Chapter 209: Chapter 209: The Young One Leaves

“Hiss hiss—”

The young serpent beast bared its tiny pink gums in anger.

It was clear he was furious—and also, he was tattling to Changxia.

“Changxia, he’s complaining to you,” Nan Feng couldn’t help but laugh, tying up the now-human wanderer with vines and tossing him aside. Turning back, she saw the little snake glaring with big, indignant eyes, gesturing furiously—well, as much as a snake could, since he had no hands or feet.

He kept slapping Changxia’s arm with his tail, letting out sharp hisses. It was honestly adorable!

“Ahem!” Changxia cleared her throat and said gently, “Easy, little one. The bad guy’s been beaten by Aunt Nan Feng—no one can bully you anymore.”

She cupped the little snake in her hands.

“Good boy!” Chen Rong reached out and patted the little snake’s head.

With Changxia and Chen Rong’s reassurance, the chattering little snake finally calmed down. Watching him slither around, Chen Rong picked him up and set him on his own shoulder, letting the little snake nuzzle against his neck.

Settled on Chen Rong’s shoulder, the little snake quieted.

He pressed his head against Chen Rong’s neck, flicked out his tongue to lick Chen Rong’s ear, then happily hissed twice at Changxia.

“Changxia, is everything alright over here?”

Gen and the others returned from the dense forest, with Gorei and Yundong each dragging a captive behind them.

“Qianbai?” Pukang glanced at the vagabond in Gorei’s grasp, surprised. “No wonder the vagabonds managed to sneak into the Wangyue Mountains and hunt an anaconda—it was that tiger cub who led the way. The Yuanhu Tribe is in real trouble this time!”

The Sheyue Tribe wouldn’t let Qianbai off the hook, and the Heluo Tribe had similar intentions.

Qianbai, now reduced to a vagabond, had nothing left to his name. But the Yuanhu Tribe behind him wouldn’t escape unscathed either.

No matter whether Qianbai had been expelled from the Yuanhu Tribe, his origins there were an undeniable fact. In contrast, the other two vagabonds were hardly worth mentioning.

“Traitor,” Gen snorted coldly.

If he didn’t need Qianbai to confront the Yuanhu Tribe, Gen would never have let him live this long. People like him are better off dead!

“Chief, what should we do with them?” Changxia asked.

“I plan to take them to the Shaman Hall on Mount Kana and hand them over to the shamans,” Gen replied. Judging by the time, the Sheyue Tribe should have arrived at Mount Kana by now. Sending Qianbai and the other two to the Shaman Hall at this moment was just right.

Even if the Sheyue Tribe lost their heads, they wouldn’t storm Wei Mountain like the vagabonds did.

Otherwise, that would be a direct provocation to the Heluo Tribe.

The best move would be for the Sheyue Tribe to send someone to the Shaman Hall on Mount Kana, ask the shamans to intervene, and request permission from the Heluo Tribe to enter Wei Mountain.

Now, both the snake cub and the vagabonds had been found.

There was no need for the Sheyue Tribe to enter Wei Mountain, and the Heluo Tribe could keep the news of the mountain’s anomaly under wraps—a win-win situation.

“Mmmph, mmmph—”

Qianbai started struggling as soon as he heard Gen say he’d be handed over to the shamans.

Clearly, he’d guessed the Heluo Tribe’s intentions. They didn’t plan to deal with him themselves, but instead would use the shamans to contact the Yuanhu Tribe.

Ever since he’d been expelled from the Yuanhu Tribe, Qianbai knew he could never go back. If he returned, he’d be as good as dead. Now, with the Heluo Tribe sending him back in this roundabout way, his fate would be worse than death.

“He looks pretty happy—” Nan Feng teased.

Changxia turned away, her expression pleased, while Qianbai’s face flushed with anger. If his mouth weren’t stuffed with vines, he’d probably be cursing up a storm.

Anyone with eyes could see: once Qianbai was sent back to the Yuanhu Tribe, the tigers would never let him off easy.

Leading vagabonds to attack the snake tribe in the Twilight Forest was a capital offense. What’s more, Qianbai was already an outcast from the Yuanhu Tribe.

With all these crimes stacked up, his fate was truly pitiful.

“Chief, are you taking the snake cub to the Shaman Hall too?” Changxia asked.

Gen nodded. “Yes. He’s a snake cub—he can’t stay in the Heluo Tribe.”

“When will you leave?” Changxia pressed. She understood the snake cub was to be returned to the Sheyue Tribe. Among beast tribes, offspring were highly valued—no tribe would abandon their own cubs. She might be an “exception.”

Well, maybe an accident.

But whatever the reason, Changxia didn’t want to dwell on it. She used to be the Heluo Tribe’s cub, and from now on, she’d only ever be a Heluo female.

“Now,” Gen replied.

“Uh! Right now?” Changxia was startled—she hadn’t expected Gen to leave immediately. She thought they’d check Wei Mountain one more time before setting out.

Gorei explained, “We’ve interrogated Qianbai and confirmed only the three of them survived from the Wei River to Wei Mountain.” The details matched their earlier suspicions.

They wanted to hurry to the Shaman Hall on Mount Kana, partly to keep news of the mountain’s anomaly from spreading—at least until the Heluo Tribe figured out what was going on. They didn’t want other beast tribes in the Twilight Forest to notice Wei Mountain.

Qianbai and his group had just entered Wei Mountain and didn’t know about the anomaly yet.

If they’d arrived any later, things might have turned out differently.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Gen decided to set out for the Shaman Hall immediately, handing Qianbai and the others over to the Sheyue Tribe, and making things difficult for the Yuanhu Tribe in the process.

“Should I pack some food?” Changxia asked.

Gen shook his head. “No need. Chenrong, give me the snake cub. Gorei stays here, Yundong escorts Qianbai. I’ll take five people with me; the rest stay in Wei Mountain to investigate. I’ll send news of the mountain back to the tribe…”

Gen reached out and took the snake cub, then turned to leave.

Changxia quickly called out, “Chief, wait a moment. Let me prepare some food for the snake cub—he’s still young and gets hungry easily.”

Hearing this, Gen stopped.

They weren’t hungry, but the snake cub was different.

“Hiss, hiss—”

The snake cub kept hissing in Gen’s hands.

Changxia hurried inside to prepare food for him, not stopping to comfort him.

“Be good, little one. The chief will take you home to find your parents—don’t fuss,” Chenrong said gently, soothing the frightened snake cub.

Gradually, the snake cub quieted down, lying still in Gen’s hands.

Changxia returned, packing a few pieces of stewed venison and black rain meat, along with some wild grass roots, into a clean beast pouch. They’d just arrived at Wei Mountain and didn’t have much, so she packed whatever she could find for the snake cub.

From what Gen said, they’d be traveling as fast as possible to the Shaman Hall on Mount Kana.

With their beast forms, it would take at most a day and a half to get there. The food in the pouch would be enough for the snake cub until then.

Outside, Gen took the pouch from Changxia.

He transformed, and with Gorei and Fenghuo’s help, tied up Qianbai and the other two with vines and packed them into a basket. Yundong and the others carried them away from Wei Mountain.

The once-bustling stone den fell quiet.

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The departure of the little snake beast left Chang Xia feeling momentarily out of sorts. She couldn’t help but reach out to touch her left arm, as if sensing something there.