Chapter 381: Snow Tiger Tribe's Pursuit

Having successfully exposed his secret fear of insects in front of the little female, Yuan Lang felt as if he were running naked through the tribe without clothes.

Thinking of the two gu witches who caused all this, he felt his teeth itch.

Damn those bastards on the Chiyan Plain—isn't mud fun enough?

Why does each of them insist on playing with insects!

Following the direction indicated by Tongzi, the Snow Tiger Tribe beastman warriors who followed Yuan Lang out weaved through the forest; on Snow Tiger Tribe territory, their speed was naturally like wind and lightning.

Tongzi's four little paws fluttered in the wind, and the oncoming forest breeze blew his round, furry little head into a flat pancake.

His round eyes had already shut, and the flesh at the corners of his mouth kept twitching.

Its chubby little paws kept struggling to grab the beastman's waist animal‑skin skirt, seeking a place to hide its chubby face.

But whether it was because his face was too big or Yuan Lang's animal‑skin skirt fit just right, there was not a single gap.

Glancing at the beastman's perky, powerful buttocks, Tongzi sneered sourly, sure that Yuan Lang's butt was too big.

Women's big butts are good for bearing children, but what's the point of a man having such a perky butt?

Thinking of his system's short‑statured form, as a system that looks cute yet harbors a fierce man's heart, Tongzi felt a little sad and shed crocodile tears.

"How much farther?"

Yuan Lang's hair fluttered in the forest breeze, the white strands smooth and flowing, but...

This guy's temperament is completely opposite to the softness of his hair.

Thinking of his own butt, Tongzi's mouth flesh twitched as he howled and pointed ahead to a slope.

His call was scattered, but the beastman warriors with keen hearing still caught those fragmented sounds in their ears.

His dark eyes glanced at the slope ahead, the curve of his lips icy: "Just behind the slope up front."

Hearing this, the surrounding Snow Tiger Tribe beastman warriors felt their anger surge.

They guessed that this Rock Salt Tribe shamaness, if she wanted to release the gu insects, wouldn't be far from the Snow Tiger Tribe's camp, but they never imagined they were hiding so close to the camp.

The beastmen's faces looked like the sky before a heavy rain, overcast.

Without Yuan Lang saying a word, each one clenched their resolve and sped up.

As the beastmen ran, the slope gradually passed beneath their feet; what appeared in their view was not only vast forest but also far off, the Rock Salt Tribe beastman warriors still straining to run.

The beastmen looked ahead at the throng of Rock Salt Tribe beastfolk as if eyeing prey about to die under their claws.

Meanwhile, the Rock Salt Tribe shamaness who was usually surrounded by beastman warriors lay limp, slung over a beastman warrior's back, her body swaying with the runner's stride.

"Boss, it's definitely her—surely because we killed those gu insects, this whatever shamaness is also injured."

Teng Qian looked at the shamaness, who was like a dead dog, and instantly felt as if he had stepped into an ice cellar during the dog days—his whole body felt refreshed.

Yuan Lang snorted coldly: "That's what she deserves."

Having said that, he turned his head to look at the dense tiny wounds on his arm, left there by that giant gu insect.

And his own little secret...

Suddenly, the little female's teasing smile from when they parted surfaced in his mind.

Yuan Lang's face darkened instantly; looking into the eyes of the Rock Salt Tribe shamaness swaying with the beastmen's run far away, he saw only gloom.

The beastman's voice was lazy, yet carried a strong chill: "Just don't kill her."

Hearing this, the beastmen's eyes lit up; they hehehed, clenched their fists: "We guarantee we won't kill her."

Just kidding—we've been attending the trade fair for more than a day or two; how could we kill a participant? That would be unprofessional.

Meanwhile, the Rock Salt Tribe beastfolk on the march looked at their own unconscious chief shamaness and felt an indescribable heaviness in their hearts.

What a bunch of good fellows—could it be they're just not strong enough or good‑looking enough?

Ever since that white‑furred one from the Snow Tiger Tribe appeared, the chief shamaness's gaze has never lingered on them again.

Just thinking about it makes one feel bitter; now they've even expended all their shaman power on gu insects just to get that white‑furred one.

The more they think, the worse it feels—not only their hearts turn cold, but their bodies grow chilly too.

"How can this polar forest compare to our Chiyan Plain? In such a hot season it's actually chilly."

The beastman spoke sourly.

But to his surprise, after he finished speaking, the surrounding tribesfolk all chimed in: "Yeah, I feel chilly too; we'd better head back to our territory soon."

"What chilly nonsense—you all are thinking..."

The beastman carrying the shamaness frowned and turned around, about to launch into a lecture, but his excellent eyesight caught a group of white‑furred figures sprinting toward them from not far off—figures that made them hate enough to make their teeth itch.

"What more is there to say? The Snow Tiger Tribe beastmen have caught up, ready for battle!"

His exclamation put the whole beastman troop on alert; they stopped, took battle stances, and looked at the white‑furred figures drifting in the wind.

"They're the Snow Tiger Tribe beastmen."

"How did they know our direction of departure!"

The Snow Tiger Tribe beastmen aren't many, but they're only one or two fewer than ours; this number of beastman warriors shows that the shamaness's gu insects earlier had basically no effect on them.

The beastman warrior carrying the shamaness stepped forward, gazing at the swiftly approaching Snow Tiger Tribe beastman warriors; thinking of what the shamaness had done, the arm clasping her legs involuntarily trembled twice.

Yuan Lang led the beastman warriors to a stop several meters from the Rock Salt Tribe beastfolk; as his handsome, upright face looked at the sturdy shamaness on the lead beastman's back, it instantly flooded with frost.

"You really ran fast."

The beastman's voice was low, heavy with chill.

Just as the opposing Rock Salt Tribe beastman warrior was about to say something, the shamaness on his back—who had just been stiff as a corpse—seemed roused by Yuan Lang's voice, and she lifted her head, clutching the shoulder of the beastman in front of her.

"Yuan... Yuan Lang..."

Her voice was no longer as gentle as before; this utterance of Yuan Lang's name sounded like a vengeful ghost bound by obsession, wanting to turn into icy chains to shackle the beastman opposite.

Yun Lang's sword‑brows furrowed slightly; for some reason, the tone of the Rock Salt Tribe shamaness gave him a faint sense of familiarity.

He silently wondered: could it be that this original body, when it went out to exchange salt, owed some romantic debt?

But looking at the opponent's sturdy build, that sliver of doubt vanished instantly.

Regardless of whether it's due to the original body, the person in this body now is him, and this shamaness is definitely not the one he holds hands with.

"I never expected the Rock Salt Tribe to hide so deeply; how could a tribe that harbors ill will toward my Snow Tiger Tribe be allowed to just leave like that?"

"After all, we're not exactly a tolerant tribe."

Perhaps the beastfolk's intent was too obvious, as the leading Rock Salt Tribe beastman's face twitched.

"We came to participate in the trade fair; you swore before the Beast God not to forget your oath."

The Rock Salt Tribe dares to do this on Snow Tiger Tribe's territory only because the trade fair organizers cannot act against the participating tribes.

"But..."

"We won't take your beast lives; we're just here for a friendly battle between the two tribes."

"Of course, if you're unwilling, my Snow Tiger Tribe doesn't mind you staying over winter."

The opposing beastfolk's faces instantly changed—this means that if they refuse the friendly battle, they'll have to stay in the Snow Tiger Tribe for the whole winter.

Suddenly, these Rock Salt Tribe beastman warriors recalled the Scorpion Tribe beastman warriors they had seen earlier in the Snow Tiger Tribe.

Just a heavy rainy season, those once sturdy and handsome beastman warriors were tormented into resembling dry corpses—if they stayed here the whole winter...

All the beasts suddenly shivered— the sight was too lovely to imagine.

"If the Snow Tiger Tribe does this, I'm afraid no tribe will come to the trade fair in the future."

The Rock Salt Tribe beastman warrior lowered the still somewhat dazed shamaness, his muscles bulging all over, his gaze toward Yuan Lang also carrying a hint of ferocity.

Yuan Lang's deep eyes were calm: "Not every tribe would hide in another's territory like the Rock Salt Tribe, doing shady little deeds."

Upon hearing that, the Rock Salt Tribe beastman's face instantly looked as if someone had stuffed feces into it.

"The little tribe in the Polar Forest is truly arrogant, daring to provoke the mighty Rock Salt Tribe."

"If we fight, we fight; do you think our Rock Salt Tribe is afraid of you?"

A hot-tempered Rock Salt Tribe beastman warrior, upon hearing Yuan Lang's words across, flared up so much his nose almost twisted.

He marched forward angrily, shoving the front beastman aside: "I'll go first—whoever from your tribe steps up, let you see the strength of a big tribe's beastman."

Without Yuan Lang's order, Teng Qian walked forward smiling: "Let me handle this—trouble this mighty beastman warrior, so this small tribe's beastman can witness the strength of a big tribe's beastman warrior."

Still that same smug tone, yet it kept the opposing beastmen from feeling proud.

Without another word, he let out a low roar and charged forward.

Teng Qian's roguish smile faded, ferocity flashed in his eyes, and he darted forward like lightning.

Just that movement, the two beastmen's strengths were instantly clear.

Teng Qian's speed was more than double that of the strong beastman; the outside beastmen could feel it, and the Rock Salt Tribe beastman warrior who had charged several times but never even touched a strand of the opponent's leg hair naturally realized the gap between them.

Damn it, he seems to have been tricked!

The strong beastman finally realized this, but being in the battle arena, his only choice was to continue.

This battle will continue until one side's beastman is unable to fight.

Thinking of the tragic end if he gave up, the strong beastman's heart tightened, his strength gathered, and he charged at Teng Qian again.

The sparse weeds on the open ground were all caught in the battle, each scattering in different directions.

Without the grass's protection, the battle ground instantly kicked up dust and smoke, blocking the beastmen's view.

Only the occasional wail still indicated the battle was ongoing.

And that familiar wail let the beastmen know that the one being unilaterally beaten was obviously the Rock Salt Tribe's strong beastman.

This left all the Rock Salt Tribe beastmen with grim faces.

Those who boasted were them, and those who took the beating to become beasts were also them—this face really got slapped left and right.

"Ah! My face!"

With a mournful howl, the familiar strong figure of the Rock Salt Tribe beastman flew backward out of the dust, carving a deep trench.

At this moment the beastman looked as if he had bulked up in this short time, his whole body having grown fat by more than one layer.

Especially that large face plate as big as his buttocks, the most noticeable being the eye sockets matching the Scorpion Tribe beastman's hair color and lips thicker than fingers.

When howling, he again revealed the front missing two teeth...

This appearance is truly loathsome; all the beasts couldn't help but worry about his fate after returning to the tribe.

Heard he spent a lot of salt exchanging for a nice string of beads to give to a favored female.

But now it seems that string of beads is unusable.

Already some unscrupulous Rock Salt Tribe beastmen were scheming how to obtain that bead string from this beastman warrior at the lowest cost.

"Isn't this Snow Tiger Tribe beastman going too far? We're just having a friendly fight; is it necessary to beat our tribe's beastman into this state?"

The beastman's words also instantly brought back to reality those Rock Salt Tribe beastmen who were still drooling over the strong beastman's bead string.

Upon looking again at the strong beastman, the bead-string fantasy vanished; his face darkened and he began to worry about his own future battle outcome.

Although the strong beastman is somewhat hot-tempered, his strength is among the highest of their kin.

If even he was beaten into such a wretched state, then among all beastmen who came to the trade fair this time, at least half of the beastman warriors are no match for that Snow Tiger Tribe beastman just now.

Thinking this, the Rock Salt Tribe beastmen's faces grew even grimmer; while worried, jealousy began to arise.

Clearly as strong as they are, the Rock Salt Tribe lost in battle to a small forest tribe.

If it weren't for these small tribes having enough crystal cores to upgrade, they wouldn't be a match.

Thinking this, the beasts' yearning for ferocious beast crystal cores deepened further.

Teng Qian patted the dim gray dust off his beast-skin skirt, looked at the strong beastman lying prone on the ground: "It's necessary! And since it's just a friendly battle, I held back."

You know our Snow Tiger Tribe beastmen don't fight lightly; when they strike, it's... crack!

His smile turned icy; he made a neck-twisting motion, successfully making the opposing Rock Salt Tribe beastmen's faces darken.