Chapter 459

But after raising their heads and giving Yuan Lang a threatening little glance, do they dare to speak?

The answer was naturally no; they pursed their lips, moved elsewhere, and continued to boast about their great achievements.

The joy brought by the end of the beast tide immersed the whole tribe in happiness; even when faced with the Beastfolk's not-so-truthful bragging, they sat there smiling and listening with great interest.

Without the threat of the wandering tribe, the ferocious beast tide was considered to have passed safely; although there were still some casualties in the tribe, compared to before it had improved greatly, and the Snow Tiger Tribe finally regained peace.

Unnoticed, winter had already gone on for nearly three months; in the past, by the third month winter was about to end, the weather gradually warmed, the forest revived, the hardest days of the year would pass, and a new year was about to begin,

But what weighed heavily on everyone's mind was that, just as they thought spring was coming, snow began to fall again in the early hours of the next day.

The cold wind carried the snowflakes, and the temperature dropped sharply again; without down jackets, no one dared to go out.

On every household's stove, a pot of meat soup was habitually simmered; when the Beastman Warriors returned from patrol or guard duty, they would gulp down a bowl to dispel the chill, only then feeling their bodies gradually warm.

"I don't know what's wrong with this weather; normally at this time of year we could go out with fur bags to gather some early wild vegetables, but now it's so cold we can't even stretch out our hands."

"That's right; in previous years, without down jackets we still patrolled wearing animal skins, but if you don't have a down jacket this year, try going out."

The Beastfolk said this, and involuntarily shivered.

Before winter, the Shamans of all tribes had predicted that this year's winter would be harsher than usual, but everyone thought that hardship referred to the beast tide, never expecting it to refer to the weather.

The Snow Tiger Tribe had taro and various pickled vegetables and meats, and during the beast tide they also obtained many carcasses of wild beasts and ferocious beasts, frozen in the snow and not yet eaten, so for now they need not worry about food.

As for the Black Wolf Tribe, after the first heavy snow the tribe was harassed by wandering Beastfolk, too many tribespeople died; although they later found some food, it was still far from enough, so they borrowed some more from the Snow Tiger Tribe.

However, the remaining Mad Lion Tribe and Eagle Tribe were not so fortunate.

Originally, as winter was about to end, the females would gather some early wild vegetables, and the Beastfolk would also resume hunting to get through this lean period.

Who would have thought the weather would turn out like this, leaving everyone at a loss in an instant.

Even the large tribes were worried white-haired over food, let alone the medium and small tribes.

Although the medium and small tribe peoples living in the Snow Tiger Tribe had their daily food reduced to half of what it was, they could still hold out for another half month without serious trouble.

And by that time, winter should have ended anyway... right...

In the former lands of the Snow Tiger Tribe, due to lack of food, many tribes began to seize each other's food, and after the beast tide, the polar forest was once again stained with blood.

However, the medium and small tribes' food supplies were already limited; even if they seized food, they could not sustain it for more than a few days.

These medium and small tribes then turned their gaze toward the four great tribes.

The Mad Lion Tribe and the Eagle Tribe both received requests from the surrounding medium and small tribes, hoping to join either tribe, as long as they were given a little food each day.

The four great tribes had not never considered absorbing these medium and small tribes into their own, but the medium and small tribes lived in too remote places; if the great tribes used force, they would simply take their animal skins and food and flee into the deep forest.

In the vast polar forest, the four great tribes found it hard to locate them at first; gradually, they stopped paying attention and let them develop on their own.

But now, faced with such an opportunity, the Eagle Tribe and the Mad Lion Tribe hesitated.

Because their tribes' food was also running low, the Beastman Warriors could still eat some meat, while the pure humans could only drink meat soup.

As for slaves, they were not even considered; surviving was a blessing from the beast god, not surviving was due to one's own lack of ability.

Moreover, these people were not even their own tribesmen; thus, when the medium and small tribes, full of hope, believed that simply requesting admission would guarantee acceptance, they received instead an extremely cruel reply.

"Our tribe's food is almost gone; we cannot accept you any longer."

The speaking Beastman Warrior still bore some of the arrogance of the great tribes' Beastfolk, and was very direct, instantly shattering the dreams of these medium and small tribes.

Without food, and with the great tribes unwilling to take them in, their only fate was a dead end.

"Father, I'm hungry..."

The speaking young cub had a sallow complexion, its large eyes full of longing, and its tiny arms and legs were even thinner than the branches beside the male.

Seeing their fellow tribespeople around them on the verge of starving to death, the medium and small tribes' peoples went mad; hunger and death filled their minds, even squeezing out their fear of the great tribes.

Since the great tribes would not accept them, their only wait was death; it would be better to make a desperate attempt to seize some food from the great tribes, at least to fill the young ones' bellies.

At the thought of seizing food from the great tribes, the medium and small tribes' males seemed possessed, gathering together to discuss how to obtain food from the great tribes.

"For the young, for the tribe, let's fight!"

Such events occurred not only with the Eagle Tribe and Mad Lion Tribe, but even the Black Wolf Tribe that had earlier migrated to the Snow Tiger Tribe was sought out by the surrounding medium and small tribes.

"This... this is what's happening?"

The medium and small tribes' peoples stared at the Black Wolf Tribe's camp, already utterly destroyed, dumbfounded: "Where is the Black Wolf Tribe?"

The Black Wolf Tribe had disappeared...

This news instantly spread throughout the medium and small tribes surrounding the Black Wolf Tribe's territory.

The Black Wolf Tribe's territory, which had been nearly empty all winter, suddenly became lively.

"The Black Wolf Tribe surely didn't survive the beast tide; I saw many of their tribespeople's bones in the distant forest, already devoured by wild beasts."

"This territory is too large; if each tribe takes a share, it will be enough for everyone to live on."

A small tribe's chief pondered for a moment, then furrowed his brows and said: "I think we should temporarily stay in our own territories; if the Black Wolf Tribe returns, what will we do?"

"The Black Wolf Tribe's Beastman Warriors would surely wipe us out, and those piles of Black Wolf Tribe bones you mentioned might very well have been made by those tribespeople themselves."

Having said that, the small tribe's chief's expression changed instantly, becoming more convinced of his guess: "We won't participate in dividing the territory; tomorrow I will lead our people back."

Several small tribe chiefs, hearing this, felt inclined to retreat; yes, if the Black Wolf Tribe had merely left its camp temporarily for some matter, and upon returning saw that they had divided its territory...

Thinking of the consequences, even their skins tightened involuntarily.

Fear of the Black Wolf Tribe instantly gained the upper hand; especially since the Black Wolf Tribe's food stores and territory now had little food, everyone remained clear-headed, unlike the medium and small tribes of the Eagle and Mad Lion tribes' territories who threw caution to the wind.

The withdrawal of several small tribes not only failed to dispel the medium tribes' notion of partitioning the Black Wolf Tribe's territory, but actually made them delighted.

With fewer people sharing the division, each tribe's allotted land would naturally increase.

Of course, within the Black Wolf Tribe's territory there was one tribe that did not participate in this land-dividing activity: the Earth Tribe, which had once brought potatoes to the Snow Tiger Tribe to attend a gathering.

At this moment, in the Earth Tribe's cave, Chief Tutu and several middle-aged males of the tribe sat frowning around the fire, discussing the disappearance of the Black Wolf Tribe.

Several middle-aged males were chattering excitedly about going to the Black Wolf Tribe's territory to divide the land, while Chief Tutu, sitting calmly to the side, used a wooden stick to pull a black lump from the fire, not minding the heat as he knocked off the wood ash, broke it in half, and began eating it bite by bite.

The aroma of roasted potatoes instantly filled the cave; the few middle-aged males who had just been arguing vehemently stopped their dispute at once, each grabbing a stick to start pulling things from the fire.

After swallowing the last piece of roasted potato, Chief Tutu finally lifted his gaze to look at the tribespeople around him who were eagerly devouring the roasted potatoes.

"As for the matter of dividing the Black Wolf Tribe's territory, our Earth Tribe will not take part; our food can still hold out for a while, so everyone should just stay put in the caves and do what they need to do."

"As soon as Tu Tou's words fell, the few middle-aged males by the fire instantly furrowed their brows: 'Chief, this is such a good opportunity—we can't miss it! If we wait a bit longer, once those tribes have finished dividing the Black Wolf Tribe's territory, there really won't be anything left for us to do.'"

"Tu Tou lifted his gaze toward the speaking middle-aged male: 'Do you really believe the Black Wolf Tribe would vanish into the Polar Forest just because of a single beast tide?'"

"Without waiting for the middle-aged male to answer, he snorted: 'How many years have the Four Great Tribes existed? In which year has the Polar Forest not seen a beast tide?'"

"All the food is gone, the tribespeople's corpses are piled up in one place—what more proof do we need?"

"The Black Wolf Tribe most likely encountered a fierce beast tide or some other danger, but they weren't wiped out; perhaps they went to seek refuge with a few of the other great tribes."

"Now the beast tide has ended; after a while, when winter ends and the Black Wolf Tribe returns to see its territory actually divided up by a bunch of mid‑ and small tribes, just think what awaits us."

"At that moment, on the Snow Tiger Tribe's gathering, the honest‑looking Earth Tribe chief Tu Tou had no trace of his former simplicity; his deep eyes swept over the surrounding middle‑aged males, each word sinking into everyone's hearts."

"The middle‑aged male who had just been thinking about dividing the Black Wolf Tribe's territory turned deathly pale; thinking of the Four Great Tribes' mighty strength, he realized that only a dead end awaited them."

"He hastily fell silent, saying nothing more."

"Tu Tou nodded satisfactorily: 'All right, remember—our Earth Tribe will ignore outside affairs and not take part in their actions; we'll just wait until after winter to see how things go.'"

"Actually, there was one thing he didn't say: if the Black Wolf Tribe is truly unharmed, they will definitely return to their territory after winter, and then it will be the death knell for those mid‑ and small tribes; our Earth Tribe could even annex their lands, since the Black Wolf Tribe wouldn't care about those places anyway."

"And if the Black Wolf Tribe truly disappeared in the Polar Forest..."

"That territory would not be something those mid‑ and small tribes could divide up; by then the other three great tribes would eye that ownerless land, leaving us with even less to do."

"The Earth Tribe chief Tu Tou clearly knew his own strength and had self‑awareness; as long as they maintained good relations with the great tribes on this land, a few favors from those tribes would be enough for them to live well in this forest."

"While the Black Wolf Tribe's territory was being divided over here, something else happened that shocked the Eagle Tribe and the Mad Lion Tribe."

"The peoples of the surrounding mid‑ and small tribes actually gathered together, taking advantage of the moment when their tribes' Beastman Warriors went out hunting to raid the tribes' food supplies—and they succeeded."

"When the two Beastman Warriors of the tribe returned, they saw the corpses of the mid‑ and small tribes piled high like a small hill in the clearing, and their faces fell."

"\"How much food was lost? \""

"The Mad Lion Tribe chief looked grimly at the tribesman who had just returned from the food storage cave."

"Beastfolk sighed: 'Only five wild beasts; the pure humans have little strength and can't carry much.'"

"Five wild beasts aren't even enough to feed the entire Mad Lion Tribe for a day, yet what they didn't expect was that a pure‑human tribe lacking even a single Beastman Warrior would band together for food and attack their Beastfolk tribe."

"This had never happened before; it is a provocation by those damned pure humans against the Mad Lion Tribe, and this cannot simply be let go, otherwise the Mad Lion Tribe will surely be mocked by the other three great tribes."

"\"All Beastman Warriors, gather and pursue in the direction those damned pure humans fled, slaying every participant from the mid‑ and small tribes involved in this raid; the dignity of the great tribes brooks no challenge. \""

"The Mad Lion Tribe chief's voice was filled with fury."

"\"Yes! \""

"The Beastfolk's roaring shook the heavens, vowing to slaughter every last one of those damned pure‑human tribes."

"Meanwhile, the Eagle Tribe was enacting the very same scene."

"The two great tribes never imagined that the timid mid‑ and small tribes, who always trembled before them, would one day dare to come to their territories and seize food—it felt as if a rabbit had leapt up, bitten a saber‑toothed tiger, and even managed to yank out a tuft of fur."

"The harm was minor, but the insult was enormous!"

"How could this be left unanswered? We must make them understand that the dignity of the great tribes cannot be provoked!"