NOVEL NEXT Chapter 170.1: Big change in temperament
Upon waking up in the Snake-People’s territory, Mo Ba Si’s first reaction was self-doubt. A Dou Wang (Battle King, 6th Level) like himself was forced to self-destruct by a Dou Shi (Battle Master, 3rd Level) who had somehow advanced to the Dou Ling (Battle Spirit, 5th Level) stage. If the other seven tribe leaders hadn’t arrived in time, he would have been completely annihilated.
Afterward, he learned from the three tibe leaders, led by Yin Shi, that due to the massacre at the Yakachi tribe, all Snake-People were ordered to return to the Sacred Land.
In a troubled state of mind, Mo Ba Si went to the gathering place of the surviving members of the Mo Snake Tribe in the Sacred Land.
As the leader of the Mo Snake Tribe, he should console those survivors who had encountered such an unfortunate event at the Yakachi tribe. However, what awaited him was not gratitude and sympathy but a complex look of thanks and resentment from the survivors.
What struck Mo Ba Si the most was the unhidden hatred in the eyes of a young Mo Snake girl who had opposed him yesterday.
This gaze hit Mo Ba Si like a thunderbolt. He was confident that he regarded every member of the Mo Snake Tribe as his own, and he had never done anything to betray his people. Yet, the hatred in the eyes of that Mo Snake girl was the first time he had experienced such a thing from his own people during his decades as the Mo Snake Tribe leader.
Confused and shocked, Mo Ba Si was taken away by the other Mo Snake Tribe members after the girl was removed from his sight.
Later, a male Mo Snake Tribe member stepped forward to explain the events of the previous day, not only for the sake of the girl but also to clarify things for Mo Ba Si.
Hearing about the brutal massacre by the white-robed individuals during the Mo Snake Tribe’s dinner time and then the sudden appearance of Xiao Yan, who ruthlessly killed those attackers, Mo Ba Si initially showed deep hatred for the cruelty of humans.
Humans, the despicable creatures!
However, when he learned that Xiao Yan had entered the scene and saved the survivors, Mo Ba Si was stunned.
Xiao Yan, the youth who had forced him to self-destruct yesterday.
And the survivors from the Yakachi tribe were standing there, all benefiting from Xiao Yan’s actions.
Mo Ba Si felt gratitude deep in his heart. After all, Xiao Yan had saved his tribe.
But soon, that gratitude was replaced by Mo Ba Si’s long-standing beliefs. He thought, Humans are all the same! Probably, Xiao Yan was just acting to gain the trust of the Snake-People by staging this drama!
Those white-robed individuals were just pawns!
Heh… Truly, humans are like a pack of dogs, biting each other without hesitation!
Mo Ba Si’s internal turmoil caused the initial gratitude to disappear entirely. Yet, the male Mo Snake Tribe member continued to narrate, revealing Xiao Yan’s sincere apologies to the survivors.
Xiao Yan, without reservation, lowered his head as a human and apologized to the survivors from the Yakachi tribe. He expressed deep remorse and self-blame for not arriving earlier.
This apology, sincere and genuine, completely contradicted Mo Ba Si’s preconceived notions. He couldn’t understand why a human would sincerely apologize, even taking the blame for not arriving sooner.
Mo Ba Si’s worldview collapsed entirely.
Humans, aren’t they supposed to be filthy creatures?
For the sake of interests, they can persecute their own kind.
For the sake of interests, they can encroach upon other tribes.
For the sake of interests, they can be utterly ruthless.
These are all words that have been told to me by everyone since I was a child.
But why does Xiao Yan, someone who is not seeking personal gain, genuinely apologize to another race for the misdeeds of his own kind, which he can easily exterminate?
What benefit does it bring to him?
Mo Ba Si once again fell into self-doubt.
This time, it wasn’t about his strength but his understanding of himself.
At the same time, he understood why that young Mo Snake girl had shown such a hateful expression towards him.
For the survivors of the Yakachi tribe, Xiao Yan was their savior.
Without Xiao Yan, they wouldn’t have had a chance to retreat to the Sacred Land today.
And their tribe leader, Mo Ba Si, arrived late, not only that but also obstinately wanting to kill Xiao Yan.
Although in the end, Xiao Yan’s death was not caused by his own hands.
But if it weren’t for his procrastination, Xiao Yan would have left long ago and wouldn’t have encountered the other leaders.
His colleague, Yue Mei, was also killed for protecting Xiao Yan.
Because of his preconceptions, Mo Ba Si had caused the death of their savior and also his colleague.
In that moment, Mo Ba Si remembered Xiao Li, the woman who had always wanted reconciliation between humans and the Snake-People.
Until now, he had never had a direct conversation with her. The most he had heard was Yue Mei’s praise for Xiao Li.
Previously, Mo Ba Si thought that this human woman was timid and mean-spirited, afraid to have a direct conversation with him, fearing that he would see through her thoughts.
But now it seemed that perhaps it was because of his own preconceptions that Xiao Li kept her distance.
Because Xiao Li understood that her words were useless to him in his current state of mind.
That’s why today, Mo Ba Si was lingering outside Xiao Li’s door.
He wanted to see with his own eyes what kind of person this woman who wanted reconciliation between humans and the Snake-People really was.
To approach her without any prejudice, to get to know her as an equal.
To confirm whether he was really wrong.
“Have I really made a mistake?”
When Mo Ba Si asked this question to the male Mo Snake Tribe member, the male Mo Snake Tribe member remained silent for a long time before sighing deeply.
Then, he responded in a low voice.
“Tribe Leader, it’s not just me; it’s all of us.”
“Not just you alone, all of us should reflect on whether we were wrong.”
With this question in mind, Mo Ba Si came to the door of Xiao Li’s room.
But just as he was about to step into the room, he ran into two humans.
The same two humans who were with Xiao Yan yesterday.
In the past, if Mo Ba Si had seen humans intruding into the Snake-People’s Sacred Land, he would have mercilessly killed them without any mercy!
But now, Mo Ba Si, whose worldview was shattered, had no intention of attacking the two humans.
However, as soon as he spoke a sentence, the cloaked woman swung her spear towards him and shouted at the other human girl to escape.
Clearly, from their words and actions, it could be seen that they had no desire to talk or explain to him.
Because they knew it was pointless.
If it were the Mo Ba Si before yesterday, that would indeed be the case.
But the current Mo Ba Si genuinely wanted to have a conversation.
However, he wanted to talk, and the cloaked woman didn’t want to.
Or rather, the cloaked woman believed there was no possibility of talking.
In her understanding, Mo Ba Si had no intention of talking!
Just like Mo Ba Si had prejudices against humans, the cloaked woman had the same kind of prejudice against him.
Mo Ba Si was well aware of this.
His already shaky inner self swayed even more violently.
After a brief disturbance, not much of an obstacle for Mo Ba Si, the cloaked woman finally forcibly calmed down.
Hearing the plea for mercy that the cloaked woman spoke for the girl in her arms, Mo Ba Si’s heart trembled again.
Another human who was completely different from his perception.
No… that’s not right.
In the end, had he ever really looked at humans objectively? Had he ever had a proper conversation with a human?
Mo Ba Si introspected his heart and eventually arrived at an answer.
No, he had never done so.
The humans he saw were always immediately eliminated by him. Those humans never had the time to talk with him.
Or rather, no human would talk to him.