**Chapter 18: The Death of the Xuanniao, Ominous Omens** - Ah? The Wives I Abandoned Turned Out to Be Real

**Chapter 18: The Death of the Xuanniao, Ominous Omens** [You follow these people back to their tribe.] In the scene, the Qiang people dwell in a mountain hollow. Clusters of rudimentary grass huts, constructed from tree branches and plastered with a thick layer of yellow clay, are scattered throughout the hollow. The clay, mixed with dry grass, is quite durable. Upon witnessing the living conditions of the Qiang people, Su Mo could not help but feel fortunate. Luckily, he had traversed to the Song Dynasty. Ending up in such a primitive place would have meant enduring unimaginable hardships. At that moment... The scene continues. ... [After an initial understanding, you realize the Qiang people are akin to savages, lacking any unified culture or dynasty, dispersed across regions like wolf packs.] [You settle down temporarily.] [Here, you spend a wonderful, unforgettable, and fulfilling time.] [At dawn, before the sun rises, the Qiang chief rallies all the men to hunt. Thanks to your great strength, you can take down a beast almost unaided.] [The Qiang people, impressed by your bravery, start to believe you are a divine emissary, and your status in the tribe rises accordingly.] [Their hunting methods and tools are quite primitive. They set traps, chase prey, and use spears or bows and arrows.] [Their longbows are crafted from a type of yew tree from the mountains, with rhino tendons as strings, offering excellent resilience.] [However, the Qiang lack copper forging skills, so their arrowheads, made from stone or bone, are of poor quality.] [Arrows shot from these bows often veer unpredictably, accurate only within ten meters; beyond that, it's a matter of luck.] [In the mountains, you discover an open-air copper ore deposit, and share your joy with the Qiang chief, suggesting the construction of furnaces to forge copper tools.] [Most of their tools are fired from clay. The few bronze artifacts they possess were seized from the Shang people.] [Upon learning that you can forge copper tools, the Qiang chief is delighted. Copper weapons would greatly enhance their hunting efficiency.] [So, after divining an auspicious day, you set up three furnaces.] [Basket after basket of copper ore is transported from another mountain, and the furnaces blaze unceasingly.] [Soon, you acquire the first batch of copper ingots.] [Though the initial copper ingots contain many impurities, they are still more durable than pottery, stone, or bone instruments.] [The first item you forge isn't a weapon or tool, but a three-legged bronze cauldron.] [The bronze cauldron serves for cooking and commemorating significant events.] [You inscribe it with eight characters: "First copper forging today, auspicious day."] [In days that follow, with the remaining ingots, you forge eight more cauldrons. The total nine cauldrons replace the tradition of using pottery for cooking. The tribe rejoices, now able to eat from bronze cauldrons.] [With the cauldrons finished, you begin crafting bronze arrowheads.] [Equipping the arrows with sturdy and durable bronze heads significantly boosts the tribe's hunting efficiency. The abundance of caught game leads to surplus meat, which the women turn into jerky over smoking fires.] [Once smoked, the jerky lasts for months.] [With hunger and cold no longer threats, the tribe's focus shifts to procreation, and two women are sent to your dwelling.] [Your choice?] [Option 1: Accept.] [Option 2: Refuse.] ... Upon seeing the options, Su Mo's eyes narrow. He immediately chooses to refuse. The reason being that these women are simply too unattractive. One has coarse features and a dark complexion, the other has rough skin and a wooden expression. Being forced to witness such a scene feels like torture to him. [You decisively reject the women's service and explain to the Qiang chief that you are already devoted to a woman and have no interest in others.] [The chief, slightly disappointed that you won't leave your legacy among them, takes the two loveliest women to his own quarters.] [Breathing a sigh of relief, you can't help but recall the image of a little girl from your memories.] [You are now fifteen, surely that little girl has grown as well.] [Time passes, and in your sixteenth year, news from afar reaches you.] [The divine beast Xuanniao, protector of the Shang dynasty, has died.] [Nobody knows how it happened, but the Shang are gripped with fear, regarding it as a heavenly curse.] [Not long after, another message arrives.] [King Di Xin of Shang is terminally ill, his days numbered.] [He spends his days in a coma.] [The high priest's divination requires a woman with a pure yin fate to marry the king to improve his condition.] [Su Hu's daughter from Jizhou is chosen to marry the comatose king, becoming queen of the Shang dynasty.] [These news are brought by the distant Qiang and are likely months or even a year old by the time you hear them.] [You are deeply worried about your father.] [You know that when someone like the Shang king falls ill, the first act isn’t to marry a queen for joy.] [Instead, they offer slaves as sacrifices to the spirits, or even sacrifice many high-ranking nobles.] [You wonder if your father might be selected.] [However, returning is impossible, and even if you could, it would accomplish nothing. You can only bury this worry and live on day by day.] [And so two more years pass.] [A crisis occurs.] [A cavalry squad from the Shang moves in, surrounding you as you hunt in the fields.] [You resist desperately, killing many riders.] [Your valor intrigues the Shang. A warrior like you is deemed a perfect offering to ancestors and spirits.] [Such a warrior appears only once every few decades.] [The cavalry focuses solely on capturing you, ignoring the other Qiang. Capturing you justifies all the effort.] [Facing hundreds of cavalry, exhaustion sets in.] [Even with the strength of an ox, fatigue overwhelms you.] [In the end.] [You are ensnared in a giant net.] [The Shang cavalry, jubilant, plans to take you to Zhaoge City!] (End of Chapter)