The orcs encountered on the road are Xia's people, as are other living beings.

Even after Jiang Yunlan rode her feathered horse and led the beastmen, including Heitu, away from the grassland, the memories of the first day of the snow season and the beastmen she left behind would still linger in her mind.

"The sea of ​​white six-petaled lanterns that day was truly beautiful. 022, was that your idea? I don't think my people could come up with such a gift for me." She remembered what Maple Sugar had told her: the orcs in the mountains had also made lanterns and given them to the supply team to transport to the grasslands. She knew they must have planned this all along.

022 peered out from under the hood of her cloak, looking at the scenery on either side, her voice calm, “Maple Syrup asked me what you would like to receive on that day. So I told them they could make lanterns for you.”

"The sea of ​​lanterns was a gift they came up with later, not my idea. Maple Syrup and the others still remember that you liked that flower." 022 sat up and smiled at Hei Tu, who was looking over.

Even before the beastmen understood what "beauty" meant, they were already bringing white flowers from the mountaintop to give to Lan.

"So nothing is impossible. Most of these orcs are intuitive; they know you'll like it, just like they know you'll like the snowflakes they give you."

022's voice traveled on the wind to Jiang Yunlan's ears. She was surprised for a second, and then her expression gradually changed to understanding.

A smile appeared on her face as she readily accepted the Xia beastmen's affection. Perhaps it was from spending so much time with the sincere and simple beastmen that she had become much more honest than before. She could accept others' affection without hesitation and openly express her likes and dislikes, though she would occasionally feel a little shy because of the beastmen's overly enthusiastic and unrestrained nature.

"Click!"

The wooden beast in the group suddenly started to make a fuss. It twisted its body as if it wanted to go somewhere, but its movements were restricted by the chains around its neck, and it could only shout angrily.

Jiang Yunlan heard its cry and a look of surprise flashed in her eyes. The orcs of Xia had difficulty communicating with it because it didn't like to talk. The two wood elves who brought it back once thought it was a creature incapable of making a sound.

Until the day it was brought before Jiang Yunlan by Xia's orcs.

Upon seeing Bai Su not far from Jiang Yunlan, it leaped up, intending to knock Bai Su over, but was pulled back by the quick-thinking Sveta. Having failed in its attack, it immediately emitted a threatening sound from its throat, the same "crunch" sound as before.

Jiang Yunlan quickly pulled the feathered horse beneath her and swiftly ordered, "Halt! Be on guard!"

Upon hearing the order, the orcs immediately tightened their reins, urging the beasts pulling the cart to a stop. Black Earth and the other members of the guard drew their weapons and instinctively rushed towards Jiang Yunlan, only to receive a new order.

"Don't worry about me, prioritize protecting the ordinary orcs in the team!" Jiang Yunlan said, then frowned as she looked at the inn not far away, a bad feeling rising in her heart.

She took a deep breath, exhaled, and as the orcs adjusted their formation to protect the orcs inside the carriage, she rode her feathered horse towards the wooden beast.

The wooden beast, which stood nearly five meters tall on all fours, made Jiang Yunlan, sitting on the back of the feathered horse, seem tiny to it, almost like a cub. So, when it saw Jiang Yunlan running towards it, it stared at her for two seconds, frowned, and pulled Jiang Yunlan, who was carrying the elf, to its side, then continued to bar its teeth and snarl in the direction of the inn.

It no longer struggled repeatedly to escape the chains as before, but instead obediently stayed in place, looking agitated. It heard what sounded like an orc beside it muttering something, but it couldn't understand it and ignored it.

Jiang Yunlan tried to initiate a conversation, but was once again rejected by the wooden beast. She was used to it and readily gave up trying to communicate with the wooden beast.

The wooden beast fell silent. She finally saw the direction in which the wooden beast was wary, and the ominous premonition rising from the bottom of her heart grew stronger.

"Field Highway Inn, could it be that the orcs of Apocalypse are there?" She felt unhappy at the thought that the inn that Xia had spent so much time building had been occupied by the enemy.

Previously, during a beast tide migration, she was worried about the beastmen in the highway inn and had ordered all of them to return to their habitat. She never expected that her people had only been gone from the inn for less than a season before the highway inn was taken over by the beastmen of Apocalypse.

The supply team didn't spot them when they checked into the roadside inn during the snow season; they must have checked in recently. Were they certain the Summer Beastmen wouldn't be traveling between their two habitats in such a short time?

It seems they are very familiar with the movement patterns of Xia's supply teams.

Jiang Yunlan pondered as she circled around the wooden beast's protective perimeter. She left Sveta with Feng Hong and instructed Feng Hong to protect the tribespeople in the group before leading about twenty or so orcs forward to scout the situation. The group was close to the inn; perhaps they had already discovered Xia's arrival.

She was wondering if she could catch the orc of Apocalypse if she rushed up now when she saw an orc jumping out of a window and escaping into her field of vision.

The leopard-man who landed stood up and looked up, his eyes meeting hers. He hurriedly turned away, carrying a basket on his back, and followed a sheep-man away from the area.

Rock licorice?

Jiang Yunlan watched in shock as Yan Ganguo was dragged away by Yuan Bingsheng, who complained about her speed. She was stunned for a couple of seconds.

Before leaving the grasslands, Jiang Yunlan received news. She knew that Yuan Bingsheng's identity had been exposed because of the magic circle at the entrance to the mountain habitat, and that he had left the mountains with Yan Ganguo, who was on an undercover mission. She had guessed where they were going and thought they would go to some habitat in Tianqi first, never expecting to meet them here.

The orcs, unaware of the situation, were stunned. A beat later, they roared, "Traitor! Yan Ganguo, you traitor, don't run! Have you forgotten the oath you swore when you became a warrior? How dare you betray Xia and join the enemy's side!!!"

The other orc, Black Earth, who knew the inside story, didn't hesitate at all. She raised her hand and produced an ironwood seed, commanding the ironwood to attack Rock Without Words. Then, wielding a sword and shield, she fought against Rock Without Words in his beast form. She remembered this leopard orc; it was Bai Su and this leopard orc who had ambushed Lan last time.

Her teacher who taught her to fight was Yan Duoyu, the most powerful member of the Leopard Beastman clan, and every move she made bore the mark of Yan Duoyu.

Yan Wuyan was too familiar with Yan Duoyu's fighting skills and could easily tell that she was a beastman taught by her sister. His expression instantly twisted with jealousy, and he angrily unleashed a tornado to send Heitu flying.

Even an omnivorous lemming beastman can learn it, so why can't she? Why is she the only one who can't do it?

It must be that her older sister doesn't like her and deliberately doesn't teach her. It doesn't matter, she doesn't need it anymore; she now possesses enough power to defeat her older sister.

Yan Wuyan's gloomy gaze swept over the rescued lemming beastman, his lips pursed, and he angrily carried a bundle of luggage away, his back view looking somewhat disheveled.

“Heitu, you’re injured. Go get healed first,” Jiang Yunlan said, pressing down on Heitu’s shoulder. She looked at Heitu, who still wanted to chase after them, and said seriously, “They outnumber us, and there are several orcs among them who can use the power of nature. We alone cannot wipe them out.”

Only Sveta, Agni, and Freya accompanied the team this time; the other two elves stayed behind on the grassland to guard the Summer Beastmen.

“There are still tribesmen in the group who need our protection, let’s go.” After Jiang Yunlan finished speaking, she glanced back at the direction the enemy had fled, her expression grave. But when she turned back to rejoin the group with Heitu and the other orcs, the expression on her face relaxed again.

The distant ice sounds, the orcs including Yan Wuyan who escaped from Forest Lake, and the orcs who escaped from Hati's clutches. Strange, why are they all gathered together? Is there something new going on?

She counted the number of orcs who had just used the power of nature and realized that new Apocalypse orcs had arrived at their location.

What are they trying to do?

Jiang Yunlan became worried about Yan Ganguo, who was infiltrating the enemy ranks. She was somewhat like Feng Hong; her emotions were easily displayed on her face. But her acting seemed quite good; she had fooled Yuan Bingsheng, so she shouldn't be exposed, right?

At this moment, Yan Ganguo was sitting obediently next to Yuan Bingsheng, watching Yuan Bingsheng and Lian Qiyu argue.

Lian Qiyu: "Didn't you say that the house wouldn't see any Xia beastmen for a while and was safe?! Why did Xia's team suddenly appear, and it was Xia's leader leading the team!"

Yuan Bingsheng: "This was an accident! My intelligence couldn't be wrong. You're questioning me! Are you questioning my treason? How could I possibly betray you?! Just tell me if you like living there or not. The best houses in our tribe are about the same size as that roadside inn. I don't believe you don't like it!"

She stared coldly at Lian Qiyu, showing none of the gentleness and kindness she had feigned while staying in the Xia tribe.

Lian Qiyu remained silent. He couldn't bring himself to say anything bad about the Highway Inn. Those despicable Xia tribes! How could they build such wonderful houses? Yuan Bingsheng had told him that houses like the Highway Inn were everywhere in Xia's territory, and there were even better ones. Even more infuriating! Such a wonderful thing should belong to their Tianqi tribe.

Once their tribe conquers the Xia tribe, he'll kick those Xia orcs out of their houses and take over one for himself. No, Xia built so many houses; he'll definitely get several.

He fantasized about the Xia beastmen becoming his slaves and making him delicious food and crafting items, and a slight smile crept onto his deliberately stern face.

"Ahem. But it's your fault that we suddenly ran into the Xia beastmen, so you have to give us something in return. Some of our companions were injured, and others were captured." Lian Qiyu stretched out his left hand, his fox tail swaying happily from side to side.

Yuan Bingsheng rolled her eyes at him, finally understanding what he was trying to achieve by rambling on. It turned out he wanted the food she had brought from the Xia tribe. She knew it; when had their tribe ever cared about the lives of their companions? Everyone only cared about their friends.

Those orcs in the tribe who truly considered other members of their tribe as companions are long gone, with only a handful remaining. And that few orcs definitely don't include Lian Qiyu, and even he might not be alive.

Yuan Bingsheng glanced at Lian Qiyu, then sat down on the spot with an air of self-righteousness, smiling gently as he said, "No. I don't even have enough to eat myself, so you can only dream about it. If you mention the highway hotel again, you can forget about getting any information from me in the future."

Lian Qiyu from the field operations department fell silent, no longer daring to provoke one of the leaders of the intelligence department, fearing that he would be blocked from obtaining intelligence.

He sat down resentfully, listening to Yuan Bingsheng and Yan Ganguo say that once they captured the natural spirits of the Xia tribe, they would provide Yan Ganguo with natural power, and that Yan Ganguo could have whatever type of natural power he wanted.

He was even angrier.

That hateful Yuan Bingsheng. So what if she's related to the leader? So what if she's the leader's sister?

That's really something. She broke the rules, and even if they reported her to the leader, it was useless. The leader would protect her and only punish her with a minor, insignificant penalty each time.

Lian Qiyu thought to himself, "Why don't I just continue to instigate Ling Caiyu to usurp the throne now? It's only because Ling Caiyu can tolerate this; if it were me, I would have already usurped the throne."

The thought that Ling Cai had successfully usurped the throne and that he would receive a larger share when their tribe divided the Xia tribe filled him with even more excitement, and his anger subsided considerably. Once he became the second-in-command, he would definitely kill Yuan Bingsheng, who had incurred the hatred of the beastmen.

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Author's Note: Lian Qiyu and Yuan Bingsheng are having an internal conflict.

The innocent orc, Yan Ganguo, who was watching them, was very well-behaved and calm. She believed that Lan would be wary of the Apocalypse orcs after seeing them.