Chapter 185: Chapter 185: The “Chen Rong Brand” Warning

“Hee-hee-hee—”

Elder Pukang’s familiar, ear-piercing laughter rang in the ears of Changxia and the others.

“Little Changxia, I heard you’re planning to go train on the grasslands upstream of Xiaohechuan today?” Pukang waved at Changxia while gnawing on a grilled fish.

“Elder Pukang, I brought you some meat pies—python meat pies!”

Last night, while making pies, Changxia suddenly remembered that Elder Pukang had been staying at the Xiaohechuan wilderness lately, so she had Chen Rong help make some extra.

In public, Changxia always addressed the elders respectfully.

But when there were fewer people around, just like she called the shaman “Granny Suye,” she would call the elders “Grandpa” or “Grandma” to feel closer to them.

“Hee-hee-hee—” Pukang was overjoyed, quickly putting down his grilled fish and urging, “Little Changxia, hurry and give me those python meat pies!”

Food was Elder Pukang’s weakness.

The Heluo tribe had done a lot to help him with this weakness.

Unfortunately, Elder Pukang’s bloodline power was too strong. All these years, he’d barely managed to suppress the negative effects, and sometimes they would still flare up.

Seeing this, Chen Rong quickly handed over the basket he was carrying.

Then, he took out a rattan basket from it.

As she spoke, Changxia handed over two wooden jars she was holding.

Beside them, Nuanchun, Nanfeng, and the others exchanged glances.

No wonder everyone in the tribe adored Changxia—who wouldn’t like someone so warm-hearted?

After giving the pies and chili sauce to Elder Pukang, Changxia and Chen Rong continued upstream along the Xiaohechuan. Nanfeng had originally planned to go with them, but before she could say anything, she met Chen Rong’s gaze. Chen Rong smiled so gently that Nanfeng’s hair stood on end and she felt a chill.

So, Nanfeng gave up.

She looked up and watched as Changxia and Chen Rong gradually disappeared from view.

“Ginkgo trees—”

Changxia beamed as she looked at the ginkgo trees growing in the forest. The wilderness and the grasslands weren’t connected; a stretch of forest separated them. The forest was full of ginkgo trees.

She marveled that ginkgo nuts truly were a treasure bestowed upon the beast race by the Beast God—ginkgo trees seemed to grow everywhere.

The ginkgo trees on the forest’s edge had already been picked.

The traces were still fresh, probably left by tribe members who had come recently.

This forest was about half the size of the wilderness, and aside from some shrubs, it was filled with ginkgo trees.

From now on, the tribe would have another place to gather ginkgo nuts—here at Xiaohechuan.

“Changxia, Chen Rong.”

Just as the two of them entered the ginkgo forest, Shen Nian came out from within and greeted them.

The tribe hadn’t yet decided whether to enter Mount Wei.

Recently, Shen Nian and others had been assigned to patrol this area to prevent any accidents.

“Shen Nian, are you patrolling alone today?” Chen Rong nodded and asked.

Shen Nian replied, “Mutuo went hunting.”

Patrols were usually done in pairs—today it was Shen Nian and Mutuo.

With Elder Pukang stationed at the Xiaohechuan wilderness, Shen Nian and Mutuo were responsible for the ginkgo forest, rotating every three days. Today was their third day on patrol; after today, other totem warriors from the tribe would take over.

“Changxia, are you sure you want to go to the grasslands upstream of the Xiaohe River for your trial? Nan Feng should have told you—there have been strange happenings in the deep valleys of Wei Mountain lately…” Shen Nian looked at Changxia seriously, hoping she’d give up on the idea.

“I’m not going to Wei Mountain, and I won’t go near the Wei River. I’ll just hunt on the grasslands—what could possibly happen? Besides, Chen Rong is coming with me,” Changxia explained.

Shen Nian thought for a moment and didn’t say anything more.

Recently, quite a few tribe members had gone hunting on the grasslands upstream of the Xiaohe River.

At worst, he and Mu Tuo could keep an eye on the grasslands.

“Take these—signal flares. If anything happens, just light one. Mu Tuo and I will get there quickly, and nearby tribespeople will come too.”

In the end, Shen Nian stuffed two signal flares into Changxia’s hands.

He then watched as Changxia and Chen Rong made their way through the baiguo (ginkgo) forest, heading straight for the grasslands ahead.

A moment later—

Changxia stood at the edge of the baiguo forest, gazing out over the endless grasslands.

“Chen Rong, do you think our tribespeople ever feel tempted to dig up cogon grass roots when they see these grasslands?” Changxia suddenly blurted out. Chen Rong could only stare at her in disbelief.

If there’s one thing the grasslands aren’t short of, it’s grass.

Cogon grass, for example—not only is it everywhere, there’s a ton of it.

But normally, when people step onto the grasslands, shouldn’t they be worried about wild animals? What kind of logic was this—Changxia’s first thought was about the most unremarkable cogon grass.

She was always teasing Nan Feng, saying foodies were hopeless.

But Chen Rong felt that label fit Changxia even better.

“…” Chen Rong was speechless.

Heh heh—

Seeing Chen Rong’s exasperated expression, Changxia laughed and said, “I’m just kidding.”

Following Chen Rong’s advice, she hung her basket on a baiguo tree, tied the animal-hide pouch of seasonings to her waist, slung the quiver she took from the basket onto her back, and carried her sinew bow in her hand.

The meat pies and other things were all tied to Chen Rong.

They abandoned the basket and other bulky items.

“Let’s go!” said Chen Rong.

Changxia glanced up at the sun, silently estimating the time—about ten o’clock. Lately, she and Chen Rong had been spending time on the grasslands. Their first priority was to find a place to rest for the night; hunting came second.

In the wild, impatience and panic are your worst enemies.

On open grasslands like these, if you don’t find a good spot to camp, you’re easy prey for wild animals at night.

The tribe hadn’t hunted deeply in this area for years, so there were bound to be plenty of beasts. Livestock like cattle and sheep weren’t a concern—the real danger was from forest wolves, grassland wolves, jackals, and other predators.

Ferocious and bloodthirsty.

Once they set their sights on you, it’s a fight to the death.

“Let’s go,” said Changxia, following along as the two of them stepped onto the grasslands.

Elsewhere, in the Xiaohe River wilderness—

“Nan Feng, aren’t you going to stick close to Changxia?” Nuan Chun asked in surprise.

She’d thought Nan Feng would tag along with Changxia and Chen Rong to the grasslands upstream. After all, it was Changxia’s first trial.

Nan Feng spread her hands and replied calmly, “Do you think Chen Rong would let me?” The moment she’d mentioned wanting to go hunting there, Chen Rong had quietly warned her off.

A classic Chen Rong warning—something you just have to experience.

Upon hearing this, Nuan Chun and Shan Kun fell silent.

Clearly, they’d had similar experiences.

Chen Rong’s gentle smile always sent a chill down your spine.

Elder Pukang munched on a meat pie and said, “Changxia is under the beast god’s protection—she’ll be fine.” And even if something did happen, wasn’t he here too?

“Elder Pukang, what’s going on with Wei Mountain?” Nan Feng asked seriously.

“…Hard to say,” Pukang replied after a pause. The changes in Wei Mountain—no one could say if they were good or bad. As long as it didn’t affect the Heluo tribe, the elders could accept it.

After speaking, everyone gazed solemnly in the direction of Wei Mountain.

A moment later, Nan Feng teamed up with some tribespeople and headed toward the grasslands upstream of the Xiaohe River.