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

Chapter 278 Hunting Time
"Are you still holding on?" Bai Xi looked down at Ling Chengen, her tone inevitably tinged with worry.

Ling Chengen, his shoulder gripped, couldn't help but smile wryly and said, "You're hurting my wound a little."

The flames below illuminated her face, making it appear bright red. The rising smoke significantly impaired her vision and breathing, but he still managed to see her injuries clearly; the burn area was much larger than he had previously observed.

"I'll take you to find Yuheng."

Yuheng's strength is beyond doubt.

At this moment, he was actually glad that Ling Chengen had such a powerful beast husband who was also extremely skilled in medicine.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have the face to see A-Yu when he comes back.

Ling Chengen immediately said, "These injuries won't kill us for now, so we can't leave yet."

"Put those rat warriors you're carrying outside the city and let them go back inside for treatment."

Bai Xi said in a cold tone, "Don't joke around. How can you continue fighting outside with this kind of injury? Although it's not fatal for now, it's very painful."

As a fire-type warrior, he understood better than others how painful extensive burns were.

Ling Chengen: "The current battle situation is changing rapidly. If we don't seize some opportunities, we will never have another chance."

Bai Xi understood her meaning and knew that protecting this newly established beast city would be extremely difficult.

Ling Chengen said calmly, "Let's go find Yuheng to meet him. He can help me relieve the pain."

Ling Chengen didn't expect Yu Heng to heal her injuries directly. This level of treatment wouldn't be difficult for Yu Heng, but now that they were in the fire, his supernatural power was being used up too much, and there weren't enough plants around to help him recover quickly. If they encountered danger, no one would be able to escape.

Yuheng's strength has remained constant, which means they always have a powerful trump card up their sleeve and always have a chance to make a comeback.

Bai Xi stopped arguing with him, placed the wounded men on her back outside the Beast City, and then flew into the air again with Ling Chengen.

Ling Chengen sat on his back, looking down at the burns on his arms and legs. He was sweating profusely from the pain, but he remained silent.

She took a painkiller, but to be honest, the painkillers made by Yuheng were very limited in their effectiveness against burns.

Seeing that it wasn't very effective, she stopped wasting the medicine she had and instead took out a few high-level fire-elemental heart stones from her spatial storage, put them directly into the animal skin bag, and hung it around his neck.

"Use these fire-elemental heart stones for now and hurry up and recover."

Bai Xi asked curiously, "Since you have a psychic ability, are you not picky about the type of Heart Stone and can absorb any kind?"

"Yes, but the absorption efficiency is not as high as yours."

Ling Chengen is also working hard to recover his psychic abilities.

If we say that the fire-type warrior's absorption rate of the fire-type heart stone is 100%, and the speed is 100%, then...

Therefore, her utilization rate of the fire-type heart stone can only reach about 70%, and the speed is also half that of the former.

Sometimes it doesn't even reach half.

Bai Xi turned around and said, "Then your recovery speed must be very slow?"

Ling Chengen nodded, using conversation to distract himself, and slowly said, "Putting aside the heart stone, my ability recovery mainly relies on deep sleep. The longer and deeper I sleep, the faster I recover."

“Actually, there are other ways, but…” Ling Chengen suddenly stopped and didn’t continue. Instead, he changed the subject. “The troops in the south, whose formation was disrupted, have regrouped. They want to control the fire and prevent it from spreading south, but tonight the north wind is about level four to five, so it will be very difficult to control it.”

Bai Xi asked, "Do you think they will escape the Xuemu River, or stay on the Mulan Plain?"

Ling Chengen: "I can't make a judgment on this, but no matter what they do, we have to be prepared."

Bai Xi: "If we cross the river to escape, what preparations do we need to make? Are we supposed to pursue them while we're ahead?"

"This isn't quite right. There aren't many flying orcs to begin with, and the rat tribe's tunnels can't be dug across the Snow River. Once we cross the river, we'll go from being in a position of advantage to being in a position of disadvantage, and we might even fall into their trap."

Ling Chengen shook his head and said, "Of course I didn't chase him across the river. I'm not stupid."

When the two found Yuheng, they discovered that he already had helpers by his side.

The crane warriors who arrived later were momentarily panicked when they saw the fire outside the beast city in the distance, and then they quickened their pace. The cold mountain beastmen, who were mostly water-type warriors, originally planned to take advantage of the time to draw water from the nearby rivers and streams to bring rain, but they found that the fire seemed to be burning quite interestingly.

The fire spread southward, and those who died in the flames screamed in agony. Almost all of them were orcs who were neither from the Stone Forest nor the Rat Clan.

The warriors of the Stone Forest and the Rat Clan, like the ground rats, appeared and disappeared in the fire.

Only a few were unable to escape in time, were held back by the enemy, or were seriously injured.

Upon seeing this, the crane warriors immediately rushed to help, rescuing many wounded rat orcs and stone forest warriors.

Yuheng sat on the back of a blue crane beastman, impatiently wiping the black ash all over his face with a damp cloth.

Sensing Ling Chengen's approaching aura, he suddenly looked up at the approaching Moon Feathered Crane and stood up.

Before Bai Xi could even stop flying over, he suddenly jumped onto Bai Xi's back.

Bai Xi staggered as he stepped on her, and couldn't help but curse, "Couldn't you have said anything before coming over? Did you really want us to fall down together?"

Yu Heng completely ignored him, looking down at the red and black wounds on Ling Chengen's body, and scolded, "Don't you feel pain? You dared to rush in with such a big fire?"

Ling Chengen raised his hand and scratched the top of his head, letting out a soft gasp of pain: "Instead of scolding me, you should hurry up and help me relieve the pain. This injury is really painful..."

"Serves you right." Yuheng poked her forehead hard a few times, noticing even burns on her face, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Do you really think I'm a god? What if you get disfigured?"

Ling Chengen: "Is our relationship maintained by our looks?"

While relieving her pain and treating her injuries, Yuheng retorted, "You're not, I am."

"Anyway, I wouldn't want to hurt my face, but you, a female, so young, are quite willing to do it."

Bai Xi asked, "Going south?"

Ling Chengen considered the terrain of the Mulan Plain. The Xuemu River and the Yehelan River both flow from east to west, but they will converge in the southeast direction of the Mulan Plain.

The river at the confluence is extremely wide and teeming with countless ferocious giant water beasts, so apart from those orcs who were disoriented by the fire, the other orcs would certainly not go that way in order to survive.

“They will flee upstream along the Xuemu River,” Ling Chengen said.

Bai Xi often goes out and about, so he can be considered a living map.

With just a few simple words from Ling Chengen, he basically knew where it was.

At his command, the other warriors of Hanshan rescued the Stone Forest warriors and Rat Clan orcs still trapped in the fire, then sent the seriously wounded back to the city, while the rest were taken towards the upper reaches of the Xuemu River. Meanwhile, the hunting party that had gone out from Stone Forest was already on its way back.

The autumn hunt at Snake Mountain yielded a greater harvest than in previous years, so the decision was made to return home early, about two weeks ago.

So they arrived near Snake Mountain around tonight.

The Snake Mountain tribe was overjoyed by the bumper harvest, while some of the warriors stationed on the Mulan Plain were seriously injured and others returned to the tribe in a panic. They were discovered by patrolling warriors as soon as they approached the territory.

When the person was brought to the clan chief's residence, Chang Tianchen had just come out of the warm spring water, wrapped himself in heavy clothes, and stood barefoot on a chair, slowly using his supernatural ability to dry his wet hair.

When the clansmen entered to report, he frowned slightly and asked, "What happened?"

"The Uja tribe captured the city today and clashed with the Stone Forest forces."

"Chieftain, our warriors stationed on the north bank of the Xuemu River were ambushed and more than half of them were killed or wounded. Some of them were also captured. We didn't have time to warn the people in the Beast City before the attack. Only two warriors managed to escape during tonight's fire. One was shot and killed on the way, and the other is now seriously injured and rushing back to report the news."

Chang Tianchen turned over and sat up from the chair. His snake tail transformed into legs, and his hair was completely dry.

He frowned and asked, "What's the situation on the Mulan Plain?"

"The situation is unclear. All we know is that a fire suddenly broke out outside Beast City after dark."

"The north wind is blowing tonight, so the fire is spreading very quickly from the outskirts of Beast City toward the Xuemu River."

"Other small tribes on the north bank of the Xuemu River fled overnight with their families."

"Some of them were captured by tribes from the south and will likely be sent to several tribes in the south as slaves."

Chang Tianchen: "Where is Ling Chengen? Is she in Beast City?"

“He wasn’t here yesterday.”

“But today someone is attacking the city, and as the young clan leader of Shilin, she will definitely go back.”

Chang Tianchen lowered his eyes in thought, his fingertips slowly tapping on the armrest of the chair. Suddenly, he looked up and said, "Have Lin Jing investigate the situation in the Mulan Plain and Beast City, and try to find out as much as possible."

"Chieftain, shall we not move? The hunting party from Stone Forest has not yet returned, leaving the defenses vulnerable."

"Even if we don't take advantage of the chaos to capture Beast City, we can still use this opportunity to gain some goodwill..."

The snake warrior below cautiously looked up, observing the expression on the face of the man above, whose mood was always unpredictable.

Chang Tianchen lowered his eyes and lashed out at him with the snake's tail, sending him flying to the doorway: "Idiot—"

"Go find Lin Quan and bring him here."

Dealing with these stupid things is exhausting.

The man, who had been whipped and rolled several times on the ground before finally stopping, scrambled to his feet tremblingly and retreated from the dimly lit, eerily sinister room.

Chang Tianchen wrapped himself in his clothes, casually took off the hairband made of animal sinew from his wrist, and tied up his long hair.

Lin Quan quickly dressed and entered, looking calmly at the man sitting in the darkness, with only a flickering lamp on a table in the distance: "What are your orders, Chief?"

"Take a team to the Stone Forest," Chang Tianchen said.

Lin Quan stared intently: "Are they wandering orcs from the Lolu Mountains?"

Chang Tianchen nodded: "Ling Chengen must have gone to Beast City. With her there, along with Yao Luo, that fox, and that immortal witch doctor from Nan Yuan, they should be able to hold the city for one night without any problem."

"The fire on the Mulan Plain was probably the result of them not wanting to be on the defensive and choosing to strike first."

"Those who came from the south to seize the city probably never imagined that a tribe in the central region with a population of just over ten thousand would dare to take the initiative to attack when it was severely short of troops."

"They were caught off guard this time, and that's a lesson they deserve."

"However, the shortage of troops in Shilin is a major problem, and it is inevitable that we will be unable to attend to both front and rear."

"They can take care of the Beast City, but they can't take care of the old, weak, sick and disabled people in their original territory."

"The wandering orcs of the Lolu Mountains have developed close ties with several southern tribes and even the nobles of the Southern Plains in the past two years. So they may have received information from the side that seized the city and will take advantage of the Stone Forest's weakened military strength to plunder their food, females, and cubs."

"After all, it's no secret that Shilin harvested tree wheat everywhere this summer."

"Although some people look down on those plant fruits, when it comes to the life-or-death situation of hunger and cold, what difference does it make what you eat?"

"Moreover, some of the wandering orcs in Mount Lolu are extremely ferocious. They specifically hunt females and cubs, or sell them to tribes in the south in exchange for more food and resources."

"The danger right now isn't in Beast City, it's in Stone Forest's original territory."

Lin Quan: "Clan leader, how many people should I take?"

"Three hundred, I'll take three hundred elite warriors." Chang Tianchen raised his eyes and stared at Lin Quan. "Take two high-ranking old men from the tribe with you. They just stay in the tribe all day, eating and waiting to die. They have such strong abilities, but they can't lay eggs with them. Let them go out and do some work. If they don't want to work, then get out of here—"

"While we're at it, let's probe those two largest wandering orc organizations in Mount Lolu. They're quite powerful; we should recruit them if we can."

"But those who eat people are spared; they're just chopped down and used as compost in that experimental field in Shilin."

Lin Quan paused for a few seconds, then nodded.

Finally, he hesitated and said, "...What if we can't win?"

Chang Tianchen rested his chin on his hand and smiled, "Then don't come back. I'll avenge you another day, so go ahead without worry."

Lin Quan broke out in a cold sweat, lowered his head, and quietly withdrew.

After Lin Quan left, the smile on Chang Tianchen's face vanished instantly. He got up, picked up the Qi Si Feng Lantern from the table, and walked barefoot outside. Standing at the highest point of Snake Mountain, he gazed towards the southeast.

Next, it's time to hunt down those confused fools.

Chang Tianchen selected two thousand soldiers and, under the cover of darkness, led them down the mountain towards the southeast.

Snake Mountain is located upstream of the Xuemu River. Continue downstream along the Xuemu River...

You're sure to encounter a big surprise.

He carried a dimly lit lamp, his long, beautiful snake tail snaking across the ground at incredible speed, quickly disappearing from the sight of the Snake Mountain warriors behind him.

(End of this chapter)