Ya La'er's lament, departure. Arranging to hear the familiar crisp sound.
Tang Zheng stroked the Hawk's stiff, dry feathers as he turned his head towards the sound.
Ya La'er was running over with a bright smile, her steps light, clearly very happy.
With the threat of the Gray Dwarf clan, which had been weighing on the human population, resolved, all the humans in the Oasis breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of their hearts.
Since meeting Ya La'er, she had always shown a maturity and composure beyond her age, but at this moment, Tang Zheng saw the liveliness that belonged to her age.
"Hero, why aren't you joining the Bonfire Party? There's lots of good food."
Ya La'er said happily, but her voice unconsciously quieted down halfway through her sentence.
Gulu Gulu~ The delicate spray of the Living Water Source welled up from below the surface, forming crystal clear water droplets that rolled in the moonlight.
A warm night breeze stirred, rustling the branches and leaves of the trees around the water source, creating a slight sound.
In Ya La'er's view, Tang Zheng was sitting casually by the Living Water Source, while the half-man-high Hawk squatted quietly beside the Hero, very still.
The man and the Hawk blended in a strangely harmonious way with the quiet environment in the depths of the Oasis, and her sudden arrival seemed to break the atmosphere.
In that instant.
A touch of dimness flashed in Ya La'er's bright eyes.
She suddenly realized that the Hero didn't seem to belong to this Oasis, nor to Despair Valley.
Ya La'er suddenly remembered that the Hero seemed to have said "he was a traveler" when he introduced himself, and she had privately asked her father what a traveler was.
"Lots of good food? Then you should eat more." Tang Zheng chuckled when he heard Ya La'er's words, then shrugged and said gently, "I've already eaten. Speaking of which, you're all too enthusiastic. I'm not used to this kind of fiery welcome ceremony."
Ya La'er was silent for a moment, then glanced at him cautiously and said softly, "Can I sit here? Hero."
"Of course." Tang Zheng nodded.
Ya La'er took a deep breath, pursed her lips, bent down, and sat beside Tang Zheng, her beautiful, firm figure highlighted by the moonlight on the water.
"I'm starting to get the hang of the Martial Arts you taught me, Hero." Ya La'er said in a clear voice, hugging her legs.
A look of surprise flashed across Tang Zheng's face.
Whether it was the Four Light Consecutive Slash or Instant Reflex, only a few days had passed, and Ya La'er was already getting the hang of it.
Her talent was even higher than he had initially expected.
"Thank you, Hero." Ya La'er said softly.
"Hmm?" Tang Zheng.
"Actually, I'm not very comfortable with everyone's overly concerned care and expectations either."
"Since I was very young, everyone has been very tolerant of me, and no matter what mistakes I make, I can easily get everyone's forgiveness. Some mistakes, people will even take the initiative to take the blame for me."
"Especially when I easily defeated the hunters in the clan by myself at the age of eight, the clansmen became even more tolerant and expectant of me."
Ya La'er hugged her legs even tighter, her pointed chin resting on her knees, her bright silver eyes fixed on the Living Water Source churning in front of her: "From that time on, I trained very hard every day. I wanted to become strong, to protect my father, to protect everyone in the clan."
"I want to live up to that expectation, and I don't want to let everyone down."
"But I know... I can't become a truly strong person like Grandpa who can protect everyone."
"If you hadn't appeared then, Hero, I probably would have died."
Ya La'er said here, slightly raised her head, her eyes became crystal clear: "I'm not afraid of death at all, really, Hero. I just... I just feel sorry for everyone, sorry for the expectations of the clansmen."
"I didn't... protect them well."
Looking at Ya La'er with tears in her eyes, Tang Zheng raised his palm, gently pressed it on Ya La'er's silver short hair, rubbed it a little harder, and said gently, "You've worked hard, and you've done a good job."
Hua~ Ya La'er suddenly raised her wheat-colored arms and hugged Tang Zheng's outstretched arm tightly, then rested her head on Tang Zheng's shoulder.
The sudden movement startled Tang Zheng.
For a moment, the air fell silent.
The Evil Spirit Dog, transformed into a Hawk, turned its head to look at this scene, then turned away and moved slightly to the side.
The starry sky of Despair Valley was dotted with stars, and the moon had moved to the top of the sky.
Tang Zheng felt Ya La'er's breathing beside him become smooth. After a brief moment of contemplation, he slightly rose and picked Ya La'er up by the waist.
He opened the wooden house behind him and gently placed Ya La'er on the wooden bed.
Tang Zheng looked at Ya La'er, whose face he couldn't see clearly in the darkness, a trace of headache flashing across his face. Then, he turned and left the wooden house.
Thump! Suddenly, Ya La'er reached out and grabbed Tang Zheng's hand.
"Hero, are you leaving... I, I..." Ya La'er's weak voice sounded in the darkness.
"Get a good night's sleep, Ya La'er."
Before Ya La'er could continue, Tang Zheng grasped Ya La'er's soft hand, calloused in the palm, and gently placed it back on the wooden bed. He spoke softly, "This will be a good sleep."
With that, Tang Zheng walked out of the wooden house, closed the wooden door behind him, and stood quietly by the Living Water Source, calmly watching the Oasis.
Time passed slowly, about half an hour later.
Chief Dieylong's figure appeared in the center of the Oasis. Seeing Tang Zheng standing by the water source, his eyes widened slightly, and then he quickly walked over.
"Hero..." Chief Dieylong hurriedly spoke respectfully.
But he only got halfway through his sentence.
Chief Dieylong inexplicably shivered, feeling as if the temperature of the surrounding air had suddenly dropped several degrees.
"Chief Dieylong, the Bonfire Party just ended, right?" Tang Zheng's faint voice came.
Chief Dieylong carefully raised his head, meeting a pair of emotionless eyes, causing Chief Dieylong to tremble and become too frightened to reply.
Quite a while passed.
"Ya La'er, your grandfather was a powerhouse in the Hero Domain, she has the blood of a 'Hero'..." Chief Dieylong's voice trembled.
"Alright, I'm not interested in your thoughts."
Tang Zheng raised his hand to interrupt Chief Dieylong, his tone still without any fluctuation, "I have something for you to do."
...
The next day.
Early morning, the scorching sun shone upon Despair Valley once again.
The human members stood at the edge of the Oasis, looking at Tang Zheng, who had already walked out of the Oasis with a Hawk standing on his shoulder, their faces filled with deep reluctance.
Chief Dieylong stood at the very front of the crowd. He had long anticipated that Tang Zheng would leave, but he didn't expect it to be so soon, and couldn't help but sigh softly.
"Gray Armor Knight!!"
Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, and the next moment, a huge cry resounded through the desert.
"Gray Armor Knight!"
"Gray Armor Knight!"
"......!"
"Gray Armor Knight!"
Chief Dieylong knelt on both knees, his entire body prostrate on the ground, bowing with the highest etiquette of the tribe.
Following Chief Dieylong's actions, the rest of the humans also prostrated themselves, burying their heads in the sand.
"Seriously." Tang Zheng saw the actions of these humans, a helpless expression on his face, and shook his head.
The yellow sand swirled.
Tang Zheng's figure had already disappeared.
A long while passed before everyone raised their heads again, looking in the direction where Tang Zheng had disappeared, a gloomy atmosphere permeating the crowd.
Whoosh! Suddenly, a graceful figure rushed out from the Oasis behind, arriving in front of Chief Dieylong.
"Father, has the Hero left?" Ya La'er raised her slender neck, constantly watching the direction Tang Zheng left, and asked.
Seeing his daughter's knowing look.
Chief Dieylong's eyelids twitched. "Ya La'er, I remember you never sleep in. You always wake up early to train."
"What, did you oversleep this time?"
Faced with the teasing in her father's words, Ya La'er looked dejected and didn't respond at all.
Chief Dieylong's lips twitched, and he glanced at Ya La'er with resentment, then turned to look at the equally depressed tribesmen behind him.
"Everyone, speed up the cleanup of the Gray Dwarf Oasis. After moving all the supplies from the Gray Dwarf Oasis, we will all withdraw from the Gray Dwarf Oasis."
Chief Dieylong spoke loudly, his expression serious, and then continued: "Next, we will assemble manpower and prepare to go to the Orc Oasis to give the Gray Dwarf clan's oasis to the Orcs."
As soon as these words were spoken!
The crowd immediately erupted, and noisy voices rang out from all directions.
"Father! What are you doing!" Ya La'er looked at Chief Dieylong immediately, a look of displeasure on her face. "This was taken down with the help of the Hero, how can we give it to other races!"
Faced with Ya La'er's questioning and the clamor of the tribesmen before him, Chief Dieylong's expression was very calm.
"This is the Hero's arrangement!"
Chief Dieylong took a deep breath and shouted again.
Everyone quieted down at once.
"Our population is too small. The Hero instructed that even if we can take the Gray Dwarf Oasis, we won't be able to defend it. Rather than that, it's better to give it to the Orc clan."
"In addition, through this matter, we need to investigate and collect information about the Orc clan and outside Shadow Valley for the Hero." Chief Dieylong's voice rang out again.
Everyone's faces showed a look of understanding.
Ya La'er's silver pupils brightened, and she stared at Chief Dieylong. "Father, do you mean that the Hero will come back?"
"Of course."
Chief Dieylong looked at Ya La'er, who had cheered up in the blink of an eye, and curled his lips.
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 180+ fanfic and original translations or request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the RandomTranslator community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------