Even Twilight Yue, who has always been cheerful and optimistic, has a deep sadness on her face. For a while, she still couldn't accept the gifts she gave her before. She would laugh out loud at the jokes she told. In the past few days, she seemed like The old grandfather who took care of her like a family member turned into a corpse.
It was not that she had never seen dead people before, but it was so long ago that her memory was blurred.
When she was a child, there was a famine at home and many people starved to death. She once watched her mother starve to death in front of her.
Her father was unable to support her because of his physical disability. At that time, no one could find a bite to eat, and no one would help a disabled child with a six-year-old girl.
In order for her to have a full meal, her father sold her into a brothel with tears in her eyes.
Although the days in the brothel were hard, she did not starve to death.
Until she was rescued by Bu Xiaotian, who passed on her spiritual practice. In the following days, she almost never suffered any injustice. No matter whether she was in the City Lord's Mansion or later at Purple Thunder Peak, everyone loved her very much.
Looking at Ling Yunzi's body gradually becoming colder, Zi Yue seemed to recall the feeling when her mother died in front of her eyes.
But she was too young at that time and didn't understand the sadness of the death of a loved one. She only knew that she would have no mother in the future.
Now that she is twenty years old, she finally feels the sadness of the death of a loved one more clearly again.
After a long time, Qingfeng finally calmed down a bit, and silently tidied up Ling Yunzi's body, placed it on a clean animal skin, and recited the salvation sutra.
The master has left, and he wants to see him off for the last time.
After Ling Yunzi's death, the five high priests had returned to their respective tribes to deal with the aftermath of the war and to appease their own people.
The rest of the people silently accompanied Qingfeng to perform a simple salvation ceremony for Ling Yunzi, watched Ling Yunzi's body turn to ashes in the blazing fire, and watched Qingfeng put Ling Yunzi's ashes into a small jar.
When it was all over, it was already dark.
Some barbarians took them to several repaired tents and brought them food and water.
Although the barbarians have a big grudge against the human race, it is a fact that these human races saved them today, and they will not retaliate for kindness.
Besides, it is impossible for them to do anything to the powerful power displayed by these human races.
The wind from the ice field blew here across the vast grassland, bringing with it a biting cold air, adding a sense of chill to this camp that had just experienced a war.
It snowed heavily in the middle of the night, and there was no other sound in the camp except the wind.
When Bu Xiaotian and the others walked out of the tent the next day, the camp was already covered in white snow.
The traces of the war have long been buried by the heavy snow, but the sadness of losing the clan still lingers in the entire camp. Even if there are people walking outside, most of them are silent.
Soon, everyone else came out of the tent.
After a night's rest, everyone's condition has recovered a lot. Even Qingfeng seems to have gotten over the sadness of Ling Yunzi's loss.
But compared to the youthful spirit of the past, the young Taoist has become much more taciturn, as if he has grown up a lot overnight.
"Little junior brother."
Xiang Yunwen also came out of the tent, looked at Bu Xiaotian and said:
"Let's go see some high priests. They have been living on the grassland for generations. Maybe there is more news about the sacred tree."
Bu Xiaotian nodded when he heard this, and the others in Zileifeng had no objections.
In fact, the sacred tree they are looking for is one of the beliefs of the barbarians, but there was no communication between the barbarians and the human race before.
If it hadn't happened yesterday, if a group of them appeared in the barbarian royal court, they would probably have been met with hostility from the barbarians.
It is very likely that the barbarians will not understand in detail why they are here, but will only pick up weapons and fight with them.
Although they may not necessarily lose, this meaningless battle is not what they want.
Just when everyone in Zileifeng was discussing how to find the high priests of several tribes, Qingfeng, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke:
"Fellow Taoists, I am a poor Taoist with a low cultivation level. I am afraid that I will not be able to help you. I will say goodbye and send Master back."
Everyone looked at the urn in Qingfeng's hand and expressed their understanding.
Xiang Yunwen said:
"Fellow Taoist Qingfeng, we are also very sad about what happened to Senior Ling Yun, and we hope you will express your condolences."
Qingfeng nodded, didn't say anything, just held the urn and turned around to walk out of the camp.
Just as Qingfeng left, Hong Qi also said:
"Little friend Yunwen, I and a few old friends were all injured yesterday, and because of Young Master Xue's incident, we didn't find much information about the sacred tree. I told you all before, and I'm afraid I won't be able to help you later. Okay, so we said goodbye, and we happened to be together with the Taoist Master Qingfeng Xiao, so we could take care of each other."
Xiang Yunwen saw that Hong Qi and others looked a little pale, but he did not force them. He nodded and said:
"Then seniors, let's say goodbye. See you later!"
Everyone clasped their fists at the same time:
"See you later!"
Without much greeting, most people chose to leave, and at the end, only the Zileifeng people were left in front of the tent.
They watched everyone else leave the camp, and then headed towards the center of the camp under the leadership of Xiang Yunwen.
The barbarians along the way looked at them with less defensive eyes, but more with gratitude and awe.
In the center of the camp, the large crater formed by yesterday's battle was also covered with thick snow, but the outline of the depression could still be seen.
Five large tents have been re-erected around the big pit as residences for the high priests of the five tribes.
The five high priests had received the news in advance and were waiting for their arrival outside the big tent.
As everyone approached, the relatively gentle-looking high priest of the Yuling Clan smiled and said:
"Dear human friends, please come to the tent and talk."
Xiang Yunwen also smiled and nodded and replied:
"Then you're disturbing the high priests!"
They had long known that the priest could learn the human language in the process of inheritance, but they were not surprised that the high priest of the Eldar could speak fluent human language.
As the group said this, they entered the nearest tent.
Although it is a tent, it is not small. Even if there are more than ten people in total including the five high priests, they will not feel crowded and cramped in the tent.
After everyone sat down on the animal skin mats, Xiang Yunwen said straight to the point:
"To be honest, we came to the grassland for a sacred tree that appeared not long ago."
"Sacred tree?"
After hearing Xiang Yunwen's words, the expressions of the five high priests changed slightly and they looked at each other. Finally, the high priest of Yuling Clan asked:
"Do you know the significance of the sacred tree to our clan?"
Xiang Yunwen nodded and replied:
"We have only heard a little about it. We only know that the sacred tree is related to your ethnic group. Can the high priest tell you more?"
The high priest of the Yuling Tribe didn’t hide it either:
"Actually, it's not a secret. Legend has it that the sacred tree is a spiritual tree planted by the gods of our race. The gods used part of the sacred tree to create the original Desolate race.
The thick branches became the Li Ling clan, the vibrant leaves became the Plague Ling clan, the shadows under the trees became the Ghost Ling clan, the wind hovering among the treetops became the Witch Ling clan, and the trees bear fruit. The fruit became our Yuling Clan.
So in a sense, the sacred tree is the origin of our Desolate race.
No matter why you are looking for the sacred tree, I am afraid you will be disappointed. "
After everyone listened to the words of the Yuling Clan's high priest, their hearts sank slightly.
If it is true as he said, the sacred tree is of extraordinary significance to the barbarians, I am afraid they will not tell the news about the sacred tree.
Bu Xiaotian didn't want to give up just like that, so he couldn't help but said hard:
"High Priest, the news about the sacred tree is very important to us. As long as you can tell us, we can pay the price in exchange!"
The high priest of Yuling Clan shook his head and said:
"It's not that I deliberately concealed it. You helped my clan get rid of this crisis of genocide. We are not people who don't repay our kindness, but it's useless even if we tell you."
After that, seeing that everyone still refused to give up, he continued:
"You should know that the sacred tree can move. Once it is hidden, no one can find it, and each time it appears, it will only appear for a short time. It will take at least a hundred years or even longer before it appears again."
The barbarians know the sacred tree best in the world. If they all say this, it should be true.
Unless the high priest of the Yuling Tribe is lying, but at the level of Bu Xiaotian and Xiang Yunwen, if the high priest of the Yuling Tribe is lying to them, they can tell it at a glance.
Unfortunately, in their eyes, there was no sign that the high priest was lying.
Seeing that the hope of finding the ground roots was dashed, everyone felt very disappointed.
Yun Ying still asked without giving up:
"Is there really nothing we can do?"
Unexpectedly, the high priest of the Liling Tribe said angrily at this moment:
"Actually, there was a way, but now we can't do it."
"any solution?"
After hearing the words of the Liling Tribe High Priest, everyone seemed to be grasping at the last straw and looked at him with burning eyes.
The High Priest of the Liling Clan hesitated for a moment and then said:
"It is said that our five tribes are part of the sacred tree. We have a connection with the sacred tree. When the five tribes of us pray together, it is possible to summon the sacred tree."
Seeing hope rising in everyone's eyes, the gloomy voice of the High Priest of the Ghost Clan sounded at this moment:
"However, this method is no longer feasible. It has been countless thousands of years since the inheritance of our five clans. The bloodline has long been extremely thin. Unless a hundred thousand people gather together to pray together, they will not be able to sense the sacred tree."
The words of the High Priest of the Ghost Spirit Tribe seemed to pour cold water on everyone's heads, and the hopes that had just risen in their hearts were shattered again.
Even before, perhaps the five major clans of the royal court plus some surrounding small tribes should be able to gather 100,000 people.
But the barbarians have just suffered a big change. The small tribes on the grassland have been slaughtered under the control of Young Master Xue. The royal court has also suffered heavy losses. It is simply fanciful to gather 100,000 people!
The tent fell into silence for a while, and everyone in Zilei Peak felt a little depressed.
After a long time, Xiang Yunwen sighed, stood up, cupped his hands and said:
"In that case, we won't disturb you anymore, we will leave later."
Others stood up and said similar things.
The high priest of the Yuling Tribe did not try to retain them:
"In this case, we won't stay with you. Our clan has just suffered a great disaster and is in some confusion. I really feel sorry for not being able to entertain you properly!"
Just when everyone was about to leave the big tent, Bu Xiaotian looked at the high priest of the Ghost Clan sitting in the shadow on the edge and said:
"I have something I want to ask the High Priest of the Ghost Spirit Clan to help me with. I wonder if I can tell you something?"
