Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Planning the Tribe

In the early morning, mist swirled around.

The sun hadn’t yet risen above the horizon, and the early birds were already chirping and calling to each other.

Chen Rong bent over to steam rice noodles. No grilled meat this morning—Chang Xia wanted something simple: cold rice noodle salad. Then, they’d go for a walk around White Lake, to gather some wild vegetables and roots, and to survey the area.

After all, they’d be living here from now on, so it was important to get to know the surroundings.

“Chen Rong, you’re up early!” Gen waved and smiled. He’d brought the newly drawn map of the tribe, planning to discuss road construction, sewers, and toilets with Chang Xia.

Early in the morning, tribe members were already squatting outside his beast den, waiting for him to confirm things with Chang Xia so they could start building kilns.

Lately, the weather was getting hotter.

There was more moisture in the air—it was clear the rainy season was coming soon.

Maybe ten days at most, maybe just five or six.

The tribe wanted to get the kilns built before the rains came. The other details could be sorted out during the rainy season.

With all the different ways to cook fruit powder that Chang Xia had introduced, plus chicken, duck, fish, and more, even if the hunting teams didn’t go out during the rainy season, the Heluo tribe wouldn’t have to worry about going hungry.

There was a bit less chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and it was a bit more troublesome to prepare.

But, following the cooking methods Long Xia taught, the food turned out delicious.

This greatly boosted the enthusiasm of the tribe members. They no longer focused only on hunting large prey, which made the hunting parties much safer, and the tribe never lacked food—truly a win-win situation.

Long Xia’s reputation in the tribe was now almost surpassing that of Gen, the chief.

“Chief, is there something you need so early in the morning?” Long Xia asked curiously.

The cave dwellings had been completed, and the tribe members were enjoying their convenience and safety. She thought Gen would be busy, so why had he come all the way from the tribe to Bai Lake at this hour?

Without a word, Gen placed the rattan basket on the long table.

“Long Xia, come take a look,” Gen said. “All these spots with circles are places the tribe members have picked for building new caves. Before, didn’t you say we should build roads, sewers, and toilets? I wanted to ask your opinion—where should we build the roads, and how should we construct the sewers and toilets?”

The shaman usually didn’t get involved in the construction of beast tribes.

So Gen hadn’t thought of asking Su Ye for advice.

Similarly, the He Luo tribe was different from other beast tribes. The tribe members didn’t have much desire for power; if something needed to be done, Gen would handle it or discuss it with everyone. The tribe elders never interfered in tribal affairs.

For big matters like expanding the tribe, after discussing it yesterday,

everyone agreed that Gen could consult with Long Xia and make the decisions. If he needed help, he could go back to the tribe and find people.

Everyone was quite happy to let someone else take charge.

Gen ran his fingers through his increasingly thinning hair, always worried that one day he’d go bald.

Before coming over, he’d invited a few of the tribe’s strongest totem warriors to join him. But before he could even say anything, those guys quickly found excuses and slipped away. After all, discussing business was never as comfortable as going back to the beast den for a tasty breakfast—plus, they still had to prepare for building the new caves.

If the tribe was expanding, so be it.

If it was about patrols, they wouldn’t refuse.

Anything else? Forget it!

“Huh?” Long Xia exclaimed in surprise. “Chief, shouldn’t you be asking the tribe elders about this instead of me?”

At this moment,

Long Xia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Expanding the tribe was no small matter.

Were the tribe elders really just going to ignore it?

Although Long Xia knew the He Luo tribe was united and friendly, it was still surprising that the powerful totem warriors were so lazy, even when it came to such big decisions.

“Do you think the elders would care?” Gen said with a sigh.

The He Luo tribe was the strongest beast tribe in the Twilight Forest.

There were hundreds of totem warriors on record, and even Gen, the chief, didn’t know how many there really were.

Like other beast tribes, once a totem warrior reached a certain level, they automatically became elders and could help manage all aspects of the tribe. But the elders of the He Luo tribe were a strange bunch.

They didn’t get involved—

except for patrolling their own hunting grounds.

Each one kept to themselves and left everything else for the chief to handle.

Ten years ago, a massive flood hit the Twilight Forest and almost reached the He Luo tribe. Mu Qin suggested sending the tribe’s young ones to the sacred Kanar Mountain for safety, and Long Xia was among them.

That time,

many elders stepped forward.

It was also then that Long Xia realized just how many totem warriors the tribe had hidden away.

Normally, these people kept a low profile—

some were sloppy, some fooled around with the young ones, playing pranks all day and doing nothing serious.

Who would have thought they were the backbone of the tribe?

When they left the He Luo tribe, it took just ten days for them to join forces with other beast tribes and bring the flood under control.

During that period, the He Luo tribe was bustling with activity, with other beast tribes coming by to express their gratitude and bring gifts.

Unfortunately, Long Xia was still recovering at the time

and missed the chance to meet people from other tribes.

“…” Long Xia just smiled and didn’t reply. Gen looked a bit dangerous right now, so she wisely changed the subject. “Chief, let’s talk about the roads.”

It wasn’t that she was scared—just cautious.

In her memory, the elders’ fists were terrifying.

When Nan Feng and Ya Dong were young, they often got “love taps” from the elders—a light punch would leave a big bump on their heads. It reminded her of an old anime she’d seen, where the grandpa would always say it was “grandpa’s love” and leave a bump with every punch.

“Chief, let’s eat while we talk.” Chen Rong brought over a plate of cold noodles and set it in front of Gen and Long Xia.

Long Xia smiled and took the chopsticks Chen Rong handed her.

“Chen Rong, come take a look too. Do you think my plan makes sense?”

After Chen Rong’s identity was revealed, everyone in the He Luo tribe looked at him with bright, curious eyes. Yesterday, many males came to chat with him, asking about the Western Lands, about the Tianyuan tribe…

Unlike the West, the beast, fish, and bird tribes of the East lived in peace. Occasional conflicts were minor and private. The kind of large-scale wars seen in the West had never happened in the East.

This made the tribe members very curious.

But when they heard Chen Rong talk about the death tolls that came with war,

everyone became downcast and shocked.

Clearly, they were frightened by the madness of the Western Lands. The idea of turning weapons on their own kind was something they couldn’t understand or accept.

“You want to lay out the tribe like a grid, like wooden window panes?” Chen Rong asked in surprise. It looked simple, but was actually very practical.

Heaven is round, earth is square.

A grid layout made management easier.

And in the future, if the tribe needed to expand, they could just add new grids to the outside, without having to move or rebuild everything.