Chapter 212: Act 146 – The Hope of Gentle Words (8) (First Update, Seeking Support, Recent Results Disappointing)
As Brendel softly said his apology, the argument in the longhouse seemed to escalate at that very moment—
With a loud “bang,” a young man slammed his hands on the table made of pine boards, veins popping. “I disagree!” His eyes reddened as he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Funiya is still a child, the daughter of Lady Sally! And we are the men of the tribe. Are you really willing to survive by trading a child’s life?”
“Can you do that?”
“Yes, we can!”
The young man’s roar echoed throughout the longhouse, and for a moment, everyone looked at each other, no one daring to respond. Bolton crossed his arms and remained silent, while the elder sighed gently—he raised his head and blinked his old, murky eyes vigorously.
Everyone drew a deep breath.
“Who is it?” Brendel asked, glancing towards the direction of the longhouse.
“Brother Tuo,” the young girl answered in a low voice in Elvish, blinking her eyes; her voice was as clear as a string of silver bells falling onto a clearing in the forest.
Brendel nodded.
The longhouse fell silent.
“Enough,” the thin middle-aged man sighed deeply, shaking his head. “Tuo, you’ve said enough. Don’t hurt everyone anymore.”
“Uncle Cliff!” The young man clenched his fists.
“That’s enough. We understand— but we are the Sainya people, do you understand? This is the fate we bear; life and d*ath are not choices we can make.”
“Tuo, do you remember those clansmen who froze to d*ath in the forest?” the middle-aged man asked in a low voice.
The young man relaxed slightly; he wanted to say something but couldn’t utter a syllable. He could only press his upper lip tightly and tilt his head back, taking a deep breath and blinking his reddened eyes. “Of course, my father…”
“He did it so you could survive, child,” the elder sighed.
“I know.”
“We all do,” the middle-aged man replied. “So please consider our position, as well as the position of those clansmen who have passed away.”
“In the legends of our Sainya people, there is an ancient song in the forest, and the souls of our ancestors watch over us in this forest; they fought and bled in the Black Forest for generations, sacrificing, but it is not for us to recklessly throw everything away in a moment of impulse.”
“Do you understand?” he asked, speaking slowly.
The air in the room seemed to solidify, and someone was quietly sobbing.
“I… understand.”
“But do we have to live in defeat forever? What meaning does that have? Lady Nia has also said, it is not enough just to be alive—” The young man turned his head to wipe his eyes, choking back tears. “If we can give up everything just to survive?”
“At least being alive brings hope,” the middle-aged man shook his head. “If I cannot see that hope, Tuo, I at least hope to leave it for you—”
The young man lowered his head.
“Elder, you decide,” the middle-aged man turned his head.
The elder’s eyes flashed with sadness. After a moment of silence, he said, “Fine. But none of us has the right to let other clansmen d*e for us. I hope you can ask Funiya what she thinks.”
“But there hasn’t been such a precedent before,” someone in the crowd spoke up.
“That’s because the ones who made the choices before were all men of the tribe or elders; I believe they have the judgment and understand what they are doing.” The elder lowered his eyelids in response.
Everyone was taken aback, then fell silent.
“But Funiya is a child. What does she understand? Are we really going to leave the fate of our tribe in the hands of a child? That’s too reckless!” Someone in the crowd objected.
The middle-aged man’s expression turned cold.
“But now you are also relying on a child to save yourselves, right? Even if it is out of necessity, shouldn’t you feel ashamed?” The middle-aged man turned around and looked at the heads of the crowd, questioning somewhat angrily.
“That’s easy to say, but such a precedent has never existed. Besides, Funiya is the elder’s granddaughter…” someone replied softly.
These words were like a stone thrown into water, causing the crowd to fall silent once more. Tuo, who had been looking down earlier, was momentarily startled but quickly reacted—he turned back like an angry lion, glaring at the person speaking among the crowd.
Tuo could hardly believe that someone was thinking like this at this moment.
“Indeed, she is not your daughter, so can you carelessly send her out to trade for your survival?” The young man’s voice almost became a roar as he shouted out all his pent-up anger: “You b*stard, you are not worthy to be called a Sainya person. Now, get out—”
His imposing gaze frightened the man, causing his face to pale as he took a step back.
“You, what are you saying? I’m just suggesting a possibility; that doesn’t mean it’s true…” the person stammered. “Besides, it’s not out of the question, Tuo; can you guarantee the elder doesn’t think like this? Are you the elder?”
The elder glanced over at the scene but said nothing.
The young man clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, about to explode. But at that moment, a small, delicate voice pierced through the momentary silence in the longhouse:
“Stop arguing—!”
The door had been pushed open unbeknownst to them.
Funiya, wearing a linen dress, stood at the door; her small hands were tightly clenched into fists as she mustered all her strength to shout this sentence with her eyes closed—
“Everyone, stop arguing…”
She opened her eyes, her deep green gaze filled with a plea, tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably; the young girl, with tear-filled eyes, looked at everyone and sobbed to the longhouse, “I’m sorry, Daddy, Grandpa, I’m sorry, it’s all Funiya’s fault…”
For a moment.
In the longhouse, apart from Funiya’s crying, there was a profound silence.
The middle-aged man stood quietly; he silently rose and slowly walked to Funiya’s side; he knelt down gently, embracing the little girl, whispering, “I’m sorry! Funiya, we should be the ones to d*e…”
In the center of the crowd, Bolton suddenly cradled his head, breaking into loud sobs.
In an instant, everyone looked at each other in silence.
Only the elder’s gaze was cast outside the longhouse—
The old man slowly stood up, slightly bowed to Brendel outside the door, and said, “You’ve seen a joke, my lord.”
Brendel placed one hand on the hilt of his sword, looking at these people, saying nothing.
At that moment, he didn’t even know how he felt, just that he couldn’t find the words to express it; his hand gripped the hilt tightly, the knuckles cracking, but it seemed like only this way could make him feel a little better.
He silently watched the aged Sainya elder rise from his seat, looking at him with utmost seriousness, as if he had made a great decision—kneeling deeply before him, pressing his forehead to the ground:
“My lord, please help us!”
“I know, I shouldn’t bother you, but…”
The old man pleaded earnestly, almost in tears.
Everyone fell silent, all eyes turning to Brendel.
The young man saw Funiya’s tear-stained face, saw Bolton’s loud crying, and sighed slightly; the so-called life and d*ath couldn’t be just this. He felt a strange sensation, unable to articulate it, just feeling a sense of suffocation.
He moved his lips, as if wanting to say something.
But at that moment, he felt a soft little hand grasping his firmly—he was taken aback, turning to see a pair of dark, deep eyes.
Those beautiful eyes concealed both reluctance and determination—
It was Antinna.
She had indeed followed him.
And the noble girl also couldn’t bear to see this scene; she almost hesitated and wavered, but in the end, this young girl still took a deep breath and gently grasped Brendel’s hand.
She shook her head gently.
“My lord,” she began, feeling that these four words were like four sharp blades, piercing into her heart—she bit her lip and pronounced each word slowly.
Brendel looked at her.
Everyone else looked at the two of them.
“Are you trying to persuade me, Antinna?” Brendel asked.
Antinna remained silent, simply gazing at him.
“Can you bear it?” Brendel asked.
Antinna bit her lip. She looked at each person present: the elder’s sorrowful, murky gaze, the pained and hateful eyes of the little girl’s father, Funiya’s helpless and pitiful expression, as well as the resigned and pleading looks from everyone else.
The more she saw, the paler her face became, as if losing all color.
But her grip tightened, her knuckles almost turning white.
“Go ahead and hate me, my lord,” the young girl gasped, shaking her head. “I won’t allow it; I will never allow you to do this. My lord, you know what you will face if you take this step: Grudin, Madara, and the Rendener family, with endless armies. If you agree to them, it will lead to your destruction—”
“I know, and maybe you don’t care, my lord. Because you are the bravest and most upright knight Antinna has ever seen, just like those noble figures described in ancient books that she thought were mere legends. But my lord, you have shown me a real possibility…”
“But I care!”
“It’s precisely for this reason that I cannot bear to see you go to your d*ath; for that, even if everyone hates me, I don’t mind—” The young girl lifted her head to look at him, speaking with conviction and strength.
Brendel fell silent for a moment; he had never thought Antinna felt this way. He looked at the noble girl, lowered his head, and replied softly:
“Thank you.”
He closed his eyes and sighed. Then, he opened them, crouched down to pat Funiya on the head, stood up, and turned to leave.
“My lord?”
Antinna was momentarily taken aback.
Everyone let out a slight sigh, watching the young man’s back as their hopes dwindled bit by bit. But they understood Antinna’s words; indeed, they had no right to demand a stranger to d*e for them.
What qualifications did they have?
Moreover, it was clear that the young man was not feeling good about it either. This showed he cared for them; nobody had ever cared about how the Sainya people lived, but they saw anger and sorrow on that young man’s face.
It was not pity, nor was it charity; it was empathy.
When the young man turned back, everyone couldn’t help but clench their fists—not out of anger, but a deep sadness for their fate.
Lady Martha, Goddess Nia, is the punishment you bestowed upon the Sainya people not enough?
“Let’s go, Antinna.”
Brendel replied, not looking back, in a low voice.
Antinna was startled and then reacted; but as she loosened her grip, taking a small breath, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss when she saw the young man’s back, as if she had buried something herself.
The noble girl lowered her head, pressing on her chest.
Behind her, Funiya’s sobs continued—
…
(PS. Seeking support, recent results have become increasingly disappointing, and I haven’t even received a recommendation from Qidian.) (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log in; there are more chapters; support the author and support legitimate reading!)
