Onward to the Central Plains
Onward to the Central Plains
The entire Lian tribal clan, which comprised a few thousand people, was gathered in the central square of the village. They looked at the mountain of meat with shocked but radiant eyes.
This was fierce beast meat! It was worth more than cattle meat, and tasted delicious! Eating a piece of it gave a person strength, allowing them to stay full for a day!
More than fifty thousand kilograms of meat could last a long time!
But while some people rejoiced, some people lamented. Those who previously lorded over others in the Lian tribal clan were bitter.
They knew that no matter how great the fierce beast meat was, they would not receive much.
"Yun-er, you're back!" Yi Yun had been gone for three days. Although the Dragon Vanguard men assured her that Yi Yun was fine, Jiang Xiaorou could not help but feel worried. Jiang Xiaorou was delighted and proud when she saw Yi Yun return safely with so much meat.
When Jiang Xiaorou, together with Zhou Xiaoke appeared, the villagers quickly made way for them.
Everyone looked at the two girls with respect, some with ingratiating miens. They knew that these two girls were the two princesses of the Lian tribal clan and they had absolute authority through Yi Yun. Whoever offended them would be risking their lives.
"Sis Xiaorou, the distribution of the meat is all up to you." Yi Yun gave Jiang Xiaorou the authority of distributing the meat. Immediately, all the people of the Lian tribal clan looked at Jiang Xiaorou with watery eyes, wishing they could kneel down in front of her and lick the ground she walked upon.
Jiang Xiaorou was, after all, a girl. She may be more resilient than the average girl, but it was inevitable she would be soft-hearted.
By letting Jiang Xiaorou distribute the meat, it was unlikely that the wicked people would not receive any.
There were more than fifty thousand kilograms of meat, which averaged out to about fifteen kilograms of meat per person.
Yi Yun had already expected this point when he gave the authority to Jiang Xiaorou to distribute because he had other plans today.
"Liu Tie, come over…"Yi Yun beckoned Liu Tie to come over.
This made Liu Tie thrilled!
Yi Yun had taken the initiative to call him!
This was a good omen. It proved that Yi Yun had intentions of making him one of his henchmen!
Liu Tie was extremely excited. He came before Yi Yun in a subservient manner. He cupped his fists and genuflected. "Greetings, Young Master. The Young Master is brilliant and mighty to slaughter desolate beasts like cattle and kill fierce beasts like chickens…"
"Enough!" Yi Yun interrupted Liu Tie's nonsense in an exasperated manner. These members of the warrior preparation camp had made sucking up a natural trait of theirs. It seemed like they would become uncomfortable the moment they did not suck up.
"Young Master, I have something to report to you." said Liu Tie.
"Oh?" Yi Yun raised his eyebrows.
"Lian Chengyu… has died…" Liu Tie had received news the previous night.
Lian Chengyu was already crippled and he did not have much life left in him. Coupled with his angered heart, he was at the extreme point of despair.
Despair and pain can destroy a person. If one did not wish to live, death was obviously imminent.
"Zhao Tiezhu has died as well. As for Lian Cuihua, she is still alive. But the villagers have made their stance clear. They want to be loyal towards you, Young Master. Whenever they see Lian Cuihua, they would walk around her and not interact with her…"
The Lian tribal clan had a food shortage. It was difficult for cripples or people with serious injuries like Zhao Tiezhu and Lian Cuihua to survive. Normal people were already starving to death, let alone them?
Zhao Tiezhu had relieved himself from his suffering, but Lian Cuihua had been isolated by the villagers. Her outcome was easily imaginable.
Yi Yun was unperturbed by the news. They deserved their just outcomes. If they wanted to harm others, they had to live with the consequences.
"Young Master, may I know your command?" Liu Tie said in an attentive manner.
"Oh… Liu Tie. Monitor the distribution of meat. If anyone has any malicious thoughts, just attack them. Also, in a few days, I'll be leaving the Cloud Wilderness. I will take about a hundred people with me. I have already made my list, so make the preparations." With that said, Yi Yun handed Liu Tie a piece of paper. Zhang Tan had promised Yi Yun that when the Dragon Vanguard left, Yi Yun could bring some people with him to his fief.
It was impossible for Yi Yun to bring the entire Lian tribal clan to his territory for a few reasons. Firstly, the territory could not hold that many people and secondly, many of them were wicked, covetous of small gains, prone to bullying, and liked to strike a man when he was down. They were not any better when compared to tyrants. They only didn't become tyrants because they lacked the power. If they had the power, they would definitely have gone from bad to worse.
These people were best left in the vast wilderness. As for the good people, Yi Yun had long had the intentions of bringing them to his fief.
Liu Tie excitedly took the slip of paper. The other people of the Lian tribal clan had also heard Yi Yun!
Yi Yun was taking people out of the vast wilderness and into his fief!
They dryly and helplessly looked at the piece of paper in Liu Tie's hands, as if that piece of paper was a precious treasure map.
Compared to going into the central plains, dozens of kilograms of meat was nothing!
Indeed, Yi Yun had not much use for the meat since he had plans on leaving. Hence, he got Jiang Xiaorou to distribute the meat which would inadvertently allow the wicked villagers to get more.
With a few kilograms of meat, they would be able to weather the food shortage problem. As such, Yi Yun had shown extreme forbearance. In the future, they were to live on in the Cloud Wilderness and their lives depended on themselves.
Liu Tie's breathing sped up as he scanned the name list. The number of words he recognized did not exceed the number of fingers he had on one hand, but he knew to recognize his name.
Liu Tie saw his name.
His heart was extremely touched. Yi Yun had placed his name higher up on the list. This made Liu Tie grateful to the point of tears. He swore that he would follow Yi Yun loyally. He knew he had no skills besides sucking up. He decided to lead a peaceful life by running errands for Yi Yun in the future.
Liu Tie's greatest advantage was his ability to deal with matters. Yi Yun decided to make him a butler in the future, which could save him a lot of trouble.
"Thank you, Young Master, thank you, Young Master." Liu Tie kowtowed to Yi Yun three times. He was grateful to Yi Yun from the bottom of his heart and he was determined to go through thick and thin for Yi Yun in the future.
To have a flourishingly life in the future by following such a master, who wouldn't want it?
After the meat was distributed, the name list was announced. It was Jiang Xiaorou who taught Liu Tie how to read the words.
The names on the list were all the kind people who had been pointed out by Jiang Xiaorou and Zhou Xiaoke a few days ago.
These people were delighted to tears.
Those who were not selected looked as if they had lost their parents. Their faces turned ashen.
The joy of receiving the meat vanished.
The meat was bound to finish. What would happen to them after they finished eating it?
Imagining the tough lives they would have to suffer in the vast wilderness, they felt their future was filled with gloom and despair.
Yi Yun was unconcerned. There were too many people suffering in the vast wilderness. What was a small Lian tribal clan to him? What's more, they only had themselves to blame.
People talked about karma in this world, but it was just a beautiful wish that people in suffering had. God wasn't fair. Fairness was determined by humans.
With absolute strength, Yi Yun could formulate his own form of justice—goodness will be rewarded and the vice will have an evil recompense!
This was what strength brought…
Those were the thoughts Yi Yun had.
…
That night, the Lian tribal clan was bustling with excitement. Under Liu Tie's suggestion, the people set up a bonfire party in the central square. Fierce beasts were roasted and the fragrance of meat permeated the air. After the people finished the meat, they sang and danced. Some brave youths even took the opportunity to express their love to the girls they fancied.
Jiang Xiaorou did not participate in this bonfire party, resulting in Zhou Xiaoke becoming the absolute star.
Many people tried approaching Aunt Wang with friendly faces, hoping to propose for Zhou Xiaoke's hand. But Aunt Wang did not bother with those people.
Hmph! You are just weaklings, yet you want my daughter. Do you think I'm not aware that you want to use my daughter to get onto Kiddo Yun's giant ark and follow Kiddo Yun into the central plains? Dream on!
My daughter may not be good enough for Kiddo Yun, but I will not let her be mixed in with the likes of you. In the future, Xiaoke can be considered Kiddo Yun's god-sister. Who knows, if Kiddo Yun likes Xiaoke, Xiaoke might even be taken in as a concubine when she grows up!
This was what Aunt Wang looked forward to the most. Aunt Wang knew that Yi Yun was most likely to marry a daughter from an eminent family, so it would be a great blessing if Xiaoke could even become a concubine.
With these thoughts in mind, all those who came to propose were treated as toads lusting over swan meat by Aunt Wang. Some of them even had warts bigger than what toads had.
Try looking in the mirror first!
…
This bonfire party continued late into the night before it ended.
The next morning, under the envious stares of many people, the people who were chosen by Yi Yun entered the large baskets carried by the near-horned beasts. Following the Dragon Vanguard under Sun Jingrui's lead, they headed towards the Tao tribal clan.
Along the way, all of them were in high spirits. This was the first time they were stepping out of the Lian tribal clan's wonderland. They were about to leave the vast wilderness and step into the fertile central plains. How could they not be excited?
Even Yi Yun was filled with anticipation for the future.
Yi Yun and company received news of the Dragon Vanguard's departure from the vast wilderness not long after they arrived at the Tao tribal clan. After reorganizing at the Tao tribal clan for a few days, Yi Yun split his people among the ten big baskets carried by near-horned beasts. And they stepped out of the Cloud Wilderness, onward to the Kingdom's central plains…