The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 144 Prey Shortage
Bai Qingyu hesitated for a moment, then frowned and said, "That... is also possible."

"But we don't know the situation of the Snow Wolf tribe yet, so we can't make any rash judgments."

Ling Chengen stood up and looked at the dozen or so members of the Stone Forest tribe lying on the ground. Their necks and backs had already developed lividity, and the wounds on their bodies looked extremely gruesome, indicating that they had suffered great pain before they died.

Two of them were still cubs, and they looked even younger than Ling Xiaoxi.

"This grudge will be avenged."

She turned and left without looking back, her tone resolute.

"After the body is burned, choose a quiet place to bury it."

Bai Qingyu and Bai Xi stood facing each other, holding torches.

Bai Xi reached out and nudged her younger brother's back: "What are you standing there for? Go over and comfort him."

Bai Qingyu shook her head: "She probably doesn't want to talk right now."

"Let's deal with these corpses first. We can't send them to Xilu Youdi anymore; we'll have to find another place to put them."

Looking at the corpse of the Stone Forest Beastman, Bai Xi said with a look of pity, "Shouldn't we just bury it? Why did we have to burn it?"

“According to Enen, it’s for epidemic prevention and can also prevent water pollution.”

Although I don't know how she came to this conclusion, that's just how she is; she always has a bunch of strange and unusual theories.

After getting used to it, he naturally accepted these things.

Bai Xi sighed, had someone gather some firewood, threw the corpses of the foreigners onto the fire, and unleashed her supernatural power, quickly setting off a raging fire in front of her.

The flames soared into the sky, forcing the group to retreat.

When the remaining corpses were burned, Bai Xi was even more meticulous.

The ashes from the cremation were scattered on the ground. The deceased's relatives choked with sobs as they carefully placed the ashes into bamboo tubes, sealed them tightly, and finally took the ashes to the hillsides near the pine forest.

They found a fairly open spot facing the Qingshi Creek and buried the ashes there.

Ling Chengen looked at the small mound of earth that had been piled up, stuck a few boards into the ground, and wrote the names of the deceased on the boards with bamboo charcoal.

Although the others couldn't understand the characters, they still knelt solemnly before the simple tombstone, placed their hands in front of them in a prayerful gesture, and chanted ancient songs.

Ling Chengen didn't understand it very well because many of the words in the folk song were very difficult to pronounce and were not words used in everyday speech.

Only after returning to Hanshan and transferring all the grain in his spatial storage to Hanshan's grain warehouse did Ling Chengen finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The night was dark.

Ling Chengen walked silently on the mountain path. Because he was standing very high, the wind that blew by carried a chill.

Bai Qingyu walked quietly behind her, watching her head down as if she were thinking about something. She clenched her fingers and then sighed softly in her heart.

The mountain road was quiet, and the two walked one in front of the other.

Bai Qingyu extinguished the torch, walked quickly to her, and slowly squatted down.

"Okay, come up."

Ling Chengen stopped in his tracks, slightly stunned, and looked at his broad shoulders with a blank expression.

Why do you suddenly want to carry me on your back?

Bai Qingyu turned back and looked into her eyes: "I just suddenly wanted to carry you on my back for a while."

"Come up quickly."

Ling Chengen blinked, vaguely sensing that he was trying to comfort him.

She had intended to explain that she was not saddened or devastated by the deaths of her people.

She was just thinking.

It's not her style to leave a grudge unavenged.

However, seeing Bai Qingyu's somewhat clumsy attempt at concern, she suddenly shut her mouth and lightly jumped onto his back.

Bai Qingyu caught her steadily, hooked his arms around her legs, straightened up, and carried her step by step forward.

Ling Chengen rested his chin on his shoulder, gently wrapped his arms around his neck, and quietly looked at his profile.

For some reason, Bai Qingyu seemed much more composed than usual at this moment.

Ling Chengen buried his face in his neck and said in a muffled voice, "I'm not sad."

“I know,” he replied.

"I was just thinking about things."

He tilted his head and smiled, responding softly, "Mm."

"Don't treat me like a baby." Ling Chengen was slightly annoyed.

Bai Qingyu suddenly stopped and glanced at her trembling eyelashes and slightly red nose: "I don't think so."

“I didn’t treat you like a cub.”

"I just did what a partner should do."

Ling Chengen hooked a strand of his long purple hair with his finger, his breath gently falling on the skin of his neck, and pinched his nose with his other hand: "You're good at sweet talk!"

"Men of your crane tribe really know how to use one trick after another when it comes to courtship."

"No wonder you can win over females and make them willing to be with you for life."

Bai Qingyu couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Is it possible that your other partners are just not up to par?"

Ling Chengen straightened up, tilted his head, and looked him up and down: "You're a sly one, and you like to put others down!"

"That's exactly right." Bai Qingyu didn't admit to putting down those few worthless rivals in love, but just raised her head and smiled lightly, "Your relationship with them has always been lukewarm, and they have never really regarded you as a partner to spend their lives with, so naturally they don't think about making you happy."

"But it's different for me, I really want to be with you."

"lifetime."

Ling Chengen pinched his chin and gently rubbed it twice.

"I can't make any promises to you, like saying that you'll be my only partner in the future. That's just unrealistic."

Bai Qingyu remained calm and nodded, saying, "I knew this before we became partners."

"But deep down, you still think I'm just being difficult with you, right?"

Bai Qingyu's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she pursed her lips, saying, "No."

"Duplicity."

Bai Qingyu suddenly pinched her knee hard: "Do you really have to discuss such an infuriating topic with me?"

Ling Chengen pinched his ear: "Then I won't say anymore." Bai Qingyu carried her on his back and continued walking. After a while, he suddenly spoke up: "I don't think I've properly apologized to you yet, about how I always avoided you and spoke coldly to you before..."

Ling Chengen leaned on his shoulder, his eyelids heavy, not really interested in the topic.

"no need to say sorry."

She yawned lazily.

After all, the person who chased after him back then wasn't her.

She has no right to accept his apology on behalf of the original owner.

Bai Qingyu noticed her evasive attitude and couldn't bring herself to say the apology she was about to offer.

Before I knew it, the person behind me had fallen asleep.

Bai Qingyu looked at the slender arm hanging on her shoulder, tried to find a stable place to step on, and carried her back to her cave.

It had been a long time since I had stayed here, and the cave was covered in a layer of dust.

Most of the luggage was moved to the Stone Forest, so the cave looked empty.

However, Bai Xi must have made arrangements in advance, having someone tidy up their beds beforehand.

After placing the sleeping Ling Chengen on the bed, her eyelids twitched, as if she were about to wake up.

Bai Qingyu gently patted her body to lull her to sleep, then, seeing her furrowed brows, gently smoothed them away.

After confirming that she was fast asleep again, he got up and began tidying up the corners of the house.

They probably won't be going back to the treehouse in the stone forest until Lingxiao returns, so this place needs to be tidied up properly.

After I leave tomorrow, I'll still ask Bai Xi to come over occasionally to clean up and help move the things from the treehouse over.

Only after he finished his work did he quickly wash off the sweat and dust, lift the animal skin blanket, and quietly lie down on the other side of the bed.

……

The next morning, Ling Chengen and Bai Qingyu set off with the supplies they had prepared in advance.

On their way south, they ran into a hunting party heading back.

After briefly explaining the current situation of the tribe to Ling Xiao, the two groups with different goals parted ways again.

“Now that your father has returned to Shilin, there shouldn’t be any major problems,” Bai Qingyu said.

Ling Chengen: "Father is probably worried that what happened before will happen again, so he will probably stay in the tribe."

"But this raises a big question about whether the tribe's supplies will last until the wheat harvest is over."

"Moreover, the rainy season follows the wheat harvest."

"The rainy season can also severely impact hunting yields."

Bai Qingyu suggested, "Should we bring some people back? Aren't we putting too many people into the wheat harvest?"

Ling Chengen shook his head and said, "Tree wheat is the only grain we have found that can be stored for a long time and has an extremely high yield."

"If we miss this wheat harvest, once the rainy season arrives, the wild wheat will sprout and mold, making it inedible."

Tree wheat can solve the problem of food shortage during the cold season.

It is also a crucial part of her plan.

"Since there aren't enough prey, let's just eat tree wheat."

Ling Chengen quickly made a decision: "However, cooking will be a bit troublesome, and I'm afraid they won't be able to learn it in a short time."

"For the rest... let's see if we can buy some game and vegetables from other tribes."

Eating a combination of staple food, meat, and vegetables can save a lot of game.

It can also cultivate a balanced diet among the clan members, with a mix of meat and vegetables.

"Do you know any tribes like the Deer Clan that keep a large number of animals in captivity? The kind that have people interested in selling them."

Bai Qingyu thought for a moment and replied, "Besides the Deer Clan and Thunder Bull Clan, only the Griffin Clan and Earthworm Clan raise their prey in captivity."

"The Griffin Beastmen mainly keep smaller animals, primarily hand-raptors."

"The Earthworm tribe mainly raises porpoises."

"Boracays and gold-eating porpoises are both farmed."

“Porpoises have a high reproductive rate and can eat a lot and grow a lot of meat, so the prey of the Earthworm tribe is always plentiful. They bring a lot of prey to each trade fair, and the prices are relatively affordable.”

"but……"

Ling Chengen listened with great interest, but then suddenly fell silent. He asked in confusion, "But what?"

"The Earthworm tribe is a tribe in the eastern region. They only trade with people they know and are not very willing to interact with unfamiliar tribes."

"It's said that they're afraid of defaulting on their debts."

The orcs of the Earthworm tribe are generally quite ugly. They used to do business with tribes in other regions, but their prey was robbed on the way to those tribes.

They sent another batch later, but it wasn't until the following year that they heard about it from other tribes.

The first batch of prey sent over was robbed by their customers.

They went to the other party seeking justice, but were ridiculed instead. They were told that the game they raised tasted bad and the meat was unpalatable, and that the Earthworm tribe couldn't defeat them. In the end, they could only return to their territory in disgrace.

Since then, they have stopped dealing with unfamiliar tribes and those with poor reputations.

Anyway, it's not a big problem if the farmed hogs can't be sold.

They can eat it themselves.

After listening, Ling Chengen rested his chin on his hand and asked, "Then can we find an intermediary?"

"A middleman? Does that mean someone who connects people?"

"Hmm." Ling Chengen nodded. "Do you know anyone like that?"

Bai Qingyu: "This... there really isn't one."

"However... you can ask Su Weihua, he should know him."

Ling Chengen: "After delivering these supplies, I'll go find Su Weihua?"

Bai Qingyu: "Do you want me to take you there?"

"No need, it's not far away."

“It won’t take me long to go there myself. We also need to leave someone in charge in the south so that you can at least solve any problems in time.”

Bai Qingyu didn't press the matter, only saying, "Then be careful on your journey."