Coral Whale Beastmen: Beastmen are the children of Xia; other creatures...
Jianying fled towards the ocean quickly, but the giant beast found him even faster.
The behemoths on the continent went into a frenzy after the deaths of the orcs, including Far Winter. They were eager to eliminate the remaining dozen or so targets and pursued the orcs, including Shadow, with particular fervor.
Therefore, Jianying, who was about to reach the sea, did not continue forward. He was forced to stay put and deal with the giant beasts that kept pursuing him. At the same time, Lingcaiyuque and her group also closed the distance with him due to the giant beasts' pursuit, and would soon appear in the same area as him in a few days.
This time, the last remaining Apocalypse Orcs found themselves desperately fleeing their pursuers. The various habitats of the Xia tribe, once considered a resource, were thriving, developing themselves while simultaneously assisting the former Apocalypse tribe habitats newly incorporated into the tribe.
All the orcs of Xia knew that once all the remaining members of the Apocalypse orcs were either dead or captured, the Xia tribe would officially become the Xia Kingdom.
Maple Syrup, the city chief of the main city, has been waiting for Lan to inform her of the ceremony to transform the Xia tribe into a country.
But as she looked at the letter in her hand, her eyes sharpened as she stared at the words "dispatch a fleet" on the paper. Lan needed a fleet carrying wind beasts to set sail from the ocean and pursue the Apocalypse Beastman, Jianying.
This was the first time she had ever seen Lan use such serious words to say that it didn't matter if they couldn't capture him alive, but they had to find the orc, either alive or dead, Jianying.
“Another fleet will set off from the mountains and come to find us by water. In the best-case scenario, we will intercept Jianying on the mainland before he leaves. In the worst-case scenario, the first fleet will search for Jianying in the ocean, and we will change course to the river and take a second ship to continue the pursuit.” Jiang Yunlan opened the map drawn by the Tianqi Tribe and pointed to a place where a river was about to flow into the sea.
The fleet traveling by water will eventually reach this river, where they should gather. If they can successfully capture Jianying on land, the boats will be the means of transporting him.
Jiang Yunlan looked up, her gaze sweeping over her teammates one by one, "Did you all understand the plan this time?"
"Understood!" her teammates answered in unison.
Albero, who was lying next to them, also made a "click" sound of agreement.
"Great. Pack your bags, let's go!" Jiang Yunlan said as she rolled up the map and put it into the side pocket of her backpack.
A dozen or so orcs responded earnestly, quickly climbing onto Albero's back and finding themselves prone positions. Albero was already fast at full speed, but with Lan's wind power, he was even faster. Even if they held on tightly, they had to be careful not to be thrown off the ground by Albero.
"Whoosh—whoosh—"
The sound of fierce winds whistling past on both sides echoed continuously, yet no strong winds lashed the orcs atop the golden-red wooden beasts. The wind sheltered them; they only needed to contend with the jolts generated by Albero's leaps.
"call--"
A gust of wind swept towards Jianying from behind. He keenly sensed the danger and used plants to build a wooden wall to block the sudden attack.
“Jianying. The day you and Yuandong teamed up to set a trap for me, you probably never imagined you'd end up in such a sorry state.” Ling Caiyu stood behind him, looking up at him.
Ling Caiyuque did not wear a hat, which was usually used to shield her from others' view, and her clothes had several holes in them.
Hunted relentlessly by the behemoths, he and his men went from being at ease to being wounded in just over a season. Now, he has only five companions left. Dealing with the behemoths alone has exhausted almost all his energy; how could he possibly have the energy to worry about clothes?
He gazed at Jianying in the distance, who was also wounded and wearing torn clothes, and a hint of joy appeared on his melancholy face. "You didn't win against the Xia tribe, right? That's great. Losing must be a bitter pill to swallow."
Seeing Ying remain silent, her brows furrowing unconsciously.
Seeing his displeasure, Ling Caiyu felt happy and excitedly gave orders to her five companions to delay his actions. His true strength was far greater than what he displayed; Ling Caiyu had only fought him for a few minutes when she sensed his hidden power.
"It seems you're hiding something from Yuan Dong," Ling Caiyu sneered.
When Jianying and Yuandong first set a trap to ambush him and his companions, they weren't nearly as powerful as they are now. Jianying's initial strength was one-tenth of Yuandong's, but now it far surpasses Yuandong's.
Clearly, after Jianying found the method to improve her strength, she did not tell them the whole story.
"bump!"
Seeing the shadow shatter the flames emitted by an orc, she spoke softly, "So what if I've been hiding something? Didn't you ultimately choose to break your promise to the previous leader and usurp the throne of Farwinter?"
After he finished speaking, he scattered a few seeds into the air, creating a plant monster in just a few seconds.
Various plant monsters encased their seed husks and roots within their bodies, unleashing newly grown vines and branches. With a "poof" sound, the plant monsters' "feet" plunged into the ground, then retracted, then plunged into the ground again, then retracted again, quickly transforming from a slow walk to a rapid run, relentlessly pursuing and attacking their target.
Ling Caiyu Que and Jian Ying were once companions. Having witnessed his plant monster fighting form, she knew quite well that each plant monster's "foot" that burrows into the ground leaves behind a seed. These seeds would pierce through the enemy's body when they got close.
"Don't linger, retreat!"
The five orcs, obeying Ling Caiyu's command, ran away, throwing attacks at Jianying as they retreated. Jianying didn't give chase, but turned and continued on her way.
Compared to the already injured Ling Caiyu and other orcs, the Xia tribe, capable of commanding giant beasts, made him more wary. The giant beasts of the continent could always find his whereabouts; he needed to gather the materials before Jiang Yunlan caught up with him along with the beasts, break the damned natural curse, and increase his strength. Otherwise, he was truly doomed.
Xia's leader is an orc with many natural blessings, and many others have willingly become her helpers.
Thinking of this, Jianying couldn't help but feel jealous of Jiang Yunlan, to the point of hatred. None of the nature spirits he had encountered before would grant him a blessing, and even after joining Tianqi, he could only obtain a weak amount of wood power. He had spent dozens of snow seasons and energy to finally acquire this power.
Jiang Yunlan. That squirrel-like beastman, who had only recently come of age, how could he possess five natural powers? How could he be so powerful!
A surge of negative emotions filled Jianying's heart. He could not forget the scene of his battle with Jiang Yunlan, nor could he forget the scene of Jiang Yunlan treating him as a sparring partner, listening to the instructions of that invisible creature while learning his moves in the battle, and even using his moves against him.
The more he thought about it, the more jealous he became, yet he had to restrain himself from returning to assassinate Jiang Yunlan. He had to endure it.
Patience, patience, patience—
Once he obtains the power to kill those nature spirits, he will kill Jiang Yunlan!
Seeing Shadow was incredibly annoyed. He had never expected that the escaped orcs, including Ling Caiyu Sparrow, would return to harass him. They didn't confront him directly; they just attacked him and then ran away, occasionally bringing the giant beasts that had been chasing them with them to his vicinity, leaving him with the troublesome creatures. Their main goal was to annoy him to death, even if they couldn't kill him.
The harassment over the past few days had severely slowed his journey. He took a deep breath and looked at Ling Caiyuque with murderous intent in his eyes.
"Lan, we've found an orc corpse ahead. Should we investigate?" Albero asked.
“Investigate.” Jiang Yunlan said, sticking her head out to look at the ground. She quickly scanned the scenery from right to left and soon found six orc corpses on the ground.
Albero moved closer, and the orc's figure gradually became clearer.
Jiang Yunlan used her wind power to fly to the side of the dead beastman. After carefully examining the body for a while, she realized that one of the dead beastmen was a winged winged beastman named Ling Caiyu Que.
She realized that the dead orcs were the same group that Albero had mentioned encountering Jianying. They had been dead for twenty-five days since Albero discovered their disappearance. This was a bad time; it was already the end of spring, and the chances of catching Jianying on the continent were even slimmer.
022 also considered her speculation and reassured her, "There is no soil or plants on the sea surface, so it will be easier to catch Jianying on the sea surface."
Jiang Yunlan slowly exhaled and nodded vigorously, returning to Albero's head while holding 022 in her arms. She hoped that Jianying would ultimately remain by the sea, rather than entering the ocean.
The ocean holds too many mysteries. The disappearance of Dragon Island, the sea beastmen's departure from the ocean, and the long-lost news of the Miman race from the elves.
She couldn't predict what she and her teammates would encounter once they entered the ocean, or how much effort they would need to expend to find Jianying. She wasn't afraid of these challenges; her only concern was that Jianying would cause further harm to the marine life.
“Albero, please hold on a little longer. Let’s go,” she said.
Xia's group set off again, but questions once more surfaced in Jiang Yunlan's mind. What exactly was Jianying searching for?
"Lord Shadow, we have prepared what you need. We haven't seen any of your people this time either. Are you going to set off on your own?" the orc living by the sea asked worriedly.
Seeing Ying mimic Ling Caiyuque's attitude towards his companions, he smiled and nodded with a melancholy yet gentle expression. Although Ling Caiyuque was incredibly troublesome, the orc clan he had unexpectedly saved was very receptive to this. Whenever he adopted the expression that Ling Caiyuque often displayed, these orcs would foolishly come over to help him.
This time was no different. He simply hinted that he lacked help, and they grabbed him, saying, "Lord Jianying, let our people accompany you. We are orcs from the sea; we'll definitely be of assistance!"
"Thank you very much then." Jianying smiled gratefully.
When the orcs from the ocean heard that he was willing to accept help, they happily pushed their strongest and youngest members of their tribe before him and asked him who he would take with him on the journey.
“Our beast forms have broad backs and swim very fast. If the ship breaks down, Lord Shadow, come aboard our backs, and we’ll help you find what you’re looking for,” the chosen beastman promised, patting his chest.
He smiled without saying a word and led them onto the ship.
On the way from the orcs' habitat to the ship, Jianying hesitated for a while, considering whether to throw plant seeds that would attract large beasts back to their clan. They knew how to build the ship he was riding in, and they knew about him.
Never mind, he'll need their help when he gets back, so I'll spare their lives for now.
The Xia tribe also has ships; even without them, the Xia beastmen can still hunt him down at sea. The giant beast Jiang Yunlan raises can find him, so killing them wouldn't be of much use. Besides, they don't have the items he needs to find that thing, so it's best not to waste the plant seeds.
Seeing Ying standing on the boat, he glanced at the orcs who had come to see him off, then lowered his head to examine the item in his hand that exuded an earth elemental aura, wondering which direction it was drawn to. His destination was the end point in the direction the item was pointing.
On the sixth day after he left the mainland by boat, Jiang Yunlan and his party arrived at the coast.
Seeing the blue sea appear before her, Jiang Yunlan unconsciously clenched her hands, "I'm still too late."
Albero stared longingly at the coastline, letting out a few frustrated "woofs." When it came to the mainland, it found something in the place where it had awakened that allowed it to rest on the surface of the sea, which enabled it to swim frantically to the land. But when it climbed onto the land, the object drifted away with the current, and it could no longer swim around indefinitely.
The shadow in its perception kept drifting into the distance. It anxiously circled around, looking around, trying to find something that would allow it to rest at sea.
Its reaction was so easy to read that Jiang Yunlan patted its head to comfort it, "It's okay, we still have a chance. We didn't catch Jianying this time because we set off too late, not because you weren't fast enough. Come on, let's go and meet up with the second fleet."
Albero saw nothing that could make it float and responded listlessly. It walked in the direction Jiang Yunlan pointed out, only to encounter a strange orc clan on the beach.
The seaside orcs, seeing the wooden beast, were terrified, and blurted out the language of the Apocalypse Tribe: "It's a giant beast! A giant beast has appeared! It's with the evil orc who controlled it to harm Lord Shadow! Run—"
Jiang Yunlan was stunned, being mistaken for an evil orc for the first time. She, an evil orc? Who had she hurt? (See the shadow.)
She looked down innocently at the group of orcs blocked by Freya and the other elves, her expression helpless. "Looks like I'll have to be the villain for once. Albero, put us down."
Albero knew part of the Sage Clan's language, so it naturally understood what the orc before it was saying. It angrily opened its mouth and blew a breath at them before crouching down to wait for the orc on its back to leap to the ground.
"Don't be naughty." Jiang Yunlan rubbed its head, then lightly leaped down to the ground, landing right in front of the frightened sea beastman.
They resemble unicorns in appearance, with black skin and coral-like ears. However, their hair is blue like seaweed, and they have no horns on their heads or beautiful wave patterns on their foreheads.
"Are you orcs from the ocean?" Jiang Yunlan switched to their language and looked at them with a smile, without asking Freya and the other elves to untie them.
None of the Apocalypse Tribe's settlements are here; they are not Apocalypse Beastmen. Yet they speak the Apocalypse Tribe's language and follow their customs, addressing Jianying as "Master." Suspicious, extremely suspicious. There must be some important connection between them and Jianying that even the Apocalypse Beastmen don't know about.
Seeing that Ying was coming this way must be related to them. Jiang Yunlan pondered, her gaze sweeping over them.
The Coral Whale Orc chieftain glared at her, and despite being bound, he still showed great backbone by saying, "You are a bad orc who hurt Lord Shadow, and I will not answer your questions."
The other coral whale beastmen responded, staring at her with their light blue eyes, full of innocence.
Jiang Yunlan looked into their eyes and thought of her people. She couldn't help but sigh and say resignedly, "But your Lord Jianying has hurt many of my people. If I want to protect my people, I must fight him, and that will turn me into the evil beastman you call me."
She recounted the Shadow's crimes to them. Freya and the other elves, understanding her thoughts, added their own explanations.
The coral whale beastmen were astonished and hurriedly looked at the elves who spoke of their shared origins. They belatedly realized that the evil beastman who could control the giant beasts was surrounded by many elves.
How could an orc beloved by nature be a bad orc?
The coral whale orcs suddenly realized that the Shadow who had saved them was not the gentle and kind orc they had thought he was, who was rejected by his tribe.
The elves told them: The shadow has stolen the life and power of nature.
Long Yiluowen told them that her clansmen, who were not yet adults, were used for research by Jianying before they were even born.
Zeranlore told them: Seeing that the shadow had tormented his innocent kin to the point that they were no longer able to react to the outside world and were left with only a breath of life.
"If you believe in nature, then believe in me, whom nature trusts. Please, tell me news of Jianying." Jiang Yunlan looked sincerely at the Coral Whale Beastman Chieftain, her words earnest.
The image of a melancholy, gentle smile flashed through the Coral Whale Orc Chieftain's mind, along with the sorrow of the orcs before him as they spoke of the fate of their kind.
“…Alright, I’ll tell you,” said the Coral Whale Beastman.
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