Upon seeing the Sacred Lake District, none of the Azure Ice Rats could believe their eyes. From birth to adulthood, they had never seen such clean water sources, nor such sweet, silver-white grass; it was simply a paradise that could only exist in dreams.

Especially when they saw a silver-white Sacred Bug on the base of the stone tablet, they felt a sense of peace and tranquility emanating from their bloodline, and tears of happiness flowed involuntarily.

After Rat One returned, he shared this heart-stirring fact with the others, but they were even more shocked by the news he brought back.

This new Lord had swiftly killed the Werewolf Leader within a single day, avenging them.

The eyes of all the Azure Ice Rats were filled with worship as they looked at Qi Ye; they were completely convinced and submissive, regarding him as a savior sent by the heavens.

"I, and all the Azure Ice Rats, express our most sincere gratitude to you, Lord!"

Rat One fell to the ground with a thud in front of Qi Ye, and the twenty-one Azure Ice Rats behind him followed suit, all prostrating themselves.

"We are willing to be the subjects of the Lord for generations to come, working tirelessly and wholeheartedly!"

Feeling the sincerity of the Azure Ice Rats, Qi Ye was also quite moved.

He wanted to tell them not to perform such grand gestures, but at this moment, he had to maintain the dignity of a Lord.

He pretended to cough, straightened his serious expression, and said, "Very good. I believe you will be able to help build this place into something even better in the future."

"If you want to give thanks, thank everyone. This is not just my home, but the home of us all."

Rat One raised his head and said with emotion, "Yes, Lord."

Just as Qi Ye was talking to Rat One, Chocolate, who was standing to the side, started acting noticeably unnatural.

The scent of the Azure Ice Rats wafted into its nose.

It stared at the Azure Ice Rats, its eyes widening, as if it felt an impulse surging from somewhere within its body.

It stared blankly at the nearest Azure Ice Rat, twitched its nose, and muttered to itself, "You smell so good."

Qi Ye, who could understand Chocolate, felt his heart skip a beat.

Oh no. Among the Followers present, only Chocolate hadn't met the Azure Ice Rats yet.

And with one being a cat and the other a rat, it was obvious what would happen when they met.

Fortunately, the Azure Ice Rats couldn't understand Chocolate's words, otherwise they would have fainted from fear on the spot.

He hurriedly shouted, "Wait, someone come quickly and take it to the cafeteria to eat! It's about to starve to death!"

Rat One volunteered, "I'll show it the way."

Qi Ye rolled his eyes internally, thinking that this was definitely not the time to show off, especially since what it wanted to eat was him! But seeing the eager Rat One, he felt bad about refusing.

Chocolate suddenly regained a bit of consciousness. It shook its head violently, immediately realizing it had almost made a mistake, and hurriedly suppressed its instinctual desires.

It raised its head and looked at Qi Ye pitifully, as if seeking help.

Looking at this Big Cat, who was struggling so hard to suppress its instincts that its expression was twisted, Qi Ye was truly at a loss for words. He could only say, "Forget it, I'm heading back to the Sacred Lake District anyway, let's go together."

Back at the Sacred Lake District, Qi Ye saw from afar a shed made of branches and leaves; this was the temporary infirmary previously built for injured Followers.

The temporary infirmary was on the east stone bridge, while on the south stone bridge, a structure three times larger than the infirmary had been erected—it was almost as big as a bedroom in a human house.

The house was very well-sealed, using branches as a structural frame wrapped in layers of dry grass. On the side facing the stone bridge path, a two-meter-high, one-meter-wide wooden door was left, with all visible gaps also plugged with dry grass.

A Flame-tailed Fox pushed the door open and carried out a piece of meat that had almost frozen solid, placed it on a nearby stone slab, and began to heat it with the fire on its tail.

The meat soon thawed, and the melted water flowed along the stone, followed by a sizzling sound. Under the Flame-tailed Fox's exquisite fire control skills, the lump of meat was immediately turned into a braised dish that locked in all its juices.

Unable to resist the stimulation of the meaty aroma, Chocolate pounced on it and began to devour it greedily on the spot.

Qi Ye thought to himself, it was a pity there were no seasonings; after all, eating it plain still lacked a bit of flavor.

He asked curiously, "Did you build this house?"

"My kin and I built it together, squeak!" Rat One said. "I saw that this meat was about to rot, so I wondered if we could freeze it and find a convenient place to store it."

With the Azure Ice Rats' freezing ability, meat obtained from hunting in the future could be stored for a long time, preventing shortages if they couldn't find food for a few days.

Looking inside through the open door, about half the room was filled with Magic Swamp Frog meat, all neatly stacked.

This was the meat of one Magic Swamp Frog; normally, they wouldn't be able to finish it all, and most of it would rot. If more wandering Magic Swamp Frogs appeared and they killed them all, even more would be wasted.

On the other side of the room, an Azure Ice Rat was exerting its cold energy, constantly cooling the interior. A thick layer of frost had even formed inside the room, and every so often, the Azure Ice Rats would need to scrape the ice away and dump it into the nearby lake.

There were twenty-two Azure Ice Rats in total, and they were very clever, coming up with the idea of only assigning one Azure Ice Rat to cool the room at a time, using a shift system.

This was actually the survival strategy the Azure Ice Rats had always used; their cold energy helped them store more fresh fruit to survive in harsh environments.

Rat One said with some pride, "Lord, did we do a good job?"

Looking at his excited appearance, it seemed he was very much looking forward to the Lord's praise.

If a job is well done, it must be praised.

Qi Ye naturally did not skimp on praise; he stretched out his wing, gave him a "thumbs up," and said, "Well done, I am quite satisfied!"

"Squeak!" Rat One called out happily, his tail pointing straight up to the sky.

Who would have thought that the Azure Ice Rats, who usually lived underground, were all hidden Masters of construction?

They had fled underground because they were afraid of the monsters on the surface. Now, with the protection of the Flame-tailed Fox, they actually preferred living on the surface.

Just as Qi Ye was watching the busy residents of the Sacred Lake District return to their normal lives with satisfaction...

A very panicked Flame-tailed Fox ran over and said to Fox Dad on the stone bridge, "Something is wrong! Two of the children are missing!"

These two Flame-tailed Fox cubs had always played in the Sacred Lake District. A few times, they had snuck out of the Sacred Lake District because they were playful, but they had always just played within the territory, so no one had paid much attention.

However, when everyone was notified to gather to welcome Qi Ye, two Flame-tailed Fox cubs went missing and could not be found anywhere.

Fox Dad said, "Could they be too playful and wandered off somewhere?"

"But the territory is so big, where could they have run off to?"

Listening to the conversation between the two Flame-tailed Foxes, Qi Ye suddenly had a feeling that something was wrong.

He asked, "Where did they go missing?"