Times Are Changing
Two guards stood atop the wall of Xiong village, their brows furrowed as they observed a mortal fleeing from the village.
"Let me get this straight," Fer St remarked with evident disdain for the orders. "Instead of killing them, we're exiling them?"
Se Kond responded, "Our clan leader claims that exiling them will restore balance to the world or some such nonsense."
Fer St scoffed and retorted, "Balance? The world would be far better balanced if we were the ones in charge!"
Se Kond let out a small chuckle and quipped, "You're starting to sound like one of the elders."
Fer St narrowed his eyes and replied, "And you're making it seem like they're wrong."
Se Kond quickly backtracked and said, "No, no, no, of course not. I meant it as a compliment." He gulped nervously, realizing he had touched a nerve.
Fer St let out a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head, "My apologies, I got a bit carried away."
Se Kond mirrored Fer St's relaxed posture and replied, "No need to apologize. We all have our moments like that."
But suddenly, Fer St drew his weapon and plunged it into Se Kond's chest. "Die, you filthy spy!"
Confusion initially flickered across Se Kond's face, but it quickly gave way to rage. "I already told you, I'm not a spy!" he exclaimed.
Se Kond tried to defend himself by activating his Sharp Scale Gu, but before he could fully activate it, Fer St swiftly struck him with a Paralysis Gu, leaving him completely immobilized.
⸻
"So, let me get this straight. This man managed to make you fall asleep and just walked away?" The Dark Hall Elder of the Gu Yue Clan asked in disbelief.
"I can't explain how he did it, but he must have used a special Gu," replied Gu Yue Bo.
"Three out of six of our neighboring mortal villages were completely destroyed. Just two months ago, we had seven villages. How are we going to survive the winter?" questioned the Gu Yue Clan Elder.
"Apparently, Xiong Clan was the only one who didn't lose a village," Mo Chen interjected.
"We've already discussed this. The reason they weren't attacked was that their forest lacked animals for the wolves to prey on!" the Punishment Hall Elder of the Gu Yue Clan reminded everyone.
"And why is that?" Mo Chen inquired.
Before Gu Yue Bo could intervene, a Message Gu landed on his hand.
After reading the message his face instantly relaxed, and Gu Yue Bo sighed with relief. "The Xiong Clan has agreed to send villagers over to 'Restore Balance'?"
Everyone in the room appeared puzzled by the ambiguous wording, but they quickly assumed it was just a polite way of saying they were interested in doing business.
"What do they want in return?" Chi Lian inquired.
"They want us to keep everything that happened under wraps. In other words, they want us to keep the wolf attacks a secret," Gu Yue Bo clarified.
Everyone in the chamber quickly grasped the implication of the request. It was a clear indication that the Xiong Clan was involved with the lightning wolves.
After weighing the potential dangers of the situation, Mo Chen let out a deep sigh and said, "If the Xiong Clan truly has a means of manipulating the wolves, perhaps it would be best to comply with their request."
Chi Lian clenched his fists in frustration. "Perhaps we could collaborate with the Bai Clan and launch a counter-attack."
Mo Chen countered, "And then what? We'll all perish of hunger! If we engage in warfare, there will be nothing left for us. If we do this we won't have sufficient resources to withstand the next wolf Tide!"
Gu Yue Bo raised his hand with a heavy heart and said, "Let's accept their conditions."
Although everyone wanted to decline, what other options did they have? While the next wolf tide was still far off, it was not as if a conflict would conclude swiftly, especially if the Xiong Clan truly had a way to control the lightning wolves. Thus, with little to no choice, they followed Gu Yue Bo's lead and each lifted their hands to signify their agreement with the clan leader's choice.