Chapter 29
It was not only Lang Shuo who missed the cubs. The cubs missed him too. After gnawing on the jerky for a couple of bites, they started whining again, wanting Lang Shuo to play with them.
Most of the members were inside the cave now, so Lang Shuo naturally did not dare casually carry the cubs out. He simply went inside to play with them.
The injury on his leg had already almost healed. Now, as long as he did not run or jump, it basically did not hurt. It was just that he still could not stand for long periods. After walking inside the enclosure, he called out to Lang Yun not far away for help. “Yun, give me a large basket. A square one.”
Lang Yun casually picked one up and handed it to him. “What do you need a basket for?”
Lang Shuo did not know how to describe it, so he simply demonstrated on the spot.
The place he had entered was one corner of the enclosure. Seeing that cubs were about to surround him, Lang Shuo stood the basket upright between himself and the cubs, then pushed it forward.
All the cubs near him were pushed to the other side.
After confirming there were no cubs around, Lang Shuo took a grass cushion, placed it properly, and sat down on it. Then he handed the basket to Lang Yun.
Lang Yun, discovering for the first time that this could be done: “???”
What had all those times she had carried them one by one counted as? She even had to seize the right moment. After all, the cubs were small, and if she was even a little careless, they would slip away. Catching them once made her so busy she felt dizzy.
Lang Shuo did not know what Lang Yun was thinking. The feeling of being surrounded by fluffballs as soon as he sat down was too wonderful.
The cubs were now a little heavier than before. They had gone from skinny furballs to weighty little fluffy bundles.
Lang Shuo picked up a familiar-looking one and weighed it. Based on his recent experience distributing food to the sub-adults of the two tribes, this one was nearly twice as heavy as when he had first woken up. He remembered this one most clearly. It was the one that had bitten his tail on the day he woke.
This one had originally been much lighter than the other cubs. However, because it was snow season now, the cubs were all fluffy all over, so it could not be seen. Only when picked up could the difference be discovered. Now, after being raised for a month, and with its appetite growing larger day by day, it was almost catching up to the other cubs.
Perhaps because it was younger than the other cubs, this one was especially clingy. Every time Lang Shuo came close, this one was always the first to gather around him.
Lang Shuo placed the cub on his lap. The cub immediately found a comfortable position and leaned against Lang Shuo. However, the jerky in its mouth had never been released. It was eating even faster than cubs of the same age.
The other cubs also followed this one and climbed onto him.
There was not much work left. The members could finish it whether or not he was there. Today, he could keep playing with the cubs. Lang Shuo let the cubs use him as a climbing tool. Occasionally, when he saw one or two younger cubs who could not climb up, he even reached out to help.
Before long, two-thirds of the cubs had moved onto him. The rest did not climb up and instead leaned against his feet.
Lang Shuo rubbed these few and discovered the difference. The ones beside him had been the ones with large appetites from the beginning. According to the cubs’ habits, these were most likely around ten years old, the batch slightly younger than Lang Hui.
It just so happened that Lang Yu passed by. Lang Shuo tugged on the animal hide on Lang Yu’s body and asked, “Brother, are these cubs about to recover?”
Even if they were roughly the same size in beast form, cubs at different stages had huge differences in physique and other aspects. Those who were older were more able to withstand fright and would recover earlier. For example, Lang Hui and the others had never transformed into beast form at all. As for those who had transformed into beast form, the older ones would recover first.
These few had not climbed onto him today. Lang Shuo guessed whether the cubs had sensed that they were about to change back into human form and were afraid of pressing on him. After all, there was quite a difference in weight between beast form and human form.
Lang Yu had originally not paid attention to these cubs. After all, every time Lang Shuo was here, there would be a circle of cubs around him. Hearing Lang Shuo’s question now, he looked carefully.
The cubs surrounding Lang Shuo paused in gnawing their jerky, then continued gnawing.
Lang Yu narrowed his eyes, picked up a cub, and met its gaze.
The cub slowly shifted its gaze away.
Lang Shuo said, “Huh?” As far as he knew, most cubs who were forced into beast form did not remember many things. They were like cubs under three years old. Precisely because of this, they would not be afraid of familiar tribe members at all, unless the other person’s murderous aura was too heavy.
And Lang Yu, who had not gone out hunting for two or three consecutive days, was not fierce at all right now.
As Lang Shuo was thinking this, Lang Yu placed the cub on the ground and said coldly, “Change back.”
The cub hugged its jerky and turned halfway around, pointing its butt at Lang Yu, as if it had not heard him.
Lang Yu said, “Change back, or your snacks will be deducted.”
This move was one hundred percent effective on sub-adults, and it worked the same on cubs.
The cub, who had been pretending not to hear Lang Yu speaking just now, moved. Immediately afterward, the cub vanished, and in the place where the cub had stood, there was now a seven- or eight-year-old child.
The child held jerky in one hand and used the other hand to cover his face, too embarrassed to look directly at Lang Yu.
Lang Yu said, “You still know how to be embarrassed?”
The child did not speak and covered himself even more tightly, only secretly peeking out through the gaps between his fingers.
Seeing that he did not answer, Lang Yu did not continue asking. He picked out the cubs surrounding Lang Shuo one by one.
Very quickly, a dozen or so children appeared beside them, all around the same age as the first child.
Lang Shuo: “???”
Not only Lang Shuo, even Lang Yun was shocked. “When did you recover?”
The group of children looked at one another. In the end, they pushed out one representative.
“The day before yesterday,” the child who was pushed forward answered in a low voice.
“If you recovered, why didn’t you change back?” Lang Yun was puzzled.
Although beastmen remained in beast form from birth until the age of three, beast form had many inconveniences. After transforming into human form for the first time, everyone was used to appearing in human form and would only change back under specific circumstances.
The reason Lang Yun had never carefully checked the cubs’ recovery state was precisely because of this. Under normal circumstances, the first thing cubs did after recovering was change back into human form. There was no need for them to check at all.
These few had actually endured for two days. Lang Yun was astonished.
It was not only Lang Shuo, Lang Yu, and Lang Yun who wanted to know the answer to this question. The other members who heard the commotion also wanted to know.
The cub representative continued, “Well, sleeping together in a group is warm, and we don’t have to fight to eat.”
“There are lots of really, really scary people in the tribe. We were scared.”
This group of cubs around ten years old was not very clear about what had happened recently. They only knew that they seemed to have slept for a long time, and when they woke up again, the tribe had changed greatly. There was an unfamiliar cave and unfamiliar beastmen. The most familiar ones were the cubs beside them.
In addition, after discovering that they did not have to fight over food, the group of cubs continued pretending they had not recovered by tacit agreement.
Lang Shuo: “…”
The weather had been cold these past few days, and the wind had been strong. Eating outside meant they swallowed more northwest wind than food by the time one meal was finished, so everyone simply carried their food into the cave to eat. He had not expected the sub-adults’ eating manners to scare the cubs.
Lang Shuo lightly coughed and explained, “That group of beastmen came over to help. They’re only like that when eating. In the future, if you run into them…”
“Stay away from them,” Lang Yu interrupted his younger brother and warned the group of cubs. “When they see food, they don’t watch where they’re going.”
Lang Shuo: “…”
Fine. Lang Shuo gave up explaining. This sentence truly did not wrong the sub-adults. When they saw food, sub-adults really did not look under their feet. Although this group of cubs was a bit older, they were still children in the end and could not withstand being rammed by sub-adults.
“Okay,” the cubs answered in unison.
Lang Yu also did not dwell on the matter of them having recovered but not telling the adults. He only instructed, “You can’t hide it next time.”
“Okay!” The cubs continued answering obediently.
Lang Shuo watched his brother finish lecturing the cubs and pointed at the grass cushion beside him. “Sit here and eat.”
The group of cubs secretly looked at Lang Yu’s reaction.
Lang Yu said, “Go.”
Most of the members in the tribe now knew how to weave. The difference was only whether their skills were good or not. After they became skilled, Lang Shuo had already divided the work.
Members with good craftsmanship wove the most important items, such as the large baskets the cubs lived in, the back baskets used by the gathering team, and the back baskets the sub-adults used to transport supplies back and forth. Those with slightly worse craftsmanship wove less important things, such as large baskets for drying food, grass mats for everyone to sleep on, and so on. These tools only needed to be sturdy and did not have as many requirements regarding shape.
Those with even worse craftsmanship were not suitable for weaving these commonly used tools. But the members could not sit idle at night, so Lang Shuo had them use leftover materials to weave grass cushions. This way, everyone did not have to sit on cold stones.
Grass cushions were even simpler than grass nests. The entire tribe knew how to make them. Whenever everyone was free, they would weave one or two and place them everywhere, so there was somewhere to sit anywhere.
The cubs found their positions, sat down, and held their jerky while gnawing.
This group of cubs was younger than Lang Hui, and their courage was not as great as Lang Hui and the others. When doing things, they liked to look at the adults’ faces. Lang Shuo hugged a fluffy bundle and asked them, “Are you full?”
Human form and beast form were the same beastman, but there were many differences. In terms of appetite, adult wolves ate more in beast form, while during cubhood, appetite changes in beast form were not as obvious as in human form. To put it simply, cubs in human form became hungry quickly. After growing up, beast form became hungry quickly.
For example, these cubs around ten years old in front of him had not entered an obvious growth period in beast form. When everyone fed them, the amount given was about the same as those cubs under three years old. If they maintained beast form, it was still fine. Such tiny bodies consumed limited calories each day. But when they became human, it was not enough.
The cubs who were asked rubbed their stomachs and shook their heads.
Lang Yun had already begun ladling water out of the pot. “Shuo, what should we make for them to eat?”
The heated beds were inside the cave. They had taken longer to dry than Lang Shuo had expected and had only officially been put to use today. However, Lang Yun learned after watching once. It was about the same as lighting fires outside. This time, she did not even need Lang Shuo’s help with cooking.
Lang Shuo thought about their current food and asked the cubs, “How about potato stewed ribs?”
Potatoes were a recently added food, and the cubs had eaten them too. But Lang Shuo had never dared to give cubs ribs. When beastmen gnawed bones, they compared the hardness of their teeth and bones. Lang Shuo did not interfere with beastmen older than sub-adults; they could judge the severity themselves. When Lang Hui and children his age ate them, he would remind them. As for cubs, they did not understand complicated words, so he simply only gave them shaved-off meat.
This group of cubs had changed into human form, meaning they could communicate now. That was why Lang Shuo asked this.
The cubs were not picky at all and nodded while gnawing their jerky.
Jerky that fluffy bundles needed two paws to hold and gnaw did not look like much in their hands. Lang Shuo could not go outside conveniently, so he called Lang Nuo. “Nuo, bring them some more.”
During this period, everyone had worked hard processing food precisely so they could fill their stomachs for the next month. There was no reason to let the cubs who had just recovered go hungry.
Lang Nuo agreed and took a small basket to pack dried jerky. While packing, he did not forget to stuff one into his own mouth.
The other members had long since become used to it. How to put it? After seeing sub-adult black wolves who could eat nearly half the food they processed, they felt the sub-adults of their own tribe were truly good.
Although Lang Nuo could eat, he did not neglect the work he needed to do at all. He quickly and efficiently packed what was for the cubs and carried it over, placing it beside them.
The cubs had never seen such a scene before. They looked at Lang Shuo, then at Lang Nuo, pointed at the basket, then pointed at themselves. “All for us?”
Lang Shuo said, “It’s all yours. But you can’t eat it all at once. After it’s divided, you decide when to eat it yourselves. The part you can’t finish for now…”
Lang Shuo looked at the animal hides on the cubs and paused.
This group of cubs only had the layer of animal hide that came with transforming into human form. Their tribe did not have many animal hides. What remained was barely enough to quickly make a batch of children’s clothes for them, but providing pockets was not possible.
However, this did not stump Lang Shuo. Lang Shuo asked Lang Rong, who had been leading people in weaving these past two days, “Rong, can you weave some more small boxes? Like the ones for Lang Hui and the others, but one size smaller.”
At first, Lang Shuo had made a box for the sub-adults to hold snacks. The box was square and about half the size of a back basket. Later, he discovered that the speed at which they ate snacks determined how much they ate. Even if the amount per person was stated, there were often people who remembered wrongly. So he simply had the members make a batch of smaller ones for the sub-adults to store their own food. Later, he also had some woven for Lang Hui and the other young wolves, one size smaller than the sub-adults’.
The ones for these cubs needed to be even smaller.
Small boxes were easy to weave, and Lang Rong could make them herself. She agreed. “One for each person, right? I’ll start now. They’ll be ready tomorrow.”
Lang Shuo nodded. For now, each cub would receive two strips of jerky. The rest would be distributed tomorrow after the boxes were ready.
The cubs who received food held one in each hand, their eyes bright.
If they had known changing into human form meant they could eat two extra pieces of jerky, they would have changed back the day before yesterday!
Lang Shuo looked at the happy cubs and thought about the next work arrangements.
Lang Nuo, who was teasing fluffy bundles nearby, sensed something was off. He looked at Lang Shuo, then looked at the cubs who had sensed nothing, and shook his head.
They were still too young. They did not know that food from Lang Shuo was not free. Based on his experience, Lang Shuo would first feed someone full, then arrange work. Just watch. Tomorrow, these cubs would be busy.
However, thinking of the food they had eaten recently, Lang Nuo changed his mind again. Even if they had to work, it was worth it.
The cubs knew nothing of the world’s dangers. They happily ate their jerky, then gnawed on fragrant ribs. That night, even their dreams were filled with the food they had eaten.
The next day, the group of children was awakened by an enticing aroma. After waking, they first looked toward the place the fragrance came from.
Lang Shuo was stretching his arms and legs. Seeing them wake, he said, “We’re drinking porridge this morning.”
These days, the Black Wolf Tribe had successively given them quite a few different foods. Lang Shuo had led people in processing a portion and returning it. The rest was temporarily kept, and pumpkin was one of them.
Lang Shuo had the members cooking keep the seeds. The pumpkin was cut into pieces and directly boiled in the pot. In the end, they added just a tiny bit of salt. The cooked pumpkin was soft, glutinous, fragrant, and sweet. The soup also carried sweetness.
Even members used to eating meat could not refuse this kind of food. It was very suitable to eat when one was not too hungry.
The food currently in the tribe needed to last until the end of snow season, and right after snow season ended, prey would not be easy to catch. Therefore, when Lang Shuo obtained these foods, he had already discussed it with Lang Yu: plant fruits and meat would be eaten together. This way, it would not become increasingly hard to endure later on.
Ever since the tribe gained several more pots, the frequency of soup cooking had increased more and more. Everyone had gotten used to it. A few days ago, they had even cut a pile of bamboo specifically to make bowls now.
“I wonder if the Black Wolf Tribe ate it,” Lang Shuo said while drinking porridge.
Of the six pots the Black Wolf Tribe had brought over, they had kept half in the end. Adding the previous stone pot, there was now exactly one pot for each stove. The first time Lang Shuo had Lang Yong bring the remaining three pots back, the other party had stubbornly refused, not wanting to continue cooking half-raw, awful food. Lang Shuo had no choice but to teach them several simple soups.
He just did not know whether the sub-adult black wolves had remembered what he said. Pumpkin porridge was the simplest of all foods. After all, they did not even have rice, only pumpkin. If they could mess even that up, then they truly were not suited to cooking.
…
“Pff—”
“Pff pff—”
The Black Wolf Tribe had also made pumpkin porridge. This was the most successful food the sub-adults had made after learning at the Snow Wolf Tribe for so many days. It was only when the pumpkin was cooked and served into bowls that everyone discovered they had forgotten to remove the pumpkin seeds.
However, it did not matter. It could still be eaten. It was just that the pumpkin seeds were a bit hard. The pumpkin had softened, but the seeds had not. Some members did not like them and spat them out while eating.
“Next time, I’ll definitely throw away the pumpkin seeds! Throw them far, far away!” Lang Yong swore. Next time he cooked, he absolutely had to remember: pumpkin seeds could not be kept.
…
“Don’t throw away the pumpkin seeds. They’re delicious after being dried.”
After the meal, Lang Shuo saw Lang Yun carrying a back basket full of pumpkin pulp and preparing to walk outside. Guessing that she probably wanted to throw these away, he hurriedly called her back.
Lang Yun carried the back basket and turned back. “These can be eaten too?” They had never seen this kind of food before. The handling method had all been taught by Lang Shuo. Lang Shuo had told them to scrape these out, so they had assumed they could not be eaten.
Lang Shuo nodded. “Pumpkin pulp can actually be eaten too, but the texture is a little worse, so we won’t eat it. The seeds can be kept. Wash them clean and dry them.”
Once the pumpkin seeds were washed clean and dried, they could be used as snacks. He also needed to keep a portion to plant next year.
Lang Yun listened to him, but…
“How do we wash them?” The pumpkin seeds were covered in pumpkin pulp. If Lang Yun did it herself, even if she did nothing else for the entire day, she probably still would not finish washing them. But doing nothing else was unrealistic. She still had to prepare food for the cubs. Moreover, there were very few containers in the tribe that did not leak water. Aside from the stone pots, only stone bowls could be used, making washing even more inconvenient.
“Let them do it.” Lang Shuo pointed at the group of children who had just received their snack boxes and were seriously studying them.
Lang Shuo had naturally considered the container issue. The stone pots could not be used. Even if they were not cooking, they needed to continuously boil water. After all, with so many people, there were only four pots. Now everyone ate in batches. They could only use stone bowls and bamboo bowls. These two kinds of containers were somewhat small for adult members, but just right for them.
With more than ten children washing together, they should be able to pick out the seeds in a day no matter what.
Lang Yun glanced at the cubs, who had no idea work had arrived, and nodded. “That works.” After eating so much food, they should work.
Lang Nuo, holding a piece of bamboo and pondering where to cut, showed an expression that said, “As expected.” He knew it. No meal was free.
“What’s wrong?” Lang Shuo caught a glimpse of Lang Nuo’s expression and was puzzled.
“Nothing.” Lang Nuo immediately shook his head and buried himself in work.
Lang Shuo: “???”
Forget it. A sub-adult’s thoughts were inherently hard to grasp. They thought of one thing one moment and another the next. Lang Shuo did not ask him again and arranged for the cubs to come wash pumpkin seeds.
Afraid the cubs’ hands would freeze, Lang Shuo had Lang Yun mix warm water for them and let them wash on top of the heated bed. For half-grown children, this was almost like playing.
After arranging this side, Lang Shuo began testing the temperature beside the heated bed.
This cooperation with the Black Wolf Tribe had increased their food supply. But cooperation was not a long-term solution. They could not rely on others. That would be too passive. Only by obtaining more food themselves would they be safe. Lang Shuo planned to start raising seedlings in advance. However, the temperature for raising seedlings could not be too high or too low. He needed to determine a suitable place for them.
Many plants could have seedlings cultivated in advance. Once the weather warmed, the seedlings and soil could be transplanted directly into prepared land. If the timing was right, the harvest time would be one month earlier than natural growth. In a season lacking food, this one month was crucial.
The first choice was naturally potatoes. When the sub-adult black wolves brought over the first batch of potatoes, Lang Shuo had still been praising how well the Black Wolf Tribe preserved food. Only later, when he asked Lang Yong to bring over sprouted potatoes, did he learn how casually the Black Wolf Tribe treated these plants.
There were basket after basket of sprouted potatoes.
With so many sprouted ones, Lang Shuo did not plan to use them all for raising seedlings. After all, the cave area was not that large, and planting using only one method carried risks. Although potatoes could be planted directly or grown as seedlings before planting, what if the potatoes here did not adapt to seedling cultivation? He had to leave himself a fallback.
Lang Shuo picked out the potatoes that had sprouted badly and first placed them in a warmer area. Then, according to the spot he had chosen, he had Lang Nuo and the other sub-adults dig some sandy soil from outside.
Lang Nuo agreed. At noon, when it was not as cold, the sub-adults dug several back baskets of soil from outside. They also dug some fine sand according to Lang Shuo’s requirements.
Lang Shuo first spread a layer of grass mat on the ground. This was to separate the soil from the cave and also make future transfer outside more convenient. Then, following the method he remembered for planting potatoes, he mixed the sand and soil evenly and spread it over the grass mat, then sprinkled some water.
The potatoes were cut into pieces according to the position of the eyes. They were left to dry slightly. Once the cut surfaces had dried a little, they would be buried in the soil to prevent the cut surfaces from rotting.
In truth, fertilizer should also be applied, but they truly did not have usable fertilizer here. The easiest to obtain was the silt from the river, but that smell was too strong and was not very friendly to wolves with sensitive noses. It definitely could not be used in the cave, so he could only give up.
In any case, this was only a trial. If this method did not work, they still had half the sprouted potatoes left. Lang Shuo was not in a hurry.
