Chapter 207: Chapter 207: Traces of the Wanderer

“Hee-hee—”

“Little Chang Xia, what are you cooking? It smells amazing!”

A familiar laugh came from outside, along with Elder Pukang’s voice.

Chief Gen quickly stood up to greet him, replying, “Fenghuo hunted a forest deer on Wei Mountain, and Chang Xia made a pot of venison stew.”

Just as he finished speaking, Gen noticed the forest deer slung over Elder Pukang’s shoulder.

But the deer Pukang hunted was even bigger than Fenghuo’s, with larger and more imposing antlers.

“Hee-hee—” Pukang laughed heartily and said, “I hunted a forest deer too. It seems a new herd has appeared on Wei Mountain—probably wandered over from the Moonwatch Mountains.”

“Elder Pukang, the Moonwatch Mountains and Wei Mountain have always kept to themselves. What’s going on with the forest deer? Has something really happened between the two places?” As he spoke, Gen’s expression grew serious.

“It’s nothing. Deer herds have wandered over from the Moonwatch Mountains before. It’s just that our tribe hunted them so aggressively that we wiped them out,” Pukang waved his hand, unconcerned. If it were any other animal, he might worry a bit.

But if it’s deer—

That’s really not an issue.

Deer are special creatures with incredible leaping ability.

The Moonwatch Mountains and Wei Mountain are separate ranges; most animals wouldn’t cross between them to live and breed. But deer herds have no trouble with that.

Hearing this, everyone was shocked.

So that’s why there are no deer herds left in the territory.

Turns out, the tribe ate them all?

This news left not just the younger ones like Chang Xia speechless—even Chief Gen could only stare at Elder Pukang in disbelief.

To say something so embarrassing with such a straight face—only Elder Pukang could pull that off. Respect!

Thud—

Elder Pukang dropped the deer outside and strode into the stone beast den.

“There’s a salty and tangy aroma in the air—Little Chang Xia, what new dish have you come up with this time?” Pukang said as he walked in. “Gen, keep an eye on that deer. I only knocked it out, didn’t kill it. If I killed it, the smell of blood might cause trouble.”

Hearing this, Gen hurried over to check.

“Yundong, go fetch some vines.”

Worried the deer might wake up and escape, Gen stayed nearby and told Yundong to cut some vines from around the den to tie the deer up.

Inside, Chang Xia fetched water for Elder Pukang to wash his face and hands.

She had specially prepared the sauces for him.

Chen Rong got up to cut more meat—what they’d eaten earlier wasn’t nearly enough for Elder Pukang.

“Elder Pukang, this seasoning tree was found by Uncle Gore. It bears two kinds of wild fruit: the caramel-colored one is called ‘soy fruit.’ I call the juice ‘light soy sauce,’ and the pulp ‘dark soy sauce.’ Both can be used in cooking, and they taste great. The reddish-brown one is called ‘vinegar fruit,’ and its juice is edible vinegar.”

As she spoke, Chang Xia placed the two sauces in front of Elder Pukang, letting him dip the venison in either sauce or vinegar to try.

She put the soy fruit pulp in a separate bowl.

Dark soy sauce isn’t suitable as a dipping sauce—it’s best for braising.

With soy fruit, she could make all kinds of braised dishes.

Ah—

Just thinking about all the delicious braised dishes she could make, Chang Xia felt this trip was totally worth it!

Discovering the seasoning tree was by far the biggest win. If she could transplant it back to the White Lake cave, that would be even better. But the warm season isn’t ideal for transplanting trees—even if it’s possible, it’ll have to wait until next spring, when the seasons change.

Besides transplanting, Chang Xia also wanted to learn more about the fruiting habits of the seasoning tree.

How many times a year do the soy and vinegar fruits ripen? How much can be harvested each time?

She needed to figure all this out.

And how many seasoning trees grew on Wei Mountain? The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to run over to the place where Gore picked the seasoning fruit and see for herself.

“Not bad, not bad—”

Elder Pukang took several bites before praising it.

Clearly, he enjoyed both the soy sauce and the vinegar.

“Elder Pukang, is there anything unusual on Wei Mountain?” Gen asked as Yundong returned with vines and tied up the deer’s legs. Gen went back into the den to ask about Wei Mountain.

Their purpose in coming to Wei Mountain was twofold: to investigate the wanderers, and to look into the strange happenings on the mountain. They weren’t here just to eat—they couldn’t lose sight of their priorities.

“There is. I found traces of a campfire,” Pukang said coldly.

The wanderers were more capable than expected—they’d actually made it alive from the Moonwatch Mountains to Wei Mountain. The reason they hadn’t shown up by the river yet was probably because they didn’t know the way and were temporarily trapped on Wei Mountain.

If the Heluo tribe hadn’t discovered it in time, the next time the wanderers appeared, it could very well be right near the tribe. Just the thought of that was enough to make Gen and the others fall silent.

Chen Rong’s hand, halfway to picking up some food, paused for a moment.

“If the wanderers really are hiding somewhere in Mount Wei, the smoke we sent up last night might have already drawn their attention.”

Yesterday, they had burned mugwort openly, without trying to hide it.

The smoke from mugwort was thick, and wild beasts would stay away because of it.

But the wanderers would definitely have seen the smoke curling above the stone beast den.

Everyone in the stone beast den exchanged glances.

“This morning, we checked the area and didn’t notice anything unusual.”

“Maybe they’re just farther away. The wanderers haven’t made it here yet, but if we wait a bit longer, things might change.”

With that thought, everyone sped up their eating.

There were over twenty people in their group—enough that the wanderers wouldn’t dare make a move. But if only three or five people were out and about, desperate wanderers would definitely take the risk.

No one said this out loud.

But everyone understood.

A quarter of an hour passed.

Even Elder Pukang didn’t linger over his food. Changxia had originally planned to check on the seasoning trees, but with the possibility of wanderers hiding nearby, she decided to stay at the stone beast den with Nan Feng, Elder Pukang, and Chen Rong. She also kept the young snake beast hidden on her person. Chief Gen led the others to quickly hide, spreading out in concealed spots around the stone beast den.

Hunting and gathering would have to wait. Right now, catching the wanderers was the top priority.

“Elder Pukang, how many wanderers do you think survived?” Nan Feng asked in a low voice.

Elder Pukang’s face was serious as he thought for a moment. “No more than five. Some are probably injured. Mount Wei is different from other mountains—danger lurks everywhere. They wouldn’t dare go deeper, but they also wouldn’t risk leaving the mountain.”

“Burning mugwort yesterday was the right call!” Changxia sighed.

The wanderers hadn’t even bothered to cover their campfire traces, which probably meant things weren’t going well for them. Now, seeing signs of beastfolk activity in Mount Wei, they could easily guess there was a tribe nearby.

For the sake of survival, even knowing the risks—

They’d still be willing to take the gamble.

Nan Feng’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Can I take a walk near the beast den?”

“Nan Feng, don’t be reckless,” Changxia warned.

The wanderers were a group of vicious thugs. If Nan Feng wanted to risk her life, Changxia definitely wouldn’t allow it.

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