Chapter 47: Overreaching Invites Suspicion

“In the Jiu tribe, there is also a severed arm.”

Ye Chen spoke in a low voice, “It’s nothing more than wanting to piece the body together into something more complete. That’s why someone wants the Bamboo and Jiu tribes to fight each other.”

Indeed, Ye Chen had not managed to glean even a hint from those memories about the plot against the upper echelons of the Bamboo tribe. He simply couldn’t endure it halfway through and had to block those memories, otherwise his own corpse would have grown cold by now.

His strength was still lacking—he couldn’t fully digest and absorb those memories, which was a tremendous waste.

However, some things could be guessed. Where before he had been completely in the dark due to so many missing pieces, now he could at least grope in the dark and make out a faint outline.

“Could it be that the Jiu tribe also has a spirit vein?”

Wu was quite surprised. “That’s unlikely. Spirit veins aren’t exactly commonplace.”

“It may not be a spirit vein; it could be something else,” Ye Chen replied with a smile. “If the Jiu tribe truly does have a spirit vein, then their strength will recover quickly. If we really want to wipe them out, we’d better act soon.”

But right now, it was all wishful thinking. Wu shook his head. Of course he wanted to uproot the Jiu tribe as soon as possible, but that was just a fantasy, not something worth dwelling on.

“The Jiu tribe is not simple,” Wu sighed. If the Jiu tribe were truly so weak, then what would the battered Bamboo tribe amount to? To respect your enemy is to respect yourself.

Wu dared not grow overconfident. He hated the Jiu tribe deeply, but he was not reckless enough to rush into vengeance.

“If it really was that severed arm behind all this, it means it knows the Jiu tribe well. Could there be some kind of connection between them?”

Wu hesitated, then said gravely, “If so, isn’t the enemy’s reach much too long?”

“If one day they draw danger here and the tribe falls into crisis again, wouldn’t that be entirely expected?”

Wu was worried, and it was no idle fear—this really could happen.

“Then let’s just focus on making the tribe stronger, and soon,” Ye Chen replied without concern. Worrying was pointless.

Wu glanced at Ye Chen but said nothing more. It wasn’t that he was reassured, but seeing Ye Chen’s lack of concern, he knew that saying anything else would be useless.

Of course, he would remember all of this in his heart.

“For now, the danger has passed. So much has happened tonight—let’s disperse. We can discuss anything else tomorrow.”

Ye Chen shook his head and did not linger. His illusory form turned into a stream of light and vanished. In the dry well, the dense spiritual energy seemed to condense into liquid, slowly pooling into droplets at the bottom.

If he could stay in this dry well forever, his strength would surely improve rapidly.

But Ye Chen could also sense faint traces of death energy within the spiritual aura. A shadow flickered in his eyes, though he did not dwell on it.

“The death energy comes from the Bone Demon. Staying here too long would have quite an effect.”

“Still, there must be a way to deal with it. My divine power is enough to erase the death energy.”

Suddenly, a wisp of black mist rose from Ye Chen’s body, swirling and twisting into a tiny venomous snake, no bigger than a thumb. It bared its fangs, arrogant and ferocious, spitting cold killing intent at Ye Chen.

But in an instant, divine power roared, transforming into golden flames that fell upon the black mist, vaporizing it completely.

It was death energy, and for Ye Chen, dealing with it was no trouble at all.

“Unfortunately, for me, the power of worship is far more important. No matter how rich the spiritual energy in this dry well, it could never bring me such tremendous progress overnight.”

Ye Chen was not blinded by greed; the logic was clear. Unless he followed some crooked path, there was truly no faster way to advance in this world than the divine way.

That was the advantage of the divine way, and Ye Chen had no reason to cast it aside for something lesser.

Wu saw Ye Chen about to leave and quickly asked, “What about the clansmen?”

“What about them? They’ve only had a dream—nothing that will affect their rest.”

Ye Chen intended to use the power of dreams to train his clansmen well.

Nighttime was not to be wasted in idle sleep.

Clearly, Ye Chen had no intention of letting his people enjoy a peaceful night’s rest. To escape the sea of suffering was out of the question.

Wu was not worried about them suffering, just a bit hesitant. “Tomorrow, will all the clansmen be weak and limp? After a whole night of dreaming, I hope they don’t wake up dazed and useless.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t affect anything.”

Ye Chen did not linger, and neither did Wu. This bamboo house was special, containing many secrets left by ancestors. It was meant to block the prying eyes of the totems. Here, they could avoid being watched.

It was also the most secure place, reserved for important discussions.

Wu had another place to live, as did the former chieftain.

Ye Chen was heading to the chieftain’s own bamboo dwelling.

He and Wu parted ways. The tribe was now quiet, all disputes and entanglements seeming to fade away.

Suddenly, Ye Chen’s eyes sharpened and, with a flicker, a ghost-faced jiu bird was brought before him.

The ghost-faced jiu bird glared at him, brimming with murderous intent.

Ye Chen frowned. If the bird had been small and adorable, perhaps he would have felt some pity; but it was hideous and ungrateful, so his own killing intent only grew stronger.

It was just a ghost-faced bird, a mere beast, and keeping it would only be a risk. Ye Chen felt no particular attachment.

What’s more, the jiu bird was fiercely defiant—trying to enslave it would be no easy feat.

He couldn’t imagine how the Jiu tribe had managed to do it. They must have had their own stroke of fortune.

Ye Chen stared at the bird coldly. “It seems you’re tired of living.”

He reached out, rubbing its head. The bird flailed its wings in anger, feathers standing on end, ready to rebel.

He had simply relaxed his control. If he had wanted, he could have frozen the jiu bird like an ice sculpture, rendering it completely powerless, unable to even resist his touch.

“Kill it, then send a fragment of its soul into the Void Realm to add some spice for the clansmen. Not a bad idea.”

Killing intent surged in Ye Chen’s heart as he prepared to strike. The ghost-faced jiu bird sensed this unstoppable murderous aura and, without the slightest hesitation, surrendered, no longer daring to resist.

But why was this not unfolding as expected? Shouldn’t he try riding the bird after catching it? He hadn’t even tried, and was already ready to kill it—wasn’t that a waste?

“No, don’t kill me. I can still be useful.”

A glimmer of surprise flashed in Ye Chen’s eyes. He stared at the bird, silent for a moment, then said coldly, “You can speak?”

Clearly, he had underestimated the ghost-faced jiu bird. For a spirit creature to speak—this was no ordinary beast.