“So… did Saina understand what you meant?”
Kapa’s words left her slightly puzzled. She remembered that Kapa had mentioned earlier that when Saina launched a night attack on Yeli, Kasan had decided to step aside and not interfere. In the end, they had even sent someone to discuss cooperation, but Saina had shown no response. The current situation, however, was strange.
Moreover, Yeli had no idea about Kapa’s sudden change of plans. A spur-of-the-moment decision like that would catch anyone off guard, including Saina.
At this point, Sha Yi felt another wave of confusion: “Could it be that Saina’s injuries were because of you?”
“Indeed,” Kapa nodded in admission.
“But you said Yeli didn’t notice. So how could he have been injured because of you?” Sha Yi still couldn’t make sense of it.
“It happened like this,” Kapa took a deep breath and explained slowly, “Originally, they didn’t engage in any major conflict with us—they just retreated. So I thought that once Saina and his people withdrew to their own settlement, I’d find a way to contact him. But for some reason, their settlement caught fire, and the flames spread quickly. They didn’t seem to know about it either. The sudden turn of events forced them to abandon their retreat and fight back fiercely.”
“Saina was injured in that clash?” Sha Yi asked in surprise. “Did you have a lot of people?”
“We outnumbered them by more than double. Yeli had originally planned the raid as a diversion, and with the extra manpower we arranged, he thought taking them down wouldn’t be a problem. Even if things went wrong, there’d be no real loss.” Kapa shook his head and pointed to the trench he had come from earlier. “Saina was indeed injured in the fight, but not because he was overpowered. He was injured while saving me.”
Hearing this, Sha Yi was almost incredulous: “Saina saved you?”
Subconsciously, Saina and Jialuo shared one trait—they only extended help to those they had personally acknowledged. Otherwise, given Saina’s temperament, he would have remained indifferent, just like his initial reaction to Kasan’s goodwill.
Yet he had saved Kapa. This left her baffled. If he was willing to help, why hadn’t he agreed to Kasan’s proposal in the first place?
Could it be that he had feelings for Kapa?
The thought startled her, and she quickly dismissed it as unlikely.
But if it were true, it would inevitably drag Jialuo into the mess, making the already tangled relationship between the two even more complicated.
Still, she found it hard to tolerate Jialuo’s actions—ignoring her warnings, pretending to agree on the surface, but secretly setting fires and scheming behind their backs.
Honestly, Saina’s severe injuries had gone far beyond their original plan. The three parties had initially agreed to unite against Yeli, but now, Jialuo had stabbed their own side in the back, creating chaos and worsening the entire situation.
Snapping back to reality, she noticed Kapa responding to her earlier question: “Yes, Saina saved me. The situation was actually very dangerous. Look here.”
With that, Kapa extended an arm, showing her a bloody wound. “At the time, I took advantage of the chaos to tell him that we had already allied with your side. Saina happened to grab me at that moment. He could have easily stabbed me with his bone knife, but I saw him hesitate. He couldn’t stop immediately, so he pushed me aside instead. That’s how I got this wound on my arm. Originally, it should have been in my stomach.”
“Then how did Saina get injured? Based on what you said, it wasn’t your doing!”
“That was Yeli’s doing,” Kapa sighed, speaking hesitantly. “When Saina pushed me away, Yeli seized the chance to thrust his bone spear at us.”
“He was trying to kick someone when they were down!”
“Yes, that’s exactly what he wanted. But can you guess who he was really aiming for?” By now, Kapa was seething with anger, his dark eyes practically burning with fury.
“Wasn’t he trying to take the opportunity to eliminate Saina?” Though aware of the conflict between Kasan and Yeli, Sha Yi wasn’t living in such dire circumstances herself. For a moment, she couldn’t figure out why Yeli would target Kapa instead of Saina.
“Of course he wanted to eliminate Saina, but more than that, he wanted to kill my mother.” Kapa frowned deeply as he looked at her. “I can’t be sure who he was really aiming for. All I know is that Saina suddenly pushed me with greater force. Otherwise, judging by where he was stabbed, if the force had been the same as when he avoided the bone knife earlier, that spear would have gone through me. It’s hard not to suspect Yeli’s intentions. And if Yeli had Jialuo’s brute strength, I bet that spear could have pierced through both me and Saina!”
Before she could speak, Kapa continued, “Getting rid of me at this moment would be perfect for Yeli. My mother and I have a sizable group of our own. He’s always been wary of some of my mother’s words, and since he can’t fully control her, he resents it. What’s more, he doesn’t entirely trust her. Even during that incident between you and her, my mother told me everything. So if he had succeeded this time, he could have pinned everything on Saina—weakening my mother while also eliminating any possibility of her betraying him in the future.”
By now, Kapa had explained most of what she wanted to know, and her confusion had lessened somewhat. But she still couldn’t understand why they had taken so long to arrive when the distance between Saina’s group and theirs wasn’t that great.
Without hesitation, Sha Yi asked directly, “The distance between Saina’s group and ours isn’t far. Why did it take you all night to get here? And you know that with his injuries, the sooner he arrived, the better. Weren’t you worried he might die along the way?”
Kapa suddenly looked aggrieved. “I said the same thing at first, but he insisted he couldn’t come. When I asked why he saved me, he said it was only because we had already allied with your side. He didn’t want any misunderstandings between us to ruin the cooperation. So after both sides retreated, I had no choice but to follow a few of his people to find a hiding spot. But in the end, Yeli found us. To avoid raising suspicion, they tied me up and led Yeli on a wild chase through the forest. They used traps to kill quite a few of his men before finally making their way here. Thankfully, you had already made arrangements.”
“Actually, it’s not what you think. Although we and Saina’s group had an unspoken agreement to oppose Yeli, we never actually planned anything together.” After a pause, Sha Yi added softly, “Your group’s arrival was more of a coincidence. I had originally guessed that the fire was set by Jialuo. Saina knew it too—given his personality, he would have retaliated against Jialuo for it. But I never expected things to turn out this badly.”
“What?” The moment she finished speaking, Kapa exclaimed in shock, his face full of disbelief. “You’re saying… Jialuo set the fire?”
“Yes, he did. Otherwise, Saina wouldn’t have been so badly injured.” Sha Yi nodded in confirmation. “I had warned him before, but you know how he is. Once he’s made up his mind, the only way to stop him is to tie him up!”
“Jialuo has gone too far!” Kapa was furious. “He promised to work with us against Yeli. How could he pull such a stunt without warning? He almost got me killed too!”
Having grown accustomed to Kapa’s bluntness back at the hot springs, Sha Yi wasn’t surprised by his outburst. “Not just you—he nearly dragged all of us down with him. Did Saina’s side suffer heavy casualties too?”
“They originally had over a dozen people. In the afternoon, we were actually at a disadvantage because they had these lightweight throwing weapons, like bone spears but much faster and more accurate over long distances. At first, they only suffered minor injuries when caught off guard. But by nightfall, those weapons became less effective in the dark. With our greater numbers, you saw how few of them were left when they arrived.”
Thinking about it, those people had once lived alongside them. Saina had treated them well, and they had loyally followed him. No one could have predicted such an outcome.
Though she felt a pang of sorrow, Sha Yi didn’t dwell on it. She knew lamenting was pointless.
Those who had died were gone—nothing could bring them back.
It was a stark reminder that conflicts and wars, driven by nothing more than one person’s greed and ambition, only led to more unnecessary deaths.
Meaningless conflicts were never the answer.
If everyone could coexist peacefully, like the small groups huddled together in the old cave settlement during the toughest rainy seasons, there would be no deaths.
In this era, numbers mattered most. Yet building a strong community was never easy. People struggled just to survive, battling harsh natural conditions on top of securing food and shelter. These challenges alone were already overwhelming.
And now, add destructive conflicts between people into the mix?
If the root cause of this chaos wasn’t eliminated, no one would find peace.
Yeli was nothing like Jialuo. His cunning and ruthlessness were unmatched. Though both were invaders, Jialuo was fundamentally different—he had emotions, while Yeli had none.
So simply defeating or driving him away wouldn’t solve anything.
Yeli had to be completely erased from this world.
Seeing her silent, Kapa waited a while before shaking her hand impatiently. “Sha Yi, where’s Jialuo? I need to settle the score with him!”
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