Chapter 114: Little Female, You Are Forcing Us to Die

Chapter 114: Chapter 114: Little Female, You Are Forcing Us to Die

Another half month passed. The rice outside the Fuzu Tribe had finally ripened.

News that Ophelia, the Clan Leader of the Fuzu Tribe, had planted a vast amount of rice in her territory had long spread among the surrounding tribes.

The ripening of the rice was visible to the naked eye. Knowing she would be harvesting today, many from the nearby tribes came to watch.

Seeing the dense crowd gathered at the entrance of the Fuzu Tribe, Ophelia did not panic in the slightest. She calmly directed the males of the Fuzu Tribe to begin the harvest. The tribespeople stepped up one after another, shifting into their beast forms.

Using their sharp claws, they harvested the crops with incredible speed. In just one day, they finished reaping all five acres of rice.

Looking at the rice piled up like a small mountain at the entrance of the Fuzu Tribe, the spectating beastmen marveled.

"With so much paddy, how much milled rice can it produce!"

"At least five hundred pounds, I’d say."

"How could it only be five hundred pounds? I bet that single patch of land alone could yield that much."

"But the Mountain Goat Clan can’t harvest this much from the same amount of land," a male said in disbelief.

"I’m guessing there’s at least a thousand pounds of rice here," an elderly male ventured boldly, drawing on his experience.

"Is there really that much? Isn’t this Ophelia’s first time planting rice? Can she really produce that much?"

"She’s not just incredible at growing rice; she also raises wild boars and rabbits," said a male who had once been fortunate enough to attend the Fuzu Tribe’s bonfire party.

Hearing the crowd’s speculations, Ophelia spoke up generously. "The rice needs to dry in the sun for three days before it can be husked. Since you’re all curious about how much we’ll get, you’re welcome to come and see for yourselves when the time comes.

"Furthermore, I will invite a hundred little females from the vicinity to taste the rice I’ve grown."

Hearing Ophelia’s words, everyone present was shocked by her display of immense wealth and generosity.

A hundred little females! Even if five little females ate one pound of rice, a hundred of them would consume twenty pounds. She was way too generous!

The bystanders harbored different thoughts. Some felt Ophelia was boasting, while others were consumed by envy and jealousy. Ophelia didn’t care what they thought. She simply arranged for the males to spread the rice out evenly, ensuring that as much of it as possible would bask in the sunlight.

The sky gradually darkened, and the onlookers returned to their respective tribes.

Tyler looked at the rice spread out at the Fuzu Tribe’s entrance with some concern. "With this much rice, I’m afraid someone might get malicious ideas.

"Princess, I will stand guard at the tribe’s entrance tonight to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from causing trouble."

Ophelia shared his thoughts and nodded in agreement. "Alright. I’ll also have the tribespeople take turns keeping watch. Be careful tonight."

She knew many eyes were fixed on this batch of rice. This was her final step in establishing the Fuzu Tribe’s reputation, and she could not afford any mistakes.

Seeing this, Zerev spoke up, "I will also send some males from Ten Thousand Beasts City to help keep watch."

"Alright, thank you."

Zerev looked into Ophelia’s eyes, his gaze brimming with deep affection. He smiled and shook his head. "You are my mate. You never need to thank me."

Ophelia’s eyelashes fluttered at his words. Lately, Zerev had been commuting between the Fuzu Tribe and Ten Thousand Beasts City every day under the scorching sun. He also took meticulous care of her in her daily life. Even if she had a heart of stone, it would have been softened by his actions. However, she still hadn’t figured out how to change their awkward dynamic, so she could only let things take their natural course.

Tyler’s worries were not unfounded, for that very night, a group of people stealthily approached the Fuzu Tribe.

Each of them held weapons resembling bows and arrows, preparing to shoot flames at the rice from a distance. Had they not been discovered by the males from Ten Thousand Beasts City hiding in the shadows, the males guarding the Fuzu Tribe’s entrance would have been caught completely off guard.

Just as the flaming arrows were about to leave their bowstrings, the twenty males from Ten Thousand Beasts City captured the intruders. Just like before, these people were tied up and hung from the trees.

The next day, Ophelia looked at the rudimentary bows and arrows in Tyler’s hands in shock. She had considered every possibility, but she never expected that these people would actually craft bows and arrows, let alone come up with a method for long-range arson.

She asked anxiously, "How is the rice? Did it catch fire?"

Tyler shook his head. "Don’t worry. The males from Ten Thousand Beasts City spotted them right on time. Not a single spark landed on the rice."

"Was it people from the Snow Wolf Clan? Loki?" Other than Loki, Ophelia truly couldn’t think of anyone who would be so impatient to do something so thankless.

"It wasn’t him. It was people from the Mountain Goat Clan."

"The Mountain Goat Clan?" Ophelia was a bit confused.

"The Mountain Goat Clan has poor hunting skills and has relied on planting rice for generations. Our planting rice has harmed their interests, so they came to seek revenge."

Ophelia let out a dry laugh out of sheer anger. "We grow rice relying on our own abilities. What does that have to do with them? Just because we planted a lot of rice, they’ve come to hold a grudge against us."

Tyler patted Ophelia’s head, comforting her. "Don’t be angry, Princess. The Mountain Goat Clan lacks hunting capabilities. Their entire tribe relies on their annual rice harvest to feed their people.

"You suddenly growing so much rice this time will definitely affect the compensation they get from trading theirs, so..."

Ophelia understood. Cutting off someone’s livelihood was as serious a grievance as murdering their parents. She finally grasped why the Mountain Goat Clan resented her so deeply.

Previously, she had only wanted to cultivate high-yield rice so that everyone could enjoy rice with every meal. But she hadn’t considered that her actions would infringe upon the interests of the Mountain Goat Clan. If her actions truly caused the trading value of rice to drop, the rice the Mountain Goat Clan planted over the year wouldn’t be enough to feed their entire tribe.

"I want to see the people from the Mountain Goat Clan."

Tyler’s lips curled into a faint smile. "Of course."

Not long after, the people of the Mountain Goat Clan were brought into the Fuzu Tribe. They knew they had fallen one step short, so they made no excuses for their attempt to burn the rice.

"Little female, we were in the wrong this time, but we don’t regret it," the middle-aged male leading the group spoke up first.

Behind him, a frail male with bloodshot eyes added, "Little female, you are kind and generous! One prey animal for one pound of rice.

"But did you ever spare a thought for our Mountain Goat Clan? A hundred of us work hard all year, and we can only produce a thousand pounds of rice.

"If we calculate based on your price, we could only trade for a thousand prey animals all year round. How can a thousand prey animals feed our entire tribe? What you’re doing is driving us to our deaths!"

Hearing his words, the other members of the Mountain Goat Clan also grew red-rimmed eyes.

"Little female, you can’t blame our Clan Leader for this. We insisted on coming ourselves; it has nothing to do with him."

"That’s right. Let him go. Whether you beat us or kill us, we are at your mercy."

Hearing his tribespeople eagerly taking the blame for the arson, the Mountain Goat Clan Leader’s cloudy eyes misted over with tears.

"Little female, I am willing to stay in the Fuzu Tribe and bear the punishment for my sins, but please let my tribespeople go. They were just being a little impulsive; they didn’t really want to target you."