Hu Sha didn't overthink it. "It is indeed time to go out for a stroll. You two hurry along then!"
Yueyue, this child, it's really not easy for him now!
"Alright, Grandma, we're leaving. We'll entrust the child to your care."
Hu Sha waved her hand. "You go quickly. The child is doing very well with us."
Wente suppressed his inner excitement, scooped his mate off the bed, grabbed the cooking tools, and set off!
Shu Yue was still groggy, but the spring breeze cleared her head. They hadn't flown out of the city yet, and many people greeted them along the way.
She just nodded and responded with "mm-hmm," as she was too popular, there was no helping it.
As they neared the city gate, Miao Xiaocui and her mates flew in from another direction, apparently also heading out of the city.
The two families met and flew outwards together.
After leaving the city, Wente was about to transform into his beast form when he happened to see the city guards arguing with some beastmen outside.
Wente couldn't stand by and watch, so he brought Shu Yue closer and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"
Yin Xiao and the others, fearing that outsiders might cause trouble, also stopped. Defending the city was everyone's responsibility!
A beastman guarding the city replied, "These people were lurking suspiciously outside the city. We told them to leave, but they wouldn't. We were just about to drive them away."
As soon as he finished speaking, the beastmen being driven away said fearfully, "You've misunderstood, truly misunderstood. We have no ill intentions. We want to join Warrior City!"
There were about a dozen beastmen in total. They wore animal skin skirts, the kind beastmen wore in earlier times, their hair was messy, and their bodies were dirty, a stark contrast to the beastmen of Warrior City.
One of the beastmen recognized Miao Xiaocui and exclaimed, "Beast God Emissary! You are the Beast God Emissary, aren't you?"
Miao Xiaocui was slightly taken aback at being recognized, but she was no longer the same person she was five years ago. So many people admired her now, and she had long since become accustomed to such situations.
She didn't speak.
But the beastmen were very excited. "Emissary, please allow us to join Warrior City. We will definitely abide by Warrior City's rules. Please take us in!"
The beastmen's attitude was like that of commoners meeting officials in ancient times. Their backs were bent very low, they were almost kneeling.
The pregnant Miao Xiaocui felt pity for them and looked at Wente, saying, "Wente, they are too pitiful. Let them join Warrior City."
Miao Xiaocui thought that with her influence, Wente would surely agree immediately, but he didn't.
Wente stared at the group of beastmen and asked, "Which tribe are you from?"
Five years ago, Warrior City had relaxed its conditions for joining, and many more people had joined in the following two years. It took two years to expel those with poor character. By now, it was much harder to join Warrior City; certain conditions had to be met. If they accidentally brought in someone with a bad character, it would be troublesome to deal with, so it was better not to recruit.
The tribes that couldn't join Warrior City were too late to regret it.
The beastmen who were questioned were stunned and said unnaturally, "We lost too many tribesmen in winter, and only we are left. So we want to come and seek refuge in Warrior City. Please take us in!"
Wente's expression was blank. "I asked which tribe you are from, not why."
"..."
The beastmen looked at each other, and finally, one of them stammered out the name of an unfamiliar tribe.
Wente took in their expressions and continued, "Where did your tribe live before?"
The same beastman who had answered before casually pointed in a direction and said, "We live to the northwest, very far from Warrior City."
Shu Yue felt that this group of beastmen seemed to be lying. She tugged at Wente's sleeve. Wente subtly squeezed her finger, indicating that he understood.
Then, Wente said, "I'm sorry, Warrior City is not accepting new members recently. If you really want to join, you might as well wait until the autumn trade fair."
Every year, the trade fair would appropriately recruit a few affiliated tribes. Wandering beastmen like these would be recruited if they met the conditions. Clearly, this group did not meet them, and they were hiding something from him.
Upon hearing that they had to wait until the trade fair, the group became anxious. "Why do we have to wait for the trade fair? We have no tribe, and we won't survive the beast tide!"
Hearing this, everyone in their hearts disdained these beastmen. The city guards sarcastically said, "What does that have to do with us? Are we supposed to take in every beastman who can't survive?"
Their Warrior City had the best houses on the beast continent, ate the most delicious food, and wore the softest clothes. Why should these guys come in and enjoy themselves without contributing anything?
When they were building the city walls, they didn't see these people helping. Now that Warrior City was doing well, they wanted to join? What a fantasy!
They didn't know that this group was the very ones who had run away during the construction of the city walls. That time was too hard, with endless work every day, either hunting or transporting stones to build the walls.
Being assigned work every day, how could it compare to the freedom of their own tribes? So they escaped. They never expected that in just two or three years, Warrior City would change so drastically. It was a pity that it was so difficult to get in now!
Even affiliated tribes were no longer accepted. Warrior City had become the strongest beast king city on the continent and no longer needed any small fry.
It was rumored that even the cubs of Warrior City could transform. If this development continued, the population of Warrior City would grow, and they would become stronger, making it even harder for outsiders to join.
The city guards began to drive them away. "Hurry along now, come back during the trade fair. If you males can't even survive the beast tide, what right do you have to join Warrior City?"
Some of these beastmen were winged beasts. If they were careful or joined other tribes, they could survive the beast tide. The competition within the city was already fierce, and adding these weaklings would affect their ability to earn extra money!
Every day after guarding the city gates and changing shifts, they could go out to cut grass or catch insects to earn some money. With these guys around, wouldn't there be more people competing with them?
Shu Yue's family had a limited quota for purchasing supplies. Once they bought enough, they had to wait for the next time. Their own people were not enough to go around, so naturally, they were unwilling to let these people join!
Seeing Wente's firm stance, this group of beastmen pleaded with Miao Xiaocui again. "Emissary, kind Emissary, please take us in. Just give us a place to live, and we'll do anything!"
One beastman's legs went weak, and he knelt before Miao Xiaocui, expressing his absolute submission.
Seeing him do this, the others also knelt down, which startled Miao Xiaocui.
However, this group did not understand the true situation of Warrior City. To outsiders, the Beast God Emissary had a much higher status in the city than the shaman or priest, and should have decisive authority.
In reality, the title of Beast God Emissary was just a title. Those with real authority were the management. The priests were useless. It would be faster to ask Wente than to beg Miao Xiaocui.