All The Furry Creatures In The Beast World Are Farming With Me – CH53

Chapter 53

Newborn cubs only had a shallow layer of fluff on their bodies. Because their frames were small, they felt chubby and soft to the touch, different from other cubs.

Lang Shuo had rarely seen cubs in this state before. There were many people at school, and stray cats and dogs usually hid their young. Only after the cubs were a month old would they slowly bring them out to meet people. This was his first time holding cubs less than a month old, and their parents had personally delivered them over, so he could touch them openly and properly.

Because there were more cubs beside him, Lang Shuo was happy the entire day. When eating dinner, he placed the cubs beside him, making sure they remained within his sight at all times to prevent any accidents.

When it came to taking care of cubs, Lang Shuo was becoming more and more skilled. Otherwise, Lang Zhao and the others would not have been so at ease handing all the cubs over to him.

“Where are Zhao and the others?” Lang Yu asked after counting the number of cubs. This year, the tribe had given birth to nine cubs in total, and all of them were here.

“They went over there to help.” Lang Shuo pointed toward the pottery-making area. “It’ll be hot after a while. While it isn’t raining now, we should fire a few more batches of pottery.”

Ever since the first batch of pottery had been successfully fired, the number of pottery pieces in the tribe had grown more and more, and the variety had also increased quite a bit.

Aside from being waterproof and light, pottery had another advantage other containers could not replace: it could be made according to one’s needs. After bathing the cubs that day, Lang Shuo had made several bathtubs. Once they dried, they could be fired.

The specially made bathtubs were a little larger. If the cubs tucked in their paws, they could float on the water. If there were solid little cubs that sank to the bottom, they could avoid choking by standing up. They were safer than the previous clay jars, and because they had a larger area, the cubs could swim and play inside to their hearts’ content.

Perhaps inspired by his making these tools, other members had recently asked the members who made clay blanks to shape quite a few little tools they needed. There were also strangely styled ones. For example, the sub-adults had asked for a large brick with one side covered in spikes. The purpose was to rub the fur on their backs.

The weather was hot, and the fine fur on beastmen used for keeping warm would slowly fall off. At this time, they would feel a little itchy and liked rubbing against things everywhere. But smooth stones could not rub off that fine fur, while pointed stones could only rub a small area. Thus, the sub-adults thought of a new tool.

The first time Lang Shuo saw it, he was silent for a long time. It was his first time seeing someone make a torture tool for themselves.

However, the sub-adults often came up with strange ideas. As long as it did not delay proper work, Lang Shuo let them do as they pleased.

Lang Yu also thought of this matter. He glanced over there and then withdrew his gaze, continuing to ask, “Can you watch them all by yourself? Who do you think would be suitable to call over to help?”

Before, he had only been taking care of cubs from the same period, and the number had already been somewhat large. But Lang Yun could help from time to time, so Lang Yu had not brought this up. Now there were cubs from two different time periods. Cubs of different ages had different needs, making them more mentally draining to take care of.

Lang Shuo waved his hand. “No need. I can manage by myself.”

If they were human babies who cried, Lang Shuo might be flustered just taking care of one. But these were little wolf cubs who slept after eating their fill and could be petted freely after waking. Even if there were more, he could still take care of them. Besides, it was not as if he was watching them alone. Lang Yun would help, and the older beastmen working nearby would also take a look from time to time. There was absolutely no need to arrange extra members over.

Lang Yu nodded. After eating, he watched beside them for a while. Only after confirming the cubs were very obedient and not making trouble did he feel reassured.

Lang Shuo only needed to take care of the tiny cubs during the day. At night, the cubs’ mothers or sub-beast fathers would come pick them up. Without the tiny cubs, Lang Shuo picked up the cubs in the cradle and first checked whether they had eaten their fill.

The cubs looked similar in size, but their appetites were different. Some cubs could eat more and digested faster. Although they would not eat just anything, they became hungry faster. Lang Shuo suspected this was also a sign, though no one had paid much attention to it before.

Lang Shuo checked every cub, taking the chance to kiss and hug them for a while before putting them back. The cubs had slept a little longer during the day today, so they were still rather energetic and chased one another around to play.

The sub-adults were idle with nothing to do, so they came over and asked Lang Shuo what they would eat tomorrow. Although they knew Lang Shuo would prepare many delicious foods every day, asking before sleep increased the chance of dreaming about it. Dreams full of food were happiness.

Lang Shuo named several dishes. Seeing that the cubs would not sleep for a while, he said to Lang Nuo, “You all stay here and play with the cubs. I’m going to wash up.” The weather was hot. Even if he had not participated in hunting, he still wanted to wash in the river before sleeping.

Lang Nuo and the others had washed when they came back. The sub-adults might not be diligent about other things, but they never dawdled when getting into the water to bathe. Playing and roughhousing in the water was also one of their amusements. Hearing Lang Shuo’s words, the group of sub-adults agreed in unison and told Lang Shuo to rest assured.

Lang Shuo had some confidence in his tribe’s sub-adults. They were not as noisy as the black wolf sub-adults. Still, he spoke to Lang Yun, who was not far away, before leaving.

After Lang Shuo left, the sub-adults pulled up a few stalks of foxtail grass nearby and used them to tease the cubs.

But as they teased them, they discovered something. A few black hairs had appeared on the snow wolf cubs, and white hairs had grown on the black wolf cubs.

The first sub-adult to see it suspected he had seen wrong and rubbed his eyes. However, there were still hairs of a different color on the cubs. He immediately panicked and hurriedly called the other sub-adults over to look. “Look, have the cubs grown mixed fur?”

As soon as the other sub-adults heard this, they carefully observed and indeed saw another type of fur on the cubs. They instantly froze.

Bad. Raising the cubs together had caused a problem. The cubs were going to change color.

The sub-adults had never encountered this situation before and did not know what to do. They looked at one another and finally decided to wait for Lang Shuo to come back and decide.

Perhaps because it was shedding season, Lang Shuo felt his back was a little uncomfortable. He soaked in the water for a while longer before going ashore, thinking that he would come over during the day tomorrow and change into beast form to check his shedding condition.

Lang Shuo’s relaxed mood came to an abrupt stop when he saw the panicked sub-adults.

Seeing Lang Shuo return, the sub-adults seemed to have found their pillar and immediately grabbed Lang Shuo’s arm. “Shuo, look at the cubs.”

Hearing this, Lang Shuo’s vision went dark, and he first went to check the cubs.

However, the cubs were the same as when he had left. Those playing were playing, and those biting tails were biting tails.

Seeing that he had not noticed, Lang Nuo pointed at one of them. “This one grew white fur, and that one over there grew black fur.”

At first, Lang Shuo thought he was talking about food going moldy.

When he heard that it was a fur problem, Lang Shuo’s raised heart settled back down. He picked up the cub Lang Nuo mentioned to check.

There were indeed a few white hairs on its back, very obvious on the black wolf cub who had just been washed clean a few days ago.

Lang Shuo did not touch the cub yet and instead looked around.

The sub-adults all had worried faces.

Lang Shuo was speechless for a moment. He reached out and pinched up the white hairs on top.

The sub-adults were stunned. That was enough?

Seeing that they still had not reacted, Lang Shuo switched to another snow wolf cub. This time, he did not pinch with his fingers. Instead, he stroked the cub once, then opened his hand. Several black hairs had appeared on his palm.

The cub’s body was clean.

“The cubs are shedding. The loose fur rubbed onto them. They didn’t grow mixed fur.”

Sub-adults and adult beastmen shed, and cubs were also shedding. It was just that the two colors of cubs had been fed separately before, so no one had noticed. Today, he had held these cubs to see whether they were hungry, causing the cubs to pick up another color of fur.

It was a false alarm. The sub-adults let out a breath of relief.

The sub-adult who had discovered it first patted his chest. “That scared me to death. I thought the cubs were going to become mixed-furred.”

If they had other colors of fur, they could not be called snow wolves anymore. For a moment, he had almost thought the cubs were going to change species.

Lang Shuo: “…”

In the end, sub-adults were still sub-adults. Being reliable sometimes and unreliable at other times was their true nature.

Lang Shuo checked the other cubs again and removed all the loose fur that had rubbed onto the cubs.

The cubs were rubbed so comfortably that they narrowed their eyes contentedly, their heads burrowing into his hand.

Lang Shuo gently scratched them twice.

The cubs became even happier.

More fine fur appeared in Lang Shuo’s hand, and he immediately understood why the cubs’ playtime had become longer recently. They were probably looking for chances to rub off the loose fur on their bodies.

But this method was a little inefficient. Lang Shuo rubbed the cubs. “I’ll make combs for you tomorrow.”

For beastmen, making combs was not difficult. It only required patience. In the morning, Lang Shuo told the tool-making members how to make a comb, and by noon, he received the finished product.

Because it was for cubs, it was relatively small and made faster. Lang Shuo checked it once. There were no barbs. He then ordered two more small ones and two large ones.

“You need this many?” The other party was surprised. The combs they made were very sturdy and would not break easily. Even if there were quite a few cubs, there was no need to make so many at once, right?

“The young wolves need to use them too,” Lang Shuo explained. Breeding season was about to end, and growing season was about to arrive. The time in between was the wolf race’s shedding period. Adult wolves exercised a lot, and at worst, they could find external objects to help like the sub-adults. Young wolves had tender skin. Randomly rubbing against stones could injure them. Using combs was more convenient.

“All right. We’ll make them for you today.” Before making the first comb, everyone had not even known what a comb was, so the speed was relatively slow. Added to the time Lang Shuo spent describing it to them, it had taken all morning. Making new ones later would not take so long.

Lang Shuo nodded, thinking that once the large combs were done, he would let the sub-adults try them too. Just looking at that spiked clay blank made him feel pain. They should try to use combs instead.

Carrying the comb, he returned to the cubs. Lang Shuo first looked at the tiny cubs. They had just been fed their second milk meal, and every single one had eaten until their bellies were round. They lay in the basket on their backs, sleeping with their limbs spread. On their bellies were the animal hides Lang Shuo had covered them with.

Tiny cubs slept a lot and would not wake for a while. Lang Shuo carried out an awake snow wolf cub from the cradle, first stroked its head to let the cub relax, then took out the comb and began gently combing its fur.

When he combed the first stroke, the cub was a little unaccustomed to it and turned its head, wanting to see what was behind it. Lang Shuo lightened his movements and gently brushed its back several times.

Discovering that the unfamiliar object would not bring it danger and was even a little comfortable, the cub slowly stopped resisting.

After combing a few strokes, Lang Shuo mastered the technique. After that, the cub did not move around at all. After he finished combing, it even did not want to leave, holding Lang Shuo’s hand and humming.

Lang Shuo collected the fine fur from the comb, rolled it into a ball, and placed it beside him. Then he picked up the cub and kissed it. “Good cub. I’ll comb you again tomorrow.” Then he put the cub back and grabbed the next one.

Almost every cub had the same reaction. At first, they did not know what Lang Shuo wanted to do and were a little resistant. After two or three strokes, they gradually adapted. In the end, they were reluctant to part and wanted to do it again.

Lang Shuo cruelly ignored the cubs’ requests. Fur could not be combed too frequently. He lowered his head and rolled all the fine fur combed off the cubs into balls, placing them together. From the two litters of cubs, he combed out nearly half a basket of fine fur.

“This much?” Lang Yun had been beside him the whole time and knew all this had been combed off the cubs. Looking at a single cub, it had not felt obvious. Now, suddenly seeing all of it collected together, she was somewhat shocked.

She had never noticed before that cubs could shed this much fur.

“Some loose fur was also combed off,” Lang Shuo explained. If they shed naturally, the process would last relatively long, with a little falling each day. Using a comb had taken off some loose fur that had not yet fully fallen, so it looked like a lot.

After cleaning the comb, Lang Shuo tried it and found it could still continue being used. He asked the three cubs sitting nearby, “Do you want to be combed?”

Two cubs hesitated slightly. Only the boldest one nodded. “Want.”

Lang Shuo picked the cub up and placed him on his lap. “Come, change into beast form.”

After four- or five-year-old cubs changed into beast form, they were about the same size as those two- or three-year-old cubs. Lang Shuo combed the cub’s fur using the same method as before.

A moment later, the cub who had changed back into human form looked at Lang Shuo with shining eyes. “It really feels so comfortable.”

“Right?” Lang Shuo rubbed the cub’s fluffy hair and asked the other two cubs, “What about you two? Do you want to be combed?”

The cubs looked at their happy companion and nodded.

Lang Shuo took turns combing the two cubs’ fur, likewise collecting the fur. Then he began calling according to age.

Aside from those who had changed into human form after snow season, the remaining ones were all half-grown young wolves. When it was Lang Hui and the others’ turn, Lang Shuo went to get the new combs and told the tool-making members at the same time that they could make more. Combing fur was quite comfortable.

The larger comb was the size of an adult wolf’s palm, with longer teeth, suitable for young wolves like Lang Hui.

After a fifteen-year-old young wolf changed into beast form, he looked like a small dog, and he shed even more fur. When combing cubs, Lang Shuo cleaned the comb after each one. When combing young wolves, he had to clean the comb after every two strokes. One young wolf’s fur was equal to four or five cubs.

Over the course of one afternoon, Lang Shuo combed all the cubs and young wolves in the tribe. No matter their age, their reaction after being combed was the same. They enjoyed it immensely.

When the sub-adults returned, Lang Shuo had just finished combing the last young wolf. Seeing this scene, the sub-adults immediately gathered around.

“Shuo, what are you doing?” Lang Nuo squeezed between the young wolf and Lang Shuo and asked.

“Combing fur.” Lang Shuo removed the fine fur from the comb and asked him, “Do you want to be combed?”

Lang Nuo looked at the young wolf, who still seemed unsatisfied, and immediately nodded. “Yes!”

“Go wash first. Wash clean, then come back.” Lang Shuo said. After running outside for a whole day, when the sub-adults changed into beast form, their bodies were covered in dust. They had to wash clean before their fur could be combed.

Lang Nuo agreed and went to the river with the other sub-adults. They quickly took a battle-speed bath. After washing, they directly ran back in beast form.

Lang Shuo looked at the sub-adult, whose appearance was almost no different from an adult snow wolf, and patted the straw mat he had just laid down. “Sit here.”

He could hold the cubs and young wolves while combing them, but the sub-adults were large. Lang Shuo had specially prepared a large straw mat.

Lang Nuo immediately sat in front of Lang Shuo.

Lang Shuo picked up the comb. Before combing, he first tidied the tangled fur on Lang Nuo’s back. Snow wolves’ fur was somewhat long. The sub-adults’ bodies were close to adult snow wolves, and their fur was longer than the young wolves’. Added to them being outside all day, there were quite a lot of tangled places. Even bathing could not make it spread out on its own. It needed to be combed open little by little.

Only after undoing all the tangled fur did Lang Shuo officially begin combing.

Sub-adults in shedding season were simply like dandelions. Even without a comb, just grabbing a handful brought up shed fur. After combing a few times, Lang Shuo understood why the sub-adults had wanted to use pottery to scrape their backs. The shedding was too severe. If he had not known what the sub-adults ate every day, Lang Shuo would have suspected whether this was malnutrition.

Because of the tangled fur and severe shedding, Lang Shuo worked until it was almost dark before he finished combing Lang Nuo. Combing one sub-adult was a heavier workload than combing all the cubs and young wolves combined. The collected fur was also the most, with one sub-adult equaling more than a dozen cubs.

After finishing combing Lang Nuo, Lang Shuo patted his shoulder and reminded him he could change back. Then he handed him the comb. “You comb the next person. Later, switch people and continue lining up like this. You remember all the steps I used to comb you just now, right?”

If he combed all eight sub-adults himself, his arms might not be able to lift tomorrow. It was better to let them handle this work themselves. In any case, combing fur was not very difficult.

Lang Nuo loudly agreed. “I remember!”

Another sub-adult changed into beast form and crouched in the spot Lang Nuo had just stayed.

Lang Nuo squatted down to comb the fur, and Lang Shuo watched from the side.

Lang Nuo held the comb, and his posture looked quite like the real thing.

Lang Shuo nodded when he saw it. Not bad. The posture was right.

In the next instant, he saw Lang Nuo place the comb on the sub-adult’s back and scrape hard. Immediately after, a wolf-murder scream rang beside his ears.

“Awooowooowooowooo!” Hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts!

Lang Shuo: “!!!”

Lang Shuo said, “Lighter, lighter! Untangle the knots first!”

Hearing this, Lang Nuo withdrew his hand guiltily. He had forgotten. He had only been thinking about how comfortable it was when being combed. The other steps had completely vanished from his mind.

Lang Shuo did not dare let him improvise by himself anymore and guided him step by step from the side.

The other sub-adults listened seriously. This time, they watched much more carefully than when Lang Shuo had combed Lang Nuo just now. While learning, they did not forget to supervise the members beside them, ensuring their companions were also listening seriously. After all, they would be combing each other later.

After Lang Shuo finished explaining, he told them that there were still combs at the tool-making members’ side.

One sub-adult ran over and, a moment later, returned with four combs.

The members were becoming faster and faster at making combs. When he had taken the large comb, he had said they could make more and that other members could use them too. In only half an afternoon, they had already made four.

The remaining six sub-adults formed pairs. Lang Shuo placed the last comb beside him until Lang Yu returned.

When Lang Yu returned, the sub-adults were still helping one another comb their fur. Seeing the sub-adults sitting without proper posture, Lang Yu frowned slightly.

“They’re combing fur. Brother, do you want to change into beast form? I’ll help you comb?” Lang Shuo asked.

The displeasure on Lang Yu’s face quickly faded. He nodded. “All right.”

After speaking, he did not wait for Lang Shuo to instruct him. He went to the river himself to rinse off the dust on his body.

Lang Shuo rarely saw Lang Yu in beast form. Compared to the sub-adults, Lang Yu’s beast form was even more majestic. Just looking at him gave a sense of reliability, full of security.

Unlike the sub-adults, who changed into beast form and played around from time to time, aside from hunting, Lang Yu did not change into beast form at other times and would not fight either. The fur on his body was very smooth and could be combed directly.

However, the amount of fine fur on Lang Yu was no less than the sub-adults’.

The wooden comb teeth fell across his back, easing the discomfort brought by shedding recently. Comfortable and relaxing. Lang Yu rarely had such an easy moment. His younger brother’s movements were extremely gentle. At this moment, he was actually somewhat envious of those cubs Lang Shuo cared for every day.

Just as he closed his eyes and enjoyed his younger brother’s care, Lang Yu suddenly heard footsteps different from the gathering team’s. His eyes snapped open, and he looked toward the source of the sound.

It was Black Wolf Tribe members again.

The fur-combing work happened to be reaching its end. After his younger brother withdrew his hand, Lang Yu stood up, changed into human form, and draped on his animal hide. “You caught another curved-horned beast?” The patrol team members had directly brought the people over, so they could only have come with a milk-producing curved-horned beast. Recently, only curved-horned beasts received this treatment.

Lang Yan nodded. “Caught one.” His gaze swept over Lang Shuo, who was rolling up fur, and the sub-adult snow wolves beside Lang Shuo who were combing one another’s fur.

Lang Yu noticed his line of sight and explained, “A comb our tribe made. It combs out all the shed fur.”

His younger brother had researched it. Purely showing off. Not sharing.

Hearing this, the Black Wolf Tribe members revealed envious gazes.

Why didn’t their tribe have something this good? Even Snow Wolf Tribe members did not like shedding season, let alone them. Every time shedding season arrived, they wished they could pull off all the fur on their bodies, because it was truly uncomfortable.

At this moment, seeing the sub-adults bring out a huge handful of fine fur with each stroke, they wished they could immediately become the one being combed. Looking at the sub-adults lying there, they were almost falling asleep. One glance showed it was extremely comfortable.

The group of black wolves unanimously turned their gazes toward Lang Yan.

Lang Yan did not want to bother with them, but it was undeniable that combing fur should be very comfortable. Otherwise, Lang Yu, as a chief, would not have changed into beast form and lain here.

Unfortunately, Lang Yu did not know his thoughts. Otherwise, he would definitely refute him. His willingness to lie here had nothing to do with whether it was comfortable or not. If his younger brother was happy, forget changing into beast form, when they were young, he had even changed into beast form and carried his younger brother around on his back.

Of course, combing fur was indeed quite comfortable and put one in a pleasant mood. At this moment, even the Black Wolf Tribe did not look that unpleasant to him.

The sub-adults enjoying their companions’ fur-combing service turned over and warily looked at the Black Wolf Tribe members.

The presence of these black wolves’ gazes was too strong. It kept feeling like they wanted to snatch their combs.

The sub-adults were being vigilant when they heard Lang Yan ask whether they could exchange food for combs.

The sub-adults immediately looked at Lang Shuo, afraid Lang Shuo would directly agree.

They had only enjoyed them for one day!

They could catch food too!

Although they caught a little less, they would do their best to help with more work.

Lang Yu also looked at his younger brother. He had returned late today and had only experienced the feeling of combing fur just now. He did not know whether making combs was troublesome.

Lang Shuo thought for a moment and said, “We can exchange, but it has to be with salt.”

The tribe temporarily did not lack food. The potatoes planted after snow season could be harvested in a while. There were fewer other crops planted, but added together, they could still harvest quite a lot. After calculating it, what they needed most was salt.

Lang Yan said, “That works.”

This was not the first cooperation between the two tribes, so both sides were very straightforward. They quickly reached an agreement. The Black Wolf Tribe would provide half a back basket of salt, and the Snow Wolf Tribe would hand them one hundred combs within half a month.

The originally vigilant sub-adults heard that it was not the combs they were currently using, but newly made ones, and felt reassured. They closed their eyes and continued enjoying their companions’ fur-combing service.

Lang Yan witnessed the changes in the sub-adult snow wolves’ expressions. In his heart, he had only one wish: that after the combs were brought back, that group of sub-adults in their tribe would also be this quiet and not howl randomly at the slightest thing.

Click here to download the advance chapters (PDF & EPUB)