The Xia clan, which originated from the forest, is distinct from the amphibious beastmen.
Migrating sea creatures come to the sea cave in groups, and then leave in groups.
The unicorn people know the habits of sea monsters and won't catch too many from the same group. During the hot season, half of their people stay here, and when they see a group of sea monsters coming, they catch a few and then release the rest.
Sometimes, when they see other creatures in the sea trying to eat the sea monsters, they will kill or drive away those big fish for the sea monsters.
All of this is so that the sea monsters will choose to rest here again during their next migration, allowing them to catch sea monsters every hot season. Because sea monster meat is truly delicious, they are reluctant to let the sea monster herds leave this place.
The Xia clan stayed briefly at the seaside for a few days, packing the frozen sea beasts given to them by the orcs, including Half-Full Horn and Hornless by the Water, and prepared to set off today for a place suitable for large-scale salt production.
"We've lingered by the sea for too long; it's time to go somewhere else. Lan, let's part ways here." Lin Shui Wu Jiao, unusually appearing in human form, stood before Lan.
The hornless beastmen are the same height as the unicorn beastmen; their human and beast forms are roughly the same length.
Jiang Yunlan looked at the hornless beastman who was slightly taller than her and nodded, saying, "I will take the sea beasts that you specially used to freeze into ice back to the clan."
Lin Shui chuckled twice upon hearing this, raised his hand to pat the frozen sea beast on the back of his beast-shaped clansman, and looked at Lan with his beautiful blue eyes, as blue as the ocean. "Don't worry, I guarantee the ice won't have melted when you return to the clan. If you can't untie the ice, let Freya do it. It's made of ice and snow, this ice won't be a problem for it."
From following Lan's group until now, the hornless beastmen have finally annoyed Ice Crystal so much that she's finally willing to tell them her name.
Jiang Yunlan laughed along with her, but after a while, she stopped laughing and looked at her with concern: "You are the only one left in your clan who still has the power of ice and snow. When you go to find the orc who killed Isidor this time, you must be extremely careful. Only by surviving can you take revenge."
The hornless amphibious beastmen laughed, offering no definite answer. In their quest to find Istol, they were only willing to nurture and hatch their cubs once every few snow seasons; expecting them to remain calm upon seeing the beastmen who had killed Istol was utterly impossible.
Perhaps it was because they were about to part ways, or perhaps it was because Freya was awake at the moment, Lin Shui Wu Jiao simply smiled, the atmosphere around them was calm, and he did not utter any "kill kill kill" words.
"If we survive to the end, Lan, I think I will bring my people to your clan."
The tiny amphibious beastman, Lin Shui-wu-jiao, spoke softly, as if expressing a dreamlike and beautiful expectation, "Being by your side feels very relaxing. I like it very much, and my people like it very much too. I always feel that if we were in your clan, even we could be very happy."
Unfortunately, we can't stop.
The amphibious beastman bid farewell to Jiang Yunlan, Xia's beastmen and their kind, and then walked away into the distance.
Until no orcs could see them anymore.
Jiang Yunlan looked at the empty road, sighed, turned around and said goodbye to the half-full horn and other orcs, then got into the wooden cart and drove along the sea.
She couldn't stop the amphibious orcs, yearning for revenge, just as she couldn't stop the Zerans from resolutely embarking on a journey to find their kind. All she could do was let Xia develop until, one day, Xia's protection reached them.
Alternatively, provide them with a place to rest when they feel tired and need to recuperate.
Xia found a suitable rocky surface for salt production some distance from the sea cave. Jiang Yunlan designated this as Salt Field No. 1, deciding to use it for salt production when she came to trade with the unicorn people again.
The weather by the sea is not always sunny, and the Xia clan has been caught off guard by sudden rainstorms.
Fortunately, they eventually made it back to the clan with a lot of coarse salt, though it took longer than originally expected.
Among the group were female orcs involved in flower cultivation, some of whom were now showing signs of carrying cubs. Jiang Yunlan was worried that constantly traveling would be bad for them, so she would occasionally tell the group to stop and rest.
Before she could even get back to the clan's settlement, it was already past the latest time she had told Maple to inform them.
The Xia clan orcs, who had gone out to search for them, saw them and called out to them with joy.
Xia's orcs followed the signs from their habitat and were surprised to find Jiang Yunlan and her group just as they left the grassland.
"Lan, why are you back so late?" Lupu asked, running alongside the group. She wasn't pregnant this time; she was the one leading the search party.
Jiang Yunlan leaned out of the car to look at her and said apologetically, "We went to another place and were delayed on the road. But we brought back a lot of things."
Hearing Lan say this, she didn't look back at the supplies in the team, but just kept running and saying, "Lan must have brought back a lot of good things. I want to see them all when we get back. Lan, let me tell you, before we set off, Grey Honey was very worried about you. Before dawn, she called Maple Sugar to prepare supplies and arrange the orcs."
"But I knew you wouldn't be in any danger. Just as I thought. Lan, you took your people somewhere else, didn't you?" She smiled, her voice filled with helplessness.
She knew it! With Hati, Yan Duoyu, Feng Hong, and the others going with them, plus Lan, there was no need to worry. The fact that they hadn't returned by the latest time clearly meant something had delayed them.
Lupu couldn't understand Grey Honey's worries. After all, the orc who needed the least worry was Lan. Lan was incredibly powerful; although his combat strength couldn't compare to their wolf orcs, there were still other powerful orcs in the group.
The habitat of the Xia clan.
Jiang Yunlan returned to the clan, checking the supplies she had brought back while writing a list of them. Every now and then, she would turn to her clansmen and ask them to carry away the items that had been recorded.
“Keep this much rice and wheat as seeds,” she said, tapping on the rice and wheat closest to her, then pointing to another pile of less rice and wheat. “After hulling, put those in the canteen kitchen so the head chef’s orcs can cook a portion of them each day.”
The beastmen noted it down and moved it to a suitable place for storage.
"Lan, we're here to help you." Gray Honey suddenly appeared with Ink Velvet, followed by a group of orcs who had just freed up some time to receive the task of moving supplies.
The cart, which was already emptying quickly, was emptied even faster. In no time, all the supplies were gathered, and the wooden cart was pushed to the storage area.
The orcs, returning from their outings, breathed a sigh of relief, having given themselves a day off. They happily rushed to the canteens to see if there were any new dishes to eat. Using their work points, they shopped at both canteens, snacking as they strolled through the shops. Occasionally, they bumped into familiar orcs and pulled them along.
Let me see what good stuff the clan has produced today.
Jiang Yunlan saw them happily slip away and smiled as she called Hui Mi and Mo Rong back to the Central Building.
"Lan just got back, let her rest for a day before dealing with things." Hui Mi walked to Lan's left, advising helplessly, and took the list of items Lan was carrying in her arms.
She finally understood that Lan was a restless person who always liked to work longer than other beastmen before taking a break.
Jiang Yunlan's hands were now empty. She blinked and said to Hui Mi, who for some reason often advised her to rest, "It's because I just got back that I have to take care of things. I've been resting in the car lately, so I'm not very tired. I'll take another day off the day after tomorrow."
With Hui Mi constantly nagging her, she has now forced herself to set lunch and evening rest times, and also gives herself a day off every six days.
Of course, while she was on holiday, whether she was busy with other things, well, she wouldn't say.
Grey Honey looked at her disapprovingly, but unable to persuade her, she reached out and ruffled her hair in annoyance. "I'll help you with the clan's affairs. Leave the central house early these next couple of days and wander around the clan."
“In the past, you often went to the open space near the trading area to tell stories to your people. During this time, you took other members of your tribe out and didn’t tell stories there. The beastmen in the tribe would still gather there to talk about their experiences. The wolf beastmen have been to many places, and each time they told different stories.”
"And that kid you encouraged to write a book, he and his friends often go there to tell their new stories. I've heard it a few times, it's pretty good..."
Grey Honey withdrew her hand and walked beside Lan, slowly recounting interesting stories about the tribe.
Mo Rong walked on the other side of Lan, supplementing what Hui Mi hadn't said. Her demeanor was much more composed than before, and she looked somewhat like Hui Mi's adult demeanor.
"Squeak—"
Jiang Yunlan pushed open the door to the central room, and Maple Syrup, who was sitting inside writing furiously, immediately looked up.
"Lan, you're back." She held a bamboo pen in one hand and pressed down on the mediation report that Yan Lin had written yesterday with the other, casually adding the word "read" to it. She thought to herself that next time she should ask A Bai to write the report, as Yan Lin's report was too complicated to describe, so she shouldn't show it to Lan.
Seeing the weariness written all over her face, Jiang Yunlan responded and walked to her desk, extending her hand. "Have you encountered something difficult to solve? Let me see."
"I was looking at yesterday's report, written by Yanlin..." Maple Syrup said.
Jiang Yunlan suddenly realized and patted her shoulder lightly, "I'm sorry to have troubled you. Yanlin has a sharp tongue, you'll get used to it."
She responded, becoming even more determined to have Ah Bai write the report. Then, she put down her pen and began to tell Lan about the fox beastmen and the grassland sheep beastmen.
"Huh? You mean, the fox beastmen want to join Xia, even though there are no dormitories for them to live in right now, they still want to join first?" Jiang Yunlan asked blankly.
Maple Syrup recalled the image of the fox-beast chieftain pretending not to be in a hurry, but actually having his tail taut with tension. She silently covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled, "Yes. It seems that they heard the grassland sheep-beastmen also had the idea of joining Xia, and they were worried that the grassland sheep-beastmen would beat them to it."
"That's what they say, but I haven't seen any grassland sheep-orcs come to inquire about joining Xia yet."
Jiang Yunlan understood, and said hesitantly, "If they are willing, that's fine too. As for giving them dormitories, let's postpone that for now. The hatchlings will be appearing soon, and the clan has been preparing housing for them, as well as a hatchling nursery. It will probably be quite late before we can continue building the dormitories."
"Their clan's cubs must be born soon. If they join Xia, the fox-beastman cubs can be raised together with the cubs of other races."
The concept of family is too far removed from the current Xia clan orcs. Newborn cubs are raised and educated by the clan as a whole, and once they grow up, they are expected to support the clan in return.
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