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Abe stood at the entrance of the cellar to meet the children who climbed up the wooden ladder.

They were all covered in dust and looked exhausted. Their clothes were also gray, and some of them were burned to the corners of their sleeves.

There were a total of ten children brought up, and three of them were injured in the cellar and were carried up by adults.

When Lian Yun and Lan Na finally arrived, there were thirteen children and ten adults standing next to the cellar.

They formed a circle with Lina in the middle, and fell into silence as they watched Lina holding the person in her arms.

"Village chief... please wake up." Lina cried out in grief, tears sliding down her face one by one, making everyone who saw her feel heartbroken.

"Sir! You are here!" Aibei shouted loudly, and everyone's attention was instantly focused on Lian Yun.

Lian Yun walked forward without saying a word, squatted down, and wiped away Lina's tears.

"Don't cry, Lina, is this the village chief?"

Lina bit her lower lip tightly and nodded.

The unconscious dwarf with his eyes closed in her arms was none other than the chief of their village.

This was something no one in the group had expected.

The treatment that dwarves receive in this world is comparable to that of orcs.

Their race is deeply discriminated against.

Orcs are quite powerful, but since they don't get respect from the crowd, they stay away. Therefore, Orcs are generally distributed in places where other races are sparse, but they basically stick together to form tribes to survive.

There are fallen orcs who make a living by burning, killing and looting, and there are orcs who declare themselves kings and lead their tribes to strangle monsters and occupy a habitat.

A larger portion of them have been controlled by the powerful landlords in the city since birth, and have been treated like coolies and animals in every way possible. The only difference between them and animals is that they have intelligence like other races, but even so, they still cannot escape the predicament of being at the mercy of others.

There are also a very small number of people like Abe who have separated from the main group and travel alone or form alliances with other beastmen to survive.

The situation of the dwarves is similar, but not exactly the same.

If orcs were treated like slaves, then dwarves were cheap, high-level technicians who were exploited and humiliated.

The dwarves have an innate ability to learn and a spirit of craftsmanship. They are focused and passionate about their work and treat life meticulously.

But the Creator gave the dwarves talents, but forgot to tell them the dangers of the real world.

The dwarves are warm and kind, not only towards their own lives and their own people, but also towards malicious outsiders.

Even when faced with adversity, they can still face it with optimism.

However, because their physical strength and physique did not match their abilities, they were bullied by other races.

This is what Lana told Lian Yun. It was precisely because he knew the limitations and difficulties of the orcs that Lian Yun accepted Aibei and Xiaohong more tolerantly.

Now, facing the dwarf village chief who protects and maintains the entire village, Lian Yun's mind flashed over the situations and circumstances he might have encountered over the years, and he admired his persistence even more.

The village chief was already gray-haired, his eyes closed as he slumped in Lina's arms, his breathing shallow and labored.

His earthy brown skin was covered in burns, and his right hand was clenched tightly, as if holding something.

Lian Yun handed the medicine bottle in his hand to Lina: "Let the old man drink it."

Lina raised her tearful eyes to look at the bottle in her hand and recognized that it was exactly the same as the one Lian Yun handed to her when he saw her injured.

She didn't know how effective this potion would be. If it still couldn't save her...

"Lina." A little boy stood up from the crowd. He looked a few years older than Lina, with short red hair and a handsome appearance.

He is also the calmest and silent one since he was rescued.

"It would be good to be able to relieve the village chief's pain."

The little girl gritted her teeth and wiped away the tears from her face.

Seeing her determination, the little boy glanced at an adult behind him, who nodded and walked forward to help Lina lift the village chief up so that she could feed the medicine more smoothly.

The little boy pursed his lips and walked towards Lian Yun. Someone next to him tried to stop him, but was stopped by Lian Yun with a look.

The boy came to Lian Yun and bowed to her in a standard gesture of respect.

"My name is Buck Lehman, and I'm the candidate for the next village chief." He extended his right hand toward Lian Yun, his expression solemn and serious. "Thank you for your help, Lord."

A feeling of surprise flashed through Lian Yun's mind.

According to the age of the dwarf village chief, the position of village chief should be passed to an adult of about the same age as Garin, but unexpectedly it was handed over to a child in his teens.

However, judging from the performance of Buck Lehman's successor just now, the village chief's vision is correct.

"If it's convenient for you, could you please let your men help us take care of the wounded?"

Buck Lehman's eyes revealed just the right amount of vulnerability, which softened Abe's heart.

He stepped forward and patted his chest: "Leave it to me!"

The boy gave Abe a grateful look and said, "Thank you very much. Lina is right. You are a warm-hearted, handsome, kind-hearted and unique orc."

Compliments were showered upon him like crazy, making Aibei blush and wave his hands in embarrassment: "No, no."

He looked away and inadvertently met Lanna's cold gaze. He perked up and quickly added, "But! We still have to listen to our lord. He is the one with the final say."

The boy looked at Lian Yun again, his eyes full of pleading.

Buck Lehman is a very good-looking little boy. When he looks at you, you can't help but be drawn to him. When he shows a vulnerable look, it always makes you want to put everything aside and protect him.

Yes, Buck's appearance is probably the most handsome one Lian Yun has ever seen since he came to this other world. Lian Yun admits this.

But what she is not sure about is, is this perception just because of her appearance?

After all, she doesn't easily sympathize with others.

Lian Yun smiled lightly and did not answer directly: "My dear child, you don't need to worry about this. I treat Lina like family, and Lina's family will naturally take good care of her."

But regardless, he made the right choice.

Buck chose to believe the "female lord" in front of him whom he had only met once, or rather, this was his only choice.

"Thank you, sir." He pursed his lips, his expression unclear.

Although he said thank you and kept a measured smile on his face, trying to appear calm, Buck Lehman was still too young. Lian Yun could see that his answer did not satisfy him very much.

"village head!"

Someone in the crowd cheered in surprise. Buck turned around quickly and was shocked to find that the village chief in Lina's arms was eyelid twitching.

Lina was stunned with joy, not knowing what to do.

He woke up.

"The village chief's burns seem..."

“Healed!? What kind of potion is this!…”

The surrounding villagers exclaimed in admiration and surprise. Even though they had never seen such a powerful potion, they knew that this thing was absolutely priceless.

The white-haired village chief was helped to stand up. Buck rushed over and he and Lina each held one side, supporting him to stand.

“…You saved me.”

Although the village chief's eyes were weak, they were still sharp. He found Lian Yun in the crowd and judged her status at a glance.

Lina whispered in his ear, "This is Lord Lianyun. It was the Lord's sister who took me in and brought me back. It was also the Lord's sister who took out the potion and saved you."

He walked to Lian Yun with his support and thanked him solemnly: "Thank you, sir."

"No need to be polite. Mr. Buck has already expressed his gratitude on behalf of the village," Lian Yun said politely to the elderly man who had just recovered. "Although it may offend you, I want to know what happened in your village?"

A trace of sadness flashed across the village chief's eyes. Buck caught a glimpse of his expression and immediately interrupted him: "Let me tell the adults..."

"No, Buck." The village chief shook his head firmly. "I need to make this clear."

"Let's start from the beginning."

A few days ago, Garin's caravan set off from the village.

Because half a year ago, the nearby orcs attacked the village while the caravan was away, and this was the first time their caravan had gone out for trade after a half-year break.

Because the journey was quite long, we brought along experienced people who were often on the road and prepared everything.

Lina was old enough to go out and explore the world, so they decided to take her with them to see the outside world.

To be on the safe side, the magician Mr. Rock spent half a year drawing a life-saving magic circle, which is placed in this wine cellar. When necessary, it can block their life breath and resist harm.

They never expected that as soon as they left, the nearby orcs attacked the village.

First they destroyed their fields, and then they smashed their houses.

The people in the village were rounded up and some were killed on the spot.

There was no warning of this attack. Even though we had guessed they were coming, we didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

The village chief realized that they were planning to kill them all, so he didn't care about anything else and took the opportunity to set fire to the thatched hut behind him to create chaos.

Taking advantage of the chaos, he took ten adults and protected the children to escape to the cellar, where they stayed for several nights and days.

In his efforts to lead them to escape, he suffered severe burns and fell into a coma.

Without the guidance of the village chief, they dared not act rashly. Fortunately, there were enough food reserves in the cellar.

"If it's just a thatched hut, it can't threaten the entire village." The village chief said in a sad tone, with tears in his old and deep eyes.

Regardless of whether it was the village chief's act of arson that reminded the orcs of this practice of destroying corpses and evidence, thus causing the entire village to burn down, the village chief's guilt and regret were probably indelible.

"I understand you." Lian Yun said softly.

No one can change what has happened, and she believes that the village chief also understands this.

"Thanks to your help... I really can't imagine what my fellow villagers and I would have done if you hadn't helped us." The village chief's eyes were filled with genuine gratitude.

Lian Yun shook his head gently. "So, as for where to go next... do you have any plans?"

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#New stage

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