417 World of Nine Yin! (1/2)
When Su Ming heard an old man’s voice from the crack and that strange accent, he immediately thought of the old, monkey-faced Patriarch from White Bull Tribe.
Su Ming did not like nor hate this person, but his act of offering up three women from his tribe and giving up on having his entire tribe attack had left a rather deep impression on him.
At that moment, when Su Ming heard those words, he pondered over them for a moment before walking out.
The land was empty, but there was a place that sported a gigantic crack out of nowhere, and it was spread far and wide.
The old man from White Bull Tribe stood beside the crack and waited for a long time, but to no avail. So he went to the crack and stretched his head to look inside.
”Damn…”
The old man did not hear Su Ming’s laughter in the seal. He only came here once every few days, and once he arrived at the place, he would walk around shouting the same words he said previously, though he himself did not know that his voice had already reached Su Ming’s ears. He looked at the crack and started mumbling under his breath.
”Damn what?” Before the old man finished mumbling, Su Ming’s cold voice rang out behind him, causing the old man to immediately be stunned. Once he turned around swiftly, surprised delight appeared on his face.
”What? Damn who? There’s no damning whoever anywhere. Greetings, Great Soul Catcher.” The old man quickly wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply towards Su Ming.
Su Ming cast the old man a glance. He did not speak.
The old man was being cautious and was sizing up Su Ming from the corner of his eye as well. Once he saw the mark of the peach blossom at the center of Su Ming’s brows, he quickly averted his gaze and put on a complaisant look.
”Sir, this old man told quite a number of the women in my tribe to make preparations this time. You’ll definitely be pleased with them. If you aren’t, then I’ll be a damned old fool from now on!”
”What damned old fool? Stop using the word ‘damn’!” Su Ming frowned.
”Okay, okay, then I’ll change it to boyo.” The old man quickly nodded his head and put on a flattering smile.
As the old man’s expression fell into Su Ming’s eyes, he scrutinized him. He remembered that this old man was a very tactful person. It did not matter whether it was their first encounter with each other or his decisive act of sending the three women to him, they were enough to show that this old man was definitely not as he seemed.
”What is it? Speak up.” Su Ming said calmly.
The old man was feeling rather nervous. When Su Ming was scrutinizing him, he immediately felt that he was being seen through. This sort of feeling, as if he was standing naked before someone else, made him instinctively avoid looking into Su Ming’s eyes.
”It’s nothing, really…” The old man hesitated for a moment, and once he said those words, Su Ming turned around and walked into the distance, no longer bothering with the old man.
The Patriarch was momentarily stunned, then quickly walked forward and spoke with a obsequious smile.
”Sir, please wait. This is… This is actually a very difficult thing for me to say. It’s like this. You know that the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands is coming in a few years time, and most of the tribes in the land of the Shamans have already migrated.
”But White Bull Tribe is too small and we have a lot of normal tribe members. With my power alone and the other powerful Shamans in my tribe, it’s still impossible for us to protect them, that’s why… I’d like to ask whether you take on jobs.” The old man no longer hesitated and rambled off rapidly as he chased after Su Ming.
Su Ming paused in his footsteps, then turned around to look at the old man.
”What are you using to hire me? If you truly have an attractive pay, why insist on finding me?”
”Sir, the most powerful Shaman around this area is Madam Ji… But Madam Ji has already gone missing…” When the old man said those words, he became even more cautious, even cast a glance at the mark of the peach blossom at the center of Su Ming’s brows.
”This is a remote place, and powerful Shamans seldom come here. We’re also at war now, so it’s really very tough for us to find powerful Shamans we can trust.
”Well, sir, we are kinda like neighbors, and I can trust you. As for the pay, well, I’m going to offer our ancestor’s priceless treasure. It’s also the sacred item White Bull Tribe inherited, and we offer our sacrifices to it.” The old man looked rather pained when he said those words.
”Oh? If you give me your tribe’s inheritance, then you will have broken off your own tribe’s roots. What difference is there?” Su Ming knew that each Shaman Tribe had a different item of worship. Some of them contained strange powers while some of them were common objects, but no matter what, these were all a tribe’s soul.
Like the lizard statue from Lizard Shaman Tribe, the crane from Black Crane Tribe, and the mackerel pike from Autumn Sea Tribe. All of them were such items.
”If I don’t give you this item, it would be difficult to convince you. If our tribe stays here and doesn’t move, we will end up dying and being destroyed during the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands, but even if we leave, as such a small tribe, it will be very tough for us to survive. No one knows how many of us will end up surviving either.
”In fact, there’s a high chance that all of us are going to end up dead. If that’s the case, then what use is the tribe’s sacred item? Instead of keeping it as our ancestors told us to, I’d rather use it in exchange for a slim chance of survival.” The old man forced those words out of his mouth.
In truth, he had thought about what he just said for a very long time before he decided to go to Su Ming for help. After the few brief encounters they had, he had slowly come to realize that Su Ming was the type of person that if no one caused trouble to him, then he would not go and cause trouble to others.