Midnight had arrived a long time ago. There was already a faint and dim light at the horizon. Pale moonlight fell on the snow in the forest, making the light seem cold. As messy crunching sounds appeared, the people of Dark Mountain Tribe moved quickly before dawn.
It was quiet all around them. Besides the sounds of crunching snow, there was virtually no other sound. All the people of Dark Mountain Tribe were silent. The elderly, the women, and even the La Sus fell silent as they continued migrating during that night.
Several hours had pa.s.sed since the previous battle. The level of devastation from that battle was deeply imprinted in all of their minds and souls. They would never forget it.
Before they left, without including the elder, Dark Mountain Tribe had more than thirty Berserkers. After the battle, there were only fourteen Berserkers left. The blood on these fourteen Berserkers’ body had dried up. As they moved forward with grief and sadness, they carried with them a murderous air as they silently protected their tribe members.
Dozens of their own had died, but Black Mountain Tribe had paid an even greater price. This was related to their levels of cultivation, but more importantly, the intruders from Black Mountain Tribe did not have the persistence that the people of Dark Mountain Tribe had because they were forced to leave their homes.
It was called a protector’s courage. If they had only self-destructed once, perhaps it would have only brought disdain to the intruders from Black Mountain Tribe, but once it happened twice, thrice, four times… then it bring about terror among those from Black Mountain Tribe.
Dark Mountain Tribe may be weak, but within that weakness, there was strength!
Su Ming walked silently. After the battle, he had yet to speak a single word. He was originally just a cheerful child with the recklessness of a teenager, but now, he had learned how to be quiet and not scream out his feelings like a wild beast.
Yet the price for him to learn how to be quiet was too great. It made his heart hurt.
Su Ming knew that from this day onwards, his innocence was destroyed and had left his body. From this day onwards, his happiness had melted and disappeared into his body. From this day onwards, his tears were replaced by silence.
Time pa.s.sed by. Very soon, daylight arrived. The tribe had walked for an entire night, but they did not stop even though they were tired. All of them gritted their teeth and supported each other as they moved so quickly it was close to a running speed.
Daylight gradually pa.s.sed by as they continued moving. During the journey, some of them fell down, unable to bear the fatigue. After resting for an hour, they would continue moving.
The people of Dark Mountain Tribe continued walking quickly in their silence, even when the second midnight fell upon them and moonlight once again shone on the snow in the forest.
"Su Ming…"
A frightened and fragile voice travelled to Su Ming’s ears. He turned his head and saw the little girl beside him who was being carried by another tribe member.
When he saw her clean and innocent eyes, Su Ming forced out a smile. Yet that smile looked really creepy when it was matched with the blood on his face.
Nonetheless, the girl did not feel afraid. She widened her eyes instead and looked at Su Ming. After a moment of hesitation, she lifted her slightly dirtied hands and wiped away some of the dried blood on Su Ming’s face.
When he felt the little girl’s delicate hands touching his face, warmth appeared through Su Ming’s painfully bleeding heart.
"Su Ming, don’t be afraid… Tong Tong is not afraid either…" The little girl retrieved her hands. Some blood flecks stained her hands. She looked at him, and in her bright eyes, there was a resolute look that was rarely seen in children.
Su Ming patted the little girl’s head. He did not look at her, but chose to look ahead. The road ahead was hidden by the forest, and he could not see where their future lay.
Lei Chen stood on the other side of the crowd. He still had his fists clenched tightly. The blood on his back had dried up, and he ignored the pain in his body. There was bloodl.u.s.t in his eyes, but there was also sadness. He would never forget the battle that had happened the previous night. If it were not for a heavily wounded adult Berserker self-destructing to save him, then his corpse would now be left behind in that battlefield.
Before him was Wu La. The girl’s face was pale, and she looked exhausted. There was dried blood on her left arm, and she seemed unable to lift it up. There was a large bloodied part on her face, causing her originally pretty face to be gone.
Yet there was no sign of surrender in her eyes. She still had the stubborn persistence that was within all the other members of Dark Mountain Tribe.
Behind them were Bei Ling and Chen Xin. They held hands as if they never wanted to be separated. They continued protecting the crowd as they walked.
The elder continued his vigil at the back. His white hair and face full of wrinkles made Su Ming’s heart clench even tighter from pain when he saw them, because he could feel the elder’s fatigue.
The moon was not in a crescent shape during the second night. It was slowly leaning towards becoming a full moon. Nonetheless, it was clear that it was not yet the night of the full moon. Perhaps it would be tomorrow, or perhaps the day after tomorrow.
As the tribe continued migrating, sometimes, some Berserkers of theirs would rush back towards them. Their numbers were few and consisted of a team of four people. These four people were the tribe’s scouts. They risked their lives to report any and all changes back to the tribe after a certain amount of time.
If they did not return, then it meant something had happened.
Very soon, two hours pa.s.sed by. The sky was dark and it was as if there was a pair of terrifying eyes in the sky staring at the ground and at the people of Dark Mountain Tribe as they travelled quickly.
At that moment, only three of the four people returned when another scouting session ended. The one scouting the back disappeared without a trace. All the hairs on Su Ming’s body rose. A sharp look appeared in his eyes as he stopped and turned around. There were also others who noticed that something bad was about to happen. A glint appeared in the elder’s eyes, and he gripped the bone cane in his hands.
Suddenly, a faint booming sound came from the distance. When that sound travelled into their ears, Su Ming’s grief became even stronger.
He knew that sound. It was a Berserker triggering his own blood veins to explode.
He knew that their enemies from Black Mountain Tribe had arrived once again!
"Don’t stop! Increase your speed! All Berserkers protect the tribe! We will fight as we retreat!" The elder slammed the bone cane in his hands on the ground. He lifted his left hand and swung it over the tribe. Immediately, the s.p.a.ce above the tribe twisted and Dark Mountain Tribe’s statue of the G.o.d of Berserkers appeared once again. It floated above the tribe and gave off a protective light.
It moved with the tribe as they travelled. With it around, as long as it was not broken, then the light would ensure the tribe’s safety.
The moment Dark Mountain Tribe’s statue appeared, the elder lifted his head abruptly. A grave look that had never once showed during that entire battle appeared on his face. The darkness came to his eyes as he stared at the dark sky above him.
The darkened sky suddenly changed. A red light appeared out of nowhere and fused together with the darkness, turning it into a shade of purple. The red light continued expanding like fresh blood, and within the blink of an eye, it covered half the sky.
A hoa.r.s.e and sullen voice came from the sky, and the sound travelled all around them.
"Mo Sang…" As the voice echoed in the air, a strong pressure suddenly descended upon them. All the people from Dark Mountain Tribe instantly felt the pressure on their bodies the moment it appeared. Even Dark Mountain Tribe’s statue shook because of it.
Su Ming’s heart raced in his chest. He had felt this incredible pressure before from the Elder of Wind Stream Tribe, Jing Nan. This pressure belonged to a Berserker who had Awakened!
This was the natural might executed from the Berserkers in the Awakened Realm towards those still in the Blood Solidification Realm. Under this pressure, the Qi within the Berserkers still in the Blood Solidification Realm began to circulate on their own.
As the pressure appeared, and the red light continued spreading across the sky, and as the moon in the sky started turning blood red because of it, an indescribable feeling rose within Su Ming. One that no one else but him felt and experienced at that moment.
It was the sort of feeling similar to the one when he saw the blood red moon as he performed the burning of blood. In fact, it even gave him a sense of familiarity. It was as if there was a gigantic Wings of the Moon hidden in the sky at that moment.
This sort of misconception that threw him into disbelief made Su Ming’s heart lurch. Very soon, he saw a person walking slowly out of the red light from the sky.
That person wore a black robe. He was thin, and his skin looked dry. His face was very dark and sullen. He walked forth one step at a time with his hands behind his back until he stood in the sky and looked down at the land beneath him.
At the center of his brows was a picture of Wings of the Moon. The picture looked vivid, almost as if it was real. It let out an enchanting red light that made it seem almost alive.
Bi Tu!
The Elder of Black Mountain Tribe, Bi Tu!
"Mo Sang, stop waiting for Jing Nan and Wen Yan. They… are in enough trouble as it is, and will definitely not have time to bother about your tribe!" Bi Tu let out a dark laugh and looked at the elder standing behind the crowd.
The elder was silent. He was indeed waiting for Jing Nan, but when Jing Nan did not appear on their journey towards Wind Stream Tribe, he knew that something had happened in Wind Stream Tribe.
"Nan Song, you were only slightly beneath Mo Sang in the past. You were as bright as the sun, yet once you ran to Dark Mountain Tribe, you became a worthless piece of garbage. All these years, I’ve been thinking about the expression on your father’s face when he begged me to spare you before he died. It’s a pity, I never intended to let you live, but you still managed to escape. Nan Song, the previous Berserker’s Son of Black Mountain Tribe… we meet again." Bi Tu’s lips curled up slightly, but very soon that smile spread wider and wider until he began laughing maniacally.
Standing outside the crowd, the white haired Nan Song looked at Bi Tu standing in the air. He was not at all angered by Bi Tu’s words because he had already learned to let go of everything. He let out a faint sigh.
"Compared to you, who poisoned the previous Elder of Black Mountain Tribe, went after the life of the previous Elder’s Berserker’s Son, then sacrificed half of Black Mountain Tribe in exchange for a Fallen Berserker Art, I can’t compare…" Nan Song remained calm, but the wrinkles on his face seemed to have increased by a large amount in that instant.
"We should settle the grudge we harbored all those years ago. Mo Sang, Nan Song, I’ll give you both a chance! I’ll let you both fight against me!" Bi Tu laughed loudly, then swung his right hand. Thunderous roars shook heaven and earth immediately. Behind Bi Tu’s back, the never ending red light in the sky turned into extremely thick blood fog in an instant. The fog tumbled like waves, then turned into a gigantic Wings of the Moon!
The Wings of the Moon spread its wings, covering the sky and the moon.
"Nan Song, leave Bi Tu to me… I’ll hold him back… I leave the tribe to you!" The elder took in a deep breath and swept his gaze across his tribe. He looked at their silent faces as if he wanted to find the traitor among them, but only let out a sigh in the end. All his people were exhausted and covered in fresh blood. How could he suspect his people who fought for the tribe? He saw the grief on the Head of the Guards’ face and the deep gash on Shan Hen’s neck.
‘Perhaps there isn’t a traitor at all…’ Before the elder averted his gaze, he looked at Su Ming deeply, then abruptly leapt into the air. A giant dark python materialized and dashed into the sky like a shooting star with him.
Thunderous rumbles echoed in the sky. As the elder approached him, Bi Tu laughed loudly. The sky was covered by red fog, and it enveloped both of them within it. The people in the tribe could not see what was inside, but the sounds of thunder shook the sky and earth nonetheless.