"Alright go get them…"

Dara added, and stopped anyone from following the elder as he tested him to see if he would flee, and then he could guiltlessly murder the elder…

​​

But about ten minutes later, the elder came dragging a sac on the ground as Dara commanded an Obun to carry it for the man;

"Alright we are returning home…" Dara announced...

"Home?"

"Yeah, we have already run out of time, and would have to continue with the other part of our mission tomorrow…"

He explained as they all set out on a return trip to the tribe, with fifteen Obuns leading the way, five on either side of their group, and another fifteen guarding the rear;

Then the seven human who were carrying all the loads, Dara, Ji Wang and the Elder were at the center of the group as they marched back to the tribe with excitement except Dara and the Elder…

Half an hour later, the three hour deadline of Dara's group had already come to an end, and the other troops led by the First and Second Obun Elders had already returned from successfully completing their tasks, and they were all waiting for Dara's group to return…

After ten minutes of waiting and not seeing the silhouette of a single strand of hair not to talk of a human body, the troops went to their respective residential area, whilst the leaders waited behind…

Then another twenty minutes passed before the silhouette of Dara's group popped up in the distance, and the moment word got around the tribe, all the experts as well as children within the tribe all rushed towards the gate, including Aunt Lin who smiled bashfully when she heard of their return, as she left the farm she and the kids were tending to…

The kids waited within the gate on either sides of the road, whilst the experts actually went out to receive Dara's group; after all, they were the ones with the most vital and dangerous missions of all three troops…

Once Dara's troop came in, everyone could see some level of excitement on their faces and just like a contagious pandemic, this excitement quickly spread into every corner of the tribe, but only those with keen senses could tell that Dara was anything but excited nor happy;

"You wait behind and move all these stuffs into our store for now…"

"I will call another meeting with the leaders tonight and we shall discuss what and how to efficiently make use of these products…" Dara instructed Ji Wang;

"Take the chests from him and follow me…"

Dara ordered the elder [Blacksmith] who received the two chests from the Obun that was carrying it and then followed Dara towards the Plateau…

All the Leaders and Assistants, including Aunt Lin gathered around Ji Wang as they began to ask what went wrong or happened to Dara during their mission that could make him cut such a sorry figure…

Ji Wang proceeded to explain everything that had happened and there was no single one of the group that was stunned speechless by the news of Dara's parents being somewhere within the entire Dark and Grey Lands without any hint as to if they were dead or alive…

He also spoke about the prison and the torture they had put Dara's parents through, and finally Aunt Lin and Uncle Min could then piece all the puzzles that had been in their head together, whilst the rest of the group simply felt sorry for him…

On the request of Aunt Lin, no one was allowed near the plateau as they wanted to give him a little bit of breathing space, privacy and time to actually get over the shocking news…

But even when dusk fell and the sun was nowhere to be found on the horizons, Dara had yet to surface from his room, and some were beginning to worry, and this was because they had previously sent someone to go check up on him, but they were warded off by Elder Smith [Allow me to refer to the elder from the village as Elder Smith];

"Master would see no one at this time…"

Elder Smith had repeated at least thrice already, and after another hour, the elites finally told Aunt Lin to go check up on him, but just as Aunt Lin was about to leave, Ji Wang held her arm and tendered his bloodied whip to her;

"What is this for?" Aunt Lin asked with a frown;

"It would ensure you meet with the Leader…"

Dara simply stated without trying to reveal the reason for his gesture, but Aunt Lin took the whip and the moment she became visible in the distance, Elder Smith jolted in shock as he saw Aunt Lin coming over with a bloodied whip...

When Aunt Lin got to the plateau, Elder Smith didn't even breathe too loudly as Aunt Lin walked past him whilst leaving a sneering snort behind, an action that caused Elder Smith to sigh and shake his head in self-ridicule…

Aunt Lin got to the top of the plateau, and went straight into Dara's residence, and after checking everywhere and not finding him, she went straight to the hot tub in the bath, and found Dara there completely submerged within the steaming water;

"Dara!?"

Aunt Lin rushed over in fear as she lifted his body up and quickly checked his pulse but found nothing…

She placed her finger beneath his nostrils and felt nothing also, and at this point, Aunt Lin was already entering full panic mode as she placed her head over his chest to check for any heartbeat;

"What are you doing?"

Haa!

Aunt Lin jolted in fear, but not before sending a swift punch at Dara who immediately began to bleed from his nose where the fist had landed;

"You almost scared me to death!"

"What in the world is wrong with you!?"

Aunt Lin bellowed angrily at him, but Dara's emotionlessly replied;

"I told him not to let anyone in…"

He added an helpless but disappointed sigh at the end of the statement, as he stepped out of the tub and pulled on a dry silk robe which he had chosen from the Left Elder's stash of clothes…

He let his hair fall over his shoulders as he refused to band or tie it, as he left the bath with the stunned Aunt Lin in tow…

Dara didn't even pay her any attention as he walked down the plateau;

"Leave, you have failed at your first task…"

Dara spoke softly and calmly, but the aura of disappointment was evident as the Elder walked forward a bit before he began hesitating;

"I will send someone to come arrange an apartment for you…"

Dara added before moving towards the patch of land between the Ring of Death and Ring of Fire, as this was the area where the Leaders and assistants were all waiting for him…

"Leader?" The First Obun Elder was the first to speak out when Dara reached their spot;

"Did you take an inventory of everything we managed to gather?" Dara didn't even reply as he spoke directly to Ji Wang;

"Yes, I did…"

Ji Wand added, before they all sat on a massive log of smooth tree trunk, as Ji Wang took a stick and began to draw on the ground…

"We managed to find 200 leathers and 300 furs…"

"As for weapons there were 70 Swords, 40 bows and quivers, 20 Spears, 20 Sabres, 10 hoes, 10 machetes, 5 Axes and 5 hammers…"

"We also found 40 ingots of metal which weighs about 50 pounds each, and about 20 ingots of three other ores we have no idea as to what they do or their properties, and they weigh 10 pounds each…"

"We also found 50 different spice, fruit and herb seeds…."

"We also found 10 poisonous herb seeds, and finally 200 pounds of Diamond crystals, 500 pounds worth of gold ores, 100 pounds of gold dust, and finally the meridian opening technique which allows one to unlock their Eight Great and 12 Principal Meridians…"

Ji Wang recounted everything and drew them on the ground as all the Leaders including Uncle Min, Ji Chen and Aunt Lin who joined some minutes ago looked at the inventory n ground and couldn't shut their slacked jaws…

"We have 100 kids within this tribe, make them one set of leather outfits for when it is hot and fur outfits for the cold nights; then whatever is left should be used for the rest of us…"

Dara began to assign these resources to where he felt their use would be efficiently maximized…

"70 swords, 20 Spears, 20 Sabres, that is enough to go round for all the Obun's within the tribe; let them pick the weapon of their choice…"

"Share the rest of these weapons and the 40 bows and quivers, between the tribesmen and those at the watch towers and have them begin to familiarize themselves with it…"

Dara continued as Ji Wang began to jot down his words;

"The machetes would be used for farming, the Axes would be used for falling trees, and the hammers would be used for construction…" Ji Wang noted with a nod;

"You will grow the 10 poisonous seeds within the area of the farm where the aphrodisiac is being grown, and the 50 different edible seeds would be grown with the few we already have, and once they have been harvested, we will then determine how they would be incorporated to our meals…"

Dara didn't even deign Aunt Lin with any attention, but everyone within the group including Aunt Lin herself knew, she was the one he was talking to;

"As for the diamonds, golds and other gemstones, we will build a vault that would be inaccessible except with certain keys, and that is where we will keep all the gems, till we are strong enough to venture out and trade them for other resources and necessities we might have…"

"The metal ingots should be taken to the Elder's home, and a full workshop needs to be constructed for him where he can turn these resources into weapons better than the ones we currently have;"

"Then when he has made enough weapons to go around, we will then tender all the ones with us for him to recycle and create another sets of weapons…"

"Give him the ores as well, he should know what their purposes are for…" Dara continued…