The people of Lan have come to find this is the Lan clan.
"Lan!"
Yan Duoyu and his tribesmen carried the game they had just killed and ran excitedly to Jiang Yunlan, showing her the game they had caught with a trap.
Jiang Yunlan, who was teaching the cubs to weave vine baskets, heard their voices, looked up, and smiled as she praised the beastmen who were participating in the hunting operation.
It has been almost a month since she found the Leopard Orc clan.
She didn't know why, even though she hadn't become the chieftain of the leopard beastmen, all of them listened to her. Yan Duoyu, as the chieftain, seemed to have completely abandoned his own mind, listening to everything she said and trusting her implicitly.
Jiang Yunlan remained silent.
All she taught them was how to make fire, how to identify food, how to hunt with traps, how to make tools, and incidentally, how to treat all the injured orcs with herbs.
After listing all the things she had done, Jiang Yunlan belatedly realized that she had indeed done quite a lot.
At first, she only decided to teach the beastmen to identify food because she didn't want to hear the beastmen's cries of hunger, but before she knew it, it had turned into what it is now.
Jiang Yunlan was momentarily distracted. When she came back to her senses, she saw Yan Duoyu and the other orcs giving her bright smiles.
"Lan, let's go process the prey." Yan Duoyu said, happily carrying several prey with her tribesmen to the stream, where they showed their beast-like claws to dissect the prey.
Lan said that food must be clean before it goes into the mouth, so the meat we're going to eat later needs to be washed before we can eat it.
Jiang Yunlan watched them turn and walk towards the stream, a slow smile spreading across her face. This wasn't so bad. They were all good orcs, and deserved to live healthy lives.
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle".
Orange-red flames appeared on the shore, and leopard orcs and squirrel orcs gathered around, roasting meat skewers.
"Lan, come and eat." Yan Duoyu grilled the best part of the prey, put the sizzling meat in a wooden bowl and handed it to Lan.
Lan doesn't like eating animal organs or oily fat; she only likes thick, meaty pieces. If it doesn't taste good, Lan will eat very little. But the cubs are still growing and can't eat just a tiny bit of meat.
She had no choice but to eat every part of each prey, picking out the best parts.
"And these too." Iwaka handed over a bowl of food, which consisted of washed berries and plant stems.
Leopard beastmen don't like vegetarian food, and vegetarian dishes are rarely seen in their tribe. However, because Lan is an omnivorous cub, the leopard beastmen hoard all sorts of edible plant roots, stems, and fruits. They can't really distinguish these vegetarian dishes, and most of the vegetarian food they hoard is obtained by trading with the squirrel beastman clan.
Although Haimi has become a bit strange since Lan arrived, it's not a problem as long as Haimi changes the food.
The leopard beastmen didn't understand Grey Honey's inner turmoil. They didn't know that she deliberately kept her distance from them, simply to stay away from Lan and delay the time it took for her to succumb.
Grey Honey didn't understand whether Rock Rain had noticed that her people were gathering in the Azure Sky. Her clan had disintegrated and vanished in a place invisible to the naked eye.
Perhaps Yan Duoyu realized it, or perhaps she didn't. But Hui Mi, watching from the sidelines, clearly understood that the Leopard Beastman clan was gradually falling. She knew that one day, the Leopard Beastman clan would disappear.
They will become members of the Lan clan.
Grey Honey feared the fall of the Leopard Beastman Clan, and she also feared Rock Rain's obedience to Lan's every move. Because when she looked at them, she seemed to see her future self and the Squirrel Beastman Clan.
Their clan will disappear gently and quietly, but their people will prosper under Lan's guidance.
Grey Honey didn't want the current Squirrel Orc clan to disappear. She resisted the fall of her people, but she knew she herself was inevitably falling as well.
She couldn't bear to give up Lan's almost unconditional giving, those things that allowed her people to survive. She could restrict her people's contact with Lan, but she couldn't stop herself from walking towards Lan's legs.
Arashi is special, like the sun in the sky, radiating a light that attracts them.
What kind of orc should a wise man be? Gray Honey still doesn't quite understand. The only wise man she has ever met is Lan, and all her knowledge of wise men comes from Lan.
A wise woman. A wise woman is probably someone whose presence compels the orcs who see her to follow her.
"Grey Honey, come and eat something first." Jiang Yunlan waved to Grey Honey, who was sitting at a distance, signaling her to put down the half-woven vine basket. Grey Honey didn't like being near the leopard beastmen and always sat far away, only coming over when called.
Hearing Lan's call, Grey Honey hesitated for a few moments, then resignedly put down the vine basket she was carrying. She got up and sat down next to Lan, taking out her own food.
As the sunlight slanted down, adult leopard beastmen and adult squirrel beastmen sat together, slowly eating the food allocated to them by their chieftain.
The leopard-man cubs and squirrel-man cubs, who had finished their lunch early, along with the semi-adult orcs, squatted by the stream, trying to catch the fish inside with stone spears.
The fish in the stream weren't big, just small enough for them to practice their skills.
The adult squirrel beastmen knew their chieftain forbade them from approaching Lan, so they obediently refrained from contacting her. However, when the cubs played with the leopard beastmen and showed Lan what they had caught, the squirrels would turn a blind eye and pretend not to see it.
The sound of wheels turning came from afar, and Jiang Yunlan heard a familiar voice calling her.
"Lan—"
Jiang Yunlan, who was eating with her head down, suddenly looked up in surprise and looked in the direction from which the sound came.
Feng Hong came running up, pulling a narrow wooden cart. Jiang Yunlan could clearly see that the cart behind her was shaking so badly that the contents inside almost fell out.
Cotton, a few steps behind her, wasn't as fast as her, but his movements pulling the cart were much more steady. The beastmen in his cart were either leaning against the side or lying down inside, looking fairly relaxed.
"...Why are you here?" Jiang Yunlan couldn't believe her eyes, and the words she uttered were almost squeezed out of her throat.
How could Maple Syrup and the others possibly come looking for her? They should have left the forest in another direction long ago.
Jiang Yunlan knew very well that they would realize her lie one day. By then, they would be far enough away from the cave that they wouldn't be able to find her.
The forest was so dangerous, with the possibility of giant beasts appearing at any moment. How could they have come looking for her? They should have left along the river. Jiang Yunlan's mind was in turmoil. Even though she clearly saw the beastmen appear before her, she couldn't help but doubt that they were here for her.
She'd been on the waiting list for so long that she'd forgotten someone would resolutely choose her.
Her parents won't care about her, her friends will drift away, but her people will always remember her. Even if they only spent less than a year together, it would be enough for the orcs to remember her, follow her, and never abandon her.
Jiang Yunlan and Feng Hong and the other orcs were too far apart, and Feng Hong, who had put down her wooden cart and run over, did not hear her clearly.
Enraged, Feng Hong immediately turned to Yan Lin after confirming that Lan Ping was safe and sound. She gritted her teeth and said, "Yan Lin! Come out here! I've wanted to beat you up for ages!"
Yan Lin was bewildered, and a question mark slowly appeared in his mind.
"If you want to find your clansmen, then go ahead. What were you planning to do by secretly kidnapping Lan? Luckily, Lan is alright, or I would have killed you right now!" Feng Hong said viciously.
She originally wanted to punch Yan Lin directly, but since Yan Lin was standing right behind Lan, she hesitated to make a move. Not wanting to frighten Lan, she held back from immediately throwing a punch.
Seeing this, Yan Duoyu decisively picked up Lan, who was standing there stunned, and silently moved away from the two orcs who were about to fight. It didn't matter that Yan Lin had been beaten up while taking Lan out, as long as Lan was alright.
The leopard and squirrel orcs gathered around the fire stared blankly at the suddenly appearing orcs, and subconsciously got up from the ground.
Lan's people have arrived, and they are furious. Must they fight them first before Lan can stay? The beastmen are puzzled, looking blankly at their chieftain, then at the unfamiliar beastmen approaching from afar.
Surprisingly, none of Lan's people were squirrel beastmen. The leopard beastman was so astonished that he momentarily forgot to greet Rock as he returned.
At that moment, seeing the crimson maple leaves approaching the rocky forest, he shuddered and shouted, "I didn't kidnap Lan, I really didn't! Lan is just a cub!"
Maple Red didn't believe it and eagerly tried to test it with his hands and feet. The orcs, including Maple Sugar, who were a few steps behind, also didn't believe it and stared at him with extremely cold eyes.
“Yan Lin didn’t bring me here to find Yan Duoyu and the others on purpose. I told Yan Lin not to tell you,” Jiang Yunlan explained as she was being carried. She patted Yan Duoyu’s arm, stepped off the ground, and calmly looked at Feng Hong and the other orcs, her hands clenching nervously into fists at her sides.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly said, "I once told you that a squirrel beastman saved me. I want to find her clan. I asked Yanlin to stay and accompany me to find the squirrel beastman clan."
“But the forest is too dangerous; you never know when you might encounter a giant beast. That’s why I didn’t let Yanlin tell you. I lied to you so that you would leave the forest.” Jiang Yunlan walked up to the angry Feng Hong and calmly stated the facts.
She didn't reveal the unease in her heart. She simply watched Feng Hong and the others quietly, waiting for them to vent their emotions.
The ice crystal in her pocket shimmered with light, and 022, invisible to the orcs, floated to her shoulder, silently giving her the courage to face the orcs.
Jiang Yunlan received not even a single word of reprimand; silence filled the air. Behind her, Yan Duoyu and Huimi hesitated, watching her and her people, unsure whether to step forward and say something.
The two orc chieftains who wanted to recruit Lan into their clan suddenly felt a little guilty.
Feng Hong scratched her head, then lifted Lan up by her arms. She gently pressed her forehead against Lan's, looked up, and sighed, "Lan did nothing wrong. We were too weak to defeat the giant beast, and we made Lan worry."
She suddenly wanted power. If being strong enough to defeat a giant beast was necessary to put Lan at ease, then she wanted to be strong enough to kill the giant beast.
“Lan. We didn’t know your decision at the time, but even though it was dangerous to stay by your side, we still wanted to stay with you,” Maple Syrup said.
“You are our chieftain,” the beastmen said.
They traversed the forest, encountering many wild beasts, discarding many belongings, and building new wooden carts several times. They even stumbled upon fresh footprints left by a wind beast. But what did it matter? Whether they faced danger or were injured, when they decided to seek out Lan, they were already mentally prepared for the possibility of death.
Lan is the clan leader, the clan leader they chose.
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Author's note: The little angel "" threw out 30 bottles of guiding agent, and Maple Syrup and the other orcs successfully found Lan.
The little angel "59451985" threw out 19 bottles of mood-calming medicine, instantly calming Lan, whose mind was in a daze.
The nutrient solution donated by the little angels who haven't named themselves yet won't be displayed in the backend, and their reader IDs won't appear. Little angels who haven't named themselves yet, wouldn't you like to give yourselves a name? I'm worried that next time you don't post a comment with nutrient solution in the comment section, I won't know it's you, and I'll just have to use a blank name as yours.
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