Chapter 44
On the road to search for the cubs, time stretched on endlessly.
Even Lang Yong, whose sense of smell was sharp, was frequently disturbed by other scents.
Hu Yun had used other things to cover his own scent, and had also placed those items into the back baskets of other tribe members. As a result, the places several gathering teams had walked through also carried the same scent.
Lang Yong worked hard to distinguish the correct direction among all the different smells.
In the end, the farther they walked, the closer they came to the Snow Wolf Tribe’s territory.
Now, it was not only the other members who found it strange. Even Lang Yong began doubting himself.
Could it be because he wanted to go to the Snow Wolf Tribe too much that he felt the scent here seemed right?
Lang Yong began to doubt himself.
“Keep going,” Lang Yan said. “We’ll talk once we reach the place.”
The longer the cubs stayed outside, the more dangerous it became. Relying on Lang Yong’s nose was far faster than searching aimlessly.
He had not expected Hu Yun to do something this stupid. If Hu Yun were a little stupider, bringing the cubs to the Snow Wolf Tribe’s territory was not impossible.
Encouraged, Lang Yong sped up greatly and soon entered the Snow Wolf Tribe’s territory.
Areas close to the outskirts were generally not guarded by tribes. If even this side had to be watched, the number of people needed would be too many. Moreover, this place was too far from the residence. Even if someone heard movement, going back to deliver the message would take time.
Therefore, most beastmen in tribes liked to gather together.
Before smelling the cubs’ scent, Lang Yong first smelled the Snow Wolf Tribe’s scent.
Lang Yan also noticed it.
The Snow Wolf Tribe had hunted nearby during the day.
This discovery made the black wolves, who had been on tenterhooks the whole way, fall silent for a moment.
If Hu Yun had kept walking through uninhabited areas, he might have kept carrying the cubs. But if he had chosen a place near where the Snow Wolf Tribe hunted, then he was either so stupid that he did not even know to hide, or he had done it deliberately.
It was hard for the group not to think of the second possibility.
Taking the cubs and deliberately choosing a spot near a hunting location… They did not dare think further and all looked toward Lang Yan in unison.
Lang Yan raised his head. The moon had already turned halfway across the sky. It had taken them more than half the night just to walk from their tribe to here. If the cubs were outside, they should have long since been too hungry to bear it and come out from wherever they were hiding. But along the way, they had not heard any response, only their own calls.
After thinking for a moment, Lang Yan spoke again. “Keep searching.”
Either they found the cubs, or they saw the cubs’ corpses.
Lang Yong had originally been crouching on the ground. Hearing this, he stood up.
He had not eaten dinner, and had walked for half the night. As a sub-adult with poor endurance, Lang Yong already had little strength left. If it were any ordinary day, he would have long lost patience to continue searching. Yet even now, he had not shouted that he was tired once. He circled around nearby for a while, then continued forward.
After walking another stretch, Lang Yong suddenly stopped and scraped at several weeds with his paw.
It was the scent of the Snow Wolf Tribe’s food. Lang Yong was certain.
But Lang Yong did not understand. Why was the scent of food everywhere around here?
Even in their own tribe’s territory, beastmen would not scatter too far apart when eating. They usually gathered together so they could observe movement in all directions. After all, even if there were no natural enemies like primitive beasts or other beastmen, a large prey animal could still kill them with one charge.
Lang Yong did not understand and chose to ask Lang Yan.
“There’s the scent of food everywhere nearby? Are you sure?” Lang Yan repeated Lang Yong’s description.
Lang Yong nodded. He might make mistakes with other things, but when it concerned food, he absolutely could not be wrong.
Lang Yan looked around. There was nothing particularly special about this grassland. If one had to say something, it was relatively flat, and the probability of prey appearing here was higher.
The terrain was flat, so there was no possibility of someone tripping on level ground and scattering food everywhere. After all, the Snow Wolf Tribe’s back baskets had lids on them.
Then the greatest possibility was that members of the Snow Wolf Tribe had used food nearby to lure something closer.
The things that could be attracted by jerky were either primitive beasts or beastmen.
The Snow Wolf Tribe would not be idle enough to deliberately lure primitive beasts.
Thinking of this, Lang Yan directly instructed, “Go to the Snow Wolf Tribe.”
The other members froze. “Go now?”
In truth, to them, finding their way here was already very risky. After all, this was not their tribe’s territory, and they could encounter the owners of the territory at any moment. It was only because the sub-adults had a good relationship with the Snow Wolf Tribe that they had taken the risk to continue searching.
But searching within the territory and directly going to the other party’s residence were different matters. Going there in the middle of the night—wouldn’t the other party think they were attacking?
If their relationship were bad, then fighting would be fighting. But they had quite a lot of interaction with the Snow Wolf Tribe. A group of black wolves who usually only knew how to fight consciously felt it was better not to fight.
Lang Yan said, “The Snow Wolf Tribe’s hunting party may have seen the cubs. Going to ask them is faster.”
Now, whether it was Lang Yong or the other members, all of them regained their spirits.
They had searched for so long. Exhaustion was secondary. The main thing was that the longer time passed, the lower the hope of the cubs still being alive. Nights in breeding season were not like snow season nights, which could freeze people to death, but they were still much colder than during the day. The cubs’ last meal had been in the morning. They might have already been unable to endure it and come out. If they stayed outside in a cold and hungry environment for a night, even if they were still alive, they would fall ill after returning.
Lang Yan’s words immediately lifted their spirits.
If the cubs had been abandoned by Hu Yun, and by luck met the Snow Wolf Tribe and were picked up by them, then they would definitely be very safe!
At this instant, the group sincerely hoped their wish could come true.
Going to the Snow Wolf Tribe was easier than searching aimlessly. At first, Lang Yong worried he would take the wrong road. After all, getting lost was an extremely normal thing for him. But after walking for a while, he discovered that as long as he followed the scent of jerky, he would be right.
Although Lang Yong leading the way and the other wolves behind him all wanted to go faster, they had consumed too much strength on the road. Even though they were very excited, their speed was still much slower than usual.
This time, Lang Yan did not urge them. He walked while checking the surroundings.
When the sky was just beginning to brighten, the group of black wolves saw the mountain where the Snow Wolf Tribe lived.
They were finally almost there. Lang Yong stopped to pant a few times, then continued forward.
…
Snow Wolf Tribe.
The night before, Lang Shuo had thought that when he woke up, what he saw would either be a group of white fluffy bundles sleeping sweetly, or a group of black fluffy bundles squeezed together.
In the end, both guesses were wrong.
He was woken by black bundles jumping onto him.
When he opened his eyes, his body was covered in black fluffy cubs.
Happiness came too suddenly. Lang Shuo buried his head and inhaled hard.
The cubs thought he was playing with them and excitedly barked and whined.
After all, they belonged to the same canine family as dogs. When wolf cubs fought or grew excited, they would occasionally bark too. Lang Shuo liked them even more and lowered his head to kiss them.
A life he had never dared dream of before was now easily realized.
The snow wolf cubs on the other side were woken by the noise and opened their eyes from sleep.
After seeing the scene not far away, the drowsy snow wolf cubs’ ears immediately stood up, and they cried out at the black wolf cubs.
Hearing the sound, Lang Shuo hurriedly placed the cubs in his arms back into the large basket, counted their number, and went to coax the angry white bundles.
The snow wolf cubs he picked up rubbed here and kissed there against Lang Shuo’s body, wanting to cover up all the scent of the black wolf cubs.
Lang Shuo coaxed them one by one, then rummaged out two large baskets from beside him. He placed the cubs into them by color and carried one basket in each hand.
The member keeping night watch outside was surprised. “Shuo? So early today?”
“The cubs are hungry. I’m making them something to eat,” Lang Shuo explained.
Inside their tribe’s cave, if the cubs occasionally cried a few times, everyone was already used to it. Even if they were woken, they could roll over and keep sleeping. But now there were two groups of cubs. If they kept arguing, they would definitely disturb the sleeping members.
The hunting party had returned very late yesterday and rested late. As for the gathering team, they had gone out for several consecutive days and finally got to rest today. Lang Shuo did not want the cubs to disturb them.
It was a little chilly outside in the morning. Lang Shuo covered the cubs with animal hides, rubbed their heads one by one, and then placed the baskets on the platform they had built not long ago. Only then did he go prepare food.
They had just eaten egg custard last night, so today he would change things up. Lang Shuo picked several pieces of lean meat and asked the two night watch members to help him cut them into thin slices. After they were cut, he pounded them a little, added salt, fruit juice, and a bit of seasoning plant to marinate them, then heated water in the pot.
When the water boiled and it was time to put in the meat slices, Lang Yun came out. The two of them just happened to take charge of one pot each.
The meat slices were thin. Once they changed color, they only needed to wait a little before they could be eaten. They were served into bowls to cool. Four large bowls were for him, Lang Yun, and the two members helping. They could not let people work for nothing.
This was also something everyone in the tribe tacitly accepted now. The members cooking had the right to eat first. Cooking on an empty stomach—forget the few sub-adults who often could not control their mouths, even adult wolves might not necessarily be able to endure it.
Lang Shuo was not hungry yet and planned to eat later. He placed his portion beside him and slowly stirred the bowls for the cubs so they could cool faster.
The snow wolf cubs knew Lang Shuo was preparing food for them and obediently waited in the basket. The black wolf cubs were not so clever. They were not satisfied with looking through the gaps and clung to the basket, wanting to climb out.
However, Lang Shuo had switched from the large basket to higher-edged baskets precisely to prevent them from collectively escaping again. Even if they could jump, the young black wolf cubs could not jump that high. After trying a few times, they gave up and whined to act spoiled.
The snow wolf cubs were unwilling to be outdone and attempted to attract Lang Shuo’s attention with even louder cries.
Lang Shuo picked up a spoon and bowl and knocked them once.
The snow wolf cubs quieted down and blinked, their eyes full of anticipation.
“We’re eating soon. No random crying.”
“Awoo~” The few cubs who understood agreed, and the other cubs followed by howling too.
Lang Shuo waited until they had finished howling once before he began dividing the food.
One bowl per cub.
The Snow Wolf Tribe’s cubs had eaten all kinds of food before and were very practiced. Their eating manners were good.
The black wolf cubs’ side was no good. Lang Shuo had just seen the way they ate yesterday. They could make a mess even eating egg custard, so he could imagine what would happen if they ate soup and liquid.
Lang Shuo simply separated the meat slices from the soup and first fed them the meat slices. One slice per cub, and only after they finished would he give the next slice. This was a little slower than letting them eat directly, but they would not get it all over themselves.
Standing to feed them was too troublesome, so Lang Shuo simply sat down and placed the basket holding the cubs on his lap. The hand holding the basket held the bowl, while his other hand used chopsticks to distribute meat. Lang Yun helped from the side, switching bowls whenever one emptied.
After feeding cubs for so long, Lang Shuo had already trained himself. If he saw a cub eating too anxiously, he would wait a while before giving more. After several times, the cub would slow down, because it knew eating quickly did not bring extra food.
Lang Shuo fed, and the cubs lowered their heads and ate. Just as the atmosphere was good, the patrol member in the distance suddenly shouted, “Who’s there!”
Lang Shuo reacted extremely quickly. He stood up, picked up the basket, and was about to leave.
A familiar voice made his movements pause.
“Shuo—”
Lang Yong’s voice was full of excitement. On the final stretch, he had been half-dragged and half-pulled by the other members. He really did not have the slightest bit of strength left.
Not only was Lang Shuo familiar with Lang Yong’s voice, the patrol members were familiar with it too. But seeing Lang Yong being dragged over, their first reaction was that Lang Yong had been coerced, and their guard became even heavier.
Lang Yong immediately shook off his companion’s hand and stood straight, then explained, “This is our chief, and these are members of our tribe. Our tribe’s cubs went missing…”
Before Lang Yong finished speaking, the patrol team member immediately pointed in Lang Shuo’s direction. “They’re all over there. We picked up twenty-six—no, twenty-eight. How many cubs did your tribe lose?”
As he spoke, he felt a little sympathetic. Losing cubs was a serious matter. He did not dare imagine how anxious Lang Shuo and the chief would be if this happened in their tribe.
For an instant, Lang Yan and the group of black wolves felt as if they had hallucinated because they wanted so badly to find the cubs.
There were exactly twenty-eight cubs under three years old in the tribe. All of them had been brought back by the Snow Wolf Tribe.
After the patrol team member finished speaking, he saw the group fall silent and say nothing. Thinking the other party had misunderstood and thought their tribe had deliberately refused to return the cubs, he hurriedly explained, “We didn’t know the location of your residence. It was already very late when we found the cubs. The hunting party only brought them back.”
“Mm.” Lang Yan naturally did not care about this point. The cubs were still alive, and not one was missing. This was the best news he had ever heard.
The member beside Lang Yan knew that Lang Yan was not good with words and took the initiative to explain, “We’re happy. Yong led us searching all night before we found our way here. Eh? Where’s Yong?”
Lang Yong had already run to Lang Shuo’s side. Originally, he had been tired and hungry, but the moment he saw Lang Shuo, he squeezed out some more strength and hurried over.
Running to Lang Shuo’s side, Lang Yong immediately complained, “Shuo, I haven’t eaten for a day and a night!” His last meal had been yesterday morning.
Lang Shuo was shocked and hurriedly handed him the bowl of sliced meat soup beside him that he had not drunk. “Eat something first.”
Sub-adults, like cubs, could not endure hunger. Lang Shuo knew Lang Yong would not deliberately lie, because when they were hungry, they would only say they were hungry. They would not make up a time. If there was a fixed time, then it must be true. A whole day—just thinking about it made his heart ache.
Lang Yong drank a big mouthful and spilled out everything that had happened yesterday like pouring beans. From Priest Hu Yun drugging the members taking care of the cubs, to the cubs disappearing, to him staying awake the whole night on an empty stomach as he searched for the path Hu Yun had taken.
After saying it all, he concluded, “If I’d known earlier, I would have come straight to find you.”
No one had expected things to be this coincidental. If he had known, he would not have had to search all night.
Lang Shuo listened and lowered his head to look at the black wolf cubs in the basket. For a moment, he felt lingering fear. Just a little. Just a little, and these cubs would have been killed by that malicious priest.
Out of heartache, Lang Shuo took the bowl and continued feeding the cubs. Earlier, he had fed them halfway when he heard the patrol team’s movement and thought it was unfamiliar beastmen. Since they were members of the Black Wolf Tribe, there was no need to worry about safety.
When Lang Yan followed the patrol team member over, this was the scene he saw: Lang Shuo quietly feeding the cubs, while Lang Yong ate beside him and muttered nonstop.
As for the twenty-some cubs in the basket, not a single one paid attention to Lang Yong. All of them were looking at Lang Shuo.
Even when Lang Shuo finished feeding the meat slices, put down the bowl and chopsticks, and began gently wiping the cubs’ mouths and paws, the cubs still faced him, treating Lang Yong behind them like passing wind.
For an instant, Lang Yan wondered whether these were truly cubs from their tribe.
The other members did not care so much. Seeing that basket of cubs, they wept from joy and wished they could kowtow to Lang Shuo on the spot.
Found. They had finally found them.
Lang Shuo was wiping the cubs’ paws, avoiding the wounds on their paws, when he suddenly heard excited voices. Turning his head, he saw several unfamiliar beastmen. The hand holding the cubs tightened, and immediately afterward, he remembered these were members of the Black Wolf Tribe. He relaxed, greeted them, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Lang Yu come out of the cave. Only then did he completely feel at ease.
Something like dealing with members of another tribe should be left to his brother. He really was not good at it.
Lang Yu had heard Lang Yong’s heart-rending shout just now and thought the Black Wolf Tribe sub-adults had come again. He did not take it seriously. Yesterday’s hunting and searching for cubs had been truly exhausting, so he planned to sleep a little more. In the end, before long, he heard that the movement outside was not right and quickly came out.
He had not expected that as soon as he came out, he would see a group of Black Wolf Tribe members surrounding Lang Shuo. In a few steps, he walked to Lang Shuo’s side.
When the black wolves saw this, they took several steps back, instantly making Lang Yan, who had not been considered close just now, stand out clearly.
“Chief Lang Yan has come to pick up the cubs?” Lang Yu said, grabbing the basket and wanting to hand it to Lang Yan so this matter could be settled as soon as possible. In the end, he felt a small resistance.
Lang Yu lowered his head and saw several black wolf cubs hugging Lang Shuo’s hand. All the cubs had puffed up their fur, warily staring at him and Lang Yan.
Lang Yu: “???”
Your own chief is right there. Why are you puffing up?
Lang Yan: “…”
Not surprised at all.
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