Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 344 The Tribes of Guangning Prefecture
Meanwhile, in the ancestral home of the Bailang clan in Guangning Prefecture.

White Wolf and Black Wolf finally got to see their shrewd and capable sister-in-law, Asu Nüxi Lie, or as she is commonly known in the Central Plains dialect, Nüxi Lie Asu.

"Asu" means guard. It is generally used as a male name, and it is also the clan name of several Mohe tribes. For example, the Left Asu tribe and the Right Asu tribe are the Left Guardian tribe and the Right Guardian tribe, respectively. They are the left and right arms of the Murong clan. Although they are not as prestigious as the Baishan clan, they are still very famous.

However, Asu Nüxi Lie is a special case.

As the eldest daughter in the family, Asu had to take care of her younger siblings from a young age. When she was ten years old, she even used a small bow made for her by her grandfather to shoot two wolves and protect her younger siblings when she found them sneaking out to play.

On that very day, her grandfather stroked her head, changed her name to "Asu," and took her north to Jingpo Lake Villa, where he cared for her as she practiced martial arts for six years.

In the customs of the Mohe people, the eldest daughter in the family has a very high status. The reason why the self-designation "auntie" is a powerful title is because in the Mohe people's customs, the status of "eldest auntie" is equivalent to "father".

Whether it's a family wedding or funeral, or a major event that determines the rise and fall of the family, the "eldest aunt" has absolute authority to participate. Even the eldest son who is supposed to inherit the family business, as the people of the Central Plains say, has to take a backseat.

Of course, in addition to this, the Mohe people also like to let the "eldest aunt" inherit the family business directly, because the Mohe people do not value surnames. It doesn't matter whether they have a surname or not, as long as they have a given name. You should know that the original Mohe people did not have surnames!
However, ever since the Mohe people established the Xiao Kingdom, many places have increasingly followed the example of the Central Plains people, such as the pursuit of surnames and clans, which has become more and more Central Plains-oriented...

Regardless of the circumstances, Asu, as the "eldest aunt" of the Nüxi Lie clan, still wielded considerable influence within the clan. Therefore, her visit to the Bailang clan's ancestral home, in a sense, represented the Nüxi Lie clan.

After witnessing firsthand the remnants of the "divine talisman" that burned her husband's buttocks, Asu had already formed some plans in her mind.

Like the Mohe nobles in Liaodong, the Nüxi Lie clan also worshipped a great deity, namely "Liu Da Niangniang" and "Liu Er Niangniang".

Legend has it that many years ago, the ancestors of the Nüxi Lie tribe, feeling sorry for the tribe's long suffering from tigers, volunteered to go up the mountain to kill tigers, carrying a pot of wine, a bow, and a large knife.

Unexpectedly, after wandering around for most of the day without finding the tiger, they encountered a woman in a green dress.

Any woman of sound mind would find something amiss in the deep mountains and forests, but the female Xi Lie ancestor was quite bold, actually stepping forward to ask for directions and vehemently denouncing the harm caused by the giant insect.

Although the woman in the green dress pointed him in the right direction, she also said that the tiger was no ordinary tiger, but rather a creature with some skill, and that he alone probably couldn't kill it.

The female Xilie ancestor didn't disbelieve the woman in the green dress, but firstly, she had already made a boast to her tribe and couldn't very well slink back; secondly, this giant tiger had indeed been a menace to the tribe for a long time, and in the past twenty years, at least eight or ten of her tribesmen had perished in its jaws, truly a case of "deep hatred."

So the ancestor of the Nüxi Lie only drank half a pot of liquor, thanked the woman in the green skirt, and resolutely went to seek revenge on the tiger.

The tiger was indeed as the woman in the green dress had said, extremely powerful. Even after being hit by two arrows and losing its sight, it remained incredibly ferocious. It could repeatedly pounce on the female Xi Lie ancestor simply by listening to the wind and discerning her location. If it weren't for her agility and her ninth-rank martial arts cultivation, which gave her the ability to leap from tree to tree, she would have been bitten to death long ago.

Even so, as the female Xi Lie ancestor's strength waned and her breathing became heavy, she was also grazed by the tiger's claws, sustaining several scratches. Just when she was about to lose her life, the woman in the green dress reappeared.

"You beast, you have clearly gained sentience, so why do you always go against the will of Heaven, harming yourself and others?"

The tiger seemed terrified of the woman in the green dress. Upon hearing her words, it lowered its head and growled softly, its face displaying a human-like expression of grievance, leaving the female Xi Lie ancestor dumbfounded.

The woman in the green dress seemed to be able to communicate with tigers. After listening to the low growls for a while, she continued, "Their tribe is right there. How can you move them? You are all alone. Why do you insist on staying in this mountain forest?"

Upon hearing the woman in the green dress's words, the tiger's expression changed from aggrieved to defiant, and its roar became much louder, startling the birds in the forest and making even the female Xi Lie ancestor feel dizzy.

Fortunately, for some reason, after the tiger roared, its breath became very weak, and it even lay on the ground, unable to move.

“This beast is making trouble for you because it thinks the game in this mountain forest is plentiful and considers it its territory. But you hunt here a lot, which is affecting it. That’s why it has come down the mountain several times to try to drive you away.”

The woman in the green dress turned around and explained to the female Xi Lie ancestor, "Of course, in terms of order, your tribe settled here first, and then this beast came into being. Its resentment is indeed unreasonable. However, I hope you can understand that it is not easy for wild animals to cultivate, and spare its life. I will take it away and take good care of it so that it will not cause trouble in the area again. Then this matter will be resolved. How about it?"

The female Xi Lie ancestor was certainly not ungrateful. If it weren't for the green-skirted woman appearing to help her, she would have been killed by the tiger sooner or later. How could she have spared the tiger's life?
Thinking of this, the female Xilie ancestor readily agreed, saying, "It is perhaps the nature of large insects to eat people. In the past, there may have been conflicts over prey, but we could resolve them on our own. If they no longer harm our people, then we can live in peace!"

"good."

The woman in the green dress nodded, then reached for the wooden plaque engraved with the character "Liu," lifted it up, and with it, the large, striped tiger disappeared into the jungle in the blink of an eye.

Before leaving, she said, "I am grateful for your kindness today. If you ever face a life-or-death crisis in the future, offer incense before this wooden tablet, and I will come to your aid!"

The connection between Lady Xilie and Lady Liu began from this point.

Later, when Nüxi Lieshi encountered difficulties, she followed the guidance of the woman in the green dress, also known as Lady Liu, and successfully overcame the crisis. After that, Nüxi Lieshi officially began to worship Lady Liu and Lady Liu the Second, and built temples and statues for them. This is how the Lady Liu Temple in Liaodong came about.

Centuries have passed, and the world has changed. As the "miracles" of the Five Immortals gradually decreased, their help to the worshippers also gradually disappeared. The Mohe clans in Liaodi gradually forgot about worshipping the Five Immortals. Apart from burning a few incense sticks and offering some fruits during festivals, they had almost no contact with the Five Immortals on ordinary days.

The belief in the Five Immortals has long been reduced to a custom, a way for people to express their wishes, but it no longer brings any real benefits to the Mohe people.

But the Nüxi Lie clan was different. The reason why the Nüxi Lie clan was able to gain a foothold in Guangning Prefecture was precisely because the "First Lady Liu" and "Second Lady Liu" she worshipped had never disappeared!

"For a long time, both Lady Liu and Lady Liu did indeed fall into a deep sleep, but we called it 'hibernation.' However, this 'hibernation' does not refer to 'winter,' but rather the entire 'cold winter' of our Liao region."

Unexpectedly, after learning about the story of the Grand Princess of Xiao Kingdom and the White Stone Immortal Sect told by the White Wolf and Black Wolf, Asu started talking about the great immortal worshipped by the Nüxi Lie clan.

"I wonder if you know, brother, that the reason we Mohe people left the mountains was because many people froze to death in those years. There was no food and no place to make a living, so we had no choice but to leave the mountains and head south."

"The original location of the Nüxi Lie tribe was in the north. It was only after the Murong tribe marched south and conquered the world that we gradually moved here."

What Asu was talking about was all from hundreds of years ago. Ordinary Mohe people might not know this, but as the patriarch of the Bailang clan (formerly the Baishan clan of Guangning Prefecture), Bailang and Heilang knew it very well.

If they weren't desperate to survive, why would they risk their lives to fight the people of the Central Plains?
"The people of the Central Plains are no good either. We were in such dire straits back then, and they still demanded that we hand over furs and pearls! So many of our brothers and sisters froze to death!"

At this point, both the white wolf and the black wolf gritted their teeth.

This story has been passed down through generations of White Wolf clan chiefs to inspire future generations and prevent them from experiencing the hardships of the Mohe people.

"In short, during those hundreds of years, Lady Liu and Lady Liu Er did lose contact with us, but we, the Nüxi Lie clan, always remembered the teachings of our ancestors and made offerings to the Lady Liu Temple every month, never missing a month, no matter how difficult the times. That's why, a hundred years ago, Lady Liu helped us, the Nüxi Lie clan, once again!"

Asu deliberately avoided mentioning the words of the white wolf and the black wolf, and continued, "At that time, my grandfather's father was injured and was about to die. It was his father who prayed at the temple of Lady Liu that Lady Liu bestowed a magical herb, which saved my grandfather's life. That's how I, my grandfather, and I came to be."

“From then on, Nüxi Lieshi paid even more attention to the offerings to the Temple of Lady Liu. When I was a child, my younger brother and sister were almost killed by wolves. I had only shot one wolf, and we were about to die. Lady Liu sent a giant snake messenger to scare away the two wolves.”

Hearing this, White Wolf and Black Wolf were somewhat shocked. They exchanged glances, neither of them expecting that Lady Liu and Lady Liu Er of the Nüxi Lie clan would actually have some dealings with them.

The White Wolf Clan also worshipped a deity, but the Third Grandfather Huang they worshipped had disappeared for many years. Only one sorceress in the White Wolf Clan was said to be able to communicate with the Third Grandfather Huang year-round. Although she did have some skill, she could only cure minor ailments in the countryside, or set bones, or call back souls. Sometimes she also worked as a midwife. She didn't have much contact with the "noblemen" like the White Wolf and Black Wolf, nor did they have any conflicts of interest, so they weren't familiar with each other.

Of course, although he couldn't really talk to the worshipped Huang San Taiye, Bai Langshi didn't completely disbelieve in the Five Immortals. These things were indeed somewhat strange, but to say that they were really "deities" would be a bit laughable.

White Wolf and Black Wolf had long known that the so-called "Five Immortals" were nothing more than a group of slightly intelligent mountain beasts who had probably lived for a long time and thus appeared somewhat mystical.

Like that "Grandpa Huang the Third," it's not like he hasn't peeked around; he's just a weasel that can understand human speech!

But judging from what my sister-in-law said, the Lady Liu Da Niangniang and Lady Liu Er Niangniang that this woman Xi Lieshi worships actually have some merit.

but……

"Sister-in-law, what is the purpose of saying all this?"

White Wolf and Black Wolf were a little unsure of Asu's intentions.

“Brother,” Asu’s voice was steady and powerful as he replied, “If what you say is true, that Grand Princess of Xiao Kingdom has such a powerful immortal sect behind her, far surpassing the ‘great immortals’ of our Mohe people, then our tribes in Guangning Prefecture should indeed make plans as soon as possible.”

"More importantly, we need to hear what their 'gods' think of our Mohe people's 'great immortals.' If they are irreconcilable enemies, how should we deal with it?"

Upon hearing this, White Wolf and Black Wolf breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What's the big deal! The Grand Princess, cough, my lord, my lord actually knows about the 'Five Great Immortals,' and as for the White Stone Immortal Sect... they don't seem to care much about fighting with any spirits or monsters. As far as I know, there seem to be some 'demon cultivators' in the White Stone Immortal Sect... Oh, they call those beasts that cultivate 'demon cultivators'!"

"Since they're not irreconcilable enemies, that makes things easier."

Asu seemed relieved as well. She nodded and said, "I'll talk to the Jiagu clan. Their tribe worships Hu San Taiye, and there are a few people in the clan who know some of the legends passed down from their ancestors. Perhaps they can understand what this means."

After speaking, she paused, looked up at the white wolf and the black wolf, and reminded them, "However, it is not enough for us, the Nüxi Lie clan and the Jiagu clan alone. Our lord wants to see 'other faces'. In the Liaoxi area, in addition to us Mohe people, there are also Central Plains people who have migrated here, Kumoxi people, Wuji people, Xishen people and Yilou people. If we want to truly show our value in front of our lord, we must do this matter well."

The white wolf and the black wolf suddenly realized.

He had been thinking only about the Mohe people and had forgotten that Guangning Prefecture was a special place with many tribes that had migrated there. Among them were clans settled by merchants from the Central Plains, as well as other Hu people who had migrated there earlier to escape war.

Among them, the Kumoxi, Wuji, Xishen, and Yilou clans that migrated and settled here were not small clans; they were just outsiders and didn't have much influence in Guangning Prefecture.

more importantly……

“Sister-in-law is right. Our lord himself has half Yilou blood in his veins. We can’t just think about us Mohe people.”

White Wolf and Black Wolf recalled Murong Ruyan's undisguised ambition for Liaodong, and a thought stirred within them.

(End of this chapter)