An unquenchable rage stemmed from the Xia clan of the forest…

Jiang Yunlan was unaware of the conversation between Yan Duoyu and the orcs, including Hati.

After she finished eating, she came out and encountered the earth beastman who had come to find her carrying Chaoxia. Chaoxia had her eyes closed, her brows furrowed, and her complexion was not good. The adult earth beastman also looked unwell. The two beastmen's expressions were exactly the same—bad, as if they had encountered something very painful.

Jiang Yunlan's eyelids twitched, and she quickly took the rosy dawn to examine it carefully.

The earth-beast cub sensed Lan's presence, opened its forest-like eyes, and tears streamed down its face. It opened its mouth as if to say something, but after a long while, it couldn't utter a single syllable.

He was crying so hard that Jiang Yunlan had no choice but to gently hug him and pat his back.

With a headache, Jiang Yunlan turned to the tired-looking adult orc and asked, "Did something happen to the cub before? I look at it, and it doesn't seem like it's sick."

022, who was perched on Lan's head, reached out and touched the cub's forehead, feeling somewhat strange.

“No signs of illness were detected in 022,” it said.

The chieftain of the earth beastmen, Aliya, sighed and looked sadly at Lan, "This is a problem of our people; the cubs have been affected by us."

“The cub…” His eyes welled up with tears, like a small forest about to rain. “Chief Xia, can we trust you and entrust the cub to you?”

She's an orc who can let cubs choose their birth; she must be an orc we can trust.

The adult orc before her was not the same one who had come to take away the cubs last time. This was the first time Jiang Yunlan had seen him, and hearing him utter words that sounded like entrusting his child to someone, a sense of unease crept into her heart.

She realized something and hurriedly asked, "Is this related to the disease that the earth beasts mentioned before? What disease did you get? No, I should say, what exactly happened to you?"

022 looked at the two earth beastmen more closely once again, and his doubts deepened.

It's not a curse or anything like that. Could it be that this is caused by some system that our Tree of Life clan has yet to encounter...?

It suddenly understood why the subject would open up its powers, allowing it to manifest and touch objects.

The beast world is likely far more dangerous than it realizes. Without being able to touch objects, it has no way to help its companion.

“I’m sorry, Chief Xia, I can’t tell you this. This is not an ordinary illness, and even you,” Aliya lowered her eyes, her gaze sweeping over the weak, natural body in Jiang Yunlan’s pocket, “cannot solve it.”

The ice crystal flickered. It had been awakened by his gaze.

“But if you don’t say anything, there’s really no way I can help you.” Jiang Yunlan frowned deeply. She didn’t understand why the earth beastman was unwilling to explain what had happened to him; he seemed to know where the problem lay.

As Jiang Yunlan patted his back to soothe him, Chaoxia gradually calmed down. His eyes were red, but he didn't shed any more tears; his gaze remained fixed on Aliya.

Aliya hardened her heart, averting her eyes from the cub's gaze, and said coldly, "This cub is yours. We don't want it anymore. If it can live, it can live; if it can't... there's nothing we can do about it."

Aliya, who is only 1.2 meters tall, turned around and strode away, exuding an aura of 2.8 meters.

"The morning glow is crying again. The moment you turn around, it starts crying again."

Upon hearing Jiang Yunlan's voice, he froze, unable to take another step.

A sigh filled the air. Jiang Yunlan looked at the retreating figure of the earth beastman and said gently, "Let's go inside and sit down to talk. Whether I can help you or not, you need to tell me first so I can understand."

What happened that could force such a caring orc to say he didn't want his cubs?

After a long while, Aliya lowered her head and resignedly followed Jiang Yunlan into a room.

Jiang Yunlan picked up a pot of hot water that her tribesmen had just brought, poured herself a cup, and then poured another cup for Aliya, handing it to her. "Here, drink some hot water to warm yourself up."

After she finished speaking, she held the cup and took a sip herself first.

Chaoxia seemed to have stabilized a bit, and she even had the energy to reach out and play with 022.

"Let me think, where should I begin..." Aliya picked up the hot water and saw his reflection in the cup.

These green eyes, belonging to the forest, are the eyes that all Zelan beastmen possess.

The water rippled, blurring the shadows.

Aliya raised her eyes, took a sip of hot water, and slowly said, "Our clan is different from other orc clans. No matter how far away we are, we can feel the presence of our own kind and sense their emotions."

“The sunrise is too close to us, and it will sense more of our own kind. He is still young, born before even a snow season, and cannot bear too much of the emotions of his own kind.”

Jiang Yunlan placed the ceramic cup on the table and said affirmatively, "Your people are in danger, and they are suffering greatly."

"right."

“According to what you’ve said, even if you put Chaoxia in the Xia Clan, he will still sense your suffering. If the root of the problem isn’t addressed, you will all suffer.” Jiang Yunlan was puzzled. The earth beastmen knew this, so why would they still want to send Chaoxia over?

"You'll get used to it, you'll get used to it," Aliya said, looking out the window at the endless grassland.

The grasslands were too vast for their tribe; it seemed they could never escape them.

Outside the window, a single orc walked by, followed by several others traveling in groups. Their voices were cheerful, their steps light, and they exuded youthful energy and vitality.

The grasslands now are completely different from the grasslands five snow seasons ago.

Looking at it, and thinking of the nature in Lan's pocket, he compromised a bit more: "We have no way to solve this problem, so we have to bring the cub here with you. The farther away he is from us, the weaker the pain he can feel."

"This feeling is all too familiar. If I'm not mistaken, it must be the bear-beastmen who were driven out of the grasslands by the Hati clan who captured my other kin."

Just like how we were captured from the forest and taken to the grassland by the bear-like beastmen back then.

In the end, the dawn remained in the Xia clan's habitat.

Jiang Yunlan watched Aliya's departing figure, her trembling hands clenched in anger.

Why did they capture us? Because we are useful to them. They are powerful and never care about any orcs. Even their own kind can be killed at will if they don't suit their purposes.

She recalled the horse-orc who always seemed dazed, overly quiet, and never touched any meat.

[The bear-beastmen used horse-beastmen, who had transformed into their beast forms, to capture us in the forest. Once, a wounded horse-beastman nearly failed to catch my kin; they tore him to pieces in front of the other horse-beastmen as a warning. This warning happened many times.]

She recalled the grassland sheep-orc who subconsciously avoided eye contact, smiling shyly and cautiously.

We were captured and taken to the grasslands, where the grassland sheep-beastmen were responsible for guarding us. These silent grassland sheep-beastmen weren't good at running, so the bear-beastmen made them carry various things back from very far away places. Many sheep-beastmen were killed or exhausted, and the sheep-beastmen guarding us were constantly being replaced.

She recalled the fox-beastman who habitually observed everything before approaching it.

For a time, they really enjoyed watching the beastmen react with terror. The fox-beastmen, who readily displayed their emotions, were often terrified by their perverse pleasure. I saw them sneaking away from the thorn cage many times, crying and vomiting incessantly.

How could there be such disgusting orcs?

Anger made Jiang Yunlan's ears and tail bristle. She gritted her teeth, wanting to curse the group of bear-beastmen, but her past education prevented her from uttering any foul language. She could only vent her anger while trying to process it.

Aliya said he was too far removed from his injured kin to sense their location, just as they, who had come to the grasslands, could not return to the forest.

The anger, the unquenchable anger, is still burning.

Jiang Yunlan looked at the sky before her, the grassland gently swaying in the breeze, and heard Aliya's words before she left echoing in her ears.

[During the snow season when Hati and his men drove the Bear-Beastmen away, I saw them return, leading the Bear-Beastmen who had gone out. They wanted to reclaim the grasslands, but coincidentally, a beast tide occurred that snow season. Most of the Bear-Beastmen were killed by wild beasts, and only a small number escaped.]

The powerful wolf-orc clans also lost many members as a result, including us; several orc clans were wiped out at that time.

The bear-beastmen who fled from the grasslands rose up again after only five snow seasons, and began to harm other beastmen with impunity.

The wind picked up; it was a strong wind.

The wind on the grassland grew stronger, and Jiang Yunlan's desire for power intensified. She urgently, yearned, and hoped that she could do something, instead of just standing there helplessly.

She needed power, the power to protect others. She couldn't save the captured orcs, but at least, she needed to protect the injured orcs on the plains.

She knew very well that there had been no beast tide this snow season, but one would appear in the near future.

There were too many wild beasts around, and Hati already had to lead his semi-adult orcs to fight them off. It was clear that the sheer number of wild beasts in the vicinity was making life difficult for the wolf-orcs.

"Lan!"

Should we migrate? No, beast tides can occur anywhere in this world. Constantly running away isn't a good option; we need to equip the beastmen with the ability to withstand beast tides, and even the strength to fight them off.

"Lan".

Gunpowder, why did the last gunpowder experiment fail? We have sulfur extracted from pyrite, saltpeter, charcoal... are we missing something?

"Lan?"

Jiang Yunlan suddenly snapped out of her reverie and subconsciously said, "Sorry, 022, I was thinking about something and accidentally got lost in thought..."

She looked at the orcs, including Feng Hong and Yan Duoyu, who appeared before her, and fell silent.

“Lan… I was the one calling you just now,” Feng Hong said, puzzled.

“022 only called you once.” The transparent slime blinked.

“I was the one who shouted it the first time,” Yan Duoyu continued.

The beastmen who had just arrived were puzzled, scratching their heads in confusion as they cautiously observed Lan's softened expression. They remembered Lan's expressionless face just moments before.

That's terrifying. Lan's cold expression and angry reaction really scared the beastmen.

The usually straightforward beastmen were unusually hesitant, their movements cautious, but their words remained sincere and passionate: "Is Lan troubled by something? Tell us, and we'll help you solve your problems!"

Jiang Yunlan paused. She tried to soften her expression, making her face appear gentler.

She let out a breath and smiled, "I'm fine. But you guys, you all came to find me together, did something happen?"

Upon hearing this, the beastmen nudged and shoved each other for a while before finally pushing out Maple Syrup as their representative to speak on their behalf.

Bearing the expectations of the entire orc race, Maple Sugar braced herself and stammered, "Lan... Lan curls up when she sleeps at night, is it because she's anxious?"

They always thought Lan was cold, so they would always give Lan an extra piece of animal skin, which Lan would accept and use.

So it wasn't because of the cold after all. The orcs silently bit their handkerchiefs, fearing that Lan would leave them for another clan, just like Hati and the others had said.

"Hmm? Why are you asking this all of a sudden? It's just a habit of mine; I like to sleep like that."

The beastmen believed it and breathed a sigh of relief, asking questions all at once.

"Will Nalan always be our clan leader?"

"Lan won't leave Xia, will she?"

Jiang Yunlan became more and more confused as she listened. She made a stop gesture, looked at the now quiet tribespeople, and said helplessly, "Who made you have such thoughts? How could I possibly leave Xia?"

"Hati and the others said they would take you to their clan," the orcs complained, sounding aggrieved.

Jiang Yunlan rubbed her forehead, her head aching. The emotions she had been suppressing had been completely banished by the beastmen. She felt both amused and helpless. Looking at her anxious tribespeople, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Do you believe them just because they say that? Don't worry, as long as you don't leave Xia, I will always be your clan chief. Xia is my clan, the clan I built."

It is my only home in this world.

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Author's Note: There's a ranking this week! Updates will follow the ranking [sprinkling flowers]. If I still can't get into the VIP section this week, there will be no updates on the 20th and 21st. I'll use these two days to accumulate the 10,000-word update needed for the VIP day. My typing speed is too slow; I can only write 3,000 words a day, and I still haven't managed to accumulate the 10,000-word update needed for the VIP day (collapses).

The nutrient solution and "free ticket" mini-dramas will no longer be updated in real time; they will be updated every few days. If I encounter difficulties meeting deadlines, I will cancel the mini-dramas.

But I'm really grateful for everyone's feeding! I was so happy when I received the nutrient solution and landmines! They brought me joy for a whole day.

*

System notification: You have triggered the storyline "The Evil Bear-Beastman". This is a long storyline, please watch patiently.

Lan is enraged by the evil bear beastmen! Lan wants to defeat the bear beastmen, but the Xia clan's level is insufficient to enter the storyline "The Evil Bear Beastmen".

You can choose to throw items to speed up the upgrade of the Lan and Xia clans!

"Moon West" threw a "landmine" crafting guide x1

"Moon West" throws out 10 experience points.