"Ah- what on earth are you talking about, Fang Zheng?" Gu Yue Ye said. "Who said anything about stealing? I was merely asking if it would be possible for this old man, who had contributed so much to this village in his youth, to get a bit of a discount..."
He could not ask for the same from the medicine hall, or even directly from an elder, which is why he was meeting with Fang Zheng. Had Fang Yuan been here instead, he wouldn't have even bothered.
Every single primeval stone wasn't just a unit of currency, it represented a resource he could rely on the future in order to
"And my point still stands, the price is set by my brother, and I can't do anything," Fang Zheng said. This was the easiest way out for him- to place everything at the feet of his brother. However....
He took out two Vitality Leaves. "I can sell you up to two at a discount, none further."
"Ah, thank you, Junior Brother, I'll be sure to remember your kindness in the future!" Gu Yue Ye said.
'In your case, given your age, 'future' is an extremely relative term,' Fang Zheng thought as Gu Yue Ye took his leave.
"Brother, that is the third person you've taken this kind of pity on," Jiang Ya mused. "Won't your brother be upset by now?"
"It isn't a big issue," Fang Zheng said, waving his hand. He was filling in the deficit from the discount using his own personal stash of primeval stones. While he wanted to steel his heart, he ultimately often yielded to such requests.
In the wolf tide, a time of chaos, one couldn't help but feel sympathy for others - but above all - sympathy for oneself.
Thanks to Fang Yuan's position as an elder, Fang Zheng was not nearly in as bad a spot as many others were. He was in virtually no danger of dying while fighting wolves so long as he had Fang Yuan with him, and he did not lack primeval stones for the time being. Now, no one dared to look down on him. But that didn't mean that he hadn't forgotten how it felt to be small... in this vast world, the presence of one person was worth less than a single grain of sand in a vast desert.
***
"Are you still going to be holed up in here?" the Bai clan head asked as he walked into the room where Bai Ning Bing was lying down. Looking at the man, one might incorrectly assume that he was sick or fatigued, but that wasn't the issue. Bai Ning Bing... was simply bored. While everyone was in terror of what would happen during the wolf tide, his fate was already sealed. Like a sword hanging above his head, the source of his power would be the cause of his death eventually.
The clan head cleared his throat as Bai Ning Bing hadn't responded. Had it been anyone else, they would've been summarily beaten or even executed for treating him like this, but Bai Ning Bing could not be bullied. "We were looking for you during the elder's meeting."
Bai Ning Bing waved his hand. "I have no interest in joining that pathetic meeting."
"Your clansmen need to know that you stand with and support them."
Bai Ning Bing snorted. What use was their support? He had been gifted with near-limitless resources, but little to do with them. Any problem he had faced in life had collapsed nearly instantly compared to his talent. All except one, that is. "Who cares about the dumb meetings?"
"Elder Bai Jo Din was pointing out your absence to all to see and making a ruckus about it."
Bai Ning Bing got up. "That senile old fool? He doesn't even know where he is half of the time. He once called me a 'lying dog-faced pony soldier' one time. If I had any clue as to what it meant, I might've beheaded him."
The clan head sighed. Bai Ning Bing, despite all of his bluster, knew what the man was going on about. He had supported Bai Ning Bing, but that would be difficult if Bai Ning Bing wasn't going to cooperate. "Alright, I'll show up. I'll also help out more in the fighting."
He had to concede that much.
"As fleeting as the morning dew,
And as ephemeral as a dream,
Human lives over in the blink of an eye,
Building sand castles in the snow,
Or snow angels in the sand."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Bai Ning Bing asked.
"It means that even if life lasts for but a second, one should enjoy it," the clan head said. "Humans do many pointless things with their lives, but they do them regardless, if only to satisfy themselves. It's a small piece of doggerel I heard of once while traveling when I was younger. Think about that for a moment, we will be waiting for you in the next meeting." His voice carried an air of authority that left no room to wiggle out, even for someone like Bai Ning Bing.
Bai Ning Bing looked out the window after the clan head left. He saw the village, and the people milling about with worried looks upon their faces.
While his own heart was in turmoil, it was due to a different reason than those walking about.
Who was he?
What was his purpose?
Despite being surrounded by so many people, Bai Ning Bing felt that he was more alone than he had ever been before in his life.
***
Of the three clans, the Xiong Clan was taking the stress of the wolf tide the worst. For one, they were the weakest, meaning that they did not have the Gu Yue clan's strength nor the rising star of Bai Ning Bing.
Because of this they occupied the lowest part of the mountain, making them especially susceptible to the wolves and their actions given it was not easy to defend against them. Their low status could also be seen in the kind of gu worms they used - Bear Strength Gu was a low cost gu worm unlike the Moonlight Gu of the Gu Yue clan. However, being cheap also had its drawbacks as it was less flexible.
"We won't be able to last for much longer," one of the elders of the Xiong clan said during a meeting. The wolf tide's fury had shocked not just the Gu Yue clan, but all three of the clans upon Qing Mao mountain.
"Indeed," the clan head said. The situation was extremely dire, and the Thunder Crown Wolves had yet to show themselves. This was just the early middle of the time period of the tide, and yet they were already in dire straits. "In such a case, we must place the clan's survival at the topmost priority."
"Clan head, you mean?"
"Of course we will fight, but a wise man knows to submit to circumstances. If the scenario occurs where we are about to fall, heh, we can even use this disadvantageous position of ours to our advantage."
Naturally, if the Xiong Clan did not have their own trump cards, they would not have been able to survive for the last thousand years. There were ways to survive other than strength, after all. So what if they were not as strong as the Gu Yue clan? So what if they did not possess one of the Ten Extreme Physiques?
When push came to shove, they would do everything for their survival. Even if it involved a little trickery...