Chapter 177 - Apa Dunou and Mnandou

"Apa Dunou chose Mnandou, an orphan and a simple herdsman to become the chief but the people didn't agree." The fox-spider halted. "Let me be clear first, okay? There are two writers here. The one who used the clan language is the Apa Dunou while the images are from his successor Mnandou who could only write the ancient words, which are these images.

"He was uneducated with the new ways as a poor herderman's son, but he was chosen because of his honesty and kindness. This also caused the clan's rebellion. However, unknown to both of them, the people became ambitious and wished to receive the invitations from kings to pledge their loyalty to them.

"Apa Dunou never wanted for them to get involved in other country's politics and power struggles. And be used by these so-called monarchs for their power and strength. He wanted them to live with pride as warriors. But his subjects wished not to live as herdsmen or poor warriors anymore and dreamed of the luxurious life in the cities promised to them by these kings. 

"Since Apa Dunou was a just and honest man, he announced a duel and the winner would become the successor, but a betrayal was already in play. Instead of a duel, they attacked Apa Dunou and wounded him badly. The clansmen fled the ancestral land in fear of Apa Dunou's wrath. 

"Apa Dunou was no ordinary Chiangda. He was the strongest of them all. In fact, he was the only one proficient with the fighting art using the power stones of which they knew could annihilate them all in an instant."

Under the writings was a small image of a man lying on a stone bed. They turned to the stone bed where Ming lay, and it was exactly the same color. This solved the mystery of the stone bed's existence in that cave.

"There was no one left but the young Mnandou to look after Apa Dunou. With Apa Dunou in a coma and with little essence left in his body, Mnandou erected the stone bed with the hope to keep Apa Dunou from dying. But years had passed, but no healing came.

"He relentlessly traveled to find a cure but found none. In the end, Mnandou drained up his life essence and transferred them all to Apa Dunou. Apa Dunou was devastated when he woke up to see Mnandou lying lifeless on the ground.

"Apa Dunou spent the rest of his life finishing what Mnandou began. Writing the knowledge and the history of their great clan on the walls with the hope to pass on the knowledge of the rituals and their clan's power in case one of the new generation decided to come home and start the clan again.

"That's the last." The fox-spider said when they arrived at the other side of the wall entrance.

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"No, you're wrong, there are more. Look up." Nianshi said with his head tilted upward.

They all looked up at the ceiling and found more writings on it. 

"The heck. These are their fighting techniques and knowledge about the clan's power," the fox-spider yelled.

"Exactly. And my lady, I think we found the solution to our problem. I think both you and Sir Tyriece can use the stone techniques to heal the river." He breathed deep and continued. "It also says here how to create the stone bed."

"Interesting. Allow me to help you too, Sorceress. I am an elemental stone manipulator, and this knowledge is totally useful to me too." The fox-spider excitedly added.

"But spider, read this part." Nianshi gave the spider a sarcastic smile while showing him the words above Ming. It depicted that the clan tamed fox-spiders as their mounts and pets.

The fox-spider snarled at Nianshi, making Nianshi smirked. The rest asked him to tell them why he reacted that way, but he didn't tell them out of respect for the spider.

"That is our secret." Nianshi said and bubbled in laughter. 

That day Nianshi and the little girl helped in translating and rewriting the knowledge on the walls in an empty book provided by Alva. 

They wished to skip the writing, but they had to dig the walls to unearth the power stones they needed. And that would ruin the writing. 

Xinyi asked Alva if there was a way or power to preserve or copy them, but Alva sadly said there was no other way but to write it in a book. So they had to continue with the task. The rest slowly dug into the walls where the translation and rewriting was done.

She also asked if they have power stones that she could use from her domain to preserve the images on the walls. Alva replied that she could have a little, but not all she needed. The power stones were also needed in the domain.

"Why didn't you tell me that I can have a few?" Xinyi blurted in frustration. 

"It's not I didn't tell, but you didn't ask." Alva plainly said the unrefuted fact.

Xinyi sighed and smacked her forehead for forgetting to ask. "Just send me what you can give me."

Alva placed the stones in her bag. Xinyi's frustration doubled. It was only a few pieces, but at least it had all the colors. Yet, not even enough to come up with a slab of stone. "Is this all?" 

"Yup." 

"Did the first Sorceress leave something like jewelries with the power stones embedded in it?" Xinyi hurriedly asked, mindful of the things she needed.

"Nope. She hated jewelry."

"How did she fight using power stones if she didn't embed them into something?"

"She only used them in drastic times, you know. You have other powers inside you to hold your own against enemies. The ones I gave you were the exact stones she used. She manipulated them using her essences. On how she did it? I don't know. There are some things that I can't see of which you only can. But I think you're a smart girl. You'll find it soon. Don't think too much. Just learn and apply. That's always the best route in learning."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks anyway." Xinyi sighed, but Alva was right. Learn and apply. No need to dwell more on it. 

Then her attention went to Nianshi's statement.

"Wow, Sir Tyriece. Have you ever thought that you could be one of the sons of this clan?" Nianshi said.

Tyriece's lips curved up, thinking of the possibility. 

"You see, here, it says that the younger generations left the land believing they must embrace the present world and migrated to the wealthy cities of Vernaboles and Goding." Nianshi finished what he read somewhere and jotted them down on the white paper using an ink and a bamboo brush.

"Really? But my family name is Tevarius. I've heard that out of three generations there were only three of the children who awakened their powers as Chiangdas, and I'm the only stone Chiangda."

"What are the powers of the other two?" Meirga said, curious of what she heard.

"I heard they have water and wind."

"I thought the clan's powers are focused on one in every clan, but how come your family has more?" Xinyi said, recalling that Chiangdas passed on their powers through bloodline.

"Maybe they intermarried. Two Chiangdas with different powers fell in love with each other and passed on two bloodlines in their offspring. I saw a lot of that." Lofey mixed in the conversation.

"That's possible," Xinyi said. 

Her eyes lit up, believing these happened to the fleeing Chiangdas in the past. They might have fallen in love as they protected each other, Xinyi thought. Alva agreed with the possible romance story in Xinyi's mind.

"That's fascinating. I wish I can have that kind of bloodline too." The fox-spider blurted out without thinking. 

Tyriece poured cold water on the fox-spider's enthusiasm. "What an interesting notion. Did your ancestors intermarry with other species? If that's so, it would be interesting to see spiders that have water or wind as webs." He looked up at the ceiling with a finger tapping his chin.

"You?" The little girl frustratingly balled a hand. "Mock my ancestors again and I will stop translating the writings." Her teeth gritted in anger, facing Tyriece.

Tyriece brows knitted for a second and spoke with wide opened arms. "I'm not mocking your ancestors. I mean what I said. Did it occur to you that it is possible? You can change into your human form, so some of your species might have intermarried with humans too."

"That's enough. I don't want to talk or think about it. We are beasts. We should only marry beasts." the fox-spider yelled and turned her back on Tyriece.

"But intermarriage between different species happened but not openly practiced." Tyriece added, feeling the topic hadn't ended yet. "Because the children will suffer with the outcome."

The fox-spider remained silent and went on with her writing. 

Xinyi could tell the topic was a troubling matter for the fox-spider and thought she had to say something.

"Please calm down. Remember why we are here. We are here for Ming, for the river, and to preserve this clan's power and history. It is pointless to fight. Please apologize, Sir Tyriece." Xinyi got wary if they couldn't finish the task before they could heal Ming.

"I didn't say anything wrong. But sorry if I touched a painful spot." Tyriece said. He felt something wasn't right with this fox-spider. It even crossed his mind that this fox-spider was a result of such untoward practice, but kept the thought to himself.

"I think we should stop writing and focus on translating the part on how to use the power stones." Xinyi finally said as she watched the colorful stones piled on the ground from the dug walls. "Sir Tyriece, let's start making the stone platforms."

Tyriece stretched out his slim body. "Good. My body is itching for some actions. Just tell me what to do."