Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Fire Begins

  The dark night's wild wind swept up, blowing a forest of trees with a rustling sound, endless leaves like mad girls, constantly dancing with their slender waists, shaking violently like sifting chaff, seeking a moment of passion under the caress of the wild wind.

  Suddenly, the fierce wind stopped, and the forest returned to calmness. A group of ape-like creatures, holding torches, emerged from the thicket, and stood still in front of the open space before them.

  The first ape-like man had a high crown of feathers on his head, holding in his hand a weapon similar to the steel knife of later generations. With a solemn expression, he looked intently in front of him. Under the dim moonlight, his true appearance was revealed, and it turned out that he was the leader of the Black Rock tribe.

  He let out a low shout, and the Blackrock chieftain waved his hand forward. From the ranks behind him, the Blackrock shaman quickly darted out, entering the thicket to search for the traces left by the pursuers ahead.

  Looking at the surrounding scenery, the expression of the Black Rock leader gradually became serious. The several experienced hunting team leaders behind him also furrowed their brows, although they didn't know much about this place. However, from the scattered auras in the air, they knew that this was not a good place.

  Judging from their years of experience crawling in the jungle, this piece of jungle must belong to a very powerful jungle overlord.

  In the past, they would never have entered such a place. As soon as they caught wind of the lord of the forest's presence, they would quickly retreat. This was a taboo for survival in the Stone Age.

  To live a long life, one must not provoke the lord of the forest. This is something that even the youngest ape in a tribe understands.

  Smelling the faint scent unique to the lord of the forest, the apes all revealed terrified and uneasy expressions, their troop gradually dispersing. In this dark forest, even though they were fully armed, even though they had a large crowd, they still couldn't resist the fear in their hearts.

  A moment later, Kuroiwa Miko quickly withdrew from the front and walked to the face of Kuroiwa leader, drawing out the route left by the pursuer.

  After listening, the leader of Kuroiwa's eyes flashed with a hint of turmoil, his bad premonition was confirmed, this group of fire god tribe apes actually set foot in the territory of such a terrifying forest overlord, and it seemed that they had crossed through.

  This fact made him hesitant in his heart.

  Logically, he should have led the people of the tribe to evacuate this place without hesitation, and according to the ancient teachings, avoiding the territory of the forest overlord who emitted a faint sense of oppression was the correct choice.

  But thinking of that nearby inheritance crystal, thinking of those delicate and lovely ceramics, the Blackrock Chieftain felt that it was fundamentally impossible for him to give them up.

  Tribes like this one, with a legacy crystal, are rarely seen in these jungles. The weak have been devoured by the strong, and those that were meant to be destroyed have already been eliminated. Even if they do exist, they must be vassals of some larger tribe.

  After a conversation, Kuroiwa leader can confirm that this fire god tribe is an independent individual and a small tribe isolated from the world.

  This is almost a heaven-sent opportunity, if it's not grasped, it would be too disappointing. By the time other tribes discover it, it might be too late for the Black Rock tribe.

  Not to mention those lovely ceramics, those exquisite ceramic utensils are so obvious in their use, the black rock leader who used them dares to guarantee their quality, if these utensils were to be passed on, they would absolutely cause a craze throughout the entire Stone Age.

  The Fire God tribe's move to trade with the Ape people is a good way for the Black Rock leader, and it can be said that with these pottery, the Black Rock tribe can also carry out pottery-for-people transactions, which can gradually expand and eventually completely dominate this area.

  So at this time, the leader of the Black Rock was struggling intensely in his heart, as if he didn't know how to choose.

  After a while, the night wind blew again, and a piece of leaves flew down in a whirlwind, grasped by the leader of the Black Rock. He gently rubbed the leaves in his hand, his eyes suddenly narrowed, his arm suddenly swung, and finally made up his mind.

  It is true that wealth and honor are sought in danger, although he did not know this idiom, but it does not hinder him from having this mentality. The leader of the Blackrock tribe understood that as long as they succeeded this time, obtained the inheritance crystal and the method of refining pottery, it would be the time for the Blackrock tribe to soar to the sky.

  Then, the hunting team of more than 200 elite warriors entered the beast trail in the middle of the Lion Tiger territory under the leader's urging, and quickly moved forward along the direction specified by Chen Xu.

  As they walked on, the piles of dry grass under their feet grew thicker and thicker. But instead of feeling strange, they felt more at ease in their hearts.

  No matter how you look at it, the scenery here doesn't seem like the territory of a forest overlord. This road covered with dry grass makes the ape feel an unnatural sense of security from the bottom of his heart.

  Even the originally gloomy-faced, speechless Black Rock leader walking at the very front had relaxed this time. His long experience of surviving in the jungle told him that such a road would absolutely not be the path taken by the Jungle Overlord.

  Apart from the threat of the jungle overlord, with their more than 200 strong ape warriors, they feared nothing, believing that in this place, there was absolutely no other creature that could threaten them.

  As he walked, the leader of the Black Rock tribe seemed to see himself carrying pottery, unifying the four tribes and dominating this jungle scene. Unconsciously, his footsteps became faster, driving up the speed of the large troops behind him.

  The dark shadow flashed, and the group of apemen quickly retreated to a distance. At the corner of the thicket where they first appeared, an apeman holding a torch slowly emerged from another thicket nearby.

  Under the illumination of the flames, the appearance of this ape-man was revealed, and it turned out to be Chen Xu, the long-departed leader of the Fire God tribe!

  "Good grief, what ferocious lions and tigers! If it weren't for a few of those scout monkeys serving as bait to lure them away from their original location, I'd have had a hard time sneaking past their territory."

  Heaving a sigh of relief, Chen Xu wiped the sweat from his forehead. This time he had traversed through the surrounding forest and come around from behind, but not without encountering many dangers.

  Luckily, he had captured the scouts from those few Blackrock clans beforehand and brought them along as they entered the territory of the Lion and Tiger. When they encountered the Lion and Tiger, they released one of the Blackrock scouts as bait, allowing him to safely make his way here without alarming anyone.

  Despite this, he was also being chased by a lion and tiger, almost unable to run out of the forest, after all, he was holding a torch in his hand!

  "But now everything is done, this is the boundary of the lion and tiger's territory. In the dark jungle at night, they absolutely dare not cross the border. And just now that group of apemen has just passed by, it's time to cut off their retreat!"

  A faint smile appeared at the corner of Chen Xu's mouth, and he kicked the dry grass on this small road into a heap, rolling it forward in the direction ahead. Only when he had confirmed that there was a safe distance between himself and the surrounding woods, leaving only space to burn forward, did he stop his actions.

  Carefully placing the torch in his hand at the bottom of the haystack, the long-unfulfilled desires of these starving children were thoroughly ignited.

  As the flames gradually spread, even he himself had to retreat three times when he was satisfied with throwing the beast oil torch in his hand into the sea of fire, using up the last bit of strength.

  Flames surged up, in the faintly visible jungle crevices, under the whirlwind blowing, with a momentum that was swift and fierce, along the paved road surface, rapidly rushing forward.

  After witnessing this scene, Chen Xu understood that all preparations were ready, and next only waited for the prey to enter the net. In the dark jungle, he slightly calmed down, then unfolded his body shape, as if a virtual shadow, rushed into the edge of the jungle, crossed the sea of fire, and quickly ran forward.

  Flames shot up into the sky, and thick smoke swayed in the dark forest, under the scorching heat and light, he had enough reason to believe that those terrifying lions and tigers, even if they were not pleased in their hearts, did not dare to approach by a single step.

  They're still beasts after all!

  As expected, this time Chen Xu walked through the jungle, and although his movements also attracted the attention of the lions and tigers, they could only stop in their tracks and let out a few angry roars when faced with the terrifying light and heat source. Then, they tucked their tails and turned around the mountain, taking the attitude that "out of sight, out of mind" and ran away.

  Before long, Chen Xu had crossed the territory of the lion and tiger that had almost killed him before, and came to the big tree where he had made a mark. Even he couldn't help but marvel at it after stopping for a moment. The flame as a symbol of human civilization indeed has its own reason.

  Under the big tree is a desolate place, originally full of weeds and rocks, but now it's just covered with a thin layer of leaves. Under the faint moonlight, you can clearly see the traces of artificial excavation.

  If you look further back, you will see a number of newly dug graves on the edge of the forest, and when the night wind blows, the smell of soil wafts through the air, and the soil is still damp, all of which proves that these graves were dug out not long ago.

  Chen Xu swiftly passed under the big tree, but instead of walking through the open area, he climbed over from the edge of the forest and quickly arrived behind the mound.

  Here, it was as if suddenly became another world, two hundred fully armed apemen stood quietly, some holding bamboo spears, some with long bows on their backs, and some grasping sharp stone tools in their hands.

  The first few were old acquaintances of Chen Xu, the super apes who had gone on expeditions with him, the ape generals, Ape No. 1 and Ape Captain who had been assigned important tasks by him.

  In addition, the old apes in the mountain valley are commanding a dozen or so apes to comb out a huge tree net made of woven tree vines. The joints of the tree net are tied with many hard stone tools and wooden blocks, greatly increasing the firmness and binding force of the tree net, which is quite similar to the fishing nets of later generations.

  When Chen Xu appeared, several leading apes immediately came forward and began to ask about what happened later.

  After a few words, they let them settle down, Chen Xu called the old gibbon over and instructed them to use the tree net in the same way as before, and wait for his command to use the tree net later.

  Everything is ready, the apes here are quietly waiting. With Chen Xu's eyesight, he can clearly see that a red cloud of smoke is slowly rising in the distant sky. He understands, they are coming soon!