"Chief, take care of yourself! You're getting on in years — don't go running around out here. Go back and rest!" Yang Kai flashed a grin at the old man, spun around, and charged back into the horde of beasts.
The corner of the old man's mouth twitched. Even as shock flooded his heart, he didn't forget to reinforce the concealment spell on himself.
He was the village chief, and moreover a shaman held in the highest esteem — every person in the village revered him. In the past, this Ah Niu hadn't even dared to look him in the eye. How had he suddenly mustered the nerve to speak to him this way today?
Ah Niu had never contributed a single thing to the village, yet he still consumed his share of food and shelter.
He had even considered doing as the other villagers suggested — exiling Ah Niu and letting him fend for himself.
But in the end, that was still a life, still one of his own villagers. The village chief had always held out hope that one day the boy would grow into someone useful.
But year after year, Ah Niu's performance had been nothing short of disappointing.
Until today, when he had suddenly erupted with a brilliance too blinding to look upon.
"Bless the Barbarian God! The Barbarian God has shown his power!" The village chief's lips moved soundlessly as he muttered to himself, watching with his own eyes as Yang Kai plunged back into the beast horde and shattered the sea-like tide of creatures with a single charge.
He was like a sharp sword in the hand of the Barbarian God, roaming freely across the battlefield, invincible wherever he went.
The blinding golden light couldn't be obscured even by the dense snowfall. The golden radiance surged left and right across the battlefield, quickly plowing clearing after clearing through the mass of beasts.
The giant beasts shrieked in terror and slowly began to retreat.
The villagers, however, fought with ever-growing ferocity. Three men formed a wall, five formed a shield — the simplest of coordinated techniques, driven by fearless bravery, as they drove the beasts out of their homeland.
Yang Kai had already gone through stone axe after stone axe, spear after spear.
Finally, as the howling wind began to die down and the snowflakes grew sparse, the beast tide receded.
Leaving behind a ground littered with corpses and blood.
The villagers chased them for several dozen zhang before finally slowing to a stop. Then, in unison, they let out a thunderous roar — a roar as ferocious as any beast's cry, sending the fleeing creatures into even greater panic.
"We won!"
"We won!"
The villagers cheered. They were jubilant, overjoyed to have survived a beast tide invasion. Every face radiated with joy as they jumped and shouted.
"Ah Niu! It really is you!" Ah Hu came running out from somewhere, drenched in blood. He didn't appear to have suffered any serious injuries, though it looked like something had taken a bite out of his abdomen. He stared at Yang Kai with wide eyes and clapped him hard on the shoulder. "I thought I was seeing things."
How could he have been mistaken? In the entire village, there was only one person with a build like Ah Niu's.
Though Ah Hu had noticed Yang Kai earlier, he hadn't dared believe it. It wasn't until they were standing face to face that he could confirm it.
The surviving villagers also turned curious gazes toward Yang Kai, each pair of eyes filled with gratitude and admiration.
At the critical moment, if Yang Kai hadn't charged into the beast horde and turned the tide, the village's fate today was anyone's guess. The world of the barbarians was simple — the strong ruled! That law had endured to the present day, though it had lost the simple innocence of the ancient barbarians.
"This is the blessing of the Barbarian God!" The old village chief shuffled forward unsteadily, leaning on his pitch-black walking stick.
Yang Kai thought to himself: That's my doing, what does it have to do with the damn Barbarian God? But he certainly couldn't say that out loud — no matter how much he had already contributed to the village, he would inevitably become the enemy of the entire barbarian race.
Blaspheming the Barbarian God was the gravest sin among the ancient barbarians.
"Chief, we killed so many beasts this time — shouldn't we have a proper celebration?" Ah Hu looked at the village chief with great enthusiasm. The other villagers all had eyes full of anticipation as well.
Food in the village was scarce. This time, several hundred beasts had been killed in the tide — enough to feed the village for a good long while. Just days ago, the chief had been fretting over provisions for the winter. Every year during the bitter cold, villagers would starve to death, and this year would surely be no exception. No one had expected happiness to arrive so suddenly. With all these beast carcasses, they wouldn't have to worry about food this winter at all.
The village chief smiled faintly and was about to speak when Yang Kai stepped forward. "Chief, don't you think something was strange about this beast tide?"
The chief furrowed his brow and looked up at Yang Kai. "You noticed it too."
Yang Kai was taken aback. "What did you notice, Chief?"
The old chief was silent for a moment before speaking. "A Barbarian Beast. There is a Barbarian Beast directing the tide."
The moment those words left his lips, the expressions of numerous villagers changed drastically. A Barbarian Beast was a fearsome existence — only shamans could hope to stand against one. Flesh and blood counted for nothing before such a creature.
"So that's what a Barbarian Beast is!" Yang Kai followed up casually. What he had sensed was merely a demon beast of little consequence — one that had developed a spark of intelligence, which was why it could command the beast tide and make this invasion so difficult to deal with.
"Winter is here, and those beasts are surely searching for food as well. We've driven them back this time, but if we don't cut them off at the root, they'll inevitably come back."
The villagers' faces changed once more. They all knew Yang Kai was right — without a Barbarian Beast, the other creatures wouldn't be much to worry about. But with a Barbarian Beast directing them, the situation was entirely different.
If the beast tide struck again someday, it would be nothing short of another catastrophe for the village. They had already lost too many warriors today, and they might not have the strength to withstand another assault.
"Chief, perhaps we should request reinforcements from the tribe," Ah Hu suggested.