"Kaelen!"

Seeing Sane carrying a large bundle and leading a dozen beastmen sprinting toward their direction, Walter instantly recognized that the bundle was none other than Kaelen. On a normal day, he would have jumped up and waved long ago, but his wound hadn’t healed yet, so Walter could only cup his hands like a megaphone to shout loudly.

Hearing the voice of his life-and-death friend, Kaelen pulled the cloak aside, wanting to check the situation below, but was stopped by Sane: "We’re almost there; don’t let the draft in."

After a few springing leaps, their group arrived in front of Zale. Sane set Kaelen down, and Walter immediately ran over to pull him into a tight hug. Colton instantly blurted out, "You! You’re still injured!"

Kaelen immediately peeled Walter, who was hanging off his body, away and inspected him from head to toe. Walter had gotten thinner, and his complexion was much worse.

[Where are you injured? Is it serious?]

"It’s just a minor injury; it’s ninety percent healed. Kaelen, hurry and come over here." Walter pulled Kaelen over to the new group of Sub-Beasts, introducing them one by one. When it was Caleb’s turn, Walter skipped him entirely, clearly displaying his attitude toward this person. Kaelen couldn’t help but look at that Rabbit clan Sub-Beast a little longer. Despite also being from the Rabbit clan, Caleb just gave off a somehow deceitful vibe, not innocent and naive like Draven and Asher.

Waiting until Walter finished introducing everyone, Colton immediately stepped forward and said with a smile: "Hello, your name is Kaelen, right? We are people from the Eldoria, Veridia, and Solace tribes. It’s very nice to meet you."

Kaelen nodded and smiled, then swept his gaze over the crowd of strangers present. The three tribes combined only amounted to a dozen or so people, and more than half of them were the elderly, Sub-Beasts, and cubs. There were only four young beastmen.

[What happened to you all?]

The group of Sub-Beasts looked at Kaelen’s hand signs, then back at Walter. Walter hurriedly spoke up: "Ah, he is asking what happened to everyone. I know this one, Kaelen; they already told us. I will tell you about it when we get back to the tribe later. Sane’s side is done negotiating over there."

He nodded, intending to head over to the beastmen’s group, but then paused for a moment. He used his hand to compare his own height with Walter’s. Walter also noticed this and used his own hand to measure as well.

"Wow, I’ve gotten taller. I’m up to your ears now." Previously, Walter only reached Kaelen’s chin. Unexpectedly, just taking one trip into the magical beast forest, Walter returned almost a handspan taller. Standing amidst a pack of towering beastmen, no one had noticed this change; it was only now, comparing heights with Kaelen upon returning, that it became apparent.

Seeing Walter happy again, Anthony finally let go of the heavy boulder weighing on his heart. Then, he lowered his head again, his expression profoundly sorrowful.

Walter wouldn’t smile at him anymore, nor did he even bother to talk to Anthony. He accepted the apologies of other clan members but bluntly rejected Anthony’s approaches. He wouldn’t let Anthony carry him on his back, wouldn’t lean against Anthony to sleep, wouldn’t groom his fur, and wouldn’t let Anthony help wipe his wings anymore. In a moment of carelessness, Anthony had lost all the special privileges Walter reserved for him. He didn’t know what to do to mend their relationship.

Zale and Sane finished talking. Zale turned his head back and said to everyone: "The tribe has a new regulation; outsiders are not permitted to stay within the inner territory. We will escort you to a prairie on the outskirts and provide enough supplies for you to use for a week. From now on, you are free to hunt and move about in the outskirts of the Crimson tribe, which means the area outside of this red string."

Zale pointed at a red-dyed hemp string that they hadn’t noticed earlier, then continued: "Our tribe is hiring laborers. The wages will be supplies corresponding to your labor. If you intend to work for us, go see the guard at any watchtower; we will consider suitable jobs for you."

An elderly beastman in the group of the three tribes spoke in a hoarse voice: "Can’t we join your tribe? We only have a handful of people left; it will truly be difficult to survive this winter."

At this moment, Sane stepped forward and stated coldly: "Our tribe is not a place you can just come to as you please. If you cannot pass the trial bestowed by the Beast God, you will not be acknowledged. Therefore, if you wish to join, you must pass the trial first. Alright, Zale, you lead a squad to take them to the prairie over there. As for the prey, hand it over to us to carry back."

Seeing that he wasn’t allowed into the tribe, Caleb immediately panicked. He hurriedly ran to Anthony’s side, tugged at his arm, and said tearfully: "Brother Anthony, I’m so scared. Can you let me go back with you all?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Walter’s gaze swept over here. Anthony’s body stiffened, and he instantly took a step back to evade Caleb’s grasp. Caleb immediately shed streams of tears, causing the beastmen in the hunting group to instantly soften their hearts. Andrew opened his mouth and spoke timidly to Sane: "Sane, he is all by himself, how about we take him in..." The rest of Andrew’s words gradually faded away under Sane’s frigid glare. He lowered his head, not daring to utter another peep.

Sane said: "If you pity him so much, I give you permission to move to the prairie and live with him. After all, right now I have full authority to decide whether you all stay or leave."

Andrew and the hunting team were terrified. They understood what Sane meant. It meant that Sane’s authority in the tribe was now even higher than that of Priest Collins, or to put it bluntly, he was now their Chief. The hunting team never expected that taking a trip to the magical beast forest would result in the tribe having a new Chief upon their return.

The whole group immediately shrank back like quails. They didn’t have the guts to defy Sane’s orders; they didn’t dare to before, and they certainly didn’t dare to now.

Kaelen walked to Sane’s side, staring at the clan members in front of him with his brows tightly knitted. It seemed that merely building the tribe to be strong was not enough; they needed to raise the clan members’ awareness to be on guard against others. Even if they trained an army powerful enough to sweep across the continent, if every single one of them was stupid and easily deceived, the tribe would change hands sooner or later.

The arrangement for the people from the three tribes was settled just like that. Aside from Caleb, who was very unwilling, everyone else was satisfied. After going through so much, having a safe place to rest was already a great blessing; they didn’t dare to demand much.

Anthony didn’t follow the escort group. He trailed behind Walter, keeping a certain distance like a loyal puppy. Although extremely curious about the strange behavior of these two who were usually stuck together like glue, the entire group of clan members tacitly agreed not to ask.

Upon returning to the tribe, Nori, whose eyes were red from waiting for his son, hurriedly stepped forward and opened his arms to hug Walter tightly. Walter’s waist wound was accidentally touched by his Papa, turning his face pale, but he still forced a smile and spoke, not letting Nori notice. He patted his Papa’s shoulder and consoled him in a low voice:

"Haven’t I returned safely? Papa, don’t cry anymore. You go home and wait for me first. I still have something to discuss privately with Kaelen; I will come back right after we finish talking."

Coaxed by Walter, Nori could only wipe his tears away and pat Walter’s head, saying: "Alright then, Papa will go back and cook some delicious dishes for you."

Waiting until his Papa’s figure departed, Walter’s legs gave out. Right now, all he could see before his eyes were floating specks of light. Kaelen hastily supported Walter, intending to take him to the healer’s tent, but someone was faster. Anthony anxiously snatched Walter from Kaelen’s hands, carried him in his arms, and sprinted like the wind to the medical tent, his mouth constantly calling out: "Lord Priest! Lord Priest! Please examine Walter quickly!"

Nyx and Draven were grinding herbs. Hearing this, they immediately dropped the work in their hands and ran over to ask: "What happened? What is wrong with Walter? Put him down on the bed quickly!"

Anthony hurriedly placed Walter down on the wooden bed and said urgently: "He was scratched on the waist by a Demonic Wolf; it has been almost seven days."

Draven reached out his hand, intending to untie Walter’s belt, but suddenly thought of something. His hand paused slightly, and he said: "You go outside; we have it covered here."

He mercilessly kicked Anthony out. A Sub-Beast could not expose their body in front of a beastman. If Anthony saw everything, it would be difficult for Walter to find a mate in the future. Although Anthony and Walter had always been close, in the end, it still wasn’t a mate-type relationship; they absolutely couldn’t let Anthony see Walter’s body.

The moment Anthony was kicked out, Kaelen had just arrived. He gave Anthony a side-glance, then lifted the tent flap and went inside. The condition of Walter’s wound had already entered the necrosis stage. The reason Walter fainted was because Nori had accidentally pressed on the injury earlier, and the pain had surpassed Walter’s pain tolerance threshold.

[Draven, you go outside first. Remember to chase Anthony a bit further away.]

Draven knew Kaelen wanted to use his own special healing method. This method could not be seen by anyone who wasn’t a Priest or the Chief, so Draven nodded and stepped outside.

Seeing Anthony moping like a mushroom in front of the tent flap, Draven said: "The Priest needs to offer a sacrifice to the God, you stand a bit further over there... Not enough, further."

Seeing that Anthony was standing at a far enough distance, Draven finally nodded in satisfaction, standing guard in front of the tent like a statue.

Inside the tent, Kaelen made Walter inhale an anesthetic flower, then used a sterilized knife to cut away the rotting flesh. Finally, he used a bit of his special ability on the wound. Everyone knew Walter was injured, so Kaelen didn’t dare to heal it completely in one go. He only healed about twenty percent of it, just enough to ensure the wound wouldn’t worsen and to reduce Walter’s pain, so that Walter could stand in front of Nori without letting Nori notice anything.

Walter slept very soundly. Looking at the faint dark circles under Walter’s eyes, Kaelen felt a deep ache in his heart. The magical beast forest was so dangerous; should he just stop letting Walter go? But with Walter’s stubbornness being like a mule, if he wasn’t allowed to go, Walter would just sneak away anyway. It would be better to add some extra insurance for Walter.

Kaelen decided that today he would finalize the blueprint for the ancient bow. With bamboo for arrows and Cassian being well-versed in crafting mechanisms, making a bow would definitely be very fast.

[Uncle Nyx, I have matters to handle; please take care of Walter in my stead.]

"Yes, you just go ahead. I will keep an eye on the kid."