Chapter 119
The little wolf cubs weren’t very big. Hei Xiao could tell that two of them were the nephews sent over by Lang Qi. He had always known that Bai Tu liked young cubs, and since these two were still small, they wouldn’t affect Bai Tu’s quality of life. So, he hadn’t said much about it.
Even though they were biological brothers, they had only just reunited. Hei Xiao understood that young beastmen disliked being disciplined, so he never interfered too much. Previously, he had only suggested Bai Tu return to the tribe with him, but after being rejected, he didn’t bring it up again.
Hei Xiao could accept that Bai Tu didn’t want to return to the Black Hawk Tribe. It was like how some young hawks, once grown, couldn’t wait to leave the nest. He was willing to let Bai Tu choose where he wanted to live. Since Bai Tu had woken up in the Snow Rabbit Tribe and clearly preferred it there, even though he missed his brother, his wishes had to come first.
But this—this was something Hei Xiao could not accept!!!
Hei Xiao looked at the other three even smaller cubs inside the enclosure. They were much tinier than the first two, obviously newborns, at most two months old.
If there had been fewer cubs, or if they weren’t so young, Hei Xiao wouldn’t have felt this complicated.
Cubs of the same age, getting along so well—there was only one explanation: they were from the same litter. And the fact that they were being raised alongside the other two older cubs suggested they were related. Otherwise, the older ones wouldn’t have accepted them so easily. And there were only three people who could be related to them.
Hei Xiao had met Lang Ze—he didn’t have a mate. Lang Ya also didn’t have a mate, and the last time he was here, Lang Ya’s stomach had been flat. Normally, beastmen carried cubs for at least seven to eight months, so the timing didn’t match.
More importantly, there weren’t just one or two cubs—there were three. Different species had different litter sizes, and three cubs made it more likely that they were from a rabbit beastman.
When everything was put together, there was only one possibility left.
The thought hit Hei Xiao like a bolt of lightning. He nearly choked on his breath as he stared at Bai Tu and the cubs in disbelief.
Bai Tu saw Hei Xiao struggling to accept reality and fell silent for a moment.
What to do? He looked really anxious.
After hesitating, Bai Tu decided to tell the truth. “Brother, these are my cubs. I gave birth to them.”
Although it was a little embarrassing, he still said it.
“Wait.” Hei Xiao raised a hand, stopping Bai Tu mid-sentence. He clutched his head and weakly muttered, “Let me process this… just let me process this…”
Bai Tu grew concerned. “Should I get you some water?” It was his first time seeing Hei Xiao like this.
Hei Xiao waved his hand. “No, I’ll get it myself.” He needed to find something to do.
Watching his brother’s retreating back, Bai Tu glanced at the cubs, rubbed his nose, and thought—maybe that was a bit too sudden.
When Hei Xiao returned, his face no longer showed the shock from earlier, though his movements were still slightly stiff whenever he looked at the cubs.
“These are all yours?” Hei Xiao took a deep breath and resigned himself to asking.
Bai Tu nodded. “The three little ones are.”
Hei Xiao: “…”
Even after trying so hard to mentally prepare himself, hearing it still made him feel suffocated. Hei Xiao remained silent for a while before giving up on trying to say anything. Fine. Bai Tu liked cubs, and having more wasn’t a problem. Hei Xiao did his best to comfort himself.
But deep in the night, when everything was quiet, he suddenly sat up.
No. He still couldn’t accept this.
“I’m going outside for a walk,” Hei Xiao said. He couldn’t sleep.
Hei Yan, who had been comfortably sleeping in Hei Xiao’s arms, suddenly found himself empty-handed. He blinked in confusion.
“What happened?”
“Tu has cubs,” Hei Xiao murmured, his voice full of weariness. “Three of them.”
Three cubs. Alive. Black, white, and gray. Everything was fine—except for the fact that his little brother was the one who had given birth to them.
That night, they were staying in the nursery cave where Bai Tu had previously kept cubs. It was just a wall away from where Bai Tu was resting. Hei Xiao didn’t dare make a sound, afraid of disturbing Bai Tu. Even if Bai Tu didn’t wake up, waking the cubs wouldn’t be good either. In the end, Bai Tu would be the one dealing with them.
He needed to stop thinking about it. The more he thought, the more upset he became.
Meanwhile, Hei Yan’s eyes brightened. Bai Tu had cubs—when were they going to have theirs?
Hei Xiao had no idea that Hei Yan’s thoughts had already gone in a completely different direction. He was still stuck on trying to understand why Bai Tu had so easily agreed to have cubs for Lang Qi. There were so many good beastmen in both the Snow Rabbit and Black Hawk Tribes—why had he stopped at Lang Qi?
Hearing Bai Tu’s voice soothing the cubs from the other room, Hei Xiao let out a deep sigh. He regretted everything. Judging by the timing, the cubs had been conceived before winter. If only he had kept a closer eye on Bai Tu back then.
But no matter how much he regretted it, the reality wouldn’t change.
The next day, when he saw the cubs again, Hei Xiao’s feelings grew even more complicated. These were Bai Tu’s children—he should like them. And to be fair, they really were adorable. He also knew how good Bai Tu was at taking care of cubs. If he could raise the previously sickly ones into healthy young ones, then three already-healthy cubs would be no problem.
But the thought of how much pain Bai Tu must have gone through to give birth to them made Hei Xiao’s heart ache. He wondered if that tiny little rabbit had been scared back then. Luckily, at least he had been in the familiar environment of the Snow Rabbit Tribe.
After thinking it over all night, Hei Xiao managed to keep his expression under control. His movements were no longer as stiff as the night before—he didn’t want Bai Tu to notice anything.
“Who in the tribe has seen the cubs?” Now that he was calmer, Hei Jian focused on practical matters.
“Just a few close people. The cubs haven’t gone out yet,” Bai Tu explained. The weather had only recently warmed up, and the cubs were too young. The two older ones had only just learned to shift into human form and couldn’t control it well yet. They often switched back and forth between their forms while playing. Taking them outside wasn’t ideal, so he and Lang Qi had been taking turns staying in the cave.
Some matters that didn’t require them to go outside were handled within the cave as much as possible. As a result, apart from Bai An, Tu Cai, and a few others, no one else had seen the cubs. Last time, when they needed to hide the cubs, they had entrusted them directly to Tu Bing.
“That’s good.” Hei Xiao felt slightly relieved and reminded Bai Tu, “Don’t let the Vulture Tribe find out that you’ve given birth to three cubs.”
“Alright.” Bai Tu agreed, though he didn’t quite understand why Hei Xiao brought it up. The Vulture Tribe’s work area was quite far from here, so they wouldn’t come into contact with the cubs unless someone from the tribe leaked the information. Bai Tu planned to discuss it with Bai An to ensure that didn’t happen.
In reality, the chances of the news spreading were low. Ever since Tu Cheng went mad upon learning that Hu Bu was dead, the guards had stopped chatting in front of punished beastmen. Additionally, because the Vulture Tribe was responsible for the deaths of many cubs, people disliked mentioning cubs in their presence—it only reminded them of the young ones who had passed away.
Hei Xiao, listening to Bai Tu’s voice, forced himself to shift his focus away from the cubs. He hadn’t come just to deliver rubber and other supplies—he also brought news about the relatives of the young ones.
Some of the Red Eagle Tribe’s cubs had been captured by the Vulture Tribe from outside, while others had been taken directly from other tribes. The latter group fell into two categories: those whose parents had voluntarily handed them over to the shamen in exchange for medicine, and those who had been stolen or snatched away by beastmen seeking medicine.
Hei Xiao and his people had managed to contact the families of the stolen cubs. However, for those who had willingly given up their own young, Hei Xiao had taken note of their tribe names, deciding to keep his distance from them in the future. He also warned Bai Tu not to engage with these tribes, whether they were looking for cubs or trading for medicine—anyone who could give away their own cubs was not to be trusted.
Bai Tu immediately took out a blank wooden board and wrote down the names Hei Xiao mentioned. It didn’t matter if others couldn’t read—he had memorized them all. Every beastman and tribe on that list was permanently blacklisted.
Beastmen cared deeply about cubs—not only their own but also those of others in the tribe. For example, even though his cubs were little wolf cubs, Tu Cai still visited every few days. She claimed she was just checking how big they were getting, but in reality, she was inspecting their well-being.
It wasn’t just his three wolf cubs—Tu Cai did the same for the other young ones in the tribe. Some beastmen, particularly new parents, were overly cautious, so Tu Cai had to be careful not to alarm them. Still, she made sure to check in on the cubs to prevent any mishaps from inexperienced caregivers.
Although Bai Tu hadn’t visited the wolf tribe often, he could tell from Lang Ze and the other wolves’ concern for the cubs that the wolf tribe highly valued their young. They cherished and protected them as much as possible.
In a tribe, it was nearly impossible to keep the birth of a new cub a secret. Bai Tu had observed that while he had given birth in just three months, most others took seven or eight months—spanning at least two seasons, always touching on summer. Keeping it hidden was nearly impossible. When Tu Bing had been pregnant, even though the cub wasn’t due for months, nearly the entire tribe had already known.
If someone had given away a cub to the Red Eagle Tribe in order to please the shaman, there were only two possibilities: either the entire tribe knew about it, or someone with power within the tribe had helped conceal it. In either case, that tribe could no longer be trusted and had to be blacklisted.
After finishing the blacklist, Bai Tu noticed that Hei Xiao wasn’t as agitated as he had been the day before. That made Bai Tu feel more at ease. He knew that his ability to give birth to cubs was shocking, and while others tried not to show their surprise in front of him, Hei Xiao was different. If it were anyone else, Bai Tu would have only given a brief explanation. But with Hei Xiao, he genuinely wanted him to accept the cubs.
After all, they were his children.
Hei Xiao saw that Bai Tu’s attention had quickly shifted back to the cubs and let out a sigh in his heart. What else could he do? Bai Tu was his real brother, and these cubs were Bai Tu’s. No matter how distressed he felt, he had to accept them.
The three little wolf cubs were seeing Hei Xiao for the second time. Yesterday, Hei Xiao had stayed in the cave for only a short while. He had left soon after the cubs finished eating, so this was the first time they were really looking at this unfamiliar figure.
Not many beastmen came to this part of the cave. Held in Bai Tu’s arms, the cubs curiously observed Hei Xiao.
The two older cubs had shifted back into their human forms, wearing soft, warm sweaters as they climbed onto Bai Tu.
“Daddy, Daddy~” they called.
When Hei Xiao first heard it, he thought it was just an exclamation. Only after Bai Tu responded did he realize it was a form of address, which puzzled him. “What is ‘Daddy’?”
Bai Tu explained, “It’s another way of saying ‘father.’ I think I learned it somewhere before, but I don’t remember where.” He always used this explanation whenever he mentioned things that others didn’t recognize. Since everyone knew he had lost part of his memory, they usually stopped asking after that.
As expected, Hei Xiao didn’t press further about where Bai Tu had learned the term. Instead, he found it strange that the two cubs were calling Bai Tu “Daddy.” “They call you Daddy—what do they call Lang Qi?” Since learning that Bai Tu had given birth to cubs, Hei Xiao had stopped referring to Lang Qi casually, always calling him by his full name.
Bai Tu: “…”
That was a good question.
After a moment of hesitation, Bai Tu answered, “They call him ‘Uncle.’” The title “Mommy” had only appeared briefly—Lang Qi had been trying to convince himself that “Mommy” and “Daddy” were the same. But just last night, he realized that the two cubs had gone back to calling him “Uncle” and had stopped using “Mommy” altogether.
Hei Xiao: “…”
Hei Xiao remained silent for a while, thinking that perhaps this was some custom he didn’t understand. The cubs’ closest uncle still kept his original title, while their uncle’s mate was called “Daddy.” It was the first time he had heard of something like this.
He was so surprised that he didn’t even notice that, when discussing Bai Tu and Lang Qi’s relationship, he had already unconsciously assumed they were mates.
After their conversation, they went out together to check the supplies that the Black Hawk Tribe had brought yesterday. Since Hei Xiao and the others had arrived in the evening, and he had been too shocked by the news of Bai Tu giving birth to wolf cubs, the supplies had remained untouched in the Snow Rabbit Tribe’s storage. Bai Tu hadn’t inspected them yet, and since no one dared to touch them before he did, everything was still sitting there.
Before heading out, Bai Tu once again entrusted the cubs to Lang Qi. Lang Qi’s gaze lingered briefly on Hei Xiao, whose expression was far from friendly, before nodding. “Come back soon—the cubs will miss you.”
Bai Tu waved his hand, indicating that he understood.
Hei Xiao glanced at Lang Qi—he wasn’t fooled. That remark was clearly meant for him. Something suddenly occurred to him, and he turned to Bai Tu. “Tu, do you remember what I mentioned yesterday? We found a plant that’s incredibly soft, even softer than fur, and there’s a lot of it.”
Bai Tu vaguely recalled something about that. But yesterday, just as they had started discussing it, the cubs had begun whining, and then Hei Xiao had become so shaken that the topic had been dropped.
Hei Xiao’s description reminded Bai Tu of a very common material in modern times—cotton.
If it really was cotton, that would be amazing. Excited, Bai Tu pressed for details. “What color is it? How big? You found it before winter—why didn’t you use it?”
Beastmen already had incredibly soft fur. If this plant was even softer, it was most likely cotton. Cotton had excellent insulating properties. Unlike the Snow Rabbit Tribe, the Black Hawk Tribe didn’t have wool blankets, and their down-filled quilts were still limited in number. Not using it during winter seemed like a waste.
Hei Xiao explained, “Hawk beastmen don’t lack feathers, and that plant has a hard part in the middle. No one really liked it.” It wasn’t just that adults found it inconvenient—the main concern was that the hard center could damage eggs.
That description fit even more. Bai Tu quickened his pace and hurried to the storage. Sure enough, his guess was correct—it was cotton, and there was quite a lot of it.
“These things are really light,” Hei Xiao explained. “One person can carry multiple baskets of them. I picked every one I found and brought them all here.” Although it looked like a lot, it was actually much lighter than just a few baskets of food. Compared to iron and stone, it was practically weightless, so he had brought as much as he could.
“It really is cotton…” Bai Tu had suspected it earlier, but seeing it confirmed his excitement. Cotton—this was cotton!
Cotton could be used for so many things. With it, he could finally wear clothes made from cotton fabric. Wearing animal hides in summer was torture. Despite not feeling especially warm in winter, in summer, they were unbearably hot. Unless one stayed completely still, it was so stifling that one would rather soak in water all day.
Cotton fabric was breathable and perfect for summer wear. The amount of cotton here, even after removing the seeds, weighed several hundred kilos. That was enough to make a lot of clothes. Even if they couldn’t make enough for everyone to have one, they could at least ensure that each person got two sets of innerwear.
As for the cotton seeds, they were naturally meant for planting. Right now was the perfect season to grow cotton. Bai Tu wasted no time and told the beastman guarding the storage to inform Bai Chen to prepare another field for planting.
To speed up the planting process, many lion beastmen had already been assigned to plowing and irrigation tasks. With more workers, efficiency naturally increased. This spring, the tribe had planted several times more crops than last fall, yet the time it took was about the same—within two days, they could cover a huge area.
Not only was the Snow Rabbit Tribe making rapid progress in planting, but the Blood Wolf Tribe was also advancing quickly. The Spotted Leopard Tribe had initially tried to handle planting on their own, but they soon realized that their small numbers slowed them down. As a result, they borrowed dozens of lion beastmen from the Snow Rabbit Tribe to help. As for the rental fee, it would be paid after the autumn harvest.
Bai Tu wasn’t worried about such minor matters. Since they needed manpower, he readily agreed. He preferred for all the tribes to grow stronger. Providing relief could only help in the short term—it wasn’t a long-term solution. Bao Duo clearly understood this too; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so eager to develop agriculture and animal domestication. The results were promising. At the very least, the Spotted Leopard Tribe’s harvest this autumn wouldn’t be small. Bai Tu had also taken the initiative to share some seeds with them during the distribution.
The same applied to the cotton found this time, though the seeds needed to be extracted first. Bai Tu decided to have the woodworkers and blacksmiths create two simple cotton seed removers for immediate use. When more cotton became available in the summer, they could build larger machines.
Hei Xiao’s surprises didn’t end there. Cotton was just one of them—he had also brought something Bai Tu had been longing for: rubber. With rubber, the maintenance frequency for cart and wheelbarrow tires wouldn’t need to be as high as it was now.
“We only collected for a short time before winter set in, so there’s not much. Next time, I’ll bring you more,” Hei Xiao promised without hesitation when he saw how much Bai Tu liked it. Their region had plenty of these trees.
Bai Tu nodded enthusiastically, not standing on ceremony with Hei Xiao. He simply suggested that once they successfully made rubber tires, he could teach the Hawk Tribe how to produce them. The Hawk Tribe had abundant resources, and transporting raw materials all the way to the Snow Rabbit Tribe for processing, only to bring the finished products back, was a waste of time. If they could process the rubber directly in the Black Hawk Tribe and either use it themselves or sell it, it would be a guaranteed profitable trade.
Hei Xiao hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly, though deep inside, he still sighed. His younger brother was so capable—so why did he have to choose Lang Qi? And even willingly bear his cubs.
To be fair, Hei Xiao knew that Lang Qi was a decent beastman. But that was all. In his heart, Bai Tu should have been able to be with whoever he wanted, free and unrestrained forever—not tied down so early to someone like Lang Qi.
The wolf tribe was too cunning, Hei Xiao thought bitterly. Taking advantage of Bai Tu’s memory loss, who knew what they had done? Yet Bai Tu wasn’t even angry. His innocent, trusting little brother—just thinking about it made Hei Xiao’s heart ache. And not just his heart—his stomach, too.
Ever since yesterday, Hei Xiao had been easily distracted. Bai Tu knew that the cubs’ existence was still a shock to him and decided to give him plenty of time to process it. So when he noticed Hei Xiao zoning out again, he didn’t say anything and simply waited.
But after a while, he realized something was off—Hei Xiao’s complexion didn’t look right.
There were still about twenty days until summer. Even at midday, the temperature wasn’t very high. The past few days had been around 20°C, one of the most comfortable seasons of the year.
With the outside temperature only that warm, the storage cave, where no sunlight reached, was even cooler. Even without a thermometer, Bai Tu could tell it was no more than 10°C.
So why was Hei Xiao sweating?
“Brother, what’s wrong?” Bai Tu asked worriedly. Thinking back over their conversation, he had only talked about sharing some technology with the Black Hawk Tribe. It had nothing to do with the cubs or Lang Qi. So why was Hei Xiao’s reaction even stronger than yesterday?
Just as Bai Tu’s concern deepened, Hei Xiao finally spoke. “My stomach hurts. I just need to sleep for a while.”
The first thing that came to Bai Tu’s mind was food poisoning—there had been a case of that in the Black Lion Tribe not too long ago. But as he thought back over the food they’d eaten in the past two days, there hadn’t been anything spoiled. There weren’t even any common allergens—it was all food they ate regularly. Hei Xiao had eaten the same meals before without any issues.
As Bai Tu supported Hei Xiao back to the cave, he considered all possible reasons for his sudden discomfort. He went over everything—from food and water to their living environment—but still couldn’t figure it out. After all, they had eaten and drunk the same things since yesterday afternoon. The only time they were apart was at night, and even then, they were only separated by a single wall. Neither of them had gone to any other caves. So how had Hei Xiao suddenly fallen ill?
Hei Xiao, however, had a vague suspicion. For a moment, he wasn’t sure how to process it. Once they returned to the cave, he noticed Bai Tu’s growing concern and quickly reassured him, “I just didn’t sleep well last night. It doesn’t hurt anymore. I just need to rest for a bit. You go ahead with your work—I’ll come find you in the evening.”
He wasn’t lying. The pain had only lasted a short while, and now it was completely gone. However, he still couldn’t leave the cave.
Bai Tu wanted to ask more questions—after all, understanding the situation would help him find the right medicine—but when he saw Hei Xiao’s serious expression, he could only agree. “If it starts hurting again, you have to tell me.”
Hei Xiao hummed in response and lay down, closing his eyes.
Bai Tu didn’t disturb him further. He quietly stepped out of the secondary bedroom, carefully closing the door behind him.
The moment the door clicked shut, the figure on the bed disappeared. Under the blanket, where Hei Xiao had been, a small black rabbit—almost identical to Bai Tu’s beast form except for the color—appeared.
The black rabbit stretched out a paw, tugging at the soft fur on its belly. After a moment, it slowly released its grip and reached toward the blanket beside it, swiping forcefully.
A rush of light, fluffy feathers spilled out through the slit in the bedding.
The little black rabbit let out a sigh of relief.
Because he was worried about Hei Xiao, Bai Tu skipped his afternoon nap. Every so often, he quietly checked on him, careful not to make any noise so he wouldn’t disturb his rest. He kept track of the time Hei Xiao had mentioned, intending to go inside the moment it was up.
But Hei Xiao didn’t give him the chance. In the afternoon, he emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed.
Bai Tu helped him pluck a stray feather from his hair, and when he lowered his gaze, he noticed a slight bulge at Hei Xiao’s right hip. He took a second look.
Hei Xiao cleared his throat awkwardly and pulled something out. “I found an egg in the room.”
“Perfect,” Bai Tu responded without missing a beat. “Let’s boil it and eat it.”
Hei Xiao: “…”
Thank you for the chapter~~