Chapter 24
When Lang Yan returned to the tribe, the sub-adult wolves still had not gone to rest. Compared with wolves of other ages, sub-adults had more energy. Even if they did not sleep until midnight, they would still be lively the next day.
Seeing the chief, who had gone out for unknown reasons, return, the group of young wolves changed direction with expressions of hopelessness, afraid that a little more work would be added later.
Lang Yan saw through their thoughts at a glance and said, “Tomorrow, go to the Snow Wolf Tribe and help with work.”
“We don’t—hm?”
Halfway through their refusal, the sub-adults suddenly realized what Lang Yan had said and were overjoyed.
Go to the Snow Wolf Tribe?
They directly ignored the words “help with work.” If they could go to the Snow Wolf Tribe, who cared whether they had to work? They would even be willing to stay up all night hunting.
The changes in the sub-adults’ expressions were seen by the adult wolves led by Lang Yan. For a moment, everyone’s mood was complicated.
When working for their own tribe, they were listless. Now that they were going to work for another tribe, they were this happy?
They really did not want to admit these were members of their tribe.
However, blood ties could not be severed. Lang Yan’s words made the sub-adults realize one thing: the chief and the others must have gone to the Snow Wolf Tribe.
Immediately, one young wolf ran eagerly behind Lang Yan and asked a wolf who looked extremely steady, “Father, did you go to the Snow Wolf Tribe?”
“Don’t call me that. I’m not your father.” The steady adult wolf very much did not want to admit this was his cub.
The sub-adult wolf did not feel the slightest bit of disdain from his father and continued pestering him with questions.
Lang Yan’s head hurt from all the noise. He asked, “Do you still want to go or not?”
The group of sub-adults instantly quieted down.
They wanted to go. Of course they wanted to go.
They dared to act shamelessly in front of their parents, but they did not dare do so in front of the chief. When their parents said they would hit them, it was only talk. When Lang Yan acted, he truly acted.
“Those who want to go, bring your own food tomorrow and go by yourselves. Do you know the way?”
The sub-adults nodded fiercely. With food guiding them, they would definitely find it in one try this time!
After confirming they could find the way on their own, Lang Yan waved his hand. “Go back to the cave. No more shouting.”
The sub-adults did not dare disobey and honestly returned to the cave. However, after returning, they could not sleep at all. The thought that they would go to the Snow Wolf Tribe tomorrow—and in the morning, no less—made them so excited they could hardly stand it.
If they went without eating in the morning, then they could eat two meals at the Snow Wolf Tribe.
Thinking of this, the sub-adults, who could not lie down at all, began packing their belongings.
The experience from several days ago appeared once again. Lang Yan had experience this time and tore off two pieces of animal hide to plug his ears.
Rustling sounds still came from all directions.
Lang Yan tore off another piece of animal hide and covered his ears.
There were still sounds.
Lang Yan closed his eyes, pulled over the entire animal hide, placed it under his head, folded both sides, and completely covered his ears.
As expected, it became much quieter.
Early the next morning, the members of the Black Wolf Tribe who came out of the cave looked at one another.
“Do you feel like something’s wrong?”
“Everything’s wrong!”
“It seems quieter.”
“Where are the young wolves?”
One had to know that this group of sub-adults was extremely noisy. Even in the morning, there was no peace. Every day, they shouted and made a racket. As long as they were in the tribe, it was impossible for things to be this quiet.
A wolf went to check the caves near the foot of the mountain. After coming out, he shook his head. “They’re not in the cave.”
“They set off this early?” The adult wolves were surprised.
The companion beside him nodded. “It is a little early. With them gone, I feel like the tribe is empty.”
As soon as these words came out, the group of wolves fell silent at the same time.
Was there a possibility that the tribe was indeed empty?
More than half the animal hides hanging on the trees were missing. A glance into the sub-adults’ cave showed that it had been cleaned out. Even the branches on the nearby trees looked much sparser.
In the end, the adult wolves looked toward the place where prey had been placed yesterday. At this moment, a large area there was empty, and there was an extra stone nearby. An animal hide was pressed under the stone.
An adult wolf standing nearby took it out. On it was a drawing made with a half-burned branch: a group of black four-legged little balls carrying three large round balls much bigger than themselves, walking in another direction.
On the other side of the route was a group of small round balls that had not been colored black.
Lang Yan had the best sleep he had gotten in recent days. When he opened his eyes, the sky outside was already bright. After removing the layers of animal hide, he felt that the outside was a little too quiet, and suddenly had a bad premonition.
Walking out of the cave, Lang Yan saw a group of adult wolves gathered together discussing something, while the usually noisiest sub-adults were completely silent.
“What’s going on?” Lang Yan walked over.
Lang Qi handed him the animal hide the sub-adults had left behind. “The sub-adults are gone.”
Lang Yan lowered his head and understood what the sub-adults meant.
They had set off, and they had taken food with them.
Taking a deep breath, Lang Yan told himself not to be angry. After all, the people had already run off cleanly.
However, when he stood up and clearly saw the surrounding scene, the breath he had been holding could no longer be suppressed.
“Are they not planning to come back?”
The adult wolves, especially the sub-adults’ parents, slowly shifted their gazes away.
Although they really did not want to admit it, based on their understanding of the sub-adults, it was probably true.
Lang Yan: “…”
Lang Yan said, “Prepare to eat. Today, the team with the least prey will come with me to the Snow Wolf Tribe to pick up the sub-adults.”
Hearing this, several hunting teams turned pale with fright.
…
At the Snow Wolf Tribe, the hunting party woke early as usual.
They had caught prey yesterday, so logically, there was no need to hunt today. However, the weather was getting colder day by day. Since they had been eating well recently, on this free day, they still prepared to go out and try their luck. If there was no prey, they would patrol in a circle and deter the hidden primitive beasts.
Recently, it had been growing colder and colder. Setting out after eating breakfast in the morning was still fine. After eating steaming hot food, their whole bodies were warm. But after a full day, once the food had been digested, the cold would drill straight into their bodies. Therefore, the hunting party tried to set out earlier and return earlier in the afternoon.
However, today, before they could leave the cave, the members who had kept watch last night began calling for people.
“Chief, chief, the sub-adults from the Black Wolf Tribe are here!”
After hearing this, Lang Yu looked outside. The sky had only just begun to brighten. They had already arrived now—had they started walking over in the middle of the night?
Could it be that Lang Yan was not reassured about the food delivered yesterday and had sent sub-adults early to keep watch?
Unable to understand the other side’s intention, Lang Yu responded in a low voice, tucked the animal hide around his younger brother beside him, and walked out of the cave. “How many came?”
“They should… all be here,” the night watch member answered hesitantly. There was a dark mass of them, about the same as last time. They should all have arrived.
Lang Yu was silent for a moment. “Where are they? I’ll go look.”
The night watch member quickly led him over. At the foot of the mountain nearby, a group of sub-adult black wolves were either sitting or lying down. Beside them were three common prey animals: one curved-horned beast, one long-horned beast, and one humming beast. It was very balanced.
Aside from the three prey animals, they had also brought quite a few branches and animal hides. They did not look like they had come to help. They looked like they had come to settle down.
When the Snow Wolf Tribe had moved here, the supplies they brought had not been as complete as theirs.
Lang Yu very much wanted to know how the Black Wolf Tribe had arranged this. He asked, “Why did you come so early?”
“We need to come early to help,” the young wolves said confidently, their reason sounding quite sufficient.
Lang Yu: “…”
He really had never seen anyone start helping this early.
But since the sub-adults had already come, Lang Yu could only think of a way to make them quiet down. Otherwise, they would absolutely wake Lang Shuo, who was still resting.
Thinking of this, Lang Yu instructed the two night watch members, “Go take out some jerky. Keep your footsteps light.”
The two members nodded. They knew the chief did not want to wake Lang Shuo, so they were very careful entering and leaving the cave.
The food made recently was all stored in the cave. The two carried out a back basket of jerky and placed it by the fire to warm. The weather was cold. Even when placed in the cave, the jerky was still somewhat cool. Warming it slightly would make it taste better.
Lang Yu warned the group of sub-adult black wolves, “Before Shuo comes out, none of you are allowed to speak. Understood?”
The sub-adult black wolves nodded repeatedly, promising that they would not talk nonsense and disturb Lang Shuo’s rest.
The hunting party’s breakfast today was bones and meat soup. The bones had been placed in the bread oven last night, watched over by the night watch members. When the time came, they had directly closed the oven door. The bones had been sitting inside for the latter half of the night, and when opened now, they were still steaming hot.
The meat soup had also been made at night and placed on the stove. When dawn was approaching, the night watch members added fire and branches underneath. Even before lifting the lid, the fragrance could already be smelled. After the lid was lifted, it became even more enticing.
In recent days, aside from watching the surroundings and patrolling from time to time, the members on night watch had gained one extra task: cooking. However, no one was unwilling. Night watch was done in turns by hunting party members. In other words, when they were on watch, they prepared the food, and when they were not on watch, they could eat ready-made food after waking up. It was very fair.
After all the hunting party members came out, the other members also woke one after another. The first to come out were the gathering team members, then Lang Yun and the others.
Only after Lang Yun woke would the night watch members eat. After finishing, they would go straight back into the cave to rest, and outside would be watched by Lang Yun and the others.
Lang Yun was also very surprised to see so many sub-adult black wolves outside. “You came this early?”
The group of sub-adults nodded.
Lang Yun said, “Then wait here for a while. Lang Nuo will wake up soon. He’ll take you to work later.”
Lang Nuo and the others had worked overtime last night making a batch of mud bricks and were still sleeping inside the cave.
The sub-adult black wolves chewing jerky said, “Mm-hm, okay.”
On their first day here, they already had jerky to eat. The group of young wolves was very happy. They had no objections at all to when they were arranged to work.
Just as the sub-adult black wolves were about to finish the jerky, several familiar figures appeared at the cave entrance.
Lang Yong waved excitedly. “Lang—”
Before he could finish speaking, a clever young wolf covered his mouth. Chief Lang Yu had just said they could not wake Lang Shuo. Today was their first time coming over. If they did something wrong, they would not be allowed to come again in the future!
Lang Yong also realized this point and immediately lowered his voice. “Lang Nuo!”
Lang Nuo looked over. Discovering it was them, his face filled with shock. “Why are you here?”
“We came to help,” Lang Yong replied while chewing jerky. This life was truly comfortable. If only he could enjoy it like this every day.
Lang Nuo walked over beside them and casually grabbed a handful of jerky from the back basket. With his other hand, he put one into his mouth. “It’s too early. Shuo won’t come out for a while. Let’s go dig soil first.”
Before going to sleep last night, Lang Yu had instructed them that for the next while, they should not go out to search for food. They were to stay in the tribe and follow Lang Shuo’s arrangements.
After running outside for several days, the young wolves were not as enthusiastic about going out as before. Hearing Lang Yu’s instruction, they agreed directly.
As for the work content, Lang Nuo only knew that they needed to make more mud bricks right now. So before Lang Shuo woke, they would first go dig soil and make mud bricks. Once Lang Shuo woke, they would do other things.
Lang Yong and the other sub-adult black wolves had just arrived and only knew to nod.
The sub-adults had to make their own food, but it was not difficult. They only needed to place the meat soup that had been cooked yesterday into the steamer, steam it until hot, and then drink it. The only benefit of the snow season was probably that prepared food could be stored for a long time.
When preparing meat soup and other food, they would make a little extra. After all, beastmen’s appetites were not fixed, especially young wolves. Sometimes they would receive extra meals.
At this moment, Lang Nuo was about to cover the steamer. Seeing the sub-adult black wolves, he asked, “Do you want to drink some?”
There was actually not much meat in the meat soup. Most of it was water. They had gotten used to drinking it recently because after drinking, their whole bodies felt warm and comfortable. If the sub-adult black wolves had come over to freeload, Lang Nuo definitely would not casually share it with them. But the other side had come to work, so Lang Nuo felt he should learn from Lang Shuo and give them some food.
“We want to drink.” Even though they had not drunk it before, the group of sub-adults still nodded.
The food they ate in the Snow Wolf Tribe had never been bad. Who cared what it was? They would eat it first.
When Lang Shuo woke, the first thing he did was remove the animal hide wrapped around his leg. These past two days, he basically could no longer feel pain in his leg. As long as he did not stand for too long, it was fine. Although he still could not walk normally, it had already recovered almost completely. He no longer needed the animal hide. Keeping it tied up all the time was quite uncomfortable.
After removing the animal hide, his whole body felt lighter. He walked to the cave entrance on his crutches and discovered that there seemed to be quite a lot of people eating outside.
No wonder he had felt that it was rather lively outside while still in the cave.
Lang Shuo limped to the stone pot and smelled the fragrance of meat soup. Seeing that a few sub-adults still had empty hands, he understood that the amount heated at once had not been enough. He reminded Lang Nuo, “Next time there are many people, you can pour part of the meat soup into the pot to boil. Boiling while steaming will be faster.”
Lang Nuo slapped his own head in frustration. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
The sub-adult black wolves beside him were even more shocked. They had just been amazed that Lang Nuo’s method of steaming in the pot was convenient, and then Lang Shuo mentioned an even faster method. There was actually someone who could be this clever, just like their chief.
Lang Shuo: “…”
Although the young wolves of both tribes were sighing in admiration, he only felt helplessness like he was looking at his own silly children.
Better not continue this topic.
The food would not be ready for a while. Lang Shuo took an old bamboo tube and poured half a tube of water, then found a small animal hide and wiped the lower leg that had been wrapped for half a month.
Fortunately, it was snow season. If it were another season, he would have been unable to endure it long ago.
Finally, he washed his hands and went back to eat. Lang Shuo’s activity level was lower than the other sub-adults’. Drinking a bowl of meat soup, eating a few pieces of jerky, and finally taking two pieces of dried snow fruit to cut the greasiness in his mouth was enough.
The other sub-adults ate quickly. Both sides almost finished eating at the same time.
Lang Shuo began arranging tasks for them. The prey brought over yesterday and today had not been divided. With so much prey, the people in their tribe originally responsible for handling prey were not quite enough. Lang Shuo selected several strong sub-adults and had them go help, with Lang Yong leading the team.
For the remaining wolves, Lang Shuo assigned different work. One portion followed Lang Nuo to dig soil and make mud bricks, while another portion followed Lang Hui to pick up branches.
Yesterday, when they heard Lang Yan tell them to pick up branches, the group of sub-adults had felt that life was hopeless. Today, when they heard Lang Shuo tell them to pick up branches, the sub-adults looked excited and happily ran after Lang Hui.
Lang Yun had originally been a little worried. Lang Yu had instructed yesterday that if the Black Wolf Tribe’s sub-adults did not listen, they should directly call him. Today, he would not go too far, and with many people, he would be able to hear if they shouted. Now, seeing Lang Shuo’s arrangements, she realized she had worried too much. The sub-adults of both tribes were equally obedient.
After Lang Shuo finished arranging the sub-adults’ work for the morning, he found the previous stone slab and began calculating the final amount of food to be given to the Black Wolf Tribe.
The tribe did not have many cooking tools, and the sub-adult black wolves also needed to eat. Therefore, they could not directly separate the two tribes’ food and cook them separately. That would be too troublesome. Lang Shuo’s solution was to calculate the net amount of raw meat, subtract the food eaten by the sub-adults, and give two-thirds of the rest to the Black Wolf Tribe.
As for the prey hides and fur, if the Black Wolf Tribe wanted them processed, then each side would take half. After all, processing animal hides was quite troublesome, and taking half as the processing fee was not excessive.
Because there was no scale, Lang Shuo calculated according to the volume after cutting. He directly recorded the number of back baskets. The back baskets woven recently were all about the same size, so the difference in weight would not be especially large.
Near noon, all the prey had been divided. Lang Shuo took several bread-oven roasted ribs to give the sub-adults an extra meal.
The sub-adult black wolves, who had always been disliked in their own tribe, had never experienced this kind of treatment. They all looked at Lang Nuo in surprise. Was this really treatment a sub-adult should have? They were not just randomly shoved a few pieces of meat and told to go off to the side and mess around by themselves.
Lang Nuo asked, “Why are you looking at me? Are you not eating?”
The sub-adult black wolves immediately picked up the ribs and gnawed.
Today’s ribs had just come out of the oven and tasted somewhat different, exceptionally delicious. This difference still mainly came from Lang Shuo. They had a share of the extra meal prepared for the Snow Wolf Tribe’s sub-adults. The group of sub-adult black wolves wished they could transform into beast form and go over to wag their tails.
Even without them transforming into beast form, Lang Shuo could feel their happiness. He said, “Yong, later, take a few members with sharp claws and dig out two stone pots. You know how to dig them, right?”
Lang Yong was just about to nod when he suddenly remembered something. “Can we just go to our tribe and get some?”
Their tribe had several stone pots that had not been used in a long time. In truth, he was afraid that the ones he dug out would not be good and would disappoint Lang Shuo, making him think they were stupid. It would be safer to take ready-made ones from the tribe.
“How big are the stone pots? Does your tribe not use them?”
Lang Yong pointed at the stone pot beside them. “About the same as this one. We don’t use them. I’ll go get them this afternoon.”
“Forget it. Let’s talk about it tonight. Ask your chief then.” In any case, these sub-adults still had to return to their tribe at night. Although the pots had not been used in a long time, when it came to tribe property, they still had to communicate with the chief.
“Okay.” Lang Yong only thought that when Lang Shuo said tonight, it was because the chief would be in the tribe at that time. He did not realize at all that they still had to go back.
Since they did not need to dig stone pots, Lang Shuo chose several steadier sub-adults to help make new bread ovens and had the remaining young wolves all go make mud bricks and pick up branches. While the weather was still decent these two days, they should finish the preparation work. That way, for the remaining days, they could focus on processing food.
Previously, one bread oven had been enough for their tribe to occasionally satisfy a craving. Now that there were more people, and the sub-adults had to stay in the tribe all day, it was not quite enough. Added to the fact that they would next help the Black Wolf Tribe process food, Lang Shuo wanted to separate out some meat and bones to roast in the oven, saving fuel.
Aside from bread ovens, they also built several new stoves, waiting to use them directly once the pots arrived. Although stoves could not compare to bread ovens, they could still save quite a lot of fuel, and their efficiency was higher than open fires.
The new bread ovens and stoves were all built close to the cave entrance. This way, even if the weather became cold later and walking far was inconvenient, they could still continue using them.
With several times more labor, the speed was more than a little faster than before. In particular, the mud bricks they made in one day were more than all the previous days combined. At this rate, within two or three days, they could prepare all the mud bricks needed to renovate the cave.
However, even if the work was not tiring, they could not work continuously. Once Lang Nuo and the others finished building the bread ovens and stoves, Lang Shuo let the group of sub-adults rest for a while.
The members staying behind in the settlement were preparing today’s dinner nearby. All kinds of fragrances rushed toward them. The sub-adult black wolves sitting before the fire and resting felt their eyes were not enough. One moment, they looked at the roasted meat here. The next moment, they looked at the stewed meat there. Before long, their gazes were drawn by the crackling bamboo tubes, so busy they could hardly look at everything.
Lang Shuo saw them looking around and discussed with the adult wolves making the food, asking them to divide out a portion for him first.
The tribe members now tacitly accepted that Lang Shuo distributed food. Who would not want to eat more delicious food? Once he spoke, the other side immediately divided some out. In any case, the food for the sub-adult black wolves would be deducted from the prey they brought. Whatever they ate would be deducted, so the Snow Wolf Tribe would not lose out.
Lang Shuo divided these foods into bamboo bowls. While dividing, he said to Lang Nuo, “Remember to make a batch of bamboo bowls tomorrow.”
The number of bamboo bowls in the tribe was a little more than the number of people, but only by a dozen or so. Now that there were suddenly a quarter more mouths, the bamboo bowls were immediately not enough.
“Mm-hm.” Lang Nuo was also waiting for food. Hearing Lang Shuo’s words, he casually agreed.
Lang Shuo saw his reaction and knew he had not taken it to heart, deciding to remind him again tomorrow.
But Lang Yong and the others’ ears twitched.
The Snow Wolf Tribe did not lack bamboo bowls. The newly made ones were definitely for them. Lang Yong decided he would go cut bamboo after eating.
Lang Shuo still did not know their thoughts. He divided several types of food evenly into every bowl and let the group of sub-adults take them themselves.
The total number of sub-adults from the two tribes added together was the same as the number of cubs in their tribe. This gave Lang Shuo the illusion that he was distributing food to cubs. The only difference was that the cubs’ food was not this much.
Thirty-six bowls, one per person. No one needed to fight over anything. The amount was just right, and there was no need to worry about food being snatched away by others if they ate slowly. Experiencing this feeling once again, the group of sub-adult black wolves wished they could circle around Lang Shuo.
It was just that they could only think about it. Lang Nuo stayed beside Lang Shuo the whole time. The moment they moved a little too much, he looked guarded, afraid they might bump into Lang Shuo.
This was even more the case when the hunting party returned at dusk. Lang Yu agreed to let them help at the Snow Wolf Tribe and had no objections to them eating here, but he did not allow them to approach Lang Shuo or the cubs.
Lang Yu had always felt that black wolves were an unstable factor, especially sub-adults who did not know the severity of things. Injured people like Lang Shuo had to stay far away from them to avoid being accidentally hurt. Not only did he instruct Lang Nuo, whenever he was in the tribe, he reminded Lang Shuo over and over.
Lang Shuo felt that the sub-adults’ performance today was fairly good, but Lang Yu’s caution was also for his own good. The young wolves’ personalities were indeed a little too lively, and he still clearly remembered the pain of a broken bone. If he could avoid suffering that kind of hardship, it was better not to suffer it. Being careful was definitely right, so he agreed seriously.
Only then did Lang Yu feel reassured and find the sub-adult black wolves slightly more pleasing to the eye.
However, this was only during mealtime. After eating, the sub-adult black wolves became very active. Lang Yu looked at the young wolves not far away, who were darting around excitedly because they were happy, then turned to ask his younger brother, “When are they going back to their tribe?”
Lang Shuo was stunned by the question. “It seems they didn’t say. How about having them work overtime?”
In truth, they could remind them to return to their tribe now. However, thinking of the way the sub-adult black wolves had been reluctant to leave that day, Lang Shuo felt they could have them work a little more before going back.
…
At the Black Wolf Tribe, the hunting teams returned later than one another today.
Because of Lang Yan’s words in the morning, the hunting teams’ efficiency had clearly improved quite a bit. After all, no one wanted to have to go pick up sub-adults because their hunting efficiency was low. Picking up sub-adults was even more tiring than hunting continuously.
Lang Yan waited until the last hunting team returned and counted the number of prey. Every team was about the same, and he could not pick out the worst. This result was within his expectations. After all, when the teams had originally been divided, they had been divided evenly according to strength.
After thinking briefly, Lang Yan pointed to two teams. “You two teams, bring your prey and come with me.”
The adult wolves who were chosen: “…”
Fine. With the chief leading the way, it was better than going by themselves.
