The hunting party returned to the Xia clan from the forest.

Hati soaked in the hot water for a while, and his limbs finally regained their freedom.

He raised his two front paws, hooked them onto the edge of the barrel, leaped out of the water and onto the grass, quickly shaking off his wet fur until it was half-dry. His clansmen, who had been bound by the Xia clan, were now gathered around him.

"Chief of the Xia Clan, tell me, what do you want? Food, pottery, or animal hides?" Hati asked, looking at the tiny squirrel-beastman cub.

Every time he mentioned an item, he would recall that the Xia clan already possessed it. Even the salt blocks that his clan was reluctant to consume, the Xia clan also had a finer, whiter salt.

Hati suddenly fell silent.

This is not right. How could his clan be unable to produce any items?

"No need for gifts. I need your people to work in my clan more. Don't worry, I'll provide food; you won't suffer any losses," Jiang Yunlan said with a smile.

It's fruit season now, and other orc clans are busy stockpiling food. They might not be willing to send orcs to work for unfamiliar clans. She needs to seize the opportunity to get this group of laborers under her control.

Jiang Yunlan carefully explained the concept of working to the wolf beastmen, and once again saw the wolf beastmen collectively showing strange looks.

Indeed, the Xia clan was a very strange clan.

Hattie pondered for a moment, then looked toward the Xia clan's storage area and said in a deep voice, "I want to exchange part of the reward for other items from your clan."

“Sure. Aside from weapons and a few items, you can exchange them for whatever you want as payment,” Jiang Yunlan said.

Hatti's first reward was salt. The salt he obtained from the Salt Clan was nowhere near as good as the salt from the Xia Clan. The Xia Clan could exchange three jars of salt for his clan, more than the Salt Clan, which only came once a fruit season.

The two clan chiefs discussed for a long time and finalized the terms of the payment, both feeling that they had made a profit.

Jiang Yunlan, now with twenty adult orc laborers, was satisfied as she sent the Hati clan away. She had originally thought she could only capture eleven or twelve wolf orcs, but now that number had almost doubled, she couldn't be more pleased.

What pleased her even more was that the Hatti clan offered to exchange food for other items before she could even ask. She not only gained orcs to work for her, but also the food to provide for them.

"Don't forget to come tomorrow morning." Jiang Yunlan stood at the clan's gate, waving goodbye as the wolf-beastmen left.

The wolf pack has gone far away.

The Xia clan orc lifted the animal skin covering the entrance, rolled it up, and placed it aside. There was also medicinal powder sprinkled at the entrance; one had to step on the animal skin to avoid being poisoned.

The fight with the Hatti clan took up almost half the day, and now it's time for dinner.

Seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Yunlan went into the shelter, called out the cubs, and led them to cook dinner and prepare food for tomorrow.

Fortunately, her clan only had to provide lunch for the wolf-beastmen. Otherwise, given their appetites, the cubs would be so tired from cooking so much food every day that they wouldn't be able to lift their arms.

Thinking about the food the wolf-beastmen would bring tomorrow, Jiang Yunlan couldn't help but feel a little excited.

The plains will certainly have a lot of food that is different from the food in the forest, which will greatly expand the clan's diet.

The wolf-beastmen did not disappoint her. Among the meat they brought were several kinds of animal meat that she had never eaten before.

Jiang Yunlan was very happy and quickly waved to her people to come and catch the food.

She pushed the vine basket full of the items for exchange to Hati for inspection, and asked Hati, who had transformed into human form, with suspicion, "I see there are already twenty wolf-beastmen who came with you. What are you here for?"

She didn't believe Hati had just come to collect his items. She and Hati had exchanged two large vine baskets for their contents, which Hati, a lone wolf-orc, couldn't possibly carry alone; they would need other wolf-orcs to carry them.

"I'm here to play!" Hati said enthusiastically, flipping through his new "toys" in exchange, his tone perfectly justified.

Jiang Yunlan remained calm after hearing this. She knew her bad premonition had come true.

“The other parts of your clan are also very interesting. Take me to see them.” Hati turned to look at the little squirrel-beastman cub, his eyes shining, completely oblivious to the fact that he was a nuisance.

“Hati, I have a lot to do,” Jiang Yunlan said calmly, looking at Hati who was sitting on the ground. “You can choose to go back or stay here by yourself. But I am not one of your people, and I will not put down what I am doing to play with you just because of your words.”

He froze, then lowered his head and carefully put down what he was holding.

He had been chieftain for too long and had forgotten that not every orc would obey him.

Hati snorted in dissatisfaction, then jumped up from the ground. "Then I'll go see for myself!"

“Sure. As long as you don’t damage my clan’s property, harm my clansmen, or disturb the orcs who come to work for my clan, you can wander around as you like. Otherwise, I will retaliate against your clan. And you won’t be allowed to touch any of the new things my clan makes in the future,” Jiang Yunlan said.

Hati readily agreed and went to explore the Xia clan's habitat on his own.

The Xia clan, having just arrived on the plains, did not require a large settlement; their entire settlement was only about one-third the size of their clan. However, it was planned very systematically, as if the purpose of each area had been fully considered when the clan was established.

The cubs of the Xia clan are also incredibly brave, showing no fear whatsoever when they pass by him carrying things.

Hati went to see where his people were working. He could tell they were building something the orcs had never seen before, just like Zefu had done, using something every wolf-orc knew to create the place where they now slept.

Wise man.

It turns out that the patriarch of the Xia clan was also a wise man.

Hati stood quietly, watching them build the house, as if he was remembering something or just lost in thought.

He was never one to keep track of time, and by the time he came to his senses, it was already time for him to return with his people.

“Chief, we should carry our things back now,” a wolf-orc said to him.

Hati withdrew his gaze from the house. "Let's go."

Just as the wolf-beastmen were about to carry the items they had traded with the Xia clan, they heard a sound coming from afar. All the Xia clan beastmen standing around them ran towards the direction of the sound, unable to resist their curiosity, and followed to see what was happening.

"Arashi! We're back!"

Yan Duoyu and the members of the hunting team cheered and carried their successful hunt into the clan.

The Xia clan orcs were overjoyed to see the prey they had brought back. They escorted them to the food storage area while asking them about their experiences during the hunt.

The shelter was very close to the food storage area. Jiang Yunlan, who was studying the temperature and humidity for mushroom growth in the shelter, was reminded by her tribesmen and went there to wait for them before they arrived at the food storage area.

Yan Duoyu and the other orcs were vividly recounting their experiences over the past three days to their tribesmen when they suddenly saw Lan's figure appear before them. They immediately swallowed the words they were about to say and ran to Lan in a few steps.

"Lan, look, these are the prey we brought back from the hunt."

Yan Duoyu and his teammates put down the prey on their shoulders and pointed to the large prey, which was three meters long, as well as several smaller prey.

Hearing their voices, Jiang Yunlan shifted her gaze from the leopard beastman Yan Shaofeng to the prey they had brought back.

She praised each member of the hunting team, then turned to Yan Shaofeng, whose expression was not right, and said, "You must have been seriously injured on this mission. Stay in the clan and rest well."

Yan Shaofeng hadn't expected Lan to have noticed before he even said anything. A warm feeling welled up in his heart, dispelling the weariness within him. He nodded to Lan, acknowledging her words.

"Yan Duoyu, is anyone else in the team injured?"

Upon hearing Lan's question, Yan Duoyu mentioned two names and then said, "They have minor injuries and are almost fully recovered. Yan Shaofeng was the most seriously injured. He was scratched in the waist by a wild animal while pushing Yan Hua away. Fortunately, the medicine Lan prescribed was effective and stopped the bleeding."

Jiang Yunlan pursed her lips, then quickly smiled: "It's good that you're back alive. You are all the clan's finest warriors!"

The hunting party returned quite early, before the cubs could cook their meal. So, tonight's meat was to be the prey they had hunted.

The orcs of the hunting party cheered with joy upon returning home and being able to eat the prey they had brought back, bumping arms and high-fiving with their tribesmen.

Yan Duoyu laughed along. Her eyes crinkled with amusement as she turned to Feng Hong amidst her teammates' conversation, asking softly, "You're injured. What happened while I was away from the clan?"

“We fought with the chieftain of the wolf-orc clan. I lost, but Lan and Ziran won! Now they will come to work for our clan,” Feng Hong explained.

She didn't say how she got her injuries, but Yan Duoyu understood that they were inflicted by the wolf-beastman chieftain.

"Who is their clan leader?" Yan Duoyu asked again.

Feng Hong pointed to the tall wolf-beastman who had surrounded Lan and said, "His name is Hati. His clan name is also his name."

Following the direction Feng Hong pointed, Yan Duoyu memorized his appearance.

Those are the opponents they will have to defeat in the future.

They must be powerful enough that no orc of any surrounding clan can match them in order to protect the clan and the Storm. Therefore, even the orcs who can defeat them now should become their defeated foe in the future.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Happy New Year, little angels! Wishing you all peace, safety, and all the best in the new year!

*

The little angel "Mu^Mu^Lin" threw in 5 nutrient solutions, and Yan Shaofeng's wind injury healed faster.