Chapter 24: Rank 5 Gu Acquired
This was destined to be a busy night, at Ge tribe ranch, everyone's attention was on Fang Yuan.
If Fang Yuan killed Ge Yao and took her Gu, the hints and clues Gu would cause him to be exposed.
Fang Yuan's earlier lie would be exposed as well — if you did not meet Ge Yao, why do you have her Gu?
By then, no explanations would work!
"Son!" Ge tribe leader stared angrily at Ge Guang, extremely furious: "Benefactor Chang Shan Yin is so righteous and upright, how can you be suspicious of him?! Quickly kneel down and kowtow to our benefactor to ask for forgiveness!"
"Father." Ge Guang was shocked, he did not expect Ge tribe leader's reaction.
At one side, Man tribe father and son started watching this show as bystanders.
"Brother Ge, your son had said that, you do have a hints and clues Gu right?" Fang Yuan's expression was calm, his gaze clear as water: "Then please take it out and activate it."
"This…" Old Ge tribe leader hesitated.
"Brother Ge, if you have a method to prove my innocence, why are you still hiding it? Hahaha, I am overjoyed by it." Fang Yuan smiled warmly.
"Nevermind, since benefactor Chang Shan Yin insists, I will go ahead with it." Ge tribe leader gritted his teeth and took out hints and clues Gu.
Ge tribe leader injected primeval essence, and hints and clues Gu's body gave out a faint white light. Within five hundred li, if there were Gu worms that were marked by the Gu Master, it would emit a red light and point in their direction.
If the Gu Master was hiding the Gu worms inside their aperture, this range would be only within a thousand steps, but it stayed in Ge tribe leader's hand without having any changes.
Seeing this, Ge Guang kneeled on the ground with a plop and kowtowed to Fang Yuan: "Uncle Chang Shan Yin, I was wrong! I wanted to get to the bottom of the matter and offended you. Please punish me!"
"Quickly get up, I have to thank you for proving my innocence, what wrong did you do?" Fang Yuan smiled faintly as he helped Ge Guang get up.
"Seeing this result, Ge tribe leader breathed out a sigh of relief, praising Fang Yuan continuously: "Brother Chang Shan Yin, I have learnt much today. You are indeed a great hero of the grassland, your conduct is like tonight's moon, pure like water, with no impurities. No matter how dirty the floor is, it will not pollute the moon.
No matter how thick the clouds are, they will not hinder your radiance. We Ge tribe owe you a great deal, my son was rash and suspected you. We only have this rank five hints and clues Gu, I will give it to you today as an apology, please accept it, otherwise, I will not be able to sleep properly."
Fang Yuan rejected it for a few times, but Ge tribe leader was very insistent, he had "no choice" but to accept it.
Next, everyone continued the banquet until late into the night, as they parted happily under the moon.
Man Tu invited Fang Yuan earnestly to be a guest as his tribe. But Fang Yuan said that he was going to leave not long later, to join the heroes assembly. But before leaving, he would go visit Man tribe first.
Looking at Fang Yuan and Ge tribe's father and son leave on their hump wolves, Man Tu's smile vanished and his expression turned ugly.
"It seems this Ge Yao is dead without doubt." Man Tu's tone was gloomy.
"Father, no need to fret." Man Duo at the side snickered: "This Ge tribe wants to make use of Hong Yan valley, he has to beg us, they have nowhere to run."
Listening to his son's words, Man Tu's expression relaxed, he patted Man Duo's shoulders: "You are right, I was too obsessed with it. These years, Man tribe had been expanding, you have contributed greatly to it. But you are only C grade in aptitude, your talent is insufficient, when father retires, and your elder brother takes charge of Man tribe, you have to assist him well."
"Yes father, do not worry." Man Duo replied curtly and positively, but he was snorting in his heart.
He was also his father's son, why can't he compete for the leader's role, why must he give it to his brother? Because of aptitude, he cannot become the tribe leader?
No!
"If elder brother ascended to the position of tribe leader, he will kill me. Sigh, what a pity, I wanted to marry Ge Yao to make Ge tribe part of my force, with this relationship tying us together. But heaven played a joke on me, Ge Yao actually died!"
...
"Unfilial son, kneel down!" Once they got into the secret room, with only the two of them left, Ge tribe leader's expression sank as he screamed at Ge Guang.
"Father!" Ge Guang was shocked, he did not understand why his father was so furious, but he subconsciously kneeled down first.
"Father, I am your son, you can scold or beat me, as long as your anger fades. But I have a request, I hope that father can tell me why you are so furious after you calm down. I will change and no longer make you angry." Ge Guang said.
Ge tribe leader laughed coldly, standing before Ge Guang and pointing at his nose: "I know you feel very indignant, let father tell you the reason, to let you know the immense danger we were in tonight! Did you really think Man Duo proposed to your sister because of her good looks?"
Ge Guang was stunned: "Was that not the case? Ge Yao was the beauty of our tribe, so many youngsters were chasing after her."
"Bullshit!" Ge tribe leader howled: "Beauty is just the icing on top of authority. Man Duo has Man Tu behind him, his objective is to devour our Ge tribe, that is why Man Tu supported Man Duo greatly to marry your sister."
"Huh, Man tribe wants to devour our Ge tribe?" Ge Guang screamed.
Old Ge tribe leader sighed: "Sigh, your sister is already dead, they were not willing to listen to my explanation, why do you think that is the case? Because this excuse is perfect for them to send their troops! But I found Chang Shan Yin to assist us, he was the hero of northern plains, he had great reputation, and had Chang tribe behind him.
Man Tu did not dare to accuse us blindly, thus he did not attack us tonight."
Ge Guang exclaimed: "There is such a twist behind it? But father, I do not understand, since you understood Man tribe's intentions already, why did you agree to this wedding, and betrothed sister to that monkey Man Duo?"
Ge tribe leader raised his finger, knocking on Ge Guang's head: "Do you not have a brain? Why did I agree to the wedding? Did you think I want to torture my own daughter?! It is because the great blizzard is coming, if we can become relatives through marriage, we can stay inside Hong Yan valley, and protect all our tribesmen! Sacrificing your sister's happiness to protect Ge tribe.
This wedding is a transaction, sigh, but your sister ran away from her wedding, and died in poison grassland!"
Ge Guang frowned, blinking: "Father, I understand now."
"No, you know nothing." Ge tribe leader understood his son well, he explained in a disappointed tone: "Tonight, Man tribe leader invited Chang Shan Yin, and we followed him. But the truth is, their target was us, and I dragged Chang Shan Yin along as our shield."
"That Man Duo used the chase smoke Gu, he is truly evil! When all of you suspected Chang Shan Yin, I said to him that I trusted him completely. Did you think I was not suspicious? I am not so muddleheaded yet!"
Ge tribe leader stomped his foot, his tone was grim: "But I did not dare to suspect him. The reason we could contend with Man tribe is because of Chang Shan Yin. If we suspected him, their instigation would have succeeded, and ruined our relationship with Chang Shan Yin. If Chang Shan Yin did not side with us, we might not return alive from tonight's banquet."
Shock was written all over Ge Guang's face: "Ah, are they so daring, would they try to kill the both of us?"
"Hmph, why did you think that you met so many wind wolves during the search? In northern plains, there are lots of instances where beast groups were used to commit murder. But tonight, Man tribe might not kill us, but they would imprison us. By then, they would use Ge Yao's matter as an excuse to devour our Ge tribe, without us, Ge tribe would be without a leader, the result would be disastrous."
Hearing his father's explanation, Ge Guang finally understood the danger they were in, showing after-fear on his face.
"For the sake of the tribe, for the big picture, even if Chang Shan Yin was the killer, we cannot suspect him! Did you really think I forgot the hints and clues Gu? How can that be! But you had to mention it, if the killer was really Chang Shan Yin, what would we do?" Old Ge tribe leader spoke meaningfully.
Ge Guang fell into deep silence, after a long while, he said: "So that is why father gave the precious hints and clues Gu to Chang Shan Yin. It is to mend our relationship with him, so that he would side with us?"
Old Ge tribe leader nodded: "You are finally learning. Son, although you have outstanding aptitude, and high cultivation, you are still far from being the new Ge tribe leader."
"Father, it is great to have you around. I will have to learn more from you, Ge tribe can lose anybody but you father." Ge Guang said in admiration.
Ge tribe leader shook his head: "Time waits for no man, I am already old, Ge tribe is counting on you. Sigh… after this matter, I have understood Man Tu. He is a greedy jackal, no matter how much his wealth is, he would never be satisfied."
"Now that your sister is gone, we have no excuses left to use Hong Yan valley. But we cannot disband and join Man tribe right? Ge tribe cannot go extinct like this, otherwise I will be the greatest sinner of our tribe! After this night, I have already learnt that we cannot stay here any longer, otherwise we will definitely be devoured by Man tribe.
A few days later, we will depart for the heroes assembly."
"Father, if we leave like this, will they let us go so easily?" Ge Guang was worried as he asked.
"Of course they are not willing to let us go, but we are travelling with Chang Shan Yin. Man Tu is wary of Chang Shan Yin, he would not strike." Ge tribe leader snickered.
"But, we are making use of senior Chang Shan Yin like this, isn't that…" Ge Guang was apprehensive.
"You fool! Why would we not make use of him? What's wrong with that? A good hunter makes full use of his surroundings. When we have insufficient strength, we use knowledge to supplement it. This is all for the survival of the clan!"
After Ge tribe leader scolded, he stopped and showed a complex expression: "But this Chang Shan Yin is truly a legendary heroic character… he might've already understood the situation, yet he still chose to side with us. Such a righteous and upright person, choosing to assist the weak, he is truly the role model of the righteous path, the light of the people.
Son, rejoice, we Ge tribe actually met such a person!"