Chapter – 38
A Beautiful Dream
“Leader! Leader!”
“Long live the leader! Hail the leader!”
Groups of orcs bowed low on the ground, waiting for her to ascend the high platform…
“Everyone! From today onward, I will advance and retreat together with the Silver Tiger Tribe, handling all matters of the tribe, big or small!” Li Qingqing declared firmly but gently.
The orcs below began to cheer.
“Li Qingqing!”
Suddenly, someone shouted her name.
“Who is it? How dare you call me by my name? You should address me as the leader!”
“Li Qingqing, wake up, stop sleeping!”
With a violent shake, Li Qingqing felt the world spin, and everything before her shattered into fragments.
She woke up hazily—it had been a dream.
Seeing her tired appearance, An Xuan, assuming she was unwell since it was already afternoon, worriedly asked, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Li Qingqing shook her head. “I just stayed up late last night.” Plus a tinge of heartache from the shattered beautiful dream.
An Xuan relaxed at her words. “I went up the mountain this morning with several females and collected plenty of the herbs you wanted. They’re all on the altar, ready for you to brew.”
Li Qingqing rubbed her groggy head and looked outside; indeed, it was getting late.
“Are there already people waiting?”
An Xuan nodded affirmatively.
Li Qingqing suddenly felt embarrassed. So many people were waiting for her—what if they got annoyed and started nagging her? Her prestige would drop instantly.
She jumped out of bed immediately and ran outside without waiting to see if An Xuan was following.
“Hey, wait for me!”
The altar was crowded with even more people than yesterday.
“After taking the medicine, many people are feeling better, so more came today who didn’t come yesterday,” An Xuan said.
Seeing the densely packed crowd, Li Qingqing took a deep breath and set up a protective barrier for herself and An Xuan. “At this rate, repeated contact could lead to cross-infection.”
An Xuan nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, some illnesses were nearly cured, but then people who weren’t well passed it back around.”
Many people, noticing Li Qingqing’s arrival, began whispering among themselves.
“Why isn’t she brewing the medicine yet? I’ve been waiting so long.”
“Will this medicine even work?”
“Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. The orcs who came yesterday said it was quite effective, cough cough cough.”
Li Qingqing climbed to the top of the altar and shouted, “Go back first. Once the medicine is ready, I will deliver it to your dens.”
“What’s she doing? We’ve been waiting so long!”
“Who knows if she’ll even deliver it? Does she just want to watch us die?”
The voices of discontent grew louder, though there were also those who defended her.
“I took that medicine yesterday; I feel much better!”
“Enough. Li Qingqing doesn’t owe you anything. She’s been busy these past days.”
“Those who complained probably didn’t believe she came yesterday to get the medicine.”
Li Qingqing concentrated, using her earth-based abilities to smash the silver tiger totem on the altar with a single palm. The crowd went completely silent.
Everyone froze, staring straight at her.
“Quiet. When I, Li Qingqing, say I’ll do something, I do it. I’m not one for beating around the bush. If you’re dissatisfied, confront me directly. If I find out you’re speaking ill of me behind my back, you will end up like this totem—shattered into pieces.”
Truly, power brings authority. In the past, people feared her because of Li Yue, but now her abilities were indisputable.
Hearing her words, the crowd fell completely silent, losing all their previous momentum.
“One per den. Those with cubs, take care of your young. Do not go outside or contact other orcs.”
“Why aren’t you returning to your dens?”
Seeing that the crowd still didn’t move, Li Qingqing’s tone became even sterner.
Upon hearing this, the orcs began to disperse.
One female, holding a cub in her arms, remained standing, letting others bump past her. “Why are you still standing here like the dead? Didn’t you hear me tell you to return to your dens?”
She hugged her cub tighter and tried to push forward against the crowd.
Seeing Li Qingqing about to leave with An Xuan, she called out in desperation, “Li Qingqing!”
Unfortunately, her voice was drowned out by the crowd.
“An Xuan! An Xuan!” she shouted several more times.
An Xuan vaguely heard someone calling him, glanced toward the crowd, and locked eyes with her anxious gaze.
“Yu Xin?” An Xuan called uncertainly.
Li Qingqing also looked that way, puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
“It seems Yu Xin is calling me,” he replied.
Li Qingqing searched her memory for the name Yu Xin—it seemed she was a very maternal female who refused to live with other males after giving birth.
As the crowd thinned, Yu Xin finally squeezed through and suddenly knelt before Li Qingqing. “Please, save my cub.”
Li Qingqing was startled by the sudden act and looked at the cub in her arms—its lips were pale, lacking color.
She reached out to check the cub’s neck for a pulse; it was faint. “When did this start?”
Yu Xin choked back her tears. “It’s been four days. Last night, it suddenly coughed up blood and hasn’t woken since.”
Li Qingqing frowned, looking at the weak little face. She asked reproachfully, “It was coughing before—why didn’t you bring it yesterday when we delivered the medicine?”
She slapped herself in regret. “It’s my fault. I listened to them and didn’t dare come, waiting for yesterday’s people to test the medicine first.”
“Why would you listen to them?!” An Xuan, who hadn’t had offspring yet, felt a pang of sympathy seeing the nearly lifeless cub.
Li Qingqing remained silent and placed her hands on the cub’s forehead, using healing magic. Soon, the little one slowly opened its eyes.
Yu Xin burst into tears with relief. “Oh, you scared me to death, my little one.”
Seeing the cub unharmed, Li Qingqing exhaled. “Have you been feeling unwell recently?”
Yu Xin held her cub tightly. “No, and there was no coughing either.”
Li Qingqing nodded. “Good. We’ll deliver medicine for you later as a preventive measure.”
Yu Xin knelt and kowtowed several times. “Thank you, thank you! From now on, I’ll do anything for you!”
Li Qingqing quickly helped her up. “It’s okay. Go back early.”
She then turned to continue walking, speaking to An Xuan, “Let’s go.”
An Xuan nodded, recalling that Li Qingqing had mentioned gathering the uninfected members of the tribe to distribute medicine to everyone.
Though a good idea, he still doubted that most of the orcs, being largely selfish, would risk getting sick just to deliver medicine to others.
