A brightly colored bird flew unsteadily up the cliff face, then transformed into human form, collapsing onto the ground, panting heavily like a dog.
"How is it? Did you find anything?"
Another person with golden-yellow hair stepped forward and asked anxiously. The Avian tribe beastman sat up and shook his head:
"I couldn't go down any further. Flying a bit and resting a bit, after about six stages I was squeezed to the point of being unable to breathe."
Quinlan disappointedly slammed his fists together. If their tribe still had large Avian beastmen, it would have been great; they could have flown down the middle of the cliff to search for those two.
Anthony also despondently scratched the ground, his pure white fur already covered in dirt and weeds, his voice carrying a hint of sorrow: "Going up from the bottom doesn't work, jumping down from the top isn't feasible either. We aren't even sure if they really fell down or..."
Anthony didn't voice the last part, because that was the answer everyone considered the most likely. Walter and Kaelen must have surely been eaten by wild beasts.
"Let's just search to the best of our abilities, at least to give the Tribe Leader and the Priest a definitive answer." Quinlan said in a deep voice.
Riven, the Sparrow tribe beastman who had just flown down, leaned against the cliff face, gazing blankly at the sky: "Sane still refuses to eat or drink, right? If we really can't find Kaelen, wouldn't we lose another tribesman? Furthermore, he is a level-three warrior beastman, how immense is this loss."
The beastmen were endlessly frustrated. The entire tribe was now engulfed in a deathly atmosphere; no one spoke a word to anyone, everyone just sullenly went about their work. These past few days, the Tribe Leader had been leading the warrior beastmen into the forest to clear out magic beasts; upon returning, everyone carried a towering murderous aura, making even the children in the tribe tuck their tails between their legs.
"Will Wofu stay behind to lead the tribe?" Riven turned to ask Anthony.
The white tiger curled his lip: "He's still wailing miserably at home, demanding to follow us. Hmph, a tribe without a Tribe Leader and Priest, can it still be considered a tribe?"
Quinlan also clicked his tongue, not saying another word. The Obsidian tribe, by their generation, had officially disbanded.
---
"It was you guys, wasn't it?" Theron blocked Rylan's group of three, asking coldly. This was the first time he had used this attitude to speak to Rylan, making Rylan very displeased.
"What are you doing? What kind of attitude is this?" Rylan coldly glared back at Theron, his eyes carrying unconcealed disdain. Orion and Mie standing behind him weren't so composed; the two leaned closely together, nervously lowering their heads.
Theron stared intently at Rylan, suddenly feeling how ridiculous his past feelings were. He dryly stated the things he had kept hidden these past few days: "Banshee grass, I smelled its scent when I was near you guys. On the cliff where Walter and Kaelen went missing, I also smelled this scent. Do you have anything you want to explain?"
Orion's expression changed, and he panicked, shouting: "How is that possible! We only used Skag grass..."
Mie hurriedly covered Orion's mouth tightly, and Rylan also snapped his head around to glare at Orion. Idiot!
Orion also knew he misspoke, fearfully collapsing to his knees on the ground, burying his face in his hands and sobbing loudly. Rylan turned back, calmly looking at Theron:
"What Banshee grass, we don't know. As you just heard, we only mixed Skag grass into the mosquito-repellent grass. But what does that have to do with us? Skag grass is just a snake-attracting grass; we only wanted to prank him a little. It's not like we killed him."
With every word Rylan spoke, Theron's expression grew colder. He naturally knew the smell of Skag grass, but the pungent scent he smelled on this group of sub-beasts that day was definitely not Skag grass. At the time he couldn't figure out what the smell was, but yesterday smelling it on the cliff, he vaguely guessed it.
Then he also tried going to verify it himself, discovering it was indeed the smell of Banshee grass.
Banshee grass inherently had a fragrance that attracted wild beasts, making them lose control, lose their orientation, and fall into traps. However, after a series of beastmen smelled Banshee grass for a prolonged period leading to going berserk and causing a tragic massacre, this grass had long been banned by the Beast City, and most tribes no longer used it.
Originally, Theron hadn't thought in this direction, thinking perhaps Walter and Kaelen had mistakenly picked it, which caused the scent to attract wild beasts. But yesterday he happened to hear Pax's group talking, mentioning they had gifted a pouch of mosquito-repellent grass to Kaelen.
Theron, harboring doubts, stayed awake all night, and only today tried to probe Rylan's group. He still held onto a bit of hope that the person in his heart wasn't that vicious, but now it seemed he had to reevaluate.
Rylan wasn't afraid of Theron going to tattle to the Tribe Leader either, because aside from himself, no one knew there was also Banshee grass in that messy pile of grass. As long as he didn't admit it, who could do anything to him?
Mie looked at Theron, his voice carrying a pleading tone: "We really only put a few blades of Skag grass in there, we truly don't know what Banshee grass is, please don't tell the Tribe Leader."
Orion also dragged his body over, kneeling in front of Theron, clasping his hands together, and softly pleading. Rylan crossed his arms, looking at Theron, and advised in a low voice:
"Brother Theron, you see, we truly didn't harm him. Skag grass only attracts snakes, at most he'd just be scared by a snake for a bit. We truly have nothing to do with the deaths of those two. Now the tribe is in chaos, and magic beasts have appeared near the tribe; do you really want the three of us to be kicked out of the tribe at this time?"
A flash of hesitation crossed Theron's eyes. Looking at their demeanor, they didn't seem to be lying; could it be that they really didn't put the Banshee grass in? He had no solid proof; saying it wouldn't be convincing either.
Remembering the heartbroken appearances of the two fathers and his younger brother, he clenched his fists, saying to them through gritted teeth:
"You guys better pray Walter and Kaelen didn't die, otherwise, no matter what, I will report this to the Tribe Leader!"
Saying that, he decisively turned and walked away, not giving Rylan another glance. Rylan looked maliciously at Theron's back, then turned his head to look at his two terrified friends, scolding them as "useless." The wolf ears on his head drooped slightly, secretly calculating how to keep Theron's mouth shut tight.
Rylan's gaze inadvertently swept past a figure busy in the distance, and a thought suddenly flashed in his mind. The corner of his mouth lifted in a cold smile.
Why must it be them who get kicked out of the tribe and not him?
If a beastman had improper conduct, would anyone believe what he said?
"Mie, you still don't have someone you like, right?"
Mie, who was trembling with fear sitting on the ground, blanked for a moment upon hearing this, looking at Rylan in confusion. Seeing the smile on this sub-beast's face, he suddenly felt a bad premonition.
Sure enough:
"An ordinary beastman like Theron must really like the feeling of being pursued. From tomorrow, bring gifts to him. Orion, if just Mie isn't enough, you join in too; after all, you haven't expressed your feelings to Martin yet."
Mie's complexion looked terrible, and Orion wasn't much better. First, it had always been beastmen pursuing sub-beasts; if they proactively gave food to Theron, in the eyes of others it would be seen as pursuing him, so how much dignity would they have left? Beastmen wouldn't value a sub-beast without dignity.
Second, they had just been caught red-handed by him causing a serious incident; showing intentions of pursuing him at this time would only make him feel even more repulsed.
Seeing the unwilling expressions on their faces, Rylan sneered, saying coldly:
"Things having reached this point, why do you still care about that damn face. Let me be blunt, my Papa is the Fourth Elder of the tribe, I definitely won't be kicked out. But you two are different.
"It's not telling you to truly pursue him, just make it a formality. Beastmen care a lot about face, plus everyone in the tribe won't know the reason. Seeing two sub-beasts pursuing him, they will definitely flatter him to the heavens.
"When that time comes, even if he doesn't like it, he won't be able to state the real reason."
Mie and Orion looked at each other, revealing expressions of awkwardness. The way Rylan put it wasn't unreasonable, but, did they really have to go to this extent?
"What... what if Theron actually likes one of us, and then proposes, then, then what do we do?"
Rylan spread his claws, looking at his beautiful nails, and said calmly:
"You just need to hold on through this winter. Come spring, the Obsidian tribe will no longer exist."
Moreover, there was no need to wait until spring; he had a way to make Theron permanently disappear from his sight!