"Blergh~ Blergh~"
Kaelen leaned against the wall, vomiting profusely.
Entering the second month of pregnancy, he began to have morning sickness symptoms, especially when smelling meat. Two days ago he could still force himself to eat a little, but now he couldn't eat anything at all, not even a sip of animal blood.
Walter was so worried that several blisters popped up on his mouth. He scooped some spring water for Kaelen to rinse his mouth. As soon as he approached, he was immediately whipped by a vine branch.
"Ah!"
Hearing Walter's cry of pain, Kaelen hurriedly retracted his ability. These past few days his emotions had become increasingly negative; at the slightest thing, he would become irritable or sadly depressed. Now, adding morning sickness, he was even more short-tempered.
[Sorry, I didn't mean to. Are you okay?]
Walter cradled his whip-reddened hand, eyes brimming with tears:
"Kaelen, what's wrong with you? You've been acting very strange these past few days? You aren't sick, are you?"
Seeing Walter's tears, the irritable emotion in Kaelen's heart surged again. He frustratedly ruffled his hair, making it as messy as a bird's nest. What could he do? He was pregnant, and having been without his partner's comforting pheromones for so long, a hot temper was inevitable.
He had tried using his ability to comfort the child in his stomach. The child was fine, but he himself was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Furthermore, as the fetus developed, his ability was soon going to be insufficient.
If Walter were an experienced sub-beast, he would certainly be able to guess the cause of Kaelen's unstable condition and figure out how to respond appropriately. Unfortunately, he was an inexperienced sub-beast, completely clueless. Out of worry for Kaelen, he kept getting closer, and his tendency to cry at the drop of a hat only further agitated Kaelen's emotions.
He had been whipped silly by Kaelen countless times in a single day.
Kaelen punched the cliff wall hard, grabbed the slingshot, rushed out of the cave, and began unabashedly using both his ability and the slingshot to slaughter animals in the valley, his entire body stained with their blood.
*Boo hoo, Kaelen is so scary! Papa, save me!*
In the tribe, Sane was also falling into a similar state of irritability. As soon as he recovered, he immediately ran to the bottom of the abyss, trying to find a way to climb up. It was Zale who intervened in time, offering a softer approach. Snake tribe beastmen couldn't climb high, but they could command certain species of snakes to scout ahead.
The Avian tribe also tried to tame wild birds to help search, but their bloodline was too diluted; they couldn't tame species with strong flying capabilities. The Curved-Horned Goat tribe and Snow Leopard tribe also joined in, but this cliff was truly too high and too steep; they searched for many days without any results.
Just as Sane was about to go crazy and climb up again regardless of everything, Quinlan flew over unsteadily:
"There's a signal! There's a signal! Behind this mountain range, there's a huge column of smoke!"
Everyone immediately ran to the highest rocky outcrop, looking in the direction Quinlan pointed. The person who discovered the smoke column was Hugh, an old beastman of the Antelope tribe. He was a member of the gathering team; today, while the whole group sat resting, he separated from them to handle personal hygiene.
Just as he finished and looked up, he noticed a faint smoke column in the distance. Hugh was certain there were no tribes around here; the nearest tribe was a ten-day journey away, so it was impossible to have such a large fire. Furthermore, based on his experience, normal people wouldn't start a fire that created such thick smoke unless someone was sending a distress signal.
So, he immediately reported this to the team leader, the team leader hurriedly sent the message back to the tribe.
The group of beastmen standing on the rocky outcrop couldn't see anything either; none among them possessed far-sight abilities. However, just this much was enough to ignite a glimmer of hope.
Jaxon immediately dispatched Hugh to follow Sane and a few other beastmen to head to the place he discovered. This search party consisted of five beastmen: Sane, Hugh, Quinlan of the Avian tribe, Sangi of the Curved-Horned Goat tribe, and the Tribe Leader's second son, Anthony.
Even though Jaxon said he had given up on the tribe, he hadn't completely abandoned them. At the very least, before leaving, he would pass on all the knowledge Kaelen had taught them. As for afterwards, if Kaelen returned alive, whether or not to accept these ignorant tribesmen again would be up to Kaelen to decide.
While everyone in the tribe set off with hope to find the two, in the valley, Walter and Kaelen were facing a group of strangers. They had come following Kaelen's distress smoke column.
"Hey, we truly mean no harm, you two put down your weapons."
The leading reddish-brown-haired beastman helplessly raised his hands, trying to express his goodwill. Behind him were a few other beastmen, one of whom was holding his head, dripping with blood. His name was Andre, an Eagle tribe beastman from a tribe currently migrating nearby. While patrolling, he saw the smoke column rising and tried circling to scout it out.
Who would have thought that before even arriving, he would be hit by a barrage of small stones flying up from below, making him dizzy. The final stone even smashed a hole in his head. When Andre landed and transformed into human form, he immediately let out a loud call to send a signal to his companions, and only then had time to observe the situation before him.
If he hadn't looked, it would have been fine, but one look immediately scared the life out of him. The ones who shot him down were two sub-beasts; both were holding very strange tools in their hands, aiming straight at him. Andre immediately took two steps back, raising his hands to explain:
"Hey, I'm not a bad person, I was just flying by."
However, the two sub-beasts didn't lower their guard; they grew even more tense. The Avian tribe sub-beast immediately stepped forward to block in front of the Leopard tribe sub-beast, that sharp gaze seemingly wanting to pierce through Andre. His heart pounded rapidly, unable to resist gulping down saliva.
*Oh Beast God, are these really sub-beasts? They aren't beastmen in disguise, are they?*
His companion, who was guarding nearby, ran over and also fell into the same situation. Barton, a reddish-brown-haired beastman of the Striped Tiger tribe, immediately stepped forward, only to be shot in the leg by Kaelen's slingshot. That led to the standoff situation they were in now.
The appearance of unfamiliar beastmen made the unease in Kaelen's heart even thicker. The tail behind his back whipped back and forth constantly; his already itchy throat became even itchier, as if something wanted to break its shell and crawl out.
Seeing the two had no intention of backing down, Barton had to wave his hand for his tribesmen to step back, saying softly:
"We are from the Crimson tribe, currently migrating south. We absolutely have no intention of attacking you. If you don't welcome us, then we will leave immediately."
Saying that, he himself stepped back, waving his hand for his companions to step further away.
However, the group only hid in the dense forest, showing no intention of leaving. Walter and Kaelen didn't dare to relax their guard, backing gradually towards the cave, the slingshots never leaving their hands.
"Barton, did we enter the territory of another tribe? Where are their tribe's beastmen? Why are two sub-beasts left all alone like this?"
Andre held his forehead, speaking softly. Barton shook his head: "No, these are lost sub-beasts; this smoke column is a distress signal. Are there any tribes nearby?"
A silver-haired beastman rubbed his chin in thought and said: "Seems to be the Obsidian tribe? We've encountered them in the Magic Beast Forest before. However, the beastmen of that tribe are quite amicable; they don't actively provoke fights with us. The two sides can be considered to coexist peacefully."
Barton also recalled that instance, letting out a surprised "oh": "Is it that tribe with only a few hundred people but possessing a whole three level-three warrior beastmen? Calculating it, their tribe is about a five-day journey from here, right? Why would their sub-beasts wander all the way here?"
The group shook their heads in confusion, but their goodwill towards the Obsidian tribe dropped to zero. How precious are sub-beasts? They wish they could hold them in their palms and keep them in their mouths. That tribe is really something; clearly having so many warrior beastmen, yet letting their sub-beasts wander to this faraway place.
"So what do we do now?"
Barton lowered his head to think for a moment, then instructed:
"Andre, Marco, you two return to the tribe to report the news and treat Andre's injuries, and conveniently invite the High Priest over here to try persuading them to temporarily stay at our tribe. Chapman, your speed is fast, run to the Obsidian tribe to deliver the news; remember, absolutely do not clash directly with them. Korudo and I will stay here to keep watch, preventing them from being harmed by wild beasts."
The beastmen nodded, transformed into their beast forms, and dispersed in different directions.
Inside the cave, Kaelen used vines to wrap both of them into a cocoon. If Walter moved even slightly, Kaelen would let out a growl and whip him with his tail. Walter didn't dare to move recklessly, sitting stiffly without budging, only his eyes occasionally darting towards the distant forest.
He could feel that the group of unfamiliar beastmen was still nearby, making him feel uneasy inwardly.
Although he didn't sense any malice from them, what if they forcibly took the two of them away? Kaelen's loss of control was becoming more and more serious; Walter was terrified Kaelen wouldn't be able to hold back and use Divine energy to kill people like killing those wild beasts.
When that time came, it might even cause trouble for the tribe.