The sprites brought back by the expedition have become the Xia tribe's Xia...

There are four teams that have gone out to search for the spirits.

The Maple Leaf team, which set off first, was the second to return. Maple Leaf didn't meet the wood elf friend Sveta had mentioned, but they did bring back a water elf.

Perhaps because the natural power she possessed was the power of ice and snow, the water spirit believed her and was willing to go with her to the Xia tribe's habitat.

Hati's team was the second to set off, but the first to return. He possessed the wood elemental power given to him by Sveta, and before even reaching their destination, he was approached by Sveta's friends.

The fire spirit that went to find Hati was even more cheerful and lively than Sveta, almost to the point of being intense, like the midday sun. It was easier to persuade than the water spirit that Maple brought back; as soon as it heard that Sveta and the other spirits needed it, it immediately accompanied Hati on a frantic run back to Summer's habitat.

Jiang Yunlan was pleased to hear the reasons why the two elves were willing to come, and she was happy that the elves were willing to trust her.

But the thought that the orcs of Apocalypse might be using the identity of "Guardians" to deceive the elves dampened her joy considerably. She worriedly gave the two elves a lesson on how to avoid being scammed, giving them a series of examples.

She recounted how the weasel orcs were deceived by the Apocalypse orcs, and how the Zeran were tricked into a thorn cage by the bear orcs. Finally, she told them about the typical cases of being deceived that had occurred in the tribe.

The two innocent elves listened to the real-life cases, remaining stunned for a long time without reacting, the same thought popping into their minds.

Orcs are terrifying. Luckily, I've never encountered an orc who's so good at deceiving elves before.

Most of the orcs they had encountered were those who went hungry three times a day, their minds consumed only with the thought of eating. They could never have imagined that orcs who only knew how to eat would transform into the Apocalypse Tribe.

Only a few hundred snow seasons had passed since the end of the Age of Calamity. Life had returned to the entire continent, and the reappearance of orc clans occurred more than two hundred snow seasons prior.

Frustrated, the two elves decided to continue their lessons and learn about fraud prevention with the elves that Lan had brought back from summer.

The fire spirit Agni was a restless creature. After patiently listening to Lan's last lesson, it howled and begged Lan to take it out for a walk.

Hey, class's over. I'm not afraid of Lan suddenly throwing out a question at me anymore. Agni, who's avoided Lan ever since the first time he was asked a question in class, thought smugly.

It had long wanted to go out with its elf friends. But its friends often clung to Lan, and it dared not go near them.

"Lan, where are we going now?" Agni asked curiously, tugging at Lan's pocket.

Its dwelling place is an inconspicuous stone, somewhat like a flint used for striking fire. It weighs a few grams more than an ice crystal, but is half the weight of other stones of the same size that can be found anywhere on the ground.

"Let's go to the animal enclosure first, then we'll check out your resting place. My people said the place you wanted to live in has already been built. Take a look later and see if there's anything that needs changing," Jiang Yunlan replied casually, looking at the road ahead.

Freya and Sveta were used to resting in her house and had no place to stay overnight outside.

But elves like Sylph preferred to sleep closer to nature, so the orcs of Xia built them semi-open dwellings for their daily rest.

Once they've moved to their new habitat to rest, Xia's orcs will patrol the area regularly, standing guard near them while they rest. Even in Xia's habitat, Jiang Yunlan doesn't believe they're safe without their own people guarding them.

The third squad of Azurewood Crows that went out has not yet returned. The last time the habitat received news of them was when they were about to reach their destination.

The tribe sent out a messenger bird to find them, which was just retrieved from its habitat by the tribe last night.

The search party that went out on the same day as the messenger bird seems to be still moving forward, continuing their search for the missing Azurewood Crow team. The messenger bird did not bring back any messages, and both teams lost contact.

Jiang Yunlan didn't reveal her unease, but silently strengthened the defenses and increased the patrols. She suspected that the orcs of Apocalypse had already found Xia's two habitats.

Judging by the timeline, the Bear Beastman clan has been missing for over a year. If the orcs of Apocalypse investigated the Bear Beastman clan, they could guess that some orcs destroyed it, and there is indeed a possibility that Xia was discovered by Apocalypse.

She anticipated arriving at the Sage Clan of Xia in the next few days and calmly entered the breeding area. If the orcs of Apocalypse were lurking in their habitat, this period might be a good opportunity to uncover them. The prerequisite was that the orcs of Apocalypse would be moved by the former clan, the Sage Clan.

Having decided to lower her overt guard while raising her covert defenses, Jiang Yunlan approached Yan Dahe and asked, "I brought 022 to check on the messenger bird's injuries. Where is it now?"

A zookeeper brought in a listless, injured homing bird, entered the room, and squatted down in front of Jiang Yunlan to remove the gauze from the bird's body.

"Lan, 022, look, it's this wound. We can't tell if it was caused by a weapon or some other wild animal." Iwata pointed to the messenger bird's wound.

022 flew down Lan's head and landed in mid-air. He reached out and gently touched the messenger bird. After a few seconds, he said, "This wound is not one that Xia knows of that any kind of beast could cause. It is most likely a cut from some kind of weapon."

"So it really was attacked by the enemy." Jiang Yunlan breathed a sigh of relief and instructed the keeper to change the bandages for the bird's wounds.

She paused briefly for a few minutes, instructing Yan Dahe to count the number of war beasts and meat beasts, before slowly walking out of the house. As she walked along the cement road, she subconsciously considered the selection of members for the outgoing team.

After spending time showing the elves their scattered huts around their habitat, Jiang Yunlan turned around and bumped into Greysien.

Gracie, holding Ilovian's hand, stood before her and asked expectantly, "Any news about Cangmu today?"

“I want Ilovian and Cangmu to meet,” he said.

After he met the winged beastmen in the mountain range, Azure Wood Crow had always been by his side. It wasn't until he and Lan went out and Azure Wood Crow took up a post in the mountain habitat that the time he spent with Azure Wood Crow gradually decreased.

Jiang Yunlan knew that he had a good relationship with Cangmu Yuya, so she did not hide the matter of the messenger bird from him.

“I’m going too. Lan, I’m going to find Cangmu too. I don’t want to be a dragon waiting.” Greysien said, his gaze resolute.

As soon as he finished speaking, Ilovian gripped his hand tightly and said, "I'll take him to find them. If the elves are with us, I can quickly find both teams by following the signs."

Ilovian didn't mention anything about the dangers of the cubs going out. With her and Sveta around, even if they encountered the Apocalypse Orcs, Greysien wouldn't be able to get hurt.

"It's wonderful that you're willing to go. The elves have already agreed to go out. Shall we set off now?" Jiang Yunlan breathed a sigh of relief. She had just been pondering how to persuade the dragon, who didn't want to meet strange orcs, to join the search party.

Ilovian nodded, released his left hand from Greysien's, and picked up the elf hanging on her and put it on himself.

She watched as Ilov spread his wings and waved to the five elves and two dragons who had gone out. "Be careful out there. The cabin will be renovated when you come back."

Sveta, Sylph, and the other three elves responded and flew into the sky with Ilovian. Greysien flew ahead of Ilovian, leading the way. He was very familiar with Xia's five-pointed star marker.

Jiang Yunlan had thought it would take them a long time to find the missing team.

However, on the morning of the fourth day, when she opened her eyes, she saw that three of the elves who had gone out had returned. The three elves huddled together in Freya's nest, with a 022 sitting next to them.

Jiang Yunlan rubbed her eyes and looked up again. 022 tilted its round body, looking confused.

"Lan! We found the orcs! Wasn't that fast?" Sveta said cheerfully, his mushroom-shaped body swaying slightly from side to side.

Sylph calmly added, "A leopard orc with her squad went with Greysien to pick up the two teams and the two elves guarding them. Ilovian wanted to stay in his room for a while, so he brought us back."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yunlan turned to look at the open window and suddenly realized what was going on.

"It must have been 022 who heard the noise and went to the window to catch you. It's strange, why didn't I wake up this time?" She frowned in confusion, wondering if her vigilance had weakened.

She clearly remembered that during her time trekking through mountains and rivers, she had developed a remarkably keen sense of perception.

Seeing her reaction, 022 explained, "We didn't want to wake you; neither the guards nor Ilovian made a sound."

Realizing that it wasn't her senses that had weakened, Jiang Yunlan got out of bed and asked while putting on her shoes, "Are Cangmu and the others currently in their mountain habitat, or in this habitat?"

“Our habitat here,” Sveta replied.

“Looks like I don’t need to go to the mountains. You’re back at just the right time. There’s a convoy heading to the mountain habitat today. Would you like to take a look around the mountains?” she said, tying her hair into a low ponytail and hooking her index finger on a shoulder bag from the shelf and hanging it over her shoulder.

Freya, who always stayed by Lan's side and had been to the mountains quite often, didn't want to go there either. Sveta wanted to help Iloven adapt to his grassland habitat, so she stayed. Agni and a water sprite wanted to play in the grassland, so they also stayed.

The two wind spirits who were escorting Cangmu Yuya and the other orcs back curiously watched Zelan treat their wounds. They had heard about this from Sylph, who had come specifically to inquire about them, and they also expressed that they did not want to leave the grassland yet.

Therefore, only a water sprite, a wood sprite, and three wind sprites including Fusilf, who had never been to the mountains, were registered on the list of those going out.

Jiang Yunlan memorized their names, put them in the side pocket of her bag, and carried them out.

The bag she carried was a cloth bag that the beastmen had specially made in the past few days, with many exposed pockets, making it perfect for carrying elves who like to go out for a stroll.

Because five elves were going on a long journey, she handed a similar cloth bag to Hati, the leader of the supply transport team.

Before parting, Sylph asked her curiously, "Lan, your third habitat, the Forest Lake Habitat. When can we go there?"

“Actually, we can go now. But it’s newly built, and its defenses and combat capabilities are far inferior to those in the mountains. Let’s wait until it’s fully completed. If there aren’t any major events that require my attention, I’ll take you there,” Jiang Yunlan replied with a smile. She hadn’t visited the Forest Lake Habitat either and wanted to go see it.

The elves knew that the major event Lan mentioned was related to the Apocalypse. They also wanted to resolve this matter first, so they said no more, left their promise, and set off for the mountains.

This team includes elves, Zelan, and guardians, making them quite powerful.

Jiang Yunlan watched the group leave, then turned to see the returning Cangmu Yuya and the other orcs. She could foresee a new storm brewing.

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Author's Note: *This is the Beast World Information Station

There are currently 11 elves in the Xia tribe.

Ice Fairy: 1 Freya

Water Sprites: 2

Wood Elf: 1 + Sveta 1

Wind Sprites: 4 + 1 Sylph

Fire Spirit: 1 Agni

Earth Spirits: 0