Chapter 29 - The Depraved One (1)

At the edge of the wilderness, something else was going on. A couple of Zukira tribesmen were busy harassing an unknown, old individual. They thought no one would notice them doing their shady business there, after all, they had been doing this for years and never faced any problem.

Although these tribesmen were once a part of the Zukiras as they had tattoos on their bodies to prove it, now they were just a couple of Skah's henchmen who were placed to guard the only entry point that the remainder of the continent shared with the wilderness.

It was a fairly big valley surrounded by luscious greenery that would persuade anyone to come to live in the wilderness, while the greenery was hiding countless vicious beasts within, ready to devour anyone who came close. On both sides of the narrow path, were tall mountain ranges that were so steep not even the beasts could climb them.

At the end of the path, just before the Wilderness started, the Zukiras had constructed a checkpoint to make sure none of the other tribes could launch a surprise attack on them. After all, the other tribes had taken away their home and peace once and they could do it again if given the chance. This checkpoint also served as a place where they could extort the travellers who came to explore the wilderness. But they were only allowed inside if they could pay a certain price.

There was no currency in the wilderness so Zukira didn't need money. The only thing that they ever needed from the rest of the continent was information. That was also the only currency they traded in, except for a few herbs. However, the guards on these checkpoints or the Henchmen as they were called, did not think so.

The henchmen usually consisted of those who were deemed unfit to live within the tribe and hence were cast out and forced to serve as henchmen for a while as punishment. Since they were the worst of the worst, they needed everything, from women to good food and weapons. They did not give a crap about 'information'. Their need changed according to who wanted to visit the wilderness.

At this specific time, an frail-looking old man wanted to enter the wilderness but was stopped by the henchmen. The old man's eyes were leaking with wisdom, and even though his body was as weak as an insect, his charisma did not betray him. His long whip-like beard was beaded just like any other Zukira tribesman and his body was also covered with tattoos, serving as the proof that just like the henchmen, he too was a member of the tribe.

Still, the Henchmen did not allow him entry till he gave them the appropriate fee. In this case, this fee was two of the old man's sacks that were filled to the brim with tea leaves. The Tulak-driven cart was actually laden with a dozen of such sacks. As much as the Zukiras were well off in the Wilderness, there were things they could neither obtain there nor could they grow, just like there were things that the other tribes could only obtain from the wilderness.

Tea was one such commodity. The Zukiras loved tea, but sadly the soil of the wilderness was not suitable to grow tea leaves on. Thus they sent the traders to the other tribes on a monthly basis to exchange their resources with Tea and a few choice herbs. Well... it was only because Skah wanted the tribe to live in luxury while still not making proper relations with the other tribes for what they had done to the Zukiras in the past.

However, since the Zukira believed that the young ones should protect the tribe, thus the traders were mostly old men who were considered expendable. Another reason to choose them was the fact that the old people knew the customs and rituals that they needed to perform before and during conducting business with the other tribes. No matter what tribe they did business with, they all were proud of their 'heritage'. And thus behaving properly with them was very important.

As for the final reason for choosing the old men as traders, was a bit... dark. Sometimes the rival tribes tend to get hostile against anyone from the Wilderness, thus in the past, quite a few traders have lost their lives because of such situations. Thus, they began sending old men for trade so that even if they died, not much harm would be done to the tribe.

This old man was a trader as well and at the moment, he was returning with a fresh consignment of tea leaves and some other herbs that had been requested by the tribe. The henchmen saw what was inside it and demanded the old man to leave behind two sacks full of tea leaves for them as 'entrance fees'.

"Entrance fees? What entrance fee? I am a tribesman. I know the laws by heart, I was there when those da.mn things were written. There is no law for a Zukira to pay fees to enter his own land!" The Old man roared in rage, "Younguns like you should try to extort someone else, not your know tribesmen, you morons!"

The henchmen, however, did not take the insult lightly. One of the three henchmen jumped in front of the old man and lifted him up by grabbing his neck while the other two cheered him on.

"Cave his skull his!"

"Show him, brother!"

"What the fck did you say, you fcking retard?" The tall and muscular henchman was about to slam the man headfirst into the ground when something bit his foot.

The sudden sharp pain made the henchman let go of the old trader. His allies jumped into the action when they saw a giant white commander wolf had attacked their partner. However, before they could do anything, one of them was stabbed right into the heart by a white spear. Everything happened so quickly that they didn't even notice the white-haired kid who was standing behind them.

"I hate you tribe people.... always bullying the weak. For what? Entertainment? Resources?" Zok spat out in disgust, "If that's the case, I hope you won't mind if I use you for my entertainment?"