Banished to Another World
chapter-45

Yuan Zhan followed up. He made his way through the marsh with a bent waist, heading to the left corner of the eye-shaped lake.

The salt lake occupied a large area, if not because Jiu Feng made calls in the sky, they would never know there were people at the other side of the salt lake.

This was the first time they crossed the entire seepweed marsh and went to the edge of the lake.

Yuan Zhan caught up to the boy in front of him, he pressed on Yan Mo’s shoulder to make him bend his straight back.

Yan Mo glanced back at him then bent his waist following the push. He imitated Yuan Zhan and started walking on his toes.

They’re walking barefoot through a marsh with melting snow in the winter, there’s no need to describe what this felt like. Yan Mo didn’t know if it’s because the people of this world had adapted with the environment, although his hands and feet felt very cold and cracking, he didn’t get chilblains.

He still wanted to make a shoe with soles when he got some time, otherwise it’d be too hard on his feet.

Jiu Feng was flying around in the sky, time to time issuing a call.

Yan Mo sped up his pace. He’s worried that the two-legged monsters will have left when they arrived there.

In fact, he was worrying about nothing. When Yuan Zhan and Yan Mo made their way to the left edge of the marsh, the two-legged monsters were still around.

The surrounding environment of the salt lake looked like this.

The place around this salt lake can be divided into three layers from the centre to the edge; the dead land, the wetland, then the normal soil.

From the shore of the salt lake, there was a wide stretch of land all around where nothing grows, Yan Mo called this a dead land.

After this dead land was a piece of land were a wetland, full of seepweeds and many little streams. The source of these streams seem to be coming from the underground, a clear water spring. It’s not frozen in winter. Some of those clear streams flew to the salt lake while others twisted and wound around to other directions, one of which ends up near the stone house where Yuan Zhan and Meng lived now.

The outermost part of the surrounding area was ordinary land, the place bordering the wetland was full of grasses and both high and low thickets. Look further away from this edge of land and the terrain became much more varied, there were woods, grasslands, hills and lakes.

The left edge of the eye-shaped lake was roughly the same as the surrounding except for a depression there. Probably due to lower ground level, the soil got more salt water than clear water, leading to sparse growth of the seepweeds on the wetland. The dead land looked bigger on that side.

At this moment, a group of people stood on that wide stretch of dead land.

Yuan Zhan caught sight of the group of people from afar and immediately grabbed Yan Mo. He pulled him to go around the group and out of the wetland. They ducked behind the safe and ordinary thickets.

Those people would never imagine there were other humans at their holy forbidden land. Most of them were looking up to the sky, watching closely at what Jiu Feng will do next.

They kept their eyes on Jiu Feng above while several people dragged out a young girl and shoved her out of their crowd.

The girl had messy hair and dirty face, she only had a layer of hardened animal skin on herself. She staggered along the way and finally tripped. The young girl climbed up, but only stood there filled with terror. She didn’t run or cry out.

Yan Mo was puzzled, “What are they doing?”

“You’re a priest, you don’t know? It’s a sacrifice, offering a sacrifice to the mountain god Jiu Feng, should be in return for some of that lake’s red salt.” Yuan Zhan whispered into his ear. His mouth opened, about to bite the little slave’s ear, but then restrained himself.

“Jiu Feng doesn’t care about those sacrifices” Yan Mo muttered. He can hear Jiu Feng complaining in the sky right now.

Yuan Zhan didn’t contradict him, but seeing the smooth movements of those people, he judged that, “They must have done this before, and it was successful.”

Then what happened to the sacrifice? Where was that person now? Yan Mo didn’t ask Yuan Zhan these questions, the answer was obvious.

Yan Mo didn’t really care whether Jiu Feng had eaten humans before. Humans eat animals, animals eat humans, it’s all to survive. You can eat them, why can’t they eat you? If you don’t want to be eaten in this kind of world, you can only get stronger, train to be a better fighter, or have other means.

And, who can really say, the previous sacrifice didn’t run away?

It’s unknown how those people made the judgement… Probably because Jiu Feng kept circling the sky and didn’t seem inclined to swoop down, two of them dragged the girl back and pushed out a new sacrifice. This time, it’s an even younger boy.

The boy was shaking from the cold, and hugged himself with both arms. His eyes were wet, he turned to squirm back into the group, but those adults pushed him out again.

The little boy sat down on the ground and started to sob. He looked back to the group of people again and again, as if praying that someone would pull him back or change the sacrifice again.

“Don’t want it, don’t want it! I already have little two-legs, don’t want others! Take it away, take it away!” Jiu Feng grumbled above them.

Yan Mo pressed his hurting forehead. He had it ever since this morning. It must be because of the cold.

Yuan Zhan looked at Yan Mo then suddenly held up his head. “Has your body burned hot before? Extremely hot, like there’s a fire in your body. Did you get a really bad headache?”

“Mn?” Yan Mo recalled his fever after that rain. “Why?”

“You’ve awakened your ability.” Yuan Zhan concluded. What he heard from others and the change in Yan Mo now matched.

“Ha?”

“Just now, here…” Yuan Zhan’s thumb stroked the younger teen’s left cheekbone, “A small six-edged star appeared on your cheek.”

Yan Mo was stunned, “You mean, I became a first-grade warrior?”

Yuan Zhan nodded. “When you awaken your blood ability, you will get the warrior mark even if you’re not a warrior.”

Yan Mo was completely at a loss on how to express his current feelings. He kept thinking of others as some magical creatures, but he forgot, this body of his was also native to the world.

“What could Yanshan clan’s power be?” He asked without thinking.

“You ask me?” A bit surprised, Yuan Zhan scoffed at him.

Yan Mo realised his mistake and quickly made up for it, “Although I received the Ancient God’s inheritance, he didn’t tell me what our clan’s ability is and didn’t say what God he is. My priest had never told me what it is either.” Mostly because Heijiao was always unconcerned about what happened around him, while there was never any talk about anyone awakening special powers in the tribe.

Yuan Zhan didn’t say whether he believed it or not, he just said, “I only know that Yanshan clan were not called Yanshan before. They got that name from the tribes around them after they settled at that salt mountain.”

“My clansmen had never told anyone their past? For example, what god did they descend from?”

Yuan Zhan thought before shaking his head, “No.”

Right after, he looked at Yan Mo weirdly, “Your clansmen also don’t know?”

Yan Mo also felt that it was weird. Even if Heijiao was not sensible, it shouldn’t be to the point he didn’t know about the tribe’s past. Yet, Heijiao was completely clueless about it. That can only mean one thing, that Yanshan people were not willing to talk about their past, or were forbidden from talking about it.

But why?

This was a piece of mystery, but he hadn’t met any Yanshan people as of now, so he can only shelve it.

Yan Mo kneaded his forehead. Was it because he kept wishing he could communicate with Jiu Feng and the need was too urgent, leading to the breakthrough of some limiter and awakening his blood ability?

An ability to understand a human faced-bird’s screeches…… Can he change to another? He’s not interested in devoting his entire life to study a bird.

Whether he and Jiu Feng can talk or not will not affect his situation at the moment. He’d rather have an ability that allowed him to fight, even if it’s just plainly more physical strength.

“I finally believe that you are the priest mountain god Jiu Feng acknowledged.” Yuan Zhan rubbed his head.

“Hey!” Then you never believed it before this?

“You actually awaken your god’s blood ability so young, and without getting any training. Tch, people of your tribe will definitely regret abandoning you in the future.” The teen seemed to be sighing at his luck and gloating at the Yanshan clansmen’s blindness.

“Ah right, what ability did you get?” The teen felt curious.

Yan Mo decided he’d never tell him. Let him be curious forever.

At the open space, the sacrificial exchange was still happening.

Those people’s faces became increasingly tense.

They had changed sacrifices several times from the time they arrived till now. Nearly all of them had stood there as an offering, but they still couldn’t get the mountain god-daren’s permission.

But why? it wasn’t like this in the past.

They started to panic.

An old man with fur clothes draped all over his body knelt down first, then other people also knelt down.

The old man raised both arms and made strange hum-like mutterings. Every time he finished a part, he’d bow down until his head hit the ground.

After repeating this several times, his forehead was split and started bleeding.

The old man got up, and saw that Jiu Feng still won’t fly down to get the offerings. His body swayed, someone came from behind to support his body.

He turned around and took the boy from before from the group of people. He pulled the boy until they reached the lakeside and threw the boy to the lake.

Yan Mo nearly rushed out of the cover!

Yes, he is a scumbag, he doesn’t care about anything, he is someone who will never do heroic acts just because it’s the right thing to do. That didn’t mean he can look on as a little kid was dragged and thrown to a lake and pretend he didn’t see it.

Not to mention, the guide will give him 10 scum points if he just looks on as people die!

Yuan Zhan moved fast. He already held Yan Mo back the moment he ran out. “Don’t go out! Do you want to die?”

Yan Mo forced himself to calm down. The water near the lakeshore was shallow and the water had buoyancy. As long as the kid was not consumed with fear and thrash around in the water, he won’t drink too much water. Though the kid may not drown so quickly, Yan Mo guessed he can’t hold on for long either. In this weather, he can also freeze to death from the cold.

He had to move now to save the kid, or it’ll be too late!

When the kid was pushed to the water, someone in the group of people screamed. He seemed to be trying to rush out but people around him held him back.

That person wailed in pain, tears streamed down his face.

He gave his kid as sacrifice, but that way he will die where he can’t see the kid. He can pretend that it’s just as the priest said, that the mountain god had taken his child to his nest and the child would be living a better life.

But now, the priest threw his child into the ice-cold lake, his son was crying and screaming. Although he had other children, he can’t just do nothing as his child was about to drown or freeze to death.

Oh, god! I beg you, take my child away ba!

That man broke away from the people holding him back. He copied the priest’s posture, raised his hands high and threw himself to the ground again and again.

Meanwhile, Yan Mo struggled free from Yuan Zhan’s hold and ran to the back. He ran to a corner where those people can’t see him, put his fingers in his mouth and blew a sharp whistle.

The fuming Jiu Feng suddenly turned his head to the sound. Yi? Little two-legs was calling him?

This tune was decided after tormenting each other several times. Now, when Jiu Feng heard this sound he knew that the little two-legs was looking for him.

“Chierrk—!” Jiu Feng replied. He fanned his wings to fly to the side and swooped down.

The people at the open space didn’t react immediately at the whistle sound, they saw the human faced-bird swooping down and subsequently broke into cheers.

That old man thought that his method worked. He excitedly looked up to Jiu Feng, thinking that the bird will go to the water.

The man who was kowtowing with all his might also let out a joyful laugh. His child will be taken by the mountain god, he’ll live well with the god.

The small boy was still struggling in the water, crying and screaming unknown words. Gradually, the boy’s movements became smaller and his cries became softer while his tribesmen cheered with joy.

Edited by Silversun