While Wu Liang was gathering troops and preparing to set out...
Let's turn back time ten hours.
After the Female Leaders of the Six Great Tribes left the Black Rock Tribe, they were immediately intercepted by the roland people upon reaching Wild Boar Ravine.
Under hasty resistance, they fled to a place called Withered Wood Forest.
This was once a dense forest, but after a mountain fire years ago, only countless charred, dead trees remained.
Dead trees stood upright, their branches pointing claw-like toward the sky, like silent tombstones.
Besides the choking smell of ash floating from the burned Withered Wood Forest, a thick aura of despair from the Six Great Tribes now permeated the air.
People from the Six Great Tribes were either dead or injured; most were scattered in disarray by the roland people, their whereabouts unknown.
Now, those who could still fight added up to fewer than three hundred people.
Most were heavily wounded, currently huddling in this withered forest, sitting on the ground to rest with numb expressions.
In the center of a crudely built temporary camp, the six Female Leaders sat in a circle, silent.
Ignis's face was as pale as paper, with dried blood still lingering at the corners of her mouth.
Her pride had long been shattered by reality.
Suina leaned against a dead tree, tightly gripping her notched Stone Warhammer, staring blankly at the sky.
"What... should we do?"
Lolia, the leader of the Muge Tribe, broke the silence with a sob.
The little lamb in her arms let out uneasy bleats from time to time.
"What else can we do?"
Ignis let out a shrill, miserable laugh.
"Either die in battle, or... go back and kneel, begging that man to take us in, like dogs."
When she said the word "dog," her teeth gritted with resentment.
"Ignis..."
Alesha looked at her with concern.
"We can't go on like this."
"Our clansmen can't hold on any longer. There's no food, and the wounded aren't getting treated..."
"If this continues, we'll collapse on our own before the roland people even come to kill us."
"You mean, let us become that man's women and hand over everything the Tribes have?"
Suina suddenly looked up, fire burning in her eyes.
"Alesha, is your spine really that soft?"
"This isn't weakness, Suina, this is reality!"
Alesha also became agitated, a fierce expression appearing on her gentle face for the first time.
"Can our pride be traded for food? Can it stop the roland people's iron hooves?"
"No! It can't do anything! It will only lead our clansmen to a pointless death!"
She pointed at the scarred, numb-eyed clansmen in the camp, her voice trembling.
"Look at them! Look at these warriors! What did they do wrong?"
"Must they die with us just because of our backbone?"
"I can't do it! I am the leader of Moon Spring; I would rather give up everything I have, as long as they can live!"
Alesha's words silenced both Suina and Ignis.
Florgloria, the curvaceous leader of the Salt Marsh Tribe, sighed faintly from the side.
"Alesha is right; we no longer have the right to talk about dignity."
"That man... Wu Liang, though he is arrogant and overbearing, he is our only hope now."
"You've all seen the strength of the Black Rock Tribe; their walls are impregnable, and their people live and work in peace."
"Look at us now... ha... like a pack of stray dogs."
"If we all die, what's the point of fighting over who rules the Great Desolate Mountain?"
"Perhaps... submitting to him really is the only way out."
Florgloria's eyes were full of complexity.
She was a mature woman and understood how to weigh pros and cons better than Ignis and the others.
She could distinguish which was more important: face or life.
"No! I absolutely won't!"
Ignis stood up abruptly, acting as if she were mad.
"I, Ignis, even if I die, will never beg a man for mercy! Much less become his plaything!"
"Leader! Something's wrong!"
Just then, a Female Warrior from the Zhu Feng Tribe responsible for sentry duty came running over in a panic, her face full of terror.
"The roland people! It's the roland people! They're closing in from three directions!"
What?!
This news was like a bolt from the blue, freezing everyone in place.
"How many are there?"
Sa Lan was the first to react, grabbing the warrior's shoulder.
"I... I couldn't see clearly! They're all over the mountains! At least... at least five hundred!"
Five hundred!
This number instantly became the last straw that broke their resolve.
They didn't have the numbers, and everyone was injured and demoralized.
How could they fight five hundred well-equipped, high-spirited roland army soldiers?
Despair, like a tide, instantly submerged everyone.
"It's over... it's all over..."
Lolia slumped to the ground and began to wail.
"Shut up!"
Ignis let out a roar, but her voice trembled slightly.
She pulled out a captured long saber from the roland people, a mad fire igniting in her eyes again.
"Warriors of the Ember Tribe! Take up your weapons!"
"Even if we die, we will die standing!"
"We will bite a piece of meat off the roland people!"
"Roar!"
The remaining dozens of Ember Tribe Female Warriors gave a tragic and heroic response.
"Chuishi Tribe! Charge with me!"
Suina also raised her warhammer.
Death—she wasn't afraid of it.
But she was unwilling! Unwilling to die such a pathetic death!
Sa Lan also silently drew an exquisite Dagger from her waist and said to Alesha, Florgloria, and the others:
"Take the clansmen and find a way to break out from the north. We... will cover the rear."
The north was the only opening.
But they all knew that this so-called opening was likely a trap intentionally left by the roland people.
"No..."
Alesha shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
"If we're going to die, we'll die together!"
Seeing this tragic scene, Ignis suddenly laughed, a laugh of extreme sorrow.
She looked up toward the Black Rock Tribe, murmuring with a look of determination:
"Wu Liang... you won... unfortunately, you won't live to see me go back and beg you!"
Just as everyone was falling into despair, preparing for a final desperate struggle...
Florgloria suddenly stood up:
"What's the panic! We don't have to die like this!"
"Sa Lan, your people are best at running and hiding. Send someone to the Black Rock Tribe to seek help immediately!"
"Tell Wu Liang that we agree to all of his conditions!"
Suina glared at Florgloria: "You spineless coward, what madness is this!"
"Agree to him first!"
Florgloria's eyes were deep as she scanned the other five women.
"I see, you want to... fine, I'll send someone out immediately!"
Sa Lan immediately understood Florgloria's meaning.
Suina and Ignis exchanged a look, their faces still filled with resentment.
"Dammit, even if it's a lie, I'm still so unwilling."
Ignis looked at the sky and closed her eyes tightly.
Lolia held the little lamb in her arms, at a loss, while Alesha sighed faintly.
"What must come will come eventually. I hope everything is still in time."