Chapter 913 - The Gates of Hell
Chapter 913: The Gates of Hell
After three consecutive groups of captives fell down the waterfall and were buried in the belly of the fish.
Leaf’s group of captives were forced by the ox-tail whip and the spear, and they staggered to the riverside.
At this moment, the youth’s face was full of frost.
The lines that outlined his facial features appeared particularly tough, making him appear a bit like brother Cool Shaw.
Three days after their home was destroyed, it passed as quickly as three blinks of the eye.
And what happened in the blink of an eye was as many as the blink of an eye.
Before this, leaf had never been so far away from home.
The rat people had unclean blood, so they could not move freely to avoid contaminating the land where the ancestral spirits slept.
They could only curl up in the habitat designated by the clan master, which was usually a steep mountain range with a harsh environment.
Fortunately, no matter how barren the land was, the mandala tree could grow strong enough to produce enough mandala fruit for the rat people to eat well and reproduce.
Therefore, the leaves of the past never felt the need to leave their hometown.
He was satisfied to be able to look at the horizon from the top of the highest mandala tree among the cliffs and cliffs.
It was not until this moment that he realized that there were such rugged and difficult mountain paths in the world.
There were so many strange plants that could eat humans.
Even the totem beasts had so many kinds. The most powerful totem beasts required seven or eight blood hoof warriors to enter the ‘Totem Frenzy’state before they could be dealt with.
Of course, after three days of arduous trekking, he and the captives had also suffered a lot.
Many people were swallowed by the swamp, bitten to death by poisonous insects, and torn to pieces by totem beasts.
There were also some people who walked, their heads tilted, and died silently.
More people were beaten to death and stabbed to death by the oxtail whip and goat horn spear of the Blood Hoof Warriors.
Out of ten captives, at most two or three survived.
But more captives filled up the empty space under the branches of the mandala tree.
When Leaf was trekking on the mountain road, he saw hundreds of black columns of smoke rising from the nearby hills.
He vaguely heard the wails and screams he had heard a few days ago.
They were not the only ones who were slaughtered.
There were also the foothill village, the Hilltop Village, the Big Tree Village, the small tree village… and countless villages whose names leaf had never heard before.
As they gradually headed towards the Buffalo River and walked onto the road paved with large bluestones, more and more blood hoof warriors with their heads held high and wailing captives joined their ranks.
The old, the weak, and the disabled were mostly tortured to death halfway through.
Those who survived were all robust young men, as well as young men like leaf who were full of vigor.
“The masters are… screening the captives.”
The young man who had grown up quickly in three days was keenly aware of this, “The Bloody Hoof clan doesn’t need so many captives. They deliberately took us on the most dangerous mountain path, gave us the least food, and kept torturing us. They want to select the strongest, the most agile, and the most patient among us.”
Just like now.
The bloodhoof warriors could have led the captives to cross the river from a place far away from the waterfall, where the river was wide and the current was not fast.
Leaf even saw the traces of a pontoon in the open part of the river.
But they insisted on taking captives and walking through the gate of hell above the waterfall.
This was a test of the strength of the rat subjects.
They would also purify their bloodlines.
To make these traitors, cowards, unclean people, barely qualified to set foot on the land of black-corner city.
Realizing this.
Leaf knew that he had no way out.
From three days ago, no, from the day the mandala flower bloomed, he had no way out.
He could only grit his teeth and charge through the gates of hell!
So, before the ox-tail whip and the horn gun landed on his scarred back.
Ye Zi took a deep breath and stepped into the cold and rapid river water.
Fortunately, he was much taller than the ordinary rat folk, and the river water barely reached his chest.
The group of captives behind him had been carefully selected, and they were all tall teenagers.
On that day, after the broken-horned ox-head warrior completed the blood bestowing ceremony, he took away his brother’s body.
His brother had officially joined the Bloody Hoof clan. Naturally, he could not be exposed in the wilderness like a lowly rat.
Perhaps out of respect for his brother, after the ox-headed warrior learned of Ye Zi’s identity, he assigned him to the team of captives, which was made up of tall teenagers. This increased his chances of survival.
After two or three days, Ye Zi and the grasshoppers on the same rope behind him gradually developed a tacit understanding.
At this moment, they were in sync with each other. They gritted their teeth and fought against the torrent.
Steadily, they walked to the center of the Buffalo River.
But here, the river suddenly became deeper by an arm.
The two shorter captives in the middle of the team instantly suffered a disaster.
They choked on a few mouthfuls of the stinky river water. They couldn’t breathe and couldn’t open their eyes due to the rapid current. Instinctively, they struggled desperately.
With this struggle, the entire team was naturally thrown into chaos.
The captives exerted their strength in different directions. The two captives at the end of the line slipped and were washed down the waterfall by the torrent.
It was all thanks to the cow tendon rope that passed under their armpits and was tightly tied to the straight and elastic mandala branch, hanging them over the waterfall.
The exclamations of the other captives came from both sides of the Buffalo River.
As well as the laughter of the Warriors.
Many of the Blood Hoof Warriors were pointing at them, rolling up their sleeves and placing bets.
They were betting on how many blinks of an eye they could last before they would slide down the waterfall one by one, beyond redemption.
“Stand firm! Don’t be afraid! We haven’t fallen yet!
“To the left! Everyone, move to the left with all your strength! We will definitely be able to cross the river!”
Leaf shouted at the top of his lungs. His tone was firm and his expression was determined.
In fact, he was also extremely afraid.
He was so afraid that a few drops of cold urine leaked out from under the river.
He was only imitating his brother’s appearance when he was in danger in the past.
His brother told him that the more afraid he was, the more he had to pretend to be unafraid.
As long as everyone pretended to be unafraid, there was nothing to be afraid of in this world.
Even though his brother was already dead.
But leaf still decided to follow his brother’s example and continue walking down his path.
His shouting and strength were indeed effective.
The team, which was on the verge of collapse, once again steadied their footing and fought against the torrent.
Even their companions, who were submerged by the river, held their breaths and could hold on for a while longer.
However, they could at most stand firm against the current, but they still could not escape from the jaws of death.
The captives’strength was rather limited, and they would be exhausted before they could hold on for too long.
The two companions who held their breaths also became more and more in pain, and they were on the verge of collapse at any moment.
The two companions who were at the end of the line and were suspended in the air above the waterfall even desperately wanted to bite off the mandala branch and let themselves fall into the waterfall, reducing the burden on the team and giving the other eight captives a chance to survive.
However, their hands were behind their backs, their muscles were stiff, and their joints were almost frozen. It was not easy for them to bite onto the mandala branch.
Instead, because they used too much strength, the entire branch, which was extremely elastic, began to shake violently.
The captives, who had just stabilized themselves, once again lost their balance and were on the verge of collapse.
Leaf felt a wave-like shaking force coming from behind him.
He almost slipped and was swallowed by the river.
At the moment of life and death, a bolt of lightning flashed in his mind.
In the depths of the secret base, the murals in the cave suddenly flashed in front of his eyes in an incredible way.
They were like hundreds of thousands of shiny little snakes that entered his bloodline.
He vaguely caught the subtle resonance between the extremely flexible mandala branches, the vibration of the ten captives, and the rapid current.
“Shake It! We should shake it hard!”
Leaf widened his eyes and shouted at the top of his voice, “Have you used the mandala branches to pick dozens of the most plump and heavy mandala fruits in one go? “Foolishly using your stupid strength, you’ll lose all your strength in an instant! “But if you make the mandala branches shake, bounce, and move forward according to the rhythm, it’ll be fast and save your strength!”
There wasn’t a rat youth who hadn’t picked the mandala fruit before.
The companions quickly understood leaf’s meaning.
And under Leaf’s lead, they worked together and swayed in the same direction, using the mandala tree branch’s elasticity to resist the torrent.
The two companions hanging above the waterfall became their secret weapons instead.
Every time they shook up and down, a wave-like power surged out. Under Leaf’s clever guidance, it became a sharp weapon to cut through the waves.
One step, two steps, three steps.
The captive team, who had just been stuck in the torrent, once again advanced with difficulty.
As the riverbed became higher and higher, the two drowned companions finally surfaced.
Leaf used both hands and feet to climb to the riverbank, and his flesh and blood exerted strength at the same time.
The branch of the mandala tree shook hard, and the companions at the end of the line were all thrown onto the bank.
The ten captives lay on the ground exhausted.
They were spitting bubbles like dead fish.
They could not laugh at the thought of having survived a disaster.
However, the blood hoof warriors cheered for them loudly.
Even the masters of the clans who had just lost everything in the bet shook their horns at these lowly rat people and shouted, “Well done!”
The Tulan people were just like that.
They showed no mercy to the weak and the cowards.
They never held back their respect for the brave and the unyielding, regardless of their identity.
“Who is it?”
A bloody hoof warrior walked over and asked in a gruff voice, “Who came up with the idea to shake the branch of the mandala tree?”
His companions all looked at leaf.
However, leaf stared at the Blood Hoof Warrior, the broken horn, and half of the demon-like face — a face that he would never forget.
“It’s You?”
The ox-headed warrior with the broken horn was slightly startled and grinned.
It was unknown whether it was three days of training, and he had just passed the gate of Hell, but his blood vessels were still flowing with burning courage.
Or maybe the other party did not summon the totem armor, but just stood loosely and could not feel much killing intent.
Leaf could finally control his eyes, staring at the other party without blinking, and then trying his best to control his throat. He said with a hoarse voice, “You killed my mother and brother, I swear, I will kill you!”
“Ha!”
The ox-headed warrior seemed to have heard the most interesting thing in the world.
He squatted down and carefully looked at leaf for a long time.
Then, he fumbled in his arms and took out a fried datura ball covered in oil and honey. The fragrance assailed his nose, and he stuffed the whole thing into leaf’s mouth.
“Then eat it.”
The ox-headed warrior said, “Only when you eat enough will you have the strength to kill.”