Chapter 42
Aside from the Black Wolf Tribe, there were several other wolf tribes nearby, but even if those tribes had black wolves, there were not many.
The fur on these cubs was glossy black, without a single one of another color. They were most likely born from a black wolf and a black wolf, so there was no need to mention which tribe they had run out from.
The moment Lang Yu thought of the wolves in the neighboring tribe, his head began to ache. He truly could not understand how a tribe could be like this.
It was still understandable for sub-adults to run around randomly. After all, the more sub-adults there were, the harder they were to manage. The Black Wolf Tribe had many sub-adults. When they gathered together, it was practically a nightmare and difficult to control. Occasionally running too far was truly normal.
But these were very young cubs. The beast forms of cubs under twelve years old were about the same. However, if they had not transformed into beast form because of extreme fright, but merely because of exhaustion, then their approximate age could be judged from their behavior. Lang Yu guessed that these cubs had either not yet learned to transform into human form or had only just learned, because their cries contained only longing for food and no wariness toward unfamiliar beastmen at all.
Letting cubs this young wander out casually was absolutely a mistake by the adult wolves of the tribe. Their tribe had just over a hundred members above twelve years old, and every day, at least thirty or forty people stayed in the tribe. Aside from those who could not come out because of illness or other reasons, there were also several healthy members specially responsible for patrolling around the residence. They had to guard against unfamiliar beastmen approaching, and also prevent young cubs from running around.
The Black Wolf Tribe had more than five hundred people. There would only be more members responsible for patrols. Adding those who stayed in the tribe, with so many pairs of eyes, how could they let cubs slip out? And not only one.
Lang Yu could not understand.
“Chief, what should we do?” The back basket in the arms of the member guarding the supplies had been taken by a companion. He rubbed his aching arms and asked Lang Yu.
After confirming these were beastman cubs, he had not dared move at all. On one hand, he was afraid the cubs’ parents were nearby. On the other, he was worried he might accidentally hurt the cubs and bring trouble to the tribe.
Their tribe had only just moved here not long ago and did not understand the surrounding tribes. The only one they were somewhat familiar with was the Black Wolf Tribe. If they really had a conflict with any tribe, the surrounding tribes definitely would not help them, so they had to be extremely cautious.
But they also could not ignore these cubs.
The other members had the same thought. The group looked at Lang Yu, waiting for him to decide.
Lang Yu was very tired. Lang Yu did not want to care.
Another member in the team saw that Lang Yu was in a bad mood and tentatively asked, “Chief, why don’t we send them back now?”
Lang Yu said, “Can you find the place?”
The member who asked fell silent and said nothing.
If the distance were close, or if they knew the Black Wolf Tribe’s exact residence, then of course they could send them back.
But this was their tribe’s territory. There was already quite a long distance from here to the boundary between the two tribes. More importantly, when they had sent the Black Wolf sub-adults back before, they had always only sent them to the border, and the Black Wolf Tribe had come to pick them up. In other words, they only knew that the Black Wolf territory was next to theirs. As for how large the territory was and exactly where they lived, they knew nothing.
The distance was far, the address was unknown, and one wrong step could take them out of the Black Wolf Tribe’s territory and into another tribe’s hunting range. Unless they felt their lives were too long, they absolutely would not take that risk.
Realizing that he had asked a useless question, the speaking member honestly took a few steps back and used Lang Shi’s tall body to block himself.
Lang Shi: “???”
Why was he hiding behind him? He was not clever either.
Knowing he could not think of any good solution, but truly hungry and wanting to eat, Lang Shi had no choice but to speak under pressure. “Chief, why don’t we eat first?” They could talk about how to deal with the cubs later. Let him eat something first!
In the past, even if they had gone hungry all day while hunting, they would not have been this anxious. After all, they were used to it. But who told them that recently, Lang Shuo had taken such good care of them? They had gotten used to filling their stomachs a little at noon. If they ate in the tribe, it would be even better. Now it was already past their usual mealtime and they still had not eaten, so their stomachs had begun to growl.
In any case, they could not possibly send the cubs back now. The sooner they ate, the sooner they could return to the tribe. He wondered what dinner would be today. While waiting for Lang Yu’s order, Lang Shi also looked forward to dinner.
In the past, eating had only meant filling the stomach. Now, eating every day had become the thing they looked forward to most.
“Eat,” Lang Yu said. He knew that continuing to think would only add to his worries. Even if he did not want to bring unfamiliar cubs back, he could not possibly throw them here.
“Then should we feed them…” After spending half the morning with the cubs, even though they were not from his tribe, the member had developed a little affection. Hearing the cubs’ cries, the member guarding the supplies could not bear it.
Before, he had been alone. Even if his heart softened toward the cubs, he could not touch the team’s supplies. Now all the hunting party members were here, so he asked weakly.
His voice was not loud, but all the surrounding members heard him. The group of adult snow wolves looked at Lang Yu, waiting for him to decide.
They did not mind giving the cubs a little. After all, these cubs looked very young and could not eat much.
Lang Yu glanced at the cubs. “Feed them some jerky.”
They had brought out a lot of fish today. However, whether fried fish chunks or pan-fried small fish, they all had fish bones. Adult beastmen could eat them without issue, but cubs could not. Giving them jerky was safer.
Hearing this, two members took out the jerky that had been pressed at the very bottom and distributed it to the cubs. Then they quickly divided the food they had brought out.
They had already returned late, and the matter just now had delayed them for a while. The group of members ate especially fast. As they ate, they discovered something was not quite right.
Lang Shi looked to the side, hesitated, and asked, “Chief, how many cubs were there just now?”
Lang Yu said, “Eight. What’s wrong?”
Lang Shi said, “I think I saw a few more.”
Lang Yu looked over. The place where there had originally been only eight little wolf cubs had become thirteen.
The newly appeared cubs had no jerky in their mouths and were anxiously spinning in circles.
Lang Yu’s expression changed. He instructed the other members, “Stop eating. Look for cubs.”
If there had always been eight, then there were probably no more. But since there were some hiding, it was hard to say whether only five had been hiding.
The other members also realized the seriousness of the matter. They finished the food in their hands in two or three bites and searched around.
However, searching for cubs in the weeds was not easy. After breeding season began, plants grew everywhere. They only came here when hunting, and the grass on the ground was half a person tall. It could hide an adult beastman in beast form tightly, let alone cubs this size.
Cubs were very skilled at hiding their presence. If they did not appear on their own, very few adult beastmen could catch them.
This important life-saving skill of beastmen created a difficult problem for the members of the Snow Wolf Tribe. Even if their own tribe’s cubs deliberately hid themselves, they might not be able to find them, let alone cubs from another tribe. The aura on every cub was different, and they were unfamiliar with these cubs, so they could not distinguish whether there were more hidden.
Unfortunately, these cubs were too small. Aside from eating, they knew nothing.
The matter was extremely troublesome.
At this moment, even Lang Yu could not search by scent.
His gaze paused on the few cubs with no meat in their mouths, circling around the other cubs. Lang Yu reached out and took a strip of jerky, then took rope from another back basket.
They occasionally used the methods Lang Shuo had taught them. In addition, sometimes the prey was too large, and they needed tools like rope and wooden boards. These were necessary supplies when the hunting party set out.
Lang Yu tied the jerky to the rope, lifted the rope, and walked around nearby.
When he reached a patch of grass, the rope in his hand sank. He lifted it and glanced. A new little wolf cub.
The other members were dumbfounded. For a moment, they did not know whether to be shocked that there really were hidden cubs or shocked at the chief’s method of catching cubs.
Lang Yu looked at the cub in his hand, which was baring its teeth and waving its claws, and also fell silent for a moment.
He had merely heard his younger brother mention fishing yesterday, along with how to make a fishing rod. Just now, he suddenly thought of it and used it here.
So cubs were just as easy to fish up as fish.
Suppressing the thought in his heart, Lang Yu asked the member closest to the back basket, “How much jerky is left?”
The other person rummaged through the back basket. “More than twenty strips.”
“Everyone take a rope. If there aren’t enough ropes, find some vines. After finding the cubs, hurry back to the tribe.”
When he saw the second wave of cubs, Lang Yu sensed that something was wrong. As long as the Black Wolf Tribe members guarding the cubs were not blind, they absolutely would not let so many cubs out.
It was very possible that something had happened in the tribe, or that someone had deliberately brought the cubs out and thrown them away.
No matter which possibility it was, it was not good news.
Their tribe was adjacent to the Black Wolf Tribe. Although Lang Yu was not very satisfied with the sub-adult black wolves occasionally coming over to sponge some food, it was undeniable that the Black Wolf Tribe could be considered a good neighbor.
Many large tribes would forcibly occupy surrounding territory even if they did not need it, refusing to let new tribes in. Based on the information the sub-adult black wolves had accidentally revealed, before the Snow Wolf Tribe came, they often came to this area. Even if it was not the Black Wolf Tribe’s territory, it was close enough. The Black Wolf Tribe had given it up when they said they would. For the sake of this matter alone, they had to find all the cubs this time.
Outside, danger surrounded the cubs. Forget large prey whose hooves were bigger than them; even small prey like cluck-cluck birds were not something the cubs could beat. Letting them stay outside hungry and afraid, even if they were not from his own tribe, made one feel distressed.
The other hunting party members also thought of this. Even Lang Shi, who had shouted about being hungry just now, had no time to care about the remaining food. He hurriedly looked for vines that could replace rope and used them to lure the cubs into biting.
A group of snow wolf members searching their own territory for lost cubs from the Black Wolf Tribe—if this kind of thing were spoken aloud, probably no beastman would believe it. Yet it really happened.
Lang Yu told them to keep their movements small and not shout loudly. While carrying jerky and walking around, he made soft “pspsps” sounds to call them.
The first time Lang Yu heard his younger brother call cubs this way, he had thought it was an exclamation caused by the wound hurting too much. Later, after hearing it many times, he learned that this was Lang Shuo’s unique way of calling cubs. He had to admit, the sound was a little strange. Every time he called, it attracted other members to look over, but the effect was especially good. As soon as he called, the cubs would come over by themselves.
With both methods together, they really fished out several cubs. Once one appeared, Lang Yu gave it half a strip of jerky to gnaw, then placed it into the back basket. Only after they had searched the area twice and no new cubs appeared did Lang Yu put away the rope.
“Return to the tribe.” Lang Yu counted them. Including the eight that had first appeared, there were a total of twenty-six cubs. He untied half of the remaining jerky and placed it into the back basket, then carried the back basket with one hand as he led the way, the other hand still holding the rope.
The cubs adapted well to being squeezed inside the back basket, whining softly inside as they fought over jerky.
Aside from those carrying prey, the other members staggered their positions as they walked. This way, the scent of jerky covered a larger area.
In the end, they did not catch any new cubs along the way. They caught two cluck-cluck birds and a nest of long-eared beasts, all of which had run out after being frightened and were intercepted by the hunting party as cubs.
They had been delayed too long outside, and their journey back was slower than usual. When they returned to the tribe, the sky had already completely darkened. The evening food had already been reheated twice, and several impatient sub-adults who could not wait were circling everywhere outside the farmland.
If the hunting party’s return route had been fixed, someone would have gone to look for them long ago.
Lang Yu set down the back basket and explained, “Nothing happened. We encountered a little trouble on the road.”
“What trouble?” Lang Shuo had them wash their hands and eat first. Other matters could wait.
He had just finished dividing food for the hunting party when the back basket beside him suddenly moved. Immediately afterward came weak cries.
Hearing the familiar cries, Lang Shuo’s movements paused. “Brother, what’s inside the back basket?”
“Cubs.” Lang Yu lowered his head and drank a mouthful of soup. Today, they had been delayed on the road longer than usual. They had also walked in circles so many times to find cubs. The whole team was starving, including him.
Lang Shuo froze when he heard the word cubs. Beastmen had a habit. If they were referring to prey cubs, they would add the prey’s name in front. Only when referring to beastman cubs would they omit the name.
So the hunting party had brought cubs back? From which tribe?
The cubs in the back basket woke up one after another, and the sounds inside grew louder and louder. Lang Shuo walked over and lifted the lid.
Immediately afterward, he met several pairs of glossy black eyes.
This was only the top layer. There were obviously more below. Lang Shuo had no time to care about anything else. He ran over to take a large basket, tilted the back basket, and poured the cubs out.
“One, two, three, four… twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight. Brother, why are there so many cubs?”
The cubs were about the same size. They were chubby from eating well. Having just woken from sleep, they looked drowsy and confused as they watched their surroundings. Once they discovered people, they immediately whined for food.
Lang Yu heard that the number was different from what they had counted and looked around.
The members who were looked at lowered their heads and touched their noses. They were all black lumps, so they had probably missed some.
Lang Yu said nothing. After all, they did not know exactly how many had been lost. Picking up as many as they could was already good. He explained a little. “We picked them up on the road. Do you want them? If you do, feed them for a few days. If not, let Yun feed them.”
Lang Yun: “???”
Lang Shuo said, “I want them, I want them. Why only feed them for a few days? No, wait, how did you pick up cubs?”
What tribe did not treat cubs like treasures? How could they appear in their tribe’s territory? And so many?
Added together, these almost matched the number of sub-adults in the Black Wolf Tribe. Wait, they were black. These were from the Black Wolf Tribe, right?
Lang Shuo asked his doubts.
“I don’t know. Tomorrow, let the sub-adults go inquire.” On the way back, Lang Yu had already thought it over. Tomorrow, he would let the sub-adults circle around the Black Wolf Tribe’s territory. The sub-adults of the two tribes could always gather together. Even if the situation was wrong, the sub-adults could immediately return.
Lang Shuo nodded and reached out to touch the cubs’ bellies. They were all empty. He hurried to prepare food.
The fastest was naturally steamed egg. This time, he did not even count the number. He directly cracked half a pot full of eggs, beat them, added water, served them into bowls, and placed them in the pot to steam.
While waiting for the steamed eggs, Lang Shuo wiped the cubs’ paws and checked whether there were wounds on their bodies.
To adult beastmen, stepping barefoot on the ground after changing into beast form was nothing. But cubs had tender skin and were easily scratched by stones or broken branches. Otherwise, he would not have always used large baskets to hold cubs.
After checking once, he discovered that half of the cubs had scratches on their paw pads. There were even small stones in the wounds of several. Even after being injured, they did not make a fuss. They only shrank their paws back when he cleaned the wounds.
Lang Shuo placed the several more seriously injured cubs into another large basket. He would be responsible for feeding these few, while the others would be taken care of by Lang Yun and several other members.
Their tribe’s cubs were used to each person having one bowl. These cubs were not used to that. Feeding them together would be too chaotic. It was better for one person to take care of several.
The black wolf cubs were clearly extremely hungry. Once they smelled the egg fragrance, they began crying. As soon as the bowls were set down, they fiercely pounced forward and buried their heads in, eating wildly.
The black wolf cubs’ personalities were obviously more urgent. With the same amount of egg custard, they only used one-third of the time the snow wolf cubs took to eat. The bottoms of the bowls were equally clean.
“How much is left?” Lang Shuo asked. The amount steamed just now was more than the number of cubs.
Lang Yun went over and counted. “Fifteen bowls.”
“Give each cub half a bowl. The extra bowl goes to me.” These few could eat a little more.
It was just that Lang Shuo had not expected half a bowl of steamed egg to disappear no slower than before. After finishing the steamed egg, the cubs continued clinging to him, whining and acting spoiled.
Lang Shuo, who often took care of cubs, was very familiar with this reaction. They were asking for food. They were not full.
However, this was already one and a half meals’ worth for their tribe’s cubs. Lang Shuo touched the cubs’ bellies. They were not bulging, but he did not dare give them more food. He rubbed the cubs and coaxed, “Be good. Sleep first. Eat more tomorrow.”
At the same time, in the Black Wolf Tribe.
The entire tribe had already fallen into chaos.
In the morning, Priest Hu Yun had said he was going to gather herbs. In the end, he left and never returned. This matter originally was not important. Recently, the priest’s temper had been growing worse and worse. At every turn, he refused to treat them. The injured members these past few days had all endured by themselves. No one cared if the priest did not return for a day or two.
Until evening, when the beastmen taking care of the cubs went to deliver food to the cubs, they discovered the sky had collapsed.
All the cubs in the tribe who had not yet learned to transform into human form were gone!
Until Lang Yan returned, the members who had stayed behind in the tribe still had not found any trace of the cubs.
