Chapter 149: Little Bear

Chapter 149: Little Bear

Little Bear arrived at the battlefield, but the fighting had long been over. After circling the perimeter, the huge bear headed in the direction of the cave. Its mistress Lily was not there; it was simply too hungry!

It had a hard fate. After breaking free from Aisa and the others’ attempts to stop it, it had stubbornly chased after her, just like it used to follow Bran. But back then, Bran would at least leave some food along the way, while Lily was completely lost in her own world, as if she had forgotten all about it.

Little Bear was still very vigilant. After spending enough time together, it knew it couldn’t recklessly approach strangers. It wasn’t a White Wolf or a Snow Falcon; getting too close to unfamiliar Northlanders too easily invited being driven away or attacked.

Fortunately, for this journey, Lily had painted her facial markings on its head and both sides of its body, marking its identity.

There was a familiar scent coming from that direction. Although it couldn’t immediately recall who it was, the exhausted bear decided to go over and take a look.

Heavy Axe and the others sat in the cave, each looking somewhat dazed. The personnel losses this time were rather severe. Although Northlanders were indifferent to life and death, most of those on this trip were young people. How could they face going back? And how would they explain it to everyone? What was supposed to be a simple training mission had turned into a tragedy.

During the life-and-death struggle, they hadn’t felt it much, but after the battle ended, regret gradually crept in. They regretted not having died right there on the spot!?

A massive bear head poked into the cave entrance and let out a tentative call, startling the silent group. Heavy Axe blurted out, “Little Bear?”

Then he realized something was wrong and followed up, “Who was on guard duty just now? Where is he?”

Someone gestured towards the back of the cave, where the bodies of their clansmen were temporarily stored. Seeing this gesture, Heavy Axe sighed and said no more.

She was familiar with Little Bear. During the winter at the castle, people often compared her to Little Bear. Always being the butt of jokes, she somehow developed a bit of fondness for the bear and occasionally brought it some food to eat better.

Seeing Little Bear’s current state pained Heavy Axe. Exhaustion, hunger, panic, anxiety, and worry were all clearly visible on the huge beast.

“Lily is fine. She went ahead alone,” Heavy Axe said, reaching out to pat its head. Hearing this, Little Bear seemed to let go of its worries and simply collapsed on the ground.

Little Bear did not stay long. After eating a full meal, it once again ignored Heavy Axe and the others’ attempts to stop it and continued its pursuit.

“It will die if it chases like this! Why didn’t you stop it?”

Heavy Axe sighed, “How? By killing it?”

…

Lily stood at the edge of the Flying Catkin Swamp, quietly looking at it. If not for the scattered corpses on the ground, it would have been truly beautiful.

After the Insect King died, the Insect Swarm instinctively fled towards the Flying Catkin Swamp. This reduced a lot of trouble. She followed behind, constantly driving and killing, making the bugs trample each other.

As the last bug hid in the swamp, she finally stopped. She chose a relatively clean mound, sat down on it, and lit a campfire.

Late at night, Little Bear’s heavy footsteps, accompanied by labored panting, sounded from the distance. When it saw the figure by the campfire, it couldn’t help but let out a low growl, its voice filled with excitement, grievance, and reproach.

When it threw itself down beside Lily, a small hand gently patted its head.

“Don’t complain. You just ran some distance; there wasn’t any real danger. You know, Bran faced all kinds of powerful enemies with Huahua, fighting constantly.

Or do you think you’re a great fighter too?”

Little Bear was too exhausted to even get up, let alone express any opinion.

Lily patted its head and continued, “We’ll enter the swamp together tomorrow. This time, I won’t leave you behind.”

Having received this promise, Little Bear finally let out a relieved snore.

…

By the time Aisa’s main force arrived, even cleaning the battlefield was unnecessary. The various creatures of the Fertile Plains Grassland acted like a precise assembly line, having already cleaned up all the corpses left on the ground.

Aisa now stood before the furious Heavy Axe, looking very helpless. Faced with his wife’s vented anger, he could only endure it silently. It was somewhat embarrassing, but what else could he do? The sound of Heavy Axe’s roar, with no obstruction, gave everyone an earful.

“Do you even have the face to come? What are you here for? To collect the dead?”

“I just needed to gather people and then came as fast as I could.”

“As fast as you could? Nonsense! Only one person came ‘fast,’ and it was a little girl! How could a whole group of you let a little girl face danger alone?”

“We lost her trail!” Aisa said, somewhat ashamed and angry.

“Not even as good as a beast. How did that bear not lose the trail? You just didn’t dare to follow, did you!”

This was the truth. Aisa felt there was no way to argue, even though his decision had been correct. The few who were with him at the time also felt their faces burn hearing this and unconsciously shrank back into the crowd.

Aisa looked for a way to change the subject, glancing around. “Where’s Lily?”

“You have the nerve to ask? She’s gone!”

“Why didn’t you stop her?”

“Could I have stopped her? She said this is a trial, her trial!”

Aisa continued to divert the topic. “What about the bear?”

This just made Heavy Axe’s expression sour further. “It chased after her. It wouldn’t be stopped. Even knowing it might die, it chased after her! Better than people.”

Aisa had come with his men seemingly just to get scolded. But after being berated all this while, with a mix of emotions swirling inside, he turned and walked toward his warhorse. “I’ll catch up to them.”

“No need. She insisted this is her trial alone.”

Aisa said angrily, “What else did she say!? Can’t you say it all at once?”

“She said Bran went into the heart of the Wasteland alone and uncovered its cause. So she will also go deep into the swamp to find out the cause of the insect tide.”

Aisa was truly alarmed this time. “No one from our people has ever entered the very center of the swamp. How can we let her take such a risk?”

Heavy Axe raised her voice again. “Playing the good guy now? It was just like this back then, everyone ignoring Bran. And what happened? After Bran completed his trial, he left after just a few days.

And then? They turned around and pressured his sister. Everyone thought she couldn’t do it, that she wasn’t as good as Bran, forcing her to prove herself.

Only now you start to care? Where were you earlier?”

Lost in all these negative emotions, Heavy Axe lost control. She lashed out at everyone, saying things she should and shouldn’t have said. She felt better, but it left many people feeling conflicted.