Many beastmen signed up, most of them from the Axe Tribe.

There were also some from the Waterfall Tribe who signed up, like Xiong Jing and Mao Yu. They weren’t lacking in food and simply thought the sleds were fun.

Xiong Ye, Lu Duan, Yang He, Yang Ye, and Xiong Hong—all five of them signed up. They didn’t have enough food, and now someone was providing meals. That was really great.

Hu Sheng naturally joined too. This was the road he had built, and now that Fan Zhou finally had time to inspect it personally, he definitely had to follow along. This concerned whether or not he could join the Waterfall Tribe.

Fan Zhou made a selection and finally chose thirty beastmen.

Now that the tribe had not only Beast Spirit Flowers but also so much grain, in the wild world, the Waterfall Tribe was undoubtedly a fat, juicy sheep.

If all the strong laborers were gone from the tribe, what if they were robbed?

Because of this, he also brought along the more than twenty beastmen from the Temple.

After winter began, there was no more farming to do in the fields, so this group of people had been idling.

These people truly had not a single grain of food and were completely supported by Fan Zhou.

Rather than letting them freeload, it was better to take them out to do work. Every one of them had been trained by the Temple and were excellent hunters, perfect for this kind of heavy labor.

However, to prevent the snow from melting halfway and rendering the sleds useless, Fan Zhou especially consulted Lang Tian. After confirming that, according to past years, there would be continuous heavy snow during midwinter, Fan Zhou led the beastmen on their journey.

There were a total of ten large sleds, four of which were loaded with food.

Now that the outside was icy and snowy, it was basically impossible to find food. Even Feng Xun was having trouble hunting, so Fan Zhou brought food along for the transportation team.

The remaining sleds were loaded with various tools.

The beastmen were all in beast form and didn’t have any concept of oxen or horses. When Fan Zhou told them to pull the sleds, they obediently tied the ropes around themselves and slowly pulled the sleds forward.

Each sled was ten meters long and eight meters wide. Three beastmen were assigned to each sled for pulling, while the rest ran ahead to stomp down the snow with their weight to make it firm and easier for the sleds to move.

It was the beastmen’s first time seeing a tool like a sled, and they were quite happy pulling them. Sometimes they walked, sometimes they ran. It was all very novel to them.

Fan Zhou sat on one of the sleds. He was wrapped in a thick cotton-padded jacket and had even placed a water sphere around himself to block the wind.

The road had already been leveled, and after being covered with snow, it was even smoother. The sleds moved along it without a bump.

This trip was far more comfortable than any of their previous outings.

The snow fluttered intermittently, and the transport team also moved in stops and starts. After thirteen days, they finally reached the forest of hard nut trees.

Fan Zhou hadn’t even told the beastmen to start digging yet when Hu Sheng began shouting first: “Tu Zhou, the road I built has no problems, right? Can I join the Waterfall Tribe now?”

“Alright, from now on you are a beastman of the Waterfall Tribe.”

Fan Zhou nodded.

Anyway, this tiger had always been enjoying the treatment of the Waterfall Tribe; it was just lacking an official recognition.

“That’s great!” Hu Sheng couldn’t help but jump up, his tail wagging excitedly.

From now on he could, he could… He blinked his eyes—he could receive sweet water directly without having to hand over dry firewood to Fan Zhou…

Uh. He stared blankly at Fan Zhou. That’s the only benefit?

Xing Wei looked at Hu Sheng enviously and couldn’t help asking Fan Zhou, “Tu Zhou, when can I join the Waterfall Tribe?”

“Let’s see how you all perform after spring begins. If you perform well, then you can join the Waterfall Tribe next summer.”

Reform-through-labor—so long as there was real reform, rights should be restored.

“Okay!” Getting a concrete time, Xing Wei was very happy.

The other beastmen of the Axe Tribe were also very happy.

The twenty-plus beastmen from the Temple, watching this scene, had rather complicated feelings. As beastmen of the Temple, they had never suffered before. But ever since being captured by Feng Xun, not a single day had passed without hardship.

They should have hated the Waterfall Tribe, hated Tu Zhou, hated Feng Xun.

But Tu Zhou was the new High Priest chosen by the Beast God. The new Temple had already replaced the old Temple and become the new favorite of the Beast God.

If they dared to hate Tu Zhou, that was going against the Beast God.

Thinking of the suffering during this period, Hou Gen couldn’t help but shout, “Honorable High Priest, I also want to join the Waterfall Tribe!”

As soon as he said this, the other Temple beastmen immediately turned to look at him, all with shocked expressions.

Hou Gen was a priest of the Temple! One of the High Priest’s close favorites!

Was Hou Gen going to betray the Temple and betray the High Priest…

Being stared at by his own people, Hou Gen didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed. He raised his voice and said, “Honorable High Priest, you are the Beast God’s messenger on the Beastman Continent! You possess wisdom, mercy, generosity—compared to you, that old High Priest from the old Temple is not even worth a single hair!”

Fan Zhou: “?”

Alright, that’s enough. No wonder he was able to climb up by flattering people.

He rolled his eyes and said speechlessly, “Shut up. Don’t use that stuff on me. If you want to join the Waterfall Tribe, then work hard.”

As he spoke, he pointed at Hu Rong and the others: “Same goes for you. If you want to join the Waterfall Tribe, then do your labor reform properly. Of course, you can also choose not to join. I won’t force you.”

“Alright, start digging. Be careful while digging—don’t damage the roots.”

He waved his hand, signaling the beastmen to quickly get to work.

It was only noon now. If they worked fast, they could return by noon tomorrow.

His completely unconcerned attitude made Hu Rong feel uncomfortable. His strength had been one of the top in the Temple, but to be ignored like this by Fan Zhou—it was really hard to swallow. But he also understood that this was only natural. As the true High Priest, once Tu Zhou spoke, there would be countless beastmen willing to work for him…

Seeing the other beastmen already grabbing stone hoes from the big sled, he sighed in his heart and also walked over to prepare for work.

The ground had already frozen and was difficult to dig. Fan Zhou got a water-iron shovel and banged away at the soil to loosen it. With his help, the beastmen worked faster than expected.

By noon the next day, they began their return journey right on time.

Each big sled was filled with hard nut trees. The sleds were noticeably heavier than when they came, so the number of beastmen pulling each sled increased from three to four.

Grain, pots, bowls, and other items were carried on the backs of beastmen who weren’t pulling sleds. Except for Fan Zhou, every beastman carried a lot of stuff.

Not long after they had set off, Fan Zhou remembered the Sichuan pepper trees Hu Sheng had discovered, so he deliberately made a detour and dug up those pepper trees too.

With that, the convoy’s speed became even slower, taking seven or eight days just to cover half the journey.

That noon, while the convoy was resting, Feng Xun went for a walk nearby.

The return trip was slower than expected, and their food supply was getting low. Feng Xun wanted to find some prey. But in winter, prey was hard to find—most animals were hibernating in caves. He searched for a long time and found no prey, but he did run into some familiar faces:

The Giant Bear Tribe.

Xiong Wu, Lu Xin, Xiong Yue, and over a dozen other beastmen were leading more than two hundred beastmen, slowly treading through the snow.

All of these more than two hundred beastmen were in beast form, but they were all wrapped in beast pelts—some had pelts covering their heads, others had pelts wrapped around their legs or stomachs.

Feng Xun saw it at a glance—these beastmen were all infected with that strange disease. Otherwise, why would they be wrapped in beast pelts?

After getting infected, their fur would fall out. Without fur, they naturally couldn’t resist the harsh cold of winter, so they could only wrap beast pelts around the places without fur.

Feng Xun furrowed his brows tightly. He jumped down from the tree and appeared in front of these beastmen.

“Feng Xun?!”

Xiong Wu was startled, but then immediately overjoyed. “Why are you here?”

Feng Xun?

The beastmen behind Xiong Wu froze upon hearing that name.

The partner of Lord Tu Zhou?

“Tu Zhou and I brought people here to dig up hard nut trees,” Feng Xun explained, then pointed his chin at the beastmen behind Xiong Wu. “Why are there so many beastmen infected with the strange disease?”

“These are all beastmen from the White Flower Tribe!”

Lu Xin spoke up first.

“Last time, the beastmen from the White Flower Tribe hurried back right after exchanging for salt. They didn’t accept Xiong Wu’s invitation to attend the divine sacrifice with us. At the time, we thought they didn’t believe what we said, but who would’ve thought the truth was—they were rushing back to bring the sick beastmen from their tribe to seek treatment!”

“There are especially many infected in their tribe—more than two hundred. After they arrived at the Giant Bear Tribe, because of the heavy snow making travel difficult, Grandpa Priest wanted everyone to take out the beast spirit flowers they had and give them to the White Flower Tribe to use. When the snow melts, Grandpa Priest will go ask Tu Zhou for more beast spirit flowers.”

“Some beastmen were unwilling to give up their beast spirit flowers. Also, some of the White Flower Tribe beastmen are seriously ill—one beast spirit flower wouldn’t be enough to save them. So Xiong Wu and I brought them to find Tu Zhou.”

“Tu Zhou is here too, right?” Lu Xin looked around as she spoke, trying to find Fan Zhou.

“Tu Zhou is a little far from here. I came out looking for food. I’ll take you to him, follow me.” As Feng Xun spoke, he turned around and motioned for the beastmen to follow.

“Let’s go, let’s go, follow the one in front—this is Tu Zhou’s partner, Feng Xun!”

Xiong Wu urged the beastmen of the White Flower Tribe to quickly follow.

The beastmen of the White Flower Tribe snapped out of their shock and quickly stepped forward.

They all craned their necks to look at the white wolf in front. Along the way, they had heard the beastmen of the Giant Bear Tribe praising the High Priest and his partner—never did they expect they would actually run into them here.

Truly extraordinary—just the sight of him was awe-inspiring!

As they were thinking this, suddenly, the white wolf in front stopped and turned to look at them, saying, “Since you’ve come here, then your strange illness will definitely be cured. Tu Zhou has lots of beast spirit flowers.”

“Don’t worry, none of you will die.”

These words came so suddenly that the beastmen of the White Flower Tribe froze for a moment.

Feng Xun lightly coughed and said, “Let’s go, you’ll see Tu Zhou very soon.”

With that, he turned around and continued to lead the way.

But when his paw stepped on the ground, his sharp claws couldn’t help but dig into the earth—he was frustrated.

If Tu Zhou were here, he would surely have spoken gently and comforted these beastmen.

But he hadn’t thought of that. After walking several steps, he only then realized he had forgotten to comfort them.

…

He simply wasn’t Tu Zhou. Subconsciously, he didn’t regard the other beastmen as cubs. Sigh. He still had a long way to go compared to Tu Zhou.

The White Flower Tribe didn’t know what Feng Xun was thinking, but they were all very moved.

The partner of Lord Tu Zhou had actually taken the initiative to comfort them…

Half of their tribe had contracted the strange illness. Without beast spirit flowers, they were all actually waiting to die.

But who would’ve thought the clansmen who had gone to the Giant Bear Tribe to exchange salt would return with hope for survival? This little bit of hope sounded too good to be true—they never even dreamed of such good fortune.

But they had no choice. This was their only way out.

So all the beastmen infected with the strange disease set out toward the Giant Bear Tribe.

After arriving at the Giant Bear Tribe, the beastmen there were very warm and welcoming—not only did they not drive them away, over a hundred beastmen even took out beast spirit flowers to treat their illness!

Seeing those beast spirit flowers, their unease instantly vanished by more than half. There were actually so many beast spirit flowers—they truly had a chance to recover!

After consuming the beast spirit flowers, their conditions improved significantly, so they traveled together with the beastmen of the Giant Bear Tribe to the Waterfall Tribe.

Along the way, Xiong Wu, Lu Xin, and the others kept praising Tu Zhou. Listening to them, the White Flower Tribe beastmen wanted to believe it but found it hard, because the way they described Tu Zhou was just too good to be true!

But now, even Feng Xun, Lord Tu Zhou’s partner, had taken the initiative to comfort them. They suddenly believed most of what Xiong Wu and Lu Xin had said. This was the former Enforcer, after all! With such a noble identity, yet he didn’t look down on them. They really wanted to meet Lord Tu Zhou as soon as possible—Lord Tu Zhou must be even more gentle than Feng Xun.

With their anticipation of seeing Fan Zhou, these beastmen didn’t feel tired or hungry. It was as if they had boundless energy in their bodies.

After following Feng Xun for over an hour, they finally saw Fan Zhou.

In the camp, Fan Zhou and the others were eating lunch.

Traveling outside, meals were of course as simple as possible. Today’s lunch was vegetable and meat porridge—easy to make and tasted pretty good.

A group of people were holding bowls and slurping noisily. Suddenly seeing Feng Xun return with so many beastmen, they all widened their eyes.

Lu Xin saw Fan Zhou and happily ran toward him from afar. Once he reached Fan Zhou, he quickly explained the situation, and only after finishing said, “Tu Zhou, I really missed you!”

“I missed you too.” Fan Zhou smiled as he patted his head and asked, “You must have been comforting them all the way here, right?”

“Of course!”

Lu Xin lifted his chin, his face full of pride.

He remembered Tu Zhou’s words well—whenever he encountered beastmen he hadn’t met before, he would tell them that there was nothing to fear about the strange disease, because the Waterfall Tribe had beast spirit flowers!

Moreover, this time it was he who gave the idea to their priest, suggesting their tribe first bring out the beast spirit flowers to treat the sick.

“You did really great. When we get back to the tribe, I’ll make you something delicious,” Fan Zhou immediately praised.

“Yay, yay!” Lu Xin was so happy he couldn’t help bouncing up and down.

“You all haven’t eaten yet. Have everyone start a fire and cook. I’ll hand out sweet water,” Fan Zhou added.

“Okay, I really missed sweet water!” Lu Xin was even happier upon hearing this.

Not far away, the beastmen of the White Flower Tribe stared blankly as Fan Zhou walked toward them. Then, they saw Fan Zhou’s smiling face and heard a voice even gentler than they had imagined.

“You’ve had such a hard journey. Quick, start a fire and cook. Take out your pots and bowls—I’ll give you some sweet water.”

These beastmen knew what sweet water was. At his words, they snapped out of their daze. They hurriedly unfastened the beast skin pouches from their bodies and took out their stone pots and bowls.

Seeing that a stream of water truly appeared out of thin air in Fan Zhou’s hand, they instinctively held their breath. This was a divine miracle…

When the sweet water reached their mouths and they felt that it truly dispelled fatigue and replenished energy, many of them got teary-eyed. They really would not die!

Lord Tu Zhou had the ability to save them.

And Lord Tu Zhou was willing to save them!

Lord Tu Zhou was truly so gentle.

After lunch, everyone set out to return to the Waterfall Tribe.

The transport team moved slowly, and the beastmen infected with the strange disease couldn’t walk fast either. Lu Xin walked beside Fan Zhou, chirping non-stop about what had happened after returning to the Giant Bear Tribe.

They really had found more chili peppers, and also ginger. Following the method Fan Zhou had taught them, they made hot pot that tasted quite good!

When it snowed, he and Xiong Wu stayed cozily in the cave eating hot pot. The whole cave was filled with the aroma of meat, and that scent lingered for a long time—just one meal of hot pot could make the whole place smell good for two days!

Also, after returning to the tribe, Xiong Wu had really made a pair of rings!

He really liked this ring—it wasn’t as heavy as a bone necklace, and both he and Xiong Wu had one. Every time he looked at the ring on his hand, his heart felt all sweet and warm!

Fan Zhou listened to Lu Xin’s chatter with a smile, but in his heart, he couldn’t help sighing.

He wasn’t lacking in beast spirit flowers—but he was lacking food…

These more than two hundred beastmen would definitely stay in the Waterfall Tribe for some time. In the dead of winter, it was impossible to find food, and he had to provide food for these beastmen.

Originally, he thought the grain he had planted would be more than enough for him and Feng Xun. Even if he used a portion of it to pay the beastmen of the Axe Tribe for work, it would still be enough.

But now, it seemed that things were getting a bit tight…

It took ten days of effort, but the group finally returned to the Waterfall Tribe.

Everything in the Waterfall Tribe was as it had been. The beast spirit flowers that had been planted had already budded.

Now the forest outside was full of gray branches, so these dewy, vibrant beast spirit flowers looked especially delightful.

The beastmen of the White Flower Tribe were extremely excited, lying on the water gate, staring without blinking at the beast spirit flowers inside.

A divine miracle—this was truly a divine miracle!

Fan Zhou did not delay. That very day, he had them take dried beast spirit flowers, then arranged for them to stay at the guest shelter.

The guest shelter was made entirely of wooden sheds, which couldn’t block the cold wind. Fan Zhou had them gather some dried grass, then mix it with soil to make mud, and smear it onto the shed walls.

Although the method was crude, it worked well, leaving no gaps for the cold wind to get through.

The food these beastmen had brought with them was already eaten up, but this time they had brought many cotton along with some seeds.

Last time when they went to the Giant Bear Tribe, Xiong Wu had asked them for White Flower seeds, but they hadn’t had any then. Since this time their destination was the Waterfall Tribe, they brought the seeds along.

They brought out the cotton and the seeds, wanting to trade with Fan Zhou for food.

Fan Zhou thought for a moment and only exchanged for some seeds. Then he went to find Lang Tian and asked him to see whether other beastmen were willing to trade food for cotton.

He wanted to save some of the grain.

Moreover, other beastmen did have a demand for cotton.

Sure enough, when the other beastmen found out they could trade for cotton, they immediately brought their grass seeds to the guest shelter.

Cotton was good stuff—soft and warm. This winter, Fan Zhou had always worn cotton-padded coats, which the others envied greatly. But they had no cotton, so they could only keep wearing beast skins.

Now that the White Flower Tribe had brought cotton, they absolutely couldn’t miss the chance!

After trading the cotton, the beastmen of the White Flower Tribe had food in hand again—but it still wouldn’t be enough to get them through the winter.

So Fan Zhou assigned them work: land reclamation.

If nature couldn’t provide enough food, then they would just have to clear more land.

Winter land reclamation was very tough, but Fan Zhou truly couldn’t find a more suitable job. He had to give these beastmen something to do; he couldn’t just feed them for nothing.

Besides, these beastmen had taken his beast spirit flowers—so they had to work to repay their debt.

The beastmen of the White Flower Tribe weren’t picky about the work at all. Every day they worked with great enthusiasm. To be alive and to have hot meals—they really felt very lucky!

Moreover, they didn’t want to go back to the White Flower Tribe anymore.

Even though their strange illness had been cured, what if they got infected again? Would they have to make the long journey back to the Waterfall Tribe and beg for beast spirit flowers again?

They were unwilling!

They wanted to reclaim more land, plant more grass seeds—they wanted to join the Waterfall Tribe!

Fan Zhou did not reject this request. The concerns of these beastmen made a lot of sense. Rather than returning, it was better to stay in the Waterfall Tribe.

However, considering the practical situation, he summoned Que Yu

It was time to know where the Holy Mountain was.

The little bit of herbal knowledge Que Yu had learned in his past life had already been forced out by Wolf Sky. With nothing new to teach, Que Yu had become just an ordinary member of the tribe.

Lang Tian had him work with the gathering team.

The beastmen in the gathering team no longer indulged him like before. If he worked slowly, they would definitely urge him on, and when food was divided in the evening, they would deliberately give him less.

To avoid going hungry, Que Yu had no choice but to put away all his messy thoughts and obediently do his work.

When he learned that Fan Zhou was looking for him, he was startled and nervously came down the mountain to the small kitchen. Seeing Fan Zhou and Feng Xun sitting in the kitchen, his hands and feet didn’t even know where to go.

When he had just been reborn, he had been very arrogant, looking down on everyone except Feng Xun.

Now he understood how big the gap between him and the Fan Zhou in front of him really was. He no longer dared to be arrogant like before.

“Tell me about your past life,” Fan Zhou glanced at him and asked directly.

Que Yu was completely unguarded. Hearing this all of a sudden, he trembled all over with fright, his face full of panic—Tu-Tu Zhou knew?!

“No need to be afraid, the Beast God told me,” Fan Zhou raised an eyebrow.

Beast God?

Que Yu was stunned, then suddenly realized—of course, it was only with the Beast God’s blessing that he was able to live again. Now this Fan Zhou was deeply favored by the Beast God, so it was perfectly normal that the Beast God would tell him about this.

The heart that had jumped to his throat slowly settled back into place, and the panic on his face gradually faded. After a pause, he asked, “What do you want to know?”

“Where is the Holy Mountain? Tell me about the Holy Mountain,” Fan Zhou said as he glanced at Feng Xun.

Feng Xun turned around and brought out the small food table. He took out bark paper and a charcoal pen, preparing to take notes.

Que Yu looked at the scene and felt sour inside—he truly liked Feng Xun…

Suppressing his disappointment, he spoke: “The Holy Mountain is over there.”

He pointed southwest: “From the Waterfall Tribe, it takes about two months on foot. The Holy Mountain looks like a mushroom, with a straight pillar holding up a big stone.”

“Except for Feng Xun, other beastmen couldn’t climb up the Holy Mountain. Feng Xun later dug steps, so only then could the other beastmen ascend.”

“Other than beastmen from the Waterfall Tribe, anyone else wanting to climb the Holy Mountain had to know a skill and let Feng Xun know they were useful. Because the space at the top is very limited.”

“There’s a spring on top. Not only does beast spirit flower grow there, but you can also plant grass seeds.”

These words were very brief and completely different from what Fan Zhou had imagined. So the Holy Mountain’s true situation was like this? It couldn’t even protect many beastmen.

Moreover, it couldn’t protect them for very long.

The Holy Mountain could grow beast spirit flowers only because it was high enough, and the spring water had been filtered through many layers. If anything changed in that process, the Holy Mountain would lose its sacredness.

Then in the past life, Feng Xun…

He furrowed his brows and changed the topic: “Last time you told Feng Xun that food would become scarcer?”

“Yes.” Que Yu nodded cautiously.

“Was it a sudden decrease or a gradual one?”

“It was sudden. About three more winters later, when spring came, many plants didn’t turn green, and a lot of prey died all at once—food dropped sharply. Many beastmen also got strange illnesses, and at that time, once they got sick, they died very quickly. Unlike now, when people can still last a few years.”

Fan Zhou: “……”

So this was worsening pollution?

He felt like a heavy stone had been placed on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

“Do you know why it happened so suddenly?” he asked.

Que Yu shook his head blankly. “I don’t know. None of the beastmen knew.”

“What about the High Priest of the Holy Temple and the Beast King?”

Those two old fools should know things that ordinary beastmen didn’t.

“They died. They died very early. I heard from other beastmen that they caught the strange illness and died very fast.”

“…Didn’t the Holy Temple have beast spirit flowers?” Fan Zhou was shocked.

Feng Xun, who had been writing with his head down, also looked over.

Que Yu suddenly got a little nervous. “Those beast spirit flowers were stolen.”

Fan Zhou: “……”

He thought of Xiong Ye.

If Xiong Ye could steal beast spirit flowers, then of course other powerful beastmen could too.

So that was how those two old fools ended up in the past life?

They really deserved it.