182: Chapter 182 Returning to the Tribe
"What the hell kind of 'Heavenly Stone'? This is my weapon!"
Hearing this, Elder Gu Luo's expression changed instantly.
Suddenly, Delos, who was beside him, shouted, "That's not right, he's not the Holy Son!"
"Yeah, he doesn't look like one to me either."
"But what he's holding in his hand... it really is a Heavenly Stone!"
Bill and the other two frowned, staring intently at Jiang He.
"Kid, where on earth did you get that Heavenly Stone in your hand?"
Jiang He was bewildered by this group of people, and his anger flared up: "I'll say this one last time: This. Is. Not. A. Heavenly. Stone! Let me go immediately, or I really won't be polite anymore!"
After saying this, he raised the Heavenly Punishment Orb in his hand again.
Seeing this, Elder Gu Luo hurriedly stepped forward to stop him.
"Alright, alright, alright, we'll let you go, we'll let you go right now."
Hearing this, Jiang He retreated cautiously from the altar, stepping back toward the forest one step at a time.
Seeing that the others truly had no intention of stopping him, he immediately turned around and bolted toward the depths of the forest.
"Screw your 'Holy Son' title! I'm going home, goodbye to you all!"
Jiang He ran all the way, gripping the Heavenly Punishment Orb tightly in his hand—if he encountered another monster attack, he would absolutely not hesitate to blast it to pieces.
Awoooo—
A chorus of wolf howls suddenly rang out.
Immediately after, pairs of glowing green eyes appeared ahead.
They were dense, countless in number.
Jiang He shouted angrily: "So you've all come, have you? Perfect, I'll take you all out in one go!"
He accelerated and charged forward; almost at the same time, the Forest Wolves pounced.
Swoosh—
A Heavenly Punishment Orb was violently thrown out by him.
Jiang He didn't even think; he turned and fled.
But after running for a distance, he didn't hear an explosion.
Just as he was about to turn back to check—
Bang!
A Forest Wolf lunged at him, pinning him to the ground.
Its blood-stained maw was about to snap shut on him.
Jiang He roared in anger: "Qiao Er, screw your grandmother! You sold me a dud!"
Swoosh—
An arrow pierced through the air.
It accurately pierced through the Forest Wolf's skull.
"Protect the Holy Son!"
Clatter—
A commotion suddenly came from behind him.
Jiang He looked up and saw a group of tribesmen rushing up with weapons in hand, instantly surrounding him.
(*&%#...@!)
They shouted loudly at the Forest Wolves, raising their weapons in a defensive stance.
The Forest Wolf pack stopped in their tracks upon seeing this.
The black wolf leading them let out a long howl, and the pack slowly retreated.
Seeing the monsters leave, Jiang He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, Elder Gu Luo walked over and said respectfully: "Holy Son, we have already made your identity clear to the Wolf Clan; they will no longer attack you."
"Huh? W-what do you mean?"
"Aren't you leaving? You can leave with peace of mind now. No monsters—including us—will stop you again."
While speaking, Jiang He noticed a subtle, almost imperceptible flash of sadness in Elder Gu Luo's eyes.
"Sigh..." Jiang He sighed, "Old man, I'm really not lying to you, I'm really not the Holy Son you're talking about. I'm just a player here to do a quest."
Elder Gu Luo didn't seem to fully understand, but he nodded anyway.
Jiang He felt helpless, so he had to stand up and walk toward the forest again, his figure gradually disappearing into the night.
Along the way, he noticed an unusual phenomenon.
It wasn't just Forest Wolves he encountered along the way, but also Shadow Wolves, Stone Armor Beetles, and other monsters under level ten. Yet, when they saw Jiang He, not only did they not attack proactively like before, some monsters even knelt and kowtowed.
"Damn, is this 'Holy Son' identity really that awesome here?"
Jiang He switched from running to walking slowly, resting under trees whenever he was tired.
There were even monsters that proactively brought him fruit to quench his thirst.
"Stop." Jiang He tried shouting.
The Forest Wolf that had just brought him fruit stiffened and actually stopped.
It turned around and lay on the ground, not daring to look Jiang He in the eye, letting out a "whimper" of distress.
Jiang He curled his lips into a smile: "Come here, be a cushion for me for a while."
The Forest Wolf's body trembled, but it still obediently walked over and lay down.
Jiang He lay down on it comfortably.
"Nice... this fur is really soft. It would be great if I could make a scarf and wear it every day."
As soon as he finished speaking, he clearly felt the wolf's body start to tremble.
"Alright, alright, just lying down for a bit, I don't really want your hide."
Jiang He patted it to comfort it.
After resting for about a quarter of an hour, Jiang He got up, stretched, and continued on his way.
Three days passed in a flash.
Thump—
Jiang He plopped onto the ground and wailed: "Damn it, what kind of ghost forest is this? Why is it so big?!"
He had barely rested in the past three days, constantly on the move.
Let alone reaching the edge of the forest, he even felt like he was walking deeper and deeper—
The levels of the surrounding monsters were clearly getting higher and higher, from under level ten at the beginning to level sixty or seventy monsters everywhere now!
Rustle—
The sound of grass swaying came from behind him.
Jiang He felt helpless and sighed: "Alright, come on out!"
No one responded.
"Stop hiding, I discovered you a long time ago."
Rustle—
At this moment, a dozen tribesmen walked out from the bushes and bowed respectfully to Jiang He:
"Holy Son, we are here on Elder Gu Luo's orders to specifically escort you."
Jiang He rolled his eyes at them.
Escort? Is this how you escort someone?
I've been walking for three days, and I haven't seen you come out to show the way once!
"Alright, I'm not blaming you."
Over these past few days, although he hadn't directly interacted with them, he was certain these people had no malicious intent.
Every time he entered a new monster zone, these people would go in ahead of time to communicate. By the time Jiang He entered, those monsters would become exceptionally docile.
"So, how much longer until we can get out of this forest?"
The group looked at each other upon hearing this.
"Holy Son... aren't you the only one who knows the way out?"
"Huh? Only I know? What do you mean?"
The group looked troubled and exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
Jiang He understood immediately that they definitely had a secret, but they couldn't say it.
Suddenly, a burly man stepped forward and said respectfully: "Holy Son, there are some things we are not at liberty to disclose. If you truly wish to know, why not return to the tribe with us, and Elder Gu Luo can tell you personally."
Jiang He sighed.
Thinking that wandering around aimlessly like this wasn't a solution, it would be better to go back first and ask clearly.
So he nodded and agreed.
As it turned out, following them, it only took half a day to return to the tribe.
Jiang He had just stepped into the tribal territory—
Clatter—
A crowd surrounded him, all kneeling and kowtowing in unison.
Jiang He's face instantly flushed, and he hurriedly waved his hands:
"Don't... don't bow, get up quickly."
"Welcome home, Holy Son!"
The crowd shouted in unison, and every face was filled with excitement.
Jiang He sighed inwardly: It seems this "Holy Son" title is really important to them.
At this moment, Elder Gu Luo hurried out from a wooden house and came before Jiang He, his eyes filled with excitement.
Before he could even speak, he was about to kneel, but Jiang He grabbed him to stop him.
"Don't kneel, just tell me about the Holy Son stuff directly!"
Elder Gu Luo nodded and led him into a stone house.
"Holy Son, please take a look at this."
Jiang He looked in the direction Elder Gu Luo was pointing—
It was a huge stone tablet, its surface polished very smooth, with a portrait carved on it.
Although it was from a long time ago and the image was a bit blurry, Jiang He recognized the person on it at a glance.
"Gu... Gu Tian?"