Chronicles Of Primordial Wars (Ch. 271-500)

ch. 463-464

Chapter 463 - Squeeze

Taihe and Mountain Wind tribes arrived on the third day after Flaming Horn’s arrival. At that point, the blanket of snow on the ground was already five meters tall.

The blizzard stopped for a day, but now it started again, more brutal than the first day.

The cold wind blew and whistled, cutting against their faces like knives. Even the self-proclaimed hardened Flaming Horn warriors were unwilling to head out unless it was their turn to stand guard. They rested inside the cave.

Firewood was running low in the cave. Other than when they cooked porridge, they burned little wood. Zheng Luo brought some men to survey the area around the mines. Other than the other two caves that were already sealed off by thick snow and rocks, the Fox and Shen caves were guarded very heavily. It was going to be difficult to raid it. Not wanting to waste his manpower for nothing, Zheng Luo returned after observing them for a while.

When Zheng Luo received news that Taihe and Mountain Wind had finally arrived, he was holding the first piece of fire crystal that they mined. He was very emotional.

Before they mined it, he and the rest had already sensed its presence. It proved that there were crystals underground, just too deep and the salt affected their senses. After much effort, they finally did it. He could not stay calm.

“Taihe?” Once he heard the messenger who had hurried in, he finally looked up from the piece of crystal as big as his fingernail and regained his composure.

Unwillingly, he climbed out of the hole they dug and passed it to Duo Kang. “Continue digging, I’ll check them out. I wonder how they’re doing. “

“Don’t worry, chief. I’ll be there!” Duo Kang took the crystal and couldn’t help the grin on his face. Their efforts had paid off, all their gloominess was gone now.

Shao Xuan was deep in thought when Zheng Luo’s sudden arrival snapped him back to reality.

“Taihe and Mountain Win are here?” Shao Xuan stood up from the salt boulder and followed Zheng Luo.

Zheng Luo looked at Shao Xuan but did not ask questions. Shao Xuan had not been himself these two days. He sat on the rock the entire day. If no one talked to him, he would sit there all day. No one knew what he was thinking about. He once asked but Shao Xuan replied that he was trying to sense something. If he had results, he’d tell everyone.

At the mouth of the cave, they saw Taihe and the Mountain Wind chief with twenty men. Everyone did not look good, with snow sticking to their bodies.

When they saw Zheng Luo, Taihe and Mountain Wind’s chiefs relaxed and smiled bitterly. “You all are very lucky to arrive earlier. Or you’d been like us.”

The Flaming Horn guards at the mouth and already told the chiefs that they arrived earlier than planned, on the day that the weather changed. They had just arrived when the blizzard started. On the other side, the weather had changed when they travelled across the salt flats and already had deaths and injuries then.

Neither the tribesmen nor their ancestors had encountered such weather before. It had caused not just unnecessary death and injuries but also delayed their journey. They were supposed to arrive yesterday morning, yet they had been delayed by one day– even after travelling all through the night. After the weather changed, it was tough to trek through the salt flats, especially when snow was thick and it was freezing.

Zheng Luo did not explain their luck. He asked about the two tribes and was told that although there were deaths and injuries, the number was low. It was just that they were not doing well. Especially the Mountain Wind people who lived in a region much warmer than Flaming Horn. The mountains often block the cold winds and storms, even if it snowed, it was barely anything. That was why they had more deaths than Taihe and why the chief’s face was very gloomy now.