Chapter 136 Visiting the Disaster-ridden Family
Zhuang Yu's students were indeed polite, sharing their dried tofu with Hong's buddies and those timid Devouring Blood Tribe children who were peeking from afar, afraid to approach.
The children of the Devouring Blood Tribe, holding the dried tofu, stuffed it into their mouths in confusion, then showed expressions of surprise. It was really delicious. The key was that it was given to them by outsiders. Outsiders usually didn't like them, but these people seemed different.
Ant and Feng Wen smiled and asked others, "Isn't it tasty?"
The group of children nodded eagerly, including those who hadn't started eating yet, also nodding. It's unclear how they knew the taste.
"We have plenty of delicious things in our Crimson Great City, like the claws of the Chicken bird," they chatted.
A child from the Devouring Blood Tribe actually said, "The Chicken bird's claws have no meat." After saying this, he quickly covered his mouth, afraid of scaring away the outsiders, being very cautious.
Ant and Feng Wen said, "It's really delicious. If you don't believe it, ask Hong."
Hong nodded. Often, students from the Crimson Great City would secretly bring the Chicken bird's claws from home to eat at school. He had tried some too. There wasn't much meat, but the more you chewed, the more flavorful it became, and they didn't know how it was made.
The group of children scratched their heads. Clearly, there's no meat, so how could it be delicious?
Ant and Feng Wen said, "Next time when merchants from the Devouring Blood Tribe come to the market in Crimson Great City, we'll give them some Chicken bird's claws and have them bring them back for you."
Unconsciously, a group of children gathered together and started chatting.
The children of the Devouring Blood Tribe were still a bit shy. Most of the time, the students were talking about things related to the Crimson Great City, but they listened very seriously, their eyes shining. Crimson Great City... was really nice.
"You can also follow your merchant caravan to Crimson Great City for fun. When the time comes, we'll invite you into the city to play."
The group of children from the Devouring Blood Tribe were all stunned, their mouths open. Were they being invited? Blinking their eyes, they couldn't react.
Before, let alone being invited, no one was willing to talk to them, treating them as if they were some terrifying presence.
When the students arrived at the Devouring Blood Tribe, it was almost dusk, and after this commotion, the sky was already darkening.
The firelight rose from the Devouring Blood Tribe's territory, illuminating the entire area.
The adults were busy roasting meat. It had been a long time since the Tribe had been so lively.
Someone had already come to take the students over.
Looking at the burning bonfire, the students were also stunned. The people of the Devouring Blood Tribe were so enthusiastic.
Bonfires like this were only lit for major celebrations within the Tribe.
A kind of pale and tender animal was being roasted on the bonfire, with four hooves, an onion-like nose, and a curly tail. They had never seen it before.
Yin Huo looked at the animal roasting on the bonfire, and couldn't help but be stunned.
Then he approached to take a look, then stepped back to take another look, and then looked at the large bucket of blood placed next to the animal when it was killed.
Yin Huo seemed to have discovered something extraordinary, took out a notebook and pen, and secretly wrote it down. From a distance, this thing looked like a person being roasted. He probably knew how the rumor of the Devouring Blood Tribe roasting and eating people came about.
This was a discovery worthy of high marks. Others probably didn't know yet.
He quickly wrote in his notebook, "The Devouring Blood Tribe has unique food, a kind of meaty, blood-rich animal, placed on the grill, looks like a person from a distance..."
Yin Huo smiled as he wrote. With this discovery, he would likely be the top student in eavesdropping.
Ant nudged Feng Wen and looked at Yin Huo, "Why is he suddenly smiling so sinisterly?"
Feng Wen shook his head in confusion.
The two remained indifferent.
Yin Huo couldn't write some characters, so he pretended to ask other students.
This time, the monthly exam didn't test literacy, so it was allowed for students to communicate with each other about characters they couldn't write.
At this moment, Ant bounced over, "Hey Yin, Shuang Tong wants to eat roasted meat. Do you want to take some over to him?"
Yin Huo's eyes lit up and he nodded quickly.
Ant continued, "Don't dirty your notebook. I'll hold onto it for you first."
Yin Huo thought about it. Indeed, the notebook was exchanged with points and he usually cherished it a lot.
He closed the notebook and handed it to Ant, happily running to get the roasted meat.
But when he came back, he saw a group of students surrounding in a circle, peering at something on the ground.
Pushing through to take a look, he couldn't help but freeze. They were actually looking at his notebook, and his face turned black immediately. He immediately understood. Ant, this little guy, actually deceived him with his notebook.
A group of students stared at Yin Huo, "You sneaky little guy, secretly writing, trying to get high marks by yourself."
"Yeah, yeah, didn't expect you, Yin Huo, to be like this. Sly."
Yin Huo: ...
Damn, what's wrong with wanting to get high marks? Did they think he didn't know? These classmates also secretly wrote in their own notebooks. He was just learning from them.
A group of students took out their notebooks, smiling as they started jotting down.
Su Nu glanced at Yin Huo. It was lucky that Yin Huo's sneaky note-taking was discovered, otherwise, he would have easily secured the first place.
Yin Huo took a big bite of the meat in his hand. Damn, these students were so cunning, especially that little guy Ant. He knew how to act cute and deceive people at such a young age.
The key was that Ant even drew a circle on his own notebook. "You need a picture to describe it more clearly," he said, pointing to the circle on his notebook. "This is that animal."
He was showing off excessively.
Feng Wen's eyes turned, and he also drew a circle on his own notebook, then added four smaller circles below the big one, and even drew a tail behind it.
Then he blushed and covered his own notebook.
He drew better than Ant did. He would definitely get a high score.
But Ant had already tilted his head and was looking at him. "Feng Wen, let me see your notebook. It seems like you added a few extra strokes just now."
Feng Wen shook his head vigorously while covering his notebook.
Unfortunately, he couldn't handle so many students by himself.
Looking at the circle on Feng Wen's notebook, Ant said, "Oh dear, Feng Wen, you're quite sneaky too."
Ant quickly added some strokes to his own circle.
A group of students ran to look at the roasted meat again, watching from a distance. "So white and tender. It's hard to see clearly from far away. It really looks like a person."
"Yeah, and all that blood, buckets of it. What kind of animal is this? So much blood."
"Remember, remember, it's all about points."
A group of students played freely by the bonfire, without any restraint, and the people of the Devouring Blood Tribe looked pleased.
It seemed like they really didn't mind that they were the Devouring Blood Tribe here; they could still understand.
Especially when they saw the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe among these outsiders, they were even happier.
Especially Hong, who seemed to have completely integrated into them, becoming one of them.
Really good.
The students even took out seasonings and helped the adults of the Devouring Blood Tribe barbecue. "This is what we use for barbecue in our Crimson Great City. Let me barbecue it for you to taste."
Listening to the voices of the children, the whole bonfire party became much livelier.
The people of the Devouring Blood Tribe didn't like to talk much. In the past bonfire parties, there was only the sound of firewood burning, nothing like the current lively atmosphere.
The flickering firelight made the eyes of the adults somewhat misty. Even in their memories, the Devouring Blood Tribe had never been so lively.
The bonfire party lasted for a long time.
A group of students patted their bellies. "This animal is really fragrant and tender."
Hong said, "We only have it in our hunting grounds. I haven't seen it anywhere else."
Of course, if it were available elsewhere, they wouldn't have been mistaken for roasting and eating people every day.
The banquet was lively, but the people of the Devouring Blood Tribe were still a bit restrained. They were afraid that if they let go too much, they might scare away these rare guests who had come to their Tribe. They had to be careful, considering their past experiences.
At this moment, Feng Wen suddenly looked at the sky, his little face excited. "Let's tell ghost stories."
The students, who were previously excited, suddenly quieted down.
The people of the Devouring Blood Tribe were stunned. Could it be that someone accidentally scared these children?
A group of students swallowed saliva, promising themselves that they would never listen to ghost stories at night again. But why did their hearts still feel so excited?
Then they eagerly went to pull the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe. "We'll tell you some really interesting stories, especially interesting."
Oh dear, so excited. What's with this excitement in my heart? I'm too much.
Hong twitched the corner of his mouth, looking at the curious faces of the people who had been pulled over in a circle. These students were really naughty.
"Stories? Are they legends of the land?" It was said that some tribes indeed had the habit of telling legends of the land by the bonfire, and they even sang while telling them, which was very lively.
The bonfire crackled loudly, and the firelight shone on everyone's faces.
Feng Wen, with an excited little face, opened his mouth.
As his voice sounded, the listeners unconsciously shrank their bodies. Why did it feel a bit chilly?
Many people involuntarily began to sit closer.
In the swaying scene of the bonfire, only Feng Wen's voice remained, and the listeners even held their breath.
At this moment, a gust of wind blew, causing the bonfire to flicker wildly, shaking particularly violently.
Feng Wen's mouth split open, his face flushed from the firelight. "Ghosts... are coming."
Gulp.
All that could be heard was the sound of swallowing saliva.
But no one dared to make even the slightest noise. Their ears were filled with the crackling sound of the bonfire being blown.
It was so quiet that it felt suffocating.
For some reason, the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe, looking at the child named Feng Wen under the firelight, seemed to be looking at a demon.
The key was that Feng Wen spoke again, "Why don't you look back? Is there someone behind you?"
Gulp.
This devil.
A group of children from the Devouring Blood Tribe huddled together, their faces pale, hands gripping tightly.
Even the adults of the Devouring Blood Tribe had stiff expressions on their faces. This wasn't some ordinary legend of the land; this story was just too... too...
What... what's going on? It felt like something had grabbed their hearts, what was this feeling of fear?
They had been worried about scaring these outsider children, but now it seemed like they were the ones being scared by them.
Had they been out of touch with outsiders for too long, making outsiders seem so terrifying?
A group of students watched as the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe were scared into a huddle, unable to scream, just covering their mouths tightly with their hands.
For some reason, their excited bodies were trembling.
Turn the tables on them since they always scared us, now it's their turn to scare the people of the Devouring Blood Tribe.
The ghost story Feng Wen told today had been told once before, although still scary, it was much better than the first time for the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe.
Ant grinned and poked a child from the Devouring Blood Tribe next to him with his finger. "Did you enjoy the ghost story?"
The child was so scared by the poke that he shivered. These demons, he was about to wet himself from fear.
What to do, he couldn't help but want to scream.
Ant kept poking with his finger, like a balloon being repeatedly poked until it finally burst.
All the fear was released with a scream of "Ah".
Then, like finding a release valve, the other suppressed children found a way to let out their fear, turning the feeling of being unable to breathe into screams.
A group of children from the Devouring Blood Tribe closed their eyes tightly, their heads tilted back, screaming.
"Ah ah ah."
So scary, the ghost story was so scary, the outsider children were so scary.
The adults told them not to scare others, but they themselves were scared, trembling with fear.
But a group of students burst into laughter.
The scene was chaotic for a while.
The adults of the Devouring Blood Tribe thought something big had happened and quickly ran over to ask what was going on.
The adults listening to the stories on the outskirts had bitter expressions on their faces. "Nothing, they were scared by these outsider children."
What?
The people of the Devouring Blood Tribe thought they had misheard.
These outsider children hadn't been scared by them, but instead had scared the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe like this?
The adults who were asked didn't know how to describe it, because they still felt a bit scared themselves.
A group of children screamed for a while, tears streaming down their faces, their faces pale.
Watching the students laughing and rolling on the ground, for some reason, they smiled through their tears, "You guys are so bad."
"We'll never listen to your ghost stories again."
"The outsider children are really bad."
The children of the Devouring Blood Tribe, who had been restraining themselves, laughed at this moment, tears still hanging from the corners of their eyes.
Laughter and tears mingled together, and at this moment, it seemed like all barriers had disappeared.
The students laughed so hard they could barely catch their breath. They always said the Devouring Blood Tribe was especially terrifying, but they felt like they were even scarier themselves, seeing how they had scared the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe to tears.
As the night grew darker, the bonfire was about to die out.
After a half-night of excitement, an unprecedented excitement, everyone was preparing to go to sleep.
The children of the Devouring Blood Tribe huddled together. "Let's go together, I'm too scared to go back alone."
"Let's hang from a tree tonight."
"But when the wind blows, the tree will move."
"What should we do? I saw you guys hanging there, and you were still scared."
A bonfire party like this would probably be unforgettable for these children.
The students still had another day with the Devouring Blood Tribe.
The next day, the students began to officially tour the territory of the Devouring Blood Tribe, which was actually similar to the territories of other tribes.
Early in the morning, the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe, who had been scared to tears last night, took the initiative to serve as guides for them.
Looking at what happened last night, everyone seemed to have become much more familiar with each other.
As the students were led by a group of children, they chatted happily. "Our teacher said that we should understand, identify with, and tolerate each other among the tribes, so that we can have fewer misunderstandings and wars, and achieve peace."
The students were deeply moved. If they hadn't personally visited the Devouring Blood Tribe, how would they know that the rumors about the Devouring Blood Tribe eating people were just about a tender creature, and how would they know that the terrifying Devouring Blood Tribe, with their children being especially shy and their adults being especially hospitable.
I don't know why, but the children of the Devouring Blood Tribe seemed to understand, empathize, and tolerate a little.
They had never thought before that they could get so close to outsiders.
The students spent the whole day touring the entire territory of the Devouring Blood Tribe, discussing the theory of peace taught to them by Zhuang Yu.
To be honest, no one could be more touched than the people of the Devouring Blood Tribe. It was precisely because they weren't understood, recognized, and accepted that they gradually became a forgotten Tribe.
At this moment, the chief and elders of the Devouring Blood Tribe were having a conversation.
"What do you think of what the students brought back, the things they said?"
The elders glanced at each other. They knew what the chief was getting at. "There's not much space left for our survival in the Devouring Blood Tribe. We must find a way to survive."
The chief continued, "What do you think of Crimson City?"
In fact, due to the survival reasons, the Devouring Blood Tribe had long wanted to merge into a larger power, but no one was willing to accept them.
Speaking of it was also tragic. The major powers were all vying for the inclusion of peripheral tribes, but when they actively wanted to join, no one was willing. Over time, they abandoned this idea. But now...
"Listening to what these students said, Crimson City advocates understanding, recognition, and tolerance. Perhaps this is an opportunity. If it's really like that, perhaps Crimson City might accept us."
And Crimson City was probably their only hope. Looking at the performance of these students, seeing how well Crimson had integrated among them, there was a glimmer of hope in their hearts.
"But how exactly, we still need to send someone to contact Crimson City and see what they say."
Zhuang Yu probably never expected that his students' visit to the Devouring Blood Tribe would bring about such results.
Of course, the main reason was that if the Devouring Blood Tribe didn't integrate into other powers, they would disappear.
When Zhuang Yu awaited representatives from the Devouring Blood Tribe, he was astonished for a long time. Then he decided to turn the Devouring Blood Tribe into a horror theme park, the kind you pay to enter.
The Devouring Blood Tribe was dumbfounded at the time. Because of Zhuang Yu's transformation, places that other tribes had previously avoided like the plague were now crowded with people spending money to get in.
For a long time, the Devouring Blood Tribe, who used to spend their days gathering resources, wondered if there was something wrong with the outsiders' minds. When they had hoped for them to come, they didn't, but now that they needed to charge a fee, they were all eager to get in.
But that's a story for another time.
At this moment, the students were preparing to leave the Devouring Blood Tribe. "Whose house are we going to next?"
They all looked at Yinhuo. "Let's go to Shao Yin's house."
"I know the customs of the Shao Yin tribe. Everyone, make sure your pants are secure. It's said that when the Tianhu tribe sees handsome boys, they like to take off their pants."
Yinhuo: "..."
How do he handle this? He can't possibly take them to the Celestial Fox tribe.