The arrival of the beast tide will be sung by bards...
The day after the campfire party ended, before any cleanup tasks were assigned to the clan, the orcs had already spontaneously gathered at the clan square to tidy up the items left behind after the party.
Perhaps the joy of yesterday carried over to today. The orcs sweeping the floor with brooms, removing decorations from stalls, carrying long tables and stools—all wore smiles. They chatted and laughed, reminiscing about the previous night's events.
The orcs who arrived a little later saw that some of their people had already come to work, and laughing, they joined in as well.
Yan Hua wasn't on duty this morning, but he was among the first group of orcs to arrive at the square to clean. He listened to the funny stories everyone was telling, laughing heartily, his whole being radiating a lively and cheerful aura.
He spotted a familiar figure among the orcs who had just arrived at the square, raised his free hand and waved to her, "Wolfflame! You're here too, you're here so early."
"Didn't you arrive earlier than me? How can you say I arrived earlier?"
Wolfflame, a wolf-orc who regretted missing the second half of the gathering and had told the story of the "Sage Clan," complained: "We were both warriors who went on patrol last night. Didn't you go to rest after your shift? Why are you here so early in the morning?"
"I was so excited I couldn't sleep, so I came to help. The sun has only just risen, are you still awake too?" Iwaka stopped sweeping, scratched her head, and gave a slightly shy smile.
"Of course," Wolf Flame said matter-of-factly.
She was having a great time, but then she had to go on patrol. She must still be thinking about the games she didn't get to play at the bonfire party and the final performance.
Her eyes were bright as she spoke to Iwaka in a complaining tone, but there was no dissatisfaction in her words; rather, it sounded more like anticipation.
"I don't want to go on patrol for the next campfire party. I'm going to play until I don't want to move anymore."
Iwaha laughed and was about to say something when she suddenly saw a red signal flare appear in the sky.
"Enemy attack! Protect the cubs! Quickly send the cubs of the clan to the cub nursery!" He immediately threw down the broom in his hand, took the weapon from his waist and ran towards the direction of the signal flare.
Wolf Flame was slightly faster than him, flashing directly in front of him and arriving at the battlefield before him.
The orcs who were awake in their habitat began to move. Warriors and strong orcs rushed to the battlefield, while weaker orcs went to find their cubs and use bells to alert the other members of their tribe who were still asleep.
The somber tolling of bells echoed in the orcs' ears, heralding the impending crisis.
The beast tide has arrived.
In the residential area, Jiang Yunlan had just gotten out of bed when she heard bells ringing from all directions. She froze, took out Freya from her pocket, and anxiously called to the sleeping Nature.
Nature answered her call.
Freya awoke from her slumber, her irritable tone unable to conceal her concern for Lan. "Where did this happen? Tell me, I'll go and take care of it."
Lan isn't the kind of orc who would easily awaken it; something must have happened that forced Lan to call upon it.
"Alarm bells are ringing all over the clan. I suspect it's a beast tide, and wild beasts are swarming in. Freya, I have to go to the front lines, but I'm very worried about the unborn Zerans. I beg you to protect them, Freya," Jiang Yunlan said worriedly, gently placing Nature back into the disc containing fragments of forest and earth.
She should have taken the unborn Zelans to the cub enclosure so they could be protected alongside the other cubs in the clan.
But time was too tight. She had to go to the front lines and didn't have time to find the twenty-one tribesmen to come and take away all the Zelans. She could only ask Freya to protect the unborn Zelans before the beastmen arrived to take them away.
Because Zelan needed a quiet living environment, she didn't arrange for the grassland sheep-beastmen to live in the houses near her, but instead had them live in the large communal houses further away. The other tribesmen's dormitories were near the grassland sheep-beastmen's, but farther from her.
The houses around her were not inhabited by orcs; they were all used to store items.
Freya, who lived inside the ice crystal, agreed without hesitation, "Lan, I will protect them. Even if the beasts don't eat Zelan, I will protect them and keep them from getting hurt. No one wants to see Zelan injured."
Zeran is an orc, but Zeran is different from other orcs. They are the guardians of the earth. Even those from the sky and the sea will protect them.
"Is Zelan not within the hunting range of wild animals?" Jiang Yunlan asked in surprise.
She knew that birds wouldn't harm Zelan, but she didn't realize that Zelan wasn't even on the menu of carnivorous animals.
Freya said matter-of-factly, "A dead Zelan's body dissipates and cannot become food for any living being. Wild beasts know this and won't bother hunting Zelan. But that doesn't mean Zelan is immune to harm."
Having received the explanation from Bingxue Ziran, Jiang Yunlan recalled the scene she saw in her dream and suddenly realized, then pondered and said, "In that case, it's better not to take the Zelans to the cub enclosure. Wild beasts won't come looking for them, so they won't be attacked here, and you'll be here to guard them."
Having made up her mind, she decided that when she encountered her people on the road, she would tell them that they did not need to take away the baby eggs that were naturally guarding her room.
"Lan!"
"Click, boom!"
Grey Honey's voice came from behind, and the wooden door made a loud noise.
Hearing the noise, Jiang Yunlan turned around. Hui Mi pushed open the door and ran towards her, carrying a black velvet in her hand.
Seeing that she was still there, Grey Honey's tense heart instantly relaxed. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The orc who came to deliver the message said that the crisis is a beast tide. You should go to the cub nursery for refuge! We will take the orc cub eggs to the cub nursery."
She froze, and when she looked behind Grey Honey, orcs suddenly appeared out of nowhere and filled her room.
"Huh? How come there's also Ah Bai, Cotton, Maple Red... How did you all get here so quickly?" She looked at the ever-growing number of beastmen and gradually closed her mouth.
This didn't seem to be what she had expected. Everyone appeared too quickly; she had only exchanged a few words with Freya when they appeared in front of her, not exactly close by.
Ah Bai lowered his head and looked at Lan, saying shyly but methodically, "When Cotton and I were walking to the clan square, we heard the bell. We were worried about you, so we came here with Maple Sugar and the others we met on the way. Maple Sugar isn't very fast, so we got here first."
Originally, Yanlin and Yanshi were traveling with him and Mianhua. The two beastmen didn't come. They left the task of taking Lan away to him and Mianhua, then transformed back into their beast forms. One ran to the signal flare, and the other ran to take the other cubs to the cub enclosure.
Not all the orcs came to find her, but each orc sent one or two of their companions to look for Lan.
If they hadn't encountered too many of their own people looking for Lan along the way, and hadn't been constantly reducing their numbers, there wouldn't have been so few orcs coming to find Lan.
There were fewer than twenty-one orcs who came to Jiang Yunlan's place, but still more than a dozen, enough to take all the Zelans to the cub enclosure. She did not waver. She dared not gamble that once the Zelans were in the cub enclosure, the wild beasts that would not normally prey on them might accidentally crush them.
Because she couldn't guarantee that she and her people could stop all the wild animals and prevent any from entering their habitat.
Freya was very weak; protecting the Zerans, who wouldn't attract wild beasts, was enough for her.
“The ice and snow will naturally protect the orc cubs; there’s no need to take them to the cub enclosure. When you encounter other members of your tribe, remember to inform them.” Jiang Yunlan said as she pushed them out of the house.
She reached out and quickly took the things 022 had brought her from inside the house: a shoulder bag, a quiver full of arrows, and a longbow.
“I’ll be going to the front lines. Grey Honey, Black Velvet, I’ll leave the task of arranging refuge for the beastmen to you and Maple Syrup to do.” As she spoke, she slung her shoulder bag over her shoulder.
"Lan?"
"Lan!"
Mo Rong and Hui Mi were shocked and called out Lan's name one after the other.
“Lan, I know you’re strong. But Lan, you’re still a cub. Your strength and speed can’t compare to an adult beastman. Going to the front lines is too dangerous. That’s a beast tide, Lan.” Mo Rong frowned, his expression full of disapproval, trying his best to persuade her.
Seeing that Lan ignored her and turned away from the quiver 022 handed her, Grey Honey knew that Lan hadn't changed her mind. With a headache, she tried to persuade her, "Yan Duoyu, Hati, and Grey Creek have already gone. The direction where the wild beasts appeared is guarded by tribesmen; everyone has extensive hunting experience. Lan, let them and us handle the defense against the wild beasts. Don't go..."
“I can’t stand behind when a crisis occurs.” Jiang Yunlan listened calmly to the two orcs’ words of persuasion and grabbed the medium-weight longbow that 022 handed her last.
The materials used in the clan to make bows, strings, and arrows are constantly being updated. What she used to use as a heavy bow can now only be called a medium bow. To draw the clan's new heavy bow, she needs to grow to the arm strength of an adult orc.
Jiang Yunlan looked away from the two orcs who wanted her to stay, turned around and walked to Ah Bai, opening her arms. "Ah Bai, carry me over. I need your help."
Most of the tribe's methods for protecting against wild animals were devised by her and 022. She had to go to the battlefield to ensure that these methods were functioning properly.
When Ah Bai heard Lan's plea for help, he suddenly recalled the time when the clan was still in a cave halfway up the mountain, and he carried Lan on his back, leading a furry beast in circles through the forest.
It turns out that despite his weak combat abilities, he wasn't disliked by Lan for avoiding going out to gather resources.
He had indeed been overthinking things; Lan truly needed him. He couldn't save the two tribesmen who died in the mouth of the horned rhinoceros, but he was still a useful orc.
He can become Lan's legs, taking Lan wherever Lan wants to go.
Ah Bai crouched down and steadily carried Lan on his back as he stood up. He could hear his own heartbeat, loud and strong.
He, who had always been insecure, gained confidence, confidence from Arashi.
As the view rose higher, Jiang Yunlan was carried on the back of the timid rabbit-beastman with white hair and red eyes.
She gripped her longbow tightly, adjusted her body to ensure that the movement of her arms would not be affected, so that she could draw an arrow at any time to kill the beasts, and then spoke again to give the beastmen in front of her instructions in a few words.
“Feng Hong, you’re not good at fighting in beast form. Come with me to put on your armor and get your weapons before we go to the front lines.”
Finally, Feng Hong, having received the instruction, agreed and walked over to Lan and A Bai.
Maple Syrup arrived late, just as she brushed past Lan, and Lan's words echoed in her ears. She, who could run steadily despite her limp, suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Maple Syrup, if I die, you will succeed me as the Xia clan chief—"
She got up, let out a helpless sigh, and said her answer to Lan, who had already gone far away, "Lan, we're prepared to die too. Don't underestimate us." She looked at Gray Honey, who was far away in her field of vision, and walked quickly towards her.
When Grey Honey saw her appear, she brought Mo Rong to her side and said, "Take Mo Rong to the cub enclosure first and check if any cubs have been left behind. I will count the number of adult orcs who did not go to the battlefield and arrange for orcs to protect the cub enclosure. After the cubs have all gone to take refuge, I will take a group of orcs to help Lan."
“My legs aren’t suited for the battlefield; they’ll only hold me back. Count me in as the orc protecting the cub enclosure. I can manage just standing still and shooting wild beasts with a bow and arrow,” Maple Syrup said, hoping Grey Honey would take another orc to the front lines.
She wouldn't listen to what Lan had just said to her.
Lan will die? Impossible.
Maple Syrup knew very well that even if only one orc remained alive on the battlefield, that orc would protect Lan from harm.
If all the orcs on the battlefield were dead, she wouldn't have succeeded as the new chieftain of the Xia clan. A beast tide powerful enough to breach the front lines and kill most of the orcs would have been enough to wipe out the entire Xia clan.
All of Xia's orcs will accompany Lan back to nature's embrace. At that time, they will still be Lan's people.
Lan will always be the patriarch of Xia, and their patriarch.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
