"How did you know?" Kat’s ears twitched again, his expression one of pure shock.
Suddenly, it dawned on him. He looked as if he’d been struck by lightning, asking in an incredulous voice, "You jumped off Thorncliff just to find a Beast Crystal?"
Evangeline nodded. "That Beast Crystal is very important to . Kat, is The Ravening Wolves also from the Cerulea Tribe?"
Kat stared at Evangeline for a long mont before shaking his head. "No, The Ravening Wolves is a Beastman from the Wyndsong Tribe. But he’s probably already handed the Beast Crystal over to the leader in exchange for supplies. How are you going to find it?"
Evangeline put away the talisman paper and said earnestly, "I can give you dicinal herbs to treat your father. Can you take to the Wyndsong Tribe? That Beast Crystal is truly very important to ."
Hearing her stress its "importance" again, Kat blinked. "Is it your Beast Husband’s Beast Crystal?"
’Females don’t have Beast Crystals, so she’s obviously not looking for herself. But to jump off Thorncliff just to find a Beast Crystal for her Beast Husband... The story sounds bizarre no matter how you look at it. How is that possible? Are females really that devoted?’
Evangeline nodded solemnly. "Yes."
Upon hearing this, a look of envy crossed Kat’s face, but he quickly shook his head. "I can’t take you to the Wyndsong Tribe, The little maiden. Once you’re below Thorncliff, you can never go back. This is the land of the exiled, a place forsaken by the Beast God. You can’t possibly leave. You’d be better off just trying to make a life here. The leader of the Wyndsong Tribe is not soone to be crossed."
Evangeline frowned. With a flick of her wrist, a pile of dicinal herbs appeared in her palm. "I have to go."
When Kat saw the herbs suddenly materialize in Evangeline’s hand, he was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
’The elders in the tribe had always said that a Witch was the Beast God’s emissary on the continent, soone incredibly powerful. He’d never witnessed it firsthand, but now, seeing this, he was beginning to understand just how powerful they really were.’
’What left him even more speechless was the thought of how many Beast Cores this pile of herbs would be worth.’
Below Thorncliff, vegetation was scarce, making dicinal herbs exceptionally precious. Only the large tribes kept a small stock, so if the Fallen Beastn got sick, they could only try to tough it out.
’His father was gravely ill. Without these herbs, he probably wouldn’t survive the hunting season.’
Kat’s gaze was fixed on the herbs in Evangeline’s hands, so intense it seed he wanted to bore a hole through them.
After a mont, he clenched his jaw as if making a monuntal decision. He slowly reached out his hand, his voice strained but firm. "Alright! I’ll take you!"
"But don’t get your hopes up. The leader of the Wyndsong Tribe... he’s... different. He won’t agree to see you easily. Besides, I heard that Thunder Beast Crystal was brimming with energy. It’s probably already been absorbed."
Evangeline pressed her lips into a thin line. "You just need to get there," she said, her voice firm.
Hearing this, Kat hesitated no longer. He carefully put away the herbs and said, "Then follow !"
Kat was incredibly agile and fast, darting forward like a gust of wind. Every so often, he would pause and turn to see if Evangeline was keeping up.
The two walked for a long ti across the vast, boundless sea of sand. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless yellow dunes.
An unknown amount of ti passed before the sky began to lighten.
"We’re almost there!" Kat said, sighing in relief as he gazed toward the edge of the desert.
After about ten more minutes of walking, a desert tribe ca into view.
The tribe was large, its huts, resembling small sandbags, scattered at various elevations. The structures were surprisingly woven from thorny vines and covered with beast skins to shield them from the wind and sand, giving them a distinctly exotic look.
Kat led Evangeline forward, but as soon as they drew near, sentries sward out and surrounded them.
One of them, his face a mask of wariness, bellowed, "Kat! This is Wyndsong Tribe territory! What do you want? Are you trying to pick a fight? Declaring war?"
Kat quickly waved his hands in a placating gesture. Just as he was about to speak, soone shrieked, "A female?!"
At that, all eyes snapped to Evangeline. Their gazes were filled with disbelief as they scanned her from head to toe, as if staring at so rare species.
Kat subtly moved to shield Evangeline and called out, "We’re here on business to see your leader! Could you please..."
"Kat, where’d this little maiden co from? I’ve never seen her before."
"Among our tribes, you can count the number of females on one hand, and I’ve never seen this one!"
"Is she here to join our Wyndsong Tribe?"
"..."
Kat’s words were completely ignored. Everyone’s attention was fixed on Evangeline.
Evangeline scanned the Beastn of the Wyndsong Tribe, her eyes glinting. ’The Beastn of this tribe all shared a common trait: they were ugly. Incredibly ugly, and each in his own unique way.’
’Their features looked as if they’d been pieced together at random—noses that were barely noses, eyes that were hardly eyes. So had hideous scars crawling across their faces, crisscrossing like centipedes, a truly ghastly sight.’
’The males on the Beastman Continent weren’t generally bad-looking. Had all the ugly ones gathered in this one tribe?’
Kat felt a headache coming on. He knew bringing a female here would cause trouble. Other tribes had at least one or two females, more or less, but the Wyndsong Tribe had none. At the end of the day, it was because they were just too ugly.
Just then, Kat’s sharp eyes spotted soone in the crowd, and he yelled, "The Ravening Wolves!"
Evangeline’s eyes narrowed. Tapping her toes against the ground, she shot off like an arrow from a bow, flying in the direction Kat had indicated.
She moved with the lightness of a willow catkin, landing silently and blocking The Ravening Wolves’ path. The motion was seamless, her gaze sharp and scrutinizing. "You’re The Ravening Wolves? Were you the one who found the Thunder Beast Crystal below Thorncliff?"
He was a one-eyed male Beastman, his entire body covered in dense, gray-black fur. Sensing Evangeline’s approach, The Ravening Wolves tensed, instantly on guard and ready to strike.
Seeing this, Kat yelled anxiously, "Don’t fight! We’re here to see the leader!"
"A female?" The Ravening Wolves could see her clearly now, his expression a mixture of shock and suspicion. ’How can a female be that fast?’
The sentries sward in, tightening the circle around Evangeline, their eyes filled with suspicion.
Soone demanded harshly, "Kat! Who in the world is this female?!"
Evangeline tightened her grip on the Cold Frost Whip and stared at The Ravening Wolves. "Where is the Thunder Beast Crystal you found?"
The Ravening Wolves’ brow furrowed, his muscles bunching. He said hesitantly, "The Beast Crystal was already given to the leader."
"I don’t have ti for this. Take to your leader!" Evangeline cracked her long whip. A wave of biting frost surged forth, freezing the sand on the ground. A thick layer of ice spread rapidly, the chill air instantly dispelling the desert dryness.
The crowd looked at each other, exchanging uneasy glances, every one of them tensed to the breaking point.
Even the dimst among them could see it now: this female was no pushover. She had co here aggressively, looking to start trouble.
The Ravening Wolves was about to speak when another voice cut in. It was tinged with a playful nonchalance, its timbre low and magnetic, the kind of voice that could make one’s ears tingle with just a simple phrase. "See ?"
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