Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Yadong Leaves

Just as expected.

Yadong had barely stepped into the tribe

when he ran straight into his father Gelei and his mother Tianluo.

Beside them were bundles of gifts: sugar made from grass roots, maple sugar, several animal pelts, and more.

“Father, what’s all this—” Yadong was dumbfounded, stammering.

Tianluo raised her hand and gave Yadong a smack on the back of the head, then turned to Daya with a warm smile and said happily, “Daya, Yadong is yours to take care of from now on.”

“I… okay,” Daya replied shyly, nodding.

Nearby, the chief Gen, Muqin, and others stood quietly to the side.

At dawn, the Lion and Bear tribes would head back to their own territories. The Heluo Tribe gave them dried flour as a return gift, for them to take back to their own people.

This also signaled a silent alliance among the three tribes.

“Yadong, you’ll be staying at the Earth Tribe for three months. After three months, you’ll bring Daya back here. I’ve packed your things for you—now, go with the Earth Tribe and set off!” Tianluo said briskly.

This lucky kid had finally managed to marry a female!

Before, when Yadong had rejected Daya’s pursuit, Elder Yami had been so angry he’d given Yadong a beating, and when he got home, Tianluo and Gelei had given him another round.

But Daya was generous and didn’t hold a grudge.

Yadong’s awkwardness just made everyone frustrated with him.

So what if a male gets bossed around by a female?

It happened all the time in the Twilight Forest—he was the only one who couldn’t get over his pride.

If a male isn’t thick-skinned, how can he find a mate? Of course, Gelei and the others only discussed this in private, never out loud.

If Yadong knew that his “secret” was actually common knowledge in the tribe, he’d probably die of embarrassment.

By the time Yadong came back to his senses, he’d already left the Heluo Tribe.

“Daya, does this count as being kicked out of the tribe?” Yadong said helplessly.

Daya giggled, happily stroking the animal pelts and other gifts in the basket, and said, “The Earth Tribe and I are both happy to take care of you. Now that the tribe has seaweed sugar, we’ll be able to trade for even more things at the Normandy Market next year.”

“I think… you should come live with me in the Heluo Tribe. Here, try this,” Yadong said.

Before Lili and the others could object, he lifted the leaves covering the basket, revealing the grass root sugar and maple sugar inside. He even spotted a jar of maple syrup.

His father had really gone all out for him this time.

These sweets and gifts must have come from the tribe’s main storage cave, not just their own household stash.

The items stored in the tribe’s cave were much more refined.

“It’s so sweet—what kind of sugar is this?” Daya exclaimed.

Lili said, “I’ve had maple sugar before, but this is even sweeter and softer.”

“Grass root sugar,” Yadong explained honestly. “It’s a special sugar made by our tribe. The Heluo Tribe never lacks for sweets—if you live with me here, you’ll be well taken care of. Besides, don’t you want to live in a kiln house?”

Yadong had been to the Earth Tribe before—the Bear Tribe lived in mountain caves.

The Earth Tribe’s mountains were humid and hot; caves were drier, but still couldn’t compare to the Heluo Tribe’s kiln houses.

Unfortunately, the soil in the Earth Tribe’s mountains was too loose for building kilns.

He wondered if he could drag Changxia over to the Earth Tribe to help the Bear Tribe figure something out, maybe improve their living conditions.

But for now, that idea wasn’t realistic. He’d have to wait.

At this, Lili and the others fell silent.

Compared to the Heluo Tribe’s kiln houses, their own caves really were lacking.

So, Yadong was packed off to the Earth Tribe by his parents and the tribe, and wouldn’t be back for a while.

Baihu Kiln House

Changxia was packing up various seasonings and putting pies into Chenrong’s basket.

In the morning, they ate pies and drank leftover soup from last night—

not fancy, but good enough for a meal.

Then, the two of them headed south of Baihu Lake.

As soon as they got down the hill, they ran into Nanfeng, Nuanchun, and the others. Clearly, they knew Changxia was planning to go to the grasslands upstream of the Little River for a trial today, and they wanted to come along to check it out.

Maybe they’d catch a few lambs or wild sheep to bring back.

Hotpot lamb was delicious, but ever since the Wangyue Mountains incident, everyone had lost their appetite.

Today, Nanfeng was hoping to hunt another wild sheep,

so they could have hotpot again.

“Nuanchun, are you going to the Little River too?” Changxia asked in surprise.

Nuanchun shook her head and explained, “Shankun and I are just going to the wilds by the Little River to dig up grass roots, not to hunt on the grasslands.” With twins to look after, Nuanchun didn’t have the energy to hunt—she had to keep an eye on them even while foraging, in case they tumbled into a pit.

“I want hotpot lamb, so I’m going to the grasslands upstream of the Little River to hunt wild sheep,” Nanfeng said,

and also to back Changxia up.

Since it was Changxia’s first time in the forest, she should have been accompanied by an elder from the tribe.

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However, with Chen Rong accompanying them, the tribe had no further objections.

After all, Chen Rong’s strength had been tested by the tribe. Aside from a few elders, no totem warrior could claim they could definitely defeat him.

“Changxia, you’re carrying your sinew bow—are you planning to stay there for a few days?” Nuanchun’s gaze swept over and landed on the sinew bow slung over Changxia’s right shoulder. Her expression changed slightly, and she looked at Changxia with a hint of nervousness.

Hearing this, Shankun and Nanfeng also turned their eyes to the bow.

This bow had been specially crafted for Changxia by the clan leader, Gen.

Back then, Nanfeng had even made a fuss with Gen about it.

“I’ll probably stay for two days,” Changxia replied. “Don’t worry, I won’t go into Mount Wei. I’ll just be training on the grasslands upstream of the Xiaohechuan. I heard Elder Pukang is stationed there, so it should be safe.”

“Mount Wei—there’s been something going on there lately,” Nanfeng said with a serious face, sharing some news.

Recently, Elder Pukang had been stationed at Xiaohechuan, and the tribe’s totem warriors had increased their patrols around Mount Wei.

With all this coming and going, they’d naturally made some discoveries.

“What’s going on at Mount Wei?” Changxia asked curiously.

Nanfeng replied, “At night, there have been lights deep in Mount Wei.”

At this, even Chen Rong’s expression grew serious. The forest at night was pitch dark; it was rare to see any lights.

If there really were lights, it almost certainly meant fire was involved.

“What do the elders say?” Changxia asked softly.

Nanfeng shook her head. The lights had been discovered by patrolling totem warriors. The elders hadn’t come to any conclusions yet, but they had stepped up their guard around Mount Wei.

They were worried that some desperate wanderers might have fled from the Wangyue Mountains into Mount Wei and triggered some forbidden danger deep within.

Nanfeng guessed the tribe might be planning to send people deeper into Mount Wei to investigate the source of the lights.

However, the arrival of the Lion and Bear tribes had interrupted these plans for now. Today, the Lion and Bear tribes had already left, so the tribe would probably decide within the next day or two whether to proceed with the Mount Wei investigation.

“We’re still waiting to see what happens,” Nanfeng said.

As they spoke, the group made their way through the dense forest. Lately, many tribe members had been coming and going, so a small path had formed through the woods. Following it, they soon reached the Xiaohechuan wilderness.

It had been several days since Changxia last came to the wilderness.

The lush wild grass had been cut down, and the wilderness had been turned into fields.

Unfortunately, the tribe hadn’t planned out what to plant yet. Changxia looked at the fertile land with some regret, but said nothing.

After all, she hadn’t even finished planting the land at Baihu yet.

The Xiaohechuan wilderness was far away and not convenient for planting at the moment.