Chapter 407: The Great Snow Arrives, Testing the Tribe

"Because you brought hope and warmth, you see, in the past when it snowed here we could only live in caves, but now we have houses with warm bonfires burning inside, no longer afraid of the cold; even if heavy snow falls outside we aren't scared of having nothing to eat tomorrow, we've stockpiled plenty of food and can get through winter."

Hearing Axi's words, Nan Qinghuan's nose twitched sourly; she reached out and touched Axi's hand, finding it very cold, which made her feel very distressed, and she tightly covered it to try to pass warmth to her.

"Axi, from now on you'll never freeze or starve again, trust me."

"I trust you, Qinghuan; the moment you arrived I knew you'd become the tribe's most honored female. Qinghuan, go back to the house, it's so cold outside, Ying probably won't return tonight."

This Dashan and Ying went to deliver people to the Rongdi, and Axi knew that, so she didn't want her to keep waiting here.

But Nan Qinghuan wasn't waiting for Ying.

She just wanted to feel this first snow.

"You go back; I want to see the snow, it's been a long time since I've seen snow, right?"

"Haven't seen snow? In the old days our tribe hated snow; when it fell, people would freeze to death."

Axi's memory still lingered on the terrifying recollections of people freezing and starving back then; that feeling was truly dreadful.

Just thinking about it makes her want to cry.

"Qinghuan, do you like snow?"

Nan Qinghuan nodded, then shook her head, "Snow does have its benefits; have you forgotten? Next year we'll plant wheat, and later we'll have a great harvest. When the wheat ripens I'll make fragrant steamed buns for you, how about that?"

Making buns for her to eat—Axi had long wanted to eat them.

What does a bun taste like? Just as she was about to speak, urgent footsteps sounded nearby, seeming rather hurried.

"Goddess, Goddess"

It was Youchao Xuan.

"What's wrong?"

Youchao Xuan was very anxious; his head was covered in snowflakes in the heavy snow, and Nan Qinghuan could see from his demeanor that something was wrong.

"Goddess, the great snow has sealed the mountain, and something happened with the Wolf Clan."

"Something happened? What exactly?"

The snow came both fierce and sudden; in just half a night the road was already impassable, the entire primitive tribe's forest was covered by white snow, and, to Nan Qinghuan's surprise, a Tulou of the Wolf Clan had collapsed.

This made Nan Qinghuan very anxious; she wanted to go see it at midnight, but Youchao Xuan worried she might get into trouble, so he told her to wait until dawn and sent someone to notify Ying.

When Ying rushed back, a Tulou of the Wolf Clan had already collapsed; fortunately there were no casualties, and Na Yao wisely noticed something was wrong and got everyone out early.

The Wolf Clan faced an unprecedented crisis this winter.

The new house was crushed by the mountain collapse.

The sun shone brightly that day, icicles hung from the trees, the tribe members were already scantily dressed, and this time they suffered an unprecedented blow.

When Nan Qinghuan arrived, the tribe members had settled, only Na Yao stood there watching the partially collapsed Tulou; the Tulou they had laboriously built could no longer be used.

"Na Yao, the Goddess has arrived."

Behind them, Youchao Ji, dressed in Beast Skin, walked up to him; she was also saddened by the Tulou's collapse, but now was not the time for sorrow, for they knew the winter crisis had only just begun.

"Goddess…"

Na Yao turned and saw Nan Qinghuan, heavily pregnant, struggling to come this way; he quickly rushed forward to greet her. In the snowy cold Na Yao saw Nan Qinghuan's nose already reddened from the cold, and felt very distressed.

"Goddess, why have you come?"

Nan Qinghuan saw that the towering Tulou now was only half left; the mountain top had already collapsed down; no one expected this new house, built less than a month ago, to become like this.

Nan Qinghuan saw the Wolf Clan people's faces filled with dejection, some crouching there looking at their lost homes, wondering what to do now, how to get through this winter.

"Na Yao, don't be sad; there will always be a way. Let me see why this happened?"

"No need, I understand. Last night the heavy snow caused the mountain's soil to collapse onto us, crushing our houses."

Na Yao regretted this; earlier Youchao Xuan had said the mountain's mud wasn't that solid, thinking the Tulou was unsuitable here, but he insisted, believing the tribe needed to live together, so he built it here. He never imagined a great snow would cause this.

He regretted it.

Youchao Xuan stood there looking at the Tulou, "Na Yao, don't be sad. Now let's first settle the tribe members, Goddess, what do you suggest we do now?"

Nan Qinghuan looked at the tribe members, thought for a moment, then asked, "How many people live inside?"

"Over a hundred people."

"Over a hundred people…"

Nan Qinghuan thought, there should still be a way.

"Alright, don't be sad. Here's the plan: these people should first live with our Tribe and the You Su Tribe together, wait until spring passes, then rebuild the Tulou. Of course, this location can't be rebuilt here; how can a house be built beneath the mountain top? The mud here will be washed away by rain, damaging the house."

Hearing this, Na Yao was very pleased; whenever he was at his most desperate, Nan Qinghuan always gave him hope.

Under the sun, his eyes lit up with spirit.

"Alright, Goddess, thank you."

"Ying and the Rongdi have arrived."