Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The Great Wilderness experiences great temperature differences between day and night, but the felt tent is warm and cozy.

Brother Reed pointed at Xial, "This kid was supposed to collect your body!"

Then he pointed at the young Hunter Bell, "This kid was supposed to collect your corpse as well!"

Finally, the old man stroked his beard with delight, "Ahem. Heaven values all creatures' life, and as an old man, I was afraid they'd die on the way, so I escorted them all this way. I have fulfilled my mission without blemish! Now that you are not dead, you can go ahead and settle my salary for the past three months."

"Cut it out!" Xial was annoyed, "Weren't we the ones driving the carriage? What else have you done besides sleeping on it?"

Although Xial was angry, his eyes were smiling as he clung to Winters' arm and refused to let go.

Winters cut to the chase, "How did you find me?"

"It's a long story, we first followed the army back to Paratu." Brother Reed said with a beaming smile, "Once Hurd's pursuers turned back, these two wanted to collect your corpse."

Winters nodded slightly.

Bell spoke softly, "We originally planned to search for bodies by The Styx, but we happened to meet Dajie Shaman, who was comforting the souls of the dead. Brother Reed then talked with Dajie Shaman, and he brought us here to the Great Shaman."

"Even the head of the Shamans have wisdom, and I got along with him." Brother Reed said with a smile, "He told us that the Red River Tribe had a Paratu champion in their hands. As soon as I heard it, I knew it was you, so I followed him to find you."

Little Lion had previously mentioned that the Great Shaman wanted to see Winters, but he hadn't come yet.

According to Brother Reed, the Great Shaman was probably nearby.

"Have you seen White Lion?" Winters asked.

"We have, when we came with the Great Shaman, we ran into White Lion who was returning from a punitive campaign," Brother Reed changed to a more comfortable reclining position, "The formidable White Lion almost bowed down in respect upon seeing me, unlike you, kid, who always seem to have something to prove against me. Seeing his attitude was not bad, I casually gave him a few pointers."

"What kind of pointers?"

"Don't worry about that."

Since Brother Reed had arrived, Winters began to discuss the matter of the ritual Gold Man with him.

White Lion neither agreed to his deal nor rejected it.

Upon learning of Winters' rash actions, the old Brother was so angry his beard became crooked.

He scolded furiously, "What were you thinking? What makes you think you can negotiate with White Lion? If you were not a cultivator, White Lion would have plenty of ways to make you talk! If White Lion had any ill intentions, you... do you know what would become of you?"

Not to upset Winters, Little Lion and Erhulan had been very careful not to let any "spoils of war" appear around him.

But Winters knew that the captured Paratu People had become slaves, and among them were likely his own warriors.

Winters lowered his eyes and said quietly, "I just wanted to make things easier for myself."

To make yourself feel better? There are plenty of ways! The simplest is to have a black heart and disregard all kin," Brother Reed fumed with bulging eyes, "What about captives? What's it to you? As long as you don't care! All you need to do is dust off your behind and walk away. If you can do this, you're sure to achieve great things in the future."

Xial and the young Hunter looked at the old charlatan in horror, their expressions changing.

Winters remained silent.

Brother Reed gently cajoled, "Don't worry about so much, just hurry home. Once back to Vineta, bolster your strength under the protection of your family elders. If the world remains the same, you follow the routine and become an official. If there's a great upheaval, you can rise quickly. Advance or retreat at will. This is the easiest path, and I've pointed it out to you. What are you hesitating for?"

Winters sat there like a stone, still without a word.

Brother Reed sighed, smiled, and shook his head, "Let me tell you why White Lion neither agrees nor refuses."

Winters suddenly looked up.

Brother Reed gestured to all around, "To the south of the Great Wilderness are mountains, to the north are still mountains. To the west is the tundra, and beyond the tundra, more mountains; only to the east is there an exit, yet it's blocked by the Paratu People. Tell me, what use is your gold to White Lion? What can he buy with it?"

"It's an important ritual object..."

"Ritual object?" Brother Reed scoffed, "What's that worth in soldiers? Take the Great Shaman, is his status not lofty? But how many soldiers does he command? Does his word count for anything? White Lion's from the Boya Clan, by custom, he can't be called Khan, so you can't give the Gold Statue to him either. To put it plainly, you'd have to convince the Gold Man himself to descend from heaven and scold White Lion's birth mother. Can you do that?"

"But he could negotiate with the Fire-Tenders..."

"Negotiate?" Brother Reed's eyes widened, "Once White Lion gets his hands on the ritual Gold Man, he loses the Fire-Tenders as an ally! The Red River Tribe and the Terdon Tribe are now relying on and wary of each other. To White Lion, the Terdon Tribe without the ritual Gold Man is the most ideal Terdon Tribe. He can leverage their power without fear of being swallowed up."

"I... I didn't know these things..."

"Ah, you child, trapped in this tiny tent, what could you possibly know?" Brother Reed sighed, "You're offering White Lion a volcano that could erupt at any time. But what you want to take away is thousands worth of labor. The Paratu captives are scattered in the hands of the Hurd tribes, is White Lion supposed to go negotiating with each tribe for you?"

Winters' expression turned grim, "Then what should I do?"

Brother Reed countered, "Why doesn't White Lion just refuse you or simply kill you off? With your death, the ritual Gold Man would disappear and everything would be resolved."