Orc Priest (3): 

Qing stood in the rain. When he saw the prey that Gu Juntian brought back, he let out a sigh of relief.

Early this morning, he had once again “predicted” the heavy rain.

After the rain, the water in the lake surged, flooding many places in the marshland where they lived, and the prey had all left.

Not only did they fail to catch prey in the first few days, but for the next ten or so days, hunting was also very difficult.

Because of this, after two children and two elders died, three more elders and one child died one after another, along with a young man and a young woman who were injured and died during hunting.

Death was common in the tribe, but ten deaths in such a short time was truly too many.

If this really was a prophecy shown to him by the beast god, then he wanted to change it all.

But could he change it?

During the day, Qing had even hoped that what he saw was not a prophecy, that the heavy rain would not come.

But in the afternoon, the wind picked up, and then it began to rain—everything was exactly like the prophecy.

What he saw was real.

That worried him.

Not until the three hunting teams from the marsh all returned with prey did he feel somewhat at ease. And when he saw that the team led by the chief had also returned fully loaded, he was even happier.

In the past two days, besides repairing houses, he had stored up a lot of firewood. In the coming days, he could let the tribe’s children stay at his place and eat the food he prepared, so they wouldn’t fall sick.

“My body is strong, this bit of wind and rain won’t affect me.” Qing smiled at Gu Juntian.

Gu Juntian knew that the prehistoric orcs in the tribe were different from the humans he remembered—they weren’t that fragile.

But seeing Qing standing in the rain still made him uncomfortable all over. “Qing, you should go inside quickly to avoid the rain. You’re the priest—you can’t fall ill!”

Qing thought for a moment, then agreed. “I need to cook something anyway, I’ll head back now.”

Gu Juntian ordered his men to handle the prey, then followed Qing back.

When they arrived at Qing’s dwelling, and Gu Juntian opened the door made of wood and plants, he was stunned.

The priest’s place was much larger than his own and consisted of four rooms.

The front was a large house where a fire was always kept burning, used for meetings or for the injured to stay. Behind it was a small room for the priest to sleep in, and on both sides were storerooms.

The storerooms were filled with all kinds of things—beast bones, firewood, hides, dried meat.

The priest’s residence was actually the heart of the tribe.

And at this moment, it was packed with people.

A group of young women with small children had filled all four rooms completely.

“Why are they here?” Gu Juntian stood at the doorway and asked Qing.

Qing replied, “This storm may be serious, so I had the young children of the tribe move here.”

After the heavy rain in the prophecy, three children died, and more than twenty fell ill.

Children falling ill and dying was not unusual, but if it could be avoided, of course he had to try.

In the prophecy, it was only when the storm grew stronger and some people’s houses were blown away that he finally moved the children here—but by then, it was too late.

Now, he moved the children here in advance, and arranged for the elders to stay in other houses on the island.

This way, surely fewer would die.

Gu Juntian searched through the original host’s memories and realized that in the original plot, when the heavy rain came, the children had also stayed with Qing.

Back then, the original host had wanted to ask Qing for dried meat, but Qing gave it to the children instead, which had made him unhappy.

The original host only blamed Qing, but Gu Juntian thought of something else—how could Qing change clothes or sleep with so many people around?

Qing’s animal skin clothes were soaked. He would either not change, or he would have to change in front of everyone… That was absolutely unacceptable!

Gu Juntian immediately said, “Qing, you should stay at my place these days. There are too many people here.”

Qing thought about it and agreed.

There really were a lot of people here, and besides, he liked Gu Juntian.

After Gu Juntian became chief, he was no longer as close to him as before. But now that Gu Juntian’s attitude toward him had softened, Qing was eager to spend more time together.

“Then I’ll stay at your place. If I light a fire there, I can also cook food.” Qing said.

Gu Juntian replied, “That’s how it should be. Eating raw meat can make you sick.”

In their tribe, people sometimes ate raw meat, but it could cause illness. If possible, it was better to avoid it.

Zhou Qinghao’s residence had many large animal hides, some of which were waterproof and could be used to shield against rain.

He took out a few hides, wrapped up the things he needed, and went with Gu Juntian to his place.

The night before, Qing had already told Gu Juntian that he wanted to store some things in his house.

Now, when Gu Juntian returned, he found his place filled with firewood.

With fire, surviving the typhoon would indeed be easier.

The houses on the island were built on raised soil, so rainwater didn’t easily enter. Though the floor of Gu Juntian’s house was earthen, it stayed dry.

A pit had been dug in the center where a fire was lit, making the house warm and dry.

Beastmen with hippo forms liked dampness, but Gu Juntian didn’t—he preferred a dry environment.

This house was really quite good.

“Qing, change your clothes and warm up by the fire,” Gu Juntian said.

“Alright.” Qing said, and began taking off his clothes.

Gu Juntian was caught off guard and didn’t move away in time, so he saw Qing’s body clearly.

Was his priest too pure-hearted? How could he be so unguarded?

Qing was actually changing in front of him, wasn’t he afraid he would lose control?

He shouldn’t look, but his eyes refused to turn away.

He knew it wasn’t strange.

This was prehistoric times—people were used to not wearing clothes.

Besides, when they transformed into beast form, their hides and skirts would fall off, and when they changed back into human form, they would be naked.

Because of this, some hunters didn’t even bother wearing hide skirts when they went hunting.

In just two days, Gu Juntian had already seen plenty of bodies.

But Qing was different!

He kept staring at him.

Unlike others, Qing not only wore a hide skirt but also simple clothing.

His so-called clothes were just a strip of animal hide with a hole in the middle to put his head through, tied at the waist with a hide skirt.

Now that he had taken it off, Gu Juntian noticed his limbs were much tanner than his body.

Clearly, the priest spent plenty of time in the sun and was very active—no wonder his body was so well-built.

Gu Juntian covered his nose, afraid he might get a nosebleed.

As for why he didn’t cover his eyes… he wasn’t a saint, he couldn’t bear to.

As Qing put on dry hides, he noticed Gu Juntian’s heated gaze.

He felt a bit uneasy, even wanting to wrap himself up tightly in hides.

He didn’t understand why he felt this way.

The reason he wore more clothing than others was just to show the difference of being a priest. He was already used to people in the tribe walking around unclothed.

He had changed clothes in front of Gu Juntian many times before—back when Gu Juntian wasn’t chief, he often stayed overnight in the priest’s house.

So changing into hides in front of him shouldn’t matter, right?

Once Qing was dressed, he sat by the fire and used a large dinosaur skull to cook porridge.

In the past, only very young children could eat this kind of porridge, but this time, he intended to let all the children shorter than his waist eat it.

Gu Juntian, sitting with his legs pressed together, put meat into the stone bowl Qinghao gave him and pounded it with a stone.

Dinosaur meat was tough, and it had to be crushed before cooking.

He hadn’t been at it long when someone came to call him to divide the meat.

Though it was raining outside, it didn’t bother him.

He covered the porridge Qing cooked with hide, brought it to the children, and then started dividing the meat.

After finishing, he told everyone to roast it before eating, not to eat it all at once, and then brought the animal innards back to his place.

He planned to process those innards.

Cooked food could last longer. If it was cooked again the next day to sterilize it, it could last even longer.

At worst, it might get overcooked.

But he only needed the meat to last four or five days in the summer—it wouldn’t rot that fast.

Gu Juntian wanted to get closer to Qing, but with a typhoon coming and Qing so busy, he pushed aside those thoughts and focused on helping him.

Building their bond could wait.

Besides, there were already feelings between them.

That night, the wind grew stronger, and the rain heavier.

But because Qing had arranged repairs earlier and moved people out of unsafe houses, no one in the tribe faced danger.

By the next day, the wind weakened, but the rain still poured without pause, and the lake had risen greatly.

Branches of some trees on the island broke, but luckily, the marsh trees could withstand storms, and none fell and injured people.

The rain was heavy, so the weak and children were not allowed outside, but the young and strong still went out as usual.

Gu Juntian checked on the tribe’s people and heard them praising the priest.

“My house was blown away, but thanks to the priest arranging for me to stay in another house, otherwise I might’ve been blown away with it.”

“You’re too big to be blown away. But the children were in danger last night with that strong wind… Luckily, the priest moved them into his place, and they’re all fine.”

“No wonder the priest told us to hunt more. He must have received guidance from the beast god, knowing it would rain heavily, knowing we wouldn’t be able to hunt today.”

…

As Gu Juntian listened, he echoed their praise.

Qing had worked hard until late at night yesterday, and the tribe owed him thanks.