The weasel-like beastmen from the west have become the Xia tribe's Xia...
“You go ahead, we’ll return to our habitat now and wait for you to bring Ilovin back,” the deer-beastmen and hedgehog-beastmen said.
Their physical condition was so poor that they could barely maintain their beast forms, and they couldn't keep up with Jiang Yunlan and her group. It would be better for them to return to the clan now, so as not to hinder the beastmen who were going to rescue Iloven.
Fortunately, their habitat was very close to Ilov's lair, about a thirty-minute walk for the deer-beastmen. Ilov could reach their clan's location in less than three minutes with a flap of his wings. Ilov didn't need to expend much effort to find them.
Seeing their complexions, Jiang Yunlan guessed that they were not in good health either. Before they turned around, she said, "Let my people escort you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Greysion strode towards them, its long tail dragging on the ground with a thud.
“Lan, I’ll escort you,” Greysien said.
Jiang Yunlan was surprised that he would take the initiative to speak, and after a moment of surprise, she agreed.
Is it because they are familiar with Irovan that they want to protect them for him? Jiang Yunlan unconsciously smiled slightly and called out, "Let's go!"
The group rushed in the direction Sveta had indicated, like a gust of wind sweeping through the forest, shaking the branches in all directions.
Outside the cave where Ilovian was.
A group of slender orcs gathered outside the cave, gripping sharpened stones and hurling them into the dark cave.
A red, scaly tail darted out of the cave. The silver-haired, black-eyed weasel beastmen skillfully retreated, dodging the tail attack, and quickly surrounded it again. Behind them, half of their kind were sharpening stones to make weapons, while the other half were carrying food.
A furious roar echoed from the dark cave, causing a few weasel-like beastmen to lose their balance and stumble back two steps. They couldn't see clearly inside the cave, only that the beasts inside had their backs to them.
Half a day passed, and the beast dared not emerge from its cave. The weasel-men were almost certain that the beast that had accidentally flung out a few pieces of plant material was seriously injured. They would not let this opportunity slip by.
A weasel-like orc raised his finally repaired weapons high, shouting the good news to his kin. These were their tribe's finest weapons: knives, swords, and shields crafted from the bones of rare beasts—the perfect weapons for attacking behemoths.
The many weasel beastmen couldn't contain their excitement and shouted one after another, "Purushuda!"
The weasel orcs at the forefront, responsible for the attack, retrieved their weapons in batches, their bodies seemingly emanating a thick, black killing intent.
The beasts inside the cave have been defending it for half a day; it's time to decide the victor. For the sake of our former people, and for the sake of our future people.
The first group of weasel orcs, armed with the determination to die, turned to face the towering beast in the cave and charged forward.
Inside the cave.
Ilovian covered her head with both paws, trying to relieve the discomfort of staying up for nine nights, but the sound outside only made her head ache more. She couldn't understand what was going on. All she did was take a short nap before dawn, so why were there so many strange orcs attacking her when she woke up?
The orcs outside couldn't communicate with her, and her attempts to communicate were completely ineffective. No, she couldn't continue like this; she had to face those strange orcs, and her sick friends were waiting for her to bring back the herbs.
The red dragon shook its head, its two claws cupping the herbs placed in front of it, and a half-twig with only a few leaves in its mouth.
She kept her eyes tightly shut, and with a "what's the use" attitude, she spun her tail as she walked out of the cave. She heard the screams of the strange orcs, and her heart screamed along with them, her eyes closing even tighter.
The moment she completely exited the cave, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back. Instinctively, she flung the weasel-like beastman who had injured her against the stone wall. She opened her eyes, looked down incredulously at the bloodstains on the ground, and then turned to look at the beastman who had been slammed against the wall and was now lying on the ground.
"What kind of beast's bone is that weapon that orc is wielding? How could it possibly hurt me?" Ilovin exclaimed in astonishment.
The fallen weasel orc coughed up blood and staggered to his feet, leaning on his weapon. He raised his head, his face displaying the same hatred as his kin.
He raised his bone knife, wanting to continue charging forward with his kin, but his movements were suddenly restricted by the plants that appeared. He couldn't move his hands or feet, and he couldn't even cut these strange plants with his knife.
The cries for help from his people rang in his ears. He was filled with rage, gripped the knife firmly, and exerted force in his arm.
"Aaaaaah!"
The moment his left hand, holding the knife, broke free from the plant's grasp, his blade was covered in a layer of ice, failing to sever the branches binding him. He froze, turning his head blankly to look at his left arm, now bound once more.
An unfamiliar language rang in his ears, spoken in a gentle tone, as if trying to converse with him.
He turned his head in confusion. A strange, transparent creature atop a black-and-gray squirrel sat atop a wolf's head, holding a square object.
It was an odd combination; it was the first time he had ever seen a carnivorous orc allow an omnivorous orc to sit on his head. He blinked, ignoring the language he couldn't understand, and looked around at the scenery.
The newly appeared orcs were using ointment to treat the wounds of the red behemoth.
...Healing injuries?
He froze, utterly unable to believe what he was seeing. Watching the colossal red beast fly away, he laughed in fury, "Why are you protecting this beast?!"
"Shuda?" A giant beast?
Lang An frowned as he repeated the words he understood, realizing the seriousness of the situation, and finally figured out where their language came from.
They are orcs from the western end, orcs who came here from the place with the most giant beasts.
I heard that a horde of giant beasts once roamed the western end. The orc tribes there and the orc clans they led all disappeared, with only a few small clans closest to the east managing to escape.
Wolf An understood the weasel orc's hatred for the giant beast, but he didn't quite understand why Wolf An brought up the giant beast at this time.
After a difficult communication, Lang An, using broken Western English, figured out the cause and effect and informed Lan above him of the information he had obtained.
"Wait, what do you mean that the beast was clearly a giant beast? It's a dragon. Ilovian is just a beast form that's a bit taller than a normal beastman. It can't be a giant beast." Jiang Yunlan retorted, rubbing her temples with a headache.
Before arriving here, she had even suspected they might be connected to that organization, never imagining that a misunderstanding would lead to the current situation. Although Ilovian's beast form was five meters tall, even taller than an elephant on Earth, and even his ability to use fire power was very similar to that of a giant beast, the aura of a dragon and the aura of a giant beast couldn't possibly be the same, could they?
Jiang Yunlan glanced at the weasel-like beastmen arguing with Wolf An, wondering what criteria they used to determine that Iloven was a giant beast. Could it be that they really judged Iloven as a giant beast based solely on his appearance?
"Lan, Bai Youyouge said their clan has evidence. The orcs who survived the giant beast drew its appearance and gave them a catalog. He said that as long as we untie him and his people, they can show us the catalog," Lang An said.
Listening to the new information Lang An had obtained, Jiang Yunlan's gaze turned to the sullen weasel beastmen. They seemed to have identified Xia's beastmen as enemies, and their intense hostility almost permeated the air.
She strongly suspected that after she and Sveta untied the weasel orc, the weasel orc would escape or fight with her people.
“Please calm your people down, Bai Youyouge. We don’t want to fight you,” she said.
Bai Youyouge had the same idea, and after much persuasion, he managed to calm his fellow clansmen down, at least outwardly.
During this time, Xia's orcs went into the cave one by one, transformed back into human form, and came out dressed.
Jiang Yunlan was the last orc to enter the cave. She crawled back into her clothes, reverting to human form. Her top, which covered her thighs, was already on, and she casually pulled on her trousers. The squirrel orc, now fully dressed, made a dazzling entrance.
She picked up the coat covering the sleeping basket and put it on. She bent down and put the two elves into the pocket on her chest. She walked around to the front of the pile of bags and quickly walked out of the cave.
The Xia tribe orcs, skilled in medicine, were treating the wounded weasel orcs and providing them with necessary medicine, such as pills used by Bai Youyouge to treat internal injuries. The weasel orcs traded these medicines for weapons made from the bones of two special wild beasts.
Black Earth stood guard outside the cave. When it saw Lan come out, it automatically followed her, quiet yet with a strong presence.
"Can I see the illustrations you have now?" Jiang Yunlan asked, looking up at Bai Youyouge.
The weasel beastman was about the same height as Ah Bai, so tall that she, almost an adult, had to look up to meet his gaze.
Bai Youyouge didn't quite trust the Xia tribe, whom he was meeting for the first time, and was unwilling to hand over the encyclopedia directly to Jiang Yunlan. Instead, he held it in his hand, unfolded it, and showed it to Jiang Yunlan.
The illustrated guide depicting the giant beasts was made of animal hide paper. Upon seeing the animal hide paper, Jiang Yunlan immediately thought of the animal hide paper used by the Wise Clan for communication. They looked slightly different; she couldn't tell if it was due to different craftsmanship or different animal hides.
She was distracted for a moment, then looked down at the portrait that Bai Youyouge had pointed out.
The figure of a dragon appeared before her.
The guide used very little color; all the illustrations were in black and red. There were no captions whatsoever, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment.
It's a pity that one less way to obtain information has been lost. Written records are a valuable resource for discovering a clan or tribe.
"Which clan did the orc who gave you the illustrations belong to?" Jiang Yunlan asked.
After listening to Lang An's translation, Bai Youyouge turned to look at her, frowning. After several seconds, she finally managed to recall the relevant memories from the depths of her mind.
“The most powerful tribe in the west was Tianqi.” He finished speaking, his mood turning somber.
Jiang Yunlan suddenly looked up. What "Qi"? How could the pronunciation of this "Qi" be exactly the same as the pronunciation of the "Qi" in the Qi clan, which split off from the Sage clan?
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The author's note: The grasslands where the Xia tribe is located are at the eastern end of the continent.
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