You Have What It Takes to Be a Clan Leader

Xu Mu looked at her like she was an idiot. "I'll divorce your grandmother!"

However, one thing still surprised him: Xianling Nan's affinity had turned positive.

But her filial piety value was still in the negatives.

These two statistics were very different. The affinity mainly reflected liking,

while the filial piety value mainly reflected devotion.

For example, someone might like cats and dogs but be unwilling to sacrifice for them.

Xianling Nan's affinity had only just turned positive; only when her filial piety value also turned positive could she be trusted deeply.

"What's the matter? Am I not as good as your wife?"

Xianling Nan asked calmly.

"Of course not. The two of you are as different as heaven and earth. Don't joke around here."

Xu Mu waved his hand and closed his eyes again.

"Is she stronger? Or prettier than me?"

Xianling Nan sat on the bedding and asked.

"Your understanding of feelings is still shallow. Let me give you a crude example: if one day I became useless—couldn't cultivate, couldn't refine pills, couldn't even walk—my wife would take care of me for the rest of my life."

Xu Mu turned his head to look at Xianling Nan. "Would you?"

"I..."

"Don't say it. You wouldn't. That's the fundamental difference."

Xu Mu smiled and shook his head.

"Are you so sure? Maybe she's just deceiving you."

Xianling Nan looked at him.

"I'm sure. I can feel it."

Xu Mu certainly couldn't say he could see the filial piety value.

So far, only two people around him had maxed out filial piety—absolute devotion, doing whatever he asked.

Those two were Ye Tong and Meng Wanyue.

"Xianling Nan, as an older sister, I can give you a tip: Xu Mu has more than one wife. If you don't mind, you might still have a chance."

Li Chenshuang smiled from the side.

Hearing this, Xianling Nan revealed a disdainful expression. "Men really are all the same."

"What? Do the men of your Baishi tribe only marry one wife?"

Xu Mu curled his lip.

"Our Baishi tribe practices monogamy with concubinage. The chief can marry one wife and one hundred twenty concubines. A commander gets one wife and eight concubines. The rest are monogamous, with no concubines allowed."

Xianling Nan explained.

"A bit like our Zhou rites,"

Xu Mu said, stretching lazily. "So, have you ever criticized your chief?"

"Why would I criticize him? The chief, as the patriarch of the Baishi tribe, is busy with countless affairs."

"Then think of me as the chief."

Xu Mu smiled faintly. "My way of thinking is different from yours. I believe all people are equal. Your mindset is still stuck at the animal stage."

"What do you mean?"

Xianling Nan asked.

"Do you know what hyenas are?"

Xu Mu looked at her.

Xianling Nan nodded. "Yes, they used to exist here, but they've died out."

"A hyena clan works hard to hunt, charges into battle, and kills animals. But why does the queen and her cubs get to eat the meat first? The lowest-ranking male hyenas only get the leftover bones, even though her cubs did nothing."

Xu Mu spoke slowly.

Xianling Nan and Li Chenshuang both fell silent. They were clever enough to understand Xu Mu's point.

"The world has always been this way: the obedient are ruled, while those who dare to rebel often end up badly."

Xu Mu chuckled. "But I—I choose to rebel. If I contribute the most, why should I get the least? If I were a Baishi tribesman, and the woman agreed, I'd marry over a hundred too. Why can the chief but I can't?"

"Heh, with that attitude, you really do have the makings of a chief."

Li Chenshuang laughed from the side.

Xu Mu closed his eyes again. "Let's rest. We need to hit the road after we wake up."

Li Chenshuang also lay down.

Xianling Nan sat there hesitating for a moment, then lay down too. But she couldn't sleep at all.

Xu Mu's words had stirred something in her heart. She had to admit, what he said made a lot of sense. Her opinion of him rose even higher.

[Affinity +10]

...

As dawn barely broke, Xu Mu opened his eyes. When he got up, the two women beside him sensed the movement and woke up as well.

Li Chenshuang gently shifted her body and let out a relieved sigh. "The wound doesn't hurt at all—completely healed. Xu Mu, you're truly amazing."

[Affinity +10]

Xianling Nan also moved gently and found herself fully recovered. Her injuries had been even worse than Li Chenshuang's.

Xu Mu's medical skills were no joke after all.

[Affinity +10]

"There's still someone lying outside. What do you plan to do?"

Xu Mu stood up, packing away the bedding.

"Let's question him first."

Xianling Nan tidied her bangs, took out a simple garment from her space ring, and put it on.

Li Chenshuang also took out a plain dress.

Outside the cave, the young man from the Baishi tribe was still unconscious.

Xu Mu walked over and pierced his acupuncture point with a silver needle. The man's brow furrowed, then he gasped sharply and opened his eyes.

Seeing the people before him, he remembered what happened the night before. He hurriedly knelt and kowtowed to Xianling Nan. "Holy Maiden, I know I was wrong. Please spare me."

Xianling Nan said expressionlessly, "I'll let you go. Now, tell me: what are you really here for?"

"Our Commander Wu received word from the chief that you had already occupied the intersection between the inner and outer realms, so he sent us to scout the situation."

The young man explained. "Mainly to see how many experts you had. If it was just Xianling Qi and Pang Xun, we were ordered to kill them."

"You're lying! Lao Jiexiang isn't stupid. How could the old man from last night possibly be a match for two commanders?"

Xianling Nan's gaze turned icy.

"Holy Maiden, I'm not lying! Everything I said is what I heard with my own ears."

The young man's face turned pale with fear, his hands pressed to the ground.

"If they used that poison from last night—if applied properly—they really could have killed them."

Xu Mu took out the old man's space ring from earlier, searched it, and found a white orb inside.

The poison was stealthy and hard to guard against.

"Fine. I'll believe you for now. Go."

Xianling Nan waved her hand at the young man.

"Thank you, Holy Maiden!"

The young man kowtowed three more times, then turned and ran.

Swish!

Xianling Nan threw a white spear, piercing the young man's heart from behind.

Seeing this, Xu Mu turned to look at Xianling Nan.

"What? You think I broke my word? But I never said I wouldn't kill him."

Xianling Nan said flatly. "If I let him go, he'd report our details to Wu Tu, and we'd be in danger."

"I didn't say you broke your word."

Xu Mu shrugged. But if it were up to him, he probably wouldn't have killed the man. Instead, he'd have used the spray to knock him out again, leaving him unconscious until it was all over.

It just showed that Xianling Nan was more ruthless.

Xu Mu consumed the nearby corpses using his ability, then continued on the road with the others.

From the first light of dawn until the sun blazed high in the sky, they finally reached the core area of the Baishi tribe.

Xu Mu gazed at the enormous city in the distance, which stood in stark contrast to the villages they had seen before.

“That’s Wu City, where members of the Wu clan reside in the ruins inside,” Xianling Nan explained, pointing into the distance.

Xu Mu nodded quietly, intending to sense what lay within, only to spot four off-road motorcycles approaching from behind.

At the lead was a woman in a motorcycle suit, wearing a cat-eared helmet. In no time, the four of them passed Xu Mu and the others.

But the woman leading suddenly stopped, then veered back toward Xu Mu’s group.