Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland

Shan, this is a large plain adjacent to the border and swamps, and it is further east of the mainland. It is located between the humid rainforest and the dry desert. There is groundwater infiltration from the swamps, and there are dry and hot winds from the vast continent, and gravel piled up into hills.

Tall trees cannot take root here, so there is no dense jungle. Instead, weeds and shrubs often grow in patches with the seasons, supporting many wandering tribes who make a living by grazing.

As for other people, they can't survive here.

Dawn, the morning light is coming.

At a glance, the yellow mounds are undulating, dotted with some green.

An old herdsman wearing a felt head, leading his grandson, driving a group of black sheep with spiral horns, following the direction of these weeds, all the way.

The black sheep also nibbled while walking, and some even didn't let go of the grass roots.

"Grandpa, have we gone too far?" Little Dibu, who had just begun to work, said worriedly, "We are already close to the border."

Although he had not been out to graze independently.

But the chaos in the border area had been emphasized to them countless times by the adults in the tribe: It is said that the cattle and sheep brought back by the envoys of the big tribes who came to collect taxes every year were not kept for themselves or added to the pasture, but were presented to the leaders of the mountain strongholds in the border areas, so that peace could be guaranteed every year.

If they angered any of the bandit strongholds.

The next year, the entire tribe would be robbed, all the women would be humiliated, and the young and strong would be either killed or taken to the mountains. As for the useless old people and children, most of them would be exposed in the wilderness, and soon they would be buried under the yellow sand and fed with green weeds.

As for meeting them in the wild, it would be even more miserable.

Without the protection of the tribe, there would be no possibility of even a trace of argument.

These things scared little Dibu just thinking about them.

"It's okay, it's still far away from us." The old man Ethan touched his grandson's head kindly, "The border is much more vast and desolate than you think, just like our Shan land, sometimes you can't meet anyone after walking for half a day, it's not so easy to meet the sand bandits." As he said this, his eyes were extremely alert. While swinging the whip to gather and drive the sheep, he moved as alertly as an old sheep king, constantly looking into the distance with his turbid eyes to observe possible movements. The wind swept away the clouds, and the yellow sand covered the sky. But it was not very clear. He was also worried about what his grandson was worried about. But there was nothing he could do about it. Each tribe had its own fixed pasture, but the number was small, and they were all used to raise large animals such as wild cattle and camels. These large animals can be used as labor, and can be sold to merchants as pack animals without worrying about sales. At critical moments, they can also be given to the sand bandits as collateral. This is the most important asset of the tribe, which needs to be carefully cared for and cannot be slaughtered at will; if the pastures for raising them are destroyed or consumed too much, and a group of important herds die, the loss will be even more severe, and maybe even this year's tribute cannot be paid.

But people always have to eat.

So they still need to graze the small black sheep herd led by Ethan, but they cannot occupy the pastures around the tribe, so they can only try to expand outward. The less grass they eat, the inevitable exploration of the border of Shem.

In the tribe, there are many herders who have never returned after encountering unexpected changes.

All for life.

Fortunately, as long as the young and strong men who go out to trade come back with Kai coins, the tribe's life will be much better. During that period of time, they collectively killed sheep and ate meat, and maybe there were a few bottles of fine wine exchanged from outside. Everyone was as happy as a festival, and Ethan himself could rest for a long time.

Thinking of this, the old herder raised his head.

But he thought of his son who led the pack animals to trade in the south.

Suddenly, Ethan's pupils shrank.

A black dot was reflected in the yellow sandy sky.

The whip in his hand trembled, and he was quite nervous.

But soon, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Because the old man saw the small black dot approaching in the distance - it was just a human figure, or a man and a cow.

There was no one else around.

"Grandpa, look at that!" Little Dib realized it later and pointed at the visitor, but he was not as nervous as Ethan.

"It's okay," Ethan said, "It looks like a passing traveler."

Shem is located in the center of the entire continent. There are many drifters, rangers, merchants... or just wanderers who are simply lost and dying. They all come and go here, appearing and disappearing from time to time.

"But we still avoid it."

Even if the other party is only one person, but they don't know the details when they meet on a narrow road. There are only one old and one young on his side, and there are so many black sheep, it is hard to guarantee that they will not have bad intentions.

Ethan touched the iron dart inserted in his waist.

Of course, even if a conflict breaks out, an old herdsman like him who has been working hard all his life still has self-defense methods. Many people who don't have eyes have lost their lives in this way.

Little Dib took the whip obediently and drove the black sheep that were still grazing peacefully. Some black sheep seemed to have noticed something and raised their heads, looking curiously at the uninvited guests on the sand.

As the figure of the person approached.

Ethan's attention was attracted by the wild bull under him:

"This man... actually raised a beast king."

As an old herdsman, he could tell at a glance that the bull was abnormally shaped. If placed in a wild herd, it was basically the leading bull in the "elder stage". It is said that people become better with old age, and the same is true for animals. If there is a beast king leading it, this animal group will basically be difficult to die out in the wild.

Of course, if it is domesticated.

He is no longer actually the King of Beasts, but the people in the tribe are still used to calling him this way.

If someone can tame a beast king, not only will he have a bright face, but everyone will admire you. In a small tribe like Ethan's, maybe that person can take this opportunity to become a tribe elder or even become the next leader of the tribe. candidate.

Ethan lived to this age.

In those large tribes, he had only seen one or two beast kings with camels, but for animals with such violent personalities like wild bulls, he had never seen any beast kings tamed by humans.

That's why I was so surprised.

"It's possible that he bought it and spent a lot of money." The old man thought to himself, "It doesn't look like a herdsman. How can he have such ability... But even the Beast King is willing to sell it, so the owner is also a loser."

Don't know why.

Since ancient times, the wandering tribes and herdsmen in this area have been born with an ability. They have an affinity with the animals they have tamed that is beyond ordinary people - some even claim to be able to talk to animals, but this is purely It's a legend.

Taming a beast king is a small matter in itself.

More importantly, it can also be used to manage an entire herd of animals under its command, which can save a lot of effort and is more worry-free than a dozen shepherds jointly grazing.

When Ethan was young, he didn't know the heights of the world, and he also had such ambitions. He secretly went to the wild beasts to find the beast king, trying to subdue him, but he always ended up in disgrace and failed. It wasn't until he almost lost his life once that he finally gave up.

And if the Beast King is sold.

The new owner didn't have the skills of the Shen tribe herdsmen like them, so he just got an ordinary bull that was strong, slightly stronger, and capable of killing and eating thicker meat.

As he thought this, his grandson had already driven the sheep away.

And the man and the cow had no intention of getting closer. They were separated by a long distance, almost parallel to each other and passed by them, gradually getting farther and farther away.

Ethan put down his hand touching the iron dart and took the time to look at the person on the cow's back.

I saw that he was wearing a bamboo hat on his head, blocking the sunlight that was about to become scorching, leaving a shadow on his face, and a long scarf covering his mouth, nose and chin to block the wind and sand - he seemed to be very used to being in the desert. The appearance of trekking strengthened the old man's initial judgment.

The other person didn't look sideways and didn't look this way, and Ethan couldn't see his face clearly. He only noticed that there was a clump of untrimmed white hair on the back of the man's head, which was simply tied up with a straw rope and hung down on his shoulders. .

"Cornelius!"

Just when the old herdsman was thinking about continuing to graze, he heard little Dibu scream in surprise and then ran past him.

Ethan grabbed his grandson: "What are you doing!"

"It's Kony! Kony ran over!" There was a hint of crying in Little Dibu's voice, which was quite urgent.

The old herdsman discovered this.

A little black sheep actually jumped out of his flock and rushed straight towards the passing passerby. It moved vigorously and quickly. At this moment, it had already rushed halfway and it was too late to catch it.

It was the "Cornelius" that little Dib called him.

In order to cultivate the tribe's animal-taming skills and increase their affinity with animals, adults will arrange a ceremony similar to catching a baby for children, allowing them to choose an animal cub to cultivate and grow up with.

Generally speaking, the elders of the clan prepare small bone dogs.

When it grows up like this, it can also become an effective partner for herdsmen.

It happened that on the day when Little Dibu performed the ceremony, a little calf somehow opened the door of the sheepfold, jumped out, and rushed into the camp.

As a result, amidst the exclamations of the adults, he panicked and pushed the puppy in front of him, directly into the arms of little Dib, making the young man laugh out loud.

In order to respect tradition and see that this little lamb seemed to be really smart, the adults didn't take it back and let Little Dibu keep it like this.

At that time, an animal trainer from a large tribe known as "Faceless" happened to be passing by. He heard about this incident and was very interested in it. He went to see Little Dibu and the lamb in person, and then gave it to the lamb. Named "Cornelius" - it is said to be a horn symbolizing royal power in ancient languages.

Little Dib didn't know why the powerful Faceless gave a sheep this name. The pronunciation was too long and he couldn't remember it, so sometimes he just called it "Kony".

However, in the process of growing up with Little Dib, Cornelius was indeed smarter than other sheep, allowing Little Dib to learn the ability to domesticate and herd quickly, even surpassing his peers. The two also cultivated Not a small feeling.

However, at this moment, Ethan pulled his grandson hard: "...Forget it."

Unexpectedly, at this juncture, Kony, who has always been smart, actually became disobedient.

When he saw it, the little black sheep ran wildly and made a bleating sound, which also attracted the attention of the passerby, who made him stop the bull and turn over.

Then, before Kony hit the man with his threaded horn, he was picked up by him, dancing and bleating in surprise.

The passerby wearing a bamboo hat glanced at the sheep.

Then across the sand dunes, I looked at my grandfather and grandson from a distance.

Ethan paused, but did not ask for it.

He didn't know who the other party was and where he came from, so there was no need to create extraneous matters, even if it meant losing a sheep - in this world, how many things could be taken back, let alone the things that fell into other people's hands? Even if it is in my own hand, I don’t know when someone will snatch it away from me.

Not to mention, it's a sheep in the desert.

Translated, it was a full meal and several days of dried meat... At the critical moment, it was equivalent to the life of a passer-by.

Little Dibu noticed the strength of his grandfather's palm on his shoulder, so he could only hold back his tears and watched quietly, being sensible and silent.

Just thinking that Kony, who was like a companion, would soon turn into a meal of mutton for this stranger, I felt sad and my eyes became redder.

In the distance, the man looked at the sheep in his hand again, met its clear and somewhat confused eyes, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly said:

"Cornelius?"

Little Dib was surprised. How did he know Kony's name?

But then he reacted.

I had subconsciously called its name before, and it must have been heard. The other person hesitated, maybe because he didn't expect that someone would give a name to a sheep.

However, what surprised both of them was that the passerby put down "this mutton meal", then kicked Kony's butt and said, "Go back."

The little sheep was still hesitant, but when he slapped his hand, it trembled all over, and subconsciously turned around and ran back as if it had received some order.

Little Dib came forward in surprise.

He hugged Kony and blamed him at the same time.

Soon, he realized something, raised his head and shouted with all his strength: "Um...thank you!"

The other party leaned against the wall-like bull and waved his hand.

But the old herdsman Ethan narrowed his eyes.

He knew his grandson's talent for taming animals. Kony was smart and spiritual. It was strange that he could lose control of his grandson when he was growing up. But what he did just now made him even more concerned.

Not just an ordinary animal drive.

It's like he controls them.

Even among all the large and small tribes in Shendi, this is an ability possessed by very few people. For example, the faceless man, it is said that he can even shuttle among the ferocious long-necked beak-billed beasts without being regarded as food by them.

In this plain, beak-billed beasts often plunder, killing herds at worst, and attacking tribes without humans and animals at worst.

With this ability alone, Wu Mian not only helped his tribe grow several times, he was also treated as a guest among other tribes. It can be said that he is the most valued person in the entire land of Shen.

Could it be that this ordinary passerby was actually from the Shem tribe, and even had an affinity for animals comparable to Faceless? But as an old herdsman, he had never heard of it.

If it were normal times, Ethan would definitely feel that he was overthinking.

After all, the example is just a lamb.

But coupled with the beast king level bull beside him, if he behaves like this... he has to make people suspicious.

"Old man!" A voice interrupted his thoughts, but it was the other person, "Which tribe in the east are you from?"

"This..." Unexpectedly, he suddenly spoke, and Ethan became alert.

"I took the liberty." Lu Meng sensed the other party's wariness and knew that the old herdsman was unwilling to reveal his identity casually for fear of causing trouble.

He didn't care, he just smiled and said:

"Nothing else, I just want to remind my father-in-law: we are approaching the junction of the border land and the swamp - it may be a little uneasy recently."

"You two had better rush back to the tribe as soon as possible to remind the tribesmen that it is best to prepare to migrate and avoid the limelight."