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

Chapter 176 When the sun is at its zenith, it begins to decline.
"You're blocking the way, move aside."

Yu Heng ignored the expression on his face and said in a calm tone.

Bai Qingyu looked up behind him and found that Yu Heng was very cunning. He used his body to block Ling Chengen. Although his face was expressionless, his eyes could not hide his blatant provocation.

Bai Qingyu's eyes flickered slightly as she stepped aside, allowing Yu Heng and his men to pass in front of her. But just as Ling Chengen was about to pass by her, Bai Qingyu swiftly grabbed her wrist.

Ling Chengen subconsciously stopped and turned to look at Bai Qingyu, who had a resentful expression and was glaring at the back of Yu Heng's head. He instantly understood.

Well, the case is solved.

She's jealous.

She had a slight headache, and her hands were being held by two different people. She looked at Yuheng, who was also turning around to look at her, his eyebrows rising higher and higher. Before the two of them could speak, she said, "You two, shut up!"

After saying that, she decisively pulled her hands away, raised them, and said, "I can walk by myself, I have legs."

“I know where the cave is, so I don’t need anyone to lead the way.”

"Besides, Shi Panxing is already in this terrible state, and you two still have the mind to do this nonsense? How childish is that?"

After saying that, she waved her sleeves and left without a trace, passing by Yuheng with light steps and quickly walking to the front of the group.

Yu Heng and Bai Qingyu exchanged a glance, both seeing disdain on each other's faces. They turned their heads away in unison and couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

Shi Ruoan had long noticed the strange atmosphere among these people, but he had no interest in getting involved right now. He bypassed Bai Qingyu and Yu Heng, picked up Shi Panxing, who was still soaking wet and unconscious, glanced at the two who were frozen in place, and finally decided to follow Ling Chengen's trail.

After Yuheng jumped off his head, Lin Quan quietly withdrew and went back to inform his clan leader.

Although he didn't particularly admire Chang Tianchen, strength was his principle, and he had no intention of betraying Snake Mountain for the time being, so he would do his best to complete Chang Tianchen's arrangements.

As for whether Chang Tianchen, that love-obsessed guy, will eventually give Snake Mountain to Stone Forest... Lin Quan can't say for sure.

But during this time he gradually came to understand that the outcome of this matter would not change according to his will, unless he could kill Chang Tianchen, but at present it seems that the feasibility of this plan is not high.

Therefore, he can only try his best not to worry unnecessarily and not to think about things that haven't happened yet.

……

Linquan did not head towards the cave, but instead went to an abandoned cavern on the Mulan Plain.

This is an abandoned dwelling of the rat-folk orcs. Previously, due to the large-scale entry of the snake-folk orcs into the Mulan Plain, the rat-folk orcs' living space was further compressed.

Because a mid-to-high-level snake-type orc can easily destroy the nest of a small rat-type orc clan.

This is mainly due to the characteristics of the snake-type orcs. Those underground caves, which are not conducive to the activities of other races, are the perfect vacation spots for the snake-type orcs in their beast form.

The snake race is covered in highly resistant scales, making it difficult for the rat orcs to easily break through their defenses with their ordinary handcrafted traps and wooden weapons.

In addition, most snake-type beastmen possess venom glands, and some snake-type beastmen who have awakened their talents have even greater toxicity.

Most surprisingly, the snake-kin beastmen seem to have a strong resistance to the plague spread by the rat-kin. To date, not a single snake-kin beastman has been infected with the plague, and even those who have bitten infected rat-kin beastmen have shown no symptoms.

So after only three or four days of fighting, the arrogant spirit of the rat-orcs had vanished, and they were forced to retreat steadily across the entire Mulan Plain, abandoning the interconnected underground caverns on the outskirts.

Chang Tianchen and Yu Heng's plan was simple; they didn't intend to exterminate the rat tribe on the entire Mulan Plain.

Previously, they wanted to have a rational discussion with the rat tribe, mainly regarding the disposal of corpses. They wanted all corpses to be cremated and buried, and not to be carelessly disposed of anymore. They also wanted to help solve the already growing rat infestation on the plains as much as possible.

The leaders of more than a dozen rat tribes reacted in unison, unwilling to accept their terms.

Therefore, the outcome of the negotiations between the two sides was without any suspense; it completely collapsed.

Since they couldn't reach an agreement, Chang Tianchen and Yu Heng didn't intend to waste any more time.

We tried diplomacy first, then resorted to force; we did everything we could.

Let's just start fighting.

Most of the orcs from Snake Mountain were transferred to the Mulan Plain to follow Chang Tianchen's orders.

On the very night the negotiations broke down, Lin Quan led a group of snake-clan beastmen to directly attack five small surrounding tribes.

They did not completely kill these weak rat-orcs; their primary goal was simply to drive them northeast as quickly as possible.

At the same time, it intimidates these fearless rat-race orcs.

Chang Tianchen wanted to use the first battle to make these rats see the current situation clearly.

It's only a matter of time before they take over the Mulan Plain. Unlike the previous feline orcs, they won't engage in direct combat with these rats, nor will they resort to various probing tactics.

When the orcs of Snake Mountain go on an expedition, they will surely crush their enemies without giving them any chance to resist.

However, the initial expulsion of five small groups did not cause these rat-orcs to completely give up resistance. Instead, they began to unite and fight, attempting to launch a fierce counterattack by leveraging their numerical advantage and familiarity with the terrain.

The rats thought this way, and they did it.

On the night the first battle ended, Chang Tianchen and Lin Jing camped out in a cleaned-up rat tribe burrow, allowing the orcs who had participated in the attack and expulsion to rest on the spot.

As a result, in the latter half of the night, the team that was resting on the plains was repeatedly harassed by a large number of rat-fox orcs.

The Snake Mountain warriors were getting increasingly agitated and showed signs of disobeying orders and wanting to go on a killing spree.

The dry season is already hot, which can easily lead to irritability.

In addition, there are not many trees on the plains, and the sunlight is strong during the day, with the temperature only dropping slightly at night.

The snake warriors had hoped to get some rest in the cooler latter part of the night, but the rats' disturbance caused them no choice but to endure it. The snake warriors, known for their ferocity, were not willing to swallow their anger.

So, in the early morning after the first battle, a large-scale conflict broke out between the two sides, and the rats lost a lot of manpower.

By daybreak, the rat-orcs had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only corpses and bloodstains, as well as snake-warriors who had suffered a humiliating defeat in battle.

Because of Chang Tianchen's request, they had to control the strength of their attacks at the beginning of the battle to avoid one person wiping out an entire clan.

Chang Tianchen was well aware of Ling Chengen's purpose, so his initial goal was to subdue the entire rat tribe and to designate a new territory for them. He also required the rat tribe to abide by certain rules of conduct in order to ensure normal coexistence between the rat tribe and the surrounding tribes.

If the small groups of rats are wiped out from the beginning, it will only provoke stronger resistance from them and completely cut off any possibility of renegotiation with the rats.

The rat race's fighting strength is indeed not strong enough to defeat the snake race warriors.

But their numbers are extremely large.

We can definitely kill them all.

But how long would it take to kill them all? Chang Tianchen knew very well that Ling Chengen probably didn't have the patience to wait for several years.

The disasters that Shilin encountered during the rainy season this year have made Ling Chengen more vigilant, and he is eager to build a safer territory to protect his people.

His early interactions with Ling Chengen were complicated. Compared to the people around her, he was definitely at a disadvantage. So, for now, he could only focus on proving his value and reliability and try to make up for the mistakes he had made.

When Lin Quan returned with news of Ling Chengen, Chang Tianchen was leaning against a rock, listening to Lin Jing report the information he had gathered that day.

After seeing Lin Quan emerge from the tall grass and trees, Chang Tianchen raised his hand to signal Lin Jing to stop, telling him to eat something to replenish his strength and take a break.

Lin Jing glanced back at his brothers, then quickly looked away and turned to walk towards the fire.

Chang Tianchen rested his elbows on his knees and asked, "Why did it take so long to patrol over there?"

"We ran into the young clan leader of the Stone Forest Clan, and Bai Qingyu from the Crane Clan."

"The two have just landed and returned with two seriously injured sea creatures."

"It seems they've gone to seek treatment from that unreliable witch doctor." Lin Quan recounted everything he had seen and guessed, then looked up at the silent Chang Tianchen. "Chieftain, aren't you going to go and take a look?"

Chang Tianchen shook his head, toying with a small bone blade a dozen centimeters long in his left hand, while his right palm supported his chin. He said thoughtfully, "Going now is useless. You said those two people they brought back were sea creatures?"

"Yes, there was one who was badly injured. He was a silver-haired, silver-tailed merman with a very handsome face."

"However, it seems that his heart meridian was pierced by something special, which sealed his superpower. This person's superpower is very special and rare. According to what the young clan leader of the Stone Forest said, it should be some kind of space-related ability."

Chang Tianchen lowered his eyes to look at the tip of the bone blade and pondered, "A silver-haired merman?"

"Then it must be the royal family of the North Sea."

The land-dwelling orcs didn't know much about the sea, but they did know some basic information.

The sea is boundless, but along the eastern coastline of the North and South Beast Plains, it can be roughly divided into four sea areas.

The North Sea is located at the northernmost tip of the Northern Beast Plains, and it also includes the northeastern part of the Northern Beast Plains.

Because the North Sea is located in the far north and the water temperature is low, the appearance of the sea creatures and beastmen there is quite different from that of the sea creatures in warm and tropical waters.

In the North Sea, the merfolk are considered royalty, and these royal merfolk are further divided into several ranks based on the purity of their bloodline.

The higher the degree of atavism, the closer the fish tail and hair color will be to silver-white, and the more noble the status in the North Sea.

However, the North Sea is isolated and almost never interacts with the outside world's beastmen, so there has been no news about the North Sea's merman royal family for many years.

Chang Tianchen tapped his cheek lightly with his fingertip and asked in surprise, "The North Sea is a hundred and eight thousand miles away from here. How could their royal family in the sea be injured on land and follow Ling Chengen and the others to the inland to ask for help?"

Lin Quan replied, "They seem to have come from Huangyan Beast City."

Chang Tianchen's rhythmic tapping suddenly stopped, and he raised his eyes, saying in a deep voice, "Huangyan Beast City? Ling Chengen and Bai Qingyu ran off to that godforsaken place?"

Lin Quan nodded: "It should be."

Chang Tianchen pursed his lips, but due to his status, he had no right to speak. He could only frown and whisper, "They're really like newborn calves who are not afraid of tigers. If these two are really trapped in Huangyan Beast City, it will be difficult to save them."

Lin Quan kept his head down and did not participate in the topic.

But like Chang Tianchen, he was no longer a greenhorn and knew very well what Huangyan Beast City was.

So deep down, I was actually a bit speechless about those two.

"Forget it, we can't concern ourselves with the sea creatures' affairs for now. We should focus on resolving the rat tribe's problem and try to end this war before the autumn hunt."

Chang Tianchen was too lazy to think about the new woman who had appeared next to Ling Chengen. He spread out the map he had gotten from Yu Heng and asked Lin Quan to bring over two pots of light grass for illumination.

“Lin Jing has just reported the latest news: nearly 80% of the rat race's beastmen are currently concentrated in the northeastern part of the plains.” Chang Tianchen pointed to an area on the map and marked the center. “Our current location is here.”

He pointed to the southwest corner of the plain and then said, "We've fought several probing battles with the rat tribe, and now we've cleared out all their burrows in this area. Even if some escaped, their numbers should be very small."

"Pass down the order: if you encounter any of these scattered rat-orcs, capture them if you can. If you can't capture them, use the previous method to surround and drive them northeast, ensuring that they don't escape from this defensive line and cause trouble in the surrounding small tribes."

Lin Quan listened attentively and nodded in response, "Understood, I'll make the arrangements in a bit."

"What if we catch them? Should we just lock them up?" Lin Quan hesitated. "Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

The rat-orcs are extremely good at digging holes, and quite a few of them have awakened earth-based abilities, so keeping them under control is quite difficult.

Deploying the warriors of Snake Mountain specifically to guard these captured rat-race orcs is truly a waste of their talents.

Chang Tianchen tapped his fingertips twice on the hilt of his sword: "Just assign a warrior to keep an eye on them. Remember to find someone who can control snakes, but make sure the snakes don't swallow or bite them to death. The rat-race orcs are afraid of snakes. They won't dare to run away easily unless they are absolutely sure of their safety, so just put some pressure on them and keep an eye on them."

Even if they ran away, it wouldn't be a big deal.

However, these can be taken as prisoners and used as bargaining chips when renegotiating with the rat tribe.

Returning the person intact can also demonstrate their sincerity.

It all depends on how they use this card.

"Before dawn tomorrow, we will continue our attack towards the northeast and strive to clear out one-third of the rat burrows in the central plains by noon tomorrow."

Chang Tianchen lowered his eyes to look at the map in his hand, a confident smile curving his lips: "Since they are unwilling to relocate voluntarily, then let them relocate involuntarily. In the end, the result will be the same, that's enough."

Lin Quan cautioned, "Forcibly forcing them back to the northeastern part of the plains, given the rat population, would likely cause significant environmental damage to that area."

"Disruption of the predation balance in the region can have very serious consequences."

"Food shortages, famine, and death breed disease..."

"This will likely loom over their entire race for a long time to come."

"When the sun is at its zenith, it begins to decline; when things reach their extreme, they begin to recover."

"The clan leader should remind Shi Lin to make preparations as soon as possible."

Their only responsibility is to take over the Mulan Plain, drive away the rat tribe, and allow the chieftain's sweetheart to obtain the right to use this land.

This process is very short; the real challenges that follow are much longer.

As the saying goes, conquering a country is easy, but maintaining it is difficult.

The most challenging aspects are the subsequent occupation and defense of the territory, as well as the relationship with neighboring tribes.