The next day, Evangeline awoke to a cacophony of voices.

"Mama, you’re awake?" Bunny had been trying to keep Genesis and the two little ones quiet so they wouldn’t disturb her mother’s sleep. Seeing Evangeline awake, her sharp eyes lit up and a smile spread across her small face.

Evangeline sat up and stroked Bunny’s beautiful silver hair.

Just then, the tent flap was thrown open. Thorne’s voice rang out before he even stepped inside, "Bunny, is your mother awake?"

Bunny was about to answer when Evangeline rose to her feet and said, "I’m awake."

Thorne looked at Evangeline and breathed a sigh of relief. He stepped forward and touched her forehead, his long brows furrowing. "Are you not feeling well?"

Normally, Evangeline was an early riser, easily disturbed by the slightest noise. But today was the day the beastmen were migrating. Everyone took it very seriously and had woken up before dawn, yet she had slept through it all.

He had already come to check on her three times and was on the verge of postponing the day’s migration.

Evangeline raised her eyes to meet Thorne’s worried, dark green gaze. A slight smile touched her red lips. "I’m fine. I just haven’t been sleeping well these past few days."

At her words, Thorne’s mind couldn’t help but drift back to the nights in the Wyndsong Tribe, beneath Thorncliff.

His Adam’s apple bobbed violently, and a glint appeared in his eyes.

Bunny, unable to comprehend the ambiguous atmosphere swirling between the two, scooted closer. The little girl’s pretty face was filled with unease as she whispered, "Papa Thorne, what you said is true, right? We’re going to find my father!"

Thorne snapped back to his senses and swept Bunny up into his arms, declaring solemnly, "Of course! We are going to find your father!"

Bunny wrapped her arms around Thorne’s neck and nodded emphatically, tears welling in her amber eyes.

Evangeline watched them, her slender eyes filled with tenderness.

By the time Danton and Loras arrived to hurry them along, the little ones had all been bundled into thick cotton clothes.

Evangeline took one last look at Blackwater Swamp and said softly, "Let’s go."

Thorne held her in his arms, enveloping her from head to toe in a thick cloak to shield her from the snow. Loras walked with remarkable stability, carrying Bunny in one arm and Genesis in the other.

The members of the several tribes gathered together, forming an extremely long procession.

The Fallen Beastmen, led by The Ravening Wolves, took the lead. Most of them were beastmen covered in armor and fur. They transformed into their beast forms, carried their prey on their backs, and plowed through the waist-high snow, clearing a distinct path for the beastmen behind them.

Following closely behind were The Mer Clan, with Danton guarding one side, holding two young cubs in his arms.

The beastmen of the Great Fish Clan, the Grymdale Tribe, and the Sky-Rend Tribe followed at a distance.

During the migration, the biting winds and snow of the Cold Season were the greatest hardship.

Neither the Marine Beastmen nor the beastmen of the Grymdale Tribe had warm, thick feathers. They could only brave the blizzard and press on. Despite the beast skins Evangeline had provided, some began to succumb after three days.

Among the tribes, some of the elderly and females developed fevers.

Within the Grymdale Tribe, someone suggested abandoning the old beastmen who could no longer walk. This was not an uncommon practice on the Beastman Continent, but Elias Moretti refuted it. He took out the tribe’s last remaining thin beast skins and gave them all to the old beastmen.

Evangeline’s gaze swept over the Grymdale Tribe’s beastmen. She turned to Thorne and said, "Let’s make camp here and rest for a bit."

Thorne nodded, set her down in a spot clear of snow, and turned to carry out her order.

Soon, the procession halted. The beastmen deftly set up tents, gathered firewood, and boiled water.

Evangeline distributed a few tents to the other tribes. Each tribe didn’t have many members, so it was barely enough. They weren’t spacious, but at the very least they offered shelter from the wind and snow, providing a small measure of warmth so people wouldn’t break down from the cold during the long journey.

Evangeline had Loras set up a pot and brew a large batch of brown sugar ginger tea.

She said softly, "Have Elias Moretti and Orion come over. They can take some ginger tea back for the elderly and the females to drink."

Loras acknowledged her with a sound and turned to call them.

Elias Moretti lifted the tent flap and walked in. He looked at Evangeline, who was sitting on a small stool, looking drowsy, and pressed his thin lips together.

He slowly approached and watched her quietly, his scarlet eyes filled with an indescribable tenderness. When he saw her head nod with sleepiness, he couldn’t resist reaching out, wanting to support her. This seemed to be the closest he had ever been to her.

However, before his hand could reach her, Evangeline woke up.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and looked up at Elias Moretti. "Here. I’ve added some medicine to this. It will help the beastmen with fevers recover. We’ll set out again once they’re better. Even the beastmen without fevers can drink some to prevent falling ill."

Elias Moretti silently withdrew his hand, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fist. He said in a hoarse voice, "Alright."

It was rare for Elias Moretti to be so obedient, and Evangeline shot him a surprised glance.

Just then, Orion, a Ravening Wolf, and Quinn Cetus arrived. Evangeline brewed several more pots of ginger tea for them to take back to their beastmen.

As an experienced Spiritual Pharmacist, her remedies worked like a charm. The sick beastmen recovered quickly. After a full meal, they were preparing to set off again when news suddenly arrived: some beastmen from the Great Fish Clan were missing.

"Missing?" Evangeline frowned, looking at the grave expression on Quinn Cetus’s face. "Did you send people out to look for them?"

Quinn Cetus nodded, his words tumbling out in a rush. "We’ve already sent people to search, but they all came back with nothing. They only went to gather firewood; they shouldn’t have been out for so long. Something must have happened! Witch..."

He wanted to ask Evangeline to help find them, but they had already received so much help from the witch along this journey.

Evangeline, however, didn’t refuse. She narrowed her eyes and said calmly, "It seems we’re being watched."

The Cold Season was dangerous, but if a Wild Beast had carried them off, it would have certainly left tracks. Unless it wasn’t a beast that took them.

Besides, the commotion from such a long procession would scare away Wild Beasts and keep them from approaching. Only beastmen, who wouldn’t arouse suspicion, would dare to attack them. Without a doubt, the beastmen from the Norfell tribes were nearby, following them.

"Being watched?" Quinn Cetus was stunned, and his expression turned grim.

Evangeline stood up and said to Loras, "I’ll have to trouble you to find them."

Loras shook his head and turned to walk out of the tent. Evangeline stepped forward, took his hand, and said softly, "Let’s go together."

Loras paused for a moment, then suddenly tightened his grip, enveloping all of Evangeline’s fingertips in his palm. "Alright."

He was a Plant Beastman. Although there was little visible greenery on the surface during the Cold Season, their roots were buried deep in the frozen earth. Communicating with them would take more effort, but it was far faster and safer than having the beastmen spread out to search.

Evangeline followed beside Loras. The two of them walked through the snow, occasionally stopping to touch the frozen ground.

Before long, Loras looked up at Evangeline, his purple eyes grave. "There are a lot of people on the other side of the woods."

"Let’s go." Evangeline nodded and pulled Loras toward the place where the Norfell tribes were camped.

The many tribes of Norfell had united to travel to the Triangle Sea together. But unlike her, they didn’t have medicinal herbs, food, or even tents to shelter from the blizzards. Their journey was bound to be much harder. ’And it hasn’t been long at all before they’ve started feeding on other beastmen.’