| GB | Don't Dare to Look | 107
After the rain cleared, the courtyard was still damp with puddles of water. Huo Duo'er was using a broom to sweep away the accumulated water.
Normally, rain didn't leave many puddles around, but the recent heavy downpours had been too intense, bending many of the melon vines that climbed and grew along the courtyard walls.
The soil in the south was fertile. Once plants were sown, with a little care, ample rain, and sunlight, they would grow wildly.
Yu Bai liked these tenacious melon vines that wound around the walls. Huo Duo'er helped them back onto the walls and secured them. Hearing footsteps, he turned around to see his orc partner wrapped in a thin fur blanket, revealing a small face, smiling softly at him.
Yu Bai stepped into the courtyard wearing wooden slippers, the soles making a "dododo" sound as they dragged through the water. Some of the puddles wet his fair ankles, but he stood steadily behind Huo Duo'er.
He rubbed his reddened nose and sneezed.
Huo Duo'er's gaze remained fixed on him. "There's ginger soup heating in the pot."
Yu Bai lent a hand, saying "Oh," and together with the orc, they helped the fallen vines back onto the wall. Then he wandered to the kitchen, poured a bowl of ginger soup, and drank it.
The soup was spicy, stimulating his throat.
Yu Bai hissed through his teeth, opened the honey jar, and found it empty.
He scratched his slightly curly hair and was about to finish the soup in one gulp when a rough, large hand took the bowl from him. "Bai, I'll get some honey."
Yu Bai hummed in acknowledgment and actively held the other's hand.
"Just finish it for now. You're still busy with other things."
Huo Duo'er shook his head.
He took care of his orc partner, doing his best to meet his needs. There was no such thing as just "getting by."
"I'll be back soon."
Huo Duo'er carried Yu Bai back to the room and blew a bone whistle.
The little wolf, who had been playing in a nearby puddle, heard the sound and howled in response, glancing at Jinjin, who was aloofly perched on a tree stump.
Awoo.
Time to go back.
Jinjin had a lame hind leg due to an injury, but he could still run quite nimbly.
The two animals returned to the house and lay down on either side of Yu Bai. Huo Duo'er asked them to keep him company, then grabbed a basket and left after kissing the young man's cheek.
"If you're still tired, lie down and sleep for a while."
He wasn't worried about Yu Bai sleeping too long and getting insomnia at night. He had ways to make his orc partner tired enough to fall asleep.
—
The next day was clear, and the puddles on the ground had almost evaporated.
The area near the tribe was abundant with water, and the mountains and fields were lush with greenery.
After absorbing a lot of water and being bathed in the scorching sun, the plants seemed even denser than a few days ago.
Yu Bai drank another bowl of ginger soup today, this time with the honey that had been brought back. He drank an extra bowl to reinforce the effects of yesterday.
He wrapped his arms around Huo Duo'er's waist. "I'll go take a look at the fields."
Huo Duo'er saw him off until they passed the square and reached the path to the farmland, where they parted ways.
Seeing the rice ears glowing yellow under the sun, Yu Bai felt at ease and continued walking along the ridges. The male orcs' efficiency was indeed high; they had dug a wider drainage ditch.
The former mountain lynx orcs, who had recently joined the tribe, were diligent enough that Xiu had assigned them to work with the elder orcs in managing the fields.
After several rains, Da He and Xiao He were reapplying "pesticide," which was actually the feces of the Longtail clan.
Yu Bai and the elder orcs had ground medicinal herbs into powder and developed a potion, which was still in the experimental stage. Once successful, it could replace feces in driving away pests from the fields.
At present, they still needed to use the feces of the Long-tailed Clan.
From a distance, Da He spotted the alluring figure on the shore and waved vigorously.
"Priest Bai—"
Yu Bai approached and saw that the basket of dried feces was almost empty.
Da He said, "It's almost used up. I heard from Leader Xiu that the Long-tailed Clan will deliver a batch of feces in the next few days."
Just as Yu Bai was about to speak, Jiu Fe, who was on patrol, flew over.
"Bai," Jiu's gaze paused slightly as he looked at Yu Bai, "The elder of the Long-tailed Clan, Hui Yun, has arrived."
Yu Bai squinted and smiled, "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear."
Da He and Xiao He were puzzled, thinking it was a saying passed down by the Orc God, and their eyes filled with admiration.
Jiu Fe knew his meaning and nodded again, his folded wings trembling slightly with joy.
He had heard Yu Bai tell the origin of this story during a lecture, and he had always remembered clearly everything the other person said.
As the priest, Yu Bai was lead by Jiu Fe to meet with Hui Yun the elder of the Long-tailed Clan.
In the large pottery brick house specifically designed to receive guests, Hui Yun had just finished drinking water when he saw Yu Bai, dressed in a light linen short robe, approaching. He stood up to greet him.
"Priest Bai."
"Hui Yun." Yu Bai smiled faintly, his gaze falling on several sealed large baskets not far away.
Hui Yun touched his nose.
As an elder of his tribe, he had come specifically to escort his tribesmen's feces, which might be laughed at if word got out.
But Yu Bai had never laughed.
Instead, he had said, "Grain is the foundation of a tribe's development. Without grain, the tribe is finished. Why would anyone laugh at escorting such an important resource?"
Hui Yun was instantly enlightened and admired Yu Bai even more.
Yu Bai never put on airs in his work. The respect and closeness he received from the orcs were earned through his process of inheritance.
Hui Yun said with complex emotions, "I heard.".. under the Priest Bai’s guidance, “the white rice is growing well?"
Yu Bai did not hide it, "It's doing well at the moment. Given the current situation, we should be able to harvest the expected yield this year."
“...”
This young elder of the Long-tailed tribe felt even more complicated emotions!
Although they fulfilled Fantasy Land’s request, it was still quite hard to part with white rice for three consecutive years.
Moreover, not only had they been told the secret of deworming, but they had also been giving feces, which made Hui Yun secretly itch.
As they were about to continue their conversation, A’Li brought news that the orcs sent out had found two short-feathered birds, and Huo Duo'er had already gone to see them.
Yu Bai was delighted, "Hui Yun, since you're here, could you come with me to gather information from the short-feathered birds?"
Orcs couldn't communicate with short-feathered birds, but the Long-tailed Clan could.
Hui Yun’s expression changed slightly, "Alright..."
Yu Bai brought Hui Yun to the meeting hall, and Huo Duo'er's attention shifted to him.
In the cage woven from rattan, two short-feathered birds trembled before the towering orc, looking like burst little fluffy balls.
Sensing the presence of the Long-tailed tribe, the short-feathered birds chirped a few times.
Chirp chirp chirp~!
Help, He's so scary~!
Chirp—
Scared to death—
Yu Bai observed the short feathered bird that exploded like a balls and led Huo Duo'er to stand a bit further away.
Huo Duo'er: "..."
Yu Bai chuckled, cleared his throat, and asked, “Hui Yun, could you calm them down and also find out how to get to the Realm of the Water God?”
Hui Yun calmed the two little birds, but before he could speak, he suddenly asked, “Chief, Priest Bai, may I ask why you want to go to the Realm of the Water God?""
"I..." He rarely blushed, "Our tribe is also struggling. If there are any benefits, could we share some with the Longtail Tribe?"
Meeting Huo Duo'er's gaze, the Longtail orc said timidly, "After all, our tribe has shared the secret of cultivating white rice with you, and even provided you with feces..."
At this mention, Hui Yun face filled with indignation, but he dared not show it.
Huo Duo'er: "Man has been a bit too reckless."
Hui Yun: Too reckless? He’s did everything Priest Bai said not to do!
Huo Duo'er seemed to read Hui Yun’s thoughts: "So after discussing with Bai, I arranged for him to stay in the Longtail territory for a while longer."
Hui Yun: ...
Man led a team and stayed with the Longtail Tribe for some time to help them rebuild their territory.
Hui Yun had to admit that having Man around could prevent retaliation from the Huangyuan Tribe.
But... that giant from Man's tribe was far from peaceful. While he protected them, he also used hunting as an excuse to capture many wild animals near the Longtail territory!
Some were left for them, but most were transported to Fantasy Land!
Yu Bai suppressed a laugh. Man's actions were indeed overbearing, and only Huo Duo'er could control him.
But Huo Duo'er didn't punish him, so Yu Bai couldn't bring it up.
Huo Duo'er said, "The reason the Longtail Tribe is under the control of Huangyuan, besides the white rice, is that you need to obtain salt stones from them."
Fantasy Land was also running out of salt. Yu Bai had been conserving the salt extracted from the salt stones until now. Finding the Realm of the Water God and obtaining white salt was important.
Hui Yun was hit where it hurt, was speechless.
The next moment, Huo Duo'er's words made him bristle like a short-feathered bird.
"The Realm of the Water God might have salt, which is better than salt stones. I need to know how to get there as soon as possible. If we obtain salt, I promise in the name of Fantasy Tribe to share a portion with the Longtail Tribe."
Yu Bai nodded slightly, "Yes, with salt, not just the Longtail Tribe, but many other tribes could be free from Huangyuan's control."
Hui Yun gritted his teeth and agreed.
Yu Bai immediately smiled.
While Hui Yun was communicating with the short-feathered bird, Huo Duo'er took Yu Bai out of the large hut and carried him to a pile of dried hay.
The warm summer breeze brushed against his fair, soft cheeks. Huo Duo'er said, "This time, I..."
Yu Bai interrupted, "You want to go find the Real, of the Water God yourself?"
Huo Duo'er: "Yes."
Yu Bai's eyes shifted.
"If the journey isn't too far and can be reached within ten days, take me with you. Don't think about leaving me behind."
Huo Duo'er: "..."
Yu Bai glanced around; only a few orcs were moving things nearby.
He nestled into Huo Duo'er's arms, "Is that okay?"
Huo Duo'er was still hesitant.
After all, it was his first time setting foot in the southern continent. Even with the assistance of the Mountain God's power...
The young man wrapped his legs around him, clinging like a tree koala.
"Huo Duo'er, is that okay?"
"..."
Hui Yun had just obtained information from the short-feathered bird and was about to inform Huo Duo'er and Yu Bai.
As he reached the door, he saw the tall, steady giant chief lifting Priest Bai, who was clinging to his waist, as if agreeing to something.
This... this...
Hui Yun patted his suddenly reddened face, inexplicably too shy to look, yet he couldn't help stealing a few more glances.
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