I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 353 Spring

The way the Central Tribe celebrates the New Year is different from that of the High Tree Tribe.

On New Year's Day, the Gaoshu tribe eats and drinks, but the first thing the Central tribe does on New Year's Day is not eating and drinking, but sacrificial rites.

On New Year's Day, before the sun had risen and the world was still pitch black, the orcs of the central tribe had already risen.

Most of the orcs in the tribe, including children over twelve years old, elderly orcs who were still agile, and the vast majority of young orcs, all came out.

They gathered at the foot of the mountain, each orc holding a torch. The torches, soaked in animal oil, burned slowly, swaying from side to side in the biting wind.

However, the torch did not go out and continued to burn stubbornly.

The tribe's elders stood at the front. After confirming that all the orcs were present, the eldest elder shouted and, holding a torch, led the tribesmen behind him towards the southeast.

Behind the Grand Elder were orcs carrying pig, bull, and deer heads, followed by elderly people, children, and young adults carrying torches at the very back.

Bai Ling, Yue, Chen, Xiao He, and the other tribesmen also walked in the procession, each holding a torch and slowly following the crowd in front.

Xiao and Chen walked together, talking in hushed tones as they went. Bai Ling and Yue walked together in silence, saying nothing.

The dim torches formed a winding line, at the end of which lay only darkness. There was little wind today, yet the air remained cold.

The procession carrying torches arrived at a valley, the burial ground of the dead orcs. The wind in the valley was strong, and the already swaying torches burned even more fiercely.

The orcs behind the Grand Elder threw the pig's head, the cow's head, and the deer's head into a large pit in the valley. Then the Grand Elder, holding a torch, knelt down at the edge of the pit.

After the Grand Elder knelt down, the orcs behind him also knelt down, as did Bai Ling and his people. After kneeling for a short time, the Grand Elder stood up, and the orcs followed suit.

The sacrificial ceremony was already completed.

This was much simpler than Bai Ling had imagined. There were no sacrificial inscriptions, no dances, and not even any words. All you had to do was throw the animal head used for the sacrifice into a large pit, kneel down, and then stand up again.

However, this was not entirely unexpected. Orcs were not particularly interested in supernatural matters. In the Gaoshu tribe where Bai Ling lived, they did not worship any gods other than the Beast God. Moreover, even when they did worship the Beast God, it was mainly about the orcs eating and drinking, with little actual ritual involved.

*

Bai Ling and her tribe celebrated a lively New Year in the central village.

After the New Year, the feeling of spring grows stronger day by day.

Although the air was still cold and the wind still carried a chill, spring had arrived, and the beastmen began to get busy.

It's not yet time for farming, nor is it necessary to hunt frequently, but the beastmen also have other things to do.

Bai Ling led the carpenters and beastmen to hurry up and make doors, windows, and tools needed for silk reeling and weaving.

When spring arrives, the beastmen will officially begin building houses. They will also raise silkworms. Both building houses and raising silkworms require a large number of wooden products. Bai Ling led the beastmen to make as many as possible so that they wouldn't be caught off guard later.

Construction has also started at the iron smelting plant.

Whether it's iron smelting or carpentry, both require felling large numbers of trees. Young, strong orcs would take axes and saws and go into the forest to cut down trees and make charcoal.

The other orcs weren't idle either; they took simple tools and began building roads.

Previously, there were only paths left by long walks within the tribe; there were no roads elsewhere, and the beastmen walked on wild grass wherever they went.

This year, the tribe will have vehicles. Whether it's a handcart or a pulled cart, it needs to travel on a flat road. While there's still time, let's build the road first. The orcs don't need anything too fancy, just something they can push the cart around in.

Because there were too many things to do in the tribe, the search for gold mines was temporarily put on hold.

*

After the ground thawed, Bai Ling led the beastmen to build houses.

Before building the house, Bai Ling first inspected the brick kiln, tile kiln, and glass kiln, and then went to the carpentry team to make sure they could guarantee the supply of materials before nodding to indicate that the house could be built.

The central tribe is composed of ten tribes. Previously, only the orcs of the first tribe had built houses under Bai Ling's guidance. The other tribes had not yet built houses. It was simply unrealistic to have Bai Ling teach each tribe how to build houses. So the elders came up with a solution: each tribe would select twenty smart and meticulous orcs, led by orcs who had previously stayed in the High Tree tribe, to learn how to build houses from Bai Ling in the first tribe.

The ten tribes formed ten groups, and the places where they built their houses were all next to each other, so that if anything happened, they could call Bai Ling to handle it immediately.

The orcs were busy with their work, and no one was idle, not even Bai Ling's people.

*

Once the weather warmed up completely, the trees sprouted tender green branches, and the grass turned emerald green, Bai Ling led the beastmen to start raising silkworms.

When Bai Ling set off from the tribe, she brought silkworm eggs with her. The eggs were carefully kept along the way. Perhaps it was good luck, or perhaps it was because of the low temperature at high altitudes, but the eggs did not hatch on the way. Bai Ling safely arrived at the central tribe with the eggs.

The silkworm rearing area was not far from Bai Ling's home. It was in a newly built house, and with the help of other tribesmen, Bai Ling did not need to go to the silkworm room every day. He spent most of his time teaching people how to build houses in the tribe.

Bai Ling returned home a little earlier that day, and found Yue there as well.

When Yue saw him return, she said, "Ling, I've already boiled the water. Go take a bath."

After a busy day, Bai Ling was covered in sweat. He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take a shower now. Yue, have you eaten yet?"

Moon: "I've already eaten."

Bai Ling came out with the clothes, and Yue had already brought a bucket of cold water and a bucket of hot water for Bai Ling and placed them in the bathroom.

Bai Ling took the clothes and went into the bathroom. Yue gently patted her cheeks to cool them down.

In spring, all things revive, plants and trees regain their vitality, and wild animals become active. Most wild animals mate and conceive in spring, and beastmen who can transform into beast forms are no exception.

Spring is the mating season for orcs. Single orcs are not greatly affected, but orcs who have found partners will definitely be affected.

The moon is no exception.

Now, every time he sees Bai Ling, his heart beats faster, and his face flushes slightly. Last night, he had an unspeakable dream. In the dream, he and Ling were lying on a green grass, with a bright but not dazzling sun overhead. A gentle breeze rustled the trees in the distance. He and Ling snuggled closer together, and somehow they ended up embracing, and then...

The remaining scenes were too unbearable to look at, and Yue dared not think about them any longer. He patted his cheeks to calm himself down.