Hong’s blazing gaze was too fierce, like the scorching sun itself—without the slightest avoidance or concealment—making it impossible for Yang Yi to ignore.
Yang Yi was not unfamiliar with such a gaze, yet he always found it hard to adapt. Before he could even speak, a tall figure blocked that gaze.
“Do you know why we called you here?”
Hong’s line of sight was blocked. He shifted slightly, but it was still obstructed. When he tried to move again, he felt the oppressive might of a strong one, forcing his attention to be drawn to the true instigator.
Cold sweat seeped from his forehead, every hair on his body standing on end, filled with vigilance and wariness.
Hong looked at the dangerous man before him, his eyes narrowing slightly. Inwardly, he resisted the oppressive force of the strong one, while the frenzy in his blood surged wildly.
So strong!
Hong’s whole being grew excited. He worshiped the strong, and he also loved to challenge them. Only victory against the strong could let him truly feel the joy of triumph.
Yang Yi also sensed the undercurrent surging between the two of them. With some displeasure, he swept his gaze toward Hei Lie.
Weren’t they supposed to follow the principle of courtesy before force? What was going on here?
In front of outsiders, Yang Yi would never undermine Hei Lie. Though he did not understand nor agree with Hei Lie’s actions, he remained silent, only using a glance to convey his inner doubts.
Hei Lie received the message. Before long, he withdrew the oppressive force.
At this moment, Hong’s entire body was drenched in sweat, his complexion somewhat pale, yet his eyes still shone brightly, filled with frenzy and excitement.
This frenzy and excitement were clearly different from before. This was the burning blood of wanting to compete with a strong one.
By contrast, Hei Lie appeared utterly composed. His earlier move had hardly consumed much of his strength.
“Confess and you’ll be treated leniently. Resist and you’ll be dealt with harshly.”
Hei Lie stood before Hong, tilting his eyes sideways, staring at him fixedly.
Hong hadn’t even recovered from the clash just now when such a sentence hit him right in the face.
“Are you speaking human words?” Hong blinked, his expression especially sincere.
Hei Lie’s temper instantly flared up, about to unleash another wave of oppressive might, but Yang Yi grabbed his arm and held him back.
“The tribe welcomes your joining. The prerequisite is that you must abide by our rules. I believe the guide mentioned this to you when you first entered the tribe.”
Yang Yi slowly opened his mouth.
“If you can confess your actions, then, considering this is your first mistake, we can lighten your punishment.”
A sudden clarity struck Hong. At once he understood, his burning gaze cast toward Yang Yi…
Only to be blocked again.
But this could not stop Hong’s desire to speak with him, and he shouted loudly:
“Divine Envoy, you are truly too wise! I understood everything you said! Since coming here, I’ve often been troubled by not understanding what everyone is saying. But speaking with you, I don’t have that problem at all. Can I come to you more often to talk in the future?”
Hei Lie’s brows furrowed, his tone thick with displeasure:
“No one here is deaf. Why must you shout so loudly!”
Yang Yi chuckled lightly: “Since you understand, then what is your answer?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Hong admitted his mistake.
“Divine Envoy, I previously used my talent to violate the tribe’s rules and left the temporary residential area.”
As Hong spoke, he tried to move closer, but was blocked by Hei Lie.
He pouted, his head constantly leaning this way and that as he spoke:
“I swear I had no ill intent, nor did I mean any offense. I just wanted to know what happened to those who were taken away.
I know I was wrong. I’m willing to accept any punishment from the Divine Envoy. No matter how severe the punishment, I don’t mind—as long as you don’t make me leave the Divine Envoy’s side.”
Yang Yi saw how hard Hong was trying to get close to him, while Hei Lie was desperately trying to block him. Yang Yi couldn’t help but be amused.
Hong was just as tall as he was, and he didn’t seem very old, with a lively personality.
Once the tribe’s management departments and positions were clearly defined, his own status would also rise correspondingly.
Aside from children, most people were rather shy and reserved in front of him, especially those who didn’t often work at his side.
Someone as energetic as Hong was now a rare sight, which Yang Yi found quite interesting.
After being washed and groomed, Hong’s looks were also quite outstanding. Unlike the rougher or more sharply chiseled features common here, his facial lines were softer.
With red lips, white teeth, and even little dimples, he looked entirely like a sunny big boy. He looks like someone easy to approach.
It was impossible to tell that his strength was extremely formidable and that his talent was so terrifying.
“I hope you are truly as you say. You are a strong person. The tribe is glad you could come. But if there is a next time, then we can only make you leave, or even impose harsher punishment.”
Yang Yi’s expression was solemn.
Hong’s eyes instantly grew even brighter: “Di—Divine Envoy, you’re glad to see me join?”
“Of course.”
“Divine Envoy—what are you doing!”
Just as Hong tried to move closer to Yang Yi, the utterly exasperated Hei Lie grabbed him by the collar and tossed him aside.
“Do not approach the Divine Envoy.” Hei Lie’s tone was extremely harsh.
Hong was greatly annoyed: “The Divine Envoy is glad to see me! I only wanted to get close to him and express my sincere heart!”
Hei Lie remained unmoved. Whenever Hong tried to take a step closer, he was pushed back.
Yang Yi couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time, not understanding why Hei Lie was acting in such a childish manner.
Although this was also for his safety, it was just a bit too overly cautious.
“You’re still in your observation period. Whether you can join Spark or not is still uncertain,” Hei Lie snorted coldly. “Don’t forget—you broke the rules.”
Hong still felt indignant deep down, but he also knew he wouldn’t get any advantage in front of Hei Lie. He no longer tried to approach, yet his eyes still found every gap to follow Yang Yi.
The fact that even his invisibility had been discovered showed the strength of this tribe and of the man before him.
Besides wanting to find out where those people had been taken, he had also wanted to test whether this tribe was truly as powerful as the legends said.
“I accept punishment to show my sincerity and determination. I swear to the Heavenly God that I will become an excellent member of Spark!”
As Hong spoke, his gaze once more pierced past Hei Lie toward Yang Yi, his tone shifting into something altogether different.
“Divine Envoy, I will definitely stay, always by your side! You are the sun in my heart. I will forever guard you…”
Hong was directly thrown out by Hei Lie, yet even outside the door, he didn’t forget to loudly proclaim his loyalty.
Yang Yi shook his head, both laughing and crying: “What are you doing? He meant me no harm.”
Hei Lie said nothing, his expression indifferent, clearly showing he would continue acting the same way.
“What’s wrong with you? That’s not what we agreed on before.”
Hong was a man of great strength and potential. The fact that he had been able to bring this group of people here was proof enough of that.
And although that group had not formally named him their leader, in their hearts, that was what they believed.
Keeping Hong would play a positive role in the tribe’s future, especially in winning over that group of people.
Hei Lie still said nothing. Yang Yi realized he could not sense the other’s thoughts through their contract.
A contract was not all-powerful. While it could help them act with greater tacit understanding, it didn’t mean they could clearly know each other’s every thought.
“His importance was something you yourself analyzed for me. Yet just now, your attitude wasn’t very good. Fortunately, Hong seems to have a decent temperament and didn’t take offense…”
Hei Lie suddenly stood up, quickly striding to Yang Yi’s side. His presence was oppressive, his aura rushing straight toward him, making Yang Yi tremble slightly.
??
Yang Yi looked utterly bewildered: “What are you doing?”
“I—” Hei Lie forced out the word between clenched teeth, “I’ll go check if the bathwater is ready.”
With that, he walked straight out, leaving Yang Yi alone in the room, completely unable to make sense of what had just happened.
“Could it be vigilance between the strong?” Yang Yi guessed.
In the entire Spark Tribe, Hong’s strength was likely second only to Hei Lie’s.
When he appeared invisibly in other places and was discovered at the start, it was only because he didn’t yet understand the Spark Tribe. The tribe had far too many things unseen elsewhere—things that could easily be triggered by accident—so he slipped up.
Yang Yi shook his head with a laugh: “Truly still young.”
Back in his own chuunibyou days, he too had liked to play at being king and overlord. But after entering university, he didn’t know how; he just wilted. Toward hot-blooded sports, he wore only a lazy expression. His whole person became Buddhist-like.
All his passion and fiery spirit went into the internet, bickering with people, clashing with people. Yet in real life, he looked completely cowardly.
It wasn’t really fear, just that he found it meaningless, unnecessary, and troublesome.
Lately, Hei Lie had been learning to be steadier. Aside from seeing his drive in the dueling grounds, usually, he did things without arrogance or impatience.
Today, however, he had broken that pattern, which Yang Yi found rather amusing.
“The water’s already heated,” Hei Lie returned a short while later.
Without pressurized equipment, water couldn’t be pumped upstairs. Every day, there were people assigned to carry water and fill the reservoir on the rooftop.
Then pipes were connected down, with bamboo-made faucets, convenient for daily washing and flushing the toilets.
On the rooftop, there were two water tanks. One was just an ordinary cold-water tank, while beneath the other, firewood could be placed to heat the water.
This wasn’t designed by Yang Yi. Although he was already used to modern conveniences, he could also quickly adapt to the environment.
As a grown man and often just washing off battle sweat, even in the middle of winter without hot water, he could endure.
Besides, there was a fireplace in the house that could be used to boil water. If it got really cold, filling buckets and basins with hot water was enough for bathing and washing up.
For Yang Yi, simply having a water tank and convenient access to water was already very good.
But Hei Lie wasn’t satisfied with that. The water tanks used for papermaking had given him inspiration. Combined with descriptions from some documents, plus deliberate inquiries, he discussed with everyone and designed this system.
It made it convenient for Yang Yi to use hot water at any time. Now that the weather was hot, they only started heating the water in the evenings when the temperature dropped.
Even though it was the height of summer, nights were still quite cool, and the water was especially cold.
During the day, the sun would warm the water somewhat, but by night the temperature quickly dropped again—though the heating time was shortened.
After moving in, Yang Yi discovered he could even have warm water on demand, which was an immense delight.
It was just like on Earth: by adjusting left and right, one could mix hot and cold water in different proportions to control the temperature.
Yang Yi hadn’t expected Hei Lie to be this attentive, so thoughtful and considerate. To say he wasn’t moved would be a lie.
“Alright, I’ll go now.”
Since coming here, even his procrastination has been cured.
If he were on Earth, he would definitely drag things out for a long time before acting. Here, however, delay meant having to boil water all over again, wasting time, firewood, and manpower.
“Wait.”
Yang Yi stopped: “What is it?”
“Is he really that good?”
???
Yang Yi’s face was full of confusion: “Huh?”
“I mean that Hong, or whatever.”
Yang Yi gave Hei Lie an up-and-down look, his expression utterly full of disdain:
“What nonsense are you talking about? Did you take the wrong medicine? Wasn’t it you who analyzed Hong’s value for me?”
The gloom on Hei Lie’s face instantly gave way to radiance, blooming into brilliance.
Moonlit: Ooooh~ Someone’s jealous!!!!~
Definitely jealous! 😂
Thank you, translator! 🤍
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