After talking for a while, Su Cheng finally gained some understanding of the current situation.
This small forest was called Wolf Forest, named by the Wolf Ear Tribe’s chief. They had occupied this corner for many years. Strictly speaking, the Cat-eared Tribe were outsiders.
The Cat-ear Tribe had originally lived in a distant mountain range. Their Tribe had flourished, but a sudden upheaval had led to the deaths of all the men and most of the Warriors.
At the time, the Tribe’s Elders had led most of the children—around fifty or sixty people—in a flight to this forest, where they settled. But the Cat-eared Tribe had lost its backbone, and simply managing to survive in peace was already no easy feat.
On top of that, disasters kept striking, and many Tribe members died one after another. In the end, they were reduced to their current state.
Three Tribes lived in this forest: the Cat Ear Tribe, the Wolf Ear Tribe, and the Great Bull Tribe, which controlled the water upstream to the north.
Their neighbors, the Wolf Ear Tribe, were fierce by nature and had a strong sense of Territory. The two sides had also clashed on many occasions over resources and food. Fortunately, both were small Tribes of only twenty or thirty people, with little difference in the number of fighters. And since the Cat Ear Tribe had made major concessions regarding their Hunting grounds, things had never escalated to the point of a fight to the death.
Even so, they had been forced into this corner, with a mountain blocking their way behind them. The resources they could obtain were extremely limited, and life for the Cat-eared Tribe grew ever harder. If Chun hadn’t led the Cat-eared Tribe in Hunting so diligently over the past six months, their numbers might well have been half what they were now.
At the mention of Chun, the Cat-eared Girl Lin seemed to have opened the floodgates, her face full of delight.
Su Cheng also indirectly learned the origins of this Rabbit-eared Girl.
Rabbit-eared Girls were among the most powerful races on this continent. Each one was comparable in personal strength to a Lion Ear or Tiger Ear. Don’t ask why—Su Cheng had no idea either.
The Rabbit Ear Tribe revered strength, but they were also rather cold-blooded. If a Tribe member was injured and unable to fight, and could no longer contribute to the Tribe, they could easily be abandoned. Chun had been ostracized by her Tribe after breaking her left leg and becoming unable to join in Hunting large beasts.
However, Chun had chosen to leave the Tribe of her own accord.
After wandering alone for half a month, she had collapsed from hunger in the forest, where Lin found her and brought her back.
To repay Lin, she stayed with the Tribe, teaching the Cat-eared Tribe how to hunt and living alongside everyone.
Listening to her own story, Chun was also moved. She couldn’t believe more than half a year had already passed in the blink of an eye. Though she had initially stayed to repay Lin’s kindness, as they gradually grew closer, she had unknowingly come to regard this place as her final home in life.
The Rabbit-Ear Tribe was in the past. This was her home now.
The cold wind rustled, and the Camp gradually fell quiet.
But Su Cheng’s thoughts were anything but calm. The Cat Ear Tribe’s situation was far worse than he had imagined: they had lost their Fire Seed, resources were scarce, and the Tribe consisted entirely of women, leaving no possibility of new blood joining them.
Without a miracle, they might not make it through this Extreme Winter.
Su Cheng knew very well that a great deal would have to be done to change their situation.
Before he knew it, he had listened to Lin talk at length about the Cat Ear Tribe and Chun, until the girl stretched, yawned, curled up, and fell fast asleep beside Chun. Only then did it all come to an end.
Su Cheng picked Luo up and tossed her into her Tent. After greeting Chun, he quickly rolled back into his own nest.
Chun remained seated sideways on the Dry Grass.
Her hand gently stroked Lin’s tail as it occasionally swished about.
She gazed blankly at the fire in front of her, from time to time letting her eyes wander to the Tent across from her.
She was actually very curious about why Su Cheng knew Fire Making. That was a skill only a shaman could possess. Su Cheng couldn’t possibly be a shaman, because no Tribe would let its shaman wander outside.
Stealing the knowledge was unlikely, either. The shaman’s Great Tent wasn’t somewhere just anyone could casually enter.
She had experienced the Rabbit Ear Tribe firsthand. Its Rules allowed no defiance or contradiction. Even the Tribe’s strongest Warrior had to bow before the shaman.
Just which Tribe did this mysterious man come from?
…
In the blink of an eye, the horizon had already begun to brighten.
Su Cheng had thought about many things last night, so he’d gone to bed late. Just as he was dozing fitfully, he seemed to hear hurried shouts outside.
He rubbed his sleepy eyes. As soon as he opened them, he found a familiar face right in front of him.
Luo, the Wolf-eared Girl, was crouching obediently beside him, staring at him with shining eyes.
His gaze drifted downward.
“Pfft!”
What he hadn’t gotten to see last night, he got to see first thing in the morning.
A picture-perfect sight.
Su Cheng blurted out, “Holy crap!” His nose felt hot.
So fair and clean!
Even he couldn’t help blushing. He hurriedly sat up.
“Why are you in my Tent?”
Luo tilted her head and said, “Chun told me to keep an eye on you and wait for you to wake up.”
“Oh.”
Su Cheng stretched and then stepped out of the Tent, but the scene from just now refused to leave his mind.
That nearly shattered my Daoist composure.
Who could handle something that exciting first thing in the morning?
He took a deep breath and slapped his cheeks hard. Seeing the fire covered with a thick layer of ash and the Dry Grass bed beside it empty, he turned and asked, “Where’s Chun?”
Luo ran out of the Tent too and replied, “A Cat-eared Tribe member just came to call her. I think they said someone’s Fever had gotten worse and they were about to die.”
Then Luo pointed in a direction. “They went to the west side of the Camp.”
“Fever?” Su Cheng scratched his head. What was that?
“Mm-hmm.”
Luo looked frightened as she continued, “It’s a terrible illness. The sick person’s body gets hot, they become weak, and they cough a lot. It can spread to other Tribe members, and only a shaman can treat it.”
Coughing, fever, and weakness in the limbs?
Su Cheng rubbed his chin. From those symptoms, could it be a cold?
A cold was nothing to modern people, but in primitive society, it could be fatal.
“I’ll go take a look.”
Before he even reached the west side of the Camp, he could already hear the anxious, helpless voice of a Cat-eared Girl.
“Lin, what do we do? Aguo looks like she’s about to die. What do we do?”
The Beast-eared Girl paced around in a panic, but didn’t dare approach the other Beast-eared Girl lying on the hay pile. The other Beast-eared Girls who had gathered nearby also wore deeply furrowed brows, their faces full of fear.
Lin stood there, just as at a loss.
Chun was half-crouched nearby, examining the Beast-eared Girl’s condition, her expression extremely grave. She hadn’t expected Aguo’s Fever to progress so quickly.
She had nearly lost consciousness.