| GB | Mouthful | 103
Upon receiving news of the Realm of the Water God, which was likely to be the sea, Yu Bai was overjoyed and discussed with Huo Duo'er the methods to reach that place.
The Longtail Tribe had no orcs who had been to the Realm of the Water God, and the information was heard from the Shortfeather Birds. Therefore, they could only arrange for orcs to go out and inquire about the whereabouts of the Shortfeather Birds.
According to Hui Yu, the Shortfeather Birds would migrate inland to breed every spring, and after the spring season, they would fly to the Realm of the Water God.
With only a month left of spring, they needed to hurry and find the Shortfeather Birds.
The newly built courtyard was empty, with only a few melon vines hanging on the walls and railings. The only greenery in the yard was the vegetable garden surrounded by the walls, with many tender sprouts emerging from the soil.
A square wooden table was placed on the left side, and the spring sunlight fell on it, illuminating the slender fingers that were writing and drawing on the board.
At this moment, Yu Bai was drawing on a clean, blank wooden board with charcoal.
He had not specifically studied painting, but his clever mind allowed him to create more intricate patterns than most orcs with just a little attention.
The orcs of the Fantasy Land Tribe had never seen the Shortfeather Birds, so he could only outline the bird's contours based on Hui Yu description.
"Hui Yu, come and take a look."
Hui Yu pointed out two or three details, and Yu Bai erased and continued to modify. After an hour, he had roughly sketched a simple image of the Shortfeather Bird.
Huo Duo'er took the drawing board and handed it to A’Lin, telling him about the characteristics of the Shortfeather Bird. Upon receiving the task, A’Lin immediately took a dozen orcs and left the tribe to search for the whereabouts of the Shortfeather Birds.
As soon as this arrangement was made, Yu Bai seized the time to prepare for rice planting with several orcs responsible for cultivation in the tribe.
The sprouting of rice seedlings, land preparation, and the construction of irrigation channels all required division of labor and cooperation. Producing food was a significant task, and with insufficient manpower, Xiu took a wooden board to tally the number of people and drafted another group of orcs to help.
When the orcs heard that they were following Priest Bai to plant white rice, they volunteered themselves, but Xiu only selected a portion. The rest were assigned other tasks, such as digging canals outside the city walls, which would need to be filled with water once completed.
In the past, the tribe only built defensive walls, but this year they added a moat.
Inside and outside the territory, everyone was bustling with activity. Even the young and elderly orcs were not idle. They couldn't do heavy work, so they went nearby to collect firewood and dry grass, striving to contribute their part.
After several spring rains, although they were tired, seeing the tribe taking shape greatly alleviated the orcs' fatigue.
—
While Fantasy Land was busy building its new territory, the Huangyuan Tribe finally made a move.
In spring, orcs were busy breeding, and most of the hunting and other tasks were left to the slaves.
The orcs of the Huangyuan Tribe would extend their breeding period, thus requiring more food.
Accustomed to being domineering, they disliked vegetarian food, especially the male orcs who were carnivorous and didn't even like white rice. Their demand for meat had increased severalfold in a short period.
Therefore, Chief Hu ordered two leaders to take a team of orc warriors and a large number of male orc slaves to go out hunting and even plunder other tribes.
The Qingtu and Blue Horn tribes, both small to medium-sized, were the victims of this plunder.
A few years ago, they had pledged allegiance to Huangyuan and sent their main force of orc warriors to assist Huangyuan in plundering and annexing other tribes. Their submissive stance had brought them a few years of peace.
However, this year, no matter how much they tried to show weakness, Huangyuan still seized the females and food from their tribe.
The Qingtu tribe could not accept this. The chief and the priest did their utmost to resist, and the warriors around them chose to fight against the warriors of the Huangyuan tribe due to their resistance.
He’a angrily shouted, "Chief Qing, how dare you defy the orders of our tribe?"
Qing Yun stood tall and said, "It's you, Huangyuan, who have gone too far. Over the past few years, our tribe has submitted to you and even helped you annex other tribes. At that time, it was agreed that you would spare our tribe, but now you are going back on your word?"
The priest of Qingtu raised his wrinkled hand and sighed, "I said back then that we shouldn't help the Huangyuan tribe harm other orc tribes. Huangyuan has defied the will of the Orc God and will eventually be punished!"
Big H’ea signaled to a few warriors, "Seize this old priest who dares to speak nonsense. The Orc God has always blessed Huangyuan. Our tribe is the only one under the protection of the Orc God. Otherwise, how could we dominate the continent?"
The old priest shook his head, "Huangyuan is too arrogant. The continent is not just for you to have, Huangyuan. In the north, near the Fire God Mountain, a more powerful tribe will emerge."
He’a expression changed, and then he sneered.
"Fire God Mountain?"
"Don't even mention Fire God Mountain. Even the most powerful orc warrior wouldn't be able to cross that miasma-filled jungle."
The Huangyuan warriors, led by H’ea, were too lazy to continue listening to the orcs of the Qingtu tribe. They directly moved to seize the granaries and the females.
Qing Yun shouted, "Stop!"
He then ordered a few warriors to protect the old priest and leave. He personally led a group of warriors to confront Huangyuan, and the entire tribe fell into chaos.
In the midst of the chaos, many warriors of the Qing tribe were injured. They fought desperately to protect their chief and help him escape. Qing Yun wiped his face, which was covered in rain and blood, looked at the nearly half-burned tribe, gritted his teeth, and fled with the remaining tribesmen.
—
While the Qingtu tribe was suffering, Man, along with A’Lia and a group of warriors, infiltrated the Longtail tribe under the guidance of Hui Yu.
There weren't many orcs from Huangyuan stationed near the Longtail tribe, but the Longtail tribe lacked combat capabilities, making them unable to resist.
Man let out a few malicious laughs. It had rained not long ago, and the mud was wet and sticky. He viciously swung his arm, and a large amount of wet mud fell like rain, covering the Huangyuan warriors who were preparing to fight. Their faces were smeared with mud, their eyes were stuck shut, and they spat out the mud in disgust.
A’Liao and the remaining warriors didn't waste any time. As soon as Man made his move, they immediately coordinated with him to ambush the Huangyuan orcs.
Hui Yu ran to a safe corner and shouted to his tribesmen, "Quick, find a place to hide! Orcs have come to rescue us!"
Half an hour later, all the Huangyuan orcs were tied up. Man stepped on H’ea face a few times. Earlier, H’ea shouting had annoyed him, so now that he had caught him, he made sure to give him a hard time.
But he couldn't kill him, because Bai had instructed that even defeated tribes should not be mistreated. Otherwise, how would their actions be any different from Huangyuan's?
So Man could only bully H’ea a little and then counted the captured Huangyuan warriors.
—
A group of Huangyuan warriors were shaping wood in the square.
Shaping wood into the right form was not easy; it required both physical strength and skill.
The warriors from Huangyuan, who were imprisoned in Fantasy Land, were subjected to grueling and difficult tasks every day. Initially, they were numb and passive, but since they wouldn’t get food if they didn’t work, they eventually resigned themselves to their fate after a few attempts.
Moreover, the chief and priest of Fantasy Land had not ordered the orcs to mistreat them. As the spring passed, they realized that staying in Fantasy Land wasn’t as unbearable as they had thought, aside from the labor.
They had seen a tribe that was better than Huangyuan—a tribe with sturdy outer walls, constructed waterways, and well-planned areas for farming and livestock.
Inside, the orcs’ houses were built in an orderly manner, and over the days, they discovered that the orcs here were hardworking and simple, without any signs of anger or complaints.
No matter how old or young the orcs were, as long as they were willing to work, they would always receive a share of food and a shelter that was neither leaky nor drafty.
In Huangyuan, even as warriors who were treated relatively well, they had grown irritable and discontented over time, having heard too many complaints from the suffering orcs.
The warriors’ gazes trembled as a figure approached the square, instinctively drawn to it, and they stood there in a daze.
Yu Bai, dressed in a gray linen robe with a crossed collar, was heading out to inspect the rice seedlings planted a few days ago and to do some pest control work.
As he passed through the residential area, he saw Huo Duo’er working on a roof beam. He stopped and smiled, waving his arm.
Huo Duo’er nodded slightly at him. Yu Bai untied a water pouch from his waist and said, “There’s water inside, with a bit of honey added. Drink it later.”
“Alright,” Huo Duo’er replied, leaping down from the high wall. While Yu Bai was still startled, he bent down and lightly touched his forehead with his lips.
Covered in sweat, he didn’t want to transfer his sweat to his clean and fair-skinned orc partner.
Yu Bai noticed several orcs glancing their way and felt a bit embarrassed. Just as he was about to step back, A’Liao ran over.
“Huo Da, Bai, you’re both here! I was just looking for you!”
Huo Duo’er took a sip of the honey water from the pouch, feeling the warmth and comfort in his throat. He then crouched down and fed Yu Bai a few sips.
Yu Bai glanced at him, drank a little, and pushed the pouch back. “You drink it.”
A’Liao: “…”
“So, Man rescued the Longtail tribe and stayed there to help. He’s also settling the accounts for the white rice that will be transported back.”
“Oh, on the way back, I encountered an orc who had escaped from Huangyuan. They called themselves the Qingtu tribe and followed me to the outskirts of our territory, wanting to meet Big Huo and Bai.”
Yu Bai: “Perhaps they’re seeking help?”
Huo Duo’er nodded. “We’ll meet them later.”
The tribe was in need of labor, and he didn’t mind having more tribes join Fantasy Land, but they had to follow their rules.
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