Outside the cave, the atmosphere was even more tense.
Yuan Ni and Ruan Zeqiu were punished to kneel in front of the holy flame. There was no other way around it. Last night, when they returned to the cave, they were greeted by a really furious Chief Xie. As soon as she saw the two of them, she twisted their ears and gave them an earful. What was even more infuriating was that the Priestess didn't even glance at her precious and only grandson before announcing that they should be punished in the same manner as someone who had broken the rules and gone against the orders that were passed down.
And if this was not humiliating enough, the clearing was full of women. The elders, warriors and scouts – they were all watching them with interest. Some low-ranking scouts even let out a titter or two as they looked at the two of them kneeling in front of the holy flames like they were some naughty children.
