Asking for Help (continued)

The chieftain was a nimble, large, middle-aged orc who spoke quite warmly.

Upon hearing that they wanted to exchange their stone mill and peppercorns, I immediately offered to take them to see the stone mill. As for the peppercorns, I would have to ask around the tribe to see if anyone still had any, and then I would exchange them with them.

Jian Mo had no objections, so they went to see the stone mill first.

The area around the Ice River Tribe is filled with stones of all sizes, Jian Mo estimates are also stones brought by glacial activity.

Many red thorn bushes grew beside the stone, with long thorns densely covering every branch.

Wu Jiong said that this is pepper-flowering grass. In spring, they bloom with large, translucent, orange-red flowers on their branches, and the stamens are pepper-flowering flowers.

Jian Mo imagined it for a moment, finding it hard to comprehend what it would look like for such thorns to bloom with beautiful flowers, and couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder.

Kang Ying led them on a tour, saying, "We have some well-made stone mills in our tribe. If you don't like them, you can go and look at the stones, and we can make you another one."

Wu Jiong: "Okay."

Kang Ying, knowing Wu Jiong's personality and not minding his taciturn nature, turned to Jian Mo: "You just want to exchange the stone mill and peppercorns? Is there anything else? I'll have someone look for them too."

Jian Mo smiled and said, "For now, I only want to change these two things, nothing else."

Kang Ying enthusiastically said, "If you want to change anything in the future, you can also come to our tribe. At the Hunting Gathering, many people in our tribe consulted you for medical treatment, and everyone is very grateful to you."

Jian Mo remarked on the clan chief's enthusiasm, saying, "Everyone is too kind."

Kang Ying chatted with them the whole way, and there were hardly any awkward silences.

They went to the place where the Ice River Tribe made stone mills and quickly found a small stone mill that suited their needs.

All small stone mills are pretty much the same; as long as they work well, there's no need to be particularly selective.

After they finished selecting, Kang Ying led them back to the open space of the Ice River Tribe, carrying the stone mill, and exchanged it with the people of the Ice River Tribe for peppercorns.

The people of the Ice River Tribe were quite fair and didn't ask for too much fabric.

Jian Mo changed all the fabrics she had brought and got a big bag of peppercorns, weighing at least two or three pounds. She was so happy that her eyes crinkled into crescents.

Seeing that he was happy, Kang Ying was also quite pleased and invited them to his home to sit down and have something to eat, so that he could chat with Wu Jiong about the affairs of the two tribes.

Wu Jiong and Jian Mo had no objections; they were being treated so warmly, they couldn't just turn around and leave.

That would be incredibly rude.

As the three of them were talking and walking towards Kang Ying's house, Jian Mo suddenly heard someone calling him from behind, panting.

He thought they were from the Ice River Tribe, but when he turned around, he saw a giant beast with red fur all over its body, three tails, and a shape that resembled both a fox and a weasel calling to them from behind.

The Ice River Tribe is a single-race tribe whose animal form resembles a bear.

This person is clearly not an orc from the Ice River Tribe, but rather—an orc from the Red Zheng Tribe?

Jian Mo was unsure and stood still, waiting for the giant beast to come closer.

The giant beast ran up to them in a few strides, first greeting Kang Ying in a hoarse voice, then calling to Jian Mo, "Doctor Jian Mo, my son is sick. I just went to the Riverside Tribe to look for you, but you weren't there, so I came here."

Upon hearing that the little guy was sick, Jian Mo immediately asked, "Is he a little beastman or a little sub-beastman? What's wrong?"

The giant beast said, "Little orc, you have a big boil on your back. It's been there for several days. We applied medicine, and the boil shrank, but this morning you suddenly developed a fever. It was burning hot, so we rushed to find you."

Jian Mo looked behind him.

The giant beast, panting, said, "I was afraid of the bumpy road, so I didn't bring him with me. I left him with the Riverside Tribe. Qing Kuo and my partner from the Riverside Tribe are watching over him."

Qing Kuo has always been reliable. When Jian Mo heard Qing Kuo's name, he felt a little relieved, and then turned to look at Wu Jiong.

Wu Jiong didn't seem too worried, so Jian Mo felt a little relieved.

Jian Mo wanted to go back and see, he looked at Kang Ying.

Kang Ying immediately said, "The little guy is more important. You go see him first, we'll talk again next time."

Jian Mo said apologetically, "Then we have to go first. Come visit the Riverside Tribe when you have time, and we'll treat you then."

Kang Ying his hand. "You should go back quickly. Can the Flying-Winged Beast carry the millstone? If not, leave the millstone here, and I'll have someone send it to you later."

"Yes." Wu Jiong nodded his thanks to Kang Ying, then said to the giant beast, "You go back to the Riverside Tribe first. We'll ride the Flying-Winged Beast; they should be faster than you."

The giant beast didn't hesitate and turned to run away.

Jian Mo and Wu Jiong, along with Shimo and Jiaorui, boarded the back of the Flying-Winged Beast.

The small stone mill wasn't too heavy, Flying-Winged Beast carried it on its back with ease.

Jian Mo communicated with the Flying-Winged Beast, telling it that they needed to return quickly, Flying-Winged Beast was even faster than when they had arrived.

The advantage of flying back by air over a straight-line distance was too great; when they returned to the tribe, the Red Zheng Beast had not yet returned.

Ban Ming, however, was arranged by Qing Kuo to come out and greet them, "Jian Mo, Chieftain, my father and the others are at your house. You should go back quickly. I'll tether the Flying-Winged Beast."

Jian Mo didn't stand on ceremony with him. "Then we'll head back first."

The two hurried home.

Qing Kuo was waiting for them under the eaves with a sub-beastman.

The orc held a small red beast in his arms. Perhaps due to a fever, the beast's fur was wet, and its three fluffy tails drooped listlessly.

The little one's eyes were tightly closed, and he was breathing heavily; he didn't look well.

Upon seeing Jian Mo, the orc cried out anxiously, "Doctor Jian Mo! You're finally back!"

Jian Mo immediately stepped forward. "Let me check on the little one first. Where is the abscess?"

The sub-orc gently adjusted the position of the small beast in his arms, showing it to Jian Mo: "On my back."

The little animal's back looked quite flat, with few pustules appearing, and it didn't seem too serious.

Jian Mo touched it gently and could feel a large, hard lump under the skin.

His heart sank; such a large lump almost certainly indicated an infection.