Chapter 192: Chapter 192: Is He Asleep?

“Little one, shall we go to your nest and take a nap?” Changxia gently stroked the snake cub, her voice soft as she tried to coax him.

After all, with him wrapped around her arm, there was always a risk of bumping or dropping him if she wasn’t careful. Soon, she’d need to eat and discuss things with the others, and she worried she might accidentally hurt the cub if she wasn’t paying attention.

Hiss hiss—

The snake cub flicked his tail.

It looked like he was refusing.

Changxia looked troubled.

At this moment, Elder Pukang spoke up, “Little Changxia, you don’t need to worry about him. Snake cubs are used to clinging to adult beasts from a young age. If you really put him down, he might start crying.”

Every tribe has its own customs.

Snake cubs, before they can take human form, usually coil around one of their parents and there’s no need to worry about them falling off.

“Elder Pukang, could it be that this snake cub thinks Changxia is his mother?” Yundong stroked his chin, grinning teasingly as he looked at petite Changxia and then at the cub wrapped around her arm.

Beast cubs recognize people by scent, and if they’re young enough, they can easily mistake someone else for their father or mother.

This snake cub was only a few months old.

After all he’d been through, it was almost certain he’d mistaken Changxia for his mother.

“…” Changxia was dumbfounded and gave a wry smile.

“It’s possible,” Gele nodded, agreeing with Yundong’s guess.

Off to the side, Shankun and Nanfeng stifled their laughter.

Ahem, ahem—

Chenrong cleared his throat twice, breaking the awkward silence.

“Come on, have some mutton soup.”

Soon, everyone gathered around the stove, sipping mutton soup and eating roast meat.

“Shankun, you’ll need to head back to the Lower River Wilderness soon. I expect the tribe will send someone to investigate. First it was the anaconda, now this snake cub…”

Elder Pukang’s expression was grave as he looked toward Mount Wei.

This had never happened before.

The Heluo tribe couldn’t afford to take it lightly.

Shankun nodded seriously, “Understood.”

It seemed Elder Pukang and the others wouldn’t be returning to the tribe for a while—they’d need to stay here in the Lower River area and see how things developed.

If the snake cub Changxia found really was the one lost from Snake Peak, it meant that the wanderers were bold enough to try escaping from the Moonwatch Mountains via the Wei River, hoping to use Mount Wei as cover.

But weren’t the wanderers being a bit too bold?

Mount Wei was Heluo tribe territory.

The Wei River marked the boundary: the Moonwatch Mountains belonged to Snake Peak, while Mount Wei was Heluo land. Did the wanderers not even realize that?

Even if they managed to get into Mount Wei, did they really think they could trespass on Heluo territory?

With Elder Pukang’s huge appetite, the two pots of mutton bone soup were quickly finished off, with even the bones gnawed clean.

Shankun set off right away, heading downstream along the Lower River.

He planned to report what had happened on the grasslands to the tribe, to set everyone’s minds at ease.

At the same time, the chief and elders would need to decide—

Should they enter Mount Wei or not?

“Changxia, is he asleep?” Nanfeng whispered.

Changxia raised a finger to her lips and whispered back, “Don’t wake him, he should be asleep.”

She could hear the softest of snores, gentle and light, and feel a faint warmth spreading over her arm.

“How did such a tiny cub even make it to the Lower River grasslands?” Nanfeng stared at the sleeping snake cub, full of amazement.

Never mind Mount Wei and the Wei River for now.

Just the Lower River grasslands alone were full of dangerous wild beasts.

Beastfolk and wild beasts have different scents.

If a wild beast discovered a beast cub, it would kill the cub instantly. That’s an instinct burned deep into their genes—they know that once a beast cub grows up, it will hunt them.

There’s almost no chance for peaceful coexistence between the two.

Changxia shrugged lightly and said casually, “I guess only the Beast God knows.”

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There are two possibilities: one, he was brought into the Wei River by the wanderers and managed to escape; or two, he was taken into Wei Mountain by the wanderers, all of whom died, and he was the sole survivor.

In any case, regardless of which scenario it was, the little snake cub is incredibly lucky.

“I’ve already checked the spot in Changxia where I found him. Aside from that strange branch, there were no other traces left by any beastfolk nearby,” Chen Rong said.

This means the snake cub was likely washed up onto the banks of the Xiahechuan grasslands by the river. He’s so young—there’s no way he could have ventured into the forest alone.

It’s increasingly likely that the wanderers entered Xiahechuan from the Wei River. The Wei River is extremely dangerous; almost no beastfolk would willingly take that water route. The wanderers were probably driven to desperation by the Sheyue tribe—cornered, with no other choice but to escape through the Wei River and flee the Wangyue Mountains.

But they underestimated the Wei River.

At first, everything was calm when they entered the river. Nothing happened. But as soon as they crossed into the territory of Wei Mountain, the wanderers may have encountered a terrifying river beast.

Ambushed by the river beast, the wanderers were thrown into chaos and had no time to look after the snake cub. In the chaos, the snake cub fell into the Wei River—

After all, if the wanderers had made it into Wei Mountain, the snake cub couldn’t have ended up in Xiahechuan. The Wei River flows through Wei Mountain, but that area is crawling with ferocious wild beasts, and it’s shrouded in poisonous mists all year round.

No matter how foolish the wanderers were, they wouldn’t dare go ashore and travel by land. The river was the fastest way out.

“No matter whether the wanderers entered Wei Mountain or not, we need to go there ourselves. You’ve all spent a few days on the grasslands—you must have noticed the strange lights coming from Wei Mountain at night,” Gorei analyzed in a low voice. The tribe had noticed something odd happening in Wei Mountain and had been discussing sending someone to investigate.

They just hadn’t decided exactly when to go.

Fortunately, the rainy season has passed. Even if it rains again, it won’t be as frequent or as dangerous as the first round of storms.

“It’s really bright,” Changxia nodded, her curiosity about Wei Mountain growing.

At night, the depths of Wei Mountain are ablaze with light. From a distance, it looks like a city hidden deep within the mountains, its brilliant lights illuminating even the horizon. The mysterious reputation of Wei Mountain has always lingered in the Murai Forest.

The tribe can’t afford to miss this opportunity.

Chen Rong frowned, hesitating. “Could there be some kind of glowing mineral hidden deep in Wei Mountain? Something like the lightstones the birdfolk have on the Qinghai Plateau?”

Wei Mountain is shrouded in mist all year round, and it’s always cold. The beastfolk suspect that ice crystal grass might grow deep within the mountain. Now, with these sudden lights, Chen Rong’s suspicion matches what the elders of the Heluo tribe have been guessing.

Whether it’s ice crystal grass or some kind of lightstone, the mystery of Wei Mountain must be solved. Otherwise, if word gets out about the lights at night, it’s bound to attract the attention of other beastfolk tribes. That would make things much more complicated and troublesome.

The Heluo tribe must act first—find out what’s happening in Wei Mountain, and at the same time, keep any news of possible lightstone deposits tightly sealed.