Green Monster Epic

Chapter 275: Mysterious Ritual and Return

A'Xiao's life was extremely good, even bringing his partner from Green Lake Village to the A'Oluo Mine to while away the nights.

If Allen hadn't strongly demanded that all eligible children undergo collective training and study the common language in Philip's school, A'Xiao would have even planned to settle his family in the A'Oluo Mine.

The mine today is no longer the crude place it was ten years ago. With the extraction of pyrite, more space has been created in the mine, so many basic facilities have been built. The living area and working area are clearly separated. At the same time, the warriors guarding the mine, in their spare time, have also reclaimed some land outside the site, planting berries, vegetables, and other crops.

Of course, A'Xiao wouldn't tell anyone that these were actually extra tasks ordered by his wife, who instructed the warriors guarding the mine to do them. And most of the harvested fruits and vegetables went into the bellies of A'Xiao and his wife, with only a small portion being rewarded to his confidants.

Although A'Xiao hadn't seriously trained his strength since he ate a piece of dragon meat and was lucky enough to advance, with his advantageous position and contributions to the mine's development, A'Xiao had still managed to raise his strength to the level of an 11th-level berserker over the years. He had also mastered the 'Heavy Strike Proficiency' feat, making him one of the top experts among the dozens of tribal warriors and hundreds of slaves of various kinds in the A'Oluo Mine.

In addition, A'Xiao's methods were brutal. He would often whip disobedient slaves to death, even implicating other members of their group, so his tyrannical power in the hearts of the A'Oluo Mine slaves even surpassed Allen's position.

The A'Oluo Mine's vein had been dug more than ten miles deep into the hills from where it was initially discovered, with 4-5 hills directly hollowed out. The main area of the mine was no longer where A'Xiao and his men had originally set it up, but had extended 7-8 miles inward along the vein.

In addition to the mining area, a smelting yard had also been built here to directly smelt the mined ore and then transport the extracted pig iron to the village, where Man Duli and the others would forge it into various farm tools, armor, and weapons.

It was noon, and while the Green Field Tribe's warriors were hiding in shady corners to rest, the sound of hammering ore still echoed from the mine from time to time. The stuffy mine was not only devoid of gentle breezes, but the air was also mixed with countless dust particles, making it difficult to breathe. Many who had worked in the mine for years would cough to the point of death at night, all due to the foul air in the mine.

No goblins were willing to go down into the mine because the air inside was not only foul and stuffy, but cave-ins also occurred from time to time. No one wanted to entrust their lives to the protection of the goddess of luck. Therefore, the job of supervising in the mine was generally handed over to obedient and capable overseers selected from among the slaves, who were responsible for managing the events that occurred in the cave.

The sound of hammering ore continued incessantly. The 40-odd slaves in Mine No. 3 were now gathered around a gnoll overseer, devoutly kneeling in the damp, rugged pit, and following the gnoll overseer in prayer to a black wooden statue of a deity on the wall of the cave.

"All-knowing and all-powerful, Lord of Creation, may your vastness illuminate the world, may your flames burn..."

The slaves closed their eyes, praying devoutly and attentively. As low and solemn prayers slowly rose, the already dim mine gradually became somewhat mysterious. A strange aura emanated from the black sculpture. When the prayer ended, the gnoll overseer gently opened his eyes, and two slaves behind him dragged a constantly wriggling burlap sack in front of the gnoll.

The gnoll overseer, Da Nai, revealed cruelty and excitement in his eyes. He opened the burlap sack to reveal its contents: a lizardman with his hands and feet bound. He struggled constantly, looking around with a look of desire and helplessness in his eyes, hoping that the slaves around him could help him out of his predicament.

"Lord, please accept the offering from your devout believers, and may your divine might protect your loyal followers."

"Lord, please accept the offering from your devout believers, and may your divine might protect your loyal followers."

None of the many slaves cast a sympathetic glance at the lizardman on the ground. Instead, after the lizardman revealed his familiar face, their eyes showed infatuation and bewilderment, as if what was in front of them was not a living thing, but a valuable item. They continued to pray with Da Nai, watching Da Nai raise the sharp dagger in his hand high, and then stab it into the lizardman's heart. The slaves below became even more crazed and obsessed, and the originally low prayers gradually became louder, even faintly suppressing the companions who were hammering ore and making noise beside them.

With a knife, he cut open the lizardman's chest, took out the still-beating heart, and Da Nai devoutly placed the heart, along with the blood gushing from the aorta, on the sculpture on the stone wall in front of him, while continuing to pray.

Accompanied by the mysterious power of the prayer, the heart on the black wooden sculpture slowly withered, and the blood flowing on it was absorbed at a speed visible to the naked eye. At the same time, a halo suddenly surged from the sculpture, directly enveloping the dozens of slaves gathered in the mine.

A force surged from the slaves' bodies, and everyone's entire body seemed to be renewed. All the previous fatigue, exhaustion, and pain disappeared. Feeling the changes in their bodies, all the slaves became more devout, praying that the sculpture could once again emit mysterious power and bring new changes to everyone.

"Alright, the Lord's divine light has left. Everyone, enjoy the delicious food in front of you!!"

After the mysterious halo disappeared, Da Nai's crazy and devout eyes gradually returned to normal. As he issued the order, a group of slaves then rushed madly towards the lifeless lizardman, devouring the other party's corpse, as if eating one more bite could gain more divine power.

Looking at the crazy crowd below, Da Nai was very satisfied with the group of believers he had developed. If this continued, it might not be long before all the hundreds of slaves in this mining area would become loyal believers of the God of Hope.

When the main god returns to his throne, then he, Da Nai, as a meritorious servant, will receive the eternal life and powerful power bestowed by the main god.

I really hope this day will come soon, Da Nai thought痴痴of the good things. After the crowd's crazy movements gradually subsided, he then re-greeted everyone to clean up the mess, so as not to reveal any flaws.

The lizardman they captured as a sacrifice was a slave from the neighboring mine. Although his disappearance may lead to a major search, for this mining area where people die at any time, the matter will soon disappear without a trace, and it will not cause much trouble.

Allen returned to the Green Field Plain only a little over a month later than Ye.

"Chieftain, more than a month ago, the entire Broken Bone Tribe was wiped out by someone."

When Allen came back, Hua She's hanging heart finally fell down.

Being able to wipe out a not-so-weak tribe without a sound and without leaving any survivors, such a strange thing, any leader would probably feel uneasy and apprehensive in his heart.

"… …"

Allen was silent. He had rushed back with his injuries this time because he didn't want to let the Bonecrusher Tribe people get away. Throughout the tunnel, Night, the gnoll, hadn't appeared. He even feigned danger several times, but Night didn't show up. Either he had deserted and was too afraid to act, or he hadn't entered the tunnel at all and had slipped out early.

Based on the impression he had of Night, he didn't seem like a coward. So, the most likely possibility was that he hadn't entered the tunnel from the start. If he hadn't entered the tunnel, where else could he have gone?

Naturally, he would have rushed back to Bonecrusher Village, either to prepare his tribesmen for battle or to lead them to escape.

However, now it seemed that Allen's guesses were all wrong.

"Did you check the corpses to see if they were definitely Bonecrusher Tribe gnolls?"

Allen looked up and asked carefully.

"We checked them all. The charred corpses were indeed gnolls, and the injuries were all to vital areas like the heart or neck."

Flower Snake carefully recalled and told Allen what he had seen.

"…In any case, the extermination of the Bonecrusher Tribe is a good thing for our tribe!"

Allen pondered without success. When he was invited to the Bonecrusher Tribe, he roughly estimated their population to be around that number. If the numbers Flower Snake and the others counted were correct, then even if there were any survivors, there probably wouldn't be many left.

A small team of a dozen or twenty people wandering in the wilderness, without a fixed place to live, might be able to occupy a small territory and redevelop under the leadership of a powerful assassin like Night. However, if he sent people to track down their whereabouts, it would be difficult. After all, Night wasn't much of a threat to him, but he might take the lives of others if they weren't careful.

The little girl Eileen had the ability to track them. Shadow Walkers were indeed better at preserving themselves and concealing their presence. However, her combat strength was lacking, and she hadn't experienced much fighting. Allen wasn't comfortable letting her go out on her own.

Most importantly, a small-scale team wouldn't leave many traces, and after so much time, any traces would have disappeared. In the vast wilderness, finding a team of 10-20 people was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"Increase the number of guards on duty in the village these days. You chieftains should also divide up the tasks. Everyone else, just do what you need to do."

"Oh, okay."

Finally, Allen, feeling somewhat frustrated, gave Flower Snake a few instructions and then headed alone towards the Green Lake by the village. He desperately needed to vent, or he was afraid he would get sick from holding it in.

In an instant, the surface of the Green Lake rippled. The originally clear lake water quickly became turbid after Allen plunged into it. Countless fish surfaced to breathe, and some even turned belly up, exciting the children playing on the shore, who jumped into the lake to catch fish.

Only after Allen could no longer hold his breath did his bald head emerge from the lake, and he gasped for fresh air. After venting his frustration, Allen got up from the lake and went to a small mound covered with shrubs outside the village. He sat down without any regard for his appearance or the fact that he was soaking wet.

"Stone, that old dog Bonecrusher had his head chopped off by my sword. That counts as revenge for you. But, I'm afraid I won't be able to fulfill my promise to you to exterminate the entire Bonecrusher Tribe. They don't even know who they provoked. Before our tribe could even attack, their entire tribe was wiped out!"

"Alas, look at our village now. Life is much better than it used to be. If you were still alive, your figure would definitely surpass that of Ah Xiao…"

Buried in the small mound were Stone's remains. The wilderness didn't have the custom of burial for peace, but Allen wanted to keep a memento, and Philip had brought over the human custom, so Stone's lonely grave remained.

Allen had always been lonely. The Greenfield Tribe had more awe than affection for him, and very few people could be close to him, except for the ignorant young children and the younger generation who were favored by Allen, such as Kour and Eileen. Others never dared to truly open their hearts in front of Allen, and Allen would never reveal his inner thoughts to them. As the chieftain and leader, you had to bear your responsibilities and never show weakness or mercy in front of your tribesmen. That was a taboo in the wilderness.

Only Stone, that simpleton, although he wasn't very bright and was greedy and lazy, allowed Allen to share his inner secrets without reservation. Of course, Stone would often just scratch his furry head憨憨地, but even if he couldn't give Allen practical help or advice, he could bring peace to Allen's heart.

It was a pity that such a close and trusted partner and brother died in his youngest years and couldn't grow up to accompany Allen.

"…Alright, you just stay here and watch me manage our tribe better!! You will definitely regret why you left me so early!!"

"Huff!! I'm leaving!!"

Allen let out a long sigh of relief, and his heart suddenly became clear, as if he had shed an old skin, and he felt relaxed all over.

The Bonecrusher Tribe had brought too much burden to Allen. The strong obsession in his heart had been hidden and suppressed for more than ten years, and today it came to an end. Although the result wasn't perfect, at least he had personally avenged his great hatred. At least Bonecrusher had died in front of him.

"From now on, the Greenfield Plain will belong to our Greenfield Tribe!!"

That night, Allen gathered more than a dozen chieftains of the tribe and first announced a fact with great pride.

"Mao Luo, send some people to Tidal Bay to clean up Bonecrusher Village. It's a pity to waste such a good territory. We must not let others take advantage of it."

"Yes."

"Also, let Man Duli go and take a look at their mine to see if it's still worth developing…"

"Understood."

"…Remember to bring more people to avoid accidents."

The disappearance of the Bonecrusher Tribe was a major event for the Greenfield Plain. Therefore, Allen needed to take over all the territory and hunting grounds vacated after the Bonecrusher Tribe disappeared and make arrangements in advance so that other tribes wouldn't take advantage of it.

As for the one-in-ten-thousand chance he thought of in his heart, Allen could only suppress it. Even if the other party did leave a spark of life, the threat to the current Greenfield Tribe was too small after the death of two hundred gnolls. Allen really didn't have the energy to send people to look for this possibility of Bonecrusher remnants.

Even the most ruthless and indifferent person should have a soft spot buried deep in their heart. In my opinion, that's what it means to be a truly living person.

However, Allen's weakness would only last for a moment, because he still had a great dream to pursue.