The Survival of the Wild Tribe

190

Luca's hands formed a twisted arc, slumping feebly. His hair stuck to his face, wet, concealing his expression. His naked upper body bore many scratches, some bleeding, with the blood mixing with the river water, staining the ground red.

Lu Zhan, who pulled him up from the water, wasn't much better. His arm had a deep bone wound, with the bone dislocated from the flesh. However, Lu Zhan, worried that Luo Zhen might see it, hastily reset the bone. He had done this procedure many times before, relying on his young, strong body and resilience, never encountering a problem.

Despite his rough treatment, Lu Zhan's wound swelled up, seemingly more serious than Luca's at first.

"What happened?" Luo Zhen hurriedly asked, first checking Lu Zhan to ensure his injuries weren't severe except for his arm. It seemed to be just a simple skin trauma.

A Qing and several others also gathered. A Qing was quick to act, tying up the half-conscious Luca with twine. Achun brought over healing herbs for Lu Zhan, and hot water was boiled to disinfect and clean his wound.

At that moment, Shan Qi returned. He brought fresh weeds for the staghorn horses. Shan Qi had fewer injuries than Lu Zhan, but they were noticeable from the battle he just experienced.

Lu Zhan glanced at him, and Shan Qi wiped the water off his face, saying, "Don't worry, those people can't get in here; they don't know how to swim."

Luo Zhen realized that their temporary settlement in the cave had been exposed.

"You've been discovered?" he asked.

Lu Zhan's face darkened, still showing signs of hostility from the battle. "Yes, one of them has a very sensitive nose. They caught us while we were outside the Klushi tribe. I found out."

For the past few days, they had been scouting around the Lion Clan tribe, hoping to gather more information, maybe even acquire a grain. But this was the first time they had been discovered, leaving them no choice but to deal with these people.

Originally, the leader and I planned to ditch those people outside and then swim back along the river, but it seemed like they knew which direction we were going to run. Even if we got in the water, we couldn't shake them off," Shan Qi interjected. He had been separated from Lu Zhan while preparing food for the staghorn horses, so he wasn't far from the river. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to escape the Klushi tribe's encirclement on his own.

The strength of the orc warriors of the Klushi Lion tribe is stronger than we thought.

"Could it be because they smelled your scent?" Although Luo Zhen knew that orc warriors had a much more sensitive sense of smell than ordinary people, unless it was a strong or pungent smell, even Lu Zhan couldn't be detected from afar. Relying on scent alone to determine the direction of the enemy seemed unlikely.

"I'm not from the Lion Clan." Thinking about the person's strange appearance and the uncomfortable feeling he left behind, Lu Zhan lifted his long leg and kicked Luca, who lay nearby. "Is he from your tribe? Raising a returning orc?"

Luca coughed a few times, his face pale from soaking in the water for so long. Not yet fully healed, he didn't immediately answer Lu Zhan's question. Instead, he scanned everyone on the scene. When his eyes fell on Heishan, the mermaid, and even Achun, it wasn't a surprise to him, indicating he had already guessed it.

The mermaid seemed to strongly dislike Luca. As soon as Luca's eyes met his, the mermaid swiftly lifted his huge fish tail and flung Luca into the river beside him. His movement was so quick that no one anticipated it. By the time they reacted, Luca had been carried a significant distance by the river.