Hairy-Horned Beasts

"Doctor Jian Mo, if you're looking for a partner in our tribe, you're very welcome. We have plenty of single orcs there; you can choose any of them. We all really like you."

Qing Kuo and Wu Jiong had just finished moving the metal blocks when they returned and heard these words, which almost made them furious.

Qing Kuo gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "No wonder they were so agreeable this time. Turns out they wanted to leave a good impression on Jian Mo and poach our talent! Two hundred baskets of metal blocks is really too little."

Wu Jiong looked inside, his eyes narrowing.

Qing Kuo pulled Wu Jiong along. "Come on, let's go in and argue with them!"

Wu Jiong: "No, let's listen a little longer and see what else they have to say?"

Jian Mo was surrounded by enthusiastic people, and she felt that these guys were even more difficult to deal with than the top salesperson.

After all, the top salesperson couldn't actually pull money out of his pocket, but these guys could really lure him to the Jintuo Tribe.

Moreover, he felt indebted to others, which naturally diminished his prestige.

He listened patiently to the people of the Jintuo Tribe when they spoke other things.

When the topic of partners came up, Jian Mo immediately became alert and waved her hand, saying, "No, no, no, I already have a partner."

The people of the Jintuo Tribe looked surprised.

Jian Mo coughed lightly, straightened her back slightly, and said, "I'm with Wu Jiong now. We just started dating recently. He's very good to me, and the tribe is good to me too."

Jian Mo: "The most important thing is that I like him. Let's not talk about him finding other partners."

Chapter 51 The Hairy-Horned Beast

The Jintuo Tribe failed in their attempt to undermine the village, but left with a mix of joy and disappointment, having acquired the skills to make charcoal and furnaces.

To show the tribe's hospitality, Qing Kuo originally wanted to send someone to see them off, but when he asked, no one in the tribe was willing to do so.

The people of the Jintuo Tribe walk too slowly; the impatient big cats and dogs simply can't keep up.

The beastmen preferred hunting to sending people away.

It's been quite warm these past few days, and a lot of the snow outside has melted, revealing the withered yellow grass.

The beastmen said the weather was perfect for hunting, and there was a good chance that prey would come out to graze.

Jian Mo had also heard the news that the orcs wanted to go hunting. Feeling equally restless in the tribe, he asked Wu Jiong, "What kind of prey are they hunting now? I remember some of the herbivorous animals have already migrated south, right?"

Wu Jiong: "Small prey are still around, and some prey that live in the high mountains are still around too. Didn't we see those Hairy-Horned Beasts in the mountains when we went to collect honey?"

Jian Mo immediately thought of something, "Then why don't we catch them? Catching fresh prey is definitely better than eating frozen meat."

Wu Jiong: "They run very fast, and they can run incredibly fast. The best ones can run for a whole day and night. On the mountain, the beastmen's animal forms may not be as agile as theirs, and they are more likely to fall off the mountain while running."

Jian Mo hadn't considered this. "That seems a bit dangerous?"

Wu Jiong: "Hunting isn't always easy. You're right, eating fresh game is always better than frozen meat. We need to take advantage of the good weather and get another batch of meat."

Jian Mo: "Are you going?"

Wu Jiong: "Go ahead, I'll discuss it with them tomorrow."

The villagers hadn't gone out hunting or gathering for a long time, so when they heard they could go out, there was absolutely no opposition from the tribe.

So, everyone got ready and decided to go out together.

Jian Mo was surprised that sub-beastmen could go out too, and was a little worried. "Aren't the prey supposed to be especially powerful? And in winter, wild animals lack food and will be more irritable than usual, right? Will we be a hindrance if we go with them?"

Qing Kuo: "It's alright, they're just taking us up the mountain. They'll go hunting, and we'll gather resources on the mountain."

Jian Mo felt relieved. "Okay, I'll go too. What's up on the mountain at this time?"

Ye Luo nearby, said, "There's plenty more to eat now. We can gather moss and mushrooms. Some mushrooms are dried on the mountain; we've picked them in previous years, so we can go check again this year."

Zhou Fu closer. "Actually, we can also dig up the tubers in the soil. The vines on top have dried up, but the tubers won't spoil. If we dig them up now, they'll definitely be fresher than the tubers we store at home."

Qing Kuo's eyes lit up when he saw Jian Mo, and he smiled, "We can also collect the remaining fruit on the branches and the insects in the soil."

Jian Mo listened to them talk, one sentence after another, and became more and more excited, wishing she could set off immediately.

Before leaving, he made a point of stacking the two large baskets together, so that he wouldn't run out of space if he collected a lot of food later.

Wu Jiong took the basket from his hands. "Food is indeed scarce in winter, so we shouldn't need two baskets this big."

Jian Mo pushed Wu Jiong's shoulder. "I don't care, the basket isn't heavy anyway, we'll take it, just in case."

As usual, everyone gathered in the open space before setting off. Jian Mo sat high on Wu Jiong's back and looked around.

Eighty percent of the tribe members came out, including some elderly people and children.

It seems everyone's been cooped up for too long and can't wait to get out and relax.

Once everyone was gathered, the orcs quickly transformed into their beast forms and began to run.

The wind was fierce outside. After running for a while, Jian Mo felt that her ears and the tip of her nose were very cold. Especially the tip of her nose, because her nose protruded from the middle of her face, and the tip of her nose stood up against the wind, almost freezing solid.

He had to pull his fur hat down further and his fur coat up to cover up as much of his exposed skin as possible, leaving only his eyes to see where he was going and his mouth to breathe.

Even so, his front teeth ached from the cold.

He turned to look around. The sub-beastmen were trying their best to revert parts of their bodies back to beast form—they couldn't transform into beasts entirely, but they could transform parts such as their ears, eyes, and noses into Beast Mark.

It was obvious that the beast-like parts were much more resistant to the cold, and everyone looked energetic, not looking disheveled even though their cheeks were red from the cold.

"Are you cold?" The giant wolf turned its head and looked at Jian Mo with concern. "Lie down, it'll be warmer if you lie down."