Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Changxia Gets Knocked Out

“Hee-hee—”

Elder Pukang laughed heartily, casually clenching his fists.

Instantly, two thunderous booms echoed across the grasslands under the night sky.

Bang! Bang!

It sounded like spring thunder, startling everyone. Changxia felt dizzy and instinctively shielded the snake cub clinging to her arm. She wasn’t far from Elder Pukang, and even after several seconds, her head was still buzzing from the noise.

“Elder Pukang!” Nan Feng called out in a low, angry voice, gritting her teeth. “Did you forget that Changxia and the snake cub are here?”

Chen Rong was even quicker to react.

Seeing Elder Pukang raise his hand, Chen Rong moved fast, pulling Changxia into his arms to shield her. At the same time, he covered Changxia’s ears with both hands.

Unfortunately, they were still too close to Elder Pukang.

Elder Pukang froze, giving a sheepish grin. This time, he didn’t dare make another sound.

Changxia, still woozy, leaned against Chen Rong and whispered, “The snake cub…”

“He’s fine,” Chen Rong replied, handing the snake cub from Changxia’s arm to Nan Feng for safekeeping. Clearly, the little snake cub was just as dazed as Changxia—limp as a piece of string in Nan Feng’s hands.

“Chen Rong, is Changxia alright?” Yun Dong asked anxiously.

Gorei came over to help check her carefully, finally breathing a sigh of relief. If anything happened to Changxia, they’d all be in for a beating when they got back to the tribe.

She survived the trial unscathed, only to get knocked out by Elder Pukang.

No one would escape punishment for that.

“Chen Rong, is little Changxia hurt?” Pukang asked in a low voice.

But what Elder Pukang considered “low” was only a little quieter than his usual booming laugh.

Before Chen Rong could answer, Gorei and Yun Dong quickly grabbed Elder Pukang and dragged him several steps away.

Once they were far enough from Changxia, they let go of Elder Pukang.

“Elder Pukang, please stay quiet for now. I think as long as you do, Changxia will be fine,” Nan Feng said, the corners of her mouth twitching.

She never thought she’d see friendly fire happen right in front of her.

Nan Feng didn’t know whether to complain about how fragile Changxia was, or to praise Elder Pukang for being so strong. In the past, she and the others used to tease Chen Rong for being weak.

Changxia—

Everyone in the Heluo tribe knows she’s frail.

In the past, everyone was always extra careful with their words and actions around her. Lately, though, since Changxia came of age and got healthier, people have started to relax a bit—they’re not as uptight around her as they used to be.

Elder Pukang is so carefree that he forgot how delicate Changxia is. In his excitement, he lost control and caused trouble.

Two punches, and Changxia was knocked out.

The other elders always used to say someone needed to keep an eye on Elder Pukang—turns out they knew what they were talking about! If any of them had been here today, they probably could have stopped this disaster.

---"I'm so dizzy!"Chang Xia muttered.

She felt as if countless little stars were swirling around her head.

Shen Rong gently covered Chang Xia's eyes with his hand and said softly, "Chang Xia, close your eyes and rest for a bit. The dizziness will pass soon."As he spoke, he untied the medicine pouch at his waist.

He took out a small box of ointment, dabbed a little on the pad of his pinky finger, and gently applied it to Chang Xia's temples, slowly massaging it in so the ointment would spread.

A cool, menthol-like scent filled the air, gradually clearing the dizziness from Chang Xia's mind.

Slowly, Chang Xia began to recover.

The little snake cub nearby was actually in better shape than Chang Xia. After lying limp for a short while, it wriggled back up, poking its little head around as if searching for something.

It seemed to be looking for Chang Xia.

But Shen Rong had just applied ointment to Chang Xia, and the fresh scent masked her own smell.

For a moment, the snake cub was confused and couldn't pinpoint Chang Xia's location. So it ended up rearing its upper body and swaying side to side, looking for all the world like it was dancing.

Honestly, it was pretty amusing.

Leaning against Shen Rong's chest, Chang Xia watched the little snake cub with interest and sighed, "No wonder snake cubs are so tough! Their constitution is amazing!"At the same time, she lamented how weak the chinchilla tribe was—even a snake cub was stronger than her. The beast tribe’s weak ones really weren’t joking—they truly were weak!

"Little Chang Xia, I'm sorry!"Elder Pukang apologized, looking guilty.

Chang Xia waved her hand dismissively.

"Elder Pukang, it's just that I'm too weak. It’s not your fault, don’t worry… I’ll work hard to train and get stronger as soon as I can."In the past, if she’d been knocked out like this, she wouldn’t have woken up so quickly. She’d have had to lie in the beast nest for at least seven or eight days.

But this time, she’d only been dizzy for a short while, and Chang Xia was thrilled.

"Hee hee—"Even Elder Pukang’s laughter was a bit more restrained than usual.

Nearby, Yun Dong, Ge Lei, and the others looked at Chang Xia with eyes full of affection.

They really liked Chang Xia’s spirit—so full of life and vitality. She might be weak, but she was more vibrant than anyone else.

That was why the tribe was so fond of Chang Xia.

Every time, they worried she wouldn’t make it, but she always managed to create a miracle.

Again and again, she fought with death—and survived, always greeting them with a bright, lively smile. Just seeing that smile made people want to protect her with all their strength and help her grow strong.

As everyone chatted, night deepened.

Ge Lei was assigned to keep watch for the night, while the others closed their eyes to rest. Meanwhile, Shan Kun returned downstream and ran into Chief Gen and the rest of the tribe, who were hurrying upstream, weapons in hand and looking fierce.

The two groups met and exchanged information on the spot.

Shan Kun told Chief Gen about how Chang Xia had found the snake cub upstream.

After hearing this, Gen and the others exchanged serious glances.

As they’d suspected, the rumors were true.

The runaways had really dared to sneak into Wei River.

Gen glanced back at his tribesmen and called out a totem warrior, instructing him to hurry to the Kanasha Holy Mountain’s shaman hall and report that Chang Xia had found a snake cub. The shaman could then contact the Snake Mountain tribe to inquire about the cub. Only the shaman had the ability to communicate with other beast tribes over long distances—something no one else could do.

However, this ability had its limits.

The shaman had to be in the shaman hall to make contact.

At the same time, Gen had the tribesmen patrolling the wilds send word back to the tribe about what had happened on the upstream grasslands, so Elder Yami could be prepared and not let the enemy catch them off guard—though the chances were slim.

Then, under Shan Kun’s guidance, Gen led a dozen tribesmen straight for the upstream grasslands.

Back at the tribe, Elder Yami received word about what had happened upstream.

Immediately, she arranged for the totem warriors to patrol the area around the tribe in shifts, and instructed the elders to keep a close eye on the tribe’s cubs—no one was to leave the tribe, and no cub was to be out of sight.

In an instant, the peaceful and harmonious Heluo tribe was on high alert.

The whole tribe was on guard.