This first leader of the Chimera tribe’s foreign army looked almost exactly like his father Suolong.
The word “Father” nearly burst from Lanling’s (Suolun’s) lips.
Although Count Suolong was not his true father, Lanling felt he was an incredibly great man.
Not only that, but he also felt a very strong sense of identity with the Suo family.
Although he had returned to his identity as Lanling, a name was largely just a code. In his heart, in this world, Tianshui City was his home, the Suo family was his clan.
Then, Count Suolong was also his father.
Even Dina noticed Lanling’s strangeness, then she carefully examined the faces of Lanling and her foster father.
Then, she was surprised to discover that these two people actually looked quite alike.
Viewed separately it was not apparent, but when the two stood together, one could see that the contours of their facial features truly were very similar.
However, the foster father was heroic and stalwart, while Lanling was handsome and refined.
Moreover, after Lanling’s demon transformation, his face had changed considerably, becoming more like the demon race, so when Dina first saw him, she did not notice his resemblance to her foster father.
So this resemblance was something only very intimate people could see.
“Father, do you have a lost son?” Dina asked.
This first leader of the foreign army fixed his gaze upon Lanling’s face, saying: “There is indeed some resemblance, especially the facial contours, but I do not have a son.”
Lanling suppressed the shock in his heart, his voice trembling as he asked: “May I ask, are you human?”
“Of course not…” the first leader of the foreign army said: “I am of the Suo race!”
Then, his eyes suddenly tightened, his fists clenching fiercely.
“Crack crack crack…” Instantly, countless scales rapidly grew across his entire skin, incredibly hard scales, scales that were nearly impervious to blades and spears.
Lanling said in astonishment: “Then may I ask, what is your name?”
“Suomo!” the first leader said.
He also had the surname Suo? What was going on?
Lanling said: “I ask impolitely, how old are you this year?”
“Fifty-six!” Suomo said.
That’s right, the same age as Count Suolong.
“How is it? Little brother, did I remind you of an old acquaintance?” Suomo said.
Lanling nodded, saying: “You two look almost exactly alike. If that old acquaintance had not already passed away, and if you were not of a different race, I would truly think you were the same person.”
If this had been before, Lanling might have thought this was a coincidence.
But, the reason Suo Ningbing looked exactly like Lan Kou was not without cause, it was the work of the Divine Dragon Temple, bait designed to draw out the master of the Demon Star.
So Lanling firmly believed that there were no coincidences in this world.
“You, you are certain you are not human, or were once human, and became your current form due to some kind of mutation?” Lanling asked hoarsely.
Suomo looked at Lanling seriously, saying: “Come with me.”
Then, he brought Lanling and Dina out of the wounded soldiers’ camp, entering the cave where he lived, while Dina stood outside the cave to keep watch, not letting anyone enter.
Suomo first poured Lanling a cup of wine, saying: “It is brewed from rotten fruit, the taste is not good. Normal people might get diarrhoea after drinking it, but we demon descendants do not mind.”
Lanling took it and sniffed, indeed it was very poor wine, almost with a sour smell.
But Suomo drank it as though it were the greatest delicacy, and after finishing it was filled with reluctance.
Lanling drank it in one gulp, then closed his eyes. This was the worst wine he had ever drunk, the first sip was almost undrinkable, but the aftertaste was not bad.
“Child, you said I resemble an old acquaintance. Is that person your father?” Suomo asked.
Lanling hesitated for a while, then nodded.
Suomo said: “He is no longer in this world?”
Lanling nodded: “Yes, he has been dead for over four years.”
Suomo said: “In a strict sense, I am not of the Suo race either. I do not even know what race I am. I am an orphan, never knowing who my parents were since I was young, raised by a Suo race couple. I was covered in scales from a young age, and it was not until I began practising martial arts in my teens that these scales gradually faded.”
With that, Suomo poured Lanling another cup of wine. He had wanted to pour one for himself as well, but after hesitating for quite a while he could not bear to, and closed the wine bottle.
Such poor wine, he actually treasured it like a treasure, reluctant to drink it.
Lanling also could not help but carefully savour this poor wine, becoming appreciative of it.
Suomo continued: “The Suo race is a near-human race, very similar to humans. Not far from the Savage Canyon of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, like other near-humans, the Suo people appear very gentle. Although not far from the human kingdom, they rarely engage in disputes and warfare, loving peace. They enjoy hunting, fishing, and even farming. And although I am not of the Suo race, my foster parents treated me as their own. Although I looked completely different from Suo children, those children always played with me, and I had many good friends among the Suo race.”
Seeing Suomo’s eyes beginning to redden, Lanling handed him the half cup of wine he had not finished drinking.
Suomo hesitated for a moment, took the poor wine and sipped it, continuing: “The Suo people’s martial arts were not strong, so by the time I was in my twenties, I had become one of the Suo tribe’s rare experts. My chieftain betrothed his only daughter to me. Of course, it would not have mattered if he had not betrothed her to me, because at seventeen she had already slept with me.”
Instantly, Lanling thought of his father Suolong, who had more or less been slept with by Queen Yan Chuoer.
Suomo said: “Life passed by so plainly yet happily. My beautiful wife and I had a daughter, her name was Dina.”
Lanling thought of the third leader of the foreign army, that dark-skinned woman whose name was Dina.
But without a doubt, she was not Suomo’s biological daughter.
Suomo said: “You know, my wife was to inherit the position of Suo chieftain, so our daughter was to take her surname. And I served as the Suo tribe’s hunting leader. It sounds quite ordinary, right? Actually, it was already the highest position in the Suo tribe, second only to the chieftain. One day, as usual, I led the hunting party to hunt, entering deep into the Hundred Thousand Mountains to hunt. You may not know, but every time we hunted it took a very long time, as short as half a month, as long as three months. And that particular hunt lasted a very long time, a full three months plus, we were over a thousand li away from home.”
Speaking to this point, Suomo’s face began to twitch, the rims of his eyes beginning to redden, taking a deep breath.
“By the time I returned home, there was… there was no longer a Suo race. Over seventeen thousand Suo people, all dead, flayed and butchered to be used as food.” Suomo’s voice was like damaged sandpaper, as though he was using all his strength to suppress the pain in his heart, trembling as he said: “My foster father and foster mother, my chieftain, my wife, my daughter Dina… all dead. At that time, she was only six years old!”
Lanling’s eyes reddened, forcefully holding back the tears in his heart, saying: “Who was the murderer?”
“The army of the Demon Emperor Dimo Tuo.” Suomo said.
“Demon Emperor Dimo Tuo?” Lanling was stunned, he had never heard this name before.
“He is the most terrifying monarch in the barbaric world. His army has annihilated countless races and tribes, already ruling over ten thousand li of territory, establishing the most powerful Demon Tuo Empire on the Savage Continent.” Suomo said: “He said all near-humans are lowly mongrels, and that when he and the human kingdom go to war in the future, all near-humans will become traitors to the barbaric world. So, his army swept across the entire northern barbaric world, nearly exterminating most of the near-human tribes in the northern barbaric world, killing several million near-humans and more.”
Hearing this, Lanling was greatly shocked.
He had thought that all barbarians were completely scattered like loose sand, never imagining that there was already an absolute demon king, who had already unified over ten thousand li of territory, establishing a powerful Demon Tuo Empire.
Suomo said: “Originally, I wanted to go alone to the Demon Tuo Empire to seek revenge, even if I were chopped to pieces by random blades before I could even enter their gates. But… I discovered a group of children in a cellar, several hundred Suo children. When the war happened, they had been hidden in a secret cellar.”
Lanling said: “Was Dina among the children in the cellar?”
“She was not!” Suomo said: “Dina was the Suo chieftain’s heir, and was among the first to be…”
Lanling quickly said: “Then what happened after?”
Suomo said: “After discovering these children, I could not die. I had a duty to protect them, and to lead them in searching for a new homeland. And the power of the Demon Tuo Empire was constantly spreading. In the future, the entire northern barbaric world would become their sphere of influence, and within the Demon Tuo Empire’s power, near-humans would have no room for survival whatsoever. So I took the children south by boat, continuously south…”
Lanling could imagine what kind of days those were, a man with several hundred children at sea.
Suomo’s voice trembled: “Although I used all my strength, at sea, the children still died continuously. By the time I landed once more, less than half the children remained. But, I had finally escaped the Demon Tuo Empire’s sphere of influence. I led the children wandering through the southern barbaric world, wanting to find a new homeland. But as you know, the entire barbaric world is so xenophobic, across tens of thousands of li of territory, there was completely no place for me to exist.”
Perhaps someone would say, he could simply find a mountain to settle down on.
This was impossible. The beasts of the barbaric world were far more ferocious and powerful than the barbarians.
All barbarians had to form a tribe, then live together in order to survive, otherwise they would certainly die.
“The children died continuously, but there were also new people joining continuously. As you know, the entire barbaric world is filled with slaughter, almost every month a tribe is destroyed. With every battle and slaughter, there would be new exiles.” Suomo said in pain: “And so the children around me changed wave after wave, for several years, I do not know how many times the children around me changed, and I was still wandering.”
Lanling could not imagine how painful such days must have been, watching the children die one by one, powerless to do anything.
Suomo said: “These days of exile only ended nineteen years ago. During a hunt, I inadvertently saved a young chieftain. His name was Constantine, the chieftain of the Chimera tribe. In return, he took in me and over a hundred children. This was the embryonic form of the foreign army. From then on, I settled down in the Chimera tribe.”
Lanling said: “Then how did the foreign army develop to over a thousand people?”
Suomo said: “You know the Chimera tribe has a sacred volcano, and every year fresh living people must be sacrificed to it. And the Chimera tribe’s population is limited. If living people were sacrificed every year, the entire tribe’s population would decrease. So they came up with a solution that served both purposes: the Chimera tribe would accept foreign exiles, but they had to pass the Sky Eye trial.”
Lanling said: “That is to say, they actually wanted to trick these foreigners into dying, to sacrifice them to the volcano.”
Suomo said: “Yes, but at least a dozen or so people would survive each time and join the foreign army.”
Lanling said: “Dina calls you foster father, when did she undergo the Sky Eye trial?”
“Eighteen years ago, Dina was only seven at the time.” Suomo said: “She was exiled with her parents, coming to seek refuge with the Chimera tribe. At that time, the shaman priest felt that a family of three was too much of a burden, so their entire family was thrown into the volcano. Her parents were not so fortunate, they were not demon descendants, so they were burned alive. Only Dina survived. Hearing her cries, I jumped down to look, and saw her parents holding her up high with all four hands, not letting her be burned by the lava. And they were continuously sinking, Dina’s back was already scorched by the lava. At that time she was only seven, unable to endure such pain, so she cried desperately. But because she carried demon blood, she was not burned to death. I rescued her, then took her in as my foster daughter. Because I did not know what her name was, I named her Dina.”
Lanling thought for quite a while before saying: “Is there a possibility? A certain noble of the human kingdom, and a demon race woman, gave birth to a pair of twins. One was human, one was of the demon race.”
His meaning was clear. The Suomo before his eyes and Count Suolong were twin brothers.
It was only because Suomo carried demon blood, his body covered in scales, that he could not survive in the human kingdom. To protect him, his parents had sent him to the Suo race of the barbaric world, to be adopted by a foreign race.
Suomo said: “Your father and I, truly exactly the same?”
Lanling nodded: “Exactly the same.”
Suomo hesitated for a long time, saying: “He is the lord of Tianshui City in the human kingdom, Count Suolong?”
Lanling trembled, saying: “You, you know of him?”
Suomo shook his head: “I have… only heard of him, never met him!”
From his tone, Lanling could hear another story, because at that time the Suo race and Tianshui City were truly too close.
“Then why are you called Suomo?” Lanling asked.
Suomo hesitated for a while, then took out a golden lock from his bosom.
This kind of golden lock was a longevity lock worn around a child’s neck, with two characters engraved upon it: Suomo.
“Uncle…” Lanling immediately knelt down.
Suomo’s eyes trembled, finally tears sliding down. He reached out to stroke the top of Lanling’s head, his eyes closing in pain, saying: “In my teens, I… I also nearly went north to the human kingdom, to search for my biological parents. And the only clue was this golden lock, but… I ultimately did not go. Because… the moment I passed through the Hundred Thousand Mountains, countless humans came to hunt me.”
Then, Suomo said: “Child, you should be the heir to the lord of Tianshui City, why have you come here?”
A dark pain instantly surfaced in Lanling’s eyes.
“Say no more…” Suomo stopped him, saying: “My story is already painful and sorrowful enough. I am old, perhaps I can no longer endure another painful story.”
Taking a deep breath, Suomo stroked the top of Lanling’s head, saying solemnly: “Child, I do not care why you have come here, but from now on, you are my child. I will always protect you, until the day I die!”
Then, Suomo asked: “Child, how old are you?”
Lanling was stunned, shaking his head: “I do not know, because I do not know how long I have been dead, perhaps twenty-four!”
The moment these words were spoken, Suomo, who had originally held back his tears, let them flow once more. Then he turned his head and said: “Dina, come in, meet your younger brother!”