Chapter 200 – Misunderstanding

Edited by Ilesyt

“Hey, why are you running?” Shao Xuan asked as he chased after him.

Shao Xuan was able to catch up with Jiao Wu without much difficulty, because after all, a totem warrior was more capable than a man who had not awakened his totem power. But he wondered why Jiao Wu made such a response. After he ran for a while, he slowed down, fell over ten meters behind him, and kept such a distance while following him.

In the wanderer area of the Longboat tribe, many people walking outside saw Jiao Wu running quickly while being chased by a man. It seemed like Jiao Wu was being asked to pay his debt.

“What did Jiao Wu do?” Someone asked the man next to him.

“No idea. Did anyone ask him about his totem again?”

“Maybe. After all, many people saw totem patterns on the body of the three brothers. It is hard to believe. They grew up here, but I had never seen their totem patterns. Aren’t they all wanderers?”

Since the day when the totem patterns on the body of Jiao Wu and his brothers appeared, there had been some people asking them about the patterns. Some wanderers were curious about it and wanted to clarify it. Some people fawned on them, because since then their strength was obviously greater. Some women in the wanderer area looked at them with sparkling eyes.

Shao Xuan chased Jiao Wu for some distance, until they left the wanderer area. So he stopped and did not continue to chase him. After a while, he couldn’t see Jiao Wu anymore and then he went back.

He knew that Jiao Wu was hiding in a place not far from him. Also, when he had walked past a certain place, Jiao Wu had glanced a few time at that place. That must be the wooden house where Jiao Wu lived. Shao Xuan had heard the surrounding people talking about him, so now he was sure that Jiao Wu was a member of the Flaming Horns tribe. When Shao Xuan had run after him, he had felt the totem power of the Flaming Horns tribe from him. He hadn’t been aware of this before because Jiao Wu had deliberately concealed it.

What pleased Shao Xuan was that those wanderers said Jiao Wu had some brothers. It would be better if it was true.

Shao Xuan walked towards a not far away wooden house. Jiao Wu was hiding behind someone else’s wooden house and followed him ‘secretly’. Seeing Shao Xuan getting closer to his house, he felt anxious. He knew he had drawn much attention because of his totem pattern. There were some people who were jealous of him and even hated him, so he was afraid that others visited him to ask those questions about the totem pattern again. He was tired of being asked those questions, so when he heard someone call his nam, if it was a stranger, he subconsciously thought he or she would bring him trouble. His brother didn’t allow him to fight, so he had no choice but to avoid him.

It was quiet in this narrow street again.

Shao Xuan looked at the wooden house, and he found it was better than the old house of Yan Shuo. He saw that the wood connected well and it looked solid.

Approaching there, Shao Xuan knocked at the door, but no one opened the door. He didn’t hear any sound in the house.

Did all of them go out?

Shao Xuan was thinking about whether to catch Jiao Wu directly, then he heard sound of footsteps coming closer to him.

“Who are you?”

Shao Xuan turned back to look. A young woman was coming to him. Her animal skin coat looked good and not worn out. The fur of the coat was thick. Her hair was very sleek, and her skin was slightly dark probably because she often stayed outdoors, like the others in the Longboat tribe who were tanned by the sun.

It seemed that she was not a wanderer, but a member of the Longboat tribe.

Shao Xuan thought so at the first sight.

“I am a friend of Jiao Wu and his brothers.” Shao Xuan said.

Judging from her attitude, she defended Jiao Wu and his brother. After hearing the answer of Shao Xuan, she still looked at him with vigilance, “I have never seen you here.”

“I just arrived here today.” Shao Xuan glanced at her hand holding an old animal skin coat whose fur was longer but sparse. A pattern featuring the Flaming Horns tribe was stitched across a part of the coat without fur.

“This is the totem pattern of our tribe?” Shao Xuan asked.

“Your tribe?” She was surprised.

“Yes, I am a member of Flaming Horns tribe.” Shao Xuan said.

“Hey, you too?!” Hearing Shao Xuan’s words, she looked less alert.

“It is snowing more heavily. Come here.” Shao Xuan asked her to stand under the eaves of the house.

It often rained here, so the roof of the wooden house was steep and the eaves stretched further, which gave shelter from rain and snow. Moreover, Shao Xuan also wanted to learn more about Jiao Wu and his brothers from her.

Hiding not far from them, Jiao Wu was looking at the door of his house and clenched his fist. He thought the brat must be hiding some tricks, so he was worried. He did hope his elder brother came back soon, otherwise she would be cheated.

If he had not been told by his brother not to fight others arbitrarily, Jiao Wu would have rushed out to beat him. Should I go out? If he went out, he could not help but beat him. If not, he felt very anxious while looking at them.

Shao Xuan was not very loud when he talked with her and Jiao Wu was not so close to them. So he could not hear their dialogue clearly. Under the eaves, it seemed that the two were talking happily.

Shao Xuan learned that this woman was called Mu Qian, a member of the Longboat tribe. Jiao Wu and his brothers did the heavy work for her at her home. Judging from her tone and attitude while mentioning the brothers, Shao Xuan found that Jiao Wu’s elder brother, Yan Zhi left a good impression on Mu Qian. Yan Zhi had saved her once. Without Yan Zhi, she would have been bitten to death by the fish in the river. The animal skin coat in her hand was brought for Yan Zhi, but he hadn’t come back yet.

This was an old love story about a lady born in a rich family and a poor man. But in this place it should be very rare. Shao Xuan did not expect they were so capable.

The coat brought by Mu Qian was an old one of her brother. In general, people in the Longboat tribe gave their old clothes to those wanderers who worked for them as a reward, but most of the coats were worn out. Some had lost the fur. This one in her hand was carefully selected by her from the old clothes so it was quite good.

In order to dispel the suspicion of Mu Qian, Shao Xuan drew the totem pattern of the coat on the ground again. Mu Qian didn’t draw a good one, even Jiao Wu and his brothers may not be able to draw the totem pattern of the Flaming Horns tribe well. Mu Qian’s was influenced by Jiao Wu and his brothers.

“Our tribe’s totem is like this.” Shao Xuan pointed at the drawing on the ground and said.

“I got it.” She saw Shao Xuan draw the totem pattern accurately and more clearly than Yan Zhi had done so she no longer questioned his identity. Thinking of what Shao Xuan had said, she thought that Shao Xuan was also a wanderer like Jiao Wu and his brothers.

Since Shao Xuan and Yan Zhi were the descendants of the Flaming Horns tribe, Mu Qian showed a more friendly attitude to Shao Xuan but Jiao Wu became more alert.

In the wanderer area, Mu Qian had never showed such a good attitude to anyone except his brother.

He became angrier and couldn’t help but go out. He was worried that she would be cheated.

“You, go away!”

Jiao Wu shouted, rushed to Shao Xuan, and waved his fist.

Shao Xuan had paid attention to Jiao Wu and he could guess his thought. So he avoided his fist and his kick.

“Jiao Wu, stop!” Mu Qian cried out next to him.

Jiao Wu didn’t listen to her and kept punching his fist at Shao Xuan. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he failed to hit him. Even though he ignored what his brother had told him and used all his power, he still failed. He couldn’t even touch a fur on his coat, but each time he almost hit the target.

The harder Jiao Wu tried to hit him, the angrier he got. In the beginning he tried to hit his vital parts, but because of his anger, he punched his fist wildly.

“Stop!” He heard a roar next to him.

This was not the voice of Mu Qian.

Hearing the voice, Jiao Wu finally stopped.

Shao Xuan looked there and saw a man coming to them. He wore a animal skin coat which was not so thick and worn out. He didn’t have a long beard like Jiao Wu and was slightly thinner than Jiao Wu. But his eyes were very sharp.

This person should be Jiao Wu’s elder brother, and he was the man Mu Qian came for: Yan Zhi.

This weather, for a totem warrior, was tolerable, but it was unbearable for those poor people who hadn’t awakened their totem power. But it seemed that Yan Zhi didn’t feel cold at all and didn’t even shiver.

After finishing his work, Yan Zhi had some scratches on his hands. The wounds with dried blood were not deep.

“Brother, this brat he…” Jiao Wu said, but did not know how to continue.

Mu Qian at this time came to him and said, “Shao Xuan said he is also a member of the Flaming Horns tribe.”

Shao Xuan found that after hearing what she said, Jiao Wu and his brother still looked at him with vigilance and their eyes just flashed for a while.

“Get into house first.”

Yan Zhi came to the door and he walked between Shao Xuan and Mu Qian intentionally or unintentionally.

Shao Xuan slightly twitched his mouth and found the two remained alert.

Yan Zhi went in front of the door, took out a thin bamboo knife and inserted it into the gap between the wooden door and the wooden wall, and then lifter it up.

The door opened.

The door wasn’t locked. When no one stayed at home, they opened the door in this way. At the back of the door there was something similar to a peg.

After entering the house, Shao Xuan glanced at the furnishing. Although the furnishing was not really that good, it was much better than in the old house of Yan Shuo.

“No need to worry about me. You can talk between yourselves first.” Shao Xuan looked for a wooden stool, sat down and said.

The atmosphere was tense, so Mu Qian no longer stayed there. After giving the coat to Yan Zhi, she left.