Finding the way, this is the Lan clan.
The mushroom forest seemed different from other places; the squirrel-orc's corpse hadn't completely decomposed. His eyes were closed as if he were asleep, and his wounds were covered by plants, making him look anything but gruesome.
He became nourishment for this mushroom forest, his body covered with plants.
Looking at the half of his face that wasn't yet covered by plants, and then at his figure, Jiang Yunlan could roughly guess that he was an adult beastman.
Purple wildflowers climbed up the squirrel-like beastman, forming a small sea of flowers. Not far from the sea of flowers were stone road signs.
Several round, flat stones weighed down two sharp stones, with three round stones sandwiched between them. The first sharp stone pointed slightly to the right of Jiang Yunlan; the second sharp stone pointed diagonally at her and needed to be adjusted to the left to face her directly.
"One is the way we came, and the other is the way we left?" Jiang Yunlan said thoughtfully, looking in the direction the stone signpost pointed.
022, who was beside her, nodded, seemingly agreeing with what she said.
“Let’s go check out the other side first,” Jiang Yunlan said, glancing at the location of the squirrel beastmen. She placed a stone signpost next to the road sign left by the squirrel beastman clan, carved the character “Lan” on it, patted Yanlin on the back, and said, “Go forward, Yanlin.”
The golden leopard bent down and let her climb onto its back.
The warm spring sun in the afternoon was not glaring, but gently illuminating the leopard beastmen and squirrel beastman cubs traversing the forest, as if paving a path of light leading to where they were about to arrive.
Some of the forest's animals and wild beasts have migrated south, but the forest remains fraught with danger.
The golden leopard protected its tiny cub, constantly on guard against any creature that might try to cross it and prey on it. Carnivorous creatures all understand that cubs are far easier to catch than adult animals.
However, the squirrel-beastman cubs they faced were clearly not ordinary cubs. Even if they were lucky enough to successfully deceive the ferocious golden leopard with feints, they would still be hit by the strange objects in the cubs' hands.
The wounds inflicted by the cubs are spicy and painful, burning them, and sometimes so itchy that they can't help but scratch them.
The birds of prey in the sky failed to capture the squirrel-beastman cub several times, and even made themselves look disheveled, so they finally gave up on capturing the cub, which was guarded by only one adult beastman.
From then on, all the flying creatures in this forest understood one thing: do not try to capture the black-furred squirrel-beastman cubs.
After repelling another large bird, Jiang Yunlan quickly replaced the nearly broken bowstring and carefully placed the bone arrow coated with poisonous herb and mushroom powder.
After a snowy season of recuperation, her body was much better than when she first arrived in the Beast World, and she could lift heavier bows and arrows. As a result, the bowstrings wore out even more.
Jiang Yunlan opened her backpack and counted the bowstrings and bone arrows she had stockpiled during the snow season; there were enough for her to use for quite some time. Reassured, she closed the backpack and hung the bow and arrows, now with the new bowstring, on the side.
A sudden gust of warm air brushed against her cheek; she knew it was Yanlin exhaling to remind her that she could leave.
"Aren't you going to rest a little longer?" She turned her head, looking at Yan Lin's tired face, her eyes filled with doubt. He had just run for a long time and fought with the eagle-like bird for a while, but he had only rested for a short while.
Yanlin shook his head, exhaled heavily, and lay down on all fours, gesturing for Lan to climb up. He gradually realized that he couldn't rest with Lan in an open area for too long, because animals would be eyeing her. But if he ran fast, some of the creatures watching Lan would give up on capturing her.
He and Rock were both adult orcs, and there were far fewer beasts eyeing them during the hot season than during this time. Traveling through the forest with cubs was more dangerous than he had anticipated.
The carnivorous creatures, having been dormant all winter, were too hungry and would always target the little Lan.
"If only Feng Hong and the others were here," Yan Lin thought to himself.
With Feng Hong and the others around, Lan would be safer, and he wouldn't be constantly worried, afraid that he might discover that little Lan was missing if he wasn't paying attention.
“I know you’re tired. You don’t need to run, just walk slowly. I’ll keep an eye on the surroundings.” Jiang Yunlan raised her hand to stroke the golden leopard’s head and took a spring fruit from her backpack to put it to his mouth.
Rock stared at the spring fruit in Lan's hand for a long time without moving.
He hadn't encountered any rivers recently, so he was drinking less often. He was worried that the water in his backpack wouldn't be enough for the two of them.
"Yanlin, eat. I still have some."
Hearing Lan's words, Yanlin bit into a spring fruit and slowly carried Lan, who had climbed onto his back. He chewed on the juicy spring fruit, his golden, spotted tail swishing back and forth.
Yanlin followed the trail markers, and the more he walked, the more familiar the terrain seemed. It wasn't until he saw the trail markers left by the leopard beastmen that he realized he and Lan had gone the wrong way.
“Lan, this road leads to the Rocky District,” Yanlin said.
Jiang Yunlan also noticed this stone signpost, different from the one used by the squirrel-beastman clan. Looking at it, she patted the rocky forest beneath her. "Rock Forest, are you going to find your clan?"
“I’ll go after Lan finds the Squirrel Orc Clan. This signpost won’t lead me to my own kind,” he said.
Jiang Yunlan remained silent; she understood what Yan Lin meant. Yan Lin had once followed this signpost in search of his clan, but had failed to find his people.
She didn't say much, but stroked Yanlin's back and said, "Let's go back and find the Mushroom Forest."
She memorized the landmarks of the Leopard Orc Clan.
On her way back to the mushroom forest, Jiang Yunlan removed the road sign with the character "Lan" written on it. This wasn't the path she wanted to take; there was no need to leave a sign.
When the two orcs and the magical creature arrived at the mushroom forest, it was already evening. There were no caves or slopes nearby where they could rest, so they would have to stay under the trees for the night.
Jiang Yunlan was worried about the dangers of the mushroom forest at night, so she didn't dare to stay there with Yan Lin. She found a large tree in the woods on the outskirts of the mushroom forest to stand under, and sprinkled a circle of snake and insect repellent plant powder around the tree.
She had discovered this plant not long ago. At that time, she and Yanlin happened to be sleeping next to it, and they were able to get a good night's sleep without being bothered by snakes and insects.
From that day on, she remembered this plant. She called it snake-repelling grass because even snakes were afraid of it.
As night deepened, Jiang Yunlan took out food from her backpack. She gave one portion to Yan Lin and kept one for herself. The food was slices of meat that she had smoked while making a fire last time.
Yanlin was an excellent leopard-beastman warrior, and the cub Lan, wielding a bow and arrow, was also a formidable fighter. Animals that attempted to hunt Lan were either killed in retaliation or fled in disarray. Therefore, their food reserves were abundant, with meat far outweighing their vegetarian provisions.
If the wild beasts they encounter are enemies they cannot defeat, Jiang Yunlan will throw out meat to lure them away, allowing Yan Lin to drag her away.
After leisurely finishing her dinner, Jiang Yunlan drank some water and looked up at the night sky.
The stars gathered in the sky, encircling the twin moons. She gazed at the blue twin moons for several days and was certain that they were now walking with their backs to each other.
The two moons met once during the snow season, but she stayed in the cave and didn't see them overlap.
When the next two moons meet, will she have found Maple Syrup and the others, or will she be on her way to find them? Jiang Yunlan doesn't know. She just suddenly remembers the snowy season not long ago, the warm campfire, and the image of the beastmen crouching down to talk to her.
Ten days had passed since she left the cave. She hadn't found the squirrel-orc clan. But she had eliminated one path; now, if she followed the remaining one, she could find the squirrel-orcs' tracks.
Jiang Yunlan withdrew her gaze from the starry sky and inadvertently caught sight of the mushroom forest on her right.
The large, translucent mushrooms emitted a faint glow, the same glow as their own color.
The ocean of light drifted away from the mushroom forest, carried by the wind. Like tiny elves carrying their luggage, they were about to embark on a long journey under the cover of night.
A sliver of pinkish-orange light drifted to a spot not far from Jiang Yunlan and gently landed on the ground. It made its home there.
"So these light spots are their spores?" Jiang Yunlan looked at the tiny spores not far away, her eyes full of curiosity.
She didn't approach the spore, but simply observed it from afar, watching it with the same curiosity as if it were a small, unfamiliar animal. The Beast World was so different from Earth, and the more she looked, the more curious she became. These unknown things were like treasures, always bringing her surprises.
022 drifted into the mushroom forest, observing and recording their information.
Jiang Yunlan loved the glowing mushroom forest, watching them with great interest and listening intently to 022's recordings. Listening to 022 describe the things around her was one of the few pleasures she found during her journey.
She didn't notice that the rocky forest behind her swept across the empty space in the air, following her gaze.
Yanlin couldn't see 022, but he knew that Lan was looking at the "Nature" that he couldn't see. All the orcs knew that there was a "Nature" beside Lan that they couldn't see.
Lan didn't say anything, and they didn't ask. When Lan decides to tell them, she will.
What is "nature"? Yan Lin recalled a long time ago when his chieftain, his mother, spoke to him as a cub about nature. It was a story passed down from generation to generation among the leopard beastmen.
Nature is stone, nature is tree, nature is water droplets... Nature is everywhere.
The chieftain, Amu, said that the "nature" that can bestow blessings is a nature with form. There's no need to fear it, harm it, or touch it. In Yanlin's understanding, "nature" is something that can be seen. He learned for the first time that there is also a "nature" that cannot be seen.
The "nature" that remained by Lan's side was an invisible "nature," but Lan could see all of "nature." That's what the beastmen believed.
Now, Lan has two natures by her side. Iwabayashi has a strange feeling that the natures love Lan, and that more natures will appear around Lan in the future.
The rocks aren't worried about the storm; they love the storm and wouldn't harm it. As long as the storm doesn't accept "nature's blessing," there won't be any problems.
He wasn't unaware that "Nature's Blessing" could make orcs powerful, but very few orcs who received it survived. He didn't want Lan to die.
Seeing Lan withdraw her gaze from the mushroom forest, Yan Lin understood that what he couldn't see had naturally returned from the mushroom forest.
"Lan, go to sleep." He looked at Lan, raised his left foreleg, and patted the side of his abdomen.
The forest wasn't safe at night, so it would be safer for Lan to sleep next to him. The squirrel beastman's beast form was very small. If Lan used his beast form, he might be able to hide inside his fur, but Lan didn't know how to transform into his beast form.
He was surprised that Lan, a wise man, couldn't transform into her beast form, and couldn't help but worry about Lan's health. For beastmen, transforming into their beast form is as natural as breathing; it's an innate ability. How could there be a beastman who couldn't transform?
Only severely wounded orcs are unable to transform into their beast form. He was worried that Lan's inability to transform was due to her poor physical condition.
Lan's body was already weaker than that of ordinary cubs, and now she couldn't even transform into her beast form. Yan Lin found it hard to imagine just how weak her body had become.
Yan Lin couldn't help but sigh inwardly, protecting Jiang Yunlan as she closed her eyes to rest and fell into a light sleep.
He needs to find his people quickly; Lan needs many, many orcs by her side. Only with enough of her people can Lan be protected.
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Author's Note: In the latter half, replace "nature" with "elves" when referring to the little angels. The beastmen don't have the concept of "elves"; for them, elves are nature, "nature" born from nature.
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