I've been transported to the orc continent.

The weather is not good today. The sky is full of dark clouds and the sun has not been seen since morning. Gusts of north wind blow and the withered yellow grass on the ground is bent low, revealing a desolate and bleak feeling.

Snowflakes fell, adding a touch of chill to the vast expanse of sky and earth.

But at this moment, the people of the Gaoshu tribe were all cheering. Whether they were standing on the earthen slope or closer to the moon, they were all cheering and screaming.

All the tribespeople gathered towards the moon, which was now at the center of the torrent. He stood there, sword in hand, like an immortal, silently accepting the worshipful gazes, words of praise, and fervent adoration of his people.

Bai Ling was no exception. He and his clansmen ran towards the moon, waving their arms and shouting the moon's name together.

"moon!"

"moon!"

"moon!"

"moon!"

…………

The tribesmen all shouted the name of the moon, and the shouts of the beastmen mingled together, almost echoing throughout the land.

Amidst the shouts of countless clansmen, Yue still managed to accurately distinguish the voices of several people she knew.

Xiao's voice was lively and powerful, Huo's voice, originally that of the tribe's chieftain, was old and joyful, Feng Shu's voice was rough and high-pitched... Ling's voice was clear and melodious.

Of all these voices, the first one he heard was Ling's, because Ling's voice was very distinctive.

Ling's voice wasn't the loudest or sharpest, but it was the most soothing. His voice seemed to possess a special power that instantly dispelled the tension in my heart.

Yes, although Yue's expression was calm and his eyes were indifferent, he was actually very nervous.

He has a quirk: the more nervous he gets, the less expression he shows on his face. He may appear calm on the surface, but his palms are actually sweating with nervousness.

That year, he defeated warriors from other tribes and won the Chada Tournament. He appeared expressionless and indifferent to winning or losing, but in reality, when he was surrounded by countless orcs, he was so nervous that he almost squeezed his palms raw.

It was Ling who got him out of that predicament that time.

Ling cried and begged for the necklace around his neck that represented first place. Others might think his cold expression was because he was annoyed, but in reality, he was incredibly grateful to Ling for her crying and making a scene. Because of Ling's fuss, most of the orcs' attention was drawn to Ling, and no one paid attention to him anymore. He finally didn't have to be so nervous anymore.

Hearing Ling's voice amidst the cheers of countless clansmen, Yue felt her tense mood instantly relax.

Following the sound, Yue immediately spotted Ling running in the crowd.

Ling wasn't actually short. He had short black hair, fair skin, and bright, clear black eyes that were even brighter than the most beautiful stone he had ever seen. At that moment, Ling was also looking at him, and when their eyes met, Ling's eyes shone even brighter.

Even from this distance, across countless running clansmen, across the sparse snowflakes falling from the sky, and across the cold north wind, Yue saw Ling's eyes and brows ripple with emotion. Then, Ling gave her a smile as gentle as spring water and as warm as spring sunshine.

Bang! Yue felt as if she heard her own heart explode.

*

The tribesmen rushed to the moon, some cheering around it, others looking at the fallen red-horned beast.

Bai Ling rushed up to Yue and laughed loudly, "Yue, how is it? Is this machete any good?"

Yue nodded.

Bai Ling moved closer again. He really wanted to hug Yue and jump around a few times to express his excitement. Heaven knows how excited he was when he saw Yue's clean and neat movements and incomparably majestic aura. He even felt a sense of pride and honor. His Yue was just that amazing.

Bai Ling knew his thoughts were filthy, but there was nothing he could do; the moon was just so alluring.

Bai Ling gently patted Yue's back and smiled, "Yue is the most amazing."

One of the tribesmen asked, "Ling, are you referring to a knife or a person?"

Bai Ling laughed and said, "Of course they are all the most powerful, whether it's a person or a sword." After saying that, Bai Ling pulled Yue to look at the Red Horned Beast, "Yue, let's go see the Red Horned Beast and see just how powerful Yue really is."

There were far more tribesmen surrounding the red-horned beast than surrounding the moon.

They surrounded the small red-horned beast in layers, making it impossible for anyone to pass through. Bai Ling pulled Yue and squeezed in. The first thing he saw was the red-horned beast lying on the ground.

The red-horned beast's head and body were almost completely separated, with only a layer of skin below its neck holding them together. Several elderly orcs were squatting beside the red-horned beast, carefully examining its wounds.

An elderly orc even reached in and pulled out the broken bones of the red-horned beast.

Bai Ling didn't understand anatomy, but he could see that the wounds on this red-horned beast were quite smooth, from the skin to the flesh, from the tendons to the bones. This meant that when Yue cut off the red-horned beast's neck, his knife encountered almost no resistance.

To do this, one needs immense strength, and the knife must be both sharp and hard.

In the past, this would have been absolutely impossible to do with a stone knife.

Yue had also used the stone knife to cut the necks of other prey, but the stone knife often got stuck in the prey's neck, or it shattered directly inside the prey's body.

The wounds inflicted on prey with a stone knife are uneven, and some wounds are not cuts but tears.

Yue couldn't help but think that she hadn't used all her strength just now. If she had used even a little more, would the Red Horned Beast's head have flown off?

*

The tribesmen escorted Yue back to the tribe, and the orcs who remained behind came out to greet them. They marveled at the corpse of the red-horned beast, and this direct visual impact made every orc realize just how powerful the steel blade was.

The tribesmen's desire for ironware deepened even further.

Chief Zhan circled the corpse of the red-horned beast, then called Bai Ling and Yue aside. He first praised them a few times, then said, "Ling, Yue, I plan to send people from our tribe to several surrounding tribes. Would you two like to go?"

Bai Ling and Yue exchanged a glance, and Bai Ling asked, "Chieftain, which tribes are you going to?"

Zhan: "We've visited all the surrounding tribes. It snowed today, and it will only get colder. Our tribe has heated brick beds, so this winter won't be too difficult. Other tribes don't have such good things, and their young and old orcs will suffer. They can send their young and old orcs to our tribe for the winter, but they have to exchange something for them."

“Our tribe has enough food this year, so let them trade other things, like the hawthorns and bamboo you mentioned, we can trade them.”

“The Snow Mountain Tribe and the Green Wood Tribe don’t have large root grass, so they might not have enough food to get through the winter. I think they would be happy to trade other things for large root grass with us.”