Chapter 12: Coco Village's Little Shibi

  Malacca failed to grab the wooden keel, seeing that the other party had escaped and there was no danger, so he called out Professor Zhou Tao and Lin Xueyan from the tree hole, and a group of people entered the village of Keke.

  What first caught the eye was the bloodstains left on the huge altar after the ceremony and the corpses scattered all over, strangely most of them were female bodies, while males were mostly children.

  Being close to these corpses is even more terrifying. Lin Xueyan ran into a nearby wooden house and vomited when she saw this scene, accompanied by Ma Liu. Liu Yi and Big Beard rushed onto the altar, carried down Kexi who was unconscious, and placed him near the bonfire, without trying to wake him up first. They then lifted all the dead bodies far away to the other side of the altar, about thirty or forty corpses.

  They moved the dead body mainly because they were afraid that Lin Xueyan would see it and be scared. Big Beard's eyes were slightly red as he lifted the corpse, his face twisted in pain, biting his lip hard to hold back tears. After they finished, they cleaned their blood-stained hands a little, and everyone sat down by the bonfire, not saying a word.

  Malacca found some dried meat and dry rations in a nearby household and called everyone to eat. However, not a single person responded. Although the villagers of Keke Village were not relatives or friends with them, such a tragic case also made them feel extremely uncomfortable in their hearts, as if they had a thousand-pound boulder pressed on their heart. Especially Da Hu Zi, who had interacted with the kind and enthusiastic villagers before, thought back to the villagers' simple smiles and joyful dances that night, looked at Kexi who was unconscious in his arms, and saw the sparkling tears on the face of this child who had lost his relatives, and could no longer hold back, bursting into loud sobs.

  His crying made everyone feel even more miserable.

  The big beard's tears dripped onto Koxi's face, eyes and nose, and actually woke him up.

  Korkzi opened his eyes to see the big beard, as if he had found a reliable relative, and suddenly hugged the big beard's neck and burst into tears: "Uncle Beard, save Dad, save Dad."

  Where did Big Whiskers take Korkok to, nobody knows, how can they go and rescue? But he couldn't bear to see Korkxi sad, so he stopped crying, patted his back, like a mother coaxing a child to sleep, and said in a low voice: "Korkxi, don't worry, we will definitely rescue your dad!"

  Liu Yi really didn't expect that this rough and rugged man in front of him would have such a delicate heart, and he couldn't help but gain another layer of understanding for the big bearded man.

  The big beard comforted Kexi on one side and asked: "Why did those people want to catch your father?"

  Kexi wiped his eyes and said, "They asked Dad to lead the way to the holy land of the clan. Dad disagreed, so they... they... Wuuu... They are ruthless... Wuuu..."

  Lin Xuewen stepped forward and wiped away Keke Xi's tears, saying: "Okay, don't cry. We will definitely fight for justice for you."

  "Professor Zhou interrupted: 'What ethnicity are you?'"

  Korkzi raised his head, small eyes gazing at the deep night sky, with crystal tears hanging, but proudly and loudly replied: "We are the Qiang people of the antelope!"

  "Yes, it's true, the legendary twelve tribes are indeed real, they are the ancient Qiang people!" Professor Zhou Tao muttered to himself, his face filled with wonder: "Is the holy land hiding the secret of longevity?"

  Korksi didn't hear what he said, and continued on his own: "The sacred land can only be visited on the Queen Mother's birthday, March 3rd, when the clan holds a grand ceremony to worship our ancestors and pray for their protection and prosperity..."

  Professor Zhou Tao saw Liu Yi's puzzled face and explained: "The 'Shibi' in Keke Xi's mouth refers to the sacrificial masters within the Qiang ethnic group, also known as Duan Gong, Shigu, etc. They are the wisest people in the tribe. In order to distinguish between Shibi and his apprentices, they are respectively called Da Shibi and Xiao Shibi!"

  "Huh!" Korksi shook his head, pointing at Professor Zhou Tao: "You old man know quite a lot!"

  Everyone saw that he was no longer crying and put their minds at ease.

  "Hehe, if I'm not mistaken, you're Xiao Shi Bi from our village!"

  Korksi heard Professor Zhou say this and didn't feel surprised, muttering: "My dad is Xi Bei, I naturally have to inherit the position of Xi Bei!"

  Professor Zhou Tao was taken away by Keku Wood. With a heart full of despair, he suddenly raised his head in hope: "Then, do you know the address of the Holy Land?"

  "What are you doing in this holy place?" Young Korky suddenly stood up and shouted with a face full of anger.

  The big-bearded man explained: "This professor is an expert in ancient Qiang culture research, they are not bad people, they are doing academic work!"

  Korksi seemed to trust this mustachioed uncle who had once saved his father, and his anger slightly subsided: "I don't know the specific location of the Holy Land. That place is a forbidden area for our tribe, except for the Grand Release and those about to become the Grand Release!"

  Liu Yi's face changed from expectation to disappointment: "Why don't we set off now and catch up with the black-robed cultivators? Following them will surely lead us to the Holy Land!"

  Professor Zhou Tao and others felt that this was not a bad idea.

  "I don't know the exact location of the Holy Land, but I do know that it's located deep within the Kunlun Death Valley, where it's known as the Gate of Hell!" Korksi looked at them with a gaze similar to looking at monsters: "With just the few of you, going to that place is simply seeking death!"

  Everyone looked at each other in shock, no wonder the yellow monkey gang of poachers dared to enter the Death Valley, it turned out that the ancient Qiang holy land was located deep within the Death Valley.

  Koksi saw their disappointed look and said: "If you promise to rescue my father, I have another way to take you to the Holy Land!"

  The crowd, who had lost hope, reignited their hopes and nodded in agreement. Just as Liu Yi was about to ask Kexi what method he had, he saw Kexi staring with wide eyes at the front, shouting: "There's a wolf!"

  Liu Yi and the others looked in the direction he was pointing, and indeed saw a gray wolf with a faint green glow in its eyes, like the eyes of a ghost from hell. It stood in the shadow of a wooden house, and when it saw itself exposed, it didn't seem to be afraid of people at all, but instead walked out slowly. Its calm and fearless demeanor made Lin Xueyan's heart tremble with fear, and she unconsciously leaned towards Liu Yi.

  Kekexi said strangely: "The wolves here never attack humans actively and don't dare to enter our village, why are they acting out of character today?"

  Everyone was also surprised, normally wolves wouldn't attack humans unless they were starving or had been attacked by humans. Moreover, the bonfire in the middle of the village, though not big, was enough to scare off any ferocious beasts with ulterior motives.

  But it is unknown why this wolf is not afraid of fire. It should be known that in the ancient times, thunder and lightning were frequent, and forest fires were common, so most animals' fear of fire was deeply ingrained.

  Big Beard said: "Wolves are generally not alone, everyone pay attention to observe around, there must be its accomplices lurking around!"

  As expected, Liu Yi and the others found that except for the front direction, there was a wolf hiding in the dark in the other three directions. Their eyes were like the one in front, releasing ghostly green light in the dark night.

  Suddenly the first wolf raised its head and let out a long howl, as if calling to its companions. Then they heard countless wild wolves, this rising and falling howling sound, and a large number of animals in the forest making rustling sounds as they scurried about.

  "Could it be that the bloody aura in the village has attracted the wolves?!" Liu Yi's face changed: "Judging from the sound, there are quite a few wolves in this pack!"

  "These few wolves might be scouting wolves spying on the military situation, seeing that our forces are relatively weak, they decided to launch an attack!" Ma Liucao said with a worried expression.

  Three or five wolves, they are not taken seriously, but a pack of wolves, this is big trouble. Even the bearded man who has been wandering in the uninhabited area of Kokoxili for many years changed his face.

  "Never mind all that, retreat to the altar!" Liu Yi stood up and shouted at the high altar.

  The crowd nodded in agreement, pulled out a few torches and retreated up the white stone steps of the altar in a zigzag pattern.

  Liu Yi and his group were retreating when a wolf pack rushed into the village from all directions, with an estimated several hundred wolves.

  The wolf at the very front was tall and majestic, half a body taller than ordinary wolves. A ring of white fur around its neck made it look like the "White Wolf Leader". Under the leadership of the White Wolf Leader, the pack of wolves strode proudly across the bonfire heap, surrounding the altar in a circle.

  The White Wolf didn't rush to attack, instead he leisurely circled around the altar once. When he walked in front of the pile of corpses, he stopped and sniffed with his nose, seemingly disdainful, then raised his head again and continued forward, sizing up the altar as if studying the terrain.

  A pack of wolves stood around the altar, standing quietly, their heavy breathing audible. Liu Yi stood on the platform, looking at the ferocious expressions of the wolves illuminated by the bonfire, knowing that today they could not afford to back down. If it were humans, they might be able to sit down and negotiate a peaceful resolution, but when facing wolves, the only way out was to trample their corpses and kill their way out of the encirclement. But how could they possibly kill so many wolves?

  Liu Yi and the others were extremely nervous, they had never experienced or seen such a scene before. Usually, it was already good to see one or two wolves, but now there were several hundred.

  Liu Yi looked up at the silent watchtower on the altar, about 15 meters high, with a lookout opening in the middle that could accommodate people entering. He had an idea and ordered: "I'll guard the two white stone staircases leading to the altar with Ma Li Ka, Big Beard, you find a way to bring the others into the watchtower through the lookout opening to hide, hurry up, if it's too late, I'm afraid it will be too late!"

  At this critical moment, Liu Yi, who was tall and majestic, became the mainstay. According to his instructions, Da Hu Zi, Zhou Tao, Lin Xueyan, and Ke Kexi, four people ran towards the altar tower.

  At this time, the White Wolf Boss, who had already surveyed the terrain, stood still and saw that they wanted to hide in the watchtower. He knew that if these people hid inside, it would be harder to attack than climbing to heaven.

  Only the white wolf leader let out a long howl towards the moon, issuing an attack command. The pack immediately split into two small teams, rapidly rushing with their limbs to the white stone steps on both sides of the altar.

  Liu Yi and Malacca each held a half-meter-long machete they had picked up from the ground, guarding an entrance to the spiral staircase as if facing a formidable enemy.

  A great war between humans and wolves is about to unfold on this dark and windy night.

  At this time, the moon hiding behind the dark clouds peeked out and sprinkled a layer of silvery white moonlight on this great battle with curiosity.