Chapter 251: The Choice

By the time the news reached the south, the entire Heiyan Shanmai was already thoroughly covered in pristine white snow.

When Yun Li and Mu Qing arrived at the chieftain's place, they saw that every beastman in the Tribe who had a say in things was crowded in there.

Because the room was noisy with many people, Yun Li was shielded in the center by her several beast husbands and listened for a good while before she could figure out what they were arguing about.

"Chieftain, we can't take in those wandering beastmen. It's the cold season now—where in the Tribe do we have room for them to stay? And food is also a problem.

The Tribe only stores so much food every year, and now with those foreign beastmen invading, food is even more of a top priority.

We can't take them in, absolutely can't take them in. Letting them take shelter nearby is already generous enough."

"But there are quite a few females and cubs among them. The males we can ignore, but what about the females and cubs?"

"Cubs won't work either. Even if we do take some in, at most we can only take in young, healthy females."

A group of beastmen were arguing fiercely over whether to take in the wandering beastmen who had fled from the north, and Jicheng and the Priest were getting a headache from listening.

They looked at Ji Xuan and Yun Li. "You two have been listening for so long—don't you have any opinions?"

Ji Xuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "There are quite a few of those wandering beastmen. Taking them in now would be a burden on the Tribe."

More importantly, if they took in the first batch of beastmen, and then more wandering beastmen came later, would they have to keep taking them in?

Yun Li's opinion was the same as Ji Xuan's. "We can't take them in. Like they said, letting them take shelter near the Tribe is already generous of us.

For no good reason, making us free up space and give food to raise a bunch of beastmen we don't know if they'll even settle down in the Tribe—no matter how you look at it, it's not worth it."

If there were fewer of them, it might be okay, but with a crowd like this, beastmen from different places in the north, taking them into the Tribe rashly would be a huge hassle to manage.

Of course, there was actually another reason Yun Li was unwilling to accept those wandering beastmen—among those northern Tribes invaded by foreign beastmen, could there be one or two foreign beastmen hiding among them?

Otherwise, the southern Heiyan Shanmai is so vast—why would they all, one after another, have to travel over mountains and rivers to take shelter near the Silver Eagle Tribe?

Hearing this, the Priest was surprised and gave Yun Li a few extra glances. "It's one thing for Ji Xuan to say that, but you not wanting those beastmen into the Tribe either—it really doesn't sound like something you'd say?"

"Is it because the beastmen from Heping Mountain Tribe and I all came to the Tribe before?"

Yun Li immediately guessed why the Priest thought that way, but back then, they were very different from these wandering beastmen.

After all, they came during the dry season, right after the beast tide had erupted—it was a time when the Tribe needed manpower.

But those wandering beastmen came during the cold season, when the Tribe was already on high alert—because even without the foreign beastmen invasion, there were always some starving ferocious beasts that would raid the Tribe at night.

Because of the extremely low temperatures in the cold season, the combat effectiveness of the Patrol Team beastmen was greatly reduced, making them expend more energy protecting the Tribe.

Taking in people at this time would only put more pressure on the already overburdened Patrol Team beastmen.

"But our origins are easy to verify, and everyone's strength is clear at a glance.

Those wandering beastmen all came from the north—who knows what they did on the way here? Whether they picked up any bad habits?

Of course, the most important thing is that it's the cold season now. Everyone is busy with their own affairs—who has the time in this freezing weather to care about others?

So if some ill-intentioned beastmen took advantage of this time to sneak into the Tribe during a cold season, it would be hard for us to find them afterward."

Yun Li laid it out clearly, and Jicheng and the Priest immediately fell into thought.

"But if we leave those females and cubs out there like that, I'm afraid not many will survive?"

Jicheng felt that among those wandering beastmen, the males could be ignored, but if too many females and cubs died right under their noses, word would get out later and hurt the Tribe's reputation.

"Just send some beast hides and food over. The Tribe has already guaranteed their safety. How they get through the cold season from here on out is their own business—we can't manage that many people."

Leng Xiu said from the side, "Besides, even if we're willing to take them in out of kindness, how do the Chieftain and the Priest know they're willing to be taken in by the Tribe?"

It was the cold season—beastmen who were originally part of a Tribe but were forced to become wandering beastmen, encountering a decent Tribe—why wouldn't they be willing to be taken in?

Jicheng was puzzled and furrowed his brow as he asked.

But it was the Priest who answered him. "Among those wandering beastmen, there are indeed some who still want to return north to rebuild their own beastman tribes. But aside from that, those who fled together have been through so much on the road—it should be hard for them to abandon others and just come in to live a good life by themselves.

After all, the Tribe's current situation really doesn't allow us to keep all the beastmen in the Tribe."

It wasn't a food problem, but that there wasn't enough living space. They couldn't just force some of their own people to squeeze in with unfamiliar wandering beastmen for an entire cold season just to keep all of them.

Jicheng understood. "So what does the Priest mean?"

"We can try taking in some sickly cubs and a few old beastmen who can take care of them. As for the others, like Xiaoxiu said, give them some warm beast hides and food.

Then the Patrol Team beastmen can work a bit harder, patrol more around where they're staying, and make sure we can spot any trouble in time."

This proposal from the Priest surprised Yun Li and Ji Xuan somewhat, but before long, they realized just how reliable the Priest's suggestion was.

Because taking in a portion of the beastmen was to preserve the Tribe's reputation, and choosing sickly cubs and a few old beastmen who could care for them was also because they were the easiest to control.

And if, as Yun Li said, there were ill-intentioned foreign beastmen among those wandering beastmen, they would certainly be beastmen who could move freely within the Tribe.

Sickly cubs and frail old beastmen clearly weren't in that category, which would also minimize the chance of foreign beastmen slipping into the Tribe unnoticed.

Jicheng wasn't stupid either. After a little thought, he understood the key point. He quickly stood up to stop the other beastmen's arguing and began arranging a series of tasks.

Yun Li and Ji Xuan naturally each took their own assignments. Yun Li was responsible for keeping an eye on the cubs and old beastmen who moved into the Tribe, Ji Xuan led the Patrol Team to strengthen defenses around the Tribe and monitor movements outside in real time, while Leng Xiu was in charge of helping distribute supplies to those wandering beastmen and, in the process, gather more information about the foreign beastmen's invasion in the north.