My basement connects to another world.

Chapter 27 Standoff

Another world.

Jiang Yuan stepped out of the portal, and the golden light behind him converged into a line and then disappeared.

He lifted the animal skin curtain, and a blast of cold air rushed in through his collar.

Looking down, I saw a small stone, about the size of a thumb, lying at my feet, right at the entrance of the tree hole.

Has Xilu been here? Jiang Yuan picked up the stone, put it in his pocket, and walked outside the cave.

Soon, he frowned and realized something was wrong.

The tribe was unusually quiet.

The cubs could not be seen playing at the tree roots, nor could women be seen walking among the tree holes.

There was no one in the open space.

Jiang Yuan paused, thinking that it shouldn't be this quiet at this time.

He quickened his pace and tried knocking on several tree holes, but no one answered.

Something happened?! Jiang Yuan was shocked.

They then quickly walked outwards along the same path they had taken when entering the village.

Finally, faint sounds came from ahead.

He walked around the last giant tree and saw a dark mass of people.

There were at least six or seven hundred people; almost all the cat-eared tribe members who could stand had gathered here, stretching from the edge of the treeline all the way to the outermost row of giant trees.

Women huddled at the back, holding their babies, while the elderly stood guard on the flanks, holding short spears.

Jiang Yuan approached the crowd and asked a cat-eared person nearby, "What's going on?"

The man turned around, paused for a moment after recognizing him as a human, then turned back to stare ahead: "It's Whitemane! They're trying to steal our food!"

The Warcraft that night? Jiang Yuan pushed his way forward.

He squeezed to the front row, where the hunters stood in a line, knives and bows. His gaze shifted, and he saw a large patch of gray-white shadows densely packed on the snow opposite.

Is this the white-maned creature? Jiang Yuan carefully examined this Warcraft that no one on the forum had ever mentioned.

These magical beasts were smaller than the Greyscale Lizards, but still larger than a human.

It looked like an enlarged wolf, with thick limbs, high shoulder blades, and a layer of messy gray-white mane covering its neck.

But its head is more bear-like, with two rows of sharp teeth sticking out from between its lips.

Hundreds of pairs of dark yellow pupils gleamed in the slightly hazy light of the sky.

At the very front of them was a white-maned creature that was a full circle larger than the others, clearly the leader.

Its mane cascades from its head down to its shoulders, and its four legs are thicker than the waist of an ordinary white-maned creature. When its feet touch the snow, each foot sinks half a foot deep.

It stood there motionless, its dark yellow eyes fixed on the person in the front row of the Frostclaw tribe.

The leader, Ug, stood at the very front of all the warriors, holding a huge battle sword.

Hilu stood half a step behind him, her fluffy, snow-white tail standing straight up, and her sky-blue eyes, unusually, no longer had their usual dazed look.

"Ugh." The white-maned leader opened his mouth and spoke in the cat-eared language, "Are you going to start a war with us?"

Ug said in a deep voice, "Grey Ridge, it was you who wanted to start the war."

The white-maned leader, named Grey Spine, rolled his dark yellow eyes and said in a muffled voice, "I just want some food; my children are hungry."

"There's no food," Ug sneered.

A puff of white breath escaped from Grayback's nostrils. "You do!"

It raised one of its forepaws and pointed towards the tribe behind Ug: "You have dried meat, hard biscuits, and things that will help you survive this harsh winter hidden in your tree hollows."

Ug raised his broadsword from the snow, veins bulging on the back of his hand: "You don't have enough food, and I don't have enough food either. Retreat, or die!"

The gray ridge seemed to be enraged and let out a furious howl.

Hundreds of white-maned creatures behind it roared angrily.

The cat-eared warriors also raised their weapons, and tensions rose between the two sides.

The situation is not good. Is a fight about to break out? Jiang Yuan frowned as he looked at the scene, thinking to himself, "Don't worry, I have enough food."

This white-haired creature seems to be somewhat intelligent; it can trade items.

At that moment, a cold white light suddenly appeared in his pupils.

The beam of light shot out from the right side of the white mane clump, moving so fast that its trajectory was almost invisible. It drew a silver line in the hazy skylight and plunged straight into the white mane clump, hitting the gray ridge in front.

The giant beast was knocked back three or four steps by the light, its four feet carving four deep furrows in the snow.

Its dark yellow eyes widened suddenly, and its mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Immediately afterwards, a second ray of moonlight fell, striking the snow three feet in front of Gray Ridge.

The snow exploded, scattering ice crystals everywhere. A charred, shallow crater, about the size of a washbasin, appeared on the snow, with white smoke still hissing from the bottom.

The white-maned swarm stirred.

The dozens of white-maned geese in the back row simultaneously shrank back, their yellow eyes darting around, and they let out low moans.

The few strong, white-maned stags in the front row managed to steady themselves, but their four legs were trembling slightly.

A figure rushed in from the side.

Spell? Jiang Yuan's eyes widened as he saw the rapidly approaching figure.

He was an elderly cat-eared man with a beard braided into three thin braids, wearing a dark brown robe, and leaning on a wooden staff that reached his eyebrows with his left hand.

He quickly approached and came to Ug's side. Without stopping, he took three more steps forward and stood at the very front of all the cat-eared people.

"Priestess Twilight Leaf! You're back!" Gray Spine steadied himself, squeezing out a low voice from his throat.

He dared to come to the Frostclaw tribe this time because he didn't smell the scent of the Twilight Priest last time.

The priest of Duskwood slammed his staff into the snow.

"Grey Ridge, do you remember what I told you when I taught you the language?"

Greyridge opened its mouth slightly. "You said... Frostclaws wouldn't hunt Whitemane on their own initiative."

"Anything else?"

"...Even Whitemane cannot step into the Frostclaw tribe's hunting grounds."

"Then where are you standing now?" Priestess Twilight Leaf raised her wooden staff, pointing the tip at the snow beneath Gray Ridge's feet.

Gray Ridge fell silent.

The commotion in the white-maned herd grew louder and louder.

Finally, it took half a step back. "This winter has come too early. There's nothing left on the ground, my children..."

"Your children are hungry," the priestess of Twilight Leaf cried out.

"My people are hungry too. The horned sheep are hiding in the stone shells, the ice fish are frozen into ice blocks at the bottom of the lake, and even the pikas on the edge of the Graycap Forest have disappeared. Your people are not doing well, and neither am I."

He took a step forward: "But that's not a reason for you to step into the Frostclaw tribe."

Gray Ridge's dark yellow eyes suddenly shrank.

Priestess Dusk continued walking forward.

The gray-spine creature began to move its four legs backward.

The white-maned herd behind it also moved backward, and the tails of several strong white-maned herds in the front row were already tucked under their bellies.

Finally, Grayback lowered its head, turned around, and its massive body circled halfway around on the snow before retreating with its four feet treading through the snow.

The white-maned herd behind it followed closely, and hundreds of gray-white behemoths retreated like the receding tide.

The Priestess of Dusk watched them disappear behind the row of giant trees covered in icicles, then turned around.

A cheer erupted from the cat-eared tribe.

Priestess Twilight Leaf's gaze swept past the cheering crowd and landed on the petite figure beside Ug.

Hilu was standing on tiptoe, peering in his direction.

The Priestess of Dusk's eyes lit up with surprise.

Ug went up to him and quickly explained what had happened.

"Grandpa Priest! Hilu misses you!" Hilu said happily.

"I thought I was getting old and my eyesight was failing." Priestess Twilight Leaf reached out and gently pressed her wrinkled palm on the top of Hilu's head: "May the Moon Goddess protect you."

Ug suddenly asked, "Priest, what's going on?"

Mu Ye paused slightly, a complex look in her eyes. She glanced towards the Gray Cover Forest to the north and said, "That rift to the north is wider than it was last year."

The words were spoken softly, but Ug's expression changed abruptly, becoming serious.

Priestess Muye withdrew her gaze from the north, as if she hadn't said anything at all.

His gaze passed over the layers of cat-eared people and stopped at a distinctly different figure at the back of the crowd.

A human, young, with black hair, wearing strange clothes that are out of place in his tribe.

"So that's the human you were talking about?" He looked visibly surprised.

Ug nodded.

Priestess Muye raised her hand and gestured to the side.

A young gray-eared soldier immediately jogged over and approached him.

Priestess Twilight Leaf whispered a few instructions, and the young warrior followed her gaze to look into the crowd, nodded, and quickly walked to the back.

It's finally here... Jiang Yuan noticed the actions of Priestess Muye.

He had a lot of questions, and finally someone could answer them.

At this point, the people had already begun to retreat back to the tribe.

Jiang Yuan watched as the young soldier quickly walked up to him and said:

"The priest wants to see you!"