"I'm tired, you paddle."
He nodded, then unbuttoned his shirt and spread it on the bamboo raft. "Priest, sit down. The sky is beautiful."
Shen Nong was initially taken aback when she saw Ze taking off his clothes, but after hearing Ze's words, she couldn't help but laugh.
Looking at Ze's perfect, classically sculpted figure, he couldn't help but say, "Admiring a beautiful woman is worse than admiring a mountain or a river."
Ze didn't quite understand. He leaned on the long pole, tilted his head slightly, and asked with a smile, "What do you mean?"
The sun was setting, and the sky was ablaze with the colors of the sunset. The warm, orange-red glow of the sunset enveloped Ze and the smile on his lips, softening his otherwise sharp and handsome features and making him appear gentler.
It was this rare display of tenderness that made Shen Nong's head spin. "You mean... I think you're beautiful..."
Ze was slightly taken aback, then his ears turned a light red, and his bare upper body seemed to blush slightly as well.
The hand supporting the long pole slowly tightened, and he looked at Shen Nong with focused and serious eyes, "Priestess, you are the most beautiful."
Shen Nong had never been told "beautiful" so seriously before, especially since Ze's eyes at this moment only reflected his image.
Shen Nong turned her head away somewhat embarrassedly, her tone slightly disordered, "Quickly row."
As dusk fell, Ze rowed the bamboo raft to the shore and pulled up the fishing net.
The bottom of the fishing net was full of fish, so heavy that even Ze had to use considerable strength to lift it up.
The number of fish caught by the fishing net amazed the members of the hunting team who had been fishing all along. They thought that once they were fully proficient with the bamboo raft, they would be able to use the fishing net to catch fish.
Back then, their tribe must have had more fish and meat than they could eat.
Rabbit Wind and the others divided the fish and put them into the baskets they had brought.
While Hu Xiao was swaying on the bamboo raft, he couldn't stand steadily. After he got off the raft, he felt dizzy and his legs were weak.
When Tu Feng handed him the large basket filled with fish, Hu Xiao couldn't help but clutch his stomach, bend over, and dry heave a few times. Since the food in his stomach had already been mostly digested, he didn't vomit anything.
Shen Nong, observing his symptoms, realized he was probably seasick.
His wood-based superpower couldn't cure his motion sickness, so Tiger Roar could only endure the discomfort and listlessly follow the group back to the tribe, carrying a large basket on his back.
After returning to the tribe and having dinner, Shen Nong summoned Mao Yun and asked him to go to the mountain tribe.
Shen Nong did not intend to act rashly in her attempt to win over other tribes. Instead, she asked the chief of the Mountain Tribe to probe which tribes were particularly dissatisfied with the cannibals or the Salt Tribe.
He was told the list of tribes, and he bound people one by one according to the list.
Cat Cloud's agile figure disappeared into the darkness and quickly vanished.
——
The next day, Shen Nong was woken up by her biological clock.
He didn't post anything last night, which allowed him to get a good night's sleep.
However, Ze is now a ticking time bomb. Shen Nong wondered if she should harden her heart and lock the kid out.
But when she saw Ze doing his best to boil water for him to wash up every day, and when she thought about how he always put her first, Shen Nong felt a little reluctant.
Shen Nong could also sense that every time she tried to stop Ze from sleeping in his cave, Ze would act like an abandoned little animal.
Shen Nong, who always thought he was carefree, couldn't stand his expression the most.
Shen Nong thought that her clinging to him like this was probably related to her own experiences.
His mother died tragically before his eyes, and afterwards she was imprisoned by the Ze tribe in a dark and sunless cave, where she suffered inhuman torture every day.
He was the first person she saw after escaping, and she probably developed feelings similar to a "feeding bird complex".
Thinking of this, Shen Nong stared at Ze, who was boiling water for her, and frowned. So this kid really treats her like a father?
It doesn't seem so...
Shen Nong recalled the kiss in the Feather Tribe, and his cheeks flushed. He had only just begun to think about it when he pressed his hand down hard, not daring to think any further.
He silently cursed, "You unfilial son."
After Shen Nong finished washing up, a thought popped into her head.
Springtime is a special time for orcs. When the system explained this to him before, it added that orcs like to go into caves and forests, and especially love the wild.
But it seems that no matter when, he never saw anything he shouldn't have in the tribe.
Shen Nong shook her head, trying to clear her mind of all her jumbled thoughts.
…
Wushan Tribe.
Leopard Autumn concealed its presence and infiltrated the Wushan tribe.
The priest instructed Lu Chun to have the caravan trade black stones with the Wushan tribe. He waited at the Wushan tribe for a day, but the Wushan chief did not come out.
Not only the chieftain, but no one from the entire tribe came out.
Logically, the tribe should go out hunting every day, so there shouldn't be no activity all day.
The priest of the Wushan tribe was very opposed to trading with black stones. Last time, when he was driven away, he made it clear that he should never come near their tribe again. Bao Qiu had already categorized the Wushan tribe as not trading, but their chieftain took advantage of the priest's inattention and earnestly asked him to reconsider.
Leopard Autumn accepted the black stone only after seeing the pleading look in the chieftain's eyes, and then had Lu Chun take it back to the tribe for the priest to examine.
The priest has now said he must trade with the Wushan tribe, but he can't even see a single person.
Using the surrounding trees and forests for cover, Bao Qiu discovered that the Wushan tribe was very quiet and deserted, as if no one lived there.
Leopard Autumn walked a little further into the Wushan tribe, almost reaching the edge of the tribe, when he found someone kneeling in front of him.
He glanced at the bushes not far away and slipped away.
From this vantage point, with a wider view, Leopard Autumn saw the orcs of the Wushan tribe kneeling around a giant rock.
This is... an altar?
Leopard Autumn calmed down and remained silent. After observing carefully for a while, he noticed several young, unawakened beastmen on the sacrificial altar.
They were tied to wooden stakes, their hands and feet bound by tough vines. Tears streamed down their thin, sunken faces, but they gritted their teeth and didn't cry out.
The priest who drove him away used to lean on a long staff. Leopard Autumn knew this was a symbol of a priest; back in the Salt Department, the priests there also used the same staff all the time.
However, the top of the Salt Tribe priest's staff is inlaid with a luminous gemstone, while the top of the Wushan Tribe priest's staff is inlaid with black stone.
But thinking about it carefully, it seems that the priests of their Wood Tribe don't use such long sticks...
Leopard Autumn blinked, bringing her thoughts back to the present.
In that moment of distraction, he noticed that there was another person on the sacrificial altar.
The chieftain of the Wushan tribe, Quanfeng.
At this moment, the priest of the Wushan tribe seemed to say something. His voice was a bit far away, and Bao Qiu couldn't hear it clearly. He tried his best to ignore the surrounding noises and roughly heard what the other party was saying.
“Quanfeng, you wanted to take the Black Stone out to trade with outsiders, which angered the Beast God.” The priest of the Wushan tribe looked calmly at the tall but withered-faced man, and continued with a sneer, “The Beast God wants me to punish you in a dream.”
Inu-kaze's gaze fell on the child who was tied up. His voice was hoarse, and it was unclear how long it had been since he had spoken or drunk water. "Punish me? Why are you tying them up?"
The priest of the Wushan tribe said coldly, "You are the chieftain of your tribe. The Beast God will not really do anything to you. Therefore, your people will suffer for you."
Quanfeng stared at him fiercely, each word like a sharp knife, "Is it the Beast God who wants to punish me, or you, Priest, who wants to punish me!"
The other person smiled slightly and said nonchalantly, "They are all."
Oh.
Quanfeng gave a mocking smile, his gaze fixed on the so-called priest, a wave of endless regret washing over him.
He would never regret anything more in his life than making this person the tribal priest.
Looking at the cruel smile on the other person's face, the trembling children, and the tribesmen who dared not utter a sound, Quanfeng suddenly felt very tired. Ever since he discovered that their priest was not normal, he had been fighting against him.
Now, he thinks he should just let it go.
"Release the children, and if you want to burn something, burn me instead."
Quanfeng's voice was soft but resolute.
Upon hearing this, the members of the Wushan tribe all raised their heads, their eyes filled with unbearable reluctance, but their fear of the priest prevented them from uttering a single word.
In this world, the Beast God is number one, and the Priest is number two.
The priest is a being above all others, except for the beast god.
Quanfeng wanted to kill this person who had brought so much suffering to the Wushan tribe countless times, but he didn't dare.
I can't imagine what kind of punishment I would face after killing the priest, nor can I bear the despair and helplessness of a tribe without a priest and on the verge of extinction.
Killing a priest is tantamount to murdering a god.
Mu Qi had long seen through Quan Feng's thoughts and intentions, and it was precisely because of this that he was able to do whatever he wanted in this small tribe.
He looked at the cowardly Wushan tribesmen and their timid and fearful chieftain, and couldn't help but laugh.
"I want you to burn them to death with your own hands."
Mu Qi's voice was like a venomous snake, coiling around Quan Feng. It seemed ready to pierce Quan Feng's skin with its venomous fangs at any moment, making him unable to breathe, yet afraid to make any rash moves.
Quanfeng stood frozen in place. How could he possibly burn his own people to death with his own hands!
Just a few days ago, these four children were running after him, saying they hoped to grow up quickly so they could go hunting with him, hunt more game for the tribe, and make sure everyone had enough to eat…
He would squat down, pat their little heads, and tell them to grow up well, and that he would take them hunting with him in the future.
But now…
Now their priests are ordering him to burn these children himself.
The fire at the edge of the altar was burning fiercely. Looking at the flickering flames, Inu-kaze said with a heavy heart, "I can't do it."
Mu Qi looked at the tormented and conflicted Quan Feng, sneered, and said cruelly, "If you don't burn them, they will all die."
As soon as he finished speaking, withered vines suddenly wrapped around the necks of the kneeling Wushan tribesmen. As Mu Qi raised his hand, the withered vines tightened. The Wushan tribesmen clung tightly to the withered vines around their necks with both hands, their faces flushed, their eyes bulging slightly, and they occasionally let out suppressed coughs and heavy breathing.
Quanfeng's eyes widened in fury as he strode forward to try and stop Muqi, but Muqi's withered vines were much faster than Quanfeng's speed.
"Swish swish swish".
Inufu's ankles were entangled by withered vines, then his legs, and then his entire body. Inufu was powerless to fight back; he couldn't even break free of the withered vines binding him.
He could only watch helplessly as his people were entangled in withered vines and unable to breathe…
What should he do... what should he do...?