Masked Knight - Chapter 110

Chapter 110: Chief of the Flame Tribe

Rody and Camus chatted for the whole morning. After that, Camus went back
to the barracks outside the city. Before leaving, Camus mentioned about the
management of those mountain soldiers. Rody thought for a moment and then
he replied, “Just watch them for now. As you have said. There would be no
benefit in killing more people.”
Camus lightly asked, “Is that so? However, you had a murderous glint in your
eyes last night.” Having said that, Camus left.
Rody sat down for a moment. He felt stirred by Camus’ final words. He could
not help but think. This Camus looks fierce and boorish but his heart is bigger
and he is wiser.
After that, Rody could not help but smile. Camus is a famous general of the
Empire in this generation. He is second only to the late Duke of the Tulip
Family. Naturally, he is very formidable.
He thought to himself for a moment and dispatched someone to go and
summon Xier’s Governor-General. That Governor-General looked anxious and
afraid. He did not dare to look into Rody’s eyes. Rody sighed as he knew the
reason was that the Governor-General was afraid of him. The Governor-
General was afraid that Rody may pursue matters related to his nephew.
Although Rody was disgusted, he still managed to show a gentle expression
and say a few comforting words. Rody did not say anything about the
negotiations. Instead, Rody talked about dispatching a person to meet the
leader of the mountain tribes to persuade the tribes to pledge allegiance to the
Empire as an attempt at a peaceful solution.
As he talked, Rody looked directly at the Governor-General. This caused the
Governor-General to sweat profusely due to fear. With a sullen expression, he
claimed that he was physically weak and might not be able to adapt to the
atmosphere of the mountains. The Governor-General also said that he was
busy and might not be able to find the time to travel into the mountains.
Rody gave a cold smile and said, “This matter does not need the Governor-
General to be present. After all, I am His Majesty’s special envoy. For matters
related to appeasement, I should be the one going to show our sincerity.”
That Governor-General felt greatly relieved and pretended to discourage Rody
from going. He said that the people of the mountains were cruel and malicious.
He said that the Duke’s health is priceless and should not be risked. The
Governor-General carried on and on until Rody felt tired listening. Rody then
said, “It is either you or me.” That frightened the Governor-General to the
point where he did not dare to dissuade Rody any longer. Finally, the
Governor-General wished Rody success and said, “The Duke's reputation has

spread far and wide. I am sure that those barbarians will be cautious and
pledge allegiance to you.” After saying that, the Governor-General quickly left.
After more than ten days of rest, the situation at the barracks outside the city
was finally stabilized. The mountain soldiers no longer caused trouble. Camus
contacted Wuya’s men and then Wuya dispatched one of the leaders of the
Flame Tribe to the Purple Leaf City to meet Camus. Camus then brought the
leader to meet Rody.
That leader’s name is Wuyu. He was big and tall. He had a brown face and
brown eyes. He also looked valiant. He knew how to speak the common
language of the Empire but his pronunciation was not too accurate. When
Camus told him about the Duke’s intentions to see their Chief, Wuya, Wuyu
was surprised. Wuyu had also heard of the Duke of the Tulip Family’s
reputation. He did not expect that such a big shot would personally go and
negotiate. When he saw Rody’s young and handsome figure, he revealed an
expression of doubt and disdain. He did not expect the Duke of the Tulip
Family to be so young.
The mountain people were mostly big-sized warriors. On the other hand, Rody
looked young and had the handsome face of a playboy. Although Rody could be
considered tall and quite robust in the Empire, he was still considered
relatively small-sized by the standards of the mountain people. When
compared with Wuyu, even though they were about the same height, Wuyu was
much more muscular and robust than Rody.
From Wuyu’s point of view, Rody’s giant-like bodyguard Randt deserved more
respect...
The guards that Wuyu brought were also tall and robust. All of them wore
wolves’ skin over their bodies and carried longbows on their backs. They
smeared some strange oil paint on their faces which made them looked
ferocious. Randt could not bear the sight of them but he just followed Rody
closely, remaining vigilant.
On the same day, Rody took Randt with him as they followed Wuyu to the
mountains. Randt had originally requested Rody to bring more people with
them but Rody refused. Rody gave a faint smile and told Randt, “We are
entering their territory. If they want to harm us, there will be no use even if we
were to bring more people. We cannot bring an army into the mountains,
right? Are we there to fight or to negotiate?” Looking at Randt’s puzzled
expression, Rody continued, “Come to think of it, Wuya was able to unite all the
mountain tribes. He must be a heroic figure. Naturally, he is unlikely to make
things difficult for an envoy. This will be degrading for him.”
They traveled southwards from Purple Leaf City on their horses. After a day of
traveling, they arrived at the Southeast barracks. Rody replenished his food
and water at the barracks before following Wuyu into the mountains.
The way to the mountains was via a canyon, south of the Southeast barracks.
After walking on a trail from the canyon for a day, they finally entered the
mountains.

The terrain in the canyon was extremely dangerous. The narrow path only had
enough space for two horses to squeeze through. The path was uneven and was
full of all kinds of large and small rocks. The horses could only advance slowly.
The mountain people did not ride horses. Instead, they led the way on foot.
They only wore straw slippers made from wild grass but they were able to
progress through the mountain road as if they had wings.
By nightfall, they finally exited the canyon on the southern side and followed a
small trail to enter the mountains. Rody and Randt finally abandoned their
horses. The horses followed their instincts and would find their way back. The
two of them then followed the mountain people to walk on foot.
Along the way, Rody saw that there were a lot of trees and the roadside was full
of unknown weeds. The trees were so dense that they could blot out the sun
almost entirely. Rody and the others only walked for a while but their trousers
were already sodden with the dew and the saps of the weeds.
One of the mountain people led the way with his sharp longsword. He hacked
at the branches that blocked their way. Rody felt a bit uncomfortable when he
breathed in the humid air of the forest.
The further they progressed into the mountains, the sturdier the trees became.
Some trees were so big that its girth needed two to three people to be able to
hug it. Rody could not help but sigh. However, Wuyu proudly declared, “This is
nothing! The largest tree at our place would require more than a dozen people
to hug it!”
At night, everybody stopped to rest. The mountain people's camping method
was also very unique and strange. They did not allow Randt to start a fire. They
said it was too dangerous to start a fire in the mountains. Randt asked them
loudly. "Without any fire, how do we prevent the wild beasts from attacking?"
The mountain people grinned. They hastily created traps with some ropes and
sharp branches. They then took out the strange oil paint and smeared it all
over their exposed skin. After that, they looked for a large tree. Those tall and
strong mountain people then climbed the trees like monkeys and casually
slept on the branches.
Rody and Randt looked at each either. Neither of them knew how to climb a
tree to sleep there. Even if they were to climb the tree and sleep on it, they
would be afraid of falling off the tree when they rolled in their sleep.
The mountain people did not bother to help them. Instead, they looked at the
two of them with a gloating expression and waited for the two of them to make
a fool of themselves.
Rody said nothing. He and Randt sat down under a big tree and leaned against
the tree trunk. They then closed their eyes to sleep.
In the middle of the night, a cold wind was blowing. The chirping cries of birds
could be heard. In the distance, there was also the continuous, faint howling of
wild beasts. From the bushes, there was the assorted singing of various wild
insects. All those sounds made Rody extremely disturbed. In the middle of the

night, Randt could not help but jump up and attempt to catch and kill the
mosquitoes that bit him. These movements roused the mountain people from
their sleep. They all pointed and laughed at Randt.
Randt became angry and unsheathed his sword. He then argued with the
people on the trees.
Rody also stood up. He suppressed the anger in his heart and stopped Randt.
After that, he looked up at Wuyu and coldly said, "Wuyu, when you came to the
Purple Leaf City, we showed you proper hospitality. We are now in your
territory! Is this how you mountain people treat your guests?"
With those words, Wuyu’s laughter immediately stopped. Although it was not
visible in the dark, Wuyu face showed shame. He shouted to the others on the
tree in the mountain people’s language and they gradually stopped laughing.
After that, Wuyu jumped down from the tree and walked up to Rody before
saying, “You are right! This was my mistake! This is not how we mountain
people treat our guests!” He then took out a small package containing the oil
paint they used to smear on their faces. He then said in a low voice, “Apply this
on your body and the insects will not bite you.”
The oil paint had a strange smell. Both Randt and Rody pinched their noses
and desperately smeared the oil paint all over their exposed skin. Although the
smell was unpleasant, the mosquitos avoided it and stopped disturbing them.
When morning dawned, the mountain people leaped down from the trees. The
first thing they did was to kneel down as a group, facing south. They mumbled
some kind of incantation. Their pious expression was filled with religious
fervor as if they were worshipping God.
Rody was curious and could not help but ask Wuyu. Wuyu’s attitude towards
Rody also improved and explained that they were worshipping the guardian
spirit of the Flame Tribe. As for the name of the guardian spirit, Wuyu only
knew how to say it in the language of the mountain people. The name had a
bunch of strange pronunciations that Rody could not help but make a wry
smile.
With that, they walked for several days. The forest became thicker and the
mountain ranges could be seen. The towering green mountains could be seen
in the far west. The birds were flying in flocks. Early in the morning, a white
fog could also be seen gathering around the peaks of the mountains.
The appearance of wild animals in the forests also became increasingly more
frequent. Wild boars, wild deer, and wild rabbits started to appear one after
another. Those animals did not seem to be afraid of people. When the animals
saw Rody and the others, they simply retreated a few steps back and observed
them from afar.
Rody and the others had already finished eating the supplies that they packed.
However, the mountain people were born hunters. All of them were good at
archery. The arrows they used were different from the arrows used by the

Empire. The arrows they used were not made of metal. They were made with
the fangs of animals.
The mountain people could also move easily in the mountains. They were
energetic and they knew the terrain well. Rody secretly contemplated. If they
fought a war here, the Empire would suffer a lot of casualties. Camus’ words
were not an exaggeration.
Originally, the mountain people did not think highly of Rody and Randt. One
day, however, they changed their minds. Everybody was at a small stream on
top of the mountain and had caught a few fish. Thereafter, they wanted to start
a fire to cook the fish. (Rody thought it was strange that the ‘Flame Tribe’
seldom used flame.) Randt then went to the edge of a brook to chop some
firewood.
They saw him pull out his broadsword and then they heard a loud sound. The
tree that was as big as a person’s waist was immediately chopped into two
halves. That made the mountain people awestruck as the tree came crashing
down.
Everyone, including Wuyu, was stunned. After a while, they all started to shout.
They ran up and took a close look at Randt. They then enthusiastically hugged
Randt and muttered a few words that Randt could not understand. They all had
expressions of admiration, surprise, and curiosity. Some of them even grabbed
Randt's sword to examine it.
Wuyu then explained to Rody that even the most powerful person among their
mountain people would need several swings of an ax to chop down that tree.
Rody’s heart was stirred and could not help but asked, “What about your leader
Wuya? How powerful is he?”
Wuyu immediately showed a pious and respectful expression as he seriously
replied, “Our Chief, Wuya is a warrior bestowed unto us by God! He is an avatar!
He is our guardian angel! How can we compare with our God?”
Rody did not believe in it, so he casually laughed. Wuyu noticed that Rody did
not believe him and immediately became angry. He loudly argued about the
greatness and terrifying strength of their chief, Wuya.
At last, Wuyu impatiently shouted, “Our Chief is the greatest! Last time, we
fought a battle against the Silvermoon Tribe. Our Chief summoned the
Mountain God’s Tremendous Ax and flattened the Silvermoon Tribe and their
homes on the hills! This is a true story. A lot of warriors from the Flame Tribe
witnessed that. I also clearly witnessed that!”
Rody’s heart stirred as he looked at Wuyu’s honest and impatient expression.
With a blank expression, he asked, “What sort of weapon is the Mountain God’s
Tremendous Ax?”
“Miraculous! It is truly miraculous!" Wuyu showed a marveled and respectful
expression. After that, he solemnly said, "Our Chief stood on a mountain and
shouted a few words. After that, he suddenly grew several times larger, as
though he was a giant! The Chief then reached out and pulled an ax out from

the sky! Before we could see anything clearly, the Chief had swung down his
ax. The Silvermoon Tribe and the mountains were flattened! Flattened! There
was nothing left! Men, women, children, the elderly, houses, trees, and even
stones... Everything disappeared!"
Randt and Rody both thought of something... They could not help but
exchanged a look with each other.