The orcs, preparing for the snow season, will...

The bear-beastman, fed poison, could not bear the pain of the poison taking effect and whimpered as he struggled on the ground.

They could only utter indistinct whimpers. Xia's orcs stuffed their mouths with stuffing to prevent them from biting their tongues and pressed them tightly against their backs to prevent them from breaking free of the ropes and attacking Lan.

Every member of the Xia clan could clearly see the hatred in the eyes of these bear-beastmen as they looked at Lan. They would never allow the bear-beastmen to harm Lan before their very eyes.

Lan once said that she hated the bear-beastmen for taking the lives of other beastmen, and especially loathed their cruel and murderous acts of tearing apart beastmen's bodies.

Therefore, all the Xia clan beastmen promised Lan that they would not torture or kill any living beings, not even the bear beastmen they hated. They could tell that Lan's promise to cut off the bear beastmen's bodies was merely to make the bear beastmen deeply understand how they had felt, so they cooperated with Lan and took a few steps closer to the bear beastmen.

The bear-beastmen were terrified, displaying a series of ridiculous behaviors. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Xia's beastmen hadn't raised their swords. They hadn't expected that the pain of the poison taking effect would make them wish they could just smash their heads against a wall and die.

The bear-orc, gripped by fear, pain, and death, died in agony.

"As usual, the bodies were burned together. Two tribesmen were sent to guard the fire until all the bodies had turned to ashes."

After Jiang Yunlan finished speaking, she turned her gaze to the group of orcs who had betrayed their clan.

They were also bound together like the bear-beastmen, squatting in a group.

"Lan, please let us end their lives ourselves." The chieftain of the White Squirrel Beastman and other chieftains of the beastman clans said, as they struggled to their feet and helped each other walk to their former clansmen.

No matter what their kin said that betrayed them, their resolve remained unchanged. They transformed into beastmen and slashed the throats of the orcs before them with their bare hands.

The orcs who abandoned them to join the bear-orc clan were neither their own nor of their kind. They could not forgive those orcs for becoming accomplices in the murder of their own kind.

The newly fallen bodies were sent for cremation.

Jiang Yunlan shifted her gaze to the group of victimized bear-beastmen gathered together. Several small, thin bear-beastmen stiffened when they noticed her gaze.

They were bear-orcs without great strength and were not recognized as bear-orcs. The orcs in the clan would call them little bear-orcs, because they were weak.

Because they were cub beastmen, not bear beastmen, they were treated the same as the captured beastmen in their tribe.

"They seem to be smaller than the other bear-beastmen?" Jiang Yunlan walked up to them, frowned, sniffed, and then widened her eyes in shock. "Wait! Why are you all cubs and semi-adults?!"

A bear-orc nodded timidly and tried to raise its voice, saying, "All the adult bear-orc cubs without great strength died in the beast tide."

Jiang Yunlan understood the meaning behind those words. She froze for a few seconds, her expression gradually turning sorrowful. Were they expelled from the clan simply because their strength didn't reach the level of superhuman strength?

She sighed helplessly, looking left and right but not seeing any newborn cubs, a hint of doubt in her eyes.

Ling Xiaocao keenly noticed Lan's confusion and explained, "It seems that the Bear Beastman clan did not reproduce for a long time after fleeing the grasslands, probably because they did not encounter other members of their own kind. The oldest cub in this clan is almost half-adult."

The actual situation was somewhat different from what she had guessed. Duoguo, Tianfeng, and other beastmen had encountered other bear-beastmen, but they simply looked down on the bear-beastmen who lacked immense strength, which was why they hadn't participated in the flower cultivation.

“However, several cubs that were just two or three snow seasons away from reaching adulthood were killed by them.” Antelope Grass pointed to the bear-beastmen huddled together timidly, gesturing for Lan to look at their hands.

With bright red blood stained their hands, Jiang Yunlan realized something and raised her hand.

The bear-orc crouching in front of her instinctively closed his eyes tightly, his body trembling. What they received wasn't a fist, but a pair of warm hands stroking their heads.

Jiang Yunlan stroked each of the young bear-beastmen, her voice gentle: "It's not your fault that you were born into this clan, nor is it your fault that they bully you. No beastman can choose where he or she is born."

She would not blame any of the victims who chose to resist.

"You do not possess immense strength. But I hope that when you gain power in the future, you will remember your experiences. Do not harm creatures weaker than yourself, and do not use the power in your hands to oppress the weak. Do not become like those bear-beastmen."

The few skinny bear-beastmen were stunned, and asked dumbfounded, "Aren't you going to kill us?"

All the captured bear-orc clan members were dead; they were also members of the bear-orc clan. Although they lacked great strength, they could occasionally feel the disgusted gazes of the captured orcs.

“No. You are also victims. All the orcs in this clan have harmed you, but you have not harmed the captured orcs,” Jiang Yunlan said.

If they had harmed anyone, the orcs like Bai Shui wouldn't simply look at them with disgust.

The bear-orcs, also victims, survived and lived alongside the Xia clan's orcs in the original bear-orc clan's habitat.

The snow season is almost here, and Jiang Yunlan plans to return to the clan after it ends. She wants the injured and sick beastmen to have an extra season to rest and recover.

The second day after settling down at the foot of the mountain by the river was another day of worrying about food.

The bear-beastmen are carnivorous beastmen, and their habitat only has meat as a reserve, with almost no vegetarian food. Jiang Yunlan rubbed her head in exasperation, then turned to look at the several omnivorous and vegetarian beastmen who habitually ate meat, and then at the horse-beastmen who would vomit at the mere sight of meat.

She silently pulled out her supplies list, recalling the edible plants she had seen in the mountains. It was the end of the fruit season, and there were no more fruits left; she could only look for plant stems and tubers to eat.

“Feng Hong, I need you to take a group of your people to the mountains to find vegetarian food. 022 will go with you. I have to stay here to build a shelter and settle the beastmen, so I won’t be going with you.” As Jiang Yunlan spoke, 022 floated up from her head and flew to Feng Hong’s side.

Hearing her conversation with Feng Hong, Lorelei turned to look at her and asked curiously, "Lan, why didn't you come to ask us for help? We Zelan people are very good at 'harvest'."

"You just finished fighting the bear-beastmen, don't keep thinking about using up your internal energy." She didn't turn around, but handed the list of people going out to Feng Hong.

She remembered how Hida had forcibly activated the energy within her body and almost lost her life.

Jiang Yunlan said helplessly, her head throbbing even more. "You don't need to worry about the food. Go find Gracie and Chaoxia to eat the energy stones. Come back and talk to me about this when you feel better."

“It’s easy for us to just make sure the plants have a good harvest. It’s fruit season now.” Lorelei blinked.

Looking back at Zhelan, who was in good condition, Jiang Yunlan hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Then I'll trouble you to go out with Feng Hong and the others. However, Xida can't go, and Zhelan, who was just rescued, needs to stay and recuperate."

Lorelei understood her concerns and readily agreed.

Just as they were about to go out, a Sheeta appeared beside Lorelei. Lorelei scratched the back of his head, looking at the sky and the ground but ignoring the storm.

Jiang Yunlan slowly typed out a question mark.

“If Lorelei and the others can go, I want to go too.” Shida stared at Lan, his expressionless face looking unusually serious, as if he would sneak out if Lan disagreed.

“That’s how it is.” Lorelei coughed lightly, turning his pleading gaze to Lan.

He couldn't understand why Shida, who had always shown no enthusiasm for orcs outside her own kind, would want to get involved in this. She had clearly stated that the food was for the other orcs.

Jiang Yunlan was helpless against Xida, who could burrow underground, and could only give her a helpless look.

“Go ahead, but don’t push yourself this time,” she said.