Chapter 159: Conversation

It is Mu Qing…

Ji Xuan didn't know what he was thinking of, and lowered his eyes slightly.

"Why do you have time to come to me today?"

Seeing that Ji Xuan had just walked over to the female he liked and then came to him, the Silver Eagle Priest also showed a hint of surprise on his face.

"On the first day you entered, you didn't properly accompany your female, yet you think of coming to this old bone of mine to discuss tribal matters—aren't you afraid your female will find you boring?"

Hearing that, Ji Xuan halted for a moment, but soon walked to the Silver Eagle Priest's side, found a spot and sat down.

"A Li is not the kind of female you speak of."

She wouldn't demand that the male around her only revolve around him.

"Then why did you come to me? If you have anything to ask, just ask."

Saying that, the Silver Eagle Priest looked again at the lotus flowers in the pond.

Those lotus flowers aren't Spirit Medicine, and they hold no concrete meaning for him or the tribe; yet watching them bloom and wither has become a daily routine during his years trapped in the Silver Eagle Tribe.

He has long been accustomed to watching them every day.

Tribe beastmen are always coming and going, but these lotus flowers, year after year, day after day, have continuously kept him company.

"Want to ask you about your past outside?"

Ji Xuan, also looking at the lotus with the Priest, said, "I'm very curious—what does the outside world look like in your eyes?"

The Silver Eagle Priest smiled, "You used to ask me often, but later your father told you to become the Tribe Young Master, so I stopped wanting to tell you these things, because what would happen if you knew? You are the Tribe Young Master; you can't just abandon the tribe."

After finishing, he turned his head, curiously asking him, "What kind of beastman is your female?"

He knows that female can make sugar, weave clothes, and even teach others to craft bamboo baskets from hollow trees—something he hasn't seen outside. He heard their household cooks on a stove, and the salt they eat is also very pretty.

But he couldn't imagine what kind of female she truly was—something that had eluded him for years, and it made Ji Xuan, who had never considered spending the rest of his life with anyone, suddenly develop feelings for her.

Ji Xuan didn't expect the Priest to ask him that; lowering his eyes, he thought seriously, then replied, "She is a beautiful, intelligent, ambitious female who is very protective of her own and holds grudges."

The Silver Eagle Priest, after listening, showed a faint smile, "So the female you like has that temperament."

Ji Xuan hummed, then asked the previous question again, "The outside world—how does it appear in the Priest's eyes?"

"Dangerous yet exciting. If you ever want to wander out, I would recommend the Northern Wasteland. The tribes there welcome outsider beastmen; outsider beastmen there aren't subjected to any contempt or oppression.

However, although the Dongyuan Tribe offers the best living conditions for beastmen, tribal conflicts are intense, and weaker outsider beastmen are treated like Beast Slaves, even being used as beasts for entertainment."

When mentioning Dongyuan, the Silver Eagle Priest seemed to recall something unpleasant, and his brows slightly furrowed.

"Going west leads to the Western Desert, whose conditions are the harshest. I've heard it's all wasteland, scarce vegetation, yet ferocious beasts roam in packs unchecked, so the beastmen there are all very strong.

As for the Southern Barbarians, they are said to be connected to the legendary sea, where Merpeople often come ashore, so nomadic tribes frequently trade there with the Sea Clan.

Moreover, many wandering beastmen gather there each year before the cold season, so the Southern Barbarians also host many land beastmen."

The Silver Eagle Priest had previously shared only fragmented personal memories with Ji Xuan; this was his first time describing his impression of the outside world to Ji Xuan so comprehensively and meticulously.

Ji Xuan previously didn't understand why the Priest, despite being betrayed and hunted by outside beastmen, still longed for the outside world; now he seems to understand.

What he constantly recalls isn't the better, superior living conditions compared to the Silver Eagle Tribe, nor the occasional eye‑opening aspects of the world, but the fact that a world broader than the Silver Eagle Tribe and Heiyan Shanmai can offer beastmen many more possibilities for alternative lives.

Unlike the Silver Eagle Tribe's beastmen, who, from the moment they become aware, already know how they'll live their whole lives.

"Why did the wandering beastman the Priest met tell him so much about the outside?"

Ji Xuan finally heard the Priest mention the wandering beastman he met in that medium‑sized tribe; with a probing mindset, he asked a question he had raised long ago.

This time the Silver Eagle Priest remained stunned for a while, then whispered, "Who knows? Maybe they felt sorry for me."

When he went out, his strength was only Green Rank, and he was fortunate not to encounter anything life‑threatening along the way.

It wasn't until he entered that medium‑sized tribe that he realized some beastmen had taken notice of him; had the wandering beastman not warned him, he might never have been able to leave that tribe.

Only… he basically owed that beastman a life!

Ji Xuan, seeing that this question received no direct answer, pressed two more questions; these were the real things he came to ask the Priest about today.

"Priest, why are wandering beastmen generally not accepted by tribes? And why didn't the wandering beastman you know stay in that tribe?"

If Mu Qing was once a wandering beastman, why did he wander, and why did he wander to Heiyan Shanmai before settling down? Is there perhaps another secret he keeps hidden that he cannot reveal?

The Silver Eagle Priest isn't a dull beastman; Ji Xuan coming to ask about the outside can at least be excused as for the tribe's development, but that wandering beastman has always been a beastman the Priest prefers not to mention.

Ji Xuan's question was perhaps a bit excessive.

"Why are you suddenly curious about wandering beastmen?"

Seeing Ji Xuan just silently looking at him without responding,

The Silver Eagle Priest shook his head, "You! Actually, wandering beastmen outside differ from those of Heiyan Shanmai; many of them aren't expelled by tribes, but become wanderers because their tribes suffer natural or man‑made disasters and are forced to roam.

Heiyan Shanmai also has such cases, but those tribal beastmen usually don't survive past the second year; otherwise, to survive they become the very wandering beastmen they once despised, surviving by raiding small tribes' food or killing other tribal beastmen.

And wandering beastmen outside, even without tribal protection, can survive by other means, so they don't hold innocent beastmen's lives in their hands.

Of course, wandering beastmen differ from tribal beastmen; after living outside for long, their temperaments and methods inevitably change.

Even if a tribe is willing to accept a wandering beastman, it must be that the wandering beastman has earned the tribe's trust; otherwise, once a conflict arises between wandering and tribal beastmen—

the first to suffer will be the wandering beastman.

Ji Xuan listened, nodded silently, and thought, "So that's it."

No wonder outside wandering beastmen aren't universally condemned like those of Heiyan Shanmai.

"I have another question: do wandering beastmen exist among all the different beastman races outside?"

He was asking how deep the outside beastmen's prejudice against cold‑blooded beastmen is.