Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Sweet Maple Sap

The sun had passed its zenith.

The midday heat was intense, and even though a breeze occasionally stirred through the forest, it still felt stiflingly hot.

“Chang Xia, it’s time to head back to the tribe,” Chen Rong reminded her.

Chang Xia lightly jumped down from a red maple tree, finished chewing and swallowing the last bite of stewed meat in her mouth, brushed the bark dust from her hands, and took the cup of maple sap Chen Rong handed her, sipping it gently.

“Ah, that’s refreshing!” Chang Xia exclaimed.

The rich caramel sweetness spread from her mouth all the way to her heart.

It was so sweet, it was almost intoxicating.

After hanging the buckets on the trees, the two of them strolled around Red Leaf Ridge, spending several hours making a full circuit.

By Chang Xia’s count, there were 5,187 red maple trees on Red Leaf Ridge.

Among them, 108 were ancient trees over a thousand years old.

There were more than three thousand maples over five hundred years old.

The rest were all over a hundred years old, and, surprisingly, there were very few maples just a few decades old. At first, Chang Xia couldn’t figure out why, but after walking the whole ridge, she suddenly understood.

This area was dominated by red maples, and the old trees hadn’t died off. New saplings didn’t have enough space to grow, so they naturally withered away. Maybe, she thought, transplanting red maple saplings elsewhere could be a good idea—provided the conditions were right for them to thrive.

Leaving Red Leaf Ridge, Chang Xia managed to gather half a basket of wild vegetables. After that, Chen Rong transformed into his beast form and ran toward the tribe.

Chang Xia stroked Chen Rong’s smooth, soft fur.

It felt amazing—she could hardly get enough of it.

Compared to the panther tribe’s beast forms, Chen Rong’s wolf form was even more majestic and beautiful.

Especially the plush fur—she almost wanted to bury herself in it. Unfortunately, because of the poison in his system, Chen Rong couldn’t stay in beast form for long, nor could he fight in it.

Even so, Chang Xia was still envious.

After all, as a chinchilla, her beast form was only good for being cute.

She hadn’t yet found a way to fight effectively—maybe she just needed to wait a bit longer?

As Chen Rong ran, feeling Chang Xia’s gentle touch, he was secretly delighted. That Chang Xia liked his beast form made him especially happy.

There was a time when he’d resented inheriting the blood of the Battle Wolf clan.

For the Battle Wolves, fighting was in their very souls; for Chen Rong, fighting was as natural as eating or drinking. But he was naturally peaceful and disliked killing.

Still, with the blood of the Battle Wolves and the noble status of the Yuan family, Chen Rong could never truly escape from fighting and conflict.

If the poison had freed him from captivity, it was Chang Xia who had given him a new life—one where he could live simply and peacefully, just like an ordinary person.

“Chang Xia—”

They emerged from the white fruit forest by the river mouth.

Chen Rong followed the White River downstream to where it met the river mouth, gazing off toward the direction of the Heluo tribe.

In the distance, the faint roars of beasts could be heard.

Chang Xia’s eyes flickered, and she smiled. “It’s fine. I’m guessing those sounds are coming from the tribe.” Among beastfolk, emotions were easily expressed. Gen had started expanding the settlement.

Most likely, the tribe members had begun building kilns.

With so many people working, it was bound to be noisy.

“You mean building kilns?” Chen Rong quickly guessed.

Chang Xia nodded. “Our tribe members are impatient by nature. I imagine yesterday the list of people moving was finalized, so today, those moving out are probably the ones building kilns. After all, those staying in the tribe already have their dens and aren’t in a hurry.”

Besides, the ground in the tribe was solid.

Even in the rainy season, they could build kilns.

Gen and the others had definitely compared options.

With past experience, Chang Xia never underestimated the wisdom of the beastfolk.

“But all that noise might attract wild animals,” Chen Rong said cautiously.

The river mouth was dozens of miles from the Heluo tribe, and yet they could still hear the commotion. It wasn’t impossible that wild beasts might be drawn in.

Chang Xia shrugged, unconcerned. “If they come, that just saves us a hunting trip.”

“…True,” Chen Rong said after a pause, silently agreeing. With the Heluo tribe’s strength, a few wild beasts were nothing to worry about.

Besides, the beasts near the tribe had been hunted relentlessly by the tribe members.

Any survivors had probably long since fled far away.

As they talked, Chen Rong carried Chang Xia back to White Lake.

Before they even reached the lake, a newly built stone wall blocked their path.

“Hey, wolf cub—where do you think you’re going?”

()

Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from inside the stone wall.

The stone wall stood over ten meters high and was still under construction. It cut across the flattened road, stretching out into the surrounding forest on both sides, looking somewhat similar to the city wall back at the tribe.

But the tribe had only just decided to expand.

Building a wall here at White Lake—wasn’t that a bit too fast?

“Elder Dalai, this is Chen Rong. He’s my partner.” Changxia slid down from Chen Rong’s beast form and walked through the stone wall. In the corner by the wall, there was a wooden chair, and a man sat on it. He had lost a leg, but even sitting down, he gave off an imposing, broad-shouldered presence.

Hearing the familiar voice, Dalai’s fierce face broke into a kindly smile.

“Little Changxia, you’re back.” Dalai smiled and asked, “Did you have fun at Red Leaf Ridge? Pukang is such an unreliable guy, don’t believe a word he says.”

“Elder Dalai, look what I brought you!” Changxia grinned, signaling Chen Rong to return to human form. She carried a bucket of red maple sap over to Dalai, scooped up a spoonful with a wooden ladle Chen Rong had carved, and held it to Dalai’s mouth. “Elder Dalai, try this sap—see if it’s sweet.”

“Hm?” Dalai took the spoon and took a sip.

He immediately let out a cry of surprise, looking at Changxia in astonishment. “Little Changxia, what kind of sap is this?”

As he asked, he already had a vague guess in his heart.

Could it be that Pukang actually did something right for once?!

Yesterday, Muqin had returned to the tribe and told Elder Yami about Pukang going to Changxia’s house to scrounge for food. Elder Yami had immediately given Pukang a beating, and today, Pukang had been kept in the tribe to help build the kiln.

He hadn’t even been given a chance to explain himself.

The other elders were happy to see Pukang get put in his place, so naturally, no one spoke up for him.

“It’s from the red maple tree. I renamed the red trees at Red Leaf Ridge to red maple trees. This sap is red maple sap—you can drink it directly, or boil it down into maple sugar.”

“Sugar? Like honey?”

“Yes, it’s as sweet as honey.”

Hearing that maple sugar was as sweet as honey, Elder Dalai was overjoyed.

“Little Changxia, is it easy to collect red maple sap?” Dalai asked.

Changxia replied, “It’s easy. You just drill a hole in the trunk and collect the sap in a wooden bucket. It’s just that…”

“Just what?” Dalai was happy at first, but when Changxia suddenly added a “but,” he immediately grew anxious.

“It’s just that the sap has to be collected before the rainy season,” Changxia said.

Dalai instantly understood her concern.

The tribe was rushing to build kilns before the rainy season, so there weren’t enough people to spare for collecting red maple sap.

“I’ll take care of it,” Dalai said, squinting his eyes as he promised Changxia he’d handle it, telling her not to worry and to go back to the beast den and rest.