Only then did they see that Bao Qiu had countless large and small wounds on his body, and his left leg was twisted in a strange position.
Leopard Autumn was seriously injured and was barely clinging to life.
If the gathering team hadn't brought him back, he probably would have died out there.
…
Leopard Autumn, deep in the darkness and cold, felt a source of heat.
He slowly opened his eyes, and the firelight came into view.
The priest of the Wood Tribe was looking at him through the firelight. Leopard Autumn suddenly opened his eyes wide and leaned forward, trying to see more clearly.
Only then did I realize that my hands and legs were bound by vines, and I was completely unable to move.
Shen Nong found Bao Qiu's reaction rather intriguing; why was this person so excited to see her?
His expression didn't seem like that of someone seeking revenge; it was more like someone in dire straits grasping at a straw.
Pray, yearn.
Leopard Autumn realized he was bound, so he stopped struggling and repeatedly confirmed Shen Nong's identity, "Wood Tribe Priest, you are the Wood Tribe Priest?"
Shen Nong was genuinely curious about Bao Qiu's reaction, raising an eyebrow slightly, "Is something the matter?"
"Help me, please help me!" Leopard Autumn pleaded urgently. "They're all dying. I'll do anything you ask if you can help me!"
Shen Nong frowned as she listened to the nonsensical words and said, "Who's about to die? What are they helping you with? Explain yourself."
Leopard Autumn wanted Shen Nong's help and made no attempt to hide it, saying, "Back then, I led people to chase after you and robbed the salt stones we were exchanging. Python Forest said that the Beast God was furious because of this, and half of the Salt Mountain of the Salt Department was taken away."
"He wanted to send all the pursuers to the cannibals to be eaten as human flesh to appease the beast god's wrath. The priest didn't want the tribe to lose too many people, so he pleaded on their behalf, and in the end, Manglin relented and said he would only send me."
Yanshan?
Shen Nong sniffed; the disappearance of Yanshan was not some punishment from the Beast God...
"Therefore, the Salt God punished the Salt Beggars..."
Before Shen Nong could finish her analysis, Bao Qiu spat out disdainfully, "In the past, the Salt Department has often snatched back excess salt stones, and the Beast God has never punished them. The Beast God punished the Python Forest for not following the rules of beastman combat."
“After Mangshan was seriously injured in his battle with you, I could sense that Manglin wanted to kill me because of it.”
Leopard Autumn sneered, "The disappearance of Salt Mountain has finally given him a reason to eliminate me and my entire hunting team. It's just that he can't kill everyone because of the priest's pleas."
"But as long as the rest of the hunting party survives, it doesn't matter if I'm sent to the cannibals to be eaten."
At this point, Leopard Autumn frowned, "But Python Mountain died the night before I was sent away, and Python Forest no longer listened to the priest's advice and wanted my entire hunting team to be buried with him."
Recalling the torture inflicted on the rest of the hunting party, Leopard Autumn's face showed pain. "The python forest fed them the blood of human priests, broke their hands and feet, and sent them to cannibals to be used as human flesh."
"The deer grass and sheepwood had already been sent to the cannibals. I was tied up at the time and could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything..."
Leopard Autumn struggled out of his pain, his eyes fixed on Shen Nong, pleading, "Now that Python Mountain is dead, Python Forest wants all the members of my hunting team to pay for his life."
"Given Manglin's character, even though his brother was seriously injured and died after you killed him, he won't let the Mu tribe off the hook either. Mu tribe priest, as long as you help me rescue my hunting party members, they will all be loyal to you."
Shen Nong pinched the bridge of her nose, realizing that no matter how you looked at it, it was all related to him.
He didn't respond to Bao Qiu's words, but instead examined Bao Qiu's injuries again.
"You're a level seven orc warrior, and you were crippled by the Salt Tribe. The Wood Tribe is just a small tribe; do you think I'd risk my life to save you?"
Shen Nong pressed further, "Moreover, the Wood Tribe relies on the Salt Tribe to exchange for salt stones. Is it worth it for you to become enemies with the Salt Tribe?"
Leopard Autumn lowered his eyes and clenched his fists, as if he were making an important decision.
When he looked up again, his eyes were unusually firm. "If you help me, I can form a blood pact with you."
Shen Nong's face remained expressionless, revealing neither joy nor anger.
The sound of the system tapping was slightly hurried. "What is a blood pact?"
After searching for keywords in the database, the system quickly replied to the little ancestor, "There is a unique spiritual contract between orcs and priests. The orc drips blood into the bloodstone to swear an oath to form a blood pact with the priest, and the priest drips another drop of blood to bind with him."
Once a blood pact is established, the beastman's blood genes will ensure their loyalty to the priest with whom they have formed the pact, making betrayal impossible.
After reading the information, the system glanced at Leopard Qiu, who was tied up like a dumpling, and said, "Host, he seems quite sincere. Why don't you take him in?"
Shen Nong blinked and asked, "If we accept him, does he count as one of the five level-seven orcs mentioned in the mission?"
The system lags for a moment, beeping and ticking for a long time, unable to utter a denial.
It finally understood; the host was exploiting a bug again.
[Logically, any level seven orc belonging to the Wood Tribe should be acceptable.]
Shen Nong raised an eyebrow slightly, concealing his emotions. He rested his elbow on one hand, lightly tapping his temple with his fingertips, and looked at Bao Qiu without saying a word.
As Bao Qiu received no reply from Shen Nong, the hope in his eyes slowly faded. Lang Yu and the others had risked their lives to help him escape, hoping he would go as far away as possible.
But Lang Yu and the others wanted to save him, and he wanted to save them too.
He couldn't save people on his own. He needed to find a strong helper.
The priest of the Wood Tribe was the only person he could think of.
Every time he faced this person, he felt as if he were being controlled by them. Apart from the priest of the Wood Tribe, no one had ever given him this feeling.
If the Wood Tribe priest doesn't help him, there will be no one here who can stand against the Salt Tribe.
Leopard Autumn clung to life on the belief that he would meet the priest of the Wood Tribe, knowing that the chances of the priest refusing him were greater than the chance of him accepting.
But until he hears the refusal with his own ears, he always thinks to himself, "What if I agree?"
Bao Qiu realized from Shen Nong's silence that his conditions had not appealed to her.
Knowing the other party wouldn't help him, he pleaded, "Priest, if you won't help me, release me. I need to go save them..."
Shen Nong glanced at Bao Qiu and said without any mercy, "Go to the Salt Department to rescue people? Rely on a half-crippled guy like you?"
Leopard Autumn said firmly, "If we can't save them, we'll die together."
"You are quite kind and loyal."
Shen Nong squatted down, lifted Bao Qiu's face, and examined it carefully.
Bao Qiu had deep-set features and a high nose bridge. Although he couldn't compare to Ze, he was still pleasing to the eye.
Shen Nong has always liked good-looking things, whether they are people or objects.
As the first person to form a blood pact with him, you can't be too ugly.
After Shen Nong had seen enough, he finally spoke, "I can save people, but you have to agree to one condition. Any orcs I save that are level five or higher must form a blood pact with me."
Leopard Autumn's chin was constantly being lifted by Shen Nong, and his body was bound, making his neck extremely sore.
Upon hearing Shen Nong's agreement, the bitter face immediately brightened, and he promised, "Priest, rest assured, they all listen to me, and they will all sign blood pacts with you!"
Shen Nong was satisfied with Bao Qiu's answer. Just as he stood up, his wrist was grasped by a warm, large hand.
Ze lowered his head and gaze, holding Shen Nong's wrist with one hand and using the other hand to carefully wipe the fingertips of Shen Nong that had touched Bao Qiu with a soft, clean animal hide.
Shen Nong felt the warmth of her skin and the powerful force emanating from her wrist, as well as the soft and delicate touch of the fur on her fingertips.
The fur brushed against her fingertips, and Shen Nong subtly withdrew her fingers to avoid the animal hide falling from Ze's hand.
Ze looked at Shen Nong, his handsome face still showing some displeasure and confusion.
Shen Nong seemed to sense something about Ze's actions, like a large dog guarding its food, but she couldn't quite grasp the point and always felt that something was wrong.
Unable to figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it. Looking at Ze's handsome face, he said with interest, "What are you angry about? You touched my wrist too, why don't you wipe it for me?"
Upon hearing this, Ze paused for a moment, then lowered his head again. He obediently released Shen Nong's hand and used the animal hide to wipe her wrist.
Shen Nong couldn't see Ze's face and didn't know what expression he had. He didn't bother to think about it; his senses were focused on his wrist. After enduring it for a while, Shen Nong couldn't take it anymore.
Grab Ze's hand and stop him from moving.
Shen Nong's tone was almost imperceptibly soft, "Don't rub against me, it tickles."
Chapter 23 Small Peppers
Hot Fruit
After Shen Nong formed a blood pact with Bao Qiu, she used her special abilities to heal Bao Qiu's injuries.
A pale green halo swept over the wound, and new skin began to grow from the festering wound.
A slight itch replaced the pain, and soon the bloody wound was covered by the pale pink of new flesh.
Leopard Autumn's pupils constricted as he stared incredulously at his rapidly healing wound, as if a miracle had occurred.
Deep down, he was grateful that the Wood Tribe priest had agreed to form a blood pact with him, and at the same time, he felt even more awe for the Wood Tribe priest.
Before witnessing it firsthand, if someone told him that there was someone in the world who could quickly heal festering wounds, Leopard Autumn would definitely say it was impossible; apart from the Beast God, no one in the world could do it.
Looking at his healed wounds, Leopard Autumn felt a renewed sense of hope in rescuing Wolf Rain and the others.
Although his other injuries were severe, there was still room for improvement. His superpower stimulated the regeneration of muscle tissue cells, resulting in rapid healing.
But Leopard Autumn's leg injury was too severe; the bones had been broken by tremendous force.
Shen Nong put in a lot of effort to reconnect it, but if she wants it to heal, she can only slowly recover by using her special abilities to treat it every day.
After successfully tying up Bao Qiu's leg bone, Shen Nong immediately lost all strength and fell downwards.
Ze quickly caught him, but Shen Nong was already exhausted. He leaned weakly on Ze's shoulder for support and didn't fall.
Ze, who was half-embracing Shen Nong's slender waist, had tense muscles and a stiff body.
Shen Nong felt that it was more accurate to say that she was relying on a wooden stake rather than on people.
…
The first batch of bricks from the kiln has already been fired and taken to build the city wall. The second batch has also been fired and is just waiting for the temperature inside the kiln to drop a bit before being taken out.
As autumn approached, the hunting party stopped hunting and all followed Shen Nong to the river to fish.
The gathering team currently consists only of teenagers and children who have not yet awakened to their full potential. Every day, in addition to gathering fruits and wild vegetables, they also have to follow Rabbit Winter to collect medicinal herbs; their task is very demanding.
The task of building the city wall had to be handed over to the guards.
Because of his leg injury, Leopard Autumn could not go out with the hunting and gathering teams, so he was assigned to the guard team to build walls.