Chapter 28
The Hundred Thousand Mountains were huge, with forces of many different kinds . In the most dangerous area there were even primitive tribes who didn't respect any morals or rules . They would kill every outsider they met .
Along with this, there were ferocious beasts of prey and monsters in the mountain areas .
This was one of the reasons why the Jiang Mansion didn't easily allow Jiang Chen to go on an adventure there .
The Liulin River was the longest river in the Hundred Thousand Mountains . It flowed through various parts of the mountains . The narrowest part was only 15 feet wide, and its water was only up to one's ankle .
In contrast, the widest section was thousands of feet wide and had a huge waterfall with many segments .
Jiang Chen squatted by the river . He lowered an iron flask into the water and filled it, then took it out and sipped at it .
This was the fifth day since he had left the Jiang Mansion . The Southwind Ridge was already some distance away .
The moment he stood up, a sharp sound that seemed to rip the sky apart resounded . Then an arrow landed beside him and grounded itself in the hard dirt . Its tail was still shaking fiercely .
Jiang Chen was dumbfounded . He saw a boat headed downstream passing by rapidly . There were a few men armed with bows standing in the boat .
"Stop! Stop right away! He isn't from the Tribe of Thunder . That's Young Master Chen!"
Jiang Chen heard a familiar voice coming from the boat when he was about to fight back .
They're from the Jiang Mansion?
Jiang Chen recognized that it was the Jiang's boat . People were greeting him from the boat and signalled for him to go downstream .
Jiang Chen hesitated for a while and then took a ten minute walk along the river . He saw the boat had stopped by a rock and the sailors had come onto the shore to wait for him .
"Young Master Chen, you shouldn't keep on walking that direction . The people from the Tribe of Thunder are crazy!"
The man who recognized Jiang Chen was in his early forties . If Jiang Chen remembered correctly, he was called "Uncle Li . " He looked worn out . He must have been in the forest for a long time .
Jiang Chen noticed the body of the boat was filled with arrows . The sailors seemed to have experienced a serious battle . One of them was screeching .
He saw that the poor guy's left foot was almost broken when he came closer to have a look .
"He stepped into a trap set by the Tribe of Thunder . " Uncle Li shook his head with pity .
Jiang Chen jumped onto the boat to comfort the injured man . He said, "Hold on . I'll help you set the broken bone . "
Jiang Chen treated his leg while others looked at him in astonishment . He finally stopped screeching .
Then Jiang Chen asked, "What happened?"
All at once, the hunters started to talk about the battle they had just had .
"Child Chen, we were hunting and processing furs in the water forest in the upper reach of the river . There were dozens of packages of furs, but they were stolen by those bastards from the Tribe of Thunder . "
"Dozens of our men died . We scarcely escaped from them . "
"Those barbarians are crazy . "
A middle-aged man came up to Jiang Chen and said anxiously, "Child Chen, I thought you were from the Tribe of Thunder as well . I'm a damn fool!"
He was the one who had almost shot Jiang Chen .
"Child Chen, his daughter was caught . Please excuse him," Uncle Li helped him explain .
"His daughter?"
To Jiang Chen's knowledge, the hunting team of the Jiang Mansion was formed by hunting masters, but very few of them were women .
"That's right . We needed people to skin dead animals and pack . So he brought his daughter, but the people of the Tribe of Thunder set their eyes on her," Uncle Li said helplessly .
Jiang Chen knew pretty well the fate of the women who were caught by the tribal people . He asked, "When did this happen?"
"This morning . "
Jiang Chen looked up at the sky . It was early afternoon . There was still hope .
"I'll go save her . "
"No! It's impossible to do it alone!" This gave Uncle Li a good scare, since Jiang Chen was still a kid in his eyes .
"Yes, the Tribe of Thunder is very skilled with arrows . "
"Don't act on impulse!"
The hunters tried to stop him, afraid that he would do something rash .
"Don't worry . You go back and report this to the Jiang Mansion . Ask the Jiangs to take precautions against the Tribe of Thunder . "
Jiang Chen didn't take their advice and was resolute in his decision to go .
The Hundred Thousand Mountains had a long history . The Jiang Mansion and other forces hadn't been living here since the beginning of this history . Instead, they had moved here as pioneers and explorers .
The primitive tribes had already been living here before they came . These tribes were violent and bloodthirsty . They killed whomever they saw .
The Tribe of Thunder was one of these tribes .
The forces in the mountains had tried to negotiate with the primitive tribes and sign agreements with them so that they could establish mutual respect .
It was fine at the beginning . But later, whenever there was an accident, these barbarians would start to kill and rob, without respect to the agreements .
In most people's opinions, they were simple barbarians who believed in bloody traditions like decapitation .
The Tribe of Thunder had attacked the Jiang's hunting team and robbed the furs from of their territory . It was naked aggression and a declaration of war .
Jiang Chen made sure he knew his target's location and rushed in the direction Uncle Li had pointed him towards .
When he arrived at the water forest, it was already late afternoon . Fortunately, the people of the Tribe of Thunder were still there .
The water forest had been a normal forest, but due to its terrain, the river water seeped in little by little, and in the end, the forest and the river were integrated together .
Jiang Chen was squatting in the water . He noticed the bonfires on the opposite bank . They were burning corpses, all from the Jiang Mansion .
The tribe was still cleaning the battlefield!
A man of the Tribe of Thunder was ready to leave, furs packed in oilcloth on his back, humming happily at the same time .
The Tribe of Thunder knew little about practice . They were very backwards in martial arts methods and techniques, so they weren't very powerful . However, they were super skilled with arrows .
Jiang Chen didn't want to be exposed to them easily . He was observing carefully to locate the young girl .
Soon, he saw a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl, tied up .
It looked like they hadn't done anything to the girl yet, but she was extremely scared .
All of a sudden, a youngster of the Tribe of Thunder came up to the girl with two big men . One of them carried the girl on his shoulder, and they walked towards the forest .
Other people of the tribe shouted at the youngster out of envy . They obviously knew what he was going to do .
The young man smiled complacently and pulled his pants up a little bit, as if he were already too impatient to wait .
Jiang Chen saw his chance and followed them quietly .
He entered the forest from the other side . The two big men were standing in front of a tree as guards .
The girl's hands were tied to the tree, with her back to the youngster .
He had already taken off the girl's trousers and was touching one of her fair thighs .
Jiang Chen was approaching quietly . He jumped at the young man the moment after the latter took off his pants .
He couldn't move at will since the pants at his feet trapped him . Jiang Chen stabbed him in the heart .
"Ugh!"
The two big men turned around and saw the sword pierced in the heart of the youngster . They started to cry out in grief .
Jiang Chen untied the girl's hands quickly and dragged her to run away .
To his surprise, the two tribal men didn't chase him at all . They were squatting beside the youngster and crying for him .
"He's the chief's son," the girl said in a low voice, still scared .
Then she looked at Jiang Chen incredulously and said, "Are you Child Chen?"
Jiang Chen didn't answer her . His heart sank when he realized that these barbarians were serious followers of traditions . They thought the chief's family had the blood of gold .
And Jiang Chen had killed someone with the blood of gold!
A big man took out a horn and started to blow it .
Instantly, two big men walked towards him aggressively . A fiery anger was burning in their eyes .
The two of them were both in the completed preliminary stage of the Gathering Yuan State . One of them was holding a big knife, the other an axe .
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