Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – CH149

Chapter 149

The young wolves had absolutely no idea that someone was worrying about their future chances of finding a mate. At this moment, they were happily heading off to play.

Right now, it was their turn for the day shift, meaning they patrolled during the day and had the nights free to do whatever they wanted. With so much free time on their hands, the little wolves suddenly felt like stirring up some trouble.

“Boss, should we go check out the north side?” one of them suggested.

The north referred to the area beyond the former territories of the Snow Rabbit Tribe and several wolf clans. Further north was land belonging to an entirely different species.

Lang Ze glanced behind him with a serious expression before giving a nod. “Let’s go.”

“Boss, what are you looking at?” Lang Zuo asked curiously. For a brief moment, Lang Ze’s gaze had an almost chief-like presence, which felt a little odd.

Lang Ze sighed. “We’re gonna miss breakfast when we get back.”

Their residential area was located between the Snow Rabbit Tribe and the Blood Wolf Tribe, but their destination was the former territory of the Mad Lion Tribe.

Even though that land now belonged to them after they had defeated the Mad Lion Tribe and the Black Lion Tribe, it was still quite far away. The area itself was narrow and not as frequently patrolled—usually, someone would check in every few days.

If they left now, by the time they got back, it would probably already be tomorrow noon.

The moment the young wolves realized they’d have to skip a meal, they howled in distress.

“Boss! Let’s grab some sweet potatoes before we go. We can roast them later!”

Lang Ze’s eyes lit up instantly.

Unlike other food, which required careful packaging, meat had to be wrapped in multiple layers to keep it fresh. But sweet potatoes? Sweet potatoes were easy—they could just carry them as they were.

Plus, sweet potatoes were sturdy. Even if they got knocked to the ground during a fight, they could just pick them up and eat them anyway. Since they had to be peeled, they didn’t even need washing.

With this in mind, Lang Ze immediately led his pack to the warehouse where food was distributed.

The beastmen guarding the warehouse had already fallen asleep, only to be rudely awakened by the young wolves.

Glancing at the time, the guards already knew who it was—besides Lang Ze’s group, who else would come looking for food in the middle of the night?

At this hour, it could only be the little wolves.

The guards were so familiar with their habits that they didn’t even bother asking. One of them yawned, stretched, and led them straight to the food section.

“What do you guys want today?”

The young wolves had long since used up their contribution points—but like a flea on a dog that no longer itches, they didn’t care at all.

Others might worry about racking up too much debt, but the young wolves never did.

After all, considering how they had discovered salt, the tribe would never let them go hungry.

Completely unaware that their points had already run dry, the young wolves didn’t even check their records. They simply rushed into the warehouse and started grabbing sweet potatoes.

To make food more accessible, part of the harvest was moved from the underground cellars to the warehouse every day. Since cellars were tightly sealed, they needed several hours to air out before anyone could enter.

Sweet potatoes took up an entire section of the warehouse, filling a huge corner of the storage space. Each wolf grabbed a basket and began stuffing it full, not caring about size—if it was a sweet potato, it went in.

“Wait, hold on!”

One of the warehouse guards quickly snatched back the big, round sweet potatoes from their baskets.

“Tu said these ones don’t roast well. Take these instead.”

The guard pointed at the long, slender sweet potatoes. The large, round ones took way too long to cook properly, and young wolves had no patience for that.

Hearing that Tu had said so, the young wolves immediately obeyed, dumping out their baskets and repacking them with smaller sweet potatoes.

But they also avoided picking ones that were too small—those would burn before they were even fully cooked.

After filling up five or six baskets, the little wolves finally felt satisfied.

The warehouse guard yawned as he escorted the young wolves out. Beastmen who had worked hard all day rarely had the energy to stay up this late—except for the little wolves, who seemed like they never got tired.

Lang Ze led his team northward, all of them full of energy. Forget staying up until midnight—they could probably last until morning without a problem.

With their bellies constantly full from eating so well lately, the young wolves genuinely felt like they could take down an entire tribe.

*

Bai Tu and Lang Qi had no idea that the little wolves had run off to the north again.

They knew the cubs liked to go out, but usually, they just played around the residential area, so they assumed tonight was no different.

Lang Qi was currently engaged in a battle of wits with a group of wolf cubs.

Ever since the rainy season started, the cubs had been constantly interfering with the two of them. As long as Bai Tu was home, the little ones would stubbornly fight off sleep, refusing to rest just to keep the two apart.

Since the cubs were too young to scold or punish, they could only be patiently taught little by little.

Tonight, they were clinging to Bai Tu again, insisting on sleeping with him.

Lang Qi sat nearby, keeping a close watch, waiting for one of them to doze off—then silently picking them up and carrying them to their small beds.

The wolf cubs always slept especially soundly next to Bai Tu and usually didn’t realize they’d been moved until after waking up. By then, it was already too late to figure out who was responsible.

While soothing the cubs, Bai Tu found himself pondering something.

He remembered that not long ago, the cubs hadn’t been so resistant to Lang Qi.

Actually, it wasn’t just Lang Qi—they seemed to reject all the other adult wolves, including Lang Ze, who hadn’t been allowed to touch them at all tonight.

“Did you guys scare them or something?” Bai Tu asked.

It just didn’t seem normal for the cubs to suddenly act out like this.

Back when there were only Lang Sui and Lang Ying, they had been incredibly well-behaved. Even now, they were still obedient around him—they wouldn’t make trouble even if he had to leave for a while.

But whenever Lang Qi, Lang Ze, or other adult beastmen spent too much time around the house, the cubs would suddenly start causing problems.

Lang Qi glanced at the cubs, then at Bai Tu, before saying slowly, “There are a lot of young wolves reaching adulthood lately…”

“Hm?” Bai Tu looked at him, confused. Wasn’t that what we talked about earlier tonight?

Lang Qi studied Bai Tu’s face, realizing he hadn’t understood the implication.

After a moment of silence, he finally said, “They don’t want new cubs to be born.”

Once a litter of cubs reached a certain size, they would instinctively reject the birth of new cubs.

Because resources were limited, having more cubs in the family meant fewer chances of survival.

Normally, young cubs would cry, cling, or act out to demand attention, ensuring that their parents were too occupied to focus on having more children.

The cubs at home couldn’t bear to make trouble for Bai Tu directly, so instead, they had switched tactics—aggressively driving away every beastman who got too close to him.

The goal was the same.

Bai Tu: “Huh?”

He was stunned, lowering his gaze to the cubs in his arms, who were already drifting off to sleep. He was surprised but had to admit that this instinct made sense—when resources were limited, it was better for there to be fewer cubs.

Gently stroking the little wolves, he asked in a soft voice, “Then what should we do?”

Even if the cubs weren’t rejecting Lang Qi, Bai Tu had no intention of having more wolf cubs—five was already plenty.

But at the same time, it wasn’t good for them to keep resisting Lang Qi either. After all, half the time, he was the one taking care of them.

Lang Qi shook his head.

This was a problem that troubled nearly every wolf tribe. When cubs got fussy, it often took the entire family to handle them. And their particular situation was unusual—which was why he hadn’t connected the dots earlier.

If he hadn’t gone to ask about why the young wolves’ appetites had suddenly increased, he probably still wouldn’t have realized what was happening.

Bai Tu thought it over carefully.

There was another reason the cubs were acting out—they simply had nothing to do.

Right now, their daily routine was basically eat, sleep, repeat—with no other activities. With nowhere to burn off their energy, it was only natural for them to start making trouble.

I just need to find a way to keep them occupied, Bai Tu thought.

The next morning, after breakfast, Bai Tu gathered some fabric, cotton, and other materials and went to find Ying Mian.

Ying Mian was still working on making clothes for the cubs. Since there were five of them, he had to sew five outfits.

Now that Xiong Liao was gone, Ying Mian actually had more free time—even though no one was helping him take care of the eggs anymore, at least there was one less person bothering him.

Bai Tu also felt relieved now that Xiong Liao was gone—talking to him had been getting exhausting lately.

“Ying, help me make a toy,” Bai Tu said, showing him a sketch he had drawn first thing in the morning.

“Like this—wide on both ends, narrow in the middle, kind of like a bone. Stuff it with soybeans and cotton.” He pointed to the materials on the table.

Ying Mian immediately put down his work. “When do you need it?”

“As soon as possible,” Bai Tu said.

The cubs weren’t bothering him, but they constantly tormented Lang Qi.

If this continued, it wouldn’t work.

He couldn’t stay home all the time, and since he and Lang Qi split childcare duties equally, that meant half the time, Lang Qi was being actively rejected by the cubs—and that was not okay.

Ying Mian quickly estimated the workload. “I can have them done by the afternoon.”

“Perfect.”

Bai Tu started helping cut the fabric, using scraps from previous sewing projects. Some pieces even needed to be stitched together.

“Making five?” Ying Mian asked as he worked.

Bai Tu nodded—yes, five.

Ying Mian assumed that, like food and clothing, Bai Tu was making one for each cub, all exactly the same.

But when Bai Tu got home, the first thing he did was dye all the bone-shaped toys in different colors using plant-based dye.

The dye not only gave the toys a faint, pleasant scent, but also had natural insect-repellent properties.

As for why he colored them differently—

Bai Tu let the toys dry completely, then placed them directly into the cubs’ beds.

When the cubs woke up the next morning, the first thing they saw was a brand-new toy in front of them.

Still a little sleepy, they perked up instantly and snatched up their toys.

The gray-furred cub was the fastest—but just as he rushed to grab his, he noticed that everyone else also had one.

He looked left. He looked right.

Wait…

His neighbor’s toy looked better.

Just as he turned to steal it, Lang Ying, who had been staring at his own toy the entire time, lunged forward and covered it protectively.

Within seconds, the two cubs were wrestling on the floor.

Lang Sui, being more mature, calmly walked over to his own toy—but before he could even blink, a wolf cub came flying out of nowhere and swiped it from right under his nose.

Lang Sui stared at the empty spot where his toy had been.

He turned his head—Lang Ying and the gray cub were still fighting.

One of them was holding his toy in their mouth.

Lang Sui looked at the other two toys nearby.

They seemed pretty good too…

But… his toy had been stolen.

Without hesitation, he leaped forward to take it back.

On the other side, the little black wolf cub sat beside the little white wolf cub, watching the battle in front of them. The fight continued until the three cubs in the scuffle suddenly called a truce, seemingly noticing the two outsiders. Then, two gray cubs stepped out, each grabbing one of the newcomers before resuming the brawl.

The little black wolf cub glanced at the now-empty bedding in front of them, then looked at the little white wolf cub. Without a word, it jumped into the fray.

The little white wolf cub followed closely behind. When it couldn’t win in a direct fight, it resorted to biting the other cubs’ tails.

By the time Bai Tu returned with food, the wolf cubs were already panting from exhaustion. The three youngest, in particular, were at a disadvantage due to their age. As soon as the fight ended, they flopped onto the bed, too tired to move.

Bai Tu handed the food to Lang Qi, who went to feed the cubs. But as soon as they saw him, the little ones hesitated, unsure whether to open their mouths.

They really didn’t want to eat food fed by their father… but they were starving.

The cubs glanced at the food, struggling internally, but in the end, they couldn’t resist the temptation of a delicious meal.

“Just one bite. Only one bite, then I’ll stop,” they each thought. But after the first bite, they all started eating faster and faster, racing to finish.

Bai Tu lowered his voice and said to Lang Qi, “Next time, let’s get them some more toys.” 

Once the two older cubs started attending kindergarten, they would need to use the same method for the younger three. Once the cubs wore themselves out from playing and fighting, they wouldn’t care who was feeding them—not even if it was Lang Ze.

After discovering this trick, Bai Tu began leaving toys for the cubs every day before heading out. Sometimes he left five, sometimes three or four, and occasionally even more. No matter how many he provided, the cubs always found a reason to fight over them.

At first, Bai Tu specifically had the toys made in different colors—like chew bones crafted by the hawk clan or teething sticks made by the woodworkers. But he soon realized that even without colors, the cubs still believed that whatever toy another cub had was more fun.

Sometimes, a toy could sit untouched for an entire day, completely ignored. But the moment one cub picked it up, within minutes, the others would swarm in, frantically competing for it.

Bai Tu observed carefully and confirmed that the cubs weren’t being overly aggressive in their play. Only then did he relax and make a mental note of which toys were the most engaging.

“We should have the kindergarten prepare these too,” he suggested. The cubs needed to learn combat skills from a young age, and this kind of playful sparring helped them develop hunting techniques and learn how to subdue their opponents.

Lang Qi nodded. He didn’t fully understand why the cubs spent so much time fighting over a single toy, but the results spoke for themselves.

Bai Tu explained, “They just think whatever someone else has is more fun.” Nearly all young cubs were like this—they believed food in another’s bowl tasted better, and toys in someone else’s paws were more exciting.

Lang Qi stared at the toys, which were practically identical aside from their colors, and fell silent for a moment. These cubs… they wouldn’t turn out like Lang Ze, would they?

Bai Tu noticed Lang Qi’s sudden silence and instantly knew his thoughts had wandered off somewhere. “What are you thinking?” he asked. 

He was usually good at guessing Lang Qi’s thoughts, but he needed at least a general direction—random silences like this were harder to decipher.

Lang Qi sighed softly. “They remind me a little of Ze.”

Bai Tu: “…”

A realization hit Bai Tu like a lightning bolt. “Wait a minute… Ze hasn’t been here in days, has he?! Where did the little wolf go?!”

Lang Qi thought back and nodded. “Five days.”

It had been five days since Lang Ze last visited. Meanwhile, Bai Tu had finished all the calculations in his records, and they were just waiting for the tribe’s new name to be finalized before announcing the official unification.

Ever since they had moved to the residential area, everyone knew this day would come sooner or later. Though no one spoke about it, the beastmen in the tribe were already getting anxious, urging them about it every few days.

Lang Qi had also been busy lately. The wolf tribe’s numbers were significant, and even though Bai Tu had arranged everything in advance, Lang Qi still had to check in from time to time.

From the end of the rainy season until now, the two of them had barely had a moment to rest. That day, after confirming that the young wolves’ increased appetites weren’t due to illness but because they were nearing adulthood, they finally felt relieved. For the past two days, they hadn’t assigned the cubs any extra tasks—after all, once they grew up, they wouldn’t have the luxury of playing so carefreely anymore.

With so much to do, and given that Lang Ze often went a day or two without showing up, neither of them noticed how time had slipped by. Before they knew it, five or six days had passed.

“The patrol team hasn’t reported anything, so they must still be doing their work,” Bai Tu noted. 

No one had come asking for extra hands, meaning the group was finishing their tasks before heading out.

But it had been quite a while now—surely they couldn’t be staying up all night every night, right?

Bai Tu went to find the beastman responsible for keeping patrol records and asked about Lang Ze and the young wolves’ movements in and out of the residential area.

Checking the records, they found that the young wolves returned to the tribe every morning but went out at night. Sometimes, they brought back freshly made food from the cafeteria, but more often, they took sweet potatoes.

“What are they up to?” Bai Tu muttered. 

Seeing that the cubs returned home every day, he felt mostly reassured. The tribe was large, and as long as they were safe, going out to play wasn’t a problem. He just didn’t know what exactly they were planning.

“Ze said…” The beastman handling the records had overheard the young wolves talking. “They’re trying to dig an underground tribe.”

“…What?” Bai Tu was stunned.

“An underground tribe,” the beastman repeated. “They said if everyone moved underground, they wouldn’t have to worry about snow in winter because it would be warm inside.”

Bai Tu: “…”

Where did they even get that idea?

Yes, the underground could be warmer, but digging tunnels without proper support—especially ones meant for long-term habitation—was incredibly risky! 

Even the rabbit tribe, which was skilled at burrowing, faced the risk of cave-ins when digging homes in the earth. And given the wolves’ size, any tunnel they dug would have to be quite large. If it collapsed, it could bury them all alive.

When designing the residential area, Bai Tu had only included underground storage rooms and cellars—no living spaces—precisely because of these safety concerns. Even in the mining zones, he encouraged open-pit excavation whenever possible. When that wasn’t feasible, he followed the same approach as in the salt mines, digging only a few short tunnels so that people could quickly escape if there were signs of collapse.

Building an entire underground tribe? That was just asking for disaster. Not to mention, flooding would be a huge problem. During the rainy season and late winter when ice and snow melted, water would pour in uncontrollably.

No one could answer Bai Tu’s concerns except the young wolves themselves. Checking today’s return time, he estimated their patrol route and decided to go find them with Lang Qi.

When they finally located the group, Bai Tu immediately noticed that they looked a little listless. He asked what was wrong.

Before Lang Ze could speak, Lang Zuo and Lang You blurted out one after the other:

“Our tribe is gone.”

“It got buried under dirt.”

Last night, just like every other night, they had been digging further underground. But at some point, everything suddenly went dark—the entrance behind them had collapsed. The wolves outside had frantically dug to rescue the ones trapped inside, and after working until midnight, they had finally managed to get everyone out. They returned to the tribe covered in dirt, but since this had become a daily routine, no one even found it strange anymore.

Bai Tu: “…”

So it really did collapse.

“Who taught you to dig an underground tribe? Are there not enough rooms to live in?” Bai Tu asked while glancing around, carefully counting the little wolves to make sure no one was missing. 

Only after confirming the numbers did he finally relax. If their oversight had put the cubs in danger, they would never forgive themselves.

“But the tribe’s housing is running out,” one of the little wolves responded. The residential area had originally been built with extra houses, but now, almost all of them were occupied.

Bai Tu chuckled. “If we run out of houses, we’ll just build more.” The tribe had plenty of resources, and constructing a few more houses would only take a month or two.

“But the construction team went to another tribe,” one of the cubs pointed out.

“They’ll be back in a while,” Bai Tu explained. “They’re just out earning some contribution points. Once they finish building the livestock area and cafeteria over there, they’ll return.”

After reassuring the cubs that housing wouldn’t be a problem, Bai Tu also made it clear that they couldn’t go digging like this again. If they wanted to play, they could dig small holes to mess around in, but turning the underground into a maze was definitely out of the question. That said, their maze-like tunnels had actually helped this time—when part of it collapsed, they managed to escape through another exit. Unfortunately, they hadn’t memorized the routes or landmarks, which led to them spending quite a bit of time finding their way out.

Bai Tu felt both amused and relieved. On one hand, it was reassuring that the cubs were finally taking the initiative to help the tribe. On the other hand, even when trying to be responsible, they were still a bit unreliable. But above all, he was grateful that they were safe.

After calming them down and warning them not to do anything so dangerous again, Bai Tu sighed. He had repeated these warnings countless times before. Yet every time he put a stop to one reckless idea, they would come up with another—like how they had just been told not to climb the mountains, and now they were digging underground. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

Still, Bai Tu had to admit that the cubs had incredible luck. He thought back to all the dangerous situations they had gotten into, yet every time, they had come out unscathed. That wasn’t something just anyone could pull off.

“Are you heading out again today?” Bai Tu asked. “Where are you planning to go?”

“We’re going north again,” Lang Ze replied. They hadn’t explored that area fully yet. Patrolling and exploring for fun were completely different things—on patrol, they only needed to ensure the area was secure, often relying on their hearing and sense of smell rather than their eyes. But when they were playing, they wanted to check every nook and cranny. Each trip brought new discoveries.

“Alright then,” Bai Tu nodded. 

In the end, he didn’t restrict them. Part of it was because he knew the little wolves wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. The other reason was what Lang Qi had said earlier—this kind of carefree time wouldn’t last much longer for them.

Since Bai Tu allowed it, Lang Qi didn’t object either. However, before leaving, he shot Lang Ze a warning glance.

Lang Ze immediately understood—it was a warning not to start digging again. He muttered under his breath, then quickly nodded when Bai Tu turned to look at him.

As soon as Bai Tu turned away, the little wolves exchanged silent cheers and rushed off to the storage room to grab sweet potatoes—their current favorite snack.

“At least they’re obedient,” Bai Tu remarked. 

He had been worried they would go through a rebellious phase, but it seemed unlikely now. After all, for these cubs, throwing a tantrum was far less appealing than eating a good meal.

That being said, the little wolves did have a valid concern. Bai Tu turned to Lang Qi and asked, “Are all the White Cat Tribe’s beastmen settled in?”

After the White Bear Tribe left, a few houses had been left vacant. The White Cat Tribe had moved in as soon as they arrived, but even then, there hadn’t been quite enough space for them. Since they had more people, they ended up occupying even the last few unused houses.

“They’re all settled in. Do you want to go check?” Lang Qi glanced at the wolf cubs nestled in Bai Tu’s arms. Normally, when the two of them went out together, they brought the cubs along. Lang Qi was supposed to carry the two older ones while Bai Tu held the three younger ones. But as soon as the cubs were in Lang Qi’s arms, they all started seeking out their dad, so Bai Tu simply ended up carrying them all.

Looking at the wolf cubs, who had grown noticeably bigger recently, Lang Qi asked, “Are they heavy?”

“I can still carry them.” Bai Tu patted one of the cubs. “You handle it as you see fit. I won’t go check for now.”

Lately, he had noticed something—whenever he spent too much time interacting with beastmen from other tribes, the cubs would be visibly unhappy when he got home. Bai Tu understood that this wasn’t just because of the wolf cubs themselves; it was also related to the season.

Different tribes had different times for having cubs—some planned for spring, others just before the rainy season, and some in autumn. Right now, with the rainy season just past, some beastmen were considering having children. Many wolf cubs felt insecure during this time, not just his own, but others in the tribe as well. Whenever the adult beastmen started preparing for new offspring, the slightly older cubs worried about being abandoned.

The tribe had only had an abundance of food for the past two years. Before that, resources were extremely limited. This fear among the cubs wasn’t baseless; it had been passed down through generations. By the time the beastmen grew up, they had long forgotten the anxieties of their own childhoods. The cubs’ behavior was simply a survival instinct.

Bai Tu wasn’t in a hurry to personally check on the White Cat Tribe’s beastmen—Lang Qi could handle it just fine. Besides, Mao Chuan and the others had already started working. If they had any questions, it might actually be better for them to hear explanations from familiar beastmen rather than from him. When it came to choosing between responsibilities, Bai Tu always prioritized the cubs.

He picked up one of them, kissed it, and smiled. “Time to go home!”

After being incredibly busy for the past few days, he could finally take a short break.

As soon as they arrived home with the wolf cubs, someone knocked on the door. Although there was an official space in the middle of the tribe for handling affairs, everyone knew that Bai Tu had been staying at home recently.

Lang Qi brought the visitor inside—it was Bai Chen.

“Hm? Something happened?” Bai Tu asked. Bai Chen had recently been in charge of the hunting and livestock areas. These were tasks the tribe had carried out many times before, so he wouldn’t have come looking for Bai Tu unless something had gone wrong.

“The Black Forest Tribe’s beastman escaped!”

“Escaped? What species? How many?” Bai Tu immediately recognized the urgency of the situation. He handed the sleeping cubs to Lang Qi, instructing him to take them inside, while he stepped outside, heading toward the holding area.

“One. A snake-type beastman,” Bai Chen reported. “The guards were from the Lion Tribe. One of them got distracted and didn’t notice. It was Qi who happened to pass by and realized something was off.”

Bai Tu suddenly halted. “Did they not see it, or did they let it go on purpose?”

Bai Chen was caught off guard. “You mean… intentional?”

“How do you not see a snake beastman crawling away?” Bai Tu found it hard to believe. These weren’t small snakes like bamboo vipers; they were massive, intimidating creatures. Even if the guard wasn’t paying attention to the entrance, a snake moving along the ground wasn’t completely silent.

There weren’t many snake beastmen in the first place, and they were all kept in separate small rooms. Each room had only a few individuals inside. The fact that someone had gone missing, and no one noticed until Bai Qi pointed it out, was highly suspicious.

If Bai Qi hadn’t happened to come back when he did, who knew how many might have escaped?

Bai Chen thought about it and realized something was indeed off. Earlier, they had been too focused on chasing the escaped snake beastman to consider that the Lion Tribe might also be involved.

“Who went after them?” Bai Tu asked.

“Qi, Zhou, Xun, Zhen…” Bai Chen listed several names in quick succession. He had just returned from a hunting trip; otherwise, he would have joined the capture team himself.

“As long as there are enough people, that should be fine. First, inform the tribe’s beastmen to check their homes—make sure no one is hiding there. Also, assign people to guard the cubs,” Bai Tu instructed.

Bai Chen nodded, committing the orders to memory.

On their way, they encountered several patrol teams. It was supposed to be their rest period, but now, all of them had gathered to help search for the fugitive.

When Bai Tu and Bai Chen arrived at the holding area for the snake beastmen, they saw the remaining ones huddled in a corner, looking utterly innocent.

But Bai Tu didn’t believe them for a second.

The snake beastman Bai Meng, who had tried to scam the Bear Tribe at the market, was among their kind—masters of manipulation. Bai Tu had deliberately kept the remaining snake beastmen in a secluded part of the tribe to prevent them from interacting with the other beastmen. Yet, despite these precautions, something had still gone wrong.

“Where’s the Lion Tribe beastman?” Bai Tu asked after confirming which snake beastman had escaped.

“Over there,” Bai Chen pointed to another room. Originally, that space was meant for the guards to rest during shift changes, but now, a lion beastman was inside, tied up tightly.

At the same time, Langyang, who had restrained the lion beastman, had already figured out what had happened.

There were supposed to be two guards on duty, but earlier today, one of them had felt unwell and had gone inside to rest. And in that short time, the escape occurred.

The fleeing snake beastman and another snake beastman had both claimed they weren’t feeling well and wanted to bask in the sun. The lion beastman had naively believed them. Meanwhile, the second snake beastman had intentionally caused a distraction, drawing his attention away. It was during that moment that the escapee slipped away.

Bai Tu sighed.

Many of the Lion Tribe beastmen in the settlement had already regained their freedom. While their ability to earn contribution points was still slightly behind the Rabbit and Wolf Tribes, their living conditions were far better than what they had endured in the Mad Lion Tribe and the Black Lion Tribe.

The Lion Tribe was known for its formidable combat strength, which was why the tribe had assigned many of them to physically demanding jobs. Guard duty, on the other hand, didn’t require brute strength—it just needed vigilance. But strong beastmen were often more intimidating, discouraging prisoners from attempting an escape.

This particular lion beastman had been chosen for this role for precisely that reason. Bai Tu still remembered Bai An’s explanation for selecting him—he’s honest and has no bad intentions.

Well, he was indeed honest. And he had no bad intentions.

Which also meant he was easily fooled by the snake beastmen.

Bai Tu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

Snake beastmen were incredibly difficult to track down. These past few days were supposed to be about sharing the good news of the tribe merger, yet now, an unexpected crisis had popped up.

“We’ll have to search for him,” Bai Tu said. The lion beastman had been tricked, so he had no idea where the escapee had gone. They would have to find him step by step.

The only good news was that the escaped snake beastman wasn’t venomous. As long as everyone stayed alert and avoided wandering off alone, the fugitive wouldn’t easily find an opportunity to harm anyone.

While Bai Tu organized patrol teams to conduct a thorough search, Lang Qi was busy mobilizing the wolf beastmen who were supposed to be resting. At a time like this, no one cared about their scheduled breaks—there was an intruder threatening the tribe’s safety.

That night, the entire settlement was on high alert. Patrol teams, which usually rotated every three days, were now stationed outside the residential area, keeping watch in shifts, leaving no blind spots.

It wasn’t until Bai Tu returned home that he realized he had forgotten to notify Lang Ze. After thinking about it, he simply asked Lang Qi to send a reminder for him.

As for whether Lang Ze wanted to come back, Bai Tu decided to leave that up to him.

After all, Lang Ze had already completed a patrol earlier that day. Right now, he was far from the settlement. If he rushed back immediately, he’d exhaust himself. It was better for him to just stay put and keep an eye on things over there.

Lang Qi agreed. Transforming into his beast form, he let out a few calls. Not long after, a distant howl responded.

“He’ll come back at dawn,” Lang Qi said.

Bai Tu nodded. That was fair.

“Why are we keeping those snake beastmen?” Lang Qi asked, frowning. He didn’t understand—by his logic, they should have just killed them all.

Bai Tu sighed. “I don’t want our tribe to gain a reputation for cruelty.”

This was a matter of their tribe’s image. They knew that the Black Forest Tribe and the snake beastmen had committed numerous crimes, but most outsiders were unaware of what the snake beastmen had done. If they simply executed them upon capture, it would be a clean solution, but after some time, wouldn’t other tribes start seeing them as ruthless and merciless?

Besides, Bai Tu had another reason for keeping them.

“I plan to use them as bait.”

“Bait?” Lang Qi looked at him.

“Yes.” Bai Tu nodded, finally revealing a plan he hadn’t told anyone about. “I don’t think the Black Forest Tribe is the only problem.”

After all, the rumor about sub-beastmen bringing disaster had spread across multiple continents at the same time. While the Black Forest Tribe had significant influence on the Eastern Continent, they had none elsewhere. That meant other continents likely had similar tribes stirring up trouble.

And then there was another issue. Earlier, he had sent members of the Black Hawk Tribe to investigate why prey numbers had dwindled. In the end, they discovered two tribes hoarding massive amounts of food. Yet, during the market gathering, those two tribes were completely absent—not a single representative was seen. Neither did they appear at the Black Forest Tribe’s side.

Bai Tu had a gut feeling that there were still things they hadn’t uncovered.

One of the key players, Wu Jiu, had been completely unresponsive, and Bao Ren remained tight-lipped no matter how much they pressured him. That left the snake beastmen as the best breakthrough point.

“The snake beastman that escaped is no longer in the settlement,” Bai Tu murmured to Lang Qi. “I added a special ingredient to their food—he doesn’t have the strength to attack anyone. The fact that he fled so hastily makes me think the people sent to rescue them have already arrived.”

His large-scale mobilization of patrol teams wasn’t just about searching for the escapee—it was a defensive strategy in disguise.

Lang Qi immediately tensed. “Do we have enough people to protect the tribe?” He hadn’t expected Bai Tu to take such a risk.

“It’s enough,” Bai Tu reassured him. He knew Lang Qi was worried, but panic wouldn’t help. “Don’t forget, we’re surrounded by many allied tribes. That means the enemy can’t bring too many people—they’ll have to sneak in quietly.”

Meanwhile, at the northernmost part of the tribe…

The young wolf cubs had encountered a group of strikingly beautiful young men and women.

Lang Ze narrowed his eyes. “You said you’re looking for Bai Tu?”

“Yes,” the boy leading the group clutched his injured arm. “We ran into some rogue beastmen and need to ask Lord Bai Tu for medicine.”

The young wolves scanned the group carefully.

After a long pause, Lang Ze finally said, “Follow me.”

“Thank you,” the boy sighed in relief. His gaze drifted toward the food roasting over the wolves’ campfire, and he hesitated before speaking again. “We haven’t eaten in three days… could we have some food?”

Lang Ze’s face instantly darkened. “What did you just say?”

Another boy pitifully added, “Just a little… Please share some food with us.”

Lang Ze didn’t hesitate—he immediately shouted, “Drive them away! Get rid of them, now!”