The orcs who arrive at Zelan Forest, belonging to the land, will head towards...

As the seasons change, summer's procession travels through many regions and enters a new forest.

Spots of light pierced through the trees, painting patterns on the Xia clan orcs. Light and shadow intertwined, leaping and darting around Jiang Yunlan like playful sprites.

Familiar tree species and unfamiliar plants swept past Jiang Yunlan. She turned her gaze away from the trees and looked at the sunrise leaning against the car edge, just in time to see the sunrise's bright, sparkling eyes.

"Is this the place? Morning glow," she asked.

Chaoxia nodded, a happy smile appearing on her face. "This is it. Although I've never been here before and this is my first time here, as soon as I entered, I knew this was the Zelan Forest, the habitat of our people."

Hearing this, Greysien, flying beside the orcs, looked left and right curiously, unable to discern any difference between this forest and the others. He couldn't recognize the Zeran Forest, but if it were Dragon Island, he would definitely recognize it as his habitat at a glance, just as the dawn could find the Zeran Forest among many forests.

Because that was their hometown, which they had never seen.

As if sensing something, Chaoxia, who was perched on the edge of the car, turned her head to look at Lan beside her, her smile becoming even brighter. "My kin have come to see me!"

This was the first time Jiang Yunlan had seen him smile without any gloom since he was born.

"Click click".

"parking."

The sound of something emerging from the ground came almost simultaneously with Jiang Yunlan's shout for the clansmen to stop.

The convoy traveling through the forest braked suddenly and came to a stop right in the middle of several dents.

Zelan, in the form of a beast, emerged from the depression. Before Chaoxia could speak, they strode quickly to the vehicle where Chaoxia was, stood up, and looked up at Chaoxia peering out from inside.

The first Zephyranthes spoke, its voice soft as if it didn't want to frighten him, "You are one of the two cubs born before the snow season. I remember, your name should be 'Morning Glow'."

“It’s me. I’m back, Lorelei.” As dawn broke, she was lifted from behind by a dragon flying in mid-air and placed among her kind.

He turned back in confusion and saw Greysien sitting on the edge of the carriage with his wings folded, watching him with Lan. Their eyes were smiling, their expressions gentle, encouraging as they watched him return to his people.

The beastmen of Xia also noticed the small Zelans and lowered their voices, chatting with their tribesmen beside them with gentle smiles. If their eyes met those of the Zelans looking over, they would raise their hands in a friendly greeting, revealing kind smiles.

The Zelans surrounded the cubs who had just given birth to two young ones during the snowy season, asking them with concern if they had been bullied outside. The Zelan that had first called for dawn, however, shifted its gaze to Jiang Yunlan, who was carrying fragments of the earth.

Lorelei swept his fingers over her ears and tail, and slowly spoke: "Squirrel-beastman cub, you've seen Aliya and the others. Did they run into trouble instead of returning with Dawn?"

“They went to find their suffering kin,” Jiang Yunlan replied.

Lorelei's gentle expression vanished as he recalled the orcs who had captured the other Zeran, his eyes instantly turning cold, a murderous intent rising within him. He suppressed the hatred in his heart, trying to soften his tone, though his voice was still somewhat stiff, "Thank you for bringing Dawn back. It's just a pity that we have to leave here now and won't be able to entertain you."

"Are you going somewhere else?" Jiang Yunlan asked him, puzzled.

“Yes, we’re taking Chaoxia away from here. It’s no longer safe here, so we’ve moved our habitat to another forest. However, people from our tribe come back from other places from time to time, so the few of us have been waiting here.” He said, letting out a sigh.

Their people are not just beastmen who stay in their forest habitat. They are not prey for any beasts and are not hunted by wild animals, so they often go out to other areas with the flocks of birds that accompany them.

He couldn't believe that he and his fellow tribesmen had only been away from their habitat for a little over ten snow seasons, and that Aliya and the others who stayed behind would be captured by those hateful orcs.

Not long ago, Zelan, who stayed in his habitat waiting for the other members of his race to return, was also captured by the orcs.

When Lorelei realized this and hurriedly led his people over, all that was left in the forest was blood and birds lying in pools of blood.

Fortunately, this time they discovered a message left by their captured kin, allowing them to go directly to the orcs' location without having to explore the surrounding area.

Lorelei sneered. Those orcs would be sorry; soon he would show them what "the wrath of the earth" truly meant. He viciously cursed those hateful orcs in his mind again and again, when suddenly he heard the cub before him speak to him like this.

“Would you like to join my clan? When Aliya gave this to me, she told me that I am a friend of Zeran. I think I am worthy of your trust.”

As Jiang Yunlan spoke, she took out the fragments of earth that she had kept in her pocket and opened her hands to show them to Lorelei.

Seeing Lorelei's bewildered reaction, she smiled and continued, "My clan is called Xia, a clan that came from the forest. Although Xia is still a growing clan, it is already a place where you can live in peace. I assure you, I will not let the orcs who covet you take you away again."

Greysien sat down next to her and said in the same way, "I will protect you too."

"Don't worry, we'll join forces with Lan to defeat those bear-beastmen who captured your people!" the Xia clan beastmen shouted in unison.

They too had been harmed by the bear-beastmen, and with both old and new grudges, they wanted to kill all those bear-beastmen, even if it meant exchanging their lives for one of theirs.

Lorelei was stunned, never expecting to hear such words.

The Zelans surrounding Chaoxia were all stunned by the fighting spirit emanating from the Xia clan orcs. Before they could say anything, they heard Chaoxia speak to them.

“Go to the Xia clan. My twenty-one unborn members and I love it there, and you will too.”

Upon hearing this, Lorelei and the others belatedly realized that Aria and the others had entrusted all the unborn cubs to the Xia clan. Lan, who ruled the Xia clan, was more trustworthy than they had thought.

The Zelans no longer hesitated and spoke firmly: "We are willing to go to the Xia clan. However, before that, we will first gather with other clansmen to rescue our captured kinsmen."

“Those orcs, bear orcs? We already know their location; our kin are currently observing that area.”

If they hadn't sensed the dawn approaching the forest, they would have been on their way to the Bear-Beastman clan.

"Oh! Kill! Kill! Kill them all, leave no one alive!"

The Xia clan's beastmen were ablaze with excitement, revealing ferocious smiles as they eagerly inquired of the Zelans about the location of the bear-beastmen.

Lorelei briefly described the route to the bear-beastman's habitat, and looking at the mindless orcs like MapleRed, he quietly said, "It's alright if you can't remember, just follow us..."

The unexpected roll of blueprints made him stop, and he looked at Jiang Yunlan, who had jumped out of the car at some point, with a puzzled expression.

“This is a map. Tell me how to get there,” Jiang Yunlan explained the map’s purpose to him, then added, “The bear-beastmen plunder the power of nature. We don’t know how strong they are now, so please be extra careful.”

“I’m still a little worried that they will use the captured Zelan and the orcs to threaten us. The best course of action is to rescue the trapped Zelan and the others first, and then deal with the bear orc clan. If all else fails, we’ll have no choice but to confront them head-on.”

Jiang Yunlan rolled up the unfolded map, hung it at her waist, and muttered some strategies that had just popped into her head. Things like infiltrating to create an inside attack, or luring the enemy away from their stronghold. After she finished speaking, she looked up and saw Lorelei with a thoughtful expression.

“Young one, you seem to be very good at this. You are even smarter than an adult orc,” Lorelei said.

Upon hearing Lorelei's words, the Xia orc felt as if he had been praised, and proudly declared, "Lan is a wise man!"

Jiang Yunlan smiled somewhat embarrassedly, turned around and climbed back into the car, reaching out her hand to Zhelan on the ground, "Want to sit in the car? Let's head to the bear-beastman's habitat now."

Xia's party, joined by Lorelai and other Zeran orcs, turned towards a new destination.

As the car moved along, Lorelei sat next to Jiang Yunlan and said to her, "Little one, what were you talking about earlier, strategy? Include me in that too. I'm different from Aliya and the others; my specialty isn't healing, but attacking."

“It was just my attack…” Lorelei hesitated for a moment, silently shifting his gaze to the tracks left by the vehicle, and said apologetically, “It doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe. I can only guarantee that Zelan won’t be harmed, but I can’t guarantee the safety of the other orcs.”

He only realized after hearing Jiang Yunlan's explanation that the bear-beastmen had captured not only his own kind, but also other beastmen.

Jiang Yunlan asked curiously, puzzled, "What kind of attack do you have?"

"The wrath of the earth."

As he spoke, he pursed his lips, his expression no longer as relaxed as before, "As long as this power is used, the earth will crack. Actually, I don't really like using it."

The cracked earth will devour everything, except for Zelan and the birds.

Jiang Yunlan was shocked and blurted out, "Is this the power of the earth? It's amazing!"

Earthquake? No, this should be called a ground fissure.

"Why don't you like using it?" she asked Lorelei, puzzled.

“Because this is also a kind of disaster, and neither of us really likes disasters,” Lorelei sighed. He didn’t know why, even though they were both Zeran, he inherited a power that was like a disaster.

Zelan is nothing like a "Guardian".