Chapter 438

One or two of them all had ulterior motives, so they naturally hit it off and happily began gathering fruit.

Yuan Lang and the Mushroom-head tribe's people worked hard, while Wu Yue and the petite shaman each held some fruit, sitting under a nearby tree, leisurely chatting while nibbling fruit.

Yue, your crystal cores here are truly amazing; just a few days ago, a Beastman Warrior from our tribe advanced without any danger at all.

Rourou said while looking at her with an envious gaze.

Wu Yue nodded in agreement: "The crystal cores are quite amazing, but the ferocious beast tide in winter is also very dangerous."

Ferocious beast tide?

Rourou's fruit lost its fragrance upon hearing that, and she stared in surprise at the petite female beside her: "Do ferocious beasts also run out of the deep forest? How is that different from a beast tide?"

"The ferocious beast tide is similar to a beast tide, but it's actually more dangerous because it consists entirely of ferocious beasts, which are far stronger than ordinary wild beasts."

Having witnessed the ferocity of ferocious beasts, Rourou naturally knew how dangerous they were; thinking that facing a group of ferocious beasts had forced them to flee, if they encountered a ferocious beast tide...

She inexplicably shivered.

She then looked at Wu Yue with a sympathetic gaze: "No wonder you don't want outside tribes coming here to hunt; you're facing so much danger."

If their tribe struggled hard to resist danger, only for other tribes to do nothing yet still come to take the spoils, she wouldn't want that either.

Wu Yue smiled at her: "We're not unwilling to let outside tribes come hunt; it's just that the deep forest is only so big, and the number of ferocious beasts we can hunt each year is limited."

If every tribe came to hunt, the ferocious beasts in the entire deep forest wouldn't be enough.

Besides...

She glanced at Rourou, pondering: "Some super tribes that come to our Polar Forest always think of making us slaves dedicated to harvesting crystal cores for them."

As soon as Wu Yue finished speaking, Rourou's expression became somewhat uneasy.

Actually, if it weren't for the Kumatribe taking the lead, their tribe would have had the same idea.

Who would have thought this tiny Polar Forest actually had the protection of a super tribe, so things aren't as they previously imagined.

She gave a dry laugh, and the petite shaman inexplicably felt a bit guilty.

She furtively glanced at Wu Yue sitting beside her, wondering if this petite female hadn't said that on purpose.

But Wu Yue's face was completely ordinary, showing no other expression, which only confused her further.

"By the way, after winter passes, I plan to travel outside, and then I'll come visit your tribe."

Wu Yue's words startled the petite shaman, who looked at her in disbelief: "With your current level, isn't it a bit early to go out traveling?"

Her shamanic power level is higher than Yue's; this time she came out only after begging the Grand Shaman for a long time, and she even brought several high-level Beastman Warriors with her.

Wu Yue chuckled, rubbing his head: "The Grand Shaman said that with my level, going out to travel now is already a bit late, and the Beastman Warriors I bring won't be very high-level; they need to be tempered in battle."

Hearing that, the petite shaman felt like she was a good-for-nothing.

You say you're late now, so what am I? Have you even considered my feelings when you speak?

Bun-faced...

Under the Beastman Warriors' violent harvesting, the fruit from several trees was quickly stripped bare, leaving not a single seed.

Tongzi lived up to his reputation as a bottomless pit, as the Beastman Warriors' gathered fruit all went into his belly—actually into Wu Yue's space.

Beside her, Rourou watched those fruits disappear into Tongzi's mouth with a pang of regret: "You little beast eat way too much."

Wu Yue laughed while patting Tongzi's soft belly: "He may eat a lot, but he's very useful."

Any poison insect is useless against Tongzi, so what I fear least is a poison shaman.

Wu Yue raised his chin proudly: "Earlier, a super tribe called the Kumatribe came here to hunt, and their team supposedly included a very formidable poison shaman."

But the poison insects he released were caught by Tongzi before they even reached me.

Rourou was astonished, looking at Lan Pangzi with an envious face: "Is this little guy really that powerful?"

Poison insects are what she fears most; even though her tribe's poison shamans aren't as gloomy as others', she always runs away screaming whenever she encounters them.

If she also had such a cute little beast, she wouldn't fear any poison shamans and could strut around the tribe at will.

But that's just a daydream; seeing how Yue treasures that little beast, she has no hope at all.

When they returned to the resting spot, it had already grown dark, and the Beastman Warriors who had gone out to hunt from the Mushroom-head tribe had also come back.

Wu Yue and Yuan Lang, as usual, took out jerky to eat; its salty aroma spread around, causing the Mushroom-head tribe's Beastman Warriors to swallow their saliva repeatedly.

As a petite female, Rourou actually received some preferential treatment; Wu Yue broke off a piece of his jerky and gave it to her.

The aroma of the jerky instantly captivated Rourou, and Wu Yue instantly rose to the status of a good person in her eyes.

"How long does it take you to get from your tribe to here?"

Wu Yue glanced at Rourou, who was happily chewing on her jerky, and asked casually.

Rourou chewed on her jerky a few times, thought for a moment, then said: "We travel pretty fast; it's about two months or so."

That's when the weather is good and food is plentiful.

Wu Yue frowned at them: "It's less than two months until winter now; you won't be able to make it back before then, and even getting out of the deep forest now takes over a week, which is very dangerous."

What they'll face in winter isn't just the cold; the biggest threat is the attack of starving wild beasts in the forest.

Rourou pouted: "We can only go as far as we can; if we don't go back, overwintering outside would be even more dangerous."

Especially since they haven't made any preparations at all for overwintering outside.

Wu Yue pondered, then looked at her: "Alright, if you've decided not to go back, you can stay in our tribe; we've built many stone houses, which are warm in winter, but you'll need to prepare your own food."

What a good person!

Rourou looked at the petite female she had only just met, her face full of emotion: "Thank you so much, but we've already decided to go back; if you decide to travel next year, when you reach the Yun Wu Shan Mai, be sure to visit either our tribe or the Vine tribe, tell them my name is Rourou, and I'll definitely come back to fetch you."

Wu Yue broke into a sweat; those words suddenly gave him the feeling of paying respects to the mountain.

He smiled and nodded: "Okay."

The two petite females formed a friendly bond over a piece of jerky, but the Beastfolk were not so friendly with each other.

The sturdy Beastman's wary little glances would from time to time drift toward the direction where the two were speaking, his vigilance fully heightened.

It seemed as if Wu Yue only had to do something slightly wrong, and he would come charging over.

After resting for a night, the next day Wu Yue and Yuan Lang led the Huo Teng Tribe group outward into the deep forest.

Perhaps they also wanted to hunt more ferocious beasts before leaving, so the Huo Teng Tribe stopped during their journey to hunt; after taking the crystal cores, the remaining beast carcasses were left for Wu Yue and Yuan Lang.

All of them entered Wu Yue's space through Tongzi's mouth as the passage.

By the time the group emerged from the deep forest, nearly half a month had passed.

"Are you really not considering spending the winter in our tribe?"

Wu Yue now felt some genuine affection for the female shaman called Rourou before her, and asked again.

Rourou nodded: "We still decided to go back; if we hurry on the way, we can always make it back."

In winter, of course it's warmest to stay in one's own cave.

Moreover, she unconsciously touched the small beast-skin package on her chest; the crystal cores definitely needed to be brought back to the tribe as soon as possible.

Since they had already made their decision, Wu Yue no longer insisted; after seeing off the Huo Teng Tribe's beastfolk, she and Yuan Lang then mounted the Cloud-Stepping Beast and headed for the Snow Tiger Tribe.

"Host, as compensation for occupying my space, are you considering giving me some pocket money points?"

Tongzi looked despairingly at his little space occupied by a group of ferocious beast carcasses, feeling that his whole self was not well.

We agreed to use only our own space, right?

Wu Yue gave a hesitant, dry laugh twice: "Tongzi, you're being too distant; between us two, there's no need to talk about 'yours' and 'mine'."

Having said that, she gave Tongzi's small shoulder a friendly pat, as if they were close brothers.

Hehe...

Tongzi glanced irritably at his own thick-skinned dog host; it was truly a wasted effort.

After the Cloud-Stepping Beast evolved, its fur became ever smoother and softer; Wu Yue lay on its back and fell asleep in no time.

Yuan Lang amusedly watched the little female who had started to snore, then took a piece of beast hide from his back basket and wrapped her up, holding her in his arms.

Wu Yue's sleep was not very peaceful; she actually dreamed that the Snow Tiger Tribe was defeated by a mighty super-tribe, with all its people becoming slaves of that super-tribe.

"Yue, wake up."

While dreaming of a bad place, a familiar beastfolk voice sounded in her ear, startling her awake from the dream.

It was Yuan Lang's voice; she opened her eyes to find herself lying in the beastfolk's broad embrace, her body tightly wrapped in a thick piece of beast hide, shielding her from any wind.

"Have we arrived yet?"

Yuan Lang nodded with a smile: "Mm, we're already at our usual hunting grounds; we'll reach the tribe shortly."

Indeed, not long after, the two had already seen the Snow Tiger Tribe's settlement.

At this time, the settlement was surrounded by tall walls; from afar it looked like a huge ferocious beast, quite magnificent.

Seeing the two return, the patrolling beastfolk warriors were delighted: "You can finally come back; the shaman said that if you didn't return, we'd have to go look for you."

Now the ferocious beasts in the deep forest have also begun to migrate, so we hunt a bit more carefully; nothing serious.

After saying a few words, the two headed into the tribe's settlement.

The people of the small-to-medium tribe were still busy below the walls; now only the gate remained unfinished.

The huge iron-tree gate lay on the ground outside the walls, waiting only for the walls to be finished before being installed.

"I'll go deliver the crystal cores to the shaman; want to come together?"

Yuan Lang looked at Wu Yue and asked.

But the little female shook her head: "I won't go to the shaman's place; I'll spend a few days making a food from the gathered fruits, and tomorrow when I go to the shaman's, I'll bring it along."

Yuan Lang reached out and touched her hair: "Do you need my help?"

Wu Yue's moist eyes looked at him: "Help me rest a while."

On the way back she fell asleep on the Cloud-Stepping Beast's back; the beastfolk certainly hadn't rested.

Yuan Lang's deep eyes brightened slightly; after gazing deeply at her, he curled the corner of his mouth: "All right, let's head back quickly."

After throwing a rock ore at Tongzi, this easily satisfied little guy was requisitioned again.

His chubby little bottom sat on a small stool, and he began to wash the fruits diligently.

The washed fruits were chopped by Wu Yue into tiny bits, then poured into a pot to start cooking jam.

Indeed, Wu Yue planned to cook this tasty fruit into jam to eat; it would keep for a long time and taste good.

All day long, sweet fragrances continually drifted from Wu Yue's courtyard, drawing the tribe's people to linger at the door.

Even the Xuehu Wu swallowed his saliva and sent a half-beast warrior to come inquire.

But because Wu Yue had been busy in the kitchen, not a single person dared to casually enter or leave her courtyard.

She poured the finished jam into the small jars that Changye had sent last time, filling over a dozen jars in total.

She spread a few soft biscuits, smeared the sweet jam on them, took a big bite—oh, the taste was indescribably good.

Seeing her eat so sweetly, Qingcao could no longer resist; she clambered down from the not-so-high wall, ran over, and imitating Wu Yue's method, she sandwiched a biscuit for herself—just one bite brought her continuous delight.

"Yue, what food is this? It's really delicious."

The little female's eyes were full of curiosity.

Wu Yue opened the jar she had just scooped jam from: "This is jam made from a fruit that only grows in the deep forest of ferocious beasts; tasty, right?"

Qingcao nodded: "Delicious, can you teach me? I also want to make jam."

Many of the fruits she had previously picked had spoiled; each day she found more rotten ones, making Qingcao feel like a wasteful little female.

Dried fruit turned out quite tasty, but the elderly females couldn't bite into the slightly chewy dried fruit, always complaining it hurt their teeth.

Now that there is jam, the grandmothers at home can be much better off.

"Haha, Yue, I heard you made some delicious food?"

"Wherever there is tasty food, there is the Xuehu Wu; that saying is absolutely true."

Not only did he come himself, but the half-beast warrior following him also carried a back basket.

Wu Yue's mouth twitched: "The food I made today isn't all that special; bringing a back basket over seems a bit excessive, doesn't it?"