Chapter 221: Making Friends

Chief Magnus personally came out to welcome the Crimson caravan at the tribe gate just as night fell. He had received news from Dean a few days ago, so the preparations were arranged neatly early on.

"Chief Sane, Priest Kaelen." Magnus clasped his hands in front of his chest and bowed his head slightly. "I am Magnus, Chief of the Black Bear tribe. You have worked hard traveling a long distance, first please come inside to have a welcoming feast."

He turned his head to look behind Kaelen and Sane, surprised when discovering the partially burnt horse carts and the injured people on them. His eyebrows knitted tightly:

"What is this situation? Why are you injured?"

Dean hurriedly ran forward, reporting the situation clearly. Instantly, the murderous aura in the Black Bear tribe suddenly surged high.

"How dare those bastards cause trouble in our territory?! Tired of living!"

"Chief, if we did not yield, the position of the number one tribe would not fall to those Red Snakes. Now they even dare to climb onto our heads and sit!"

"Chief, quickly give the order! We will bring those snakes back to make grilled snake dish!"

At this time Sane and Kaelen had also dismounted, placing their right hands on their left chests to bow to Chief Magnus. Magnus signaled for his clan members to calm down, and spoke in a deep voice to Sane:

"You encountered an ambush right in our Black Bear clan’s territory, we will give you a satisfactory explanation!"

Sane did not refuse nor agree, after all this was the face of the Black Bear clan, not a matter that guests like Crimson could decide. He only said to Magnus:

"Thank you for the hospitality, can we arrange for the injured first?"

Magnus nodded, "It is my honor, Mr. Sane. Please follow me."

Chief Magnus personally led the Crimson people to the residence arranged for them. Waiting for everyone to finish unpacking, he then invited Sane and Kaelen to the tribe’s communal house for a meal, the remaining people stayed at the guest house to have dinner.

Sane and Kaelen carried their children and followed Magnus, going with them were also Aaron, Evan, and Draven.

Siley had long recognized his role, he was no longer the ’son-in-law’ of Sane’s family, therefore he stayed with the other Warriors. Everyone had no objections towards the Chief’s almost son-in-law, so Siley staying with them was not too awkward.

Along the way to the communal house, the two sides politely exchanged a few pleasantries, as well as some civil livelihood issues. Magnus seemed extremely interested in Finnick’s Magical Plant contract, which was exactly Chloe. He stroked the bushy beard on his chest, sighing with emotion:

"The Sub-Beasts in our clan have also contracted with Spiked-Tail Magical Beasts, therefore our tribe can produce a large amount of Spiked-Tail Beast honey. However recently the tribes along the Illusion Forest have introduced a new product which is sugar, our Spiked-Tail Beast honey is no longer as favored as before."

Kaelen completely did not detect any blaming intent in these words, Chief Magnus was merely sighing with emotion. He smiled and said:

"In our place Spiked-Tail Beasts are called Bees. Previously everyone usually sold raw honey, now you try making it into finished products to sell, guaranteeing the sales volume will be even more than before."

Magnus was extremely interested, raised his eyebrows and said: "This name Bee is short and concise, easier to call than Spiked-Tail Beast. And their honey can be made into finished products? Specifically how?"

Kaelen listed a few honey-based products such as drinks, medicines, cooking sauces, beauty products... Magnus listened passionately. They very quickly arrived at the communal house.

The Black Bear tribe’s communal house was much larger than what everyone imagined.

The ceiling was soaring high, large stone pillars supported the entire structure, on the walls hung giant animal skins painted with images of roaring black bears. A large fire pit was placed in the middle, on it were several wild goats being roasted whole, fat dripping and sizzling, the fragrant smell spreading throughout the room.

Finnick gulped his saliva as soon as he entered. Chloe on the boy’s shoulder also vibrated a few tentacles, seeming to be attracted by the fragrant smell as well.

"Sit down." Magnus pointed at the thick animal skins spread around the fire pit, "Do not stand on ceremony."

Everyone sat down sequentially. Sane and Kaelen sat opposite Magnus. Aaron and Evan sat on the left. Draven after putting his medicine chest down also edged closer to the fire pit, but his gaze still did not leave the Black Bear clan members walking back and forth serving food.

After eating and talking about halfway, Magnus did not beat around the bush anymore, he raised his cup of wax gourd ginseng tea which had been widely popularized on the Eastern continent recently, and went straight to the point:

"First of all, on behalf of all the Black Bear clan members, I would like to thank you. What you have done for Dean, and what you promised to do for our tribe, is a favor that the Black Bear clan can never forget."

"Chief Magnus is too polite." Sane replied, also raising his cup, "We also came here with our own purpose."

"I know." Magnus nodded, "Dean has briefly mentioned it. But that does not diminish the value of what you are doing. The madness has haunted our clan for thousands of years. Generations of ancestors have tried all sorts of ways, from sacrificing to the Beast God, to researching herbs, some even went to the Martial God Shrine to beg for help. But all were useless."

He put the cup down, his gaze darkened: "Our ancestors believed it was a curse from the Ancient battlefield. That the Black Bear bloodline was cursed for causing too many sins in the past. But no one truly knows what the cause is."

Kaelen put the half-eaten meat piece down and wiped his hands on a cloth towel. The Bear clan truly had a sweet tooth, every dish was cloyingly sweet. Fortunately the fresh and delicious flavor from the roasted meat compensated for it, otherwise Kaelen truly could not swallow it.

He looked at Magnus, his voice calm but clear: "That madness is not due to a curse, but from your very own Martial weapons."

Magnus looked up. The Black Bear elders sitting around also simultaneously stopped their hands, their gazes pouring towards him.

"Dean must have told you about us keeping his Martial weapon to research. The deeper cause has to be traced back to the Ancient times tens of thousands of years ago..."

Kaelen slowly recounted the entire cause and effect of the matter.

"It is exactly the demonic aura in the Martial weapon that corroded the master’s mind." Kaelen concluded. "And because the Martial weapon is passed down from generation to generation, the demonic aura also accordingly accumulates more and more. That is why your clan’s madness becomes increasingly severe over time."

The entire room was as silent as a grave. The crackling sound of burning firewood in the fire pit became unusually distinct. Magnus sat motionless, his pitch-black eyes staring intently at the fire, his weathered face showing no emotion, but his hands resting on his knees clenched so tightly that blue veins bulged out.

"The third rib..." A white-haired elder sitting next to Magnus muttered, his voice trembling, "No wonder... No wonder the ancient texts mention our ancestors undergoing a ritual called ’Bone Breaking’ upon reaching adulthood. We always thought it was a ritual to test courage, who would have thought..."

"That is exactly the rib extraction ritual to forge Martial weapons." Kaelen continued. "We have researched a method to suppress the demonic aura in the Martial weapons. But I will speak frankly, this method only treats the symptoms not the root, as long as you still use Martial weapons summoned from the Ancient Battlefield, your madness will still exist."

Magnus slowly looked up. His eyes were still calm, but in his voice there was a slight tremble he could not hide: "For the first time after thousands of years... Our clan truly understands the root cause of the curse." He pursed his lips, speaking sorrowfully: "Although knowing the cause and knowing the condition you set to treat our clan members, I truly must confess this to you.

Our array here is already a broken array, completely unusable anymore. Tomorrow morning I will lead you there, you look at it then decide whether to treat the Black Bear clan people or not."

Sane smiled and said: "You are too polite, regardless of whether the space has any usable value or not, we will still treat you. We hope to make friends across this continent, since we are friends, what need is there to speak polite words."

Magnus was endlessly moved, his eyes brimming with tears, patting Sane’s shoulder heavily.

"Alright! This friendship, our Black Bear clan accepts! From now on, as long as Crimson needs it, our Black Bear clan will always be present!"

Sane was patted until he hunched over, the half-eaten meat piece in his mouth was also knocked out. Magnus awkwardly withdrew his hand, everyone burst into good-natured laughter.

The next morning, after breakfast.

Magnus led Sane and Kaelen out of the communal house, crossing the tribe’s central square. They walked all the way to the back of the tribe, where the steep black rocky cliffs stood like natural city walls.

Finally, Magnus stopped in front of a giant stone door hidden behind dense bushes.