Chapter Thirty-Two: The Grand Gift

The tribe was eerily quiet, so still that only the sound of footsteps and the dragging tails of two enormous serpents could be heard.

“Brother Agen, what’s going on today? It’s just about time for dinner—why isn’t anyone else around?” Agu Duo felt the strange atmosphere as well.

At this hour, the valley was usually ablaze with firelight. People would have lit their campfires, with pots of meat stew bubbling and juicy slabs roasting over the flames. Children would play nearby, some singing, some blowing horns, while the women joined hands and danced around the fire.

For the people of the tribe, this was the most anticipated moment of the day. Unless something grave had happened, these festivities were never canceled.

Yet now, the vast valley was empty—aside from Brother Agen, there was not a soul in sight.

She had only been away hunting for half a month. What could have happened in the tribe during that time?

Agen gave no answer, simply walking ahead.

A faint sound of weeping drifted from the low huts.

At the sound, Agen’s face turned ashen, panic flooding his eyes. He dropped the python’s carcass and rushed toward the buildings.

Chu Tiange, seeing this, laid down the black serpent’s body and hurried after him.

The crying grew clearer—there was more than one voice.

Chu Cheng surmised that something must have gone wrong in this tribe.

Soon, Agu Duo and Chu Tiange burst into one of the huts.

The sight inside froze them in place.

The room was crowded. Several women knelt in the corner, weeping until they were drenched in tears, while the men stood at the doorway, faces heavy with grief.

Before them, a corpse had been laid out.

It was a headless body, clad in tattered animal hides, battered and ruined, with bones exposed where the limbs were broken.

Chu Tiange’s pupils contracted sharply at the sight.

“That build…”

He jerked his head toward the door.

The firelight outside had vanished into the night, and a chill wind swept through, rustling the weeds in the valley.

There was only emptiness—no sign of life.

A cold dread crept up from his heart, chilling him to the core.

A terrible suspicion dawned on Chu Tiange—but he did not want to believe, nor could he accept it.

Suddenly, he was seized by fear, for if this headless corpse was truly who he suspected, disaster loomed.

“Who… who is it? Who died?” Agu Duo’s expression was bleak.

“Agu Duo!” The women, seeing her, wailed even harder.

“It’s Agen. Seven days ago, he went hunting and was attacked by a beast—it tore off his head. The others only found him on the second day. Now, the chieftains have taken the warriors to hunt that beast.”

Agu Duo’s mind went blank, a dizzy spell nearly overwhelming her.

This corpse—was it truly Brother Agen?

But how could this be?!

Just before, it was Agen who opened the pen for her.

“It can’t be, it’s impossible! I saw Brother Agen just now,” Agu Duo shook her head, her face filled with disbelief.

“It’s Agen. He has my mother’s tattoo on his back—a soaring eagle. She’s fainted from grief several times already,” one woman sighed, her face etched with sorrow.

Her husband had died while hunting.

Hearing this, Agu Duo shook her head, voice trembling. “He was perfectly fine. Half a month ago, he told me he was going hunting too, even promised me a gift. How could he have been killed by a beast?”

“And he was the seventh warrior of the Ayan tribe—so powerful! What kind of beast could kill him? Chu Tiange, tell them, you saw Brother Agen too!”

Her gaze pleaded with Chu Tiange.

This was all too strange. No matter what happened to Brother Agen, or what kind of beast attacked him, it shouldn’t be like this!

She had seen Agen herself, with her own eyes!

Chu Tiange was silent, his gaze fixed on the headless corpse, his brow deeply furrowed.

Agen had died seven days ago, yet the body showed no sign of decay—strange indeed.

And he truly had seen Agen—it was no illusion. Yet here lay Agen’s corpse.

If this was something supernatural, why did his Eyes of Fate fail to pierce through the truth?

Was this the perilous Ancient Realm of Azure Mystery—where even the Eyes of Fate lost their power in the face of unknown terrors?

“Chu Tiange, say something! Has something happened to Agen or not?” Agu Duo shouted, grabbing Chu Tiange’s collar and shaking him, desperate for an explanation for the tribe.

“I did see Agen,” Chu Tiange finally spoke. “He carried a bow on his back, a longsword in hand, and if I’m not mistaken, there was a scar on his brow.”

At his words, the hut fell instantly silent.

Everyone stared at Chu Tiange in stunned, fearful disbelief.

Chu Tiange looked at them in turn, reading the terror in their eyes.

“What… what is going on?”

“Could it be… Agen has really returned?”

“Today is the seventh day… Hurry, bury Agen’s body!” the men cried in alarm.

Chaos erupted, people hurrying out to fetch something to carry Agen’s corpse away.

Chu Tiange watched, thoughts racing. He had a suspicion, but it eluded him.

What, truly, was Agen?

“Wait!”

An aged voice rang out.

A frail elder entered the hut.

“Grand Priest!”

Those who’d left returned.

The old man tottered to the headless corpse, pointed a trembling finger at the white bones, and moved his lips as if in incantation.

At his words, everyone’s face changed, eyes filling with dread and fear as they gazed at the corpse.

“Grand Priest, is Brother Agen truly dead?” Agu Duo demanded.

“Agen is indeed dead. The Returned has come. If it does not leave, our Ayan tribe is doomed,” the old man sighed.

He was the most respected, the eldest in the tribe, and at his answer, Agu Duo finally accepted the truth.

“Grand Priest, is there a way?” someone asked.

The old man knelt beside the corpse, eyes flickering with a mysterious light as he studied the bones. He closed his eyes, deep in thought.

“There is a way,” he said at last, his voice low and grave.

“But it requires a great sacrifice.”

Fear rippled through the crowd. The Grand Priest’s words were never spoken lightly.

A sacrifice—an offering.

Normally, the tribe held bloodless rituals, praying for rain, for health, for survival, using birds and animals as offerings.

But this time, was it to be a human sacrifice?

“What kind of sacrifice?” someone asked timidly.

“The life of a warrior,” the Grand Priest’s voice was as cold as the wind. “Only by offering a warrior’s life can Agen’s soul find peace.”

An outcry erupted.

The price was too great—beyond what any could bear!

Agu Duo was the tribe’s greatest warrior. For the Ayan tribe, this was a devastating cost.

“Agu Duo, are you willing to calm Agen’s restless soul?” the Grand Priest asked her.

Everyone trembled, exchanging fearful glances—yet no one objected.

They all knew this was the only way to save the tribe.

For the Returned had come. If it did not leave, one tribesman after another would be taken away.

“For everyone’s sake, I am willing!” Agu Duo answered without hesitation, her voice firm as iron.

If sacrificing one could save all, she would not hesitate.

“Grand Priest, let me be the sacrifice instead.”

The voice came from outside.

Nine burly men entered.

With Agen’s corpse, all ten warriors of the Ayan tribe were now present.

“The chieftain and warriors have returned! Did you kill the beast?”

The warriors were weary, bearing wounds.

They shook their heads. “We searched for a hundred miles. No trace of it—it is cunning,” one replied.

“Grand Priest, take my life instead of Agu Duo’s. She is my most gifted daughter, the most beautiful woman in the tribe, and our greatest warrior! She is young—she must not die!” the chieftain pleaded.

Agu Duo’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Father, please don’t. This is my duty.”

“Apu, it cannot be helped. Agen loved Agu Duo in life. His soul is restless because of her. If we do not appease it, all will perish,” the old man said, turning to leave.

“Choose an auspicious day, hold the wedding for Agu Duo and Agen, and then bury them together. Let Agen’s mother and siblings be present to watch over him.”

Sorrow fell over the gathering, and the atmosphere grew unbearably heavy.

“All right, disperse!” a tribesman cried, waving his arms.

Agu Duo, pale and tearful, looked at her father. “Father, take care of Mother and my younger siblings for me. I won’t be able to fulfill my filial duty.”

The chieftain sighed, pain and guilt in his gaze. “Don’t worry, Agu Duo. I’ll look after them.”

“Why has the Returned come? Sixty years—it’s been gone for sixty years…”

“Father, leave me alone for a few days. I need to prepare.”

Agu Duo left with Chu Tiange. As she stepped out, tears streamed down her face.

Faced with life and death, with parting, Agu Duo’s heart was filled with fear.

……

Night fell. The stars scattered across the darkness, draping the land in a shimmering veil.

The moon shone bright, its gentle light bathing the earth.

Outwardly, everything appeared clean and calm; beneath the surface, filth and darkness hid, cloaked by this facade of peace. Malice, lurking, grew stronger in the night.

A sudden roar tore through the silence, as if a sleeping tiger had awoken. Wild beasts howled and raged, hunting for prey.

Inside a low hut, Chu Tiange sat on a stone bed, pondering the events of dusk.

The dead become ghosts, bound by the obsessions they leave behind; ghosts linger, seeking rebirth.

What, truly, was this Returned?

Chu Tiange racked his brain but found no answer, and finally gave up trying.

Knock, knock, knock—

A sound from his bosom interrupted his thoughts.

Chu Tiange frowned slightly. He was used to such uninvited visitors.

No doubt, it was Xiao Shijing again.

He took out the Azure Mirror from his robe. Green light shimmered, rippling through the air.

“Chu Tiange, can you hear me?”

Xiao Shijing’s voice sounded from the mirror.

“What is it?” Chu Tiange asked.

Two worlds, separated by time.

To send messages here in the Ancient Realm of Azure Mystery using the Azure Mirror—Xiao Shijing was truly resourceful.

“Have you found Ning Wujue?” Xiao Shijing asked from his distant world.

“It’s difficult. The Ancient Realm is vast—it’s like searching for a needle in the ocean. Besides, I don’t even know where I am right now,” Chu Tiange shook his head, sighing.

Plans never keep pace with change. The Azure Mystery Secret Realm was only a fragment of the greater domain. Yet even so, this world was broad, making Chu Tiange’s quest all the harder.

“Master Xiao foresaw this. So, he sent you a great gift,” Xiao Shijing said, chuckling.

“A gift?”

Chu Tiange had a thought and quickly emptied his storage pouch, spreading out his belongings.

Jade bottles of pills, stacks of talismans, a jade-green gourd, and some miscellaneous items.

“Long story short, the distance between worlds is immeasurable. Every second consumes dozens of supreme spirit stones. Now, break that black wooden block.”

Among the pile, there was indeed a black wooden block.

Crack, crack, crack.

Wood dust drifted from his fingers, and as his palm opened, a brilliant light illuminated the dim world.

At last, the light faded, revealing a pearl.

It was pure blue, as beautiful as a gemstone.

Chu Tiange stared, holding it between his fingers.

The pearl was stunning—inside, layers of ripples shimmered like a clear pool.

“This is the great gift you mentioned?” Chu Tiange was intrigued.

Even supreme pills and treasures had never been hailed as such by Xiao Shijing. Clearly, this pearl was more valuable than the jade gourd.

“This is a Locator Pearl. Only Master Xiao could possibly craft such a thing. To activate it, simply pour your spiritual energy in.”

“Within, it contains all the terrain of the Ancient Realm of Azure Mystery known to Master Xiao. Wherever you are, it will show your location, and the most dangerous areas are clearly marked. With this, your journey will go smoothly—and you may even find Ning Wujue.”