Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Bunny-Eared Village

In the Tixilan Mountains, in the southern forest.

A group of rabbits was busily reinforcing the wooden fence around the village. They looked like humans except for the rabbit ears atop their heads.

The trees around the village were sparse, clearly indicating that they had been cut down. On the hillside, some simple crops were planted—greens, beans, and brown mushrooms. Unfortunately, their growth was not very good.

There were about 200 rabbits in the village, all living inside tall mushrooms.

Indeed, these mushrooms were taller than people. Their insides were hollowed out, making perfect rooms. The tops of the mushrooms were brightly colored, ranging from orange-yellow to crimson, light blue, and a few with light green. It was quite a magical and beautiful sight.

The various-sized mushroom houses clustered together, giving the village a fairy-tale feel.

Both men, women, and children within the village seemed busy. They hurriedly ran back and forth, carrying stones and reinforcing the wooden fences. They even sharpened the tops of the wooden walls to increase their lethality.

Unfortunately, their iron tools were limited, and weapons were scarce. Most of them used sharpened wooden poles as spears, with only a few having iron spearheads.

Even those spearheads were full of small chips, indicating they had been used for a long time. However, they were polished to a shine with no rust, suggesting that they were well-maintained.

Lolan Hill quietly observed this unique race from a hill opposite the village.

The rabbit-eared tribe was a branch of the Beastmen race. In the First Era, the Beastmen had once spread widely across the continent and even had their own nation. They were a powerful race second only to the Elves, with their own unique culture, writing, and customs.

However, there were significant differences among the Beastmen. Some were extremely bloodthirsty and violent, while others were gentle and weak, and could not be generalized.

The rabbits before her belonged to the weaker tribes. Even during the peak of the Beastman Empire, they were mostly farmers and auxiliaries. Their sole participation in a major battle did not leave a good record.

The outside world’s situation was unclear to the young lady, but she could guess that these rabbits must be living a hard life. They were mostly thin and wore tattered clothes with many patches, looking quite frail.

On a chilly autumn morning in the mountains, some young rabbits were shivering until the sun rose, which helped a lot.

What could be praised was that they were very clean and united.

Although their clothes were old and worn, they were washed until they were white, with hardly any stains. When working, they collaborated well. If any rabbit couldn’t handle a task alone, others were happy to help, showing great diligence. Everyone worked together without anyone slacking off, even the little bunnies doing simple tasks within their capability.

“Kanda, how is the village preparation going?”

An elderly man with gray rabbit ears, leaning on a cane, asked a robust young man standing in front of him. The young man also had rabbit ears, but they were black.

“Father, we have already reinforced the village fence and placed stones behind it. We’ve done most of it.”

“Good. Have all the villagers gathered? Is anyone still missing?”

“Most have returned, except Eden. He said he would go to other villages for help.”

“Other villages… sigh. Don’t burden them. The surrounding rabbit-eared villages are struggling too. None of them have the strength to help us.”

“When I was young, there were dozens of villages in this forest. Back then, we could support each other and trade goods. We even managed to get some iron products. Now, only five villages remain, and soon there might be only four left. Sigh.”

“Father, can’t we leave this dangerous forest?”

The young man with black rabbit ears was puzzled and agitated.

“Leave? Where else can we go?”

The elder sighed, stroking a feather pendant hanging from his cane. The pendant had a main ball with several fine strings tied to a bronze plaque below. The plaque had two characters. If one knew Beastman language, they would understand that the two characters meant “White Banner.”

“The Madfang Empire, once a powerful nation, has vanished for thousands of years. Now, it’s the humans’ era. Everywhere is the same. At least here, we have some freedom. Outside, we’ll only be slaves.”

“But I heard that there are still many Beastman tribes in the Gufia Grasslands. We can go there.”

“Don’t be foolish, child. Among strangers, your own kind can sometimes be more terrifying than humans.”

“Although humans might capture us as slaves, at least we can survive. But when encountering our own kind, we rabbit-eared might be seen as food. Don’t think this is exaggeration. Such things happened frequently in the past.”

The elderly rabbit-eared man shook his head, watching the busy villagers below, and after a moment of silence, he spoke again.

“If we can’t hold out later, take this plaque and lead the able-bodied young men and children to seek refuge in other villages.”

“This is the plaque granted to our rabbit-eared tribe when the Madfang Empire was still around. Only three plaques were given to the rabbit-eared tribe: Black Banner, White Banner, and Gray Banner.”

“A few thousand years ago, with this plaque, we could plant grains south of the Gaodan Plain and receive protection from the imperial patrol cavalry. As an obligation, the three rabbit-eared tribes had to pay the empire a sufficient amount of grain annually to maintain this relationship.”

“It’s said that in the beginning, things were better. Later, as our numbers increased, the empire began to draft young men to fight or work.”

“Though they called it fighting, it was actually using us as cannon fodder, even as marching rations.”

“Alas, our tribe was too weak to resist, so we had no choice but to accept. Therefore, you don’t need to miss the former Madfang Empire. You should be even more cautious when encountering other carnivorous beastman tribes.”

The young man with black ears found it difficult to accept such facts. He had never known this history sealed for thousands of years until today.

“I understand, Father.”

His tone was heavy, and then he continued.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“I’m too old to move quickly or work. I’d just be wasting food.”

“You’ve grown up. I’ve taught you everything I know,” the old man said, patting the young man’s head with his withered hand, a content smile on his face.

“People meet, and one day they must part ways. So don’t be sad. Besides, isn’t there still a chance of victory? Aren’t you, a young person, more ambitious than me?”