Chapter Fifty-six: Pursuit

  In the early morning, the well-fed and watered warriors of the Fire God tribe woke up from their deep sleep, one by one opening their alert eyes to move about on this unfamiliar land.

  In the midst of the warriors' location, in a clump of wormwood grass, Chen Xu also recovered from his meditation, slowly exhaling a mouthful of white mist like a smoke gun, gathering the rapidly circulating true energy in his dantian, feeling as if he had put on wings, with an impulsive and urgent breath, he couldn't help but let out a slight sigh.

  "The obstruction between the second and third layers is really too strong, after such a long period of cultivation, I still don't have any confidence in making a breakthrough, it seems that to reach the third layer's cultivation, I'll still have to rely on the inheritance crystal."

  With a thought, Chen Xu stood up from his hiding place, thinking as he looked around at the people of the Black Rock Tribe. After a night's rest, they too had woken up and were now busily engaged in their morning activities, full of vigor and vitality.

  Many apes had come out to gather firewood and cook, with wisps of smoke rising into the air. The entire Blackrock tribe was a scene of bustling activity. By the massive bonfire, the leader of the Blackrock tribe sat cross-legged, holding a clay bowl and savoring the rich meat soup inside, his face showing a hint of satisfaction.

  Next to the Black Rock leader were those robustly abnormal ape leaders, and of course, there was also that thin tribal shaman, who at this time was fiddling with something in his small ceramic bowl, extremely focused, without noticing the Fire God tribe's apes.

  Only those robust hunting team leaders occasionally looked towards the direction of the Huo Shen Department, with a faint glint flashing in their eyes from time to time.

  Although the apemen of the Stone Age may not have understood the meaning of this gaze, Chen Xu, a modern person, was able to sense something unusual from it, which was intense hostility.

  "It's time to go, they absolutely won't be kind enough to leave us breakfast!"

  Pinching his nose, muttering to himself for a moment, Chen Xu stepped out of the range of his own tribe's personnel and walked into the midst of the Black Rock crowd, coming to the largest bonfire.

  As he walked closer, the other members of the Black Rock tribe didn't react much, but those sturdy apemen all became tense at once, their muscles taut, looking like they were on guard and might even want to take him down.

  After a night of contemplation, several experienced ape leaders finally came to a conclusion that the deceased black rock ape was not killed by beasts because apart from two holes on his neck, there were no wounds or missing flesh on his body. This led to only one conclusion: he died at the hands of the Fire God tribe apes.

  Combined with the description of the fire god by the Hei Yan Yuan Ren, several team leaders of the Yuan Ren were 80% sure that the one who killed the Hei Yan Yuan Ren was this harmless-looking fire god in front of them!

  However, with a shout from the leader of the Black Rock clan, these hunting party leaders could only disperse reluctantly and leave the large bonfire pit unwillingly, not knowing what to prepare for.

  "Great leader, thank you for your hospitality, but we have been away from the tribe for a long time. Since the transaction is complete, it's not convenient to stay any longer. I came to bid farewell to you. This transaction was very pleasant, and after we return to the tribe, we will definitely send someone to continue trading with you."

  Pretending not to see this scene, Chen Xu smiled and directly spoke in a crude ape language, laboriously expressing his meaning to the leader of the Black Rock tribe.

  Upon hearing this, the leader of the Black Rock tribe's eyes flickered with a strange light. He didn't mention the death of the Black Rock Ape-Men at all and naturally wouldn't stop the Fire God Department from leaving. With his preconceived plan, he couldn't wait for Chen Xu to leave early.

  The leader of the Black Rock, who had not yet learned the hypocritical etiquette of later generations, did not even pretend to invite Chen Xu and others to eat before leaving, and directly nodded in agreement.

  Later, Chen Xu gathered the warriors of Huo Shen tribe and escorted the twenty black rock tribe apes who came to trade, and they set off in a mighty manner.

  When they arrived at the place where Xuehu was encountered before, Chen Xu's heart moved slightly, and he ordered the team to stop and wait for him on the spot. He then set out to visit Xuehu's burial site, wanting to take a last look at the final appearance of this forest overlord, which could also be considered a farewell ceremony.

  What he saw was just a scene, but it scared him so much that his heart kept pounding.

  "How is this possible? It's actually gone?!"

  Looking at the chaotic pile of stones in front of him, Chen Xu couldn't help but rub his eyes hard, turning left and right, even directly using his hands to lift up all the thatched grass on top, but still failed to find the massive body of the saber-toothed tiger.

  It seemed that the huge thing had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a pile of stones and weeds.

  He picked up a handful of crimson bloodstains from the rock and sniffed it, Chen Xu furrowed his brow and muttered to himself "It's correct, this is indeed the fresh blood of that tyrant saber-toothed tiger. But how come its corpse is gone now? Could it be that it was dragged away by some large ferocious beast? Or was it dragged away by its companions?"

  After turning a few more times, Chen Xuan saw that there was nothing else to gain and could only put this matter aside for the time being. He hadn't forgotten that behind him were still a group of deadly things following him.

  "I hope this doesn't bring me trouble, grandma's, could it be that this guy really didn't die?"

  He walked a few steps in place, and Chen Xu really couldn't find any other signs of wild beasts coming here. It seemed that this saber-toothed tiger had vanished into thin air.

  He involuntarily shook his head and quickly flashed out of the thicket, merging with the main force.

  For some reason, this suddenly reminded him of the ghost movies of later generations. Although humans had not yet appeared and ghosts should not have been born yet, this mysterious phenomenon always made people's scalps feel cool.

  After a few loud shouts, the entire ape-man column reorganized and continued on its way in the direction of the Fire God tribe.

  Chen Xu led the warriors of the tribe to quickly advance towards the position of the Fire God Tribe, while in the Black Rock Tribe, more than 200 strong ape warriors had gathered together under the leadership of several hunting team captains. At their forefront was the great leader of the Black Rock Tribe.

  At this time, these apemen were holding sharp stone tools one by one, with a strong murderous aura, but they did not set off, as if waiting for something.

  Before long, a black shadow flashed through the jungle, branches parted, and a sturdy ape-man darted out quickly, taking several steps to arrive in front of Black Rock leader, whispering a few sentences to him.

  After the ape-man finished speaking, a gleam of light flashed in the eyes of the Black Rock leader, and with a wave of his large hand, he strode towards the thicket in front of him.

  Behind him were several hunting party leaders who followed closely, and further back were more than 200 powerful ape warriors walking with a strong gait.

  Needless to say, they naturally went for the Fire God Tribe.

  After venturing deep into the dense forest and walking for several miles, a warrior from the Blackrock Clan stopped in his tracks at an intersection of game trails.

  Hei Yan's leader waved his hand, and the troops stopped advancing. From the queue behind him, a lean ape man rushed out, who was the ape shaman.

  The shaman walked to the fork in the road, circling around the big tree at the intersection as if searching for something. Suddenly, a pungent smell wafted out, and his eyes flashed with insight. He bent down to touch the left-hand tree, then sprang forward several steps to the Black Rock leader's side, excitedly chattering a few times before pointing straight towards the road on the left.

  With a satisfied nod, the leader of the Black Rock clan let out a low growl, and the entire large troop moved forward again, heading in the direction that the shaman had pointed out, towards that small path.

  And there, it was exactly where Chen Xu led the Fire God tribe people on their journey.

  Night falls, amidst the flames, a group of robust apemen sit down on the ground with vigilance, setting up piles of bonfires, and in this dense forest, they build a temporary resting place.

  This is the expedition team led by Chen Xu, and so far they have been walking for a day. It's already evening now, and it's impossible to continue walking, so the team stopped to rest.

  Among the flames, surrounded by a group of apes, Chen Xu closed his eyes and meditated.

  Chen Xu furrowed his brow, then came back from his reverie, opened his eyes, waved his hand and called Super Ape over to instruct him to keep an eye on the fire pit at all times, no matter what. The fire pit must never be extinguished.

  After the super ape understood his meaning, Chen Xu got up and rushed into the jungle. This time he wanted to see if the people of the Black Rock tribe had followed him or not.

  Although he had slipped out of the group several times during the day and had already seen in secret a few trackers sent by the Black Rock tribe, he was still somewhat uneasy until he saw the main force following up.

  His lightness skill was fully unfolded, Chen Xu's figure was like a gentle willow catkin, swaying between the branches, almost not touching the ground, nor making any sound, in this dark night forest, as if a clear breeze blew through the trees.

  By the time the beasts in the jungle reacted, he had left only a back view, and his true body had long since gone far away.

  An hour later, in a recessed corner of the jungle, Chen Xu stopped his pace. Not far from his hiding place was an open area between the woods, where several bonfires were lit at this time, and someone's shadow kept flashing beside the bonfire piles.

  By the flickering light of the fire, counting carefully, there are probably over a hundred people, and as for those hiding in the darkness who have yet to reveal themselves, it's unknown just how many there are.

  Flickering flames, one by one, silhouettes emerged, all of them were two-legged, with a forward-leaning posture and thick, long body hair, stone-age apemen. With Chen Xu's eyesight, he could vaguely see through the gaps in the trees, and catch sight of the eye-catching feathered headgear among the silhouettes.

  That was the distinctive attire of the Blackrock chieftain, and naturally, given that this was a path they traversed by day, the identity of these apes became clear: they were trackers from the Blackrock tribe.

  "Sure enough, they've caught up. I didn't expect the Blackrock Chieftain to have such a large following. The entire Blackrock tribe has over 500 apes, with more than 200 elite warriors. Looking at the situation now, just from the firelight, there are already over 100 visible, and adding those in the darkness... Heh heh, it seems they've sent out their entire force this time."

  "Even the leader of the Blackrock clan himself has come out, the temptation of the pottery is indeed not small, but perhaps he is also after that inheritance crystal?"

  Chen Xu blinked and thought for a moment, but didn't continue to approach. This tribe that had lived in the jungle for so long must have more than one sentry at night. If they were startled and became alert, or if they had any misgivings and stopped pursuing, it would be bad.

  Since it had been confirmed that the Blackrock Clan was catching up, Chen Xu, who had achieved his intended goal, did not stay any longer and returned to the team's gathering place along the original route.

  Along the way, he even took the time to take a look at those poor lone trackers, and even went so far as to pinch to death a starving golden leopard that had fainted, rescuing one of the trackers from the jaws of the beast.

  All of this happened quietly, and those pursuers were still trembling in the jungle, unaware that their lives had already circled around the Yama Temple.

  One night without incident, after daybreak, Chen Xu was still as usual, leading the expedition team's apes and the twenty exchanged apes to continue on their way. Those individual trackers who had barely made it through the night in the jungle also regained their energy with the morning sunlight, got up and continued tracking.

  With the help of the traces they left behind, the apemen of the Blackrock tribe also moved forward along the correct route.

  In this way, the two troops marched along the same path, one hour apart, in a fairly tacit understanding, gradually approaching the Fire God tribe, and of course, also gradually approaching the Lion Tiger territory!