The orcs of Half Moon Lake want to go to the Xia clan from the forest...
"Is Lan going back to her habitat?" The beastmen of Half Moon Lake looked on with reluctance and envy at the two clans following the Xia clan.
They were all clans located near the grasslands.
Jiang Yunlan sat in the car, leaned out to look at the beastmen who had not yet finished cultivating the flowers, and smiled brightly, showing no signs of gloom. "Xia has stayed here for ten sunsets. It's time to go back."
“We will meet again,” she said, raising her head slightly to look at each of the beastmen who came to see her off with equal respect, and extending an invitation with a smile. “The next time the flowers bloom, my people will come here and take you to Xia’s habitat. I will be waiting for you there.”
The orcs had already agreed to Lan's invitation, and now they nodded vigorously, promising once again that they would definitely go.
Half-Moon Lake isn't the only flower-breeding location for the orc clans, but it's the one they know has the most of. Therefore, even if it takes more than a dozen sunsets to reach it from their clan's settlement, the orcs will still choose to come here.
Unfortunately, the greater the difference in their animal forms, the harder it is for orcs to conceive together. They know very well that if they want offspring to be born, they need to find orcs of the same race.
They also longed to follow the other two clans and see the real summer with Lan, but time wouldn't allow it. Their clan needed them. If they didn't return to their territory soon to gather supplies, this snow season would be more difficult than ever.
The beastmen who watched Xia leave never considered leaving their clan to join Xia's clan. Occasionally wandering and rarely able to stay in their habitat for more than ten snow seasons, they couldn't bear to abandon their clan.
Those were their own kind. They were their own kind, relying on each other and struggling together to survive.
The procession heading towards the Xia clan's habitat had gone far away, and Lan's figure had become a blurry dot.
Until Lan's figure became indistinguishable, the gray-red-haired wolf-orc who had been standing by Half Moon Lake withdrew his gaze, clenched his fist, and led the rest of the orc clan to stride toward some orcs who coveted Lan and Xia's belongings.
"So you're the ones who wanted to secretly swap out the good stuff we gave to Lan?" The tall wolf-orc sneered as he sized up the carnivorous orc clan in front of him.
The unicorn silently pulled the animal skin off his face, his gaze sweeping over the herbivorous orc clan that had offered to help them steal. "Don't try to deny it. The bull orc overheard your conversation."
The two unsuccessful orc clans broke out in a cold sweat. Before they could even offer a word of explanation, they were surrounded and beaten by the more impulsive orcs.
"What are you trying to do by exchanging these rubbish items for the things we gave to Lan? Do you want Lan to hate our clan?" The orcs, who had almost become the unlucky ones, were filled with disgust and hit Lan even harder.
They couldn't imagine what Lan would think of them if she returned to the clan and found out that what they had exchanged with Xia was these inferior goods.
The sky has fallen.
Xia has so many good things, they still want to continue exchanging supplies with Xia!
"Waaaaah, let me explain! We were just saying... Ah!"
Several mournful cries echoed across Half Moon Lake. Jiang Yunlan, seemingly sensing something in the distance, looked back at Half Moon Lake in a daze. She thought she heard the screams of orcs.
"What's wrong, Lan?" 022 asked.
“I think I just heard the sound of orcs wailing,” she said hesitantly.
Upon hearing this, 022 listened carefully to the sound carried by the wind and vaguely heard what she was saying. The transparent slime widened its eyes and stared at the Crescent Lake, which was still in its field of vision.
There were no wild animals attacking; the only danger could be a sudden threat that might appear in Half Moon Lake.
It suddenly recalled the guess that had popped into its mind when it first met Aliya: There was some unknown crisis in this world.
"Lan, I'm going back to check. You and the beastmen shouldn't come over yet, wait for me here." 022 said seriously, and hurriedly flew towards Half Moon Lake.
Having flown most of the way back, it saw two orc clans being ganged up on by a group of orcs, and heard them begging for mercy. From the few words they spoke, it pieced together the truth of the matter.
022, fearing impending disaster: ...
It swept lightly over the two attacked clans and quickly returned to the Xia clan's procession, which was preparing to drive over.
"No danger has occurred, let's go back," it said, its words reassuring Jiang Yunlan.
So the group, which had already turned around, turned again and headed towards the grassland.
During the journey, 022 perched on Jiang Yunlan's head and explained what had happened in a few words.
Jiang Yunlan suddenly realized: "So that's why they were so eager to help us move things this morning."
Xia was very popular, and many orc clans helped her move her things before she left, but she didn't notice it at the time.
However, she didn't discover this until she led her clan away, suggesting that the two clans genuinely didn't intervene. Just as they themselves said, with Xia clan orcs standing guard with weapons nearby, they dared not act even if they had the intention.
“It’s alright, many people in the tribe remember what they look like. They won’t come to the summer’s habitat next flower season,” she said.
There's no need for special revenge against those orcs. They'll regret it when they realize that Xia has refused to trade with them and they can only watch other clans have the items they want.
Once they abandon their thieving ways and become a genuine orc clan, Xia will be willing to trade with them.
As the fourth sun set, Jiang Yunlan was lifted off the ground by Hui Xiaoxi, her feet landing on the gravel-covered dirt road.
She's home.
The original habitat of the Hatti clan contained many items obtained from the bear-beastmen. The stones that Shana used to pave the road were made from the large stones that were found among those items.
Bear-beastmen need to sharpen their claws, and captured beastmen often have to carry back heavy stones, otherwise they will become objects for the bear-beastmen to sharpen their claws. For this reason, there are many large stones in the original habitat of the Hatti clan, as well as stone houses built with large stones.
Upon hearing the news of Lan's return, the maple syrup and grey honey from the tribe rushed over.
Jiang Yunlan introduced the two new clans to them, and then asked Gray Creek and Maple Sugar to take the orcs of the two clans to see the items they needed.
They are a clan that came specifically to collect the items for exchange, and they will return to their clan's habitat the day after they have taken the goods.
The orcs, including Lupu, were exhausted after days of traveling. They pushed the supplies they were carrying to the other orcs in their tribe and ran back to their beds, feeling relieved. All they wanted to do was rest; they could worry about cleaning themselves later.
The second orc who didn't rest after her outing was Jiang Yunlan. She was inquiring about the clan's recent situation.
Grey Honey summarized the events of the past few days in just a few words. The beastmen beside her added a number of interesting anecdotes.
The orc Aliya brought so much food for the cubs that even Chaoxia couldn't finish it all, and she would even burp from eating too much.
And then there are the fox-orcs, who take over as workers after each day off.
After the last day off, the chieftain of the fox-beastmen also came to work. After he came to work, he discovered that his people were giving him good food behind the backs of their other clansmen because they were secretly eating good food in the Xia clan behind his back.
He and his people secretly ate some food behind each other's backs, but they all got to enjoy the delicious food, showing their consideration for each other.
The fox beastmen and their clan leader were so moved that their eyes were filled with tears. Just as they were about to cry, they scrambled to grab the new mission that Gray Honey was about to assign them.
As Jiang Yunlan listened to them recount what she had seen in a comedic style, the corners of her mouth remained upturned, unable to be suppressed.
After a while, seeing that they kept talking, Grey Honey immediately pulled a long face and told them to leave.
"Lan has traveled such a long way back, she needs to rest too. Don't keep bothering her." She said this earnestly before the beastmen left.
The beastmen who had been driven away had expressions of sudden realization. They walked away, still saying, "Lan, you must get some rest!"
"...Actually, it's not so bad. I don't need to go to rest now." Jiang Yunlan blinked.
“Not needing to rest now means you need to rest. So, Lan must be very tired,” Gray Honey turned around, her gray eyes looking into Lan’s eyes, speaking as every clan leader or mother would to her cub, “Go to sleep and get some rest.”
Her tone wasn't exactly gentle, but it was very soft, like a grandmother's.
Jiang Yunlan couldn't bring herself to refuse. After hesitating for a moment, she obediently went back to sleep, her expression still somewhat dazed. Why did Grey Honey suddenly seem like an elder? She was puzzled for a moment, wondering about the thought that had suddenly arisen in her mind.
Even if we consider her age as a human, Grey Honey is still much older than her, and is an elder.
Strange, how come I only noticed this now?
She didn't voice her confusion, and 022, who accompanied her back, had no way of knowing what she was thinking, let alone being able to answer her questions.
If 022 could hear her thoughts, it would tell her that it was because she always thought of protecting the beastmen under her wings and never once thought of relying on them.
Jiang Yunlan was given an unexpected break.
Without any orcs to disturb her, she slept for a very long time, and when she woke up again, it was already dark. Her habitual curled-up sleeping position made her body feel numb, but she couldn't break the habit. Even if she thought of lying flat to sleep before falling asleep, she would curl up as soon as she closed her eyes.
She had long given up on changing this bad habit and would only quietly get up and relax her body.
Jiang Yunlan, wearing the number 022 on her head, went out and headed towards the canteen near the residential area. Her three meals a day were also earned with work points. That's right, she, the patriarch of the Xia clan, received a fixed number of work points every day—the work points for her position as patriarch.
For tasks like going out on missions and taking the beastmen to the Flower Nurturing Land, she assigned herself the same number of work points as the beastmen.
As Jiang Yunlan entered the cafeteria, she was about to find a seat when she turned around and saw Yan Dahe, who had come with Zhaoxia, so she walked over to him.
Chaoxia lived with the big bird in the feeding area, and she rarely saw the big bird taking her out. She didn't expect the two little ones to appear in the canteen, since Chaoxia's food was brought by Aliya, and the two little ones didn't need to come to the canteen to eat.
The cub Chaoxia spotted her before the adult Iwata, who had matured after the snow season, and raised her hand to call for her and 022 to come quickly.
The rosy dawn, which is already able to walk, cannot make a sound; it must rely on body language to express what it wants to say.
"Lan!" Yan Dahe greeted Lan happily and received a response. The large bird sitting on the stool saw Lan approaching and calmly approached the chick Zhaoxia, its entire body pressed against the chick.
"Did you bring Chaoxia out for a walk today on purpose?" Jiang Yunlan sat next to Yan Dahe, opposite Da Niao and Chaoxia, and picked up the menu on the table.
“Yes, Zhaoxia has suddenly become even less active these past few days. Xiao Qiu was worried about him and anxiously circled him around in front of me several times, asking me to take him outside the animal enclosure for a walk.” Yan Dahe said, letting out a deep sigh.
The orcs of the Xia clan all knew about Chaoxia's situation. Chaoxia's quietness must be because she was grieving over the fate of her people.
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