Chapter 49
Aside from the cubs, the entire tribe was looking forward to the finished product. The energetic sub-adults in particular had woken before dawn, rubbing their hands eagerly as they waited beside the pottery kiln. As long as Lang Shuo opened his mouth, they could immediately get to work.
Lang Shuo knew they were curious, so he did not make everyone wait too long. He woke before the gathering team set out and guided the sub-adults in opening the kiln.
The temperature had been high during firing yesterday. Even after an entire night, the temperature inside still had not completely dropped. The moment the pottery kiln was opened, a wave of hot air rushed toward them.
The pottery was definitely hot too, so Lang Shuo did not let the sub-adults handle it. He used tongs and slowly took the pieces out.
Clay plates and bowls of consistent size and even thickness were taken out and placed on the open ground, immediately drawing a series of exclamations.
“This… succeeded?” Lang Nuo could not tell whether it had succeeded or not, so he could only ask Lang Shuo.
Lang Shuo pointed at the evenly colored ones, then pointed at those on one side that leaned toward an earthy color and those with cracks. “This kind succeeded. The ones behind are all failures.”
After all, it was the first firing. The temperature control had not been precise enough. One-third of the pieces inside had cracked, and among the rest, some had failed because they had been near the edge and the temperature had been too low. Calculated together, the successful ones made up half. There were twenty-six pieces in total, including plates and bowls.
After the temperature of the pottery dropped to the point that it could be touched by hand, Lang Shuo directly packed all of them into a basket and carried them to the river to wash.
The cleaned pottery was brought back, filled with water, and checked for leaks.
By noon, Lang Shuo took out the four pieces whose water levels had decreased. The remaining pieces were the truly successful ones.
Beastmen had large appetites, so these utensils had been shaped according to beastmen’s meal sizes. They were called bowls, but in reality, they were about the same as small basins. For the first batch of finished products, Lang Shuo did not plan to use them for meals, but instead to replace stone bowls and use them when marinating meat.
As for plates, they could be placed under baskets. This way, when roasted meat or fried meat was placed inside, there would be no need to line them with leaves. After eating, the plates could be rinsed with water and would be clean.
Because everyone did not get to use the clay plates and bowls, they were only amazed for that day. It was not until two days later, when the kiln was opened again.
Aside from the members who made the clay blanks and the few who helped move things and watch the fire, the other members all thought it would be the same as last time, that more bowls and plates had been fired. They were much calmer than last time.
This calmness lasted until Lang Shuo and the sub-adults moved the pottery inside out.
The clay jars, which were several circles larger than the clay bowls, immediately drew the surrounding members’ attention.
Lang Shi watched anxiously from the side and wanted to go forward to help, but Lang Yu pulled him back. “Don’t move.”
Lang Shi was strong. When moving this kind of delicate item that required care, he could easily break it. Lang Yu knew how much his younger brother valued these pottery pieces, and the larger the pottery, the harder it was to fire. At this kind of time, they could not let Lang Shi go over. That was not helping, but making trouble.
Even Lang Shi had been stopped by the chief, so the other members who wanted to lend a hand could only give up and wait for Lang Shuo and the sub-adults to slowly move everything.
This time, a total of six clay jars had been fired. The others were clay bowls. The clay jars had been placed where the heat was the most even, so relatively few cracked. Only one had cracks on it, and another uneven one failed. The remaining four were relatively successful.
As with last time, after the temperature dropped, Lang Shuo began testing for leaks. Among the four, one leaked slightly.
Lang Shuo made a mark on it with a stone knife. “Keep this one for bathing the cubs.”
Before this, there had been too few containers in the tribe that could hold water. Aside from stone pots, there were stone bowls. Neither kind of container could possibly be used to bathe cubs, and cubs could not directly wash in the river with cold water like older young wolves or other members. Therefore, each time, they could only mix warm water in bowls and wash the cubs’ feet and bottoms. If they wanted to bathe them, they could only wait until the weather grew hotter.
Now that they had the tools, Lang Shuo could not resist.
That very noon, Lang Shuo began boiling water and mixing bathwater.
Clay jars were more convenient than other containers for carrying water. They were light; they only needed to be handled carefully on the way. The sub-adults had new tools and were in the middle of feeling curious about them. They made trip after trip without feeling tired at all. If there had been more containers for holding water, they could have delivered water until night.
Aside from being light, another advantage of the clay jars was that they heated quickly. Stone pots were thick and heavy, and heating the pot itself took quite some time. With clay jars, there was no need to wait that long, so boiling water became much faster.
Lang Shuo planned to take advantage of the good sun today and wash all the cubs.
After hesitating for a while before the two colors of cubs, Lang Shuo decided to wash the white ones first. There were fewer snow wolf cubs, and recently they had not rolled around outside, so they should be a little easier to wash.
The mouth of the clay jar was a little smaller than that of a stone pot. Lang Shuo tested it. Placing four cubs inside at once would not be a problem. However, he did not know how good the cubs were at swimming, so he would wash them one by one first.
Lang Shuo mixed warm water, picked up a brave cub, and tentatively lowered it into the water.
The cub that touched the warm water kicked its legs excitedly, and Lang Shuo almost failed to hold on.
This reaction meant it truly liked it. Lang Shuo felt reassured. After placing the cub in, he slowly loosened his hand and changed to loosely supporting it from below.
The cub was not afraid at all. It paddled at the water with its paws and played happily. Its excited cries drew the cubs in the large basket to cry along with it.
Perhaps it was a racial talent. Once the cubs touched water, they began happily playing around and did not need Lang Shuo’s guidance at all.
Lang Shuo called Lang Yun over to help watch while he went to pick up the next cub.
After placing four cubs in one after another, Lang Shuo grabbed the first one, took out the prepared soap pod water, and began slowly scrubbing it.
Soap pods could clean oil and grease. The tribe often used them when tanning hides. After Lang Shuo discovered them, he had the gathering team collect more to keep for washing hair and bathing. For convenience, Lang Shuo was used to boiling them with other plants before using them. Every once in a while, he would boil some and place it into bamboo tubes, making it easier to use and also more economical.
When washing the cubs, Lang Shuo diluted it again with water.
Even though the cubs had not left the large baskets for so many days, their bodies were still a little dirty. When they did not touch water, it was not visible. But after applying soap pod water and gently rubbing for a while, Lang Yun, who had originally thought the cubs were already clean enough, fell silent.
Even the rubbed-out foam had changed color.
Lang Shuo had expected it. After all, the cubs used to move around freely inside the cave. They would definitely get dirty. It was just that they had all grown used to seeing them like that, so it had not been obvious.
After scrubbing, there was foam on the cub’s body, so he could no longer put it back into the clay jar. Lang Shuo placed the cub into the leaky clay bowl. The clay bowl happened to be just one circle larger than the cub. He poured water inside and rinsed off the foam on the cub’s body.
After rinsing the cub clean, Lang Shuo pointed at the large basket beside them and called Lang Nuo. “Lie down inside.”
Lang Nuo sighed and resigned himself to changing into his original form, lying in the large basket.
Lang Shuo placed the cub on Lang Nuo’s body.
When bathing cubs, aside from the water temperature and the container, the most important thing to pay attention to was drying them. But animal hides did not absorb water very well, so Lang Shuo thought of the sub-adults.
Beastmen’s body temperatures leaned high. After bathing, they only had to shake off water and did not need to wipe themselves. After a while, they would dry. Placing cubs on sub-adults and using the hair on the sub-adults’ bodies to rub away the water from the cubs was softer than animal hide and warmer than animal hide. Clean sub-adults had stable temperatures and were even more useful than dryers.
The later cubs were washed using the same method. They soaked in the clay jar for a while, were picked up and rubbed with soap pod water, rinsed clean, then placed on sub-adults for manual drying. It was assembly-line work.
It was not obvious just after washing. By the time Lang Shuo washed the last two snow wolf cubs, the first one had already dried. The color contrast between those that had been washed and those that had not was very clear.
“They were this dirty?” Human dryer Lang Nuo had warmed several cubs dry and could rest for a while. Seeing the huge difference, he looked surprised.
“They’ll be clean from now on,” Lang Shuo said. Before this, they had rolled around inside the cave, so of course they were dirty. In the future, if they did not run around randomly, they would not get that dirty.
After cleaning the last two snow wolf cubs, Lang Shuo poured out the water in the clay jar and told the member boiling water, “Boil more water.”
The dirtier ones were coming.
Black cubs did not show dirt, but the color of the water could not deceive people. For the snow wolf cubs, it only became visible after adding soap pod water. But the moment the black wolf cubs went in, the water visibly became dirty.
Lang Shuo could not help adding a little more soap pod water. Every cub was rubbed twice to make sure they were washed clean.
The cubs squinted comfortably and did not struggle. They let Lang Shuo wash their bellies, then their backs.
After being cleaned, they were placed on the sub-adults’ bodies just like before.
The black wolf cubs had relatively little contact with the sub-adults and were not that familiar with them. Seeing unfamiliar wolves, they could not help opening their mouths and biting.
The sub-adults did not care. They lay in the large baskets, closed their eyes, and slept. This feeling of sleeping in the sun was too comfortable. Usually, there was no such good opportunity. As for the wet cubs on their backs, they directly ignored them. In any case, once the cubs dried, Lang Shuo would take them away.
After fussing around for a while, the cubs saw that the sub-adults ignored them. Added to how comfortable they felt after bathing, they could not help closing their eyes too, lying on the sub-adults and sleeping soundly.
In their dreams, there were still all kinds of delicious things, and also Lang Shuo, who would gently stroke them.
Mm, so happy.
Because they had to be washed twice, washing the black wolf cubs was slower. It was only when the sun was about to set in the evening that all of them were finally washed clean. Fortunately, black absorbed heat, so the black wolf cubs dried even faster than the snow wolf cubs. When the hunting party and gathering team returned, all the cubs were already clean and fresh. Placed together, one litter looked even whiter, and the other even blacker.
When Lang Shi returned and saw Lang Shuo and the sub-adults all over here, he glanced at the cubs and exclaimed, “Goodness. The Black Wolf Tribe’s cubs really are black.”
So black they shone. No wonder they were called black wolves.
Lang Shuo: “…”
Lang Nuo moved his numb hands and feet, and hearing this, cut in, “We washed them several times, and the more we washed them, the blacker they got.”
If he had not been here the whole time, he would have suspected the cubs had been swapped.
Lang Shuo: “…”
Lang Shuo was too lazy to bother with these two. He picked up a black wolf cub and checked its paws. Although he had already confirmed before bathing that the wounds on the cub’s paws had healed, Lang Shuo was still a little uneasy, afraid he had missed something. Checking again made him feel more at ease.
After carefully looking once and seeing that the larger wounds had all scabbed, while the tiny wounds were only left with faint red marks and could be completely ignored, Lang Shuo finally felt reassured.
After checking, he kissed the cub’s paws and buried his face in the cub’s belly for a round of fierce inhaling. Only then did Lang Shuo reluctantly put the cub back.
Seeing this scene, Lang Yu silently shifted his gaze away. Holding one cub for half a day—this was the first time he had seen someone check a cub’s wounds like this.
Lang Shuo was completely unaware. He continued cuddling with the cubs. The freshly washed cubs carried a faint fragrance, their fur smooth and pleasant to touch. They felt especially good in the hand, making one reluctant to let go. No matter how long he held them, he would not get tired of it. He wished he could carry them in his arms at all times.
Only when he heard Lang Yu’s surprised question did Lang Shuo notice that someone had come.
“Chief Lang Yan is here? What is he here for?” Lang Yu asked the patrol member.
The crops planted by the Snow Wolf Tribe were slowly beginning to mature. Every day, the patrol team staying in the tribe circled outside the planting area to prevent prey from stealing food. Today, seeing the Black Wolf Tribe’s hunting party arrive, the patrol team first stopped them and came to report to Lang Yu.
Hearing Lang Yu’s question, the patrol team member replied, “They brought prey and said it’s thanks for taking care of the cubs.”
Lang Yu frowned. They had clearly agreed once every ten days. How had ten days passed?
Lang Yu did not understand, but they had already reached their tribe’s territory. They could not simply drive them back. That would instead make their tribe seem in the wrong.
Lang Shuo heard the conversation and warily glanced this way. Without waiting for Lang Yu to speak, he placed the cub in his arms back into the cradle, had the sub-adults move the frame closer to Lang Yun, then called Lang Yu. “Brother, when they come over later, tell them to be quieter.”
Lang Yu agreed. “Mm, I know.”
Lang Shuo protected the cubs and moved their position. The Black Wolf Tribe’s hunting party was noisy, and last time, they had almost frightened the cubs. It was better to stay farther away.
If it were not still early, far from the cubs’ sleeping time, Lang Shuo would have wanted to directly bring the cubs back into the cave to avoid scaring them again.
Neither group of cubs knew what Lang Shuo was thinking. They only felt that today was so comfortable. The black wolf cubs especially felt particularly light. Running back and forth felt more powerful than before, and they were so happy they could not stop.
If Lang Shuo knew the cubs’ feelings, he could definitely explain the reason. Half a liang of dirt could be washed off each cub. Of course they felt much lighter.
Although the distance had been widened, Lang Shuo was still worried. When he saw a dark mass of figures approaching from far away, he held the basket and gently rocked it, occasionally saying a few words to the cubs, telling them he was always there.
He raised his head and looked warily over there a few times. Only after confirming that this time, the hunting party members did not speak loudly did he feel reassured.
…
After Lang Yan arrived at the foot of the mountain, he absentmindedly exchanged a few words with Lang Yu and began searching for another figure.
When he finally found him in a corner, he saw Lang Shuo looking over vigilantly, with a basket of cubs beside him.
Discovering them approaching, the other party was very alert.
This situation made only two words come to Lang Yan’s mind.
Protecting cubs.
Beastmen caring for cubs all had the instinct to protect cubs. When they sensed the surroundings were unsafe, their instincts began guarding, and they would show hostility toward unfamiliar beastmen. Lang Shuo’s current state was about the same.
Lang Yan inwardly thought that this was bad.
For several days in a row, he had dreamed the same dream. Today, he had figured out the reason. Because the last time he saw Lang Shuo, Lang Shuo had been coaxing cubs, so in the dream, Lang Shuo was also coaxing cubs.
Dreaming was not a big deal. But in the dream, he always wanted to see the cub’s color. In the end, he would wake before getting close every time. Either he was woken by someone calling him, or he was woken by the sub-adults making noise. Today, no one had finally disturbed him, but his mind had gotten used to waking at the same time point and directly woke him up.
Every time he woke, he inexplicably felt a sense of irritation. Lang Yan felt that continuing like this would not do.
So he would see Lang Shuo once more and use a new memory to cover the scene from last time. This way, he would not dream about it anymore.
It was just that he had not expected Lang Shuo to like cubs this much. Last time, he had been beside the cubs. This time, he was too.
Seeing the same scene again, today was equivalent to a wasted trip. He would still dream at night.
Lang Yan frowned, not very satisfied.
Beside Lang Yan, Lang Qi was the first to notice the change in his chief. He thought to himself, here it comes again. Recently, Lang Yan’s temper had been much worse than before. It was not to the point of violently losing his temper, but in the tribe, Lang Yan did not need to actually get angry. If his face turned even a little colder, the whole tribe could be quiet for a long time.
Because Lang Yan got angry for no clear reason, Lang Qi did not even dare enter the cave anymore. If there was something, he would say it outside the cave and leave quickly. This decision had been correct. A few days ago, the sub-adults had fought early in the morning and woken Lang Yan. That day, they were punished to clean the cave where supplies were stored. They were not allowed to eat unless they cleaned it properly.
At first, Lang Qi did not know what was going on. After several days, he finally understood. This was the courtship period arriving.
The first half of breeding season was the time when beastmen courted everywhere. Beastmen in the courtship period were irritable and quick to anger. At that time, Lang Yan had shown no reaction at all, and some members in the tribe had found it strange. But Lang Yan was the chief, and no one could manage him. Looking at it now, it was not that he had no reaction. He was just later than others.
He had said it already. One still had to find a partner. What use was being irritable now? The sub-beastmen and female beastmen who wanted to find partners had already chosen partners.
Lang Qi muttered inwardly, though his face showed nothing. He only quietly reminded Lang Yan that if he had a temper, he should go back to the tribe to vent it. Frowning here—wasn’t that picking a fight? Be careful, or the Snow Wolf Tribe would chase them all away.
His own cub was still in the Snow Wolf Tribe. Lang Qi did not want to be driven out. He still wanted to look at his cub.
Lang Yan glanced at Lang Qi and felt that the other party was thinking random nonsense again. He did not want to bother with him, but he also did not continue frowning. He only glanced toward the cubs from time to time.
The changes in the two people’s expressions were clearly seen by Lang Yu. Although he did not understand the two of them and could not tell what they were thinking, over there, besides the cubs, there was also Lang Shuo. Lang Yan looked, and the other hunting party members also looked. It was too improper.
Thinking of this, Lang Yu spoke. “Have the cubs’ fathers come? They can go take a look. Those without cubs shouldn’t go over. Too many people will easily frighten the cubs.”
Hearing this, Lang Qi was delighted and no longer cared whether the chief was happy or not. It had been so long since he last saw his cub. He missed his own cub dearly. Let the chief continue being annoyed.
Lang Qi, who missed his cub, did not hesitate at all and rushed straight toward the cubs.
Beastmen with cubs were at least two or three years past adulthood, and some were even older. Compared to younger beastmen, they were steadier. They still remembered that the last time they came over, they had nearly frightened the cubs, so this time, their movements were very careful. They approached lightly and quietly, then asked Lang Shuo in low voices whether they could look.
Lang Shuo shook the cradle and turned the cubs to face them, watching the cubs’ reactions.
The playing cubs suddenly saw a shadow and raised their heads to look.
Mm, they did not recognize them.
Seeing strangers, the cubs did not care. Just like when they usually saw the Snow Wolf Tribe’s hunting party members, they quickly withdrew their gazes and continued playing.
Lang Shuo: “…”
Good news: the cubs were not afraid anymore.
Bad news: the cubs seemed to no longer recognize their fathers.
The gathering team had come to see the cubs during the two days after the cubs were found. Later, they even came once every other day. Sometimes, when they picked a lot of medicinal herbs, they would come continuously. The cubs had long since become close to the gathering team members. It was just that compared to their mothers or sub-beast fathers, they liked Lang Shuo more.
As for their fathers, whom they had not seen for several days, they had mostly forgotten them.
Cubs forgot things quickly. Adult beastmen looked very similar in their eyes, and they usually distinguished them by scent. However, after staying in the Snow Wolf Tribe for so long, even the scent on their own bodies had changed. Their fathers, whom they had not seen for a long time, were even more unfamiliar.
They did not know them, but Lang Shuo was beside them, and familiar beastmen like Lang Yun were there too. Added to the familiar cubs around them, the cubs were not afraid, but merely ignored them.
Lang Shuo looked at the cubs, then looked at the hunting party members beside him who were waiting to reunite with their cubs. Seeing a group of brave male beastmen all freeze in place, their eyes confused, he inexplicably felt a little heartache.
The cubs they kept close to their hearts actually did not recognize them. Anyone would feel sad if this happened to them, even if they were usually noisy.
Thinking from another perspective, if he woke up one day and did not remember Lang Yu, Lang Yu would definitely be sad. Similarly, if one day Lang Yu said he did not recognize him as his younger brother… He could not think about it anymore. Just thinking about it felt awful.
With a sigh, Lang Shuo hesitated for a moment and finally decided to comfort this group.
No matter whether they belonged to the same tribe or not, parents’ love for cubs was the same.
Lang Shuo said, “The cub—”
Before Lang Shuo could finish even one word, the opposite side spoke.
“That’s not right. Are these really our cubs?”
“I also feel something’s wrong. They shouldn’t look like this.”
“Did you find yours? My cub doesn’t seem to be here. Were they placed somewhere else?”
“So black? That doesn’t seem right.”
“…”
The group of black wolf members spoke one after another. At first, they were only suspicious, but later, they had already concluded that their own cubs were not inside. They spoke too quickly, and the few black wolf members who were only a little puzzled did not manage to get a word in the entire time.
Lang Shuo: “…”
Lang Shuo raised his hand to protect the cubs, discovered he could not protect them all, and simply took a piece of animal hide to cover the cubs. Then he pointed outside. “Go to the river and wash your eyes properly!”
They could not even recognize their own cubs. He definitely, absolutely had to tell the gathering team members about this tomorrow.
Lang Shuo chased away the group of black wolves who could not even recognize their own cubs, then removed the animal hide covering the cubs.
The cubs did not understand what had happened. They looked up at Lang Shuo and keenly sensed that Lang Shuo seemed to be in a bad mood. They hummed in confusion. “Wu?”
A black little wolf cub holding a ball lifted the ball up, wanting to give it to him to play with.
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Lang Shuo coaxed the cubs. In the next moment, he thought it through. That group of black wolf members did not dislike the cubs. It was that the cubs had changed a little too much these past few days, so they had not recognized them.
But no matter how much they had changed, they still should not have failed to distinguish them. So many people, and not a single one recognized them. They should still go wash up.
Lang Yan stood far away and did not know what happened over there. He only vaguely heard the hunting party members say something, then Lang Shuo pointed in a direction and all the hunting party members ran away. Most ran to the other side, while a few scattered ones walked toward him.
Lang Yan: “???”
Lang Yan asked Lang Qi, who was walking over with a conflicted expression, “What did you do? What are they doing?”
Lang Yan had a bad premonition. It seemed he should not have brought this group of members.
“They said the cubs didn’t look like they belonged to our tribe and couldn’t recognize which one was theirs. Shuo got angry and told them to go to the river and wash their eyes properly.” The more Lang Qi spoke, the more awkward he felt.
The few members beside Lang Qi lowered their heads and pretended to be mute. They had only felt the color seemed a little off and had not spoken, but Lang Shuo had already been angered by the ones who opened their mouths and told them to go wash together.
Lang Yan: “…”
Lang Yan said, “After washing their eyes, tell them to wash their brains properly too.”
Anyone with even a little brain could not say something like that. If the black wolf cubs in the Snow Wolf Tribe were not from their tribe, then whose could they be? Could the Snow Wolf Tribe have specially picked up a group of cubs to pretend they were theirs?
