The Xia clan from the forest on their day off
Just as the orc had said, Jiang Yunlan saw the orc arrive with food the next morning.
They went through the door this time.
The two orcs were brought before Jiang Yunlan by the patrolling guards, who silently handed her the food meant for the cubs, as well as a gift of thanks to the Xia clan.
Jiang Yunlan took a fragrant branch and smelled it. It was a very refreshing scent, not strong, and not like mint, yet it inexplicably made her feel more energetic and her mind felt much more comfortable.
"I accept this gift as a token of my gratitude." She smiled at the two orcs.
This is exactly what she needs.
“You can take the cubs back. Don’t worry about Xiao Qiu, I’ll handle it,” Jiang Yunlan said.
She had accidentally picked up someone else's cub. No matter how much Xiao Qiu caused trouble, she would never let Xiao Qiu raise a beastman cub.
After feeding the cub breakfast, the two humanoid earth beastmen picked it up and said, "Chief Xia, we would like to exchange some items with you for Little Chirp and that cub."
Jiang Yunlan was taken aback, her eyes filled with doubt, and she did not agree immediately.
Thinking of the things her family members had taken from the woods, she felt somewhat guilty. Then, recalling the scene of Xiao Qiu's fuss, she said helplessly, "There's no need to trade anything. If Xiao Qiu is willing, you can take her away."
The little chick, having just hatched its first chick, didn't need any persuasion. Seeing the chick in the orc's arms, it picked up the chick and ran over.
The orc was pecked several times by it, and after scrambling to catch it, it visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Before leaving, a beastman looked at Jiang Yunlan and 022 and said, "The cubs are prone to anxiety and illness when they leave their birthplace. Could you please ask Chief Xia and the creatures around you to give the cubs a name?"
Jiang Yunlan and 022 both showed confused expressions.
The earth beastman noticed their confusion and explained, "Names are blessings. Besides the big bird, the cubs are closest to you, and your blessings can cure their diseases."
This is information passed down through generations of their clan.
Listening to their words, Jiang Yunlan felt increasingly helpless. She didn't believe in these things and almost blurted out, "If you're sick, you should see a doctor, not believe in these superstitions." But after all, it was a cub she had found and hatched in the tribe.
"Yes," she said sincerely.
"Lan, you can name it. 022 won't name any living creature."
Jiang Yunlan nodded, and after a long pause, finally managed to say, "Phoenix? No, that doesn't sound like an orc's name. Calling her Little Chirp won't work either. Calling her Little something sounds too much like a nickname. So what should we call her then..."
022 witnessed her struggle with choosing a name and suddenly realized, "Lan, are you one of those people who are terrible at naming things?"
"Ahem, it seems that's right." She guiltily looked away and gazed at the sky.
The morning glow filled the entire sky. It felt like the sun was rising and a new day was dawning.
"Morning glow".
The cub lying in the orc's arms seemed to sense something, opened its eyes and looked at Jiang Yunlan, responding softly.
"Let's name him Chaoxia (Morning Glow). He's a cub born at sunset, and we hope he can see the sunrise every next day." Jiang Yunlan turned her gaze back to the cub, just in time to see it smiling at her.
The orc patted Chaoxia's head. "He likes this name very much."
They all sensed that a new clansman named Chaoxia had appeared in the clan.
Surprisingly, the Xia clan, which frequently comes to the forest to cut down and damage trees, is a decent clan, allowing their offspring to choose to be born here and stay on this land.
Jiang Yunlan didn't understand why the two orcs were smiling so happily, nor did she understand how they could tell that Chaoxia liked the name. Such a small cub couldn't possibly understand orc language yet.
I don't understand, but I respect it.
"The name has been chosen. But the cubs should be taken to a vet when they get sick. If you can't cure them, you can bring them to me for treatment. Don't worry, I won't take too much food from you."
Jiang Yunlan gestured to indicate the small amount of food and continued, "If anyone in your tribe is sick, you can come to me for treatment. Just bring this little bit of food. Of course, the treatment is just that; the medicine will be charged separately."
She was trying to develop new businesses to earn extra money for the clan.
The two orcs opened their mouths in surprise and hurriedly asked, "Can it cure any disease?"
"I need to assess the situation first to know if I can treat it. I can't cure all diseases and injuries," Jiang Yunlan replied truthfully.
The two orcs' high spirits waned. They said nothing more, carrying their cubs in their arms and the large bird in their hands, and strode away from the Xia Clan.
Their reaction was ominous; Jiang Yunlan could sense that someone in their clan must be ill. They were unwilling to speak, and she didn't want to pry. She stopped looking at them and turned to lead 022 on her usual clan tour.
No matter how busy she is, she will always set aside at least one day a week to observe the situation in her tribe.
"Lan, the situation is much better than last time." 022 said calmly as he watched the Xia clan orcs showing off their rewards to the working orcs.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yunlan looked over, and only after a while did she look away, saying thoughtfully, "It seems that the effect of the reward can last for a while longer. I just don't know how long the effect of the reward can last."
Realizing that her people would envy the working orcs who could exchange their "wages" for more breakfast and lunch, she consciously added a reward for completing each task, which was only available to Xia clan orcs.
The incentive system has just been implemented and is showing good results.
Is Lan going to usher in a new era of private ownership?
Hearing 022 say this, Jiang Yunlan couldn't help but sigh and said with a headache, "I didn't originally plan to start private ownership so soon. The residential area hasn't been built yet, and the tribe hasn't gotten rid of gathering and hunting."
She originally planned to introduce privatization after the snow season and the end of spring planting.
Perhaps because the orcs were all survivors of the persecution by the wind beasts and had gone hungry for a long time, every orc loved their clan very much and worked very hard. There was no cheating or shirking, and the communal meals were still able to be served properly.
"But now it's half public and half private, right? The tribespeople can earn item rewards by working hard to complete tasks," she said softly.
But this situation certainly can't last long.
"We can only take it one step at a time."
...
It's that time of year again for our seven-day weekend.
The laboring beastmen carried their "wages" from the Xia clan back to their own clans. The horse-beastmen had no territory of their own. They were vassals of the wolf-beastmen, and all the goods they brought back from the Xia clan had to be given to the wolf-beastmen.
The grassland sheep-beastmen were not very familiar with the horse-beastmen who always stayed in the Hati clan, but after working together in the Xia clan, the grassland sheep-beastmen and the horse-beastmen (on one side) became working partners.
"Are you also handing over the items to the Hatti clan this time?" the grassland sheep-beastman asked, puzzled.
Having worked for the Xia clan for some time, the grassland sheep-beastwoman had shed her initial feigned timidity. Since she was now working voluntarily, she no longer needed to pretend about her personality or abilities.
The horse-orc, carrying a basket of vines, hesitated, stopped, nodded at her, and quickly followed his tribesman. Lan said that after this holiday, the Xia clan would be harvesting crops from the fields, and she could bring more of her people to work.
There was an extra meal.
Recalling Lan's questions about their food and lodging, and whether they had any difficulties adjusting, the horse-beastman couldn't help but smile.
Lan said that next time they come, she will prepare food that suits their tastes better.
"Can you hear me, Feng Qi?" The grassland sheep-beastman suddenly leaned closer to the horse-beastman Feng Qi and repeated good-naturedly, "I heard from Lan that you're currently doing contract work for the Hatti clan. Have you ever thought about coming and working for them yourselves? Like us!"
She pointed to the items she and her tribesmen were taking back to the clan and said happily, "This snow season, we grassland goat-beastmen will have clothes to wear!"
Because they had been eating at the Xia clan's place for a while, she and her clansmen had all gained a little weight.
Feng Qi was startled by her movement and took a step back. The basket behind her shoulder bounced, and the items rattled and clattered.
“I heard you, Lingyuan,” Feng Qi said, her expression puzzled. It was as if she didn’t feel there was anything wrong with always listening to the wolf beastman, or that there was anything wrong with handing over the goods she earned from working to the wolf beastman.
Because they had been oppressed by the Bear Clan, it was perfectly normal for them to obey Hati's every whim—what to eat, what to wear, what to do—even without their own habitat. Hati allocated a small piece of the clan's habitat to them, providing food and animal hides; wasn't that enough?
They don't need to think about anything; they just need to listen to Hati.
Looking at her reaction, Lingyuan felt inexplicably uncomfortable, as if she had returned to the time when the bear-beastman was still on the grassland when she was a cub.
"Chief Hati said we should take these items back," Feng Qi said.
“That’s not right, Feng Qi,” Ling Yuan looked into her eyes with a serious expression. “You were originally the freest horse-beastmen on the grasslands, and you don’t have to listen to other beastmen in everything.”
Antelope had only been an adult for a few snow seasons and didn't quite remember what the grasslands looked like before the bear-beastmen came. However, every night, the previous chieftain would secretly hide from the bear-beastmen and tell them what the grasslands used to look like.
The deceased chieftain said that the orcs of the grasslands were the cubs of the wind, the freest orcs in nature.
Therefore, no matter how they disguise themselves, it's all for the sake of surviving better, to conserve their strength to kill the bear-beastmen, and to gain freedom.
Feng Qi looked bewildered, frowning as he asked, "What are you talking about?"
Thinking like this will kill you. Not only will she die, but her clan will die, the cubs will die, and even the clan leader will die. A voice deep within Feng Qi's heart screamed.
Don't think about anything. We're already fortunate enough to have days like this, free from the threat of death. Aren't we?
Ling Yuan was speechless. She finally realized why she and the grassland sheep-beastmen were completely unfamiliar with each other.
This attitude infuriated the orcs...
She angrily pulled her people away, leaving Feng Qi bewildered and sinking into deeper confusion.
Feng Qi looked at her clansmen who were waiting for her, patted the vine basket on her back to make sure that everything was still there and nothing was missing, before following her clansmen back to the Hati clan's settlement.
"We are the cubs of the wind, the freest horse-beastmen of the grasslands!"
Feng Qi suddenly raised his head.
A gentle breeze swept over her, rustling the wild grass on the ground.
She thought she heard the voices of her former clansmen, but it was probably just her imagination. They were all long dead, and the clan hadn't had a child for a long time.
The wind will not protect us.
-----------------------
Author's Note: I'm on a break again this week. I've decided to update daily for 15 days to see how it goes on the seedling list. If the readership doesn't improve, I might switch back to every other day. But I'll update regularly after it becomes a paid service! I'll probably be working six days a week and resting one day.
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