The orcs, belonging to the land, set off for the Zeran Forest; they would run...
Mountainous areas.
The sky after the rain was a clear, deep blue. Clouds drifted by, following the orcs from the land towards the mountains.
On the ground, orcs walked along both sides of the caravan, shaking off their raincoats. They hung the raincoats on the outer edge of the carts, and continued walking forward, their feet sinking into the damp ground.
Summer has not yet discovered any plants similar to the tung tree, so the tribe cannot make waterproof oil paper or oil paper umbrellas. When it rains, the orcs will wear orc-style raincoats made of palm-like plants and set up palm bark canopies to protect the vehicles in the party from the rain.
As they approached the mountain, Jiang Yunlan and her group arrived at its foot.
The orcs from the mountains, carrying their clan's supplies, waved to Lan, leaving behind a single sentence before gradually disappearing into the distance.
"Lan, once we return to the clan, we'll bring the clan leader to the winged beastmen's territory to find you!"
Jiang Yunlan smiled and agreed, then turned and followed the winged beastmen. Before heading to find the energy stones, Greysien needed to take Chaoxia and Xiaojiu to the Milky Way. Coincidentally, the winged beastmen's habitat was the closest to the Milky Way, and she would stay in the mountains where the winged beastmen lived for a while.
By the time Greysien and the others return, she will probably have seen the orc clan that came to find her and be able to travel far.
Xia's group set up a temporary resting place in the territory of the winged beastmen. This was one of the roads leading to Tianhe's location, and they did not intend to travel a long way to the winged beastmen's habitat.
On the day they settled, it was still early, before noon. Greysion spread its wings, picked up the sunrise, and flew into the sky. Little Chick followed beside them, flapping its wings.
The blue figure receded into the distance and disappeared into the horizon.
Jiang Yunlan watched them leave, then slowly withdrew her gaze and turned to ask Ling Xiaocao, who had accompanied her on this trip, "How's the map? Can you roughly circle the places the bear-beastmen sent you to?"
Upon hearing Lan's voice, Ling Xiaocao took down the large sheet of paper hanging at her waist, unfolded the rolled-up paper with both hands, and placed it on the ground.
"These newly added locations are places that our grassland sheep beastmen, fox beastmen, and horse beastmen have been to." Antelope Grass pointed to the new areas extending from the map, her finger moving further and further away, finally stopping at one place.
On the map, the left side of Half Moon Lake is also the left side of the mountainous area, which is the left front of the team's advance.
"Based on the images that Feng Shier and the others recalled, the habitat of the Zelans, the Zelan Forest, is most likely located in this area," said Ling Xiaocao, her tone serious and her expression earnest.
Before setting off, Jiang Yunlan knew that the Zelan Forest was in front of the mountains, but she didn't know its exact location—whether it was to the left, right, or directly in front.
Now that she had a general idea of the location of the Zelan Forest, she felt relieved and decided to go there to take a look. Although she might not be able to find any trace of the bear-beastmen in that area, she might be able to bring the remaining members of Chaoxia's clan to the Xia Clan.
With the fragments of earth and the rosy dawn present, Zelan would believe her words.
Zhaoxia wasn't entirely sure how she persuaded Xiaojiu to stay in the mountainous area on the way there, but in any case, the three little ones reached an agreement. The big bird would protect the mountains for the dragon, and the dragon would protect Zhaoxia for the big bird—a happy ending for all.
Several days later, Jiang Yunlan and her group finished exploring the mountains and left the area with some of the newly unearthed energy stones.
The newly arrived orcs from the Xia Clan's mountainous region were taken over by a few orcs, including Gray Creek, who remained in the region. Before leaving, Jiang Yunlan had already found a suitable habitat for the Xia Clan orcs in the mountainous region, waiting for Gray Creek and the other orcs to build the road and construct the settlement.
The mountains gradually disappeared from view, and what awaited the beastmen was a long journey.
The vegetation here was sparse, and there was nothing worth exploring at first glance. Xia's beastmen scouted the area quickly and continued on their way.
The long journey did not diminish the spirit of the orcs. They remained energetic and would bring out anything they encountered that they had never seen before, presenting it to Lan as if it were a treasure.
If they could see Lan's smile and hear praise from her, their energy for running around would double.
When Greysien went to the mountain range, he also traveled a very long way. The feeling he had then was completely different from now. Perhaps because there were orcs around who would help him search for items, he didn't find the journey boring at all.
"If only Mother had something to look for when she was traveling with me, just like now. That way Mother wouldn't be bored." He was tired from playing, so he lay down next to Jiang Yunlan and Zhaoxia and gently wagged his tail.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yunlan stopped writing, looked up at the dragon lying against the edge of the carriage, and asked curiously, "When your mother was traveling with you, didn't she have these things?"
“I was born on the sea. From the day I became conscious, I have always sat on my mother’s back, watching her travel.” As Gracie spoke, the image of him lying on his mother’s back, watching the sunrise and sunset seemed to reappear before his eyes.
His tail stopped wagging and rested gently at his feet. He thought of Gracia.
"Your mother is amazing! She can fly over the sea for so long!" Chaoxia said, her eyes wide and sparkling.
He immediately wagged his tail and said proudly, "That's right, my mother is that amazing."
Jiang Yunlan wanted to know how he was born on the sea surface, so she asked, "Where is your habitat? Generally speaking, cubs should be born in their habitat, right?"
Upon hearing Lan's question, Greysien sat up and slowly recounted how he met his mother.
“When I was still in the egg, my elders found my mother and asked her to take me back to Dragon Island, which is our habitat. After all, he was nearing the end of his life and couldn’t send me back to Dragon Island after he found me elsewhere.”
Hearing him say this, Jiang Yunlan realized that the dragon who gave birth to him was not Gracia.
He didn't stop talking, so Jiang Yunlan suppressed her doubts and listened to why he wasn't born on Dragon Island in the end.
“My kinsman was seriously injured, and my mother couldn’t heal him. I was about to be born at that time, and he told my mother to wait until he saw me before he died. But I was born on the bones of my kinsman.”
Greysien pouted unhappily as he spoke. In the end, he only saw his people's faces in the memories they left him.
He snorted, but his tone quickly became light again. "However, when I was born, my mother told me that although she didn't know where the dragon that truly gave birth to me was, I was entrusted to her, and she was my mother."
"Unfortunately, our habitat is gone. My mother carried me and flew for a long time in the place where the Dragon Island should have appeared, but she couldn't find it."
Jiang Yunlan felt sad. She finally understood why Greysien liked spending time with Chaoxia.
He must be very lonely without any companions.
Morning glow sensed the unspoken sadness in Greysien's heart and silently moved closer to him, pressing against him.
The sadness that had just begun to rise was interrupted by the sunrise. He blinked and decided to continue, "We couldn't find a place to live, so Mother decided to take me back to the mountains. But on our way back, we encountered several wild beasts with different natural powers. Mother defeated them, but was seriously injured and returned to the embrace of the sky."
After that, he was the only dragon left on his journey. His only companions were the memories and power left to him by his mother and his clan.
Greysien turned to look at the noisy orcs and said regretfully, "If only there were this many orcs with me when my mother and I were traveling. My mother is clearly a dragon who loves excitement, even though she never admits it."
However, at the end of her life, there were no beastmen from summer, nor beastmen from the mountains, only her and the corpses of those giant beasts floating on the sea.
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Author's Note: Sorry, my little angels, I'm experiencing writer's block and can't reach 3,000 words. The plot from here on out is much harder to write than I expected, and I'm currently struggling with the story! Although it's difficult, I'll still update even if it's only 2,000 words!
My current goal is to at least guarantee 2,000 updates, and eventually reach 3,000. [Cat paw]
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