Chapter 74

Ye Wulan seemed to sense something—his gaze darkened, and his expression turned cold and grim.

When Ye Baizhi heard his words, her heart instantly tightened.
“Is Big Brother under attack?”

She knew there were often robbers near the outskirts of the estate and had warned her brother to take a detour. Could it be that even taking a detour wasn’t enough to avoid them?

Ye Wulan focused and said, “I just felt a powerful surge of energy. The opponent likely has sixth-tier strength.”

“If it’s just one person, it’s manageable. But if there are multiple enemies, it could get dangerous.”

“Big Brother should still be safe for the moment—but I need to get there quickly.”

He knew how much Ye Baizhi cared about her family. There was no way he’d let anything happen to them.

Ye Baizhi’s gaze sharpened. “I’ll go too.”

After all, she had already used an illusion technique to conceal her appearance—they wouldn’t recognize her.

“But we can’t leave Da Bao home alone.”

There was no way she’d feel at ease doing that. So, of course, she would bring him along.

Ye Baizhi quickly went back inside to wake him.

“Da Bao, wake up—Mother and Father Ye need to go rescue your Uncle. We can’t leave you home alone.”

Ye Baizhi realized that carrying Da Bao in her arms might make it hard to fight. She thought for a moment and tried placing Da Bao into her spatial storage, but it didn’t work.

That’s when she understood—at the moment, she couldn’t put Da Bao inside the space. She wasn’t sure if it would be possible after the space upgraded.

Left with no other option, Ye Baizhi tied Da Bao to her back with a cloth wrap.

“Mother will carry you like this.”

“Okay, Mother. I’ll be good—I won’t cause any trouble.”

Da Bao nestled against her back, wrapping his little arms tightly around her neck.

“Good.”

Then, with Ye Baizhi and Da Bao secured, Ye Wulan moved swiftly. He raced ahead at an incredible speed, heading straight toward Ye Chuan’s location.

Thanks to a mark he had planted earlier, he could sense exactly where Ye Chuan was.

After Ye Chuan and his group finished gathering their purchases, they prepared to head home.

Ye Chuan informed his uncles that there was danger near the outskirts of the estate—there might be people lying in wait to rob passersby.

Ye Dashan nodded. “I heard something similar while asking around at the market.”

Ye Shuo added, “Those people are despicable.”

“Everyone brings wild beast meat and pelts they worked hard to gather, just to trade them—and then they get robbed.”

Although the Rabbit Tribe’s situation had improved recently, many of the lower-tier tribes were still living as they always had. Thinking about how many of those tribes had their hard-earned goods stolen filled them with anger. When your things are stolen, it means using even more food to trade again—meaning many will go hungry.

Ye Dashan sighed. “I heard the Snow Wolf King is in trouble. The Snow Wolf Tribe is unstable now—that’s why some people dare to cause trouble.”

There were things he didn’t say outright. He suspected someone was using this chaos to profit.

Ye Dashan had lived through times of unrest and warfare when he was young—countless powerless beastmen had died.

It wasn’t until the Snow Wolf King emerged—displaying immense talent even as a child—that order was restored. He had fiercely punished wrongdoers and created a system of laws. Only then had the Northern Region enjoyed over a decade of peace.

After suppressing the rebellion, the Northern Region had remained stable for just over a decade.

Ye Shuo’s face went pale. “Father, are you saying something’s happened to the Snow Wolf King? What about my sister—she’s carrying his child.”

Though his sister hadn’t reappeared, Ye Shuo believed that with her abilities, she must still be alive.

Ye Dashan replied, “You underestimate the Snow Wolf King. Beastmen of his kind—with pure bloodlines and powerful strength—don’t die so easily.”

“Beings like that surely possess many inherited secret arts. He may be injured, but he’ll recover.”

Ye Dashan had seen much since he was young, and his experience gave him deep insight into such things.

Hearing all this, Ye Chuan felt much more at ease.

It seemed there was indeed trouble within the Snow Wolf Tribe. Thankfully, his sister had insisted on not going there and hadn’t revealed her identity. Otherwise, with the Snow Wolf King now in trouble, her situation could’ve become far more dangerous. Fortunately, she now had Lord Ye by her side.

Ye Chuan spoke up, “Uncle, I smell blood… faint, but definitely there. Let’s take the long way back to the tribe.”

Just as they finished speaking, a man covered in blood came sprinting toward them. His face was filled with terror as he ran frantically, clearly desperate to reach the estate.

“Young man, what happened?” Ye Dashan called out urgently.

The beastman was trembling with fear. “Murder… murder… they’re all dead… all dead…”

And with that, he ran past them and quickly vanished from view.

That sealed it—they absolutely wouldn’t risk the main road.

Ye Dashan made a swift decision to take the back trail through the forest. But not long after they began winding through the secluded path, they encountered more than a dozen bandits.

Everyone’s expression turned grim. They hadn’t expected to run into raiders even after taking a detour.

One of the bandits turned to their leader and said, “Boss, it’s them. They bought loads of salt.”

Everyone knew salt was precious—and expensive.

“You’re not getting away. We’ve had our eyes on you for a while.”

Ye Dashan’s group consisted of six people. On Ye Shuo’s back was a hide sack full of salt—meant to supply their entire tribe for the year. It had been bought using food they had all painstakingly saved.

As Ye Shuo carried it, he could feel the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

“You’ve been targeting people at the market, haven’t you?” he asked.

“Of course,” sneered one of the bandits. “It’s nearly winter—perfect time to rob teams like yours. Just a low-level tribe.”

The bandit leader’s eyes glinted with bloodlust and fury. “Enough talking. Kill them and take everything.”

These men had no intention of leaving survivors. Murder and plunder were their only goals. The leader was clearly a sixth-tier beastman—no wonder he dared to launch such attacks.

A fight broke out quickly.

Ye Chuan was powerful—also a sixth-tier—but the enemies outnumbered them. Their leader matched his strength, and they had three fifth-tier fighters plus many fourth-tier ones. It was exactly this level of strength that emboldened them to commit such crimes.

Ye Chuan’s group was quickly surrounded and overwhelmed.

Facing the enemy leader, Ye Chuan could feel the difference. His opponent radiated a violent, wild energy—just like the frenzied beasts found deep in the mountains. When hunting, they would always avoid those creatures. But now, thrown into direct combat, Ye Chuan fully realized the gap between them. He lacked enough battle experience.

At that moment, his sister’s words suddenly echoed in his mind.

If I survive this… I’ll make sure everyone in the tribe trains every single day.

“Ahhh!”

Two of the fourth-tier beastmen from their tribe had been seriously injured. Even Ye Chuan himself had been slashed—but he knew he couldn’t back down. He was the only sixth-tier fighter. He had to protect everyone.

Just as their enemies grew fiercer, clearly ready to finish them off, a powerful suppressive force suddenly surged down from above.

“Pfft…”

The enemy leader’s blade was about to sever Ye Chuan’s arm when that overwhelming force came crashing down, pinning him in place. He couldn’t stay upright—he coughed up a mouthful of blood and dropped to his knees.

And not just him—the entire group of attackers collapsed to the ground.

Ye Chuan and the others froze in astonishment and turned to look.

A figure descended from the sky, as if walking on air, clothes billowing in the wind—an almost unreal sight.