The Bone-Eating Tribe was one of the four great barbarian tribes, made all the more fearsome by the fact that a Witch Saint presided over it. Their members were also far more savage and violent than those of other barbarian tribes.
Before the demons invaded, no barbarian tribe had been willing to come into conflict with the Bone-Eating Tribe, though they all loathed it from the bottom of their hearts — to the point where many refused to even acknowledge it as fellow barbarians.
Yet it was undeniable that in the war against the demon invasion, the Bone-Eating Tribe had played an enormous role. The entire eastern front had been held up by their efforts alone. They had pressed forward layer by layer, reclaiming vast swathes of lost territory and slaying countless demons.
The tribe's warriors had proven the barbarian blood running through their veins with their fearless bravery. Their savagery and brutality had become weapons in their own right, and many powerful demons had been made acutely aware of their existence, watching them with wary attention.
Cang'er Valley — one of the Bone-Eating Tribe's strongholds. Over a hundred thousand of their members had gathered here, with five Witch Kings presiding over the position. Situated near the front lines, it was one of the most critical military outposts for the Bone-Eating Tribe, and indeed for the entire barbarian race.
Since over a hundred thousand Bone-Eating warriors had stationed themselves here, they had clashed more than six times with a demon army stationed a hundred li away. Victories far outnumbered defeats, and their record was commendable.
However, for reasons no one could quite explain, the demons had seemed to behave themselves considerably over the past month, leaving the Bone-Eating warriors somewhat at a loss for something to do.
Today, though, the whole of Cang'er Valley was submerged in a boisterous, uproarious atmosphere. Nearly every one of the hundred thousand had gathered at the center of the valley, eyes fixed on a hastily constructed platform, their gazes burning with fervor and their expressions alight with excitement.
Such looks only ever appeared on the faces of the Bone-Eating people when they beheld the most delectable, most exotic food imaginable.
Atop the platform stood a thick wooden stake, to which a towering figure was bound by an array of witch-art restraints, utterly immobilized. Strange, intricate patterns had been carved into the stake, and from those patterns bolts of lightning surged from time to time, coursing over the bound figure in violent streams. The towering figure shuddered with each jolt, his expression twisted in agony, as though enduring excruciating pain.
Every Bone-Eating warrior stared at that towering figure with heated eyes, some licking their lips in anticipation. Had they not known exactly who their prisoner was, some might have rushed forward to tear off a chunk of flesh with their bare teeth.
This was a Demon King — a Demon King of considerable strength!
The tribe's Witch Kings had joined forces to capture him. Though the Bone-Eating Tribe harbored no taboos against consuming human flesh — in fact, they had been doing so for many years — no one dared harbor such thoughts toward a Demon King.
Who could say what would happen if one devoured a piece of a Demon King's flesh? Would the demonic qi corrupt them, transforming them into demonfolk? Yet even this apprehension could not suppress the restless stirring deep within their hearts.
The more they thought about it, the more they craved the taste of a Demon King's flesh, the more they wondered what fate would befall them if they tried it.
But for now, the ordinary warriors' wild fantasies would have to wait — for already standing beside the Demon King was a Witch King.
It was an old acquaintance of Yang Kai's: Wu Chi!
Wu Chi held a dagger fashioned from some unknown material, his face contorted with savage glee. With the blade, he was slicing slivers of flesh from the Demon King's body one cut at a time. Those thick, clumsy hands of his had become remarkably deft. Each stroke peeled away a paper-thin sheet of meat — not a fraction more, not a fraction less.
Many of the Bone-Eating warriors possessed considerable expertise in consuming living flesh. To them, fresh meat was far more succulent and flavorful than the rotting flesh of the dead. And if, during the process of eating, one could also take in the prey's struggles and screams of agony — well, that was undoubtedly the most exquisite scene of all.
Wu Chi, among the best of them, harbored a particular fondness for it.
The first slice of flesh was peeled away. Baoqi's expression remained impassive, his cold eyes merely watching Wu Chi from where he stood. It was as though the flesh being carved from his body belonged to someone else entirely. As a Demon King, he naturally possessed formidable willpower and resilience. His earlier submission to Yang Kai had been the result of a soul imprint forcibly planted in him — there was nothing he could do to resist.
This Witch King's little tricks held no terror for him whatsoever.
But Baoqi had clearly underestimated the Bone-Eating Tribe.
When Wu Chi raised that first sliver of flesh to his mouth with a face full of excited anticipation, chewed it with great relish, and then let an expression of rapturous bliss wash over his features — only then did Baoqi's expression finally change.
Slicing off flesh, that was one thing. But Wu Chi actually swallowing the raw meat whole — this was something Baoqi had not anticipated at all. His own flesh, churning and grinding inside this Witch King's mouth, producing wet smacking sounds. Even among the demons, there were no freaks quite like this.
More than a hundred thousand Bone-Eating warriors watched Wu Chi with eager, unblinking eyes. Many were swallowing repeatedly, desperate to know whether a Demon King's flesh truly tasted as exquisite as it sounded, how it differed from the fare they had consumed before.
The blissful expression on Wu Chi's face never waned. He had closed his eyes and was savoring it as though he were partaking of the finest delicacy in all the world.
After a long while, he gulped the thoroughly masticated flesh down with a resonant swallow and bellowed, "Delicious!"
The warriors erupted in frenzy, roaring and howling as though they had been injected with adrenaline, each one more worked up than the last.
Wu Chi turned his head toward Baoqi, a ferocious grin curling at the corner of his mouth. "Dying would be far too easy for you. A Demon King isn't easy to catch — you're going to let every last one of my people have a taste!"