“Are you two alright?” Alex asked.
The two seemed surprised to see him there. They had been lost in their sorrow to even notice his arrival. There were fresh wounds on their bodies.
Had that been a result of his fight with Jianyu, or had the chief put up a fight?
Whatever the reason was, Alex didn’t ask. He simply reached for the chief’s storage bags and looked inside.
There were various things inside, none of which he wanted at all. He tossed it toward the two women. They would have a better use of the content than he would. All he really needed were beast cores and Sunhearts.
It seemed he would have to get them in the desert.
“Let’s go.”
Alex walked on ahead while the two women followed behind closely. He tried to hold himself up as straight as he could, not letting anyone see just how utterly drained he was in that moment. If they knew how weak he was right now, would they attack him?
Nobody dared to even attempt such a thing.
Alex had just defeated hundreds of their people on top of killing the 3 Extolites that their chief had hired to win the war against Sunwardens.
Today’s defeat would be one that they would absolutely remember, and not a single person among them would ever dare fight Alex. While not Death, his reputation wouldn’t be less among the Grayhounds.
After walking out of the Grayhounds’ portion of Palm Haven, Alex first walked toward the pool of water in the center of the oasis. He jumped in, washing away everything.
When he emerged back out, he finally felt clean.
“Where do you two want to go now?” he asked Xichen. “Your tribe’s land has already been taken over.”
“The Sandkillers,” Xichen said with no explanation.
Alex raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t they betray your people?” he asked.
“Yes,” Xichen said. “So we’ll go there.”
Alex narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He let the women show him the way and followed them until they arrived at the Sandkiller tribe’s land a few hours later.
No one had slept just yet, perhaps in fear that the Grayhounds would strike in the dead of the night. Sunwardens had lost, so it gave them easy access to the Sandkillers.
Once they arrived at the Sandkillers, Xichen made her way to the chief’s place. Their arrival was announced, so the chief quickly walked outside, along with many other people.
“Lady Xichen, you still live?” the man asked.
“It’s Chief Xichen now,” Xichen said.
The man raised his brows, along with several people in the back. “Your father… is dead?”
Xichen didn’t answer. “You ran away from your duties. You withdrew your people, when you promised you would help us. Why?”
“Please understand our situation, l— Chief Xichen,” the man said. “An Extolite came to my house and took my daughter as hostage. They took her away to the Grayhounds to be imprisoned. They said they would kill her if I didn’t withdraw.”
Xichen frowned. “Is she safe?”
The man shook his head. “The Grayhounds still have her,” he said with a sorrowful expression. “They say they won’t hand her back until the war is fully over.”
Xichen took a deep breath. “Go and get her.”
“Get her?” the man asked. “But they won’t let me. The chief is one thing, but the Extolites—”
“Both the Chief and the Extolites are dead,” Xichen said. “Along with dozens if not hundreds of their people. The Grayhounds are in shambles at the moment, so go in and get your daughter.”
“Is… is that true? We’ve been hearing noise all throughout the night. Was that…”
“You must have heard their screams then. Go, I managed to escape, so you should get your daughter too.”
The chief seemed to be on the verge of crying.
“I’m sorry for what I had to do, Chief Xichen. I did not want to withdraw at all. But, I have done what I can to compensate for my betrayal. Languo, show her to her people.”
Xichen’s eyes narrowed. “My people?”
A middle-aged man stepped forward. “Please come with me, Chief Xichen.”
While Xichen was taken away, the chief of the Sandkillers gathered his men to go take back his daughter from the Grayhounds.
After a few winding turns, Xichen, Goyin, and Alex arrived at a large gathering of people, most of whom were asleep with a few people guarding.
“Who is there?” a weak voice asked.
Xichen’s eyes widened when she heard the voice. “Uncle Runin?” she asked.
“Young lady?” the man asked, disbelief in his voice. “Is that you?”
“Uncle Runin, you’re alive!”
“You’re alive too, young lady! You’re alive. Little Goyin is alive too!”
His voice was no longer weak, filled with great power that woke everyone that had been sleeping. Everyone quickly realized what was happening and were astounded to find that their young lady and her daughter had safely returned.
Xichen let them know that she was no longer their young lady, but rather their Chief. She made them aware of their father’s passing, which seemed to cause many of the wounded warriors to go kill the Grayhounds despite their state.
“The Grayhounds’ chief is dead, so is his son. They are in chaos at the moment because many of their warriors have died as well.”
“They have? How?” Runin asked.
Xichen pointed toward Alex.
Many heads turned toward Alex, his bright pink skin making it harder to recognize him in the dark.
Runin stared at him with a quizzical look. “Have we met before, sir?” he asked.
Alex couldn’t help but laugh. This man had been there when he was captured 50 years ago, but in that 50 years, he had completely forgotten about him. He waited for someone else to recognize him, but none seemed to do so.
“Just think of me as a passerby,” Alex said.
“Whoever you are, thank you for saving our young lady, no, our Chief,” he said, bowing.
Alex shrugged and turned toward Xichen. “Now that you’re back. What do you plan on doing next?”