Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Reuniting with the Tribe

Hiss, hiss—

At dawn, the mist still lingered on the grasslands.

A few soft hissing sounds woke everyone from their sleep.

Chang Xia opened her eyes, looked down at the snake cub curled up against her belly, and asked softly, "Little one, are you hungry?"Hiss hiss!"The snake cub tapped Chang Xia’s hand with its tail, as if answering her question and telling her it was hungry.

Shen Rong let go of Chang Xia and got up.

"I’ll fetch some water from the river and start a fire for breakfast."Wait, I’ll come too."With that, Chang Xia got up to join him. Nearby, Nan Feng and the others yawned and stood up, stretching and moving around to wake themselves up.

Soon, everyone went to the river to wash up.

Elder Pukang returned to the spot where Chang Xia had found the snake cub and carefully checked the area twice. He confirmed that the rotten tree trunk came from Mount Wei.

"Yun Dong, walk upstream along the river—"Ge Lei, check downstream—"Elder Pukang pinched a bit of soil and rubbed it thoughtfully, then suddenly gave instructions to Yun Dong and Ge Lei. They’d arrived late to the grasslands yesterday and had only asked Chang Xia and Shen Rong about what happened, without starting a search.

Given how much the tribe valued Chang Xia…

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By rights, the reinforcements should have arrived on the grasslands last night.

However, no clansmen showed up.

It’s likely the tribe had other considerations. Now that the tribe’s support has arrived today, Elder Pukang wants to confirm whether they should head to Wei Mountain.

“Elder Pukang, Shankun didn’t come last night—” Nan Feng frowned, looking a little anxious. The grasslands aren’t far from the tribe; even traveling in beast form, it would take at most two hours on foot.

Even if Shankun was slow, he should have reached the grasslands by the second half of last night.

“Hehe—” Pukang splashed water on his face, grinning as he rinsed his mouth. “It was too late to come last night. Maybe they rested in the Baiguo forest and will move out at dawn.”

He wasn’t worried at all that something might have happened.

If something could go wrong in the small river valley, it’d be like seeing a ghost.

“I bet the chief is leading the team!” Changxia joked, holding a young beast from the Snake tribe and letting it rinse its mouth with river water, teasing Nan Feng as she spoke.

The tribe’s chief, Gen, was famous for his caution, always prioritizing safety in everything he did.

This had helped the tribe avoid many losses. People liked to joke about it, but no one ever went against Gen’s decisions.

As they chatted and laughed, the group made their way back from the river to the camp.

“Little Changxia, I’ll go hunt a black-horned cow for you,” Elder Pukang said. He knew there were wild cattle herds on the grasslands. After returning to camp, he left to hunt, as a way to make up for last night’s events. There wasn’t much food left in camp—the wild goat Changxia had hunted was already eaten, leaving only a black-horned cow and a calf.

There was plenty of baiguo (white fruit),

but fresh baiguo couldn’t be eaten directly.

It needed to be dried and ground into flour before it could be used for cooking.

Once Elder Pukang left, Nan Feng glanced at the bird eggs in Changxia’s hands. She was planning to steam them for the young Snake beast, so she said, “I’ll take a walk nearby—”

She didn’t want to put all her hopes on Elder Pukang.

Not that she doubted his hunting skills, but she worried he might go too far, and who knew when they’d get to eat black-horned beef if they waited for him?

“Go ahead! Bring back a wild chicken or rabbit for breakfast if you can,” Changxia replied.

There was still half a basket of wild vegetables they’d picked yesterday, but not much meat. There were no signs of wild cattle herds nearby, so Elder Pukang might have to go farther afield. By the time he returned, it could be well past noon!

So, they couldn’t count on him for breakfast.

Nan Feng volunteered to scout nearby, and Changxia didn’t stand on ceremony.

Soon, only Changxia, Chenrong, and the young Snake beast were left in camp. Changxia let the little beast coil around her arm as she cracked eggs to steam for it, asking Chenrong to help mince some meat for a bowl of steamed egg with minced meat.

The dish was ready, but Nan Feng still hadn’t returned.

Chenrong frowned. There was no shortage of game on the grasslands—was Nan Feng taking too long? Changxia held the wooden bowl, feeding the young Snake beast. “Don’t worry, Chenrong. Nan Feng probably just went a bit farther. She should be back soon.”

“She’s too slow!” Chenrong grumbled.

If he’d known Nan Feng would take so long, he would’ve let her stay in camp with Changxia and gone hunting himself.

Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps approached.

Changxia and Chenrong exchanged glances, quickly standing up to look into the distance.

When they saw who it was, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Nan Feng was leading a large group of clansmen back. No wonder she’d been gone so long—she must have run into Chief Gen and the others, which delayed her, so they all returned together.

“Chief—”

“Changxia, where’s the young Snake beast?”

“Here, he’s coiled around my arm.”

Changxia stretched out her left arm so Gen could get a closer look.

Gen reached out to touch the young Snake beast, carefully examining the Beast God’s mark to confirm its identity.

“Yes, this is definitely a Snake tribe cub,” Gen nodded gravely. “This little one is truly blessed—surviving the Wei River and being found by you. He’s got a tough life!”

The Wei River—

Even adult beastfolk could lose their lives there, let alone a cub.

This young Snake beast had only a few minor scratches, not a single serious wound. Gen’s praise wasn’t exaggerated.

“Chief, did you send word to the Kanashan Witch Hall?” Changxia asked.

Gen nodded. “Don’t worry, I had someone deliver the news to Kanashan Witch Hall. I expect the witch already knows, and has probably informed the Snake Mountain tribe as well.”

Arriving at the camp, Gen noticed Elder Pukang and the others weren’t there.

“Chenrong, where are Elder Pukang and the others?”

“Elder Pukang went hunting. Uncle Gorei is searching downstream along the river, and Uncle Yundong is scouting upstream,” Chenrong briefly explained everyone’s whereabouts.

Gen relaxed.

He’d been worried Elder Pukang might have led people into Wei Mountain.

Wei Mountain had always been peaceful—why had it suddenly changed? Then again, Gen suspected the mountain might have changed long ago, but the tribe hadn’t paid attention, so they hadn’t noticed anything until now.

This time, Changxia had wanted to divert fresh water into the cave dwellings,

and by accident, they’d run into that giant anaconda,

drawing the tribe’s attention to the small river valley and revealing the abnormal situation at Wei Mountain.

If not for the appearance of the wanderer,

Gen wouldn’t have been so anxious. Even the Heluo tribe hadn’t noticed the changes at Wei Mountain.

Most other beastfolk tribes in the Twilight Forest probably wouldn’t have noticed either.

But at this critical moment, a wanderer had stumbled into the Wei River—

Damn!

Gen really wanted to curse out loud to vent his frustration.

Everyone got busy in the camp, helping Changxia and Nan Feng prepare breakfast. After all, they might have to head to Wei Mountain soon—there was no reason to delay any longer.

“Changxia, how’s the rookie trial going this time?” Gen asked, collecting his thoughts.

Changxia looked up and replied, “Very well. I hunted two wild goats—the goat bone soup we had last night was from my hunt.”

"Well done!"Gen said with satisfaction.

After that, Changxia told Gen about their encounter with the carcass and hyenas when they first entered the grasslands. One by one, she recounted everything that had happened to them on the grassland.

The tribespeople listened quietly, and the smiles on their faces grew more genuine with each story.

The beastfolk live in the forest. If they can't hunt or gather, they might starve to death. The young ones they used to protect can now hunt for themselves—this filled Gen and the others with pride and joy.