Chapter 123 — The Li People
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 4 of 5
Just now a faint smile seemed to hover at the corner of his mouth. Gazing into the distance, he said slowly, "There lies the root and heart of the Miao, who have held sway over the southern border for two hundred years. And there, too, in the Miao altar halfway up the mountain at Qili Tong, beneath the statue of that evil dog-god of the Miao, our Li tribe's guardian treasure, the Bone Jade, has lain suppressed for a full two hundred years."
"Keh keh..."
A grating sound came suddenly from the burly man in front. The man behind looked and saw that he whom he called chief of the Li had clenched his fists, and his knuckles cracked with the sheer force of it.
"Two hundred years! Two hundred years!" The strong man's voice was not loud, but he muttered as if roaring.
"Yes. Two hundred years. Two hundred years ago we were set upon in treachery by the vile Miao. Their wicked great shaman cursed our warriors dead with poisonous sorcery, seized the sacred Bone Jade we worshipped, and drove us into the barrenest corner of the southern border, where we have lived two hundred years of the bitterest hardship." The man behind him spoke on, calmly, in cold words, of a hatred that could never be forgiven.
The fierce mountain wind struck the Li chief's mountain-like frame like a blade, but he did not stir. In his eyes now there was only that warm, living land ringed by mountains ahead.
"To lose the Bone Jade is the greatest insult and dishonor to the Bear God!" the man behind went on. "So for two hundred years the Bear God has been wroth and would no longer watch over our Li. But from this day, if only we defeat the Miao and win back the Bone Jade, the Bear God will surely look on us again, and then we may take the finest land in all the southern border and settle our people and our children's children there for all generations."
His voice rose abruptly. "Chief, we must never let our children yet to come fight the fire-wolves and black tigers—beasts that even the strongest warrior cannot withstand—merely to seize a little food, as we have done."
"We must live. We must have the best land!" he said viciously.
Ahead, the giant of a chief did not turn his head, but his angry, heavy breathing betrayed his feelings. After a moment's silence he turned and said, "The other three tribes—are they truly no trouble?"
The man behind nodded at once. "Yes, Chief. The Miao have long lorded it over the southern border, and the other three tribes have long resented them. The Zhuang are many and strong, yet they must bow beneath the Miao—they have chafed at it this long while. The Tu have always kept to themselves, holding aloof from the other four tribes and refusing to meddle in their quarrels. And the Gaoshan are few and weak, able only to look to their own defense, with no strength to expand."
A veiled look came over his face. He lowered his voice. "Chief, if only we crush the Miao in one stroke—with the valor our Li warriors have won these two hundred years fighting the fiercest beasts of the southern border, and with the blessing of the great Bear God—the day we rule the southern border will be close at hand."
A blazing light leapt into the Li chief's eyes. Even gazing at Qili Tong ahead seemed to set his whole body trembling—with excitement and longing, and perhaps with the warrior's inborn bloodlust.
But he was, after all, the chief of a tribe, no hothead who acted without thought. Once the first surge of excitement had passed, he fell silent, then turned and fixed his eyes hard on the man behind him. "Ahetai, they say that wicked Miao great shaman has lived three hundred years and still dwells in the deepest recess of the Miao altar. His sorcery is the most terrible power in the southern border. Can you truly deal with him?"