Chapter 202: Plague

After Serena left the Tribe, she felt depressed for a while, believing she had misjudged her.

She had been so good to Serena, yet not only was Serena ungrateful, but she also turned around and said bad things about her, claiming she only valued her beauty.

And she had even helped her find a good Beast Husband.

When she later heard that Serena had run away, she suddenly understood many things.

If she wasn’t her biological daughter, it was bound to be different. No matter how kind she was, she couldn’t win her over, because Serena was fundamentally an ingrate.

But even so, she still looked down on Sora. So what if she lost weight? Her features were still ordinary, not at all like a child born to Lyra.

On the day of the Moon God Festival, it seemed Sora had the self-awareness to dress up and make herself presentable, preventing Lyra from losing face in front of other Tribe members.

But fake things were ultimately fake. No matter how much she dressed up, she still wasn’t naturally beautiful.

Moreover, this daughter of hers seemed born to oppose her.

She had never said a single kind word to her, nor had she shared any of the delicious food she made.

Even after Serena left and she grieved at home for so long, Sora never came to see her once.

She was also an ingrate.

And now she wouldn’t even let her go outside.

What kind of situation was this, where a Mother was being controlled by her own daughter?

Even Martin, as the Tribe Leader, didn’t dare to be so bossy towards her; he always spoke to her respectfully and negotiated things.

Lyra ignored Sora’s words and walked straight out of her house.

However, as soon as she stepped outside, Lucas, who was patrolling in the air, spotted her. He swished his long tail feathers and glared fiercely at Lyra.

"What are you doing out? Kaelira said everyone must stay indoors. Get back inside!"

The Phoenix was quite terrifying when angered. With that glare from its phoenix eyes, Lyra was instantly petrified.

Seeing how fierce the Phoenix was, Lyra immediately pulled her head back and dared not step outside again.

Not only did Kaelira herself disrespect her, but her Beast Husband’s were the same. It was impossible for her to like Kaelira.

Martin even advised her to be nicer to Kaelira. How could she possibly do that?

Lucas couldn’t be bothered with what Lyra thought. Although that Old Hag was Kaelira’s Mother, she treated Kaelira terribly. The fact that he hadn’t sought revenge on her yet was already showing mercy, let alone being kind to her.

Kaelira had finally given him an important task; he couldn’t miss this chance to prove himself.

After the Tribe had been locked down for several days, Sora found that no one else in the Tribe had contracted the plague toxin, which made her breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too serious.

But even so, they couldn’t afford to be careless.

After Sora announced that the Tribe members could move freely, she called a meeting in the Plaza.

"Does anyone know what Dan and Alex did on the day they fell ill?"

The plague came suddenly, and Sora needed to find the source of the disease quickly to better protect everyone’s safety.

Some members of the Tribe were not entirely convinced by Sora, but with Martin supporting her, they dared not oppose her.

And some Tribe members began to recall details and speak up.

"I saw them both in the morning; they looked fine. They greeted me and said they were going hunting."

"I saw them too. They caught a squirrel and said they were going to roast it for lunch."

"Sora, could it be that they contracted the plague toxin and died because they ate the squirrel?" someone asked suspiciously.

Sora nodded. "It’s very possible."

"Then those of us who go hunting absolutely must not catch squirrel," one person said cautiously.

"It’s not just squirrel we can’t eat; we can’t eat other beasts right now either," Sora continued upon hearing this.

"Why?"

"Even if we don’t eat squirrel, it doesn’t mean other animals won’t eat them. If they eat a sick one, won’t they also get sick?

"Furthermore, the plague toxin might not have originated in the squirrel. Perhaps the squirrel ate something else that gave it the plague toxin."

The Beastmen nodded in agreement when they heard Sora.

"Sora makes sense, but if we don’t eat beasts, we won’t have anything to eat."

They usually subsisted on hunted prey, occasionally eating wild fruits in the morning to fill their stomachs. If they couldn’t eat beasts, they would have nothing left to eat.

Sora said, "We can eat fish."

"Fish? That stuff isn’t very tasty."

"It has too many bones and hardly any meat."

Hearing this, Sora smiled and said, "Fish isn’t tasty because you don’t know how to cook it. I have several ways to prepare fish that I can teach you: Braised Fish, Sour Fish Soup, and Grilled Fish—every single one is delicious."

Hearing that Sora would teach them how to cook fish, the Tribe members quieted down again.

Everyone knew Sora made delicious food. The last time she taught them how to make beggars chicken, they still found it delicious even when they made it regularly.

"Besides fish, there are many other tasty things in the water, like Snails, Small Shrimp, and Crabs. And some plants in our forest are also very delicious when cooked. I will teach everyone a few dishes every day, so you can eat something different every day."

Convinced by Sora, many people nodded to her trustingly.

Martin stood aside, listening to Sora systematically arranging all the Tribe’s affairs, and nodded with satisfaction. As expected of his offspring, her demeanor was quite like his own.

Mark listened as Sora arranged matters large and small, and suddenly realized Sora seemed different from before. She used to not know so much, was casual about what she ate, and seemed rather silly. She was nothing like this now, organizing everything.

Thinking of this, Mark couldn’t help but ask Martin, who was standing beside him, "Father, don’t you think Sora has changed a bit?"

Martin let out a soft snort upon hearing this.

"I see it. She’s becoming more and more outstanding. You, on the other hand, are far from being able to compare with her."

Mark: "..."

Just talk, why did he have to belittle him too?

Mark chased after him, unwilling to give up.

"Father, if you gave this task to me, I could definitely do it well too."

"Give it to you? You don’t even have a Female yet. Talk to me when you get one!"

Ever since Sora’s relationship with her Beast Husbands improved, she had become outstanding. Martin felt Mark should also find a Female, but this boy was extremely picky. He looked down on all the good Females in the Tribe, and Martin wondered what kind of woman he was looking for.

While Sora was systematically preparing for the plague toxin, Serena was completely overwhelmed.

After rejecting the pig tribe leader three times, she finally contracted a Totem with him under his persistent "effort," becoming the Leader’s Wife.

At this moment, she was facing the same problem as Sora.