Chapter 9: The Ancestral Totem of the Centaurs

Led by several surrendered centaurs, Li Mingxing and his companions left the Green Spear Grove tribe and came to a large tree nearby. There, Li Mingxing saw the dismembered corpse of a dwarf. The incandescent stone that marked the dwarf’s identity had been carelessly tossed on the ground, while the dwarf’s heart hung high from a nearby branch, as if to proclaim the centaurs’ own savagery. Half the dwarf’s skin had been flayed away, and his weapons were nowhere to be seen. Upon arriving, Li Mingxing could not determine the dwarf’s origins, nor could he tell whether the dwarf had managed to send out any message before his death.

Shaking his head at the sight, Li Mingxing quickly turned his attention instead to the trees nearby. “So you’re saying the totem is hidden in these trees, but none of you know exactly which one?”

“Yes,” replied the centaur who had brought them here. “The ancestral totem is within one of these trees, but only the chieftain and the souls of the deceased know which one.”

“Is that so? It seems we’ll have to trouble you further. You, all of you—cut down every tree here, right through the middle,” Li Mingxing ordered, pointing at several centaurs.

“This is impossible! No centaur of the Green Spear Grove would ever do such a thing!” The centaurs erupted in protest at his command.

Li Mingxing snorted coldly at their resistance. With a flick of his wrist, he struck one of the trees, then said, “If you won’t cut these trees for me, I’ll set fire to the whole place. Think it over carefully.”

At his words, a dwarf musketeer in Li Mingxing’s retinue poured some gunpowder from his pouch. The centaurs of the Green Spear Grove were no fools; they knew all too well the destructive power of this ruby-crafted powder. In the end, they had no choice but to begin felling the trees.

Satisfied, Li Mingxing nodded. “That’s better. I never meant for you to do this, but my own men are a bit too destructive—if they destroyed your ancestral totem, wouldn’t that be a tragedy?”

Amid Li Mingxing’s words, the centaurs, weeping, cut down more than a dozen giant trees nearby. Yet the ancestral totem of the Green Spear Grove remained unfound. The centaurs were left shocked and secretly relieved.

Li Mingxing, however, only grew more intrigued by the ancestral totem. After a moment’s thought, he did not press the centaurs to further acts against their will, but instead turned to converse with them.

Though these centaurs harbored deep hatred for Li Mingxing, they had already led him this far and were now considered traitors by their kin. They would not refuse to answer his questions.

Thus, Li Mingxing soon learned the source of their weapons: an area nearby called the Green Spear Grove, where a type of plant grew that, if pulled from the earth, could be used directly as a spear. This, he heard, was the origin of the tribe’s name.

Li Mingxing at first intended to visit the place himself, but quickly dismissed the idea. He realized that his current location, the Green Spear Grove, and the original centaur settlement formed the points of an equilateral triangle.

If the ancestral totem existed, it was likely at the very center of this triangle.

With this thought, Li Mingxing could not wait a moment longer, and led his followers straight toward that spot. Yet after running for a while, he found himself unable to approach any closer.

This only confirmed his initial suspicion. He immediately ordered Aisha to bring the “Forest Nymph Legion,” and activated his Sinister Eye to observe everything before him.

But fortune was not on Li Mingxing’s side. Even after Aisha arrived with her forces, he found no way in.

Upon seeing Aisha, he ceased his search and said, “Among you all, who has the strongest ability to commune with nature? Find out how we can enter.”

Aisha nodded, and selected three young druids to carry out Li Mingxing’s request. After communing with the trees, they brought back bad news: this small patch of forest had already been assimilated. To enter, one must either become a spirit or force a way in from outside.

Both options left Li Mingxing troubled. He was not foolish enough to attempt entering as a spirit, but brute-forcing his way in seemed equally impossible—he had already tried and found he could do no harm whatsoever to the trees.

Faced with such a predicament, Li Mingxing nearly considered giving up. Yet without the ancestral totem, he could not proceed with his plans. In the end, he resolved to force open the grove from without, but not through wanton destruction—he sought a more reliable method.

Once he understood why the grove was so impenetrable, he immediately sent Aisha to fell trees in the area. He realized the woods were inhabited by centaur souls; unless these were dealt with, no amount of axes would fell the trees.

With this knowledge, Li Mingxing abandoned the futile task of chopping and instead had Aisha carve a set of wooden figurines according to his specifications. Using techniques he had learned from the Yin Talisman Sect, he poured his own power into the carvings.

As Li Mingxing’s energy infused the wooden talismans, Aisha sensed countless streams of shadowy energy drawn from the surrounding area.

Li Mingxing grew visibly excited. His plan had succeeded: the centaur souls were being absorbed, and the trees were at their weakest. If they didn’t act now, there would be no second chance.

Aisha immediately ordered all the young druids, regardless of their affinity for shapeshifting, to transform into werewolves, take up axes, and start hacking at the trees.

They continued until the dwarf demolishers under Li Mingxing’s command arrived, at which point the druids ceased their chopping and focused on crafting more soul-absorbing idols for Li Mingxing.

Working together—the dwarf demolishers, the young druids, and Li Mingxing himself—they fought their way to the very heart of the grove.

As Li Mingxing had suspected, the ancestral totem of the centaurs was enshrined at the center. It reminded him of the first time he’d entered the Underworld and seen the goblins’ wild encampment stones.

Standing over four meters tall and covered with carvings of centaurs hunting and waging war, the totem radiated with the presence of innumerable centaur souls.

This time, Li Mingxing did not absorb their souls for his own gain. Instead, he stood beneath the totem, studying it intently, pondering how to convert such an ancestral monument into his own field outpost.

As he considered this, several centaurs who had followed him began to shout. Li Mingxing turned and saw that the path he’d just carved was slowly closing behind them. Judging by the growth rate of the plants, they would have no more than half an hour in this place.

If he failed to leave in time, he and his followers would be trapped, forever cut off from the wood and the work of soul absorption, destined to remain here for eternity.

Yet Li Mingxing did not depart. Glancing at the few centaurs who had followed, he ordered, “Seize those centaurs. We’ll hold a ritual and claim this place as our own.”

As he spoke, Li Mingxing’s scorpion tail began to carve into the totem. Hearing his command, the centaurs tried to flee—but when they saw him defiling their sacred monument, they threw themselves at him in desperation.

They did not reach him. Li Mingxing’s followers captured them, and at last Li Mingxing understood how to control the ancestral totem. He turned and commanded, “Cut out their hearts and offer them as sacrifice.”

Then he set about modifying the carvings on the totem. As his work progressed, a sinister chill filled the air, so intense that even his followers found themselves unable to move.

Li Mingxing experienced the same effect, but paid it no heed, continuing to work with utmost concentration. Just before the forest closed in completely, he finished the transformation of the totem.

By then, his followers had slain the captive centaurs, their still-beating hearts laid before the totem.

Looking at the hearts, Li Mingxing sighed for reasons he could not name. “There was no other way. May your souls return to your ancestral totem.”