Esdeath did not retort to Ethan’s sarcasm, but she had already made a mental note of him; she would get her revenge, but not right now.
“Head this way, there are rabbits.”
Food was scarce now, and Esdeath didn’t want to let even a rabbit slip by.
After walking just a few dozen meters, a white rabbit hidden in the snow, barely visible unless one looked carefully, appeared before them.
Next, using the Eye of True Sight, Esdeath led the group to find another rabbit and a badger.
With winter approaching, there were indeed far fewer animals moving about, and after riding for over half an hour, their harvest was only this much.
Even though the harvest wasn’t large, some tribesmen were still impressed by Esdeath’s commands.
In their eyes, Esdeath only had to take a casual glance to know where to go to find prey.
You have to understand, even when following other Hunting Teams, there was never such effective leadership that could repeatedly predict and succeed like this.
Ethan was still being stubborn: “Tch, searching back and forth, it’s just a few rabbits.
We can’t even find a larger Danger Beast.
If this continues, we’ll all starve to death.”
Esdeath fully activated the Eye of True Sight and frowned slightly.
The environment here was not suitable for animal life, so there were very few signs of animal activity.
When she opened the Eye of True Sight, everything around her was black and white, completely devoid of any life aura.
They needed to move elsewhere.
Esdeath took the lead, riding at the very front, with the Eye of True Sight almost constantly active.
Since it consumed mental energy to keep it open, she would ride for a distance, activate it for a few seconds, and then deactivate it if no aura was detected, repeating this process.
They had ridden for two kilometers straight and still found nothing.
This area was a canyon with sparse vegetation, so naturally, there were few animals.
As time dragged on, the group began to grow restless.
Seeing that Esdeath wasn’t succeeding as repeatedly as before, Ethan, Lemoka, and others began to sow discord within the group, inciting the other tribesmen.
“Sigh, we can’t find anything.
We might as well split up to look.”
In fact, when Hunting Teams went out, it was common practice to split up to search for prey and then regroup once prey was found.
However, Tucker and his group were suggesting this now without any intention of sharing information with Esdeath and the others if they did find something.
A captain needed to note which teammates contributed during the hunt, whose contributions were significant and whose were small, so that the distribution afterwards could be based on merit.
If someone didn’t contribute and was just slacking off, they would naturally get almost nothing.
However, as it happened, Esdeath didn’t want to keep Tucker and his group anyway.
Because upon arriving at this vast, empty canyon, her Eye of True Sight finally gave a hint of an aura.
Dense, light red lines were converging from the surrounding ground, rocks, and canyon walls, all gathering upward into the canyon.
It was a Danger Beast, or rather, a colony of them.
Even though the floor of the canyon was empty, consisting only of dirt without a single blade of vegetation, and didn’t look like a place where living things would reside, Esdeath trusted the judgment of the Eye of True Sight.
Esdeath said loudly: “Moving together is indeed detrimental to the efficiency of our search.
In that case, those who want to go out and search on their own are free to leave the group.”
Tucker finally spoke: “In that case, we have the ability to hunt on our own, and any prey we find will have nothing to do with you.”
“Fine!” Esdeath agreed without hesitation.
“Those who want to follow me can continue to do so; those who want to leave can leave now.”
Now the mask was completely off.
The captain and vice-captain were at odds, leaving the team members to choose their side.
Esdeath and Tucker both looked at the nearly twenty team members to see their choice.
Ibia and the other two naturally followed Esdeath without hesitation, while the six people in Tucker’s inner circle also left the group and stood behind Tucker.
These six had followed Tucker for four or five years and wouldn’t be swayed by a few words from Esdeath.
Consequently, for a moment, only a dozen or so young people remained, still hesitating.
When the leaders fight, those below get dragged into it.
Although the others were a bit confused, they all understood that it was time to choose a side.
Regardless of which side they chose, the other would no longer accept them.
It seemed as though she had torn the team apart, but this was Esdeath’s second step.
She had never intended to accept Tucker and his people.
Therefore, they had to be weeded out.
As for fence-sitters and opportunists, Esdeath wouldn’t tolerate them either.
By forcing the others to choose a side, once they made the choice to follow her, even if they were forced into it, they couldn’t be accepted by Tucker’s side again and would have no choice but to follow her to the end.
In Esdeath’s team, only one voice was allowed to exist, and that was her own.
She had already demonstrated her ability to find prey in front of everyone; smart people would naturally know how to choose.
If they insisted on going against her, then they would just end up in her mental notebook.
The scene was quiet for a moment; Esdeath and Tucker were both waiting for these people’s choice.
The dozen or so young people looked conflicted; they had no choice, as this was the moment that would almost certainly decide their future.
A minute later, a young man gripped his reins, steered his horse, and rode to the back of Esdeath’s group.
Seeing this, Tucker’s expression sank instantly, and he glared at him fiercely.
The youth shrank back and hid himself deeper.
However, since the decision was made, he could only follow Esdeath.
The youth prayed in his heart: “I hope my choice is the right one.”
He chose Esdeath purely because the sight of Esdeath hauling a giant ox back with her bare hands the day before the Holy Sacrifice Festival had truly shocked him.
Furthermore, Esdeath’s generosity made him feel that she was someone worth following.
Although Tucker had shown bravery over the years and had a notable combat record, he was a bit selfish; if you weren’t in his inner circle, he wouldn’t even spare you a glance.
The only thing these young tribesmen wanted was to survive and to have a better life.
With the first person leading the way, one after another, the tribesmen made their choice.
To Esdeath’s surprise, all dozen or so people chose her.
Perhaps it was because they revered the strong, or because her father was the chieftain, or perhaps they were convinced by her previous performance.
In any case, they all chose her.
Now Tucker’s expression was incredibly ugly, his face deathly pale, and he said viciously: “You will regret this.”
Tucker rode his horse away from there, and the six people following him left as well.
Ethan rode to the rear-right of Tucker, feeling a bit uneasy.
To be honest, Esdeath’s performance these past few days had been truly brilliant; if he hadn’t been with Tucker for four or five years, he would probably have joined her side too.
Now, all the dozen or so young tribesmen had chosen Esdeath.
Humans are social animals; once they find themselves making a different choice from the majority, they feel uneasy and anxious.
At this moment, Ethan also began to hesitate in his heart.
Was following Tucker really the right choice?
But he no longer had room to change.
Seeking peace of mind, Ethan asked: “Tucker, is it really okay for us to do this?
Shouldn’t we have avoided falling out with Esdeath so early?”
Tucker snorted coldly: “What, do you regret it?”
“No, of course not.
It’s just, do you know where there is prey?
If we can’t find prey…”
“Rest assured, we are going to hunt in the Great Triangle Plains.”
Ethan exclaimed: “But that is where the Second Hunting Team hunts; we can’t go there.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already spoken to my father.
He is the leader there, and we can look for prey near that area.
Expecting to find prey in a place like this where there isn’t even a blade of grass is just a pipe dream.”
“When night falls, those people will regret the decision they made today.”