’Damn it, how could you forget something so important?’

’With so many of us Beastmen gathered here, and given how sensitive the Shun Yuan are to the scent of males, they’re probably already on their way.’

As the old saying goes, the bad prophecies are always the ones that come true.

Yuan Lang had just pulled the still-sleeping Wu Yue tighter into his arms when a series of excited roars echoed from the deep forest.

Hearing the familiar cries, the faces of all the Beastmen turned green. Forgetting all about Beast Skins, they bolted and ran for it.

The Shun Yuan, in their mating season, were indeed formidable. They chased the Beastmen far into the forest before finally retreating with angry roars.

All that remained were the Beastman Warriors, sprawled on the grass like dead dogs, panting and wheezing. Each one of them felt as if they had just barely managed to protect their virtue.

"Our mission is complete. We can all return to our respective tribes from here," a Beastman Warrior from the Black Wolf Tribe said.

They were currently on the border between the Black Wolf Tribe’s and the Snow Tiger Tribe’s territories, so it was a good place to part ways. The rest of the journey wouldn’t be too dangerous for any of the Beastman Warriors.

The members of the Flying Eagle Tribe and the Lion Tribe could still travel together for a while, so they decided to stick together.

"There are a lot of us right now, so let’s rest here and recover our strength before setting off," Yuan Lang said as he wiped the drool from the corner of Wu Yue’s mouth.

The Beastman Warriors all nodded in unison. "Right, right! Let’s rest before we leave. We’re about to die from exhaustion."

With that said, they flopped directly onto the ground and started snoring.

The only ones with any strength left were a few of the high-rank Silver Rank Beastman Warriors.

"Let’s take turns on watch. We’ll let the others get some proper rest."

Lately, the people of the Snow Tiger Tribe had been very busy. Besides their daily hunting and gathering, they had to return to make unfired bricks and tiles for their houses and then fire them. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The usually easygoing Teng Qian and Teng Kun were extremely strict about the quality of the bricks and tiles. Any tribe member who produced three batches of substandard unfired bricks would be removed from the team. Their only option then was to miserably gather food and trade it for the bricks and tiles needed to build their homes.

Meanwhile, the more diligent tribe members had already stacked enough bricks and tiles next to their chosen plots to build an entire courtyard house.

As their skills improved, the slaves were able to receive food from the tribe members every day in exchange for the unfired bricks and tiles they made for building houses.

They would then transport these traded goods to the kiln, give some food as payment to the Beastman Warriors in charge of firing, and then simply wait to come back the next day to collect the finished bricks.

Life was hard and busy, but the smiles never left the faces of the tribe members.

Especially whenever they passed by the witch’s courtyard, they would stop for a long time to gaze in envy at the neat and beautiful compound.

If it weren’t for the fact that the tribe’s revered witch lived inside, they would have been tempted to rush in and look around again and again.

Wu Yue’s taro plants were also growing beautifully. Once the taro began to sprout up, small animals from the forest often liked to sneak into the field to nibble on the leaves.

Chang Ye divided the slaves into three groups to stand guard day and night.

Between pulling weeds, catching insects, and chasing away small animals, every slave had noticeably lost a lot of weight.

The witch, however, wasn’t having such a great time. A few days after Wu Yue’s group had left, she moved into her newly built house under the envious gazes of the tribe.

But to the dismay of the two Beastman Warriors assigned to her, the great witch actually had them light the heated bed. Lighting the bed in such hot weather... the two of them really couldn’t fathom the witch’s thoughts.

However, the witch’s command was not to be disobeyed. So, after a few days of sleeping on the heated bed, our Snow Tiger Witch was gloriously afflicted with inflammation, and a string of blisters broke out on her lips.

Every day, she secretly hid in her courtyard to brew and drink herbal remedies, trying to recover quickly so she could go out and show off again.

With the adult slaves busy tending the taro field, the task of caring for the chickens fell to the slave children.

The little ones took over the work from their Fathers and Amus, feeding the chickens fresh food every day, taking them out to the hillside to eat insects, and bringing them back in the evening.

Perhaps thanks to the children’s dedicated care, a few fluffy little chicks appeared in the chicken coop. The little creatures were each about the size of a palm, fluffily following behind the mother hen and letting out tender "CHEEP CHEEP CHEEPS." They were impossibly cute.

Seeing chicks for the first time, the children of the tribe members also gathered around to watch, trailing after the slave children and asking about this and that, their curiosity piqued beyond belief.