Chapter 312

Just one glance from Lang Ze, and the old beast man was so frightened he thump knelt on the ground.

Beast man tribes placed extreme importance on territory. Rashly entering someone else's territory was undoubtedly a provocative act. Everyone understood the reason, but they truly didn't have the courage to oppose the army before them.

"Sir... I... We didn't intentionally barge into your territory. Please spare us! We'll leave now!"

The old beast man before them wore only a tattered piece of beast skin, his face full of hardships, looking as if he had been wandering for a long time. He was clearly not of the same ilk as the horned beast men brought by Cang Shensi.

Lang Ze's vigilance didn't dissipate because of this: "Which tribe are you from?"

The old beast man didn't dare hide it and reported their origins in detail: "Sir, we were originally from the Xu Fox tribe living in Dongyi. A few years ago, a great mudslide occurred in Dongyi, submerging our tribe. We could only migrate south to Huai Yi."

"But Huai Yi is no place for beast men! There's no water there; not a single plant grows on the land. We had no choice but to flee Huai Yi and migrate north again. We only wanted to find an unclaimed territory to live in! We truly didn't intentionally barge in!"

The more the old beast man spoke, the more frustrated and wronged) he felt. Finally, the whole person flopped on the ground, weeping sobbing.

Speaking of which, after the large-scale mudslide in Dongyi, the main groups from the Dongyi tribes did indeed flee along two paths: south and west.

West from Dongyi was Bei Huang (Northern Wilds). The Dongyi tribes in Bei Huang weren't very numerous. Lang Ze guessed it wasn't that fewer tribes migrated west, but the root cause was probably that many small tribes encountered the Sang Huo tribe during their migration. At the very least, there were now many Dongyi tribespeople in Blackrock City who were originally slaves of Sang Huo.

South from Dongyi was Huai Yi, the barren red land Qi Bai and Lang Ze passed through on their way to Mang Huang.

The Xu Fox old beast man's account did match up. It's just that this group of beast men's luck was indeed too poor. Just after fleeing land struck by torrential rain and mudslides, they entered severely drought-stricken) land.

"Nonsense!" A square-faced old beast man who had just been brought overheard this, lunged forward, and started scratching and hitting) the Xu Fox old beast man on the ground. "Our Huai Yi is a fertile and abundant) land! It's all because of you Dongyi people! It's all because you came that our rivers started drying up, our trees started withering! It's all because of you that we were forced to leave our territory!"

Lu Yan was just a step slow, and the person he brought over caused trouble. He was about to intervene when Xiong Han, standing beside Lang Ze, stepped forward and lifted by the scruff) the square-faced old beast man up: "What are you doing?! How dare you be insolent) before the City Lord!"

Once his feet left the ground, the square-faced old beast man instantly sobered up. His flailing hands and feet hung down meekly, and even his head slowly drooped. But he still had some backbone left, stubbornly refusing to speak.

However, Lang Ze and the others now understood. No wonder these people, though not far apart, were divided into two groups. It seemed they were tribes from two different places: Dongyi and Huai Yi.

"The drought in Huai Yi has lasted for years. Why did you only migrate now?"

The square-faced old beast man looked up in surprise. He hadn't expected someone so far from Huai Yi to accurately state the situation there.

Xiong Han shook his arm: "The City Lord is asking you a question. Can you speak properly now?"

The square-faced beastman nodded. Only then did Xiong Han set the little old man down on the ground.

The square-faced old beastman straightened the beast skin on his body. He could sense the City Lord before them held no killing intent towards them, meaning they were at least temporarily safe.

He thought for a moment, first introducing himself: "We are the Zhong Donkey tribe from Huai Yi."

"You are right. The drought in Huai Yi started three years ago. But at that time, we could still find water sources. No one was willing to leave the territory they lived on. We also didn't believe the land would truly have no water, so we persisted and didn't leave."

"One year ago, one day, a dark cloud suddenly drifted across the sky. We thought it was rain sent by the Beast God. However..." The Zhong Donkey Priest said difficulty), "...however, it wasn't rain at all, but sky-blotting insects. Wherever they went, all plants were devoured clean. In the end, they even started gnawing on beast man flesh and blood. We had no choice but to flee outward."

If Qi Bai were here, he would certainly be able to analyze that what Huai Yi encountered was likely a locust plague.

History on Blue Planet has proven countless times that "drought inevitably brings locusts." As the saying goes, "Not a blade of grass grows where locusts have passed." This is absolutely not an exaggeration. The losses caused by locust plagues often even exceed those of droughts. Managing locust plagues is quite difficult even in modern times, let alone in the unprepared beastman continent.

Lang Ze naturally didn't know this, but he had seen the countless beastman and animal skeletons at the Huaiyi border. Perhaps they didn't simply die from drought and starvation but also suffered from insect attacks.

"South of Huai Yi is marshland. West is the powerful and exclusionary grassland. We had no choice but to migrate northward along the grassland's border."

"However, the north was also experiencing drought. We didn't dare stay and could only keep moving forward," The Zhong Donkey Priest pointed at the Xu Fox Priest. "City Lord, we didn't just set out. It's been over a year since we left Huai Yi. We just haven't been able to find a territory where we can stop. You can ask him if you don't believe me."

The Xu Fox Priest's hair was messy like straw, but he also felt somewhat in the wrong and didn't dare stubbornly clash with those donkeys. Hearing himself mentioned, he quickly nodded and said: "That's right, City Lord. We migrated together."

Lang Ji leaned close to Lang Ze's ear and whispered a few words. Lang Ze looked up and asked: "How many tribes are there among you?"

The two groups of beast men Lang Ji and Lu Yan encountered probably numbered less than two thousand combined. But even with so few people, Lang Ji keenly) noticed the subtle boundaries between them.

Sure enough, upon hearing Lang Ze's question, the two immediately named the other tribes.

These two thousand people actually belonged to five tribes.

Among them, there were two tribes from Huaiyi: the Zhong Donkey tribe and the Zhu Horse tribe. From Dongyi, there were three tribes: the Xu Fox tribe, the Su Sheep tribe, and the Tan Dog tribe.

Don't be fooled by Dongyi having three tribes; having suffered two major disasters, their combined numbers were still fewer than the two Huai Yi tribes.

The Xu Fox Priest tentatively asked: "City Lord, it's all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Please let us go. We'll leave now and absolutely will not set foot in your territory again."

Although it was confirmed these people had no direct connection to Cang Shensi's forces—the two groups probably hadn't even crossed paths, otherwise these refugee beast men likely wouldn't dare migrate in this direction—Lang Ze had no intention of simply letting them go.

Lang Ze thought for a moment, a plan vaguely forming in his mind. However, whether it was feasible still needed discussion with Qi Bai.

Lang Ze left the majority of the food found in Cang Shensi's camp for Xiong Han and Lu Yan. He instructed them to lead the uninjured beastman squads to continue patrolling within a five-day range of the city's territory. He himself personally led this nearly two-thousand-strong migration group back to the city.

After the main force left, Xiong Han rubbed his nose.

During this enemy invasion, although Lang Ze didn't directly reprimand them, Xiong Han, as the army commander, felt deeply self-reproachful).

Since winter began, Blackrock City's patrol range had shrunk to a one-day journey from the city. Now, Lang Ze had them patrol a five-day range of territory again. Xiong Han figured Lang Ze must be very dissatisfied with them.

Actually, this was unavoidable. Although the patrol range was within a day, their territory was simply too vast. The patrol hunt teams couldn't search the entire area in a single day. Any patrol was conducted alternating back and forth. All they could do was eliminate most potential hazards. Achieving complete absolute surety was impossible.

Lu Yan knew what Xiong Han was thinking. He felt the same way himself. Without the city walls, without the crossbow arrows, just the first wave of the beast tide would likely have caused them heavy losses.

It was precisely through this battle that Lu Yan witnessed Qi Bai and Lang Ze's foresight.

Xiong Han scratched his head: "What foresight?"

Lu Yan said: "Haven't you noticed that Blackrock City's location is completely different from our former tribes?"

Xiong Han thought carefully and actually managed to figure out something.

Not to mention anything else, just their former tribes living in Bei Huang—the War Bear, Giant Deer, and Cloud Valley tribes—their territories were all in strategic locations. Especially the Cloud Valley tribe, which lived directly in a mountain valley.

However, Blackrock City was just the opposite. It was built on a wide plain, surrounded by only a few low mountain ranges.

If this were a tribe, it would definitely be dangerous. Other tribes could easily discover their location, and beast herds could run rampant) their territory.

But for a city, it was completely different. Low mountain ranges meant broad field of vision, also meaning any enemy's approach would be quickly discovered.

Xiong Han suddenly saw the light: "So that's how it is! I kept feeling something was different! The Great Priest and City Lord are indeed amazing!"

Looking at Xiong Han's carefree manner, Lu Yan felt this guy definitely also hadn't realized that by having them patrol such a distant territory, Lang Ze was simultaneously telling them that this year's army spring hunt was canceled.

Xiong Han was shocked: "Why is that? We can still hunt!"

Lu Yan: "Cang Shensi and his group came from the distant Ji City. They definitely wouldn't have brought that many wild beasts all the way. How do you think the beast tide attacking our city came about?"

After saying this, Lu Yan turned around to gather his team and carry out their mission. If he kept talking with Xiong Han, he felt he would become stupid too.

After a long while, Xiong Han, left behind, finally heavily smacked his palm: "Right! Those wild beasts must have been driven here from around our territory. If we go out hunting now, we definitely won't be able to find that many beasts anymore. Ai..."

Xiong Han looked up. Where was Lu Yan's figure now? She muttered, "Where'd he go?" Not dwelling on it much, Xiong Han then happily gathered her own team.

Xiong Han didn't think she was stupid. If she knew the idiom, she would definitely tell Lu Yan right now that she was appearing foolish but actually wise.

After all, she was the first to respond to) Lang Ze's attack on Sanghuo and determined) to join Blackrock City. In the future, as long as she followed Lang Ze and Qi Bai, her direction wouldn't be wrong, because they would arrange everything properly.

Xiong Han thought to herself, perhaps Qi Bai and Lang Ze could even find a way to resolve this incident of enemies entering Blackrock.

Xiong Han was just having a thought at this moment. What she never ever expected) was that by the time she led her team back to the city, Lang Ze and Qi Bai would indeed have permanently resolved this issue.