Chapter 129 — Legend
劍問蒼天 · Page 6 of 6
The Great Shaman's back seemed bent beneath an invisible burden, desolate beyond words. He did not answer Xiao Bai's question; instead, as though to himself, he went on: "After the five warriors had wept and grieved, they returned to the Wu Tribe. Though the Maiden of the Wu had died untimely, the beast demon, that foe without equal in the Wu Tribe's history, was at last suppressed within that ancient cave, and amid their sorrow the people of the Wu Tribe felt a measure of joy and relief. But just then, the five warriors, whose renown had soared upon their return from slaying the demon, fell to fighting among themselves over the leadership of the Wu Tribe."
"What is most to be lamented is this: each generation's Maiden of the Wu was appointed by the Maiden of the previous generation, and this Maiden had left no instruction behind—and at that moment all five warriors had forgotten to ask. Thus the Wu Tribe, long prosperous and mighty, gradually split apart amid the five warriors' quarreling, and the people each took up the cause of one or another of them, until at last they divided into the five tribes of the Southern Border as they are today—Miao, Li, Zhuang, Tu, and Gaoshan—and the five crucial sacred vessels were held by the five tribes each."
As this ancient yet breathtaking tale finally drew to its close, Ming Li drew a deep breath and, gazing at the Great Shaman's back, said slowly, "Senior, you have said so much—can it be that you wish me to help recover the Miao Tribe's sacred vessel?"