Chapter 443 - 441: Respect Their Fate

Chapter 443: Chapter 441: Respect Their Fate

"Wait, I’ll go with you and see!" Bai Wanwan grabbed his arm.

In a place like this, with rain this heavy, she was worried about landslides and mudflows.

When it came to other problems, she could rely on her system to avert disaster.

But against a natural disaster, there was very little she could do.

She still hadn’t reunited with her Beast Husbands, and she had to protect her cubs.

"It’s raining too hard out there, Wanwan. You’ll get sick if you go out with me."

No cubs or females were out and about in this weather. Jiao Yin was worried, too.

"Don’t worry, I’m strong. I won’t be able to rest until I see it for myself."

Jiao Yin wanted to refuse, but seeing the determination in Bai Wanwan’s eyes, he finally nodded. "Alright. Stay close to me, and don’t get soaked."

He picked up a larger beast skin and wrapped it tightly around Bai Wanwan until only her eyes were showing. Only then did he escort her into the downpour.

The clan was in chaos.

Murky water surged everywhere, flooding the entrances of several caves.

The Beastmen were filling Beast Skin Bags with earth and hauling stones, attempting to build temporary dikes in the low-lying areas.

A young male was shouting orders. When he saw Bai Wanwan, he frowned. "Female, what are you doing out here? This damned weather! Hurry back! Don’t freeze!"

Bai Wanwan had no time for words. Her gaze was locked on the raging river at the edge of the settlement.

The river, thick with mud, sand, and broken branches, violently eroded the soft soil of the banks. The water level was visibly rising.

Her gaze followed the murky current toward the great mountain the settlement was nestled against. The mountain looked exceptionally grim under the assault of the storm. Where the vegetation thinned on its slopes, patches of bare, yellow earth were visible.

Bai Wanwan pointed at the river, her voice cutting through the downpour. "Was this river always here?"

"No!" The male leader shook his head, wiping the rain from his face, his expression anxious. "The rainy season is usually mild. This river... it’s like it burst from the mountain’s belly."

At the words "burst from the mountain’s belly," combined with the sight of the incredibly murky water, the color drained from Bai Wanwan’s face.

She whirled around and grabbed Jiao Yin’s arm, her voice trembling. "The water is too murky! Jiao Yin, hurry! Take me to the Clan Leader, now!"

’A powerful sense of unease gripped her.’

Jiao Yin saw the worry and alarm in her eyes. "Alright, I’ll take you to him now."

With that, he shielded her as they pushed through the busy crowd of Beastmen, eventually finding the Clan Leader after asking for directions.

The Clan Leader was directing the others to move their hunted game to a different location.

When he turned and saw Bai Wanwan, he said the same thing. "This is ridiculous! What’s a female doing out in weather like this? Get back inside."

"Clan Leader, I need to speak with you urgently." Far from leaving, Bai Wanwan quickened her pace toward him.

"The water rushing near the settlement is incredibly murky, which means the upstream mountain face is being heavily eroded! With all this rain, the soil and rocks on the mountain have been completely saturated. It’s extremely dangerous! There could be... a cataclysm! The entire mountainside could collapse and destroy the whole clan!"

"What are you saying?" The Clan Leader had only heard of such things in legends.

Bai Wanwan didn’t have time for lengthy explanations. She pressed on, "The caves by the river and at the foot of the mountain must be evacuated immediately! All Beastmen have to move to higher ground, right now! There’s not a moment to lose!"

The Clan Leader looked at Bai Wanwan’s pale face and the conviction in her eyes, then back at the surging, murky river that was steadily eating away at the bank. He was torn.

The snow season was near. Forcing the Beastmen from their caves to huddle on high ground on a cold, rainy night without shelter would make them extremely susceptible to illness.

"Woman, the snow season is almost upon us. If we evacuate, where will they live? Besides..."

The Clan Leader’s words were cut off by a stubborn male beside him.

"Clan Leader, don’t listen to a female! What do they know about hunting or the weather? Our people have lived here for generations. What rainy season doesn’t have rain? Evacuate? What about the winter food we’ve worked so hard to store? What about our caves?" the Beastman said, his face a mask of indignation.

"Yeah! Getting this scared over a little rain!"

"If we move and get sick, who’s going to take responsibility?"

A chorus of agreement rose from the crowd.

Bai Wanwan took a deep breath. "Clan Leader, I am only offering a warning because you were kind enough to take us in. If you don’t believe me, I won’t force you. But I ask that you please consider it carefully. After all, the safety of the entire clan is at stake."

Jiao Yin, standing beside Bai Wanwan, added in a firm tone, "Clan Leader, the rainy season has just begun, yet we’re already seeing constant downpours. Think carefully—is this truly normal?"

The Clan Leader hesitated, torn between the two arguments. Finally, he gritted his teeth and made a decision.

"All Beastmen, listen to my command! Those near the river, take your cubs and your most important belongings and retreat toward the high sacrificial altar! Now! Any Beastman who disobeys will be exiled from the clan!" The Clan Leader’s authoritative voice drowned out the rain and the murmurs of dissent.

The order plunged the scene into greater chaos, but at least now there was a course of action.

Sounds of complaint, wailing, and shouting mingled in the air.

Bai Wanwan had done all she could. Although the stone house they lived in was a fair distance from the river, she still felt uneasy.

"Let’s go. We should head back and prepare as well."

As they walked away, Bai Wanwan could still hear the Clan Leader berating a few stubborn souls who refused to leave.

Some males even tried to drag them away, and a scuffle broke out.

’She had done what she could. If those Beastmen were still determined to stay, then she would just have to leave them to their fate.’

By the time Bai Wanwan and Jiao Yin returned to their home, the cubs had already been woken by the sudden chaos and the roar of the downpour.

The two slightly larger cubs circled their Mother’s legs, whimpering softly.

Snowball clung tightly to Bai Wanwan’s clothes, its small body trembling.

"There, there," Bai Wanwan said, holding Snowball close. She squatted down, gathering the other cubs between her legs and wrapping them in a dry beast skin. She kept her voice as gentle and steady as she could. "Don’t be afraid, little ones. Mama will take you somewhere safe."

She gently smoothed their ruffled fur with her hand, trying to calm them.

"We’re leaving?" Hua Han, who didn’t know what was happening outside, heard Bai Wanwan’s words and turned to Jiao Yin with a questioning look.

"Yeah. The rain is too heavy; it’s definitely not normal. Let’s do as Wanwan says and leave for now."

Hua Han naturally had no objections, but he was worried about the cubs getting cold.

So he readied the beast skin nest they had made, placed the cubs inside one by one, and covered them tightly with another skin before cradling the whole bundle in his arms.

"Let’s go. First, we’ll find a safe place to wait out the rain."

Protected by Jiao Yin and Hua Han, Bai Wanwan and the cubs made their way to a spacious stone house in the upper part of the settlement.

Most of the Beastmen had retreated to the sacrificial altar at the highest point of the settlement, not far from where Bai Wanwan and her family were.

The area was open and backed by a solid rock wall, making it relatively safe. But the conditions were abysmal. There were only a few crude wooden shelters, nowhere near enough to house everyone.

Everyone could only huddle under rocks that offered minimal protection from the rain or along the edges of the shelters, using beast skins for meager cover.

The cold cubs burrowed into their Mothers’ arms, their cries rising and falling in waves.

Complaints and whispers spread through the crowd, the blame subtly directed at Bai Wanwan, who had insisted on the evacuation.