Tang Ling responded decisively and quickly in the face of crisis. Withstanding the tremendous water pressure, he exerted all his strength to push himself back into the bubble wall.

After a strange gurgle, Tang Ling fell back onto the little path.

Before he could get to his feet, he saw a long, gray monster spring out like a bolt of lightning from the underwater group of rocks like a giant snake with a flat fish-like face. It swam towards the bubble wall and tried to chomp at Tang Ling.

Bzzzzt!

The bubble wall produced an irritating screech when the monster bit it. Tang Ling leaned against the wall behind him and watched the three rows of sharp teeth in the monster’s mouth as it tried to snap through the bubble wall. The monstrous face was only less than 30 cm away from him.

The monster chomped as hard as it could at the bubble wall while its small monstrous green eyes were fixed on Tang Ling. It fought vehemently and tried to burst the bubble wall with its sheer strength, but the wall was shockingly tenacious.

No matter how hard the monster tried, the bubble wall was, at most, deformed for a while, before returning to its original shape. It showed no signs of bursting.

Would it last though? Tang Ling could not tell. He wiped the water off his face and stood up to see at least 30 to 40 more long, gray monsters that had floated up from the rock formation. Every single one of them swam towards the bubble wall.

All of a sudden, a red armored fish came up from the bottom of the lake and also seemed bewitched. It swam towards the bubble wall and rammed against it with its head.

In the next moment, the first long, gray monster swept the red armored fish with its tail and constricted it tightly. The red armored fish started to struggle, but the strange, long monster made overpowering it look effortless as its tail strangled the red armored fish so strongly that the armored body started to be deformed.

Then, the red armored fish was squeezed into three as its organs and blood burst in the water, painting the area red.

“How powerful!” Tang Ling dared not hesitate anymore. He turned around and ran before more and more monsters appeared in front of the bubble wall. He suddenly realized that this place was not somewhere he could venture freely at his current strength. If he stayed back, the monsters would eventually break the bubble wall and he would have to welcome a horrible death.

Is the entire maze this scary?! Tang Ling ran as fast as he could. He spent less than 2 minutes to return to the stone door. After he reached the temple, the stone door disappeared together with the platform and the other golden halos.

Tang Ling was breathing heavily. From the start till the end, it had only been less than ten minutes. If not for his sodden clothes, it would have been difficult for him to believe all that had been real.

A tinge of acknowledgment appeared in his mind. This huge dragon maze was not someplace he could walk in and out freely. It was filled with danger like the monsters in the water back then. What level were those vicious beasts? There were no obvious traits on their bodies. He did spot two purple stripes on the red armored fish though, but they had been strangled to death and ripped apart into three by the sheer force of the monster’s tail.

The incident was also the most significant reason for Tang Ling to leave. A Level 2 vicious beast was killed almost effortlessly in a second! That indicated that the group of long, gray monsters would be at least Level 3 vicious beasts.

Even if a Purple Moon Warrior coincidentally discovered the maze under the Goddess Tear Lake, he might not be able to…

If Uncle Su Siao were here, would he be able to fight them?

Tang Ling rested while his mind pondered upon the encounter. How many more entrances to the maze such as this temple were out there?

What does all this mean?

Unfortunately, the mystery of the huge maze was not something he could answer.

Tang Ling was not overly concerned about the disappeared haloes and the lock icon. The energy key was gone, and so were the others. If he wanted to go back in, he would just have to generate another key.

Would he continue exploring the maze? His answer was a firm yes. However, generating a single key required a tremendous amount of spiritual energy and Tang Ling did not mind waiting since he still had time to spare.

…

It was four in the afternoon.

According to the usual routine, it was time for the villagers of Barbarto Village to herd the cows and sheep back to their barns. However, something unexpected happened that day, thus the villagers were blocked at the entrance to their village.

The one who had blocked the villagers was none other than Bartu’s family. There were six wandering hunters among them who were rather powerful, and behind them were two more warriors from the Uvandidi tribe.

As expected of a warrior, their intimidating aura emanated strongly even if they did nothing but stand there. Each of them wore only bloomers and a single chest piece covering their bare top. The rest of their bodies were also as hard as iron plates. No one would doubt them being the protectors of Barbarto Village against the wolves.

“Bartu, move! Barbarto Village isn’t under your family’s command!” Valencia stepped out from the crowd and shouted at Bartu.

“Tie her up and everyone in her family. They are the ones who sold Barbarto Village out.” Bartu no longer showed the passion and flattery that he used to when he tried to woo Valencia.

“How dare you!?”

Bartu chuckled. “I’m doing this for the village! If my family doesn’t stand up now, Barbarto Village will be destroyed by the wolves tomorrow. I’ll have to tie you up first, and after the wolves, I’ll apologize to Uncle Wenbu myself. I’m still going to marry you.”

Valencia wanted to argue, but two of Bartu’s brothers walked over without further ado to tie her up and gag her.

Several more men made up a dozen-strong group who supported their family and marched into the village righteously. They were determined to capture everyone in Valencia’s family.

Valencia struggled as hard as she could, but she was no match for two mighty wandering hunters. Bartu turned a blind eye to her and announced loudly to the villagers, “Today, every one of you must offer your cattle. To be exact, 300 sheep and 120 cows per family. The Uvandidi tribe will then send someone over to take the cattle away. As you can see, these two warriors will stay behind and protect our village.”

Bardu was persistent, and judging from the menacing attitude of his goons, the villagers had no options left. Their choices were to either hand over the cows and sheep and receive protection from the Uvandidi tribe, or to stay outside the village for the night! Without the village walls as protection, anything could happen outside at night.

Although the villagers were hesitant, such a forceful way was unacceptable. It was no different than daylight robbery!

“Does it mean that if we don’t hand over the cattle today, we can’t enter the village?” one of the villagers asked loudly.

“Hmph!” Bartu grunted coldly at the impertinent question. “Wake up, people! If you hand over the cattle, you might still have a few for yourselves, but if you don’t, and the wolves arrive tomorrow, without the protection from the Uvandidi tribe, everything will be gone, including your lives.”

A stern voice boomed from above, interrupting Bartu., “What about after the wolf attack? Let me guess. Barbarto Village will fully side with the Uvandidi tribe after this incident and the tribe will sell us to the people with the stars, won’t they? We will then lose our cattle, and become herder and miner slaves for other people for the generations to come. Am I right?”

In fury, Bartu looked up and saw Wenbu at the top of the wooden barricades. The bow in his hand was loaded with an arrow with the string drawn back into a full moon as he aimed at Bartu’s brothers that stood before the gate.

“Uncle Wenbu, what else is more important than surviving?” Bartu was frustrated. He never thought that Wenbu would have prepared for this by climbing up the wooden barricades.

When Wenbu had been younger, he was once the greatest wandering hunter of the village. Even though he was older, he was still a sharpshooter. He had the higher ground and was armed with a bow, so even the warriors of the Uvandidi tribe could not take him down right away.

“Let my daughter go and open the gates into the village. Otherwise, I’ll rain my fury down on you with my arrows! It’s your choice to die on your knees, but there’s still someone willing to protect the village with his life and the honor! I don’t blame those who decide to follow you, but you cannot force those who aren’t willing to submit! Besides, I believe with the wooden barricades that our ancestors left us, if we fight with our lives, we might be able to hold up against the wolves.” “Now, open the gate and let my daughter go!” Wenbu bellowed.

His words resonated with many of the villagers. A grasslander should live with honor because they admired freedom from the bottom of their hearts. Not everyone was willing to live under another’s rule and be a coward in the face of danger. Some were willing to defend the village against the wolves with their lives. They had been relying on the Uvandidi tribe’s protection all these years, so how would they know if they could not hold the wolves back by themselves?

“Open the gate!” The villagers were aroused with heated determination.

It was at that moment that the Uvandidi warrior behind Bartu smiled coldly. He leaped onto the wall and latched onto the cracks of the wooden barricade, climbing up to the top nimbly like a monkey.

Wenbu coldly grunted as he released the arrow from his bow without a second thought.

Surprisingly, Wenbu’s arrow missed the climbing warrior. This warrior from the Uvandidi tribe was incredibly strong! The wooden wall was actually slippery, yet he was able to scale it like it was flat ground. When Wenbu’s arrow almost hit him, he could even control his movements to dodge the arrow!

How can this warrior be so strong? He’s a lot stronger than the old warriors. Is this the product that the outsiders brought in?

Being the brave man that he was, Wenbu was not afraid after missing his first arrow. He drew another from his quiver and fired it at the warrior. However, the gap in their strength could not be filled with blind courage. Less than a minute later, the warrior had climbed up to the wooden walls and pounced on Wenbu.

“Abu!” Valencia screamed loudly. Tremendous strength exploded from her and allowed her to break free from the hand that gagged her.

Alas, it was too late! The warrior was already in front of Wenbu who tried to draw the scimitar from his waist and duel with the warrior, but before he could, a punch landed on his stomach.

The stern middle-aged man spat a mouthful of blood out and collapsed to his feet. The warrior jostled the defeated Wenbu and jumped down from the wall. Then, he single-handedly latched onto the wall to slow down twice before he landed on the ground safely.

Thud!

The warrior dumped Wenbu on the ground. The older man strenuously opened his eyes and saw Valencia but could not say anything.

He’s way too strong, almost invincible! Why did I even expect Tang Nee and I to be able to rival them? Where’s Tang Nee anyway? He departed for the temple early in the morning, and it has been more than ten hours now. Did he run into trouble?

Wenbu was an honest man, so he did not want to believe Tang Ling had run away. He trusted his own eyes, and the clear eyes from that young man seemed sincere. He did not look like a liar at all.

My daughter is never wrong about people! The only mistake that I have made over the years is trusting Bartu and his family! With that in mind, Wenbu chuckled bitterly.

Then, the warrior who defeated him stepped up. Under the raging gaze of the villagers, he declared, “This man should be executed.”

He pointed at Wenbu and added, “I’ll kill him now, but before I do, I want to tell you all that today, you must hand over all your cows and sheep regardless of how many you have! Not a single one will be spared and this is the price you have to pay for defying us!”

“Why should we comply?!” another angry villager stepped out and argued.

The warrior looked askance at the villager without saying anything. Then, he sprang over and lifted the villager up before tossing him to the ground. The villager spewed blood out from his mouth upon landing and no longer had the strength to stand up.

The warrior smirked and expressed their true intention brazenly, “Because of absolute power! There are 30 more warriors like me back in the Uvandidi tribe. That’s not including the other warriors. Actually, we have sent men to every other village as well, not just Barbarto Village. It isn’t necessary to hide anymore. From today onwards, you will submit to our tribe!”

“Oh yeah, there isn’t going to be a Barbarto Village anymore. This place will only be a branch tribe of Uvandidi! Bartu will be the chieftain here and that’s that!” said the other warrior behind Bartu.

What else was more insulting than this? What an audacious betrayal! All the villagers in front of the gate glared at Bartu furiously.

Bartu seemed uncomfortable, but he straightened his body and said loudly, “I did this for everyone’s sake! There’s no downside in submitting to the Uvandidi tribe! Soon, we’ll have our own warriors and grow stronger! The six villages from the grasslands come from the same lineage, so we should be united, shouldn’t we?”

No one answered Bartu, but the rage in their eyes were smoldering. Sadly, they were the silent majority who dared not step up in the face of injustice.

The warrior grew impatient and drew his scimitar from his waist. “Reasoning is always the stupidest method. Kill him yourself and take your place as the new chieftain. It looks like you will need blood to wake these fools up!”

The warrior shoved the scimitar into Bartu’s hand. His intention was simple and obvious. He wanted Bartu to kill Wenbu.

“This…” Bartu hesitated as he never thought things would unfold to this point. He did not want to kill Wenbu! If he did, how should he face Valencia in the future?

“Don’t you want to do it?” The warrior widened his eyes fiercely, but Bartu did not have the courage to pick up the scimitar.

“If you don’t want to do it, I will! You coward! You have no right to become the chieftain!” said the warrior. He shoved the shivering Bartu away and walked over his fallen body. Then, he swung the scimitar towards Wenbu.

Wenbu closed his eyes. He placed his hope in Tang Ling and prayed that he could get back before the wolves descended upon them. If he died before his return, then so be it.

“Abu!” Valencia cried out loudly. All the villagers shut their eyes.

After all, Wenbu was a good man, one that was loved and respected by all.