat Ba’er. Our Xiong Bao Clan is a respectable Large Family Clan, and as the Clan Leader, I cannot lead by being improper. Rest assured, I am fully aware of what I’m doing..."
Inside the opulent main tent, Xiong Bao Clan Leader Xiong Han continuously scratched his head, clapped his hands, and let out good-natured chuckles. The Generals and Priests seated in two rows to his left and right all lowered their eyes respectfully, long accustod to such scenes.
The ’Family Empire,’ indeed.
Sitting beside his mother on a beast-bone chair, Wu Wang could not stop the corners of his mouth from twitching.
He didn’t know if he had accumulated rit or derit in his previous life to be stuck with such a father in this one. It’s hard to say, truly hard to say.
Finally, his mother reluctantly nodded and sighed, "Don’t let Ba’er get too tired."
"Understood, understood! My lady can rest easy!"
Xiong Han finally breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his Clan Leader’s throne, calling out loudly, "Bring them all in!"
The Clan Leader’s trusted aides, who had been waiting outside for a long ti, imdiately stepped forward. They placed more than ten wooden cages wrapped in black cloth in two rows outside the main tent and guarded them closely.
Xiong Han said quite spiritedly, "Ba’er? Go ahead and do it yourself. Uncover them one by one."
Wu Wang couldn’t be bothered to get up. The palm of his left hand sparkled with starlight. A precise gust of cold wind blew over, neatly lifting away all the black cloths and revealing what was inside.
Uh, has Father inadvertently revealed so personal preference of his? Why isn’t there even a single normal Human girl?
That’s right. These slaves were likely acquired from those rchant caravans. If they encountered enslaved kin, they would have freed them rather than continue to enslave them. However... this beastwoman with her alluring figure and tiger-like markings on her face... her gaze is so fierce! It would truly be a waste not to train her as a warrior. That rperson soaking in the large tub has a beautiful face, but from the neck down, it’s a fish body covered in scales. Is she also supposed to be a maiden? Would her service just be natural skin scraping? And those few brawny girls, covered in thick hair and each estimated to weigh over six hundred pounds... they must have Giant Nation lineage. Father probably bought them to carry fierce beasts!
"Father."
"Yes, what is it?"
Wu Wang frowned and said, "Change them."
"COUGH! COUGH, COUGH!"
An old General below, who was drinking, nearly choked. He hurriedly cried out, "Young Master, please just make do! We only acquired these this ti. Mainly because we haven’t done this kind of exchange before, and we were afraid of being tricked."
Xiong Han scratched his head and muttered softly, "Ba’er, you don’t like any of them? You could try touching them one by one. What if there’s one you can touch?"
Wu Wang pondered for a mont. Indeed, isn’t the greatest fear always the ’what if’...
"Soone, bring my Number Three Wheelchair! Prepare a bucket of ice water, and knock them out for now!"
Imdiately, a guard outside responded. Soon, Wu Wang’s self-designed ’Wheelchair’ was brought over, along with a bucket of ice-cold water. Priests holding Crystal Balls chanted incantations, and the dozen or so slaves acquired in the exchange soon fell asleep in their cages.
The scene that followed could truly be described as unbearable to watch.
Wu Wang, sitting in the Wheelchair pushed by a guard, would touch a slave with his finger, then faint and convulse a few tis in the Wheelchair himself. Afterward, the guards would bring over the ice water and carefully pour it on the Young Master’s face. Wu Wang would then shiver, open his eyes, and be resolutely pushed toward the next wooden cage.
Soon, the atmosphere inside the tent... changed.
The Generals and Priests could no longer bear to watch; the older ones even had tears in their eyes.
The Young Master endured such pain for the stability of the clan, for the future glory of their Xiong Bao Clan!
Xiong Han tried to maintain a smile. He clenched his large hands and stared intently at Wu Wang’s back, wanting his expression to appear calr, but his thick lips trembled nonetheless.
That was rash. This whole affair was handled too hastily.
Cang Xue’s expression remained unchanged. She pinched the soft flesh at Xiong Han’s waist with two fingers, giving it a hard tug and twist every ti Wu Wang fainted.
By the ti Wu Wang had fainted more than ten tis and shivered dozens of tis, Xiong Han’s face had turned purple as an eggplant.
Wu Wang wiped his face. As he stood up from the Wheelchair, his legs trembled slightly. He silently walked back to the Young Master’s exclusive seat and took a deep breath.
There’s no sha in daring to try.
Beside him, his mother glared fiercely at Xiong Han. She was about to scold her husband when she heard Wu Wang chuckle softly beside her.
"Indeed, my strange illness treats all young won from different races without discrimination."
Cang Xue softly called out, "Ba’er..."
"Mother, it’s nothing."
Wu Wang waved his hand and looked up at the sleeping figures in the two rows of cages, his gaze lingering on two corners.
In the corner to the left was a voluptuous young girl with fox tails and fox ears; she must have co from Qingqiu, a nation infamous for its rampant slave traders.
In the corner to the right curled a tiny figure. She had a dark complexion and a frail body, clearly suffering from malnutrition. She looked as if she could slip through the gaps in the wooden cage at any mont.
Wu Wang said, "The dark-skinned one will stay as my maiden. Father can handle the rest."
Cang Xue glanced at her son. She seed to want to say sothing, but the words turned into a slight smile on her lips, and she chose not to speak. Knowing her son’s thods well, she wasn’t overly worried.
It was the old father on the other side who found himself in a dilemma.
"Ba’er, you only want one?"
Xiong Han said in a deep voice, "Then, shall we give them to the Generals? They’ve been bought, after all."
The robust n seated to his left and right shuddered in unison.
"Clan Leader, we haven’t sinned that badly!"
"This won’t do, this won’t do! My wife would hamr into the dirt."
"Or should we sell them again?"
"If word of this got out, wouldn’t we beco a laughingstock among the other clans? They’d think our clan is so poor that we buy maidens only to sell them off."
Wu Wang humd thoughtfully. Although he was inclined to help these girls, he hesitated. If he spoke up, these girls would subconsciously be deed his private property within the clan. Although the Xiong Bao Clan was predominantly Human race, it did not discriminate against the Hundred Races, and a small number of mbers from other races lived among them. Beyond the Human Domain, the majority of the clan territories and kingdoms in the Great Wilderness were ho to mixed populations of the Hundred Races.
Moreover, his mother was by his side.
Just as I thought...
"Let them stay," Cang Xue said softly. "If we set them free directly, they’ll either beco a few more skeletons in the Northern Wilderness or be captured again as slaves."
Xiong Han nodded, signaling his agreent.
A wrinkled old Priest whispered, "Clan Leader, how about we release this Fishman into the river? She looks a bit frightening."
The girl from Fishn Country, who had just realized she might have narrowly escaped catastrophe, instantly put on a mournful expression.
Set free? They’re going to set free? For a Fishman, the cruelest fate is to lose their Spiritual Register.
...
As the grand feast gave way to smaller banquets, the revelry was at its peak.
Wu Wang chatted with his parents until midnight. He quietly discussed the future developnt of the Star God Cult with his mother. Then, feigning drunkenness to excuse himself, he took his new maiden back to his warm, large tent.
He ordered the guards to keep watch at the entrance and sent soone to invite Lin Suqing over. Then, Wu Wang scrutinized the maiden he had chosen.
She was short in stature, with dark skin, and her looks were not outstanding. Her forehead and limbs bore barely visible spiral patterns. There were dark red scars on the backs of her hands, seemingly from blade wounds.
The Rain Mistress Nation, located near Tang Valley, was also a famously large witchcraft nation in the Great Wilderness. It was typically characterized by its people having dark skin. This girl’s features largely fit the description.
What interested Wu Wang was that this girl’s eyes had been utterly calm and devoid of expression from the beginning, making her gaze seem sowhat hollow. Wu Wang had previously sensed quite distinct spiritual energy fluctuations from her. Though faint, these fluctuations definitely existed.
"Do you have a na?" Wu Wang asked.
The girl from Rain Mistress Nation shook her head slightly and pursed her lips.
"Do you have anything you wish to say?" Wu Wang asked her.
The girl regarded Wu Wang calmly for a mont. Her voice, though sowhat hoarse, was perfectly serene as she asked, "Are you the master whom I am to serve?"
Wu Wang raised an eyebrow. This girl’s ordeal seed more complicated than simply being captured and enslaved. Of course, his own reasons for choosing her weren’t entirely pure either.
"Young Master? May I co in?"
Lin Suqing’s voice ca from outside the tent. Wu Wang said she could.
Lin Suqing, now dressed in a brightly colored Immortal gown and with so makeup applied, floated in gracefully, her face showing a hint of intoxication from the wine. Upon seeing the girl from Rain Mistress Nation, she covered her mouth and giggled lightly. "Oh my, is this the new maiden sister?"
Wu Wang: ...
What’s with this strong sense of déja vu, like so kind of workplace power play?
"Suqing, take her to wash up. Let her stay with you tonight, and I’ll arrange a place for her tomorrow."
Lin Suqing agreed with a voice as sweet as honey and even deliberately showed off a magical technique, enveloping them both in Mana as they floated away.
After the two had left, Wu Wang summoned two of his trusted guards with a wave of his hand. He quietly gave them so orders, and the two sturdy n imdiately set off on their mission.
Staring at the empty tent, Wu Wang pondered for a while, then tapped his fingers on the tabletop.
There shouldn’t be a problem with Suqing; after all, she has the strength of the Condensation Establishnt Realm. It’s ti to consider the most urgent matters. Sigh, I didn’t even get a chance to talk to Father today.
Although his father was very powerful, like the Priests of the Northern Wilderness, his Lifespan saw no increase, remaining only about four to six hundred years. Now, both his parents were over two hundred years old; his father was in his pri, and his mother possessed peerless beauty. If they got any older, having a second child would be even more troubleso.
He unfolded a Sheepskin Scroll and picked up a homade wolf-hair brush. Wu Wang humd to himself, preparing to devise a detailed plan to ensure that his strange illness wouldn’t affect the clan’s stability if he didn’t have any younger siblings.
He’d actually grown quite fond of this place.
However, just as he raised his brush, before he could write even a few words, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the tent.
"STOP! Release Lady Lin!"
"Assassin!"
"Everyone, protect the Young Master!"
Wu Wang casually touched the Crystal Ball on the table and watched the scene appearing within it. He confird it with his Spiritual Sense. Finally, speechless and exasperated, he could only rest his hand on his forehead, unable to resist massaging his temples.
In front of Lin Suqing’s tent, the small girl held a Short Sword, holding Lin Suqing hostage before her, and was quickly moving towards his large tent. Lin Suqing looked utterly defeated, her lips trembling continuously, the light in her eyes gradually fading.
What is this!? Sister, you’re at the mid-stage of the Condensation Establishnt Realm... I’m starting to think this old auntie is staying with mainly to freeload.
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