Gu Mengmeng nodded with understanding. She thought: it was suicide to snatch food from a tiger’s mouth.
Auretin continued. “Even with Barete and I back here to hold the fort, this rainy season was tough going. Wave after wave of thieves and robbers came forth. During the day, land beasts would patrol while the Eagle-owl tribe would stand guard at night. At the first signs of any trouble, everyone would immediately be prepped for battle. Even so, nearly half of our foodstuff were stolen… luckily after last year’s experience, we had prepared extra portions. So even though a lot had been stolen, we still had more or less enough to last everyone through the winter season.”
Gu Mengmeng nodded. She felt slightly comforted at that fact.
Actually, she had dared to ditch Saint Nazaire and head to Sauder mainly because during the beauty pageant, the 16 valued females they had brought back all had powerful males. Every family had at least one or two fourth-level beasts, and at least four to five third-level ones. Some even had over a dozen third-level partners. With this kind of power, Saint Nazaire easily lorded over everyone else and no other tribe was a match for them.
But Gu Mengmeng had neglected one point—the 16 valued females had all come from different tribes. They were the First Beauties of their own tribe, and the males were also the top-ranked fighters of their former territories. This created a very serious problem, which was no one was willing to give way to anyone else. When met with problems, they all just took care of their own family.
That was why Oakley had arranged for Barete and Auretin to head back first. They were both guardians of the Messenger, and had a certain status within the Beast World.
Further, those females idolized Gu Mengmeng so much that they even regarded her guards very highly. Hence, the two of them had no choice but to return.
Not only to enhance the tribe’s battle capabilities, but more importantly, to have someone who had the authority to make a decision when problems arose. Otherwise, Saint Nazaire would have descended into chaos and be susceptible to attacks by outsiders.
Auretin continued. “The monsoon season that came after the winter was somewhat better. Both food and water were in abundant supply, but the drought season that followed presented the second problem.”
Gu Mengmeng’s heart gave a jolt as she frowned.
Water source.
Oakley leaked out news about the water source, turning Sauder into a target. But most would not dare to challenge Gu Mengmeng and Elvis head-on, and so would shift their attentions to the unprotected Saint Nazaire.
After all, there was also a well here.
Water during the drought season was equivalent to food during the winter. Enticing and fatal.
Auretin swallowed his saliva as he eyed the meat in Gu Mengmeng’s bowl. He then continued. “Luckily, Fei Rui could stand guard inside the well the whole time. The moment anyone approaches, he would emit a high-pitched warning, at which our people would rush over. The endless bouts of fighting was really exhausting…”
Sighing, Auretin went on. “If you still hadn’t come back, we would be engaging in another fresh round of battles again.”
Yes, the rainy season was here, which meant they would have to start preparing for winter again.
If Gu Mengmeng was not around, the fight for food would begin all over.
Gu Mengmeng sighed. She felt that there was probably no way they could comfortably enjoy this rainy season.
The bowl of meat had already gone cold. Gu Mengmeng poured it back into the pot and stirred it a few times. She ladled up an extra big bowl of meat and offered it to Auretin. “It has been hard on you this period. Eat more and nourish yourself.”