All The Furry Creatures In The Beast World Are Farming With Me – CH18

Chapter 18

With the young wolves gone, Lang Shuo immediately felt that the whole tribe was empty.

In truth, there were only eight people missing, but one sub-adult was worth three ordinary people. Eight sub-adults had a stronger presence than the dozens of members left behind in the tribe combined. Usually, when he looked over, the ones running back and forth were all sub-adults. It was their nature. No matter what they were doing, the young wolves were always brisk and energetic, making them look exceptionally busy.

Now, the adult beastmen were busy with their own work, while the cubs around ten years old were picking up withered branches nearby. None of them were as active as the sub-adults, so everything naturally quieted down.

After all, it was the young wolves’ first time going out alone to look for food. Lang Shuo still could not help feeling uneasy, worried that they might encounter danger outside.

Lang Yun was much calmer than him. As usual, she prepared the cubs’ food. Seeing Lang Shuo glance from time to time in the direction the sub-adults had left, she comforted him. “They’ll be fine. Even if they run into danger, they can run back by themselves.”

Before becoming fully adult, beastmen at every stage had their own unique life-saving abilities. Cubs and sub-adults were more sensitive to danger. During cubhood, their beast forms were small and easy to hide. During the sub-adult stage, they ran quickly. These were abilities that could no longer be used once they passed that stage.

Hearing this, Lang Shuo thought of the way the sub-adults usually ran around outside the cave. Putting other things aside, they really did accelerate quickly. It had been the same this morning. In the blink of an eye, they had disappeared from sight.

What sub-adults lacked was endurance. As long as they did not encounter a large-scale encirclement, there basically would not be any problems. And members of other tribes would not be so bored as to come here specifically to surround a few sub-adults.

Beastmen were all very strong in attack. Under normal circumstances, they would not attack one another. After all, beastmen had all evolved from carnivorous animals, and fights relied entirely on their teeth and claws. Even if there was a difference in strength, the weaker side could still injure the enemy when fighting back. Once a fight began, neither side could expect to leave unscathed.

Aside from a few notorious tribes, other tribes would not do such an unrewarding thing. After all, there was never only one tribe around any given tribe. The result of injuring the enemy by a thousand while losing eight hundred oneself was getting wiped out by another tribe. As long as one’s brain was not stupid, one could figure that out.

The Snow Wolf Tribe could now be described as utterly poor and bare. The tribe did not even have many animal hides. Anyone who specifically came to make trouble for them would have to be full and bored.

After thinking this through, Lang Shuo relaxed and simply took advantage of Lang Nuo’s absence to exercise his legs and feet. When Lang Nuo was here, he watched Lang Shuo like he was watching a cub who had just learned to walk, afraid he might accidentally fall.

In truth, Lang Nuo’s worry was entirely unnecessary. Lang Shuo would not joke around with his own body. All his movement was within what his body could allow.

Speaking of it, it was somewhat magical. It had only been six or seven days, yet the pain in his leg had already lessened by more than half. On the day he woke up, he had thought he would need to recover for several months. Judging by the current trend, he would probably recover in one or two months. After his leg stopped hurting so much, the animal hide and wooden sticks tied around it began to feel uncomfortable. But Lang Shuo did not dare loosen them now. At the very least, he had to wait until the bone healed before removing them.

The sunlight during the snow season was still warm on the body. Lang Shuo scooped up an awake cub and held it in his arms, growing drowsy.

The young wolves were fine in other aspects, but they were easily excited. Once excited, they would howl randomly. Therefore, when the sub-adults were nearby, Lang Shuo absolutely could not fall asleep. Today, with nothing to do and the sun warming him all over, he could not help wanting to doze off.

In the end, he did not sleep for long. Not long after he had just fallen asleep, Lang Shi, who had gone up to feed the long-eared beast, ran down.

Lang Shi had a sturdy build, and his footsteps were relatively obvious when he ran. Therefore, by the time he approached, Lang Shuo had already woken up.

As soon as he opened his eyes and saw Lang Shi’s excited face, Lang Shuo glanced in the direction he had come from and realized it was the area above the cave. He guessed, “Did the long-eared beast give birth?”

The only thing related to the mountain seemed to be this.

Lang Shi nodded. “It gave birth. A whole pile of them. I didn’t go in, afraid I’d scare the long-eared beast. I only looked once from outside.”

With the sub-adults absent, the task of feeding the long-eared beast had fallen to the group of people staying behind in the settlement. Lang Shi could not use the wrist on one side with much strength, so he had voluntarily taken on this task. After all, aside from him, everyone else here was either injured or unsuitable for climbing the mountain.

This long-eared beast had stayed in the tribe for several days. After Lang Shuo figured out its preferences, he had told Lang Nuo, and Lang Nuo had then passed this information to Lang Shi.

After eating today, Lang Shi went to search for food for the long-eared beast. Because he was alone and it was his first time looking, the feeding time was a little later than usual. As a result, when he opened the cave entrance, he discovered that the long-eared beast had given birth. He hurriedly threw down the fodder and came to tell Lang Shuo this good news.

“Give it more food, and put in some soft dry grass…” Lang Shuo instructed him according to his past experience.

In his previous life, after rabbits gave birth, the farm owner would place the baby rabbits in a box lined with cotton cloth to keep them warm, then send them back to the mother rabbit when it was time to nurse. Their tribe did not have that many heat-preserving tools, so it was better to let the long-eared beast keep the baby long-eared beasts warm herself.

As for the number of baby long-eared beasts, Lang Shuo was not curious right now. After all, even beastman cubs were very fragile, much less long-eared beasts with bodies that small. What mattered was how many would survive in the end.

If his leg were not injured, Lang Shuo would have gone over to rearrange the cave. But with his leg injury, it was not suitable for him to go up and down the mountain, so he could only instruct Lang Shi to do it.

Lang Shi was even more excited than him right now. He rubbed his hands together and, according to Lang Shuo’s request, put in a lot more dry grass. After placing it properly, he blocked the cave entrance again.

Lang Shuo found a thinner stone slab and asked Lang Shi to help him find a soft-textured stone that could write on other stones. On the stone slab, he wrote the words “long-eared beast,” then drew a horizontal line behind them.

A rabbit’s pregnancy cycle was one month, and the weaning time was also around one month. Lang Shuo planned to record the condition of the baby long-eared beasts and see how long their weaning cycle was. Although they only had one right now, he had not forgotten his original plan. If they truly raised more in the future, these records would all come in handy.

While Lang Shuo was recording the long-eared beast, the sub-adults of the Snow Wolf Tribe were also observing long-eared beasts.

These past two days, Lang Yu had especially emphasized one thing: sub-adults were forbidden from provoking large prey, especially bad-tempered curved-horned beasts.

The Snow Wolf Tribe had over a hundred members above the age of twelve, but not many sub-adults. There were only nine in total. Lang Shuo was injured, so only eight had come out to search for food. Eight adult beastmen would be in danger catching curved-horned beasts, let alone sub-adults. Therefore, Lang Yu had repeatedly warned them to stay far away from large prey.

No matter how unserious the sub-adults usually were, they still listened to matters concerning their lives. They had earnestly agreed, and after leaving the tribe today, they did as Lang Yu had instructed. Whenever they saw the footprints of curved-horned beasts, they changed direction and avoided them as much as possible.

During the snow season, there were not many types of food. Even though there were fewer birds here than in their original territory, the food they could find was still limited. The gathering team never returned empty-handed every day because they were good at observing. Whether food was buried in the snow or covered by accumulated snow, as long as it was food, they could always discover it. The sub-adults did not have that much patience. After walking for half a day, there were only a few snow fruits in their back baskets.

This definitely would not do.

When they had left the tribe, they had confidently promised Lang Shuo that they would bring prey back. How could they return with only a few snow fruits?

Thinking of how Lang Shuo had prepared food for them even while injured, the sub-adults immediately felt even more that the snow fruits in their baskets were not something they could show off.

After discussing it, the sub-adults continued forward. This time, they moved much faster than before, but they still gained nothing. If prey were truly that easy to find, the hunting party would not leave early and return late every day.

Just as they were about to give up, a string of footprints drew their attention. The footprints were very small. One glance was enough to tell they did not belong to large prey or wolves.

One sub-adult crouched down and observed for a while, then confirmed, “Nuo, these are long-eared beast tracks.”

There were long-eared beasts nearby. This discovery immediately perked up the previously dejected sub-adults.

There was still one long-eared beast being raised in the cave. Catching another one to bring back would also be nice.

“Let’s go look.” With Lang Nuo’s order, the sub-adults followed the footprints.

They had not walked far before they discovered two long-eared beasts gnawing grass roots.

Seeing the two long-eared beasts hopping forward together, the group of sub-adults was extremely pleasantly surprised. One sub-adult happily howled.

Lang Nuo wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.

Extreme joy turned to sorrow. That wolf howl startled the long-eared beasts that were gnawing grass stems in the snowdrift. The long-eared beasts were frightened. They stopped chewing, sprang up, and ran in another direction.

How could prey that was almost in their hands be allowed to run away? The group of sub-adults divided the work. Seven of them transformed into beast form, threw aside their back baskets and clothes, and swiftly chased after them. The remaining sub-adult, who was slower, was responsible for collecting the animal hides and carrying the baskets.

The sub-adults chased behind the long-eared beasts, their minds filled only with hunting, hunting, and more hunting. They did not notice that they had already run to the edge of the territory.

They had just been here yesterday. The surroundings were filled with the scent of their own tribe members, covering another scent. The sub-adults did not notice anything wrong.

Long-eared beasts were small, and their fur was also white. They were very difficult to catch in the snow, and one careless moment would mean losing track of them. Fortunately, the sub-adults had good eyesight and kept chasing without letting go, until the long-eared beasts could no longer run and slowed down.

Lang Nuo and another sub-adult were a little faster. They rushed over, each wolf pressing down one long-eared beast. Then they transformed into human form, lifted the long-eared beasts, and walked back along the path they had come from.

After meeting up with the member carrying the back baskets and clothes, Lang Nuo took out a rope, tied up the long-eared beasts, and placed them in the basket.

The items in their back basket were very complete. Aside from rope, there were also several bamboo tubes. Inside was hot water boiled in the morning. Because the weather was too cold, it was no longer warm, but the sub-adults’ resistance was much stronger than the cubs’. They did not need to drink warm water. Even if it had cooled, they could still drink it. Lang Nuo took out a bamboo tube and opened it, and each person took a sip.

Running in beast form consumed a lot of stamina. Aside from the sub-adult who helped carry things, the others all felt tired. Lang Nuo put the bamboo tube back and touched the small box Lang Shuo had given them.

“Want to eat jerky?” Lang Nuo asked.

“Eat!” the remaining sub-adults answered in unison.

From the moment they walked out of the tribe, they had been thinking about this bite of food. If not for Lang Shuo’s instructions, the jerky would have been eaten long ago. Being able to endure until now had truly not been easy.

…

Not far away, a group of sub-adult black wolves was strenuously dragging a curved-horned beast in the direction of their tribe.

The day before yesterday, they had been chased by curved-horned beasts, and all of these sub-adults had been holding in anger. Today, when choosing prey, they had not hesitated to select a herd of curved-horned beasts.

With new hatred and old grudges combined, they were extremely brave when chasing curved-horned beasts this time. Before noon, they had caught one curved-horned beast.

It was just that, for some unknown reason, they became especially hungry today. It was not even mealtime yet, but their stomachs were already growling. In the past, they could completely drag prey back, but now they had no strength.

Having no strength before noon was too embarrassing. The sub-adult black wolf observed the reactions of the companions around him and found that they seemed the same as usual, showing no sign of difficulty at all. He could only endure his hunger and exhaustion, pretending as if nothing was wrong while helping drag the curved-horned beast.

The group of black wolves had solemn expressions. Anyone who came to look would think they were a group of diligent wolves working hard to transport prey. However, as time passed bit by bit, the curved-horned beast remained in its original position, almost unchanged.

One black wolf could no longer keep pretending. He released the curved-horned beast and told the truth. “I have no strength left.”

He truly had no strength at all.

With someone taking the lead, the other black wolves stopped one after another.

“I don’t have any strength either.”

“You should’ve said earlier you were out of strength. I thought I was the only one.”

So everyone had been pretending.

The sub-adult black wolves who had given up completely collapsed on the ground, panting. They all looked exactly the same, with not the slightest trace of the earlier bravery visible.

“Yong, what do we do?” one sub-adult asked the leading black wolf.

Beastman tribes usually had one or two chiefs and several helpers who assisted the chiefs in managing the members. Within every small group, there were also clear distinctions in hierarchy. Generally, everyone listened to the strongest and best fighter, because being able to fight meant being able to provide more food for everyone.

The leader of the sub-adult black wolves was named Lang Yong. He was the best fighter among wolves of the same age. It was just that he had one minor flaw: his sense of direction was not very good, and he occasionally took the wrong road. However, his sense of smell was keen, so even if he went the wrong way, he could correct himself in time and rarely made mistakes.

At this moment, Lang Yong’s posture was similar to the other wolves’. Lying on the ground, Lang Yong rested while thinking. Right now, he was also very hungry and only wanted to eat.

However, the only thing beside them was this curved-horned beast. Because they had run out in beast form, they had not brought even stone knives or bone knives. Unless they gnawed it directly with their mouths—but beastmen were not primitive beasts. They had long stopped eating raw meat, and they could not swallow it anyway.

Lang Yong rested his head on his front paws and looked at the accumulated snow ahead. That whiteness made him think of the night before last.

That meal had really been satisfying. The same food became even more delicious when the Snow Wolf Tribe made it. Even though two days had passed, when he recalled it now, it was as if he could still smell that rich meat fragrance. Lang Yong sighed in his heart.

The next instant, Lang Yong abruptly raised his head.

No, there really was the smell of meat!

Lang Yong looked in the direction the aroma came from.

The other black wolves saw his movement and raised their heads to look over, but they saw nothing.

“I smell food,” Lang Yong said with absolute certainty. It was not his imagination. There really was food nearby.

Another sub-adult black wolf looked around, somewhat hesitant. “This isn’t the Snow Wolf Tribe’s territory either…”

Last time, they had been able to eat food because they had accidentally walked into the Snow Wolf Tribe’s territory. But right now, they were still within their own tribe’s territory. How could there be food? None of the other hunting parties was passing this way today. Only they were here.

Lang Yong trusted his sense of smell very much and said firmly, “There’s definitely food. It’s not far from here. Are you coming with me?”

The other sub-adults looked at Lang Yong, then looked at the prey beside them. The black wolf who had raised the question just now asked, “What about this prey?”

Although this was still their tribe’s territory, because they had chased it a little far, this area already counted as the edge. Wolves from other tribes might pass by. Ownerless prey could be taken away by anyone.

This was prey they had chased for half a day before catching. They did not want someone else to take it at all.

Lang Yong thought for a moment and encouraged them. “The food isn’t far from here. We’ll carry it over together. It’ll only take a short distance.”

Most of the members believed in Lang Yong’s sense of smell. Thinking that there was food not far away, transporting the prey no longer felt so unbearable. Therefore, the group of sub-adults stood up and dragged the food along with Lang Yong.

Before resting, they had only been concerned with pretending not to be tired. Now that they were no longer pretending, each of them bared their teeth and grimaced, using all the strength in their bodies. The scene did not look very good. Fortunately, the prey finally began to move.

The sub-adult snow wolves who were eating jerky still did not know that familiar faces were about to arrive.

The jerky Lang Shuo had prepared for them was too delicious. They could not bear to eat it all in one breath, so they lay on the ground, holding a strip of jerky and chewing it slowly.

This jerky had been roasted, but it was completely different from what they had eaten in the past. The roasted meat chunks from before had been dry and hard, as tough as stone. Eating them scraped the throat. But this jerky became more fragrant the more they chewed. The salty flavor carried a faint trace of snow fruit’s fresh aroma. They completely could not stop and only wanted another strip.

The group of sub-adults was leisurely eating like this when they suddenly heard a rustling of footsteps.

The lying sub-adults sprang up like carp flipping over. Before the jerky in their mouths could be swallowed, they saw a group of black wolves.

Lang Nuo and the others were so startled they stopped even chewing their jerky. They grabbed the back baskets and were about to leave.

All these years of eating food had not been for nothing. The other side had several times more people than them. If a fight broke out, they would absolutely be the ones at a disadvantage. Of course, they had to run quickly. As for which tribe’s territory this was and who had mistakenly entered whose land, none of that was important. Returning to find the chief was the correct choice.

The group of sub-adult black wolves had finally dragged their prey over and found the source of the fragrance. Before they had time to speak, the other side was already about to leave. How could that do? Lang Yong immediately spoke to stop them. “Wait, don’t go.”

Hearing this, Lang Nuo ran even faster.

What a joke. At a time like this, whoever did not run was a fool.

Seeing that the other side was about to run far away, Lang Yong immediately said, “We came to exchange for food. We exchanged just the night before last!”

Hm? Exchange for food?

Hearing the key words, the sub-adult snow wolves stopped one after another and turned back. Seeing that the group of black wolves had not chased after them, they let out a breath of relief.

This distance was still relatively safe. Lang Nuo did not move from his spot and asked half-believingly, “You’re the black wolf who got lost?”

When facing other wolves, Lang Nuo was not very good at distinguishing their appearances. He always felt they looked very similar. Especially now, with a dark mass of wolves whose body sizes were also about the same, he could not tell them apart at all. The reason he was willing to stop was because the other side had mentioned the night before last. Only members of the two tribes knew about that matter.

Thinking of the black wolves who had accidentally walked into their tribe the night before last, Lang Nuo looked at the speaking wolf again. He did seem a little similar. Even his voice was somewhat similar.

Lang Yong did not know that Lang Nuo was still doubting him. Seeing the sub-adult snow wolves stop, he patted the curved-horned beast beside him. “This is prey we caught today. Can we exchange it for food?”

Food exchanges between tribes usually took place at markets and were rarely encountered normally. But there was no helping it. They were too hungry. Judging by their current strength, there was only one way they could return to the tribe: abandon the prey and walk back. If they used up the last bit of strength halfway, they would probably have to crawl back.

They did not want to abandon the prey, nor did they want to crawl back. So they had no choice but to exchange for food with the Snow Wolf Tribe. Once they ate their fill, they could run back to the tribe—or even catch another prey animal and bring it back.

The sub-adult snow wolves still stood where they had stopped and did not approach the black wolves. Lang Nuo glanced at the curved-horned beast. It was very large.

There were only eight of them. If they encountered a curved-horned beast this big, they could only avoid it. The black wolves had more than three times their numbers. Not only did they not need to avoid it, they could even go over and catch it. Lang Nuo was a little envious. If their tribe also had this many sub-adults, the chief would not stop them from going near curved-horned beast herds.

As for exchanging food, Lang Nuo wanted to, but the tribe’s food was not up to them to decide. Therefore, Lang Nuo did not immediately agree. “We have to ask the chief.”

Using the tribe’s food to exchange for prey had to be agreed to by the chief, even if it was a deal that was guaranteed profit.

Lang Yong thought about it. From here to the Snow Wolf Tribe’s settlement was closer than going back to their own tribe. They could eat earlier than if they returned to the tribe. So he asked, “Is your chief in the tribe?”

Lang Nuo answered ambiguously, “Maybe.”

The chief’s whereabouts could not be revealed to members of another tribe, even if the other side only wanted to exchange for food.

The perfunctoriness in Lang Nuo’s words was too obvious. Even Lang Yong heard it, and he began to doubt wolf life. If the Snow Wolf Tribe’s chief was not in the tribe, and they waited until he returned from hunting and agreed to exchange prey, then Lang Nuo came back with food, they would probably already have frozen into wolf jerky.

Just imagining that scene made Lang Yong shiver. No, this method would take too long. It was not safe.

Thinking of how the other side had been eating when they came over, Lang Yong settled for the next best thing. “What were you eating just now? Can we just exchange for that?”

In any case, they currently had no way to bring this curved-horned beast back to the tribe. Exchanging for even a little was better than nothing. They could exchange for more next time. The Snow Wolf Tribe’s food was so delicious that even a little less was fine.

Lang Nuo took off the back basket and brought out the small box inside. It was called a small box compared with the back basket, but in reality, it was not small. The jerky Lang Shuo had given them had all been cut into segments about a span long. Two long strips per person; after being cut into smaller segments, that made twelve segments. They had eaten slowly just now, and each person had eaten two pieces, so most of it was still there.

The jerky was delicious. To be honest, they really were reluctant to give it away. After all, this was the benefit from their first time coming out to search for food, and no one else had it. But on second thought, if they could exchange this jerky for a curved-horned beast, then the jerky made from it could let them eat until they were full.

Several sub-adult snow wolves gathered together and muttered for a while. Their tribe still had a lot of jerky. They did not lack this one box. After discussing it, they unanimously agreed to Lang Yong’s proposal.

Both sides were very satisfied with this transaction, and just like the night before last, they completed the exchange happily.

To the sub-adult black wolves, the food they received in exchange was not much, but it could replenish part of their strength and support them in rushing back to the tribe. At least they would not become unable to move halfway and would not lose face in front of the entire tribe. It solved their most worrying problem.

To the sub-adult snow wolves, they had used only today’s snack to exchange for an entire curved-horned beast. After returning, they would hand in half, and the rest would all be made into jerky. Even after giving Lang Shuo half, there would still be plenty left. When the time came, they could eat it freely, and next time they came out, they could bring even more.

Thinking of this, Lang Nuo stopped and turned back to look.

It just so happened that Lang Yong also turned back to look at them.

Lang Yong hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he could not resist asking, “Are you coming tomorrow?”

Lang Nuo said, “We are. What about you?”

Lang Yong received a satisfactory answer and nodded. “We’re coming too.”

Both sides tacitly said nothing more, but they both understood what the other meant.

The trade could continue.

…

After noon, under Lang Shuo’s reminder, several idle members of the Snow Wolf Tribe adjusted the positions of the meat strips. At the same time, they took down the young wolves’ extra meal for tomorrow. If they started roasting now, it would be ready by evening. They would not need to trouble the night watch members, nor would they have to smell the meat fragrance in the cave and toss and turn, unable to sleep.

Lang Shuo took one and pinched it. After drying for a day and a night, quite a bit of moisture had evaporated from the jerky. However, the snow season was still cold in the end. It was likely that two days would not be enough to dry it completely. But if it was steamed and eaten immediately, not stored, being a little moist would not matter much.

Lang Yun cut two strips of jerky roasted in the morning into pieces the size of a fingernail, giving each cub one piece.

Jerky was chewy. Giving a cub one piece could keep them playing with it for ages.

The last two strips were for the two of them. Lang Yun gave Lang Shuo one, then put the remaining one in her mouth and sighed. “No wonder the chief says you spoil the young wolves.”

Clearly, Lang Shuo was not yet an adult, but Lang Yun felt that he was different from the young wolves. Every time Lang Shuo looked at the sub-adults, there was a feeling of him looking at his own cubs. That indulgence could not be hidden.

Lang Yun did not know why she had this kind of thought, but Lang Shuo’s various actions indicated that her feeling was not wrong. Aside from close beastmen, very few beastmen would consider every aspect of the young wolves so thoroughly, even thinking about drinking water while going out. Sometimes, she even suspected that Lang Nuo was not her younger brother, but Lang Shuo’s biological younger brother.

“The young wolves are obedient. Taking a little more care of them is only right,” Lang Shuo explained. “They also do quite a lot of work.”

For example, the bamboo bowls in the tribe had all been made by the sub-adults. Although at first it had been for their own use, and their work was a little careless and rough, it did not affect the final products.

The sub-adults were not as patient as adult beastmen, but they did not fall behind on the things they should do. Especially when it involved food, they would find work to do without needing instructions and were very easy to manage.

The two were talking when they suddenly heard someone shout that the young wolves had returned. Lang Shuo was somewhat surprised.

It was only just afternoon. According to their usual habits, members who went out to search for food would only return at dusk, because it was impossible to keep wandering nearby the whole time. To improve efficiency, every time the gathering team chose a direction, they walked along that direction, then returned from another path at noon. Next time, they would set off in another direction. Simply put, they continuously drew radii with the tribe as the center. This way, they would not miss any place.

This was the sub-adults’ first day going out, and Lang Yu and Lang Yun had both explained the precautions. Logically, at this time, they should have just begun their return journey, searching for food along the way, and arrived at the tribe around dusk.

Returning early meant one of two possibilities: they had encountered an unexpected situation and had to come back early, or they had found too much food to carry.

Lang Shuo was worried it was the first possibility. Before he could think too much, the beastman who had just shouted that the young wolves had returned said in delight, “How did you catch prey? Such a big curved-horned beast!”

Lang Shuo and Lang Yun exchanged a look and both saw surprise in each other’s eyes.

“I’ll go take a look.” Lang Yun no longer cared whether the meat stew was ready or not. She first went to see what was going on with the sub-adults.

Lang Yun’s expression was not very good. Their tribe had few sub-adults. Yesterday, Chief Lang Yu had repeatedly emphasized that they could not hunt large prey. If the sub-adults really had disobeyed, even if they had caught prey today, Lang Yu would not let them off lightly.

Trying to catch curved-horned beasts with so few people was joking with their lives. Even if they were lucky enough not to get injured, they still had to be punished. It was impossible to be this lucky every time. Every year, many sub-adult beastmen overestimated themselves, tried to catch large prey, were gravely injured, and died. Their tribe absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen.

When Lang Yun walked over, more than half the members staying behind in the settlement had come over. The sub-adult young wolves had caught a curved-horned beast. This news left them both shocked and happy.

Of course, gaining prey was something to be happy about. The problem was that this team only had eight sub-adults! No one had expected these sub-adults to be so bold that they even dared catch a curved-horned beast.

Lang Nuo and the others carried the prey back. As they approached and saw Lang Yun’s expression, Lang Nuo knew his sister had absolutely misunderstood. He hurriedly raised his hand. “Sister, this is prey we exchanged with the Black Wolf Tribe.”

Hearing that it was exchanged, Lang Yun let out a breath of relief. Immediately afterward, her heart rose again. “Exchanged with the Black Wolf Tribe? What did you use to exchange?”

This was also what Lang Shuo wanted to ask.

The young wolves did not really want to answer questions right now. “We’ll talk later. Is there anything to eat? We’re starving to death.”

The jerky they had taken out had only been tasted before being traded away by the Black Wolf Race. They had walked all the way back hungry. If not for wanting to come back and eat earlier, they would not have walked so fast on the road. Lang Yun had too many questions. Lang Nuo wanted to answer while eating.

Lang Yun could see the young wolves’ exhaustion and did not continue pressing. She sighed, had several members carry the prey away, and brought them to the fire.

Jerky was currently roasting over the fire, but it had only just begun and could not be eaten yet. The sub-adults were too hungry to stand it, so they first grabbed a handful of dried snow fruit nearby.

Lang Shuo hurriedly stopped them. “Don’t eat that!”

However, Lang Shuo was still a step too late. In the time it took him to speak, the hungry and tired sub-adults had already eaten several pieces.

Snow fruit was an unpopular food in the tribe. The young wolves did not think much of it and simply ate it when they saw it. Hearing Lang Shuo’s words, they stopped, somewhat at a loss. They put down the dried snow fruit in their hands, looking like children who had done something wrong, and cautiously asked, “We can’t eat it?”

Seeing them so nervous, Lang Shuo quickly explained, “It’s not that you can’t eat it. It’s that dried snow fruit will make you even hungrier after eating it. Yun is cooking. It’ll be ready soon.”

Dried snow fruit was similar to dried apple. Eating it would increase stomach acid secretion and speed up gastrointestinal movement, making them even hungrier.

Hearing that eating dried snow fruit would make them even hungrier, the young wolves deeply regretted moving their hands so quickly just now.

Lang Nuo said, “I think I’m hungrier.”

Lang Shuo: “…”

Lang Shuo said, “How could it happen that fast? You only just ate it.”

Even if dried snow fruit stimulated stomach acid secretion, the effect would not be that immediate. Even digestive tablets needed time to take effect, much less dried snow fruit. The young wolves were already so hungry they could not distinguish degrees anymore.

Lang Yun pointed at the stone pot in front of her. “The food will be ready soon. First, tell us what happened.”

There was always food in the tribe’s stone pot. Now the water had already boiled, and it would be ready to eat after cooking a little longer.

The sub-adults drooled as they smelled the meat fragrance and explained what had happened today. From chasing long-eared beasts all the way to the edge of the territory, to lying down to rest because they were too tired, to being discovered by the sub-adults of the Black Wolf Tribe, and finally exchanging one box of jerky for an entire curved-horned beast.

After hearing all this, Lang Shuo had only two thoughts in his heart.

The young wolves of the Snow Wolf Tribe were not suited to doing business. They could easily become profiteers.

The young wolves of the Black Wolf Tribe were even less suited to it. They could easily lose everything down to the bottom.

This transaction, if placed in modern times, was basically exchanging a few jin of meat for an entire cow. Truly, one side dared to ask, and the other dared to agree.

But since the exchange had already happened, it was not good to return it now. The sub-adults of the Black Wolf Tribe would not stay at the exchange location forever. They could not have the sub-adults carry the curved-horned beast while searching and shouting for them.

Lang Shuo looked at Lang Yun and suggested, “Let’s tell my brother tonight. Today, we’ll make a bit more food and have Lang Nuo and the others make it up to the Black Wolf Tribe.”

Lang Yun agreed. “All right. We’ll tell the chief tonight.”

The sub-adults who heard their conversation looked at one another. Lang Nuo spoke again. “They didn’t have any strength left. Even if they didn’t exchange food with us, they couldn’t carry it away.”

Although they had picked up a bargain, they definitely had not tricked anyone. The Black Wolf Race originally could not carry away the curved-horned beast. They had each taken what they needed.

“We still need to make up part of it, so the Black Wolf Tribe doesn’t misunderstand,” Lang Shuo said.

The Black Wolf Tribe could not all be as simple-minded as sub-adults. If a black wolf became serious and misunderstood that they had instigated their tribe’s sub-adults to deliberately deceive the other side out of prey, it would be hard to explain. Therefore, this deal could not let the other side lose too much.

After hearing Lang Shuo’s explanation, Lang Nuo sighed. “All right.”

Sending food was not difficult. They had agreed today that both sides would go to the place where they had exchanged goods tomorrow. They could give it to the black wolves then.

The sub-adults’ dejection did not last long, because after gathering together and calculating it, they discovered that even if they made up some food to the Black Wolf Tribe, they still would not lose out.

After Lang Yun put out the fire, the group of sub-adults focused their attention on the food.

They could finally eat!

In the cold snow season, steaming hot food always made people feel happy. The young wolves ate and drank their fill, then contentedly lay down on the grass mat beside them. After resting for a while, they were once again full of energy and went to help cut meat.

On the other side, the sub-adults of the Black Wolf Tribe finally returned to the tribe.

The food they had exchanged for was not much, and the physical strength it provided was limited. After finishing the food, the group of sub-adults did not dare delay for too long and headed straight back to the tribe.

To conserve strength, they transformed back into human form. Being a little cold was better than having no strength and collapsing halfway.

Seeing the young wolves return empty-handed, the adult beastmen in the tribe were not surprised at all. A group of young wolves who had transformed into beast form and gone out—it was already good enough that they could make it back to the tribe. They had all prepared themselves to go out and pick up the young wolves if they could not walk anymore.

Lang Yan glanced at the young wolves and asked, “You didn’t catch any prey? Or did you trade the prey for food?”

The sub-adults were collectively shocked.

How did the chief know?

However, they had already agreed on their story on the road. Catching prey but not having the strength to carry it back to the tribe sounded a little stupid. If anyone asked, they would all say they had not caught anything. Therefore, Lang Yong could only lie with his eyes open. “We didn’t catch anything.”

“Really?”

Lang Yong nodded, his tone extremely sincere.

Lang Yan looked at him and changed the question. “What did you exchange for today? Was it good?”

“Jerky!”

“Delicious!”

The two youngest sub-adults in the team had been thinking about the jerky they had eaten the entire time. Hearing the question, they could not hold back and spoke up excitedly, one after the other. Immediately afterward, their companions beside them covered their mouths.

But it was too late.

What needed to be known, Lang Yan already knew.

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