Mu Chen felt a chill. He was ready to draw his sword, but the sensation on his neck intensified as the skin was pricked.

"Don't move!" the person behind him warned.

"Shit!" Mu Chen cursed and released the grip on his sword. Someone approached him from behind and he wasn't even aware. The skill of the person was apparent.

"Good," the person behind Mu Chen said and then let out a sharp whistle.

In just a few breaths, several figures arrived next to Mu Chen and surrounded him. They were all men, exceedingly tall and muscular, with their tattooed chests exposed to the air. Just like the siblings, they used crude clothing made of animal skin to cover their privates. But unlike the kids, they had proper weapons. Most of them carried spears, while a few carried bows and arrows. A machete dangled by the waist of every guy. They all raised their weapons and looked at him warily.

"Hands behind the back," the guy said.

Since he had lost the initiative, Mu Chen did what he was told. Soon his hands were bound with a string of tendon from some beast. A hand, the size of saucers, reached from behind and stripped him of his sword, the storage pouches, and his ring.

"I mean no harm," Mu Chen said as the barbarian reached into his clothes and pulled Xiao Xue who was fast asleep as a log.

"You followed the two of them here," the barbarian breathed down his neck, "and you say you mean no harm?"

Mu Chen felt his scalp tingle. "It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding," he said. Just how long had this guy been eyeing him? "I was curious why there were kids in the forest, so I followed them."

"Who would believe that?" the barbarian sneered. "But your clothes are different… Take him to see the elders," the guy said and urged Mu Chen to walk towards the village. All this time, his blade never left Mu Chen's neck.

The group of barbarians brought Mu Chen into the village. Seeing the men come, the kids playing immediately scattered making way for them.

The barbarian behind Mu Chen pushed him to the front. "Chief, we caught a rat."

When the group of old men saw Mu Chen with his foreign clothes they all stood up and looked at him with piercing eyes.

"Outsider?" The chief muttered looking at Mu Chen. He looked at the barbarian behind Mu Chen and said, "An Zhi, you shouldn't have brought him here."

"Chief, I didn't bring him here—I caught him following the kids," An Zhi said and everyone's expressions changed.

The chief and other old men's faces turned ugly and they looked at Mu Chen with hostile gazes.

"Break his legs and throw him out," one elder suggested.

"It's better to kill him," one elder said. A few elders nodded in approval.

"That would be such a waste… How about we use him as bait to lure monster beasts?" another elder said. Several elders nodded and began to whisper and suggest ideas to get rid of Mu Chen.

Mu Chen felt things had begun to spiral out of control and said, "There's no need to go so far… It's a misunderstanding. I was just—"

An Zhi knocked Mu Chen on his head with the flat side of the blade. "Quiet!" he said in a gruff voice. "Who let you speak?" An Zhi said and walked towards the chief.

Only now did Mu Chen get a clear view of the guy who had caught him by surprise. He was a big guy, with bulging muscles. Even Ma Hong looked like a little brother in front of this guy. Mu Chen could hardly believe he was sneaked on by such a big guy. With this guy's size, just the act of walking should make the ground shake, but his gait was surprisingly light.

In one of his hands, An Zhi carried Xiao Xue whom he handed over to the chief. "Chief, look at what we found."

Before, the elder's attention had been captured by Mu Chen, everyone had ignored Xiao Xue. But when they saw her, the chief and other elders were shocked at first, then their expressions became ecstatic.

"T-this… " one of the elders stuttered.

"Such strong vitality… " an elder commented.

"It must have a powerful bloodline," another elder couldn't help but exclaim.

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"Chief, what do you think?" An Zhi turned to the chief with a big smile plastered on his face.

The chief stared at Xiao Xue with disbelief in his eyes. Even his hands holding her were trembling. "Fortune has delivered itself to our door," the chief said. The greed in his eyes could be barely contained. "It's time for our An tribe to rise— "

"Ahem," Mu Chen coughed, "the fox is mine."

Everyone looked at Mu Chen. In their excitement, the elders had forgotten about him.

"As I said, everything is just a misunderstanding," Mu Chen said. "So if you give her back to me… and the rest of my stuff—I will be on my way."

The chief looked at Mu Chen and then at then Xiao Xue and at Mu Chen, and chuckled, "You have ill intentions, you can't blame us."

Mu Chen was stunned. Weren't barbarians supposed to be simple-minded? Since when did they become so shameless?

"Go and prepare for the ceremony," the chief said. "An Zhi, you have made a big contribution today. As a reward, once the blood essence of this monster beast is drawn, I will personally engrave the totem for you."

"Thank you chief," An Zhi saluted the chief by pressing the knife to his chest. Several of An Zhi's group members cheered and congratulated him.

Mu Chen, however, wasn't pleased. Draw Xiao Xue's blood? Hearing their excited whispers, Mu Chen almost exploded. He struggled to break free from the bindings and jump towards Xiao Xue, but another barbarian held him from behind. Mu Chen could only glare at the chief. "Leave her alone! If you hurt her, I will make you regret it," he roared.

"Shut up!" An Zhi slapped Mu Chen with the side of his blade. "If not keeping you had some use, you think I would keep you alive?"

Mu Chen clenched his fists. Initially, he wanted to resolve everything peacefully. In particular, when he saw the elder treat the young kids with such a kind attitude, he thought they could get along once the misunderstanding was cleared. But he didn't expect these barbarians to become greedy for his little fox.

Mu Chen wanted to attack but refrained. There were too many people here and he didn't know their strengths. Since he had some use, they wouldn't outright kill him. Mu Chen decided to wait for a better opportunity.

The chief handed Xiao Xue to one of the old guys. The old man nodded and left with several men from An Zhi's group.

Mu Chen looked at the old man who disappeared with Xiao Xue towards the back of the village, his eyes brimming with resentment.

The old chief looked at Mu Chen and then at An Zhi. "You said you had use for this outsider?"

"Chief, don't we have several of these things?" An Zhi opened his palm to reveal the spatial ring he had grabbed from Mu Chen.

"An Zhi, you are smart," the chief was very pleased to hear An Zhi's idea. But then he looked at Mu Chen and frowned. "But this guy… It looks like he has only practiced external body refinement. Can he open the space inside?"

"He must have a way," An Zhi said. "Why else would he wear one?"

The old chief's eyes brightened on hearing An Zhi's words. "Outsider," the old chief looked at Mu Chen and said, "help us get the contents of the ring and we will let you go."

"What about my pet?" Mu Chen was still staring in the direction where the old man had left.

"You should worry about yourself," the chief said. "Remove the contents of the ring."

"It's just an ordinary ring," Mu Chen shrugged. "It's not what you think it is."

"Are you sure?" The old man looked at the ring and frowned. "Bring out the collection."

Another old man left.

"Brother Zhi, have a taste of this." One of An Zhi's men gave Mu Chen's wine pouch to An Zhi with a red face. He had opened Mu Chen's wine pouch and taken a hearty gulp.

"What's this?" An Zhi smelled the wine and after thinking about it, he took a swig. After tasting it he smacked his lips. "Very strong."

Soon Mu Chen's wine pouch was passed from one person to another. Mu Chen's heart bled with every sip, and the fire in his heart burned. That was his energy drink.

"If we have this wine, it will be possible to plan long-distance excursions," the old chief who also had a sip, said thoughtfully. The barbarians also made their own wine, however, it didn't carry the same amount of energy as the medicated wine Mu Chen carried. "Tell us the recipe for the wine."

Mu Chen cursed the barbarians in his mind. First Xiao Xue, then his storage ring, and now his wine. These guys had already taken his belongings as their own.

Seeing Mu Chen being uncooperative, the old chief frowned on seeing this and motioned at An Zhi.

An Zhi stepped forward and hit Mu Chen's temple with the base of his knife. Mu Chen fell on his knees with a groan. An Zhi was about to hit Mu Chen again, but at this time the old man who had left arrived bringing a bag with him. The old man handed the bag to the chief.

The old chief put his hand into the bag and took out a handful of spatial rings.

Mu Chen's face twitched on seeing them and he stared at the bag with shock. Just how many spatial rings were inside it? Where did they come from? Did these guys rob a bunch of cultivators like him who had just entered? If that was the case, it was too horrible.

The old man compared Mu Chen's ring with the other rings in his hand and smirked at Mu Chen. "They look the same. You dare lie to us?"

"I am telling you, it's just an ordinary ring," Mu Chen said.

"Is that so?" An Zhi took Mu Chen's ring back from the chief and sneered. "Since it is ordinary, it's better to destroy it," he said and clenched his hand as if to destroy the ring.

"Hold it," Mu Chen coughed. "That… although the ring is ordinary, it was left to me by my mother… Please don't destroy it."

An Zhi and the chief both looked at Mu Chen and smiled.

Mu Chen could only sigh. His lie had been exposed, but there was no other choice. All of the harvest he had collected so far was inside the ring, including the bloodstones.

"An Zhi, I will let you handle this guy," the chief said and gave the bag of rings to him. "Not just the contents of the rings, the wine recipe—you must get it out of his mouth."

"Leave it to me, chief." An Zhi cracked his knuckles with loud popping sounds. He lifted Mu Chen by his collar.

"Brother Zhi, what about this sword," one of An Zhi's men who was carrying the sword said.

An Zhi looked at the sword and shook his head. Barbarians like to use thick and sturdy weapons that could withstand their brute force. Mu Chen's thin sword couldn't even catch their eyes.

"Give it to the kids to play," An Zhi said and dragged Mu Chen alongside him to the back of the village.