Chapter 22: The Keren Tribe's Xiao Xinming

  Zhou Xiao looked at Leng Hao with a worried expression, "Leng brother, what should we do?"

  Leng Hao raised his head and looked around at the surrounding mountains. The terrain was very complex, if they wanted to kill someone, it would be absolutely easy, "Wait."

  Zhou Xiao hadn't yet come back to her senses, wondering what this meant, when she saw Leng Hao actually climbing the mountain. Was Brother Leng going to climb over? But this was very dangerous! Zhou Xiao loudly shouted: "Brother Leng, be careful!"

  Leng Hao stepped on the protruding mountain block and agilely climbed up the mountain. The mountain surface was not very smooth, but Leng Hao had complete confidence in climbing to the top. As he approached the top, Leng Hao grasped the mountain surface with his right hand and propped himself up, his toes pointing upwards as he leaped over, "Ah——" A sudden shrill cry echoed through the empty mountain valley.

  Zhou Xiao was so frightened that her face turned pale and she cried out: "Leng Gege! Leng Gege! What's going on?"

  Leng Hao immediately covered her mouth, "What's going on!" A group of people who heard the scream all came running over.

  He gazed at the woman with a cold and sharp gaze, his voice low and menacing: "Tell them not to come over, or else..." He lightly released her hand. The woman glanced at him before turning around and shouting: "It's nothing! I just tripped on a big rock and almost fell, it's fine, everyone go back to what you were doing!"

  A man responded: "So it's like this, Xiao Lingzhu, you'd better be more careful!"

  "Good!"

  Leng Hao glanced at the back, with flowers and grass everywhere, very beautiful. However, in his eyes, nothing was important; he just needed to find what he was looking for. Without saying another word, he headed in the direction they came from, letting Zhou Xiao climb up first. Zhou Xiao followed him, but she would only slow him down. He couldn't leave her alone here either. Zhou Xiao slowly took one step at a time upwards, her legs trembling with fear. She called out pitifully: "Leng Gege, I really can't climb anymore, I'm scared."

  "Come, take my hand." The woman smiled and stretched out her hand to her, Zhou Xiao's mouth opened wide, "What a spirited sister!"

  "Pfft! My sister is really good at talking!"

  Leng Hao's body emitted a chilling aura of "do not approach", "Why!"

  The woman also knew he didn't like to talk much, so she batted her eyelashes cutely and said: "I think you two are very interesting."

  "What's your name? My name is Xiao Xinming."

  Zhou Xiao said: "I am Zhou Xiao, he is Leng Hao."

  "Leng Hao." The two words rolled around in Xiao Xinmeng's mouth a few times, and it turned out that his name was Leng Hao, truly a name that suited him.

  "However, you two are considered to be sneaking in. You were outside yesterday and our tribe's people won't let strangers enter. Speak up, what do you want to do here?"

  Leng Hao didn't answer and instead asked: "Who are you?"

  Xiao Xinmeng turned around and looked at the living environment of this tribe, with her hands behind her back: "I am the leader of the Keren tribe, equivalent to your external clan leader." Her voice was filled with a sense of helplessness, sorrow, and yearning for the outside world.

  "Well, since you've already come in, go ahead and play around everywhere. Don't worry, with me here they won't do anything to you. It's been a long time since I've seen outsiders, okay?"

  Leng Hao didn't say a word, and Zhou Xiao smiled in response: "Okay." This sister seemed very nice, although Yue Jie had told her not to easily trust people, but her intuition told her that this person wasn't bad! However, what did Brother Leng want to do after all?

  "How did you get in!" Several men glared at the two outsiders and said to Xiao Ningmeng, "Chief! How could you let these two outsiders into our tribe? We don't know their intentions, what if we invite disaster?"

  Xiao Xinming's eyes flashed with a hint of light, and a faint smile appeared on his face. "You don't have to worry about this, I have my own judgment. Since I let them in, they are my friends. Anyone who is disrespectful to them will be strictly dealt with!"

  Those people all had a look of discontent on their faces, and their eyes showed great dissatisfaction with her actions, but none of them spoke out. They still had some fear of this woman's lord.

  Xiao Xinming took them to many places, Zhou Xiao was very happy, Leng Hao still had a cold expression, walking at the back looking at the smiling woman, as if she was wearing a mask, what was her purpose.

  Leng Hao didn't look around, but that didn't mean he hadn't noticed the gazes of others. It was a very vigilant and disgusted look in his eyes. Although tribes that lived in seclusion would always have strong vigilance, this place was a bit too much. Something had happened here before, but he wasn't clear about the specifics either.

  Zhou Xiao didn't know when she had slipped to his side, "Leng Gege, what are we doing here after all."

  "You don't need to know too much." Originally, he was going to say "You just don't have to rely on me," but instead used a more tactful expression.

  "I didn't expect Zhou Xiao to say in a very small voice, 'Why did you talk so much today?' Leng Hao's originally expressionless face seemed to darken slightly, but the rough-nerved Zhou Xiao didn't notice and was again attracted by those beautiful flower trees."

  "Xīn ér!" A very handsome man stood in front of them.

  "What are you doing here?" He stared at Leng Hao with a sharp and impolite gaze.

  Xiao Xinming blocked his line of sight, looking at his eyes with a bit of momentum, "Yan Hui, they are my guests."

  Yan Hui glanced at her, and Xiao Xin's body involuntarily trembled but made a great effort to stand up straight. Cold Hao looked at this man, the aura emanating from him was very powerful. Zhou Xiao felt very uncomfortable, this man was very dangerous, but she didn't back down. She also wanted to become stronger, even if she couldn't help Cold Gege, she didn't want to be a weak person!

  Seeing Xiao Xinmeng being so stubborn, Yan Hui turned around and left, saying in a low voice: "You need to think clearly about what you're doing!"

  As soon as he left, Xiao Xin's tense body relaxed immediately, and she let out a long sigh. Her clothes were drenched in cold sweat, and a bitter smile played on her lips. She lowered her eyelids, and Zhou Xiao walked up to her side, smiling and saying: "Xin jie, this place is really beautiful!"

  Xiao Xin smiled and said: "Really? That's great, want to stay here forever? I've heard that there are many bad things happening outside."

  Zhou Xiao panicked and stuttered, "Eh? No way, I...I, although it's really hateful outside, there are also many happy things. Xue Jie, Yue Jie, Leng Gege, they're all very good people."

  Xiao Xinmeng looked at her incoherently, unsure of what to say, but the intended meaning had already been conveyed. "Haha, I was just joking, no need to be so tense!"

  "Actually, I knew there would be outsiders coming."

  "Huh?"

  They slowly walked into a cave, and inside there was a spring pool. Xiao Xinming said: "I know you're looking for the Blue Jade Gemstone Crystal, but do you know that it originally belonged to our Keren tribe? However... huh, what are you looking for the crystal for?"

  "Save him."

  Zhou Xiao said, "The Blue Jade Crystal has bad people who want to get it, so we need to find the fragments ahead of time. And maybe with the crystal, we can all be free and live forever. We can also rescue those children who were used as experimental subjects. If you have any information about the Blue Jade Crystal, please tell us. I want to do something for Xue sister, even if it's just a little bit. I don't want to see anyone else die!" Zhou Xiao placed her hands on her heart, closing her eyes in pain as tears streamed down her face, recalling memories she didn't want to have again.

  "Is that so."

  Xiao Xinming opened her big eyes and looked at them with a determined gaze, "Hmm, I'll tell you everything I know!"

  "The Blue Jade Crystal was somehow in our tribe, my grandfather and his generation didn't know how it got there, it seemed to have been picked up by chance. Because the crystal was extremely beautiful, it became the treasure of our tribe. However, one day, the Blue Jade Crystal suddenly emitted a huge amount of energy, with a loud whooshing sound spreading rapidly in all directions. Wherever the airflow went, everything turned into ruins, and many people died. That was when disaster struck. That night, countless people came to our ancestors' place, wanting to get that energy. Our ancestors were no match for them and were eventually robbed of it. Our ancestors thought it was for the best, but they didn't know that this was only just the beginning."

  "The crystal energy that was taken away caused a riot, even destroying a city, but it didn't end there. However, no one knew why the crystal energy suddenly came under control, and the news of the city's destruction was hastily explained and covered up. Then, our ancestors thought they had almost caused a global disaster, so they hid here. Not long after, another crystal was discovered, but it was a fragment of blue jade crystal. To prevent the energy from getting out of control again, they chose an ancient method and embedded it in the mountain. From then on, whenever someone tried to invade this place, the mountain would automatically defend itself, even releasing its power to repel them. Due to changes in the terrain, a cave was formed here. Everything had been peaceful until about 70 years ago, during my grandfather's generation, when outsiders discovered the blue jade crystal fragment and researched it, but it was stolen again. Someone wanted to use the crystal's power for evil purposes once more. Soon after, strange phenomena appeared in the sky. Before he passed away, Grandfather told me that 60 years later, outsiders would appear again, and our tribe would face a catastrophe. The only way to save us is for a righteous person to take away the crystal fragment."

  "I think the people of justice are you, I don't know when that group of people will appear, I don't want the tribe to be destroyed like this. As for how the blue jade crystal became fragments, I don't know, but Grandfather seemed to have told me before that besides the blue jade crystal, a key and lock are also needed. There are too many unexplainable things in the world, those crystals and keys are not ordinary objects, so the people who can possess them must be extraordinary, capable people... what was it again? The Goddess?"

  Zhou Xiao was stunned and hadn't recovered yet, coldly saying: "Why would the lord be you? And who is Yan Hui?"