Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – CH105

Chapter 105

The lioness who had come seeking help was Shi Ning.

Her experience was eerily similar to the beastmen who had been held captive by the Red Eagle Tribe.

Hearing her story, Bai Tu immediately thought of the pregnant beastmen left behind there and wondered what had become of them.

Back then, time had been extremely tight—Bai Tu and Hei Xiao had spent a single day organizing the rescue and relocation of the captives and cubs from the Red Eagle Tribe, with barely any time to rest.

Since pregnant beastmen weren’t fit for long-distance travel, they had remained behind.

It was only after leaving that Bai Tu discovered what Wu Lai had done to them—all for the purpose of breeding smaller cubs.

Shi Ning’s story mirrored those of Wu Lai’s captives—except for one thing:

She had not been forced to drink blood.

But everything else was the same—except this time, it was her own tribe that had done this to her.

Shi Ning had become mates with Shi Ken of the Black Lion Tribe two years ago.

The two had grown up together and had a stronger bond than most lions, and Shi Ken had never intended to take a second mate. Many beastmen had envied their relationship.

Last year, when Shi Ning became pregnant, Shi Ken had insisted that hunting and working were too dangerous and told her to stay in the cave until she gave birth.

The Black Lion Tribe was large, and since lions were strong, it was common for one mate to rest while the other provided for them.

Shi Ning reluctantly agreed, believing that Shi Ken was doing this for the sake of their cub.

But that was when the nightmare began.

Shi Ken’s control over her grew more and more extreme.

At first, he simply wouldn’t let her leave the mountain.

Then, he locked her inside the cave entirely.

No matter what she said, he refused to let her go outside.

When the birth of their cub was imminent, Shi Ken suddenly took her to another cave—where she found herself among a group of pregnant beastmen.

The entire cave was filled with pregnant lionesses.

Unlike the others, Shi Ken continued bringing her food every day.

But Shi Ning couldn’t eat.

After she gave birth, someone immediately took her newborn cub away.

Then, Shi Ken came back to find her.

He told her that without the cub, they could go back to the way things were before.

Shi Ning pretended to comply, hoping to find out where her cub had been taken.

But before she could discover the truth, Shi Ken forced himself on her.

When she became pregnant again, Shi Ken did the exact same thing.

He locked her up, refused to let her speak to anyone, and isolated her from the rest of the captives.

This time, Shi Ning knew exactly what would happen if she didn’t find a way out.

She wasn’t just fighting for herself now—she was fighting for her unborn cub too.

So she began manipulating Shi Ken, convincing him to let her leave.

Perhaps because of the bond they had in their youth, Shi Ken eventually relented and took her out of the cave.

That was when Shi Ning seized her chance to escape.

Having spent the past two years imprisoned, Shi Ning had rarely left the Black Lion Tribe’s territory.

Now that she was finally free, she had no idea where to go.

All she could remember was that the Snow Rabbit Tribe lay in this direction—so she headed there, hoping to seek asylum.

According to Shi Ning, there were at least a dozen lionesses still trapped in that cave.

Every time one gave birth, their cub was immediately taken away.

Shortly after, the mother would be taken out of the cave, only to return again—pregnant once more.

“They’re insane. They’re all insane!”

Shi Ning trembled uncontrollably as she described the conditions in the cave.

She clutched her stomach as she spoke, prompting Bai Tu to send for food immediately.

Shi Ning had been starving for days, doing everything she could to manipulate Shi Ken into letting her go.

Now, seeing food being brought to her by a stranger, she suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion.

Bai Tu gently advised her, “Take your time. Eat first, and we’ll talk afterward.”

Once she had finished her meal, Shi Ning took a deep breath—

Then, in one long recounting, she revealed everything she had overheard inside the cave.

The beastmen imprisoned in the birthing cave were a mix of two groups: Some were captives from other tribes, abducted by the Black Lion Tribe. Others had been sent there by their own mates.

The earliest captives had already given birth multiple times, and each of their cubs had been taken away. Meanwhile, their mates back in the tribe had been steadily rising in status.

Bai Tu noted this detail carefully.

His instincts told him that these two facts were connected.

And when he thought back to Shi Wu’s agitation and rage upon hearing that their cubs had been taken by the Snow Rabbit Tribe, Bai Tu rubbed his temples.

If his suspicions were correct, Shi Wu had never been truly concerned about the cubs themselves.

Instead, he had feared what would happen if Wu Lai found out that the cubs had been taken.

That would explain why Shi Wu had been so desperate to attack the Snow Rabbit Tribe—he had wanted to bring back the cubs as quickly as possible and use them to win Wu Lai’s favor.

But his plan had been doomed from the start.

Even if the Black Lion Tribe had won the battle, they still wouldn’t have been able to contact Wu Lai.

After all, Wu Lai was long dead.

Thinking back to Tu Cheng’s foolish attempt to recruit Bao Duo, Bai Tu sighed.

After comforting Shi Ning, he had her escorted to Shi Jia’s residence to rest.

Then, he sent an immediate message to Bai Qi.

The message instructed all external work areas to increase security—they couldn’t allow anyone else to escape.

Tu Cheng’s failed escape attempt had already put every other work area on high alert.

As a result, the guards became even stricter.

In truth, the prisoners had never really had a chance to escape before.

But now, with Bai Tu’s orders, security was airtight.

*

Tu Cheng had wanted to confirm whether Hu Bu was truly dead, but he hadn’t found an opportunity to ask anyone he trusted.

Instead, he quickly noticed something else—everyone seemed to be targeting him.

And he wasn’t imagining it, the reason was simple.

Yes, everyone in the labor camp was a criminal in some form.

But over time, the guards had stopped caring about the past.

As long as a prisoner produced the required labor, they were left alone.

However, after Tu Cheng’s escape attempt, everything changed.

The guards, who used to chat casually, now barely spoke.

They kept their eyes locked on the prisoners at all times, making slacking off impossible.

Since the prisoners couldn’t blame the guards, their anger turned to Tu Cheng.

If not for him, things would still be like before—they could occasionally slack off without issue.

Now?

Even going to relieve themselves felt like they were being monitored.

The work area had a strict no-fighting policy, but that didn’t mean revenge was impossible.

The prisoners found creative ways to punish Tu Cheng: They would “accidentally” knock over his food at mealtime. They would wake him up while he rested. They would intentionally nitpick his work, forcing him to redo tasks.

Tu Cheng’s escape attempt and his ambitions to overthrow the Snow Rabbit Tribe had made him an easy target.

However, those who tormented him weren’t doing it because of his treason— They were punishing him for making their lives harder.

The guards, aware of the situation, eventually intervened.

Rather than using physical punishment, they simply withheld a meal from everyone involved.

Beastmen were naturally resilient—a few punches wouldn’t hurt much, but serious injuries would slow down their work.

So instead of beatings, the guards used labor and food as punishment. Extra labor hours increased production. Skipping a meal saved food supplies.

And since hungry or exhausted prisoners didn’t have the energy to cause trouble, this method was the most effective.

Tu Cheng had thought his suffering would never end, but when he realized the guards were protecting him, his spirits lifted.

In the end, he was still a rabbit beastman, and these guards were also from the Rabbit Tribe.

Compared to the lions around him, they were still his kin.

What Tu Cheng didn’t realize was that the guards were only keeping order, not protecting him personally.

Still, this shift in treatment warped his perspective.

Starting the next day, Tu Cheng began looking at the lion beastmen differently.

He convinced himself that he wasn’t like them—he was a rabbit, not a lion.

With this thought, he stopped associating with them, focusing entirely on Tu Lei, believing he was his only true ally.

Unfortunately for Tu Cheng, Tu Lei was even more useless than he had imagined.

By the time Tu Cheng realized how unreliable Tu Lei was, it was too late.

He had tried to find another ally, but— The lions ignored him, the vulture beastmen refused to talk to him and any suspicious movement from him was immediately reported to the guards.

It was as if everyone was watching his every move, waiting for him to slip up.

Even the slightest mistake could be reported.

It became impossible for him to escape—even working too slowly was enough to get extra scrutiny.

With no allies and no way to escape, Tu Cheng could only cling to one hope— That the Black Lion Tribe would attack the Snow Rabbit Tribe again.

Surely, the powerful lion beastmen of the Black Lion Tribe would try again, right?

Tu Cheng stared in the direction of the Black Lion Tribe, praying for their return.

But the attack he had been waiting for never came.

Instead— A new batch of unfamiliar prisoners arrived at the labor camp.

After hearing Shi Ning’s story, Bai Tu immediately began an investigation.

No matter how pitiful Shi Ning was, he wouldn’t blindly rush in to rescue captives based on one person’s account.

Whether Shi Ning was telling the truth or not, they couldn’t just march into another tribe’s territory.

In the past, before relations between lion tribes became so tense, it was common for lions from different tribes to become mates.

These cross-tribal relationships had once been the main way that lion tribes gathered information on each other.

Even though it was well known that some lions leaked information to outsiders, there were too many scattered across different tribes to track them all down.

Now, Bai Tu had more than just the Wild Lion Tribe to assist him.

The White Lion Tribe and the Yellow Lion Tribe had also offered to help investigate.

Surprisingly, the Black Lion Tribe had not made much effort to hide the fact that they were imprisoning beastmen.

However, the explanation they gave outsiders was completely different from what Shi Ning had described.

“The male lions just love their mates too much. They want them to only look at them, so they throw away the cubs.”

This ridiculous excuse was something that no rational person would believe.

Before Bai Tu and Bai An could even discuss whether to intervene, the Yellow Lion Tribe had already acted.

Not only did they rescue all the imprisoned beastmen, but they also captured several members of the Black Lion Tribe—including some of the mates who had imprisoned their own partners.

Why the Sudden Attack?

The reason for the Yellow Lion Tribe’s swift action was simple— Shi Su’s younger sister had also been imprisoned.

Shi Wu had overestimated his tribe’s strength and underestimated the other lion tribes.

Even though he knew that Shi Su was the leader of the Yellow Lion Tribe, he hadn’t been concerned.

He had assumed that their tribal relations had weakened over time and that Shi Su wouldn’t notice his sister’s disappearance anytime soon.

He had never imagined that the Yellow Lion Tribe would secretly investigate after receiving information from the Snow Rabbit Tribe.

Even though Shi Su’s sister had technically left the tribe, family bonds among beastmen were strong.

When Shi Su learned the truth, he didn’t hesitate— He led his warriors to attack the Black Lion Tribe while they were off guard.

By the time Bai Tu received word of the attack, Shi Su had already delivered the rescued beastmen to the Snow Rabbit Tribe.

Shi Su knew that Bai Tu’s tribe was well-organized and had plenty of ongoing work projects.

So he offered to trade the rescued beastmen for food.

Many of the rescued beastmen were even thinner than Shi Ning.

The Yellow Lion Tribe had barely enough food to feed their own people— Let alone an extra dozen or so beastmen, especially pregnant ones.

Some of these beastmen were on the verge of giving birth, which meant their food consumption would only increase.

Not every tribe had the same level of resources as Bai Tu.

The Yellow Lion Tribe had little work to do during winter.

If they kept these captured beastmen, they would have to feed them for free until the season ended.

That was a major loss.

However, releasing them felt too easy—they wanted some form of compensation.

At the suggestion of his advisors, Shi Su remembered that the Snow Rabbit Tribe and Blood Wolf Tribe had plenty of work opportunities.

And so, he delivered the beastmen to Bai Tu.

Since these beastmen had been rescued directly from the Black Lion Tribe, all of the pregnant beastmen had traveled with them.

Bai Tu looked at the malnourished, hollow-eyed beastmen, their bodies reduced to skin and bones, and his mind flashed back to someone else.

For so long, his memories had been hazy, surfacing only in fragments and dreams.

But this sight struck him deeply.

“Let’s eat first,” Bai Tu said at last.

In truth, his workforce was already full.

The mines had Shi Hong’s loyal followers and the vulture beastmen and the Snow Rabbit Tribe, Blood Wolf Tribe, and Leopard Tribe were enough to handle all other jobs.

But when he thought about why Shi Su had chosen to trade beastmen for food, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

After discussing with Bai An, Bai Tu finally gave Shi Su an answer:

“We can give you some food, but it won’t be all meat. It will include some corn as well.”

Even though corn had been a staple for months, many beastmen still weren’t fully accustomed to it.

Having a bowl of corn porridge or one or two roasted corn cobs in a meal was acceptable, but eating too much corn at once was still unappetizing for most.

Why Corn Instead of Wheat? Compared to corn, wheat was consumed at a much faster rate.

Because of this, their wheat supply was already running low, and Bai Tu wasn’t about to give any away.

Corn, however, was still abundant, so he was willing to share more of it with the Yellow Lion Tribe.

“Agreed.”

Shi Su accepted the deal without hesitation.

He had visited the Snow Rabbit Tribe multiple times and had eaten corn before.

He knew it wasn’t as satisfying as meat, but that didn’t matter—

He could distribute the corn among his entire tribe, which would allow him to reserve more meat for the pregnant beastmen.

While the Yellow Lion Tribe didn’t lack manpower, Bai Tu quickly found work for the newly arrived lions.

He assigned all of them to the mines.

At present, the production of various minerals had already met the tribe’s needs, but resources like coal could always be stockpiled for future use.

By extracting more now, they wouldn’t have to worry about shortages when spring arrived and these workers were assigned new tasks.

After finishing the work assignments, Bai Tu rubbed his wrist and muttered to himself,

“I’m definitely charging Shi Su a labor fee when winter ends.”

Despite saying this, he immediately began writing on a bamboo scroll, listing the food rations for the next month that would be sent to the Yellow Lion Tribe.

To prevent the Yellow Lion Tribe from overeating or wasting food, Bai Tu decided not to send everything at once.

Instead, he divided the supplies into three separate shipments: The first batch was being sent with Shi Su now. The second batch would be sent next month. The final batch would be delivered at the end of winter, just before spring.

By then, hunting season would resume, and the Yellow Lion Tribe would no longer need external support.

After finalizing the food rations, Bai Tu set the list aside and went to the bedroom to check on the cubs.

For some reason, he felt that the two little ones had been growing faster than before.

Their size hadn’t changed drastically, but their weight had noticeably increased.

Before, they had felt like light, fluffy balls of fur—now, they were plump, solid little meatballs resting in his hands.

While playing with the cubs, Bai Tu suddenly spoke up, “Do you think Shi Ken has something wrong with his head?”

Unlike the other captured beastmen from the Black Lion Tribe, Shi Ken had surrendered voluntarily.

His reason for doing so? He had learned that Shi Ning was in the Snow Rabbit Tribe.

Bai Tu found Shi Ken’s behavior completely absurd.

The moment Shi Ken was captured, his first question was about Shi Ning’s condition.

Then, as soon as he saw Shi Ning, he completely lost control.

He broke free from the two beastmen restraining him and ran toward Shi Ning, his eyes filled with deep affection.

If no one had known what he had done, it would have looked like a heartwarming reunion between lovers.

But in reality, Shi Ning was terrified of him.

The moment she laid eyes on him, she began trembling uncontrollably.

The small amount of color that had returned to her face since arriving at the Snow Rabbit Tribe instantly vanished.

Luckily, there were many people around, and Shi Ken was quickly subdued again.

Only then did the color return to Shi Ning’s face, even if just a little.

From start to finish, she only spoke one sentence to him— “Where is my cub?”

Shi Ken refused to answer.

Instead, he simply stared at Shi Ning with that same obsessive, complicated gaze—

As if she were the only thing in the world that mattered to him.

It wasn’t until the rescued beastmen were questioned that the full truth came out— Shi Ning’s situation was even more twisted than the others.

Most of the other captives had been used as tools by their mates— Their forced pregnancies had helped their partners rise in status within the Heideng Tribe.

But Shi Ken? His goal was different.

He didn’t imprison Shi Ning to use her for status—he did it to get rid of their cubs.

Shi Ken loved Shi Ning, but that love had turned into obsession.

He didn’t want anyone— Not other males, not even their own children— To steal her attention away from him.

Ever since they became mates, he had been desperately trying to control her.

Shi Ning had been young and naïve at the time, she never noticed the madness festering in his heart.

It wasn’t until she became pregnant that she realized his control over her was growing stronger by the day.

Then, when she gave birth, she finally understood the full extent of his insanity— To make sure she never focused on their child, Shi Ken sent her to the birthing cave.

Any cub born in the birthing cave was immediately taken away— And Shi Wu was the one who arranged it.

At the same time, the fathers of these stolen cubs would gain higher status within the tribe.

Shi Ken never planned to keep Shi Ning locked up permanently.

Once she appeared submissive, he convinced himself that their relationship had returned to how it once was.

Overjoyed, he took her out of the cave.

Shi Wu had been worried that anyone who left the cave might expose the truth.

However, Shi Ken personally guaranteed that Shi Ning wouldn’t be allowed to interact with anyone else.

With that promise, Shi Wu agreed to let her leave.

But Shi Ning had never planned to stay.

The moment she was out of the cave, she began searching for her cub.

She asked anyone who might have information— And then Shi Ken caught her.

Ignoring her protests, he dragged her back by force.

And that was the night she became pregnant again.

Shi Ken’s twisted obsession had completely destroyed any love Shi Ning had left for him.

She no longer saw him as her mate— Only as a monster.

She feared that her unborn cub would suffer the same fate as her first one.

By now, she had no emotions left for him except pure terror.

But Shi Ken? He still deluded himself into thinking that they could be happy again.

The more Bai Tu thought about Shi Ken’s actions, the more speechless he became.

“So, because he ‘loved’ her, he threw away the child she risked her life to give birth to?”

“Because he ‘loved’ her, he locked her in a cave for an entire year, then got her pregnant again?”

“If this were another era, this bastard would be rotting in prison for life!”

This was the first time he had ever encountered something this twisted.

Since the cubs were still present, Bai Tu held back from cursing aloud.

But his face and tone made it very clear how disgusted he was.

No matter how much he tried to suppress his anger, Bai Tu couldn’t help himself.

He muttered under his breath:

“Pervert. Psycho. Absolute lunatic…”

The cubs didn’t understand his words, but they could hear the frustration in his tone.

The black wolf cub crawled up Bai Tu’s arm, nestled against his shoulder, and rubbed his ear— As if trying to comfort him.

Meanwhile, the gray wolf cub burrowed into Bai Tu’s arms, leaving only its head exposed.

Then, in a voice quick and angry, it barked twice— Unlike its usual playful whimpers, this time it sounded like a scolding.

Lang Qi said nothing.

He simply glanced at Bai Tu, then at the gray wolf cub in his arms, before smoothly changing the subject—

“Are you hungry?”

Technically, it had only been a few hours since lunch.

And they had been snacking in between.

But the moment Bai Tu heard the question, he checked his hunger levels and realized— He actually was a little hungry.

“A little.”

“I’ll cook.”

To Bai Tu’s surprise, Lang Qi didn’t take the cubs away from him this time.

Instead, he simply walked over to the stove and started preparing dinner.

The ingredients for both the cubs’ food and the adults’ food were prepared separately.

Lately, Bai Tu had developed a fondness for thin pancakes— A delicate, paper-thin wrap filled with stir-fried shredded meat, fragrant and spicy, easily devoured in just a few bites.

However, because they were difficult to make yet quick to eat, the communal kitchen rarely prepared them.

Bai Tu had made them twice before, and Lang Qi had memorized the steps.

As he prepared the ingredients, Lang Qi kept glancing toward the bedroom every so often.

He listened carefully— If he heard Bai Tu coaxing the cubs, he relaxed. If he heard Bai Tu cursing Shi Ken, his hands moved faster.

Meanwhile, Bai Tu covered the cubs’ ears and cursed Shi Ken a few more times before finally feeling satisfied.

Only then did he carry the cubs to wash their paws, preparing for dinner.

The moment Bai Tu stopped cursing, Lang Qi let out a long breath of relief, finishing the last dish and setting everything on the table.

Carrying the freshly washed cubs, Bai Tu walked out and was immediately surprised by the lavish spread on the table.

“What’s the occasion? Why so many dishes?”

Usually, their ingredients weren’t immediately frozen after being taken out.

Instead, they were pre-processed—boiled or blanched—to save cooking time later.

But since it was just the two of them, they usually only had two dishes per meal.

Yet today— Between their food and the cubs’ food, there were six or seven different dishes.

Bai Tu eyed Lang Qi suspiciously.

“Wait… This roast meat…”

He picked up a piece with his chopsticks and took a bite.

“Did you get this from the communal kitchen?”

“Mm.”

Lang Qi responded without hesitation— But for some reason, there was a hint of guilt in his voice.

Bai Tu didn’t immediately notice.

He continued sampling each dish and quickly made another observation.

“The roast meat and the pan-fried fish… They’re both from the kitchen, right?”

No wonder. Bai Tu hadn’t smelled the usual fragrance of frying fish.

Whenever he cooked fish himself, the aroma would spread through multiple caves— But this time, he only smelled it after stepping into the dining area.

Even without those two dishes, Lang Qi had still personally cooked five others.

Originally, Bai Tu had only felt mildly hungry— But seeing this full table of food, his stomach growled in protest.

“Come on, let’s eat!” Bai Tu urged.

After venting about Shi Ken for so long, it was time to refuel.

Seeing that Bai Tu hadn’t linked Shi Ken to anything else from his past, Lang Qi let out another quiet sigh of relief.