Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Countdown to the Return Journey (4)

"Walter, your wing feathers have changed color!"

"Huh?"

Walter sat up straight, spreading his wings wanting to see how they had changed color. Unfortunately, his wings were too short, and he couldn’t reach them forward at all.

Sangi also leaned in closer to inspect, then exclaimed: "They really did change color, it’s almost the same as Anthony’s feather color now."

Quinlan transformed into his beast form, landed behind Walter, and carefully observed:

"Even though they have only changed color halfway, they really have turned white. The newly grown feathers are not like the feathers of our sparrow family; on the contrary, they look like the hawk family. Walter, you are like your Daddy now."

Walter’s Daddy was a white-feathered hawk, an extremely rare color variant in the hawk family. When the Avian clan was still a powerful clan in the Obsidian tribe, Walter’s Daddy was an existence that could be compared to Chief Jaxon.

Walter’s eyes sparkled brightly. He had never met his Daddy, nor had he ever met any large Avian clan members, so he didn’t know what they looked like. But he had heard his Papa talk about his Daddy’s mighty beast form countless times, an existence comparable to the Chief, and now he was actually able to inherit his Daddy’s bloodline!

"Strange, truly strange. In all my years of living, I have never heard of any youngling being able to change their bloodline once again after reaching adulthood. Walter is nineteen years old, right?" Hugh stroked his goat beard, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Uncle Hugh, after this winter, I will be twenty years old!" Walter replied to Hugh while trying to stretch his neck to see his wings. Don’t be fooled by him being small and short; he was actually born half a year earlier than Kaelen.

Everyone racked their brains but couldn’t think of the reason, so they had to temporarily set it aside and wait to ask the Great Priest when they returned.

---

Mie moved his body slightly. The piercing pain from his chest made him draw in a cold breath, and his mind, which had been dizzy from the fever, became quite a bit clearer. He opened his eyes slightly; his vision was a bit blurry, and only after blinking a few times did it gradually become clear.

Before his eyes was the top of an animal-skin tent, which seemed to be made only temporarily, so it wasn’t stretched very tautly. Mie was startled and tilted his head slightly to look around. There was someone else lying on the other side, but he couldn’t see clearly who it was. For a moment, Mie couldn’t tell whether this was real or a dream.

"Ther... Ther... *cough, cough*..." Mie wanted to call Theron, but the sharp pain in his chest every time he made a sound caused his entire body to tremble. His throat felt itchy, and he let out coughing sounds.

The coughing woke up the person resting on the bed. That person hurriedly sat up, checked the situation, and then joyfully ran outside, shouting loudly:

"Mie is awake!"

Jaxon hurriedly lifted the tent flap and stepped inside, followed by the Sixth Elder, Randy. Seeing Mie awake, Jaxon’s nose stung slightly, and he said in a choked voice:

"It’s good that you’re awake, it’s good that you’re awake."

Randy glanced at Jaxon, unable to help feeling contempt in his heart. Jaxon was clearly a level-three warrior beastman, yet he would snivel at the drop of a hat, lacking the demeanor of the previous generation’s Chief completely. It was precisely because of Jaxon’s weakness that the tribe was now torn apart like this.

Randy pushed Jaxon aside, making way for Draven to come in and examine Mie. Draven checked for a while, and seeing that Mie showed no signs of fever and his ribs were not dislocated from their joints, Draven breathed a sigh of relief.

"The critical period has passed, but he still needs to be careful. Don’t let him dislocate the bone joints. Although it’s only a cracked bone, it will still be dangerous if he’s not careful."

After Draven finished speaking, he gave the Curved-Horn Goat clan Sub-Beast in charge of taking care of Mie a few things to note, then hurriedly ran off to the other patients. He had studied under the Priest for a long time, and his skills were not much inferior to the Priest’s, but he truly had no way of understanding why the Priest, Cael, and Elian kept sleeping and wouldn’t wake up.

The Sub-Beasts suffering from red rashes and diarrhea had gotten much better after a period of treatment; it was only those three people that Draven was helpless against.

Randy sat down, held Mie’s hand, and softly advised:

"You, why did you have such foolish thoughts and run to the dark forest? I thought you and Theron were just getting to know each other; I didn’t expect you to love him so deeply that you dared to run into the dark forest to find him. If Icarus and Cassian hadn’t sneaked away from the group to enter the dark forest to look for Theron, and arrived just in time to save you two from the wolf pack, I’m afraid both of you would have lost your lives."

"Ther... Theron..."

"Rest assured, he only broke a few bones; he’ll recover after taking some medicine. On the contrary, it’s you who must pay a lot of attention."

Mie’s tears fell, his heart feeling completely chaotic and confused. The Curved-Horn Goat clan Sub-Beast named Yuchi rushed over and said in a stern voice: "You must not cry. Didn’t you hear Draven say that you must avoid getting agitated, as it will affect your wounds!"

Mie sniffled a few times. Randy took an animal-skin cloth to wipe his tears, unable to help but think of Walter in his heart. He wondered if Quinlan had found the boy? Was the boy injured or not?

Seeing Randy being so gentle, Mie felt even more guilty. After all, he had collaborated with evil people to harm the Avian clan’s Walter countless times. He and Orion had even unintentionally pushed Walter and Kaelen to their deaths without knowing it. Mie desperately wanted to tell the Chief and the Sixth Elder about the conspiracy of Moharm and his son, but his ribs were injured, making it difficult even to breathe, so he couldn’t speak.

Yuchi fed him some medicine, and Mie gradually fell asleep. Randy and Jaxon also left the place. The First Elder was teasing Wilder, wanting to make the little boy laugh, but the little white tiger remained listless and lifeless. The First Elder had to give up.

Jaxon sat down by the fire, used a ladle to scoop a cup of warm water from the bone pot placed nearby, and took a sip. The First Elder turned to ask him:

"How is the situation with the kids?"

"Mie is awake. Theron hasn’t woken up yet, but his wounds are recovering quite fast."

The First Elder nodded and said: "We are already about four days’ journey away from the tribe. If we keep heading up, we will reach the magic beast forest. What are your plans?"

Jaxon fiddled with the rim of his bowl, his voice slightly hoarse from the cold wind: "First, we will temporarily rest here to wait to regroup with Anthony’s group, and also so that Mie and Theron can rest well. You help me reassure the tribespeople; the fact that Theron could risk his life to protect Mie proves that he is still clear-headed. Zale and I will take turns keeping a close eye on him, ensuring he doesn’t harm anyone."

The First Elder nodded and said: "That is a given. Although this old man isn’t good for much, when it comes to talking, I don’t lose to anyone. But hey, I think you should also spare some time to advise Nordhal a bit. He hasn’t eaten much these past few days, and he is visibly deteriorating."

Jaxon glanced at his third grandson who was moping over there, and then swept his gaze to his son sitting among the guarding crowd, his heart aching endlessly. The tribe’s thousand-year legacy had withered away in his hands; he neither dared to face his ancestors, nor dared to face his mate and his children.

"Let me go. As for you, you don’t even let out a fart all day; I’m afraid you and the boy could sit together all day without spitting out a single sentence." The Fifth Elder Gideon, a beastman of the Snake clan, brushed off his animal skin, stood up, and strode towards the group of guarding beastmen.

Jaxon tightened his grip on the bowl, then loosened it. Gideon was right; aside from figuring out how to keep the tribespeople well-fed, Jaxon truly didn’t know how to do anything else. Nineteen years ago, Gideon could charge into the heart of the enemy to bring back Sane, who was barely clinging to life, and stimulate the boy to survive; therefore, Gideon could also advise Nordhal to return to being the passionate young man of the past.

Jaxon set the water bowl down, stepped forward to hug his grandson, and said: "Haven’t you always wanted to know how your brother Kaelen made the bright bowl? Come here, let Grandfa tell you, okay?"

Moer had sharp ears and keen eyes; hearing this, he trotted over: "Chief Grandfa, can I listen too?"

Jaxon smiled: "Of course, whoever wants to listen, follow me over here."

The group of children immediately threw down the toys in their hands and trotted after Jaxon. The First Elder and the Sixth Elder laughed heartily; Zephyr also looked up and glanced in this direction, smiling softly before continuing to make straw sandals with the group of Sub-Beasts in the tribe. It was great; Jaxon had finally stepped out. He had been so gloomy and unhappy these past few days that Zephyr was afraid Jaxon would fall ill before they could find a new place to shelter. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

It was also unknown whether Anthony could successfully bring Kaelen and Walter back. Only if those two children returned healthily could their group of elders feel at peace.

Mie slept deeply for two days. On the third day, he was able to speak, and he hurriedly asked about Theron’s condition. Knowing that Theron had also woken up and was recuperating at his Papa’s and Daddy’s place, Mie finally breathed a sigh of relief. Yuchi also roughly recounted the current situation to him. Mie clenched his hands into fists and then relaxed them, repeating this several times, before mustering all his courage to say:

"Uncle Yuchi, I want to meet the Chief and Elder Randy."

If he told the truth, there was a high chance that he would be chased away, but if he didn’t tell, his heart would never be at ease.

Well, since it was death either way, why not choose the most comfortable way to die!