Chapter 61: Chief Xie: I will not bother her.
Inside the cave where Priestess Yuan lived, Chief Xie was discussing Ruan Chanchan’s newly developed skills.
"Priestess Yuan, do you think that Ruan Chanchan—can she really help our tribe?" Chief Xie asked with a solemn expression.
The words that Priestess Yuan had said to her were really shocking. From what she said, Ruan Chanchan was going to become the mental and spiritual pillar of their tribe after awakening. However, Chief Xie couldn’t believe it. How could it be possible for someone like Ruan Chanchan to become the pillar of support for their tribe when she had been living a life where others treated her with blatant disrespect?
What was more, Chief Xie was worried that if Ruan Chanchan really became that powerful, she might take revenge on those who had wronged her. She couldn’t allow that to happen. Because of these reasons, she was really worried.
"I wouldn’t joke about such an important matter, chief," Priestess Yuan shook her head and sighed. "I have calculated the fate of our tribe more than twice, and I assure you that every time I saw nothing but destruction."
The second she finished speaking, Chief Xie was so shocked that she couldn’t even speak for a long time. It took her a long while to recover from the shock. She softly asked, "Priestess, you mean to say that the tribe was destined to die out under my leadership?" If that was the case, then how was she going to meet her ancestors? How would she even look them in the eye after failing them so gravely!?
Priestess Yuan didn’t want to speak of such a solemn matter to Chief Xie, but after seeing how resistant she was toward Ruan Chanchan, she could only tell her the truth. She didn’t want Chief Xie to become a hindrance in Ruan Chanchan’s path to glory. The woman was destined to do big things. If Chief Xie offended Ruan Chanchan and that woman left the tribe in her anger, things would become dire for their tribe once again.
"The reason I didn’t tell you this was because I didn’t want to startle you, but it seems like I have no other choice. I saw how resistant you are when it comes to Ruan Chanchan. But I assure you that the woman is not a danger to the tribe. The day Zeqiu came to me and told me that Ruan Chanchan was getting better, I calculated the fate of the tribe once again. And for the first time in months, I saw some improvement in the movement of the stars."
"This was my first time seeing hope for our tribe. I know that you are not willing, Chief. But I hope that you will give Ruan Chanchan a chance to make a change in the tribe. Who knows, maybe she might bring in a surprise for you?"
When Priestess Yuan saw that Chief Xie was still looking a bit flustered, she sighed and brought up an old matter that had long been buried and forgotten. "Have you forgotten the feud with the Black Snake Tribe?"
As soon as Priestess Yuan brought up that matter, Chief Xie’s face turned black. A few years ago, the Big Bear Tribe was attacked by the Black Snake Tribe. Because of the sudden and sneaky attack, they lost quite a lot of warriors and were later chased out of their territory. Because of this, her tribe had become a lot smaller than it originally was.
When this attack happened, Chief Xie was way too young. And it was due to the attack that she lost her mother and became the tribe’s leader. All these years, Chief Xie had been harbouring the goal of hunting down the leader of the Black Snake tribe, but she couldn’t because there were only a few sixth-level beastmen in her tribe, while the Black Snake Tribe had more than twenty beastmen and beastwomen who had crossed the sixth level.
With their strength, she didn’t dare to cross them. But Chief Xie hadn’t let go of her revenge. She had hoped that even if she failed in doing so, her son would carry on her legacy and take their territory back from the Black Snake Tribe.
"We have lost quite a lot of our brothers and sisters in that war," continued Priestess Yuan with a hint of emotion in her voice. "We need to get our revenge on the Black Snake Tribe for all those who lost their lives in that war."
"We will take our territory back from them, no matter what," said Chief Xie with a hint of anger in her voice. She would never forget the blood on the ground when they were driven out of their own territory. So many innocent lives lost just like that.
"How will you do that? Have you forgotten that we have too few warriors in our tribe? We need to have more children, but at the same time, we need to come up with a way to keep them alive. So many of our children die young because we cannot heal them in time. Some die due to the anger of the Beast Goddess, while some slowly get weak as they grow up and then die. And those who somehow survived till adulthood would recklessly go out to hunt and then die in the process."
Priestess Yuan turned and looked at Chief Xie. "I know that you have your own thoughts when it comes to Ruan Chanchan. But I hope that you will give her a chance rather than acting impulsively."
"I understand; I won’t bother Ruan Chanchan for the time being," Chief Xie promised hastily.
"That child, Ruan Chanchan, is a talented individual, and she was blessed by the Beast Goddess herself. As long as she is guided well, she will definitely bring this tribe to glory. Our tribe will definitely prosper as long as you let her take the reins."
Though Priestess Yuan knew that the path that Ruan Chanchan had to walk was going to be a difficult one, she knew that Ruan Chanchan was the only one who could walk on this path. And she was the only one who would succeed.