Chapter 109: Arrival at Windhunter, and the State of the Tribe!

The group ran all the way, and with the immense swiftness granted by Wang Chen, their pace increased greatly. In just an hour, they reached the Wind-Tracking Tribe.

What met their eyes was utter ruin, no trace left of the peace and calm Wang Chen had once glimpsed from afar before coming here.

Many of the large tents, like yurts, had been burned down, leaving only blackened wooden frames to stand by force of will; a light touch with a finger would send them collapsing into splinters.

The battle seemed to be over, for there was no sound of steel clashing against steel. The Wind-Tracking tribespeople, whose homes had been destroyed, were rummaging through the ruins for the remnants of their belongings, silent and subdued.

A child was wailing in his mother’s arms, the only sign of life in the stillness apart from the faint crackle of burning wood.

“It looks like we were too late,” Gang said with a furrowed brow, his gaze roaming everywhere.

Su looked at the scene before him and sank helplessly to his knees, murmuring, “Wasn’t Dago trying to overthrow the rank system? Then why would they harm these people who depend on the higher ranks? Weren’t they supposed to be protected?”

Wang Chen helped him to his feet. “War is not a precise operation. It cannot be that delicate. The force it unleashes crushes everyone together.”

His eyes fell on the body of a woman with her hem torn open. “Besides, whether everyone in that society shares Dago’s ideals is still unknown.”

“Didn’t you hear what Dago said? In Gang’s faction, everyone with a two-part name except Yabo has rebelled.”

Wang Chen sighed. “Maybe my heart is dirty, but I simply do not believe that so many comfortable high-ranking people would rise up against the circumstances of their own birth.”

“So this is more likely a bid to seize power from the single-name line, rather than any true overthrow of the rank system.”

There was sorrow in Wang Chen’s eyes as he grieved for Dago. “And in this rebellion, how many young people like Dago will be blinded by lofty ideals, only to end up willingly becoming executioners?”

Su’s expression went blank. “How could this be... how could this be...” His jaw muscles clenched little by little, swelling hard with tension.

This foolish boy had shown no resistance at all when power was being seized from him, yet now, because his enemies’ motives were not pure enough, he felt disappointment and rage.

The gloomy aura that had clung to Su since the summit vanished entirely. He went alone into the ruins and began helping the displaced survivors.

Seeing this, Gang wanted to pull Su back. They still could not be certain the danger was over; what if there were still traitorous killers hidden among the crowd?

Wang Chen advised him to send a few people to follow Su instead. The boy seemed to be awakening now, and it would be unwise to damage his confidence.

Besides, after the devastation of war, this was precisely the time to win hearts. For Su, as the public face of the single-name line, it was the perfect task.

Gang stared blankly at Wang Chen. “Humans really are sly.”

“Say what you like. I’d rather be sly than have most of the people under me betray me while I remain completely in the dark.” Wang Chen said dismissively. “I thought you big oaf had at least some brains. Turns out you really only have a little.”

Without even looking at Gang, he said, “Hurry and go find Su’s grandfather. I’ll keep an eye on Su.”

With that, Wang Chen followed a few Wind-Tracking tribespeople to Su’s side and helped the refugees together with him.

Meanwhile, the man Gang had sent to find the tribe’s leader also returned, leading Gang in another direction through the ruins.

Before a low, round tent, two rows of warriors stood guard along its edge. Even among the Wind-Tracking tribesmen, they were unusually tall and imposing.

They wore full suits of iron armor, a rare sight among the Wind-Tracking people; from afar, each warrior looked like an iron tower.

These were the Wind Guard, selected from the most elite warriors of the single-name line to protect the leader.

Their martial strength and reliability far surpassed those of the leader’s attendants, though in return they were responsible only for combat and not for the leader’s daily affairs.

By now, their iron armor was spattered with blood, and some of the joints had been battered out of shape by who knew what weapon. They did not look to be in good condition.

And yet they still stood before the round tent. Even with Gang’s arrival, they showed no fear or flattery, remaining steadfast at their posts and sternly ordering him to halt, saying that they would only let him pass after reporting inside.

After the guard had made their report, an elderly but powerful voice came from within the tent: “Come in.”

Gang lifted the felt curtain before him and entered, bowing his head.

Inside, a giant even taller than Gang himself was reclining on a beast-skin rug at the center of the round tent; only in this way could the tent contain him.

Several people with painted patterns on their faces were chanting spells beside the giant, from time to time smearing herbs over his body.

This towering giant was none other than the leader of the Wind-Tracking tribe, Gang’s father, Wei.

The busy figures around him were the tribe’s shamans, healers of the wounded.

Gang sat cross-legged before Wei, his solitary eye examining the wounds on his father’s body.

There were several arrow wounds that had pierced clean through him, and countless knife injuries of every size. Gang was horrified at the sight.

“Father, I sent Yabo back without stopping. In the end, were we still too late?”

Wei had just begun to speak when he was overcome by a fit of coughing and spat out quite a bit of blood-tinged froth.

With the shamans’ help, he calmed the coughing and replied, “Yabo did well. He returned in time. I also managed to gather the Wind Guard in time, otherwise you would not be seeing me sitting here.”

“It was only that there were too many rebels stirred up, and among them were people using earth-traversing beads. After they seized the Great Wind Banner, they immediately fled far away.”

The Great Wind Banner was the symbol of the Wind-Tracking leader. Legend said it was made from the feathers of a true great wind that could blot out the sky and tear flying dragons apart with its bare claws.

Among the peoples who worshiped the wind, possessing the Great Wind Banner was akin to possessing the imperial seal of a realm.

“We could not catch the thieves, and with the rebels having raised their banner with the Great Wind Banner, their uprising is now a foregone conclusion,” Wei said with difficulty. “Under my orders, the Wind Guard fought independently in three separate forces and cut down most of the rebel army. If they wish to rise again, it will have to be some time from now.”

“In this breathing space, you must find a way to recover the Great Wind Banner, or gather a force strong enough to crush the enemy’s advance.”

Wei gave a self-mocking smile. “I simply overestimated my own body. It no longer obeys as it did in my youth. The harsh fighting has drained it completely.”

Gang’s eyes reddened, but he suddenly turned his head away and glared viciously at the shamans. “Treat my father at once! If anything happens to him, I’ll have you buried with him!”

The shamans looked troubled. “We have already used life-saving medicine to keep the leader alive, but he has been unwell for a long time, and now he has suffered such battle wounds. I fear...”

At this, Gang angrily seized the shaman by the collar and was about to strike him. The other shamans trembled and knelt to one side.

But Wei persuaded him, “Let him go. It is not their fault. My time has come.”