“Shaman, may I come in?” Cheng Shi suddenly called from outside the Teepee.“Come in,” Su Bai said.
Cheng Shi walked into the Teepee with an excited face and grinned, “Shaman, I’ve rested well. Can I go find Brother Shu Feng and Uncle Qing Yan?”
In fact, the boy had not slept well all night. He was too amazed at having his wounds treated by Su Bai’s Curing Technique. He had also been thinking about Uncle Qing Yan and the others, wondering how they were doing. His small adventurous spirit was starting to sprout again.
“Of course, if you feel your body is fine, then go ahead,” Su Bai said, raising an eyebrow.
“Thank you, Shaman. I’ll set off now!” Cheng Shi immediately replied.
“Wait, I have a mission for you.” Su Bai called out to the boy who was about to run off.
Cheng Shi suddenly stopped, almost falling over. He turned back and asked, “Shaman, what mission?”
The boy started to get excited, not for anything else, but because he heard the word ‘mission’. His whole spirit lifted.
“Those fruits we picked yesterday, go get more of them and bring them back.” Su Bai ordered.
Cheng Shi’s initially excited face showed a bit of disappointment. He had thought it would be a mission to hunt Ferocious Beasts. Nevertheless, he quickly perked up again and responded loudly, “Yes, I’ll definitely bring back a lot for you, Shaman.”
Su Bai of course noticed the boy’s micro-expression and said with a smile. “This mission isn’t that simple. You can’t get your hands dirty. If you do, you won’t have any meat to eat tonight.”
The juice of the brown fruits was oily, and if it got on his hands, it would be very difficult to wash off.
“Ah!” Cheng Shi started to worry and immediately solemnly said, “Shaman, I will definitely complete the mission.” Sёarᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
“Quickly go off then. The earlier you go, the earlier you’ll return. See if you can get back to the Tribe before Shu Feng and the others return.” Su Bai added more pressure on the boy.
He did this on purpose. If he did not do so, the boy would not take his mission seriously. He would just think it was only picking fruits, which was not as exciting as hunting Ferocious Beasts. Adding some difficulty to the task would give him a greater sense of honour and achievement.
“Right away!” Cheng Shi ran off, grabbed a large wooden bucket outside the Tribe, and flew away.
Yan Hua watched the boy stumble away and rolled her eyes, “Children are so easy to fool.”
“Hahaha… If I did not do this, would he feel the same sense of urgency?” Su Bai heartily laughed.
“Shaman, I’m going back to training,” Yan Hua said, remembering the conversation at the training ground this morning. She could not wait to continue training.
“Alright,” Su Bai calmly replied.
…
Seven hours later, in the afternoon, when everyone had eaten lunch.
Because of the hot weather and the sounds of wild beasts outside, Su Bai felt a bit drowsy, so he took a nap.
“Shaman, Cheng Shi has returned!” Yu Ying said.
Su Bai’s black eyes opened slightly, the fatigue from just waking up immediately disappearing. He asked in surprise, “So fast?”
“Yes, he’s covered in wounds again. He’s at the entrance,” Yu Ying nodded.
“Let him in. What a foolish boy.” Su Bai shook his head.
“Shaman, I’ve completed the mission,” Cheng Shi put down a large wooden bucket of brown fruits on the ground, squinted his slender black eyes, and proudly held out both hands, “Look, I didn’t dirty my hands.”
Su Bai looked at the wounds that had just healed last night. The boy was now bloody all over again, with cuts big and small everywhere on his body.
He frowned and solemnly said, “Although you completed the mission, what you did was wrong.”
Seeing the boy covered in wounds, he could not help feeling helpless and angry. The boy must have been greedy for speed and achievement, hiding in the canopies while flying at high speed. This was the only explanation why his body had been scratched by so many branches, resulting in so many wounds. Small wounds were one thing, but what if he had accidentally hurt his eyes, or got caught in the neck, what would happen? How could he play with his life like this?
The Tribe already had few people. If they lost another person because of this, it would really be too much of a waste.
Cheng Shi was stunned, not expecting the Shaman to be so angry. He lowered his head and softly said, “Shaman, what did I do wrong?”
The boy clearly did not understand these things. He only knew that he had completed the mission and arrived at the Tribe before Shu Feng and the others. In his mind, he was solely questioning if he had not done enough.
“Next time when you go on a mission, you must also pay attention to your own safety. Don’t try to complete the mission quickly at the expense of safety. You should act within your capabilities.” Su Bai solemnly said.
Cheng Shi looked at the wounds all over his body and nodded, “I understand. I’ll be careful next time.”
“This time, I won’t heal you. Let this be a lesson for you.” Su Bai said with a stern expression, then continued to ask, “Did you see Shu Feng, Ai’er, and the others? Are they on the way?”
“I saw them. I saw them from afar in the sky, but…” Cheng Shi stuttered.
“But you didn’t go to meet them first because you wanted to complete the mission first, right?” Su Bai sighed.
“Yes,” Cheng Shi was prepared to be scolded.
Su Bai blinked his black eyes at the boy and said, “Still, you did complete this mission. Just that you need to remember: next time, while completing missions, you must always pioritise own safety.”
It was too difficult to cultivate a Totem Warrior in the Tribe. They had to select suitable candidates from ordinary people then train them into Warrior Trainees, which was far from easy. Even after becoming a Warrior Trainee, there was not guaranteed that they would become a Totem Warrior.
Apart from luck, it depended on strength. If they lost a potential Totem Warrior at this stage, it would be too regrettable.
“Thank you, Shaman.” Cheng Shi smiled, no longer feeling the pain from his wounds.
“Go and rest for now. You won’t have any meat for dinner tonight.” Su Bai wanted to give the boy a small punishment as a warning. If not, his childish thoughts would never mature. It would also make it difficult for him to become a qualified Totem Warrior.
“Yes.” Cheng Shi felt relieved inside. It was the first time he had seen the Shaman get so angry.
Although not having meat to eat was a sad thing, it was fine as long as he was not severely punished. He vowed in his heart that he would never dare to do this again.
Su Bai watched the boy’s retreating figure and blinked his black eyes, asking, “Has he always been like this?”
Yu Ying, still a bit stunned by how angry Su Bai got. It took a while before she nodded, “Yes, Cheng Shi is quite playful.”
“It seems like we need to arrange some other things for them to do.” Su Bai had a different idea in mind.
Yu Ying scratched the back of her head, confused, “Shaman, what are you going to arrange for them to do?”
“We’ll talk about it later once Ai’er and the others return,” Su Bai picked up the water cup beside him and continued, “Go notify the Chieftain to prepare to welcome them at the outskirts of the Tribe.”
Based on the current time, Shu Feng and the others should be arriving at the Tribe soon.
“Yes!” Yu Ying nodded and left the Teepee.
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