Chapter 21: Banquet
Man tribe camp
"Father, I have failed you, I am here to ask for punishment." Man Duo kneeled on the ground, lowering his head in shame and fear.
Man tribe leader looked at Man Duo below his feet: "This time, old Ge tribe leader was bedridden, and you brought multiple rank three experts, how did you fail? You did badly for sure, but I heard news that Ge tribe brought out another rank four expert?"
"That is indeed so. Shi Wu was defeated by him. This person only displayed a bit of his actual strength, and he managed to toy around with our strongest elder Shi Wu, his true ability was unfathomable. However, I was in charge of this matter, it was my fault for not getting enough information, resulting in this failure.
This child is very ashamed, I implore father to punish me!" Man Duo's eyes were red as he said in a sobbing manner.
Man tribe leader heard this and his tone relaxed: "Stand up, although you failed, you are still my son. Tell me about the incident."
Man Duo quickly spoke, describing the scenario that happened that day.
But when he had just started, Man tribe leader jumped up from his chair, staring fiercely at Man Duo: "He said he is Chang Shan Yin? Which Chang Shan Yin? Are you sure his name is Chang Shan Yin?"
"I would not dare to lie to father even with ten thousand guts." Man Duo quickly explained.
Man tribe leader was in a daze.
"Father, father." Man Duo called him softly: "Is this Chang Shan Yin an expert with a great background?"
Man tribe leader recovered from his daze, his expression was solemn: "I can't tell yet, he could be an imposter. But if it is true, then northern plains has another formidable character emerging… You can leave now, I will handle this matter."
Man Duo jumped from shock, his father was an extremely busy man, but now that he was handling this himself, that showed how important this Chang Shan Yin was.
"Chang Shan Yin, Chang Shan Yin, who in the world are you?"
...
A few days later, in Ge tribe.
"A few days ago, it was all thanks to brother Shan Yin's help. This is five hundred thousand primeval stones, it is a token of our gratitude, please accept it." Old Ge tribe leader had a pale expression, he seemed to have aged ten years after losing his daughter.
Fang Yuan rejected it for a few times before accepting it: "These days, I have been staying in your tribe, it is only right that I helped out. But I really lack primeval stones now, I shall borrow these from you for now."
"Brother Shan Yin has great morals, you are truly a hero of northern plains." Old Ge tribe leader was speaking, when his subordinate brought in an invitation, as well as a present.
The old tribe leader's expression was grim, he handed this invitation and present to Fang Yuan: "Brother Shan Yin, Man tribe leader knows you are here, he is inviting you to his tribe as a guest."
Fang Yuan took a look at the invitation, the words written were very polite, of course they were written using northern plains characters, they looked wild but profound, and at the end, there was Man tribe leader's name — Man Tu.
The contents were the same as his previous life, inviting him to a banquet.
"Oh brother Shan Yin, I have a favor to ask of you." Old tribe leader spoke.
Fang Yuan waved his hand: "I understand brother, don't worry, I will urge them during the banquet, to reduce the conflicts between both your tribes."
"Ah, my greatest thanks to you, brother Shan Yin!" The old tribe leader was very touched, he got up in a hurry and bowed deeply towards Fang Yuan.
There was still some time until the banquet, Fang Yuan sent them off before closing his door and started cultivating.
"It is time." Thinking of the banquet at night, Fang Yuan stepped out of his room.
As he walked out of the courtyard, Man Duo and Ge tribe's father and son were already waiting for him.
"Man Duo greets Lord Chang Shan Yin!" Man Duo saw Fang Yuan and immediately greeted, showing absolute respect.
"Have you all waited for a long time?" Fang Yuan nodded, asking casually.
Man Duo replied: "It has only been six hours, it is not a problem. It is my great honor to stand before lord's doors. Senior Chang Shan Yin, father has already set up a grand banquet nearby, awaiting your arrival. Ge tribe's father and son will accompany you to this banquet as well."
"Alright then, come along." Fang Yuan rode his hump wolf as he left Ge tribe campgrounds with the rest of them.
Man Duo guided the group of about a dozen people as they rode their hump wolves to a faraway place.
As everyone sprinted, they saw a group of hump wolves on a mound. There were a group of Gu Masters sitting on the wolves' back. A Gu Master was waving a huge flag in his hands, that had the word 'Man' on it.
After seeing Fang Yuan, the group of Gu Masters rode the hump wolves as they came over.
Man Duo saw this and laughed: "Lord Chang Shan Yin, my father is the one ahead, he is here to welcome you."
The two groups of hump wolves met in the middle.
Man tribe leader got off his wolf, laughing as he walked over: "Hahaha, today's moon is as bright as the sun, this is the radiance to welcome the return of a northern plains hero. Lord Chang, I have heard so much about you."
But just as he finished his sentence, it seemed like heaven played a prank on him.
The night sky was covered by some dark clouds, as the moonlight vanished, causing the grassland to sink into darkness.
Man tribe leader's loud laughter became softer, as he felt extremely awkward.
It was Man Duo who was quick-witted, immediately laughing as his eyes rolled: "Senior Chang Shan Yin is our northern plains' great hero. Father, you are the most respected hero in our Man tribe. Tonight is a meeting of heroes! Look, the great aura of heroes caused heaven to tremble, causing winds and clouds to stir!"
His words caused the awkwardness to fade away, as Man tribe leader's expression returned to normal as he walked to Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan and the others also got off the wolves.
Man Tu first gave Fang Yuan a deep greeting, as Fang Yuan placed his right hand at his chest to return the greeting.
Next, Man Tu stared at Man Duo intentionally, using a scolding tone: "Nonsense! How can I compare to Lord Chang. Lord Chang was renowned in northern plains as the Wolf King, he dominated the world with his wolf enslavement skill. He even killed the rank five Gu Master Ha Tu Gu, eliminating a bunch of bandits and got rid of a great evil, causing his name to go down in history."
"Hehehe, tribe leader Man Tu, why are you so humble?" Fang Yuan laughed lightly: Although I have wolf enslavement skill, I can only control beasts, unlike you who control people, our difference is night and day. Tribe leader Man Tu is the true heroic conqueror!"
Man Tu was stunned.
The Wolf King was well-known for his aloofness and arrogance, he was hard to talk to, to think he was so talkative now, and showed such a humble attitude.
But he understood quickly after thinking about it.
This Chang Shan Yin was famous when he was young, with the nature of a young man, he was arrogant. Now that he was a middle-aged man, and had gotten into such trouble, his nature had already been refined, it was normal for him to be more composed now.
He laughed and said: "Lord Chang was already rank four peak stage twenty years ago. Even though your cultivation fell due to injuries, you can still recover quickly, or even surpass your former cultivation. By then, how would my cultivation be your match?"
At this time, the dark clouds dispersed and moonlight shone down again.
"Hehehe, the two of you are the current hero and conqueror of northern plains." Ge tribe leader spoke at an appropriate timing: "The most valuable thing is that the meeting of tiger and wolf did not lead to a fight, but instead you appreciate each other. We are lucky to witness this, this is truly seeing the moon after the clouds part."
Such words made everyone laugh.
"Hahaha, brother Ge, your words described the scenery perfectly. Quick, the banquet has already been prepared, it is just nearby!" Man Tu looked at Fang Yuan and made an inviting pose.
He did not set the banquet at his camp, but rushed here to set up the banquet close to Ge tribe camp, it showed his hospitality and sincerity.
"Good, after you!" Fang Yuan laughed and agreed.