| GB | Shell Tribe Orc | 116
"Him?"
Yu Bai examined the shell in Huo Duo'er's hand, his confusion deepening. He lightly patted the large hand gripping his waist, signaling for the other to loosen his grip.
The strength in the palm eased slightly, but he was still held firmly at the side.
Yu Bai looked at the people who had emerged from the giant clam in the sea. "Who are you?"
The leader of the group stared at the object Huo Duo'er was holding.
"The Shell Clan."
Yu Bai murmured, "Shell Clan orcs... I just had a dream, could it be related to this shell?"
He then looked up at the orc. "Huo Duo'er, did you... also have a dream?"
Huo Duo'er narrowed his eyes, his thumb pressing down, as if he would crush the shell in the next moment.
"Wah wah wah~"
Oh~
The shell made a childlike sound, somewhat mischievous.
A few days ago, Yu Bai might have observed it with curiosity, but after the recent dream, he dared not underestimate it.
The young man gritted his teeth. "Don't—!"
Huo Duo'er didn't waste words. "If you don't come clean, it's dead."
"If you dare harm our clan's priest, you will be cursed!"
"Elder Meng, why waste words with these savage orcs?! They came here trying to take our sacred salt, and now that they have fewer people, we should kill them all!"
Huo Duo'er slightly raised his tattooed arm, his fingers moving, and soon, the area around the shore stirred. Vines, like snakes, extended and tightly bound the Shell Clan orcs who had spoken arrogantly.
The leader, Elder Meng, immediately changed his expression.
The power of the mountain god?!
This person was from the Mountain Guardian tribe.
They could create illusions to confuse orcs and even beasts, but this did not include the wood spirits.
"You, don't hurt him," Meng tightened his grip on the blood-red coral bone staff, his lips twitching, his eyes filled with anger and resentment.
"You land-dwelling orcs are still as savage and greedy as ever, taking our sacred salt and now harming our people, which is worse than any curse!"
Huo Duo'er directly crushed half of the shell in his hand, the shell's whimpering sound filled with pain.
"Priest?" Yu Bai didn't miss what he had just heard. "This shell is an orc, the priest of the Shell Clan?"
Meng nodded decisively: "Exactly, the tribe’s priest is most skilled at creating illusions. As long as there is even a trace of desire in your hearts, after absorbing the aura it releases, you will be drawn into the illusion according to your innermost thoughts."
Huo Duo'er recalled the suffocating pain in the dream and asked coldly, "What happens if we don't wake up?"
Meng replied, "You will be trapped in the illusion forever, until you die silently."
Yu Bai felt a chill run down his spine: "We came here just to get some salt, and we haven't troubled any orcs. Why do you want to harm us?"
Meng snorted coldly, "Salt... the salt you speak of is the sacred object of the Shell Clan. The salt mist failed to stop you, which made me underestimate you. It seems there are orcs on the surface who can break through the salt mist and even devise methods to forge sacred objects!"
"You orcs from the surface have dark hearts. In the past, you slaughtered my clansmen and turned the Realm of the Water God's domain upside down. What's wrong with me killing you?!"
As she spoke, Meng glared fiercely at Huo Duo'er.
"I see you possess great power. Why are you troubling our tribe’s priest?!"
Tracing back many years, the Mountain God, Water God, and Fire God once lived together. Later, the gods divided their territories and occupied their respective domains.
A long time passed, and the gods gradually disappeared from the orc continent, but they chose a race to inherit their powers.
Meng said, "Our Shell Clan inherited the legacy of the Water God. We should be close to your Mountain God tribe. Why are you troubling me?"
Huo Duo'er replied, "You tried to harm my orc mate, the priest of my clan."
Meng fell silent.
Yu Bai, who had been somewhat nervous earlier, now felt an inexplicable calm after hearing their back-and-forth exchanges. He even showed a hint of a friendly smile.
"I think there's been a misunderstanding between us, Elder Meng, right? Huo Duo'er and I brought the orcs from Fantasy tribe to the seaside, we truly without any intention of harming any Shell Clan orcs. The actions you accused us of were committed by orcs from other clans. What does that have to do with us?"
"Why don't we both take a step back, sit down, and have a proper talk? Let's do it for the sake of the Water God and the Mountain God, alright?"
In the past few years, the responsibility for negotiations had always fallen on Huo Duo'er or Ze.
This was the first time Yu Bai stepped forward to negotiate with another tribe. He felt a slight trepidation, but more than that, he felt a fearless courage.
Perhaps influenced by the dream, when he saw Huo Duo'er's fearful expression and resolutely dived into the water to save him, even willing to die with him at the bottom of the lake...
Yu Bai was deeply shaken.
He gave Huo Duo'er a look, patted the hand on his waist, and silently conveyed: I'm here.
After waking from the dream, Huo Duo'er was in a daze. Only by tightly holding the person in his palm and feeling their warmth could he be sure that Yu Bai was by his side.
Even now, he dared not recall the scenes from the dream. He was afraid of seeing that frail figure, his Yu Bai, slowly being submerged by the lake water, while he was unable to grasp him, forced to watch helplessly...
Huo Duo'er stared intently at Yu Bai's lively expression, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
Such a delicate orc mate had actually stepped forward to speak with the Shell Clan elder on his behalf.
Yu Bai was the first to sit down cross-legged.
He hugged his knees, listening to the sound of the waves and gazing at the starry sky.
"Can you wake up A’Sen and the others first?"
Meng hesitated, "You..."
Huo Duo'er saw through his thoughts and interrupted, "Bai is our high priest. The method of crossing the Misty Forest and making salt was all Bai's idea."
He continued, "The Shell Tribe cannot create sacred artifacts, but Bai can."
"Bai is the most beloved disciple of the Orc God. If the Shell Tribe has no intention of cooperating with us, then you will lose a precious opportunity."
Meng looked disheveled.
The fact that the Shell Tribe couldn't create sacred artifacts had been discovered so quickly...
Recalling the past when those ground-dwelling orc tribes, in order to force them to hand over the sacred artifacts, united to harm his people, Meng gnashed his teeth, wishing he could strip the skin off those orcs and break their bones...
Gurgle...
Meng: "..."
He touched his stomach, looking embarrassed.
At the same time, the orcs like A’Sen who had been sleeping around them woke up one after another. Upon seeing the situation, they picked up their wooden spears and aimed them at the Shell Tribe orcs.
"Chief Huo, Bai, are you alright?!"
Yu Bai shook his head.
Huo Duo'er: "Put those things down."
Yu Bai noticed Meng still staring eagerly at the shell in Huo Duo'er's hand and said, "Huo Duo'er keeps his word. If you are willing to negotiate with us, he won't harm it."
After speaking, he turned to ask the gray rat orc Chang Sheng, "Is there any food left in the pot from tonight?"
Chang Sheng had no idea what was going on.
"Yes, yes, Priest Bai."
Yu Bai: "Bring it all over."
The food was a bit cold. Huo Duo'er took out two flint stones from his pocket, struck a fire, and the food in the pot slowly heated up, emitting a rich aroma.
Meng and several Shell Tribe orcs couldn't take their eyes off it.
They glanced at their tribal priest, then stared at the stones in the giant tribe's hands that could produce sparks. At this moment, they all swallowed in unison.
What kind of food is this? It's completely different from what they have in the Realm of the Water God's domain, and it smells so good...
Meng grew even hungrier.
In Huo Duo'er's palm, the half-crushed shell of the Shell Tribe's priest also twitched with desire, opening a small crack just like it had done a few days ago.
Since half of its shell was damaged, it looked rather precarious.
The corner of Yu Bai's mouth, which had been maintaining a smile, twitched slightly.
"..."
Even in this state, it still thinks about eating.
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