They want to bring Lan into their clan; this is Lan's clan.

"Are you the orc that Gray Sprout saved?" Gray Honey said, scanning Jiang Yunlan's surroundings.

Not seeing Gray Sprout, she understood everything and said knowingly, "Gray Sprout didn't survive."

At that time, Gray Bud had become separated from an adult orc and her clan. Fearing that lingering too long would attract the attention of the giant beasts, she continued leading her people on their journey without searching for the two girls. She already suspected then that Gray Bud and her companions wouldn't survive in the forest. Orcs separated from their clan would be eaten by wild beasts.

Jiang Yunlan nodded, confirming Hui Mi's guess.

Having received the answer, Grey Honey turned and left, without disturbing the Leopard Beastmen who were gathering with their kind.

Although Jiang Yunlan is also a squirrel beastman, she is not a cub of her tribe, so she cannot take Jiang Yunlan back to her tribe.

Food is scarce in the tribe, and she will not accept a new cub.

Yan Duoyu overheard the conversation between the two orcs, but didn't pay much attention to what they were saying and forgot about it as soon as he heard it.

She glanced at Jiang Yunlan, then looked at Yan Lin who was protecting Jiang Yunlan very well, and asked in surprise, "Yan Lin, why did you bring a cub with you?"

She knew that Yanlin treated cubs differently than he treated adult beastmen, but she really didn't expect that Yanlin would bring back a cub, and not even a leopard beastman cub.

“It wasn’t me who brought Lan with me. Lan is a wise woman; it was Lan who led me to find you. During the fruit season, it was Lan who saved me and Yan Shi,” Yan Lin explained.

Hearing this, Yan Hua was even happier and immediately asked, "Then where is the rock? Why isn't the rock here?"

He had been an adult for two snow seasons and had once been an orc in a gathering party like Rock. He was overjoyed to hear that Rock was also alive.

“Rock and Maple Syrup left the forest together,” Rock Forest said, then paused, realizing they didn’t know Maple Syrup and the others, before adding, “They are the Lan tribe.”

After he finished speaking, he noticed that Yan Duoyu's gaze towards him had become very strange, and a question mark slowly appeared in his mind.

"This cub is a wise one. Did you specially abduct it?" Yan Duoyu looked at the little Jiang Yunlan and smiled at her.

This cub is indeed quite different from the others. The things she wears and carries on her back are very special.

Yan Lin was stunned for several seconds before he found his voice and tried to defend himself: "I didn't kidnap Lan!"

He couldn't even imagine what would happen to him if Maple Syrup and the others misunderstood and thought Lan had been abducted by him. He didn't want such a misunderstanding to occur. He really didn't intentionally abduct Lan to find his clan!

Yan Duoyu nodded perfunctorily, then smiled and asked the cub on his back, "Has Lan eaten?"

Whether he abducted the cub or not is unimportant; the cub is now one of her people. She knows how powerful the wise man is; her chieftain mother told her.

She had never met a wise man, but she wouldn't doubt her own kind, so little Lan was the wise man. It didn't matter that Lan wasn't a leopard-beastman cub; as long as Lan could make the clan stronger, she would accept Lan.

Seeing Xiao Lan nod, Yan Duoyu looked away with relief and gestured for the tribespeople to eat.

We need to get going after we finish eating. Yanlin finally managed to bring Lan here; we can't let Lan's people find her again.

Yan Duoyu pondered what kind of food she would need to raise a squirrel beastman cub. She had never raised an omnivorous cub before, so she needed to observe the rock squirrel beastman next door more closely.

stare--

Yan Duoyu tore at the piece of meat in her hand, her eyes fixed on Hui Mi. Hui Mi was the clan leader, and the food she gave to the cubs in the clan must be the food that Lan needed.

Fruits, leaves, plant roots... What? Is this all the omnivorous young eats? Can this even feed a young?

Yan Duoyu, who had almost never tasted vegetarian food, fell into deep thought, seemingly unsure how to distinguish between the different types of food.

With a stern face, she calmly rose and called upon her tribesmen who had finished eating and the squirrel-beastman clan to continue their journey. She pondered how many more prey she needed to hunt to secure food for Lan.

Thinking of the wound on her chest, Yan Duoyu couldn't help but wilted. That wretched wound, couldn't it heal a little faster? It's interfering with her hunting!

She is now the clan leader, what kind of clan leader is she if she can't even feed her cubs?

The orcs, who hadn't had a proper meal in a long time, weren't as energetic as the rock forest dwellers. They didn't have much energy for running, so they just walked non-stop.

Yan Duoyu led six adult leopard beastmen and three half-adult beastmen, protecting the five cubs in the middle, and squeezed Yan Lin, who was carrying Lan, into the encirclement.

At ten years old, but less than a meter tall, Jiang Yunlan was far too small in the eyes of the leopard beastmen. Having survived six snow seasons, the leopard beastman cub had lost the privilege of being carried. But all the leopard beastmen could understand why Yan Lin carried Yunlan on his back.

When the two clans stopped to build stone road signs during their journey, Jiang Yunlan would wait for them to finish before placing her own road sign next to theirs.

After setting up the signpost and stepping back, Yan Duoyu stared at the stone signpost that Lan had built, her hands itching to move. Lan had left behind her clan's signpost, and her people would definitely come looking for it; she wanted to tear it down.

Yanlin had cooperated with her hunting for many seasons, and upon seeing her reaction, he guessed what she was thinking and stopped her in alarm before she could make a move.

"This signpost cannot be moved. If it is, Lan will not be able to find Yan Shi and the others." Yan Lin stood between her and the signpost, his attitude firm.

Remembering that Yan Duoyu hadn't returned yet, he reluctantly withdrew his hand, giving up on tearing down the road sign that Lan had erected. Since he couldn't stop Lan's people from finding them, he could only think of how to get Lan to quickly abandon his original clan and join the Leopard Beastman clan.

After Jiang Yunlan finished carving the words, she turned around and saw two leopard-like beastmen huddled together, whispering something to each other.

"Yanlin, what method did you use to lure Lan here?" Yan Duoyu asked.

Yan Lin was numb and said wearily, "...I didn't kidnap Lan."

"Oh. You've already lured Lan here, so hurry up and think of a way to make Lan a cub of our clan."

“I really didn’t trick you… Wait, do you want Lan to become one of our clansmen? But Lan is the clan leader, so why don’t we become Lan’s clansmen instead?” Yan Lin said sincerely, completely unaware that there was anything wrong with him persuading his entire clan to join another clan in front of their own clan leader.

Yan Duoyu was puzzled, Yan Duoyu was shocked, Yan Duoyu's golden eyes widened.

She had many questions and completely ignored the last sentence Lian Yanlin said, stammering, "But, but isn't Lan a cub?"

How could a cub become the chieftain? Yan Duoyu's understanding was shaken. She belatedly realized that the chieftain could not be the chieftain and mother of all the cubs, but a cub itself.

“Lan is a cub, but she is Lan. Lan should be the clan leader.” Yan Lin said matter-of-factly, even giving Yan Duoyu a strange look.

He completely forgot that he had once been just as confused as Yan Duoyu.

Having spent so much time with Lan, he had long since come to believe that a chieftain should be a beastman like Lan. His chieftain's mother was Yan Youyan, but that didn't conflict with the fact that his chieftain was Lan.

Yan Duoyu was influenced by his firm tone and self-consistent logic. His brain was working frantically on the way, and he was completely bewildered.

As night fell and the beastmen stopped to rest, Yan Duoyu continued to ponder.

The cub couldn't possibly be the chieftain! She struggled to steady her wavering senses and took out the leaves that had wrapped the meat. Trying to clear her jumbled thoughts, she distributed food to the tribespeople. Just as she was about to give food to Yanlin, she saw him placing a wooden bow on a piece of wood.

Yanlin turned the bow that was wrapped around the drill wood, and flames shot out from the wooden planks.

Mars was born in the woods and gradually burned into a bonfire.

Yan Duoyu stared blankly as the spark appeared, unable to recover for a long time.

After just one snow season apart, she found herself no longer familiar with Yanlin. Whether it was the unfamiliar language Yanlin spoke when talking to Lan, or Yanlin's ability to conjure fire, everything felt foreign to her, and she even felt that Yanlin himself had become a stranger.

After Yan Lin finished lighting the fire, he saw her standing there with meat in her hand, and asked her in confusion to bring her tribesmen over to roast the meat.

The Leopard Beastman clan originally possessed fire, and they were accustomed to eating cooked meat. However, after leaving the Rocky Region and losing their fire, the Leopard Beastmen didn't mind continuing to eat raw meat. Yan Lin was different. He had spent too much time with Lan, and through his surroundings, he could no longer get used to eating raw meat.

So, after getting Lan's consent, he decisively called his clansmen over to barbecue.

"Yanlin, how do you know how to make fire appear?" Yan Duoyu couldn't understand it at all. He had only been separated from the clan for a short time, so how could there be such a big change?

Yan Lin skillfully stuck the pieces of meat skewered on the tree branch into the fire, saying as he grilled the meat, "Lan taught me."

He was grilling his and Lan's dinner, the meat skewers being the meat they had caught.

Yan Duoyu silently watched the cub rummaging through the vine bundle, and was once again lost in thought. Is this the power of a wise man?

"Herbal medicine, apply to the wound."

Hearing the cub's voice, Yan Duoyu snapped out of her reverie. She looked down at Jiang Yunlan, who had walked up to her, and instinctively took the plant offered to her. These plants were different from the herbs that Gray Honey had brought from the rocky area; they were clearly herbs found only in the forest.

Watching Xiao Lan take out the fruit from her bag and eat it, Yan Duoyu suddenly felt that she understood Yan Lin.

It's quite normal for Lan, who can teach the way to fire, recognize herbs, and find food, to be the clan leader. After all, Lan is a wise woman.

It seems there's no way to persuade Lan to join the clan. Yan Duoyu, clutching the herbs in her hand, took a deep breath and nervously approached Jiang Yunlan, squatting down to look at her. "I want to ask you for a spark of fire. How much food would you need in exchange?"

The tribe doesn't have much food, but if they try their best to save up, they might be able to gather enough to exchange for fire before Lan leaves.

Seeing the fire appear, Gray Honey also came before Jiang Yunlan, her eyes revealing a longing similar to Yan Duoyu's. The fire was too important; she also wanted to take it to a new habitat.

Grey Honey and Rock Rain weren't fools; they knew the wise man's clan was far beyond their capabilities. Rather than seizing fire here, they'd trade resources for it. Besides, befriending a wise man would benefit the clan.

Jiang Yunlan slowly raised one hand.

"Five prey are enough?" Yan Duoyu was surprised, not expecting Lan to be so kind.

The original fire of the Leopard Orc clan was obtained by exchanging three large prey, five medium prey, and five small prey.

Grey Honey also subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. Five prey, even her clan could catch them.

Compared to the clan that had to provide half a snow season's worth of food in exchange for fire, Lan was far too benevolent.

Jiang Yunlan was stunned, then shook her head with amusement and said, "It's about the size of my palm, or about the size of my palm of berries."

"Give me your food, and I'll teach you how to start a fire."

She certainly knew how important fire was. It was precisely because she knew the importance of fire that she wanted to teach them how to start a fire.

Fire could sustain a clan and give rise to more civilizations. Giving away fire wouldn't cost her anything; why would she hesitate? She had her own clan and didn't need to earn food from a clan that lacked clothing and provisions.

Like 022, she also wants to see more brilliant civilizations emerge in this world.

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Author's Note: The little angel "Nan Shige" threw out 20 bottles of guiding agent, and the Maple Sugar beastmen were guided in the dark, shortening the time it took to find Lan.