Chapter 217: Leaving—Walking Away Freely
After finishing his destructive spree, A Mang looked at Nan Xun beside him. “A-Xi, come. Let’s go pack our things.”
Pulling Nan Xun along, A Mang headed straight for their own stone cave, completely ignoring the stunned, statue-like expressions of the people behind them.
“Ah—our pottery! Our baskets! Our hard work—!”
After a brief moment of shock, the women burst into anguished wails.
Those destroyed items were all made with their own sweat and effort. How dare A Mang? How could he dare!
Inside the stone cave, A Mang acted without hesitation.
He yanked down the animal hides hanging on the stone wall along with his spare apron, wrapped them up quickly, tied them tightly with grass rope, and stuffed them into a basket. Then came the stone knives, extra spears—everything in the cave was packed neatly into the basket.
Nan Xun was still a little dazed. After a long pause, she finally started gathering her own things: a jar of salt she had made, a jar of dried wild vegetables, a jar of fruit wine, even the bamboo tube of toothpaste, the small bag of warming stones she had painstakingly collected recently, the bone needles A Mang had polished for her, and a pile of sweet potatoes in the corner—not a single thing left behind.
A Mang slung the overstuffed bamboo basket onto his back, held Nan Xun’s hand with one hand, and carried a spear in the other, striding boldly past the gathered tribespeople.
Then, without turning his head, he tossed out a single sentence:
“I’m taking the shaman envoy and leaving the tribe right now—never coming back. You don’t need to worry about the shaman envoy harming the tribe. Choose another chief if you want. I don’t want this position anymore.”
Just as they were about to reach the end, A Mang suddenly remembered something and walked back a few steps.
He went to the pile of prey, found the large saber-toothed tiger he had hunted earlier, and hoisted the beast—nearly as tall as himself—onto one shoulder with one hand.
“A-Xi, let’s go.” With no free hand left to hold her, A Mang simply turned his head to glance at her.
Nan Xun stared at her man with burning eyes, the corners of her mouth lifting uncontrollably. She gave a firm “Mm,” and followed closely at his side.
The tribespeople finally snapped out of it. One man shouted angrily, “A Mang! You’d abandon all your people for this shaman envoy? You’re not worthy of being a warrior of our cannibal tribe!”
A Mang didn’t turn back, only replying calmly, “I’ve already left the cannibal tribe. Naturally, I won’t be its warrior anymore.”
“Ah—!” A Xiang screamed hysterically. “A Mang, you can’t do this! She caused the death of your best brother, A Bao! Not only do you refuse to avenge him, you’re even abandoning the tribe to go with her? A Mang, you’ve been bewitched by this shaman envoy—”
Hearing this, several men tried to block A Mang’s path. A Xiang rushed forward as well—but before anyone could get close, A Mang suddenly flung a stone knife backward. It nearly split A Xiang’s face in two, stopping just short of her cheek.
A Xiang’s legs went weak, and she collapsed onto the ground.
No one dared step forward again.
All the tribespeople—old and young, men and women, more than a hundred in total—could only watch as their young chief took everything that belonged to him. With a massive saber-toothed tiger on one shoulder and a spear in his hand, he led the shaman envoy away from the tribe, disappearing into the vast darkness of the night without once looking back.
Nan Xun was exhilarated. She had been exhausted and sleepy earlier, but now she felt unbelievably energized.
The two walked through the night, guided by the full moon’s light filtering through the branches, pressing steadily onward.
Only when Nan Xun’s stomach growled did A Mang look at her, saying with some guilt, “A-Xi, I forgot you haven’t eaten yet.”
Nan Xun smiled. “You haven’t eaten either.”
They returned to the stone cave where Nan Xun had taken shelter before. A Mang put down their belongings and started a fire.
The night was too dark, and making fire by friction took quite some time. When the bonfire finally caught, A Mang cut off the saber-toothed tiger’s two front legs, roughly skinned them, and set them over the fire to roast.
Nan Xun moved closer and snatched the meat from his hands. “A Mang, I’ll roast it. Go rest for a bit.”
A Mang agreed, but instead of resting, he sat to the side and began processing the tiger. Using a stone knife, he started skinning it, slicing from the belly and peeling outward on both sides.
As Nan Xun roasted the meat, she glanced at him from time to time. His movements were practiced and skillful; even the trickiest spots were handled with ease as his wrist flexed smoothly, the stone knife dancing with his motions.
Before long—aside from the front legs he had already cut off—the entire tiger hide, including the skin around the two hind legs, was peeled off in one complete piece, clean and bloodless, not even needing to be washed.
“A-Xi, I’m done resting,” A Mang said, kissing the tip of her nose as he took the tiger leg from her hands and patiently continued roasting it.
Nan Xun remembered falling several times earlier. Even though the grass had cushioned her, she must have been covered in mud, her face no better. And yet A Mang still kissed her without hesitation.
With curved brows and smiling eyes, she watched the man roasting meat so seriously, finding him overwhelmingly handsome. She leaned in and kissed his cheek.
A Mang smiled faintly. “A-Xi, don’t tease.”
Nan Xun hugged him from behind, resting her head against his back, and said softly, “A Mang, thank you for trusting me so much.”
A Mang chuckled teasingly. “A-Xi, stop seducing me. You’re too tired today—I can’t bear to wear you out.”
Nan Xun: …
Damn it—she’d only thought that since he gave up his entire tribe for her, he must feel terrible inside, so she wanted to comfort him with some affection. Even she herself, though happy and moved, felt a hint of worry.
She hadn’t expected this man to look not sad at all—his mood even seemed pretty good?
Hell—was she imagining things?
A Mang laughed at her dumbfounded expression. “Little wild leopard, you really think I’d be upset about leaving the tribe?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Honestly, I never liked communal living. I was born for the jungle—prefer roaming it alone. Living in a group was only because they weren’t capable enough. I don’t need it. In the tribe, all I did every day was hunt, hunt, and hunt, barely having time to be with you, all to feed those hundred-plus mouths. And tonight, the very people I’ve been feeding wanted to burn my woman alive. That, I can’t tolerate.”
Hearing this, Nan Xun swallowed all the comforting words she’d prepared.
So… to A Mang, these tribespeople were basically a burden?
A Mang continued, “In the days before the old chief died, I was afraid they’d choose me as the new chief, so I secretly slipped away alone. That’s when I met you, A-Xi. At first, I wanted to forcibly take you with me, but you didn’t like that and insisted I get your tribe’s consent. After thinking it over, I went back, became the new chief, gathered the warriors, and went to the Ala Mountain tribe, trading twenty long-furred beast hides I’d hunted for you.”
At that, A Mang smiled. “A-Xi, I’m very happy now. From now on, it’ll just be the two of us. We can do whatever we want. We can hug whenever we like—and whenever I want to make love to you, I can.”
Nan Xun: …
So your real point… was actually that last sentence, right?
You damn hooligan.
