Chapter 109 - Finale
Tai Lie supported Zhu Hua with his right hand while wielding an iron axe for defense with his left hand.
The fighting crowd closed in around him, shrinking the battle circle, cautiously retreating.
Both sides were evenly matched, one side wanted to retreat, but the other couldn’t completely hold them back.
Seeing that Tai Lie and his group were about to escape, one of the men behind Yang Hua anxiously approached, “Chief, should we continue to pursue? Or should we split up and search for the women and children who have already fled…”
Yang Hua stared fiercely at Shan Pu. Only when he heard the question did he come to his senses and smirked, “Chase after women and children? Everyone should go after these people for me. No matter where they run, they must not be let go, and make sure to capture them alive!”
The man hesitated, “But the people we brought are almost evenly matched in strength with the opponents. Won’t it be difficult to capture them alive? Didn’t you say that the leader’s instructions might not necessarily…”
Slap!
“You fool!” Yang Hua slapped him hard, “I said to capture them alive, so you must capture them alive! You go—forget it, I’ll go myself. You wait here and start a fire. I’ll bring more people when I come back.”
Although the man didn’t understand why Yang Hua was doing this, he didn’t dare to say anything more. He covered his swollen face and weakly agreed.
After giving instructions, Yang Hua hurried back.
At the same time, Lu Yu and his group also successfully reached the riverside.
Two majestic boats were moored on the shore, and the women and children were gaping in surprise.
“Oh my gods, what is this?” Lu Yu said, “Now is not the time to discuss this. Let’s hurry aboard.”
Although they had already made plans, they were afraid of unexpected accidents if the other side sent more people.
The women and children didn’t dare to delay any longer and hurriedly boarded the ship.
Halfway there, Xia Cao suddenly flashed a glint in his eyes, swiftly drew an arrow from his quiver on his back, placed it on his bow, and shot it in a direction.
“Queen, they’re here!”
The newcomers were definitely not from their group, and their secretive approach indicated they were not friendly.
Lu Yu handed a child to San Qiu on the boat and followed Xia Cao’s gaze.
The other side noticed that they had been exposed and no longer concealed themselves.
Soon, a group of tall men wearing animal skin skirts emerged from the woods.
The person at the front was still holding the arrow that Xia Cao had just shot, and there was no injury on his body.
Lu Yu glanced at the arrow and frowned. Xia Cao’s archery was among the best in the entire Matai tribe, and the arrowhead was newly forged with iron. Under such unexpected circumstances, the fact that the opponent could catch the arrow without being injured was astonishing…
Most of the women and children hadn’t boarded the ship yet, and they only had a few archers like Xia Cao. Facing such strong enemies, the situation was dire.
The only consolation was that the other party was probably not from the Three Tribes.
After some consideration, Lu Yu pressed down Xia Cao’s ready-to-shoot bow and said loudly, “I’m sorry, everyone. My little brother took the hunting team to play somewhere and didn’t return. My sister-in-law mistook you for him and shot the arrow in a panic. We still have some supplies here, please accept them as an apology. Is that okay with you?”
They couldn’t withstand the charge of so many people, so they had to use the excuse of a “hunting team” to stall for time. Hopefully, the other side would hesitate.
While Lu Yu was speaking, the group on the opposite side gradually approached.
As they got closer, there was no response to his words, and Lu Yu felt uneasy.
“Heh, long time no see, Deputy Chief Lu Yu. Do you have another brother now?”
Suddenly, a person walked out from the crowd, playing with a bone blade in his hand, looking at Lu Yu with a smile that wasn’t a smile.
Lu Yu was surprised, “Cha Zhe?!”
Cha Zhe raised an eyebrow, “Deputy Chief Lu Yu still remembers me? I’m really happy.”
Lu Yu looked suspiciously at Cha Zhe and the people around him for a while before sighing lightly, “Cha Zhe, I’m also glad you’re okay. Our business is already over. I sincerely hope you’ll do better. We don’t have time today. Let’s meet again when we have time.”
When Cha Zhe heard the first part of Lu Yu’s words, his expression changed slightly. But when he heard the latter part, his eyes suddenly became sharp, sneering, “Meet again? Lu Yu, have you become the master now? Will the person by your side agree to meet again? I’m afraid that as soon as he sees me, he’ll want to kill me. By the way, where’s the person who follows you like a black-haired dog?”
Lu Yu’s face suddenly darkened, “Cha Zhe, don’t go too far.”
Cha Zhe chuckled, sneering, “As expected, as soon as I mention him, you change your expression. But I’m serious. When that person is not around, how will you stop me today?”
As he spoke, he gestured for Lu Yu to look around him.
Even without him saying it, Lu Yu understood the situation now. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I think you’re not here today specifically to find me. After all, this is not the direction back to our tribe. Since there are other matters, why waste time on me.”
Cha Zhe sneered and nodded, “Indeed, I didn’t come to find you, but it’s not anything important. I’m just here to catch a few cowardly people who can’t fight and run away. Compared to you, they are of course at the back. Oh, by the way, what are those two big guys behind you? I haven’t seen them before. Let me join in the fun, Brother Ah Lu?”
Cha Zhe looked at the boat with great curiosity, and his steps began to move in that direction, with his companions following suit.
Xia Cao felt anxious and placed his hand on his bow.
Lu Yu held her hand back.
“Cha Zhe, do you want to know who slaughtered your tribe?”
Cha Zhe stopped in his tracks.
Lu Yu stood behind him, unable to see his expression clearly. “Although you’ve lied to me before, I believe this is something you haven’t lied about.”
Cha Zhe slowly turned around, squeezing out a few words from his throat, “You know?”
Lu Yu nodded slightly, “I can’t be sure, but I think you also know something about what happened to Tai Lie and his group in the past, similar to what happened to your tribe. Now we have almost confirmed our side, and as for your tribe…”
“Tell me,” Cha Zhe’s face was expressionless, but bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes.
Lu Yu nodded slightly, “Do you still remember the Dream Training Ground? Tonight, I’ll tell you there.”
—
Yang Hua returned to Beast Plain and hurriedly went to the treehouse.
After listening to Yang Hua’s report, Zhao Yuhua became interested, “Are you saying that person confessed they’re from the Matai tribe?”
Yang Hua replied, “Yes! I heard it with my own ears! That person blurted out that they’re from the Matai tribe!”
Zhao Yuhua rubbed his chin, “Back then, Mo Hu told me not to spare anyone. Where did these Matai people come from?”
Yang Hua replied, “I dare not deceive the witch!”
“Well, I know, you don’t need to lie to me about this. But Mo Hu is dead, and I can’t ask him anymore. Since that’s the case, we can’t let them go easily,” Zhao Yuhua pondered for a moment, “I’ll give you temporary authority. How many people you want, it’s up to you. Your only task is to follow that group, find their tribe, and capture all the men inside for me.”
Yang Hua was overjoyed, “Yes!”
—
Although Tai Lie and his group wanted to escape, they were held back by the enemy.
Shan Pu held an iron blade and viciously cut off someone’s throat, dodging the weapons swung at him, and shouted, “King, it seems that these people are only effective with a fatal blow!”
Shan Pu noticed that even if these people had their arms chopped off, they would still fight. Although they didn’t make any sound, they seemed to fear pain, their faces contorted, which looked quite intimidating.
Tai Lie grunted softly and whispered to Zhu Hua, “Eat.”
Zhu Hua nodded and swallowed the red medicine in his mouth. The wound on his shoulder healed at an extremely fast speed, but it was still covered in a large mass of blood and flesh, looking very serious.
“What should we do now?” Zhu Hua asked.
Tai Lie’s eyes were dark, “Speed up and continue forward.”
“Okay!”
Tai Lie and his group fought while retreating, gradually wearing down the enemy’s strength. With the support of the medicine, they had no casualties for the time being.
Yang Hua led a large number of people and hurried to the scene, but he did not approach, instead quietly following behind. Seeing that their side was being eroded little by little, he was not in a hurry, but rather leisurely watched.
“Why bother? Surrendering earlier would have been fine. Now, I’m not so easy to talk to,” Yang Hua said.
“Deputy Chief, should we kill them all now? The warriors on that side seem to be unable to hold on much longer,” the man who had been slapped cautiously asked.
Yang Hua was in a good mood now and wasn’t angry at such a foolish question, “Kill them all? Not a single one should be killed. These people are all my precious assets for gaining merit. If they can’t hold on, they can’t hold on. Even if they drink the ‘medicine’, they are still useless.”
—
The enemy was about to be wiped out.
Tai Lie asked Ming Shan softly, “How is it?”
Ming Shan nodded imperceptibly, “The fish are all coming over, but there are many fish, and they will eat people.”
Tai Lie swung his axe and chopped down the last enemy.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and rested in place. Although they had killed all the enemies, the situation here still looked very bad. Some were unable to stand steadily with their stone spears, some lay on the ground unable to get up, and some were covered in blood and their faces couldn’t be seen clearly.
Looking over, it was an extremely gruesome battlefield scene.
Yang Hua clicked his tongue, feeling sorry, “Why does everyone look injured? And quite seriously too, this won’t do.”
“Chief, what should we do…”
“Hide well and don’t get discovered. Follow these people and we’ll definitely find their lair!”
“But what if they don’t return to the tribe…”
Yang Hua said confidently, “Not return? How could they not return? They look like this, are they waiting to die here? I’m afraid these people can’t wait to die here without even waiting to return. Right, send a few people to guard the surroundings and drive away any wild beasts.”
“Yes!”
—
Two days later.
It was dark, and Tai Lie and his group found a cave to stay in, supporting each other and struggling through.
Ming Shan came in with a strange expression, dragging a red pig with him, “Today is really lucky. I just went out for a walk, and a red pig came running over by itself.”
Shan Pu smirked, “Life is so comfortable now. Not only do we have people helping us chase away wild beasts, but they also voluntarily bring us food. No wonder the queen asked us to bring this thing.”
With that, Shan Pu took out a package from the animal skin bag.
Zhu Hua curiously approached, “What’s this?”
Shan Pu opened the package, and the contents spilled out with a clatter.
Shan Pu friendly introduced, “This is called Sichuan Mahjong! Our queen asked someone to make it for us as a toy because we used to sleep outdoors all the time. I didn’t take it out before, but now we can finally take it out and pass the time.”
Zhu Hua picked up a small piece made of stone and asked eagerly, “A toy?? How do you play with it? Can you give me one?”
Shan Pu shook his head, “Not now. You don’t even know how to play. You have to learn first. Let me tell you, it’s not just playing, you have to bet…”
Yang Hua took a bite of dried meat and frowned, “Did the red pig get sent over?”
“It’s been sent over, and they definitely didn’t notice!”
Yang Hua grinned wickedly, “That’s good, let them eat their fill first—cough cough cough”
“Chief, what’s wrong with you? Are you choking on the meat?! Someone, quickly bring water for the chief!”
Since following Zhao Yuhua, Yang Hua had been living comfortably, staying in good wooden houses and eating delicious grilled meat. But these past few days, he had truly suffered.
Because he was afraid of being discovered by Tai Lie and his group, he had to hide in the grass during the day and couldn’t even light a campfire at night. He could only eat the dried meat he carried with him. Without a campfire and a cave to stay in, all kinds of mosquitoes, snakes, and frogs crawled all over him, making it impossible to sleep well.
Yang Hua drank water with resentment and washed down the dry meat stuck in his throat. Once these people drank the ‘medicine’ and fell into his hands, he would show them who’s boss!
Thinking of this, Yang Hua felt relieved again. As long as he gained merit in front of the witch, he would have everything in the future. He could endure them for a few more days.
And so, he endured for another three days.
Yang Hua walked through the forest with some fatigue. After a few steps, he felt tired and called a warrior to carry him. His subordinate was also panting heavily, his legs trembling, looking like he would collapse at any moment. Yang Hua looked at him with disdain and called another warrior to carry him.
The subordinate quickly thanked him and even flattered him, then climbed onto the warrior’s back tremblingly, asking in confusion, “Chief, how come those people ahead can walk so well? Aren’t they all injured?”
Yang Hua didn’t have any doubts at all, sneering, “What’s so strange about that? Don’t you know who those people are in front?”
The subordinate smiled apologetically, “How could I know as much as the chief.”
Yang Hua chuckled proudly, “That’s true—”
“Chief! What’s that?!” The subordinate suddenly exclaimed.
“Look at what? What are you looking at!” Yang Hua irritably raised his head, his eyes suddenly widening, “This is—”
Swoosh swoosh swoosh—
The sound of arrows piercing through the air was continuous.
The last image imprinted in Yang Hua’s eyes was not only the towering stone walls and arrow towers, but also the arrows flying from high above, forming a net.
“Shi Tou, Shi Tou, did I hit it?” Xiao Shui tugged at Shi Tou’s clothes excitedly.
Shi Tou glanced casually and shrugged, “These enemies are all bunched together. You could hit them with your eyes closed.”
Xiao Shui pouted, “I didn’t shoot randomly! I aimed at the tallest person!”
“That person isn’t the tallest, he’s just lying on top of someone else’s back. Alright, alright, I have an important task.” Shi Tou shook off Xiao Shui and ran to Xia Cao’s side, pointing to a direction not far away, “Sister Xia, there’s someone bending over and running away over there!”
Xia Cao nodded, manipulating the mechanism, and shot a deadly arrow in the direction Shi Tou pointed.
Shi Tou found an escaping person for Xia Cao, but couldn’t help but lament, “Aren’t these people supposed to be very powerful? Why aren’t they attacking the city? I even brought a big stone up here specially… Ah, one of them ran far away! He’s even using a dead person as a shield! How despicable! Sister Xia, can you still hit him?”
Xia Cao shook her head, “It’s not easy.” Then she smiled again, “Forget it, let’s leave this one to Wu Ba and the others. They’ve set up many traps and are waiting for them.”
Shi Tou also chuckled, “Big Brother Wu Ba and the others have some powerful iron traps!”
—
Lu Yu, Tai Lie, Pen Di, Hei Shui, and Zhu Hua sat together in the council hall.
Zhu Hua said, “Shouldn’t we go help?”
Lu Yu smiled, “No need. If there’s really any problem, Xia Cao will come to inform us. We can go help later if needed. Now, what we need to discuss is the issue of attacking Beast Plain Stone City.”
Zhu Hua’s expression became serious, “Please proceed.”
Lu Yu said, “The most important thing is that although we have consumed a portion of their strength this time, we still don’t know how many warriors they have left.”
Zhu Hua thought for a moment and said, “Actually, in Beast Plain Stone City, although everyone lives there, most of the warriors are still in their own tribes. There weren’t too many brought over, probably only three or four thousand from the three great tribes.”
Jin Chang expressed his concern, “Only five or six hundred came with us, which means they still have at least two thousand more. If they all have this level of fighting strength, we…”
They were able to return unharmed thanks to the miraculous red medicine of the Tai Yu tribe. Without the medicine, they would definitely have been defeated, as their combat power was far inferior to that of the Tai Yu tribe.
Thinking of the Tai Yu tribe, Jin Chang’s heart brightened.
Right, they still had the warriors of the Tai Yu tribe. Only by fighting side by side could they know how powerful the warriors of the Tai Yu tribe were. If it weren’t for the need to protect them, if the warriors of the Tai Yu tribe were allowed to fight freely, he felt that even if they faced these five or six hundred people, they wouldn’t necessarily lose!
The Tai Yu tribe had such a large city, there must be many warriors, right?
Jin Chang held onto this hopeful thought, his eyes fixed on Lu Yu.
Lu Yu understood his meaning and didn’t hide anything, “Although our strength is strong, there aren’t many strong individuals. The rest are just ordinary people.”
The light in Jin Chang’s eyes dimmed.
Zhu Hua said solemnly, “Our several tribes are not particularly large, and the total number of warriors that can be mobilized is only two or three thousand, which is still not comparable to the warriors of the three great tribes.”
For a moment, the atmosphere became heavy.
Lu Yu smiled and was the first to break the tension, “Actually, don’t think too hard about it. From what I know, the witch’s magic wasn’t successful, and not all warriors became strong as a result. And the production may not be high either, otherwise, he would have implemented his plan long ago.”
This news was obtained from Lu Yu’s exchange with Cha Zhe. Of course, it could also be inferred from Er Dai, but the information was not as accurate as Cha Zhe’s. Cha Zhe said that he learned from the leader of the Lang Yuan tribe that the witch had asked them to send over a thousand strong warriors. After he went to the Xin Yuan tribe, the Lang Yuan tribe had been fighting with the Xin Yuan tribe all along, so they didn’t send people over in time. It was also at that time that the witch compromised and started using warriors from the Three Great tribe.
Lu Yu estimated that the things in this person’s hands would only be enough to transform a thousand warriors.
Now that they have dealt with five or six hundred of them, at most only half of them remain.
Even if there are more than this, they are fully armed and prepared, and they are not afraid!
—
Zhao Yuhua toyed with the fruit on the plate, “Has Yang Hua not sent anyone back today?”
“Reporting to the witch, no, perhaps… the journey is far and they can’t come back for a while.”
Zhao Yuhua waved her hand to dismiss him. When the wooden house was empty, he complained to himself, “The era is so backward, and even communication is so troublesome. After finally crossing over, they didn’t give me a space filled with supplies. Instead, they gave me a life conversion system without any explanation. If it weren’t for my intelligence, where would I have the infinite life and ‘strength’ potion now? Well, I can only endure it slowly. After a few thousand years, I will be the king of this world! Hahaha!”
Zhao Yuhua laughed maniacally for a few moments, then contentedly lay down on the couch for a nap.
Perhaps it was because of thinking during the day and dreaming at night, Zhao Yuhua dreamt of his future self in his dream.
At this time, he had already become the emperor, and society was developing rapidly. As this emperor, he had ruled for three thousand years. His descendants were scattered all over the world, and every year they would bring countless wealth and beautiful women to offer to him. They knelt in neat rows, shouting in unison—
“The dream should wake up.”
A strange male voice sounded in Zhao Yuhua’s ears, like a hammer, smashing the beautiful scene in front of him to pieces.
Zhao Yuhua, with dissatisfaction, slowly opened his eyes in a daze.
Lu Yu smiled and said, “You are the witch?”
Zhao Yuhua turned his head.
The delicate tree house was filled with two-meter-tall men, each staring at him expressionlessly.
Zhao Yuhua shrank into the couch, forcibly suppressing his uneasiness, and angrily questioned, “Who are you?! Why are you in my house?!”
Without waiting for Lu Yu to answer, he sharply shouted, “I don’t care who you are, you’d better leave now! Guards! Guards!!”
As he shouted, his voice became hoarse, but no matter how loudly he shouted, no one came.
Lu Yu watched his performance with interest for a while, and finally interrupted him, “Stop shouting, let’s not beat around the bush. Now, if you confess all the bad things you’ve done over the years, we can leave you with a complete corpse. Otherwise, you will die a miserable death, believe me, a really miserable one. Don’t pretend to be stupid, you still have so many subordinates, there must be one or two who know about your past… If they confess first…”
Zhao Yuhua’s pupils dilated little by little.
—
Lu Yu and Tai Lie walked out of the tree house side by side.
Lu Yu looked at the night sky and slowly exhaled.
After discussing it, they decided to launch a night attack, because there were far fewer enemies than they had imagined, so the battle was fast-paced and bloody. Although sneak attacks were not honorable, Lu Yu had no regrets. For people like Zhao Yuhua, there was no need to be honorable.
After the interrogation just now, Lu Yu already knew the origin of Zhao Yuhua.
As he expected, Zhao Yuhua was indeed a transmigrator, but he obtained a golden finger called the “Life Conversion” system, which could display a progress bar of his remaining life years. Zhao Yuhua said that the additional explanation of this system was only one sentence, “One life for another.” At first, he thought it meant exchanging others’ lives for his own, but later he found it didn’t work. Killing someone didn’t increase his lifespan at all. However, maybe because he “enjoyed” the life, the system did something and gave him a task.
Spread language.
Of course, Zhao Yuhua didn’t have the ability to spread it himself, but with the help of the system, it was easy.
With the opportunity to spread language, Zhao Yuhua came into contact with more primitive people. In one winter, the tribe he stayed in didn’t have enough food, and the old people in the tribe voluntarily sacrificed themselves to give others a chance to survive. Zhao Yuhua also ate this meat, and then he was pleasantly surprised to find that his lifespan had increased a bit…
Zhao Yuhua said that killing someone could bring him some benefits, such as later he also obtained iron weapons (not made by him from iron ore). Eating people could make him live longer. Once he started, he couldn’t stop. However, after massacring Cha Zhe’s tribe and obtaining the “prescription”, killing people no longer brought him benefits from the system, and killing the Matai people before didn’t bring him any benefits either.
Lu Yu remembered Zhao Yuhua’s tearful confession at the end.
“It’s all because of this system. If it weren’t for it, how could I have done so many bad things!”
This statement seemed to make sense, but was it really the case?
The darkness gradually dissipated.
Lu Yu looked at the white in the sky.
“One life for another.”
Zhao Yuhua could only think that killing someone replenished his life, but he never thought that saving a life counted as well. This system might not necessarily be malicious.
After Zhao Yuhua killed people, the so-called “benefits” it gave might have been intended for Zhao Yuhua to use for good deeds. It’s just that Zhao Yuhua only thought of “evil.”
Even the ‘prescription,’ Zhao Yuhua said that it was originally meant to strengthen the primitive people who were prone to disease and death, but Zhao Yuhua himself, after various “experiments,” achieved the current effect.
Lu Yu told Tai Lie his speculation, then puzzled, “However, after the Battle of Matai, why did this system give nothing…”
“Gave something,” Tai Lie said lightly.
Lu Yu, “Huh?”
Tai Lie lowered his head.
The anger that had almost made him explode was somewhat calmed at this moment.
“It gave you to us.”
Without you, Matai would silently vanish in the future.
‘Although my hatred is overwhelming, I have to be grateful. It gave us a ray of light.’
Lu Yu’s eyes turned red, and he opened his arms to hug Tai Lie.
“I don’t want to meet you for this reason either, but the future is long, let’s walk together.”
“King, Queen! Let’s go back and prepare for the marriage proposal!!”
Excited voices of Shan Pu came from behind.
Lu Yu released Tai Lie and looked over with a tilted head.
Shan Pu was not far away, waving his arms high. Beside him were Xia Cao, Le Shui, Xia Hua, Ming Shan…
Tears seemed to flow from everyone’s eyes, and their faces still had remnants of extreme anger, but they all had smiles of relief.
The hatred that had weighed on their hearts for ten years had been resolved, and they could finally move forward without burdens.
At this moment, a golden light burst from the horizon.
Lu Yu smiled and replied loudly, “The king and I will get married as soon as we go back!”
Translated By JustMeow18