"Oh, lost sub-beasts? Quickly lead me there."
A short distance from the valley where Kaelen and Walter were staying was a small prairie; the people of the Crimson tribe had set up a temporary camp here. Their tribe originally had over two thousand people; now only a little over a thousand remained, all exhausted from fleeing such a long distance.
The reason they chose to migrate during winter was that their tribe had recently been attacked, coupled with this year's weather being too harsh and the land they lived on being buried by blizzards, so they had to leave to find a way to survive.
Collins was sitting in his tent, intently studying the map in his hand. Hearing Andre's report, he couldn't help but look up at them with eyes full of astonishment, then immediately stood up, grabbed his scepter, and stepped outside.
Currently, both the Tribe Leader and the successor had sacrificed themselves, and the tribe hadn't found a new Tribe Leader yet, so all matters in the tribe were decided by him.
His disciple, seeing his intention to go out, immediately fetched his animal-skin cloak to drape over his shoulders, then grabbed an animal-skin pouch of medicine and followed. Wherever Collins passed, the tribesmen all bowed in greeting. Although everyone was emaciated, their mental state was still quite good.
"My Lord, where are you going?"
A nimble striped tiger cub clung to Collins' cloak and climbed into his arms. This was an orphaned cub in the tribe, usually cared for by Collins, who carried the cub with him wherever he went.
Collins looked at the tiger cub and said: "We are going to meet two new friends, do you want to come along?"
"Yes, yes!" The tiger cub wagged its tail vigorously, its fleshy paws constantly kneading Collins' arm.
Collins nodded and carried the little cub while following Marco. As for Andre, he had gone to bandage the wound on his head.
"High Priest." Barton and Korudo bowed to Collins, then glanced at the striped tiger cub in his arms. Having a tiger cub here, surely the two sub-beasts would relax their guard more, right? After all, sub-beasts had no resistance against animal cubs.
Collins ordered the beastmen: "You all stay here, do not follow."
"But..." Barton wanted to say more, but Collins shot him a look, and he immediately lowered his head.
Only then did Collins lead the striped tiger cub and his disciple leisurely toward the cave. A good distance from the cave, he stopped and called out:
"Young friends, I am Collins, the Priest of the Crimson tribe. May this old man have the honor of meeting you two?"
Walter poked his head out of the cocoon and looked outside the cave entrance. He saw the arrivals were two sub-beasts, one old and one young, along with a striped tiger cub, their expressions carrying a benevolent air. He couldn't help but turn his head to glance at Kaelen.
Kaelen's canine teeth had elongated, and his pupils had transformed into vertical slits characteristic of felines. Walter couldn't hold back and opened his mouth: "Kaelen, can we meet them?"
Inside Kaelen's head, a fierce struggle was taking place. One tiny person was constantly fanning him, telling him to stay calm; the other tiny person held a pitchfork, telling him to kill them all!
A warm heat radiating from his lower abdomen helped clear Kaelen's mind a bit. He released Walter, whom he had wrapped tightly, then used a vine to wrap around Walter's waist and tossed him outside, while he himself used vines to seal the cave entrance completely.
"Kaelen!"
Walter ran over anxiously but was pushed back by a silvery-green light. He looked up at Collins and, with a sobbing voice, pleaded:
"You are a priest, right? Please save my friend, he is acting very strange!"
The composed look on Collins' face had long cracked. The hand holding the striped tiger cub subconsciously tightened, making the little guy yelp in pain. The vines outside the cave entrance waved twice, then extended and snatched the tiger cub from his arms.
"Divine... Divine energy?" Collins' disciple was the first to speak. He had accompanied Collins to the priests' gathering at the Beast City and had witnessed the Supreme Priest using Divine energy, so naturally, he knew what this green light represented.
Walter grew slightly tense, gripping the hem of his animal-skin skirt tightly. This sub-beast recognized this as Divine energy with a single glance, proving their tribe wasn't a small one. Would they snatch Kaelen and take him back to the Crimson tribe?
Since the tiger cub was snatched, Collins snapped out of his daze. He looked down and asked Walter:
"Is he pregnant?"
Walter blanked. What did he just hear? Pregnant? Who? Kaelen?
"He doesn't even have a mate yet?" Walter replied in bewilderment.
Collins knew this little sub-beast didn't know anything, so he just looked toward the sealed cave entrance, his gaze complex. A normal sub-beast being pregnant was already very difficult to handle; a sub-beast with Divine energy being pregnant was even more complicated. For a moment, he didn't know how to handle this either.
"Where are the beastmen of your tribe, why are you two left alone outside like this?"
Collins' voice was very warm, similar to High Priest Nyx's, so Walter gradually relaxed his guard. He slowly recounted what had happened to Collins. After listening, Collins furrowed his brows and reprimanded in a low, stern voice:
"Foolish!"
Walter shrank his neck, not daring to look at him. If it were the elders in their tribe, they would scold them like this too; who told them to break the rules and leave the protection zone on their own.
Collins then thought of the issue of magic beasts invading normal territories, feeling worried. Had the weather become so harsh that magic beasts were also migrating? Where could their tribe possibly run to now?
Inside the cave, the striped tiger cub Halcyon was pulled in, looking blankly at Kaelen. The little boy's whiskers trembled as he timidly spoke up:
"Hello... hello uncle."
Kaelen tilted his head slightly, his vertical pupils observing the little cub before him. Not a leopard cub, ugly.
He pouted unhappily and used a piece of vine to poke Halcyon's butt. The tiger cub found it interesting and swiped his paw at the vine. The vine, as if having a mind of its own, dodged his paw. Halcyon didn't give up, immediately crouching low, arching his butt to observe the vine's movement, then springing up to pounce on it.
Missed? No problem, keep pouncing.
One person and one tiger played in the cave, oblivious to the world. Outside, the beastman group of the Crimson tribe had also arrived, standing at a moderate distance. Barton used a tone he considered the softest, saying:
"High Priest, it's getting dark, should we head back?"
As soon as he spoke, Kaelen's pupils, which had just returned to normal, became vertical slits again. He let out a characteristic feline "hiss", wrapped up the tiger cub, and tossed him out.
As the red ball was thrown out, Walter was startled and reflexively sprang up to catch it. The blue eye-shaped mark between his forehead flashed faintly, then faded away.
Just that much was enough to make the expressions of Collins and his disciple crack once more.
Great, another sub-beast with Divine energy. How is this Obsidian tribe so blessed!