"The old man's words are quite interesting, reminiscent of using magic to defeat magic.
After all, I've encountered quite a few deities since arriving on this island.
At first, the sea god Qi Ye, worshipped by the Kasa tribe, almost pushed me to my death with just his sea god attendants, never even showing his face. If not for Zhuoya's mother, Zhuoya and I would have perished in Qi Ye's temple back then.
Then there was that unfortunate tree Xin Lai Jia, calling him a disgrace to deities wouldn't be an exaggeration. I burned him to ashes with a single flame.
https:/
And then the Mother of All Creation, and the Shepherd God, whom the An people now worship…
As I was contemplating, the old man, seeing me lost in thought, calmly turned around and returned to his small bed, gradually falling silent.
After weighing my options, I realized that although it seemed I had many choices, in reality, I only had one: to rely on a deity to counter the Mother of All Creation.
That would be the former Son of the Forest, now the Shepherd God.
Firstly, this fellow has a grudge against the Mother of All Creation and certainly wouldn't want to see her rise from the ashes through me.
Secondly, I currently have an opportunity to approach him, and on the surface, I'm his most powerful subordinate. This means I have some value to him, and he wouldn't simply crush me to save trouble the moment we meet.
With this calculation, I knew I had no choice but to accept the High Priest's invitation.
I sighed, it all felt like destiny's arrangement, and unknowingly, everything had come full circle.
I silently re-wrapped the beast hide in my hand and put it down, then turned and walked to the door.
Unbeknownst to me, I had already spent a day here. Now, even through the curtain, I could still smell the aroma of roasted meat wafting in from outside.
I didn't rush out, but stood at the doorway and turned to look at the old man on the small bed.
I wonder what sort of background this old man, Ye Sou, truly has. He's like the Sweeping Monk from the 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' I've read about, a mysterious figure.
Not wanting to disturb Ye Sou any further, I respectfully bowed to him and walked out of the tent.
As soon as I stepped out and exhaled, I saw Ada approaching from not far away.
"Batu, you're truly patient. My head hurts after just a few minutes. You've been looking for so long!"
Ada walked up to me, threw an arm around my shoulders, and pulled me along.
"Let's go, let's go! The King wants to eat meat with you!"
Upon hearing this, my heart skipped a beat.
Could things have taken another turn?
Or has something happened that I'm unaware of?
In any case, though I wasn't sure why Hu Tu was looking for me, through my understanding of him these past few days, I had a rough grasp of his personality.
To put it simply, Hu Tu is outwardly gentle but inwardly cold, a person who only values self-interest.
Such people have a prominent characteristic: they interact with whoever is useful to them.
In modern society, these people are not uncommon.
They are like cunning foxes, navigating between various powers, manipulating implicit unspoken rules to achieve their goals.
As long as the profit is large enough, they would even trade their wives and children.
This is a natural-born political animal, but it cannot be denied that such people often fare much better than ordinary individuals, truly embodying the saying that 'a shameless person is invincible under heaven.'
Seeing me suddenly freeze, Ada turned to look at me with a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong, Batu? Why aren't you speaking?"
"Oh, nothing. Let's go."
I chuckled to myself and followed Ada towards Hu Tu's royal tent.
Regardless of what kind of person Hu Tu is, as long as he can protect me until I find a way to remove the mark of the Mother of All Creation, it will be enough.
In fact, looking at it from another angle, dealing with someone like Hu Tu is quite straightforward.
As long as I am still useful to him, he will be very tolerant of me.
Before long, Ada and I arrived at Hu Tu's royal tent. After greeting the guards at the entrance, Ada led me inside.
Upon entering, I found the familiar scene.
I've found Hu Tu to be a very peculiar man. He seems to enjoy drinking alone. Every time I visit his grand tent, he's drinking.
"Batu, sit."
Seeing me enter, Hu Tu didn't bother with pleasantries, simply saying a word and then continuing to drink heavily on his own.
Ada and I sat down at a lower position than Hu Tu. Guards brought two platters of large roasted meat.
The people of the An tribe have hearty appetites and strong tastes. The roasted meat, under the firelight, displayed an alluring charred brown hue, adorned with large crystals of sea salt. These were seasonings they refined through primitive methods of filtering seawater.
Ada impatiently tore off a rib, stuffed it into his mouth, his lips and teeth slick with grease.
I glanced up at Hu Tu. He was still gulping down fine wine, the clear liquid flowing down his throat, drenching a large portion of his chest.
To hell with it!
Since Hu Tu is playing dumb, pretending to be a master by not speaking, I can't just indulge him.
I picked up a piece of roasted meat and fiercely shoved it into my mouth, feasting heartily alongside Ada.
In the vast tent, aside from the silent guards standing by, the atmosphere presented a peculiar harmony.
Two gluttons and one drunkard, all with a bright future.
However, the good times didn't last long. Just as I was engrossed in eating, Hu Tu suddenly put down his wine, clapped his hands, and stood up.
"Batu."