Chapter 150
As soon as Lang Ze spoke, the wolf cubs immediately sprang into action, grabbing their weapons to chase the strangers away. Ever since the tribe had gained access to more iron, weapons had become much more abundant.
The wolf cubs didn’t actually need weapons, but once they discovered that they could use them to skewer meat, each of them insisted on having one. Now that they had just finished eating some meat, they were more than ready for a fight.
The young man who had been testing the waters with his request froze for a moment, stunned. The group of young men and women behind him also looked dumbfounded.
Food was one of the most valuable resources on the Beast God Continent—and it was also a common way of expressing affection during courtship.
When an unmated young beastman asked another beastman for food, it often carried an unspoken implication—suggesting the possibility of becoming mates.
On this continent, there were far fewer sub-beastmen and female beastmen than male beastmen. In fact, even combined, their numbers didn’t match up to the males. Because of this, when someone made such a request, in at least eight out of ten cases, they would receive an enthusiastic invitation.
Some would even insist that the food they had wasn’t enough, offering to fetch more from their tribe—creating the perfect opportunity for outsiders to follow them in.
This group had expected these wolf beastmen to agree. They had also considered the possibility of being refused.
But being chased away? That was something none of them had anticipated.
The delicate-looking young man leading the group quickly adjusted his approach, trying to salvage the situation. “We can offer supplies in exchange—just a little food would be enough. We are sub-beastmen, our bodies are weak, and we can’t go too long without eating…” His voice carried a pleading tone, and the people behind him looked even more pitiful, as if silently begging for sympathy.
But none of the wolf cubs cared about whether they were pitiful or not.
Their attention was completely focused on the roasted meat over the fire.
Then, Lang You, who had been tending the fire, announced, “Meat’s ready!”
Immediately, all the wolf cubs rushed over, grabbed their skewers, blew on them a few times, and started eating.
Mmm… delicious. As expected, Bai Tu’s new seasoning made everything taste amazing.
Bai Tu knew that the wolf cubs had been eating outside a lot recently. While he always reminded them not to wander too far and to return to the tribe early, he also made sure the storage kept supplying them with extra seasonings—just in case they couldn’t eat well outside.
Having someone who cared about them made all the difference.
Today, the wolf cubs were eating even more joyfully than usual. A few days ago, they would have settled for any random food, but now? They wouldn’t accept anything less than the best.
The young wolves feasted happily, occasionally glancing warily at the unfamiliar beastmen who had shown up today.
The strangers: “…”
With Lang Ze’s firm rejection earlier, the outsiders didn’t dare bring up food again. Instead, they could only sit quietly to the side and wait.
Finally, when the wolf cubs finished eating, the young leader hesitantly spoke again. “Can you take us to see Lord Bai Tu now?”
Lang Ze recalled the sounds he had heard from the tribe before encountering this group. He nodded. “I’ll take you there.” Conveniently, they were heading back to the residential area anyway.
The young man let out a sigh of relief.
The strangers waited, expecting the entire wolf pack to depart together.
But after waiting for a while, only two of them stood up—Lang Ze and another wolf cub.
“They… aren’t coming?” the young man asked, glancing at the other wolf cubs, who showed no intention of leaving.
Their plan had been to befriend these wolves along the way and, ideally, lead all of them away from their post.
The first step had already failed.
They absolutely could not afford for the next step to go wrong.
The young man looked at Lang Ze, an uneasy feeling creeping in—something about this situation felt off.
“Of course they’re not coming,” Lang Ze replied, as if the question was utterly ridiculous. “They’re staying here.”
After all, this was a defensive operation.
If they were guarding the tribe, then every location needed to be protected.
Lang Ze had decided to leave the others behind—ensuring that no matter what kind of danger arose, no one would be able to sneak into the residential area unnoticed!
The young man was stunned once again.
They had come here with two main objectives: one was to build rapport with the young beastmen from the Snow Rabbit Tribe and the Blood Wolf Tribe, and the other was to lure the beastmen guarding the outskirts of the territory back to the settlement.
But now, Lang Ze was only bringing one wolf beastman along to guide them?
“Hurry up, didn’t you say you wanted to see Bai Tu?” Lang Ze urged impatiently. “If you’re not coming, you can find your own way there.”
“We’re going! Of course, we’re going!” the young man said quickly, afraid that Lang Ze might abandon them.
Two things had already deviated from their plan—if they couldn’t even enter the tribe, the consequences would be even worse.
Still… they really couldn’t make a move against these two wolves.
The young man lowered his head, deep in thought.
Meanwhile, the wolf cubs had absolutely no thoughts of sympathy or hospitality.
After finishing their meal, all they wanted to do was sit and rest for a while before heading off to play again. So, aside from Lang Ze and Lang You, none of them moved.
Lang Ze and Lang You led the group back to the settlement.
Along the way, the outsiders started trying to engage Lang Ze in conversation.
“I heard that Lord Bai Tu’s medical skills are extraordinary—far better than the shamans in other tribes.”
“Will Lord Bai Tu be able to heal our wounds?”
“Lord Bai Tu is truly remarkable…”
One after another, they took turns praising Bai Tu, all while subtly observing Lang Ze’s reaction.
But to their disappointment, Lang Ze didn’t get angry at all.
In fact, he looked a little pleased.
Not only that—Lang You, the other wolf accompanying them, seemed equally pleased.
The group was completely baffled.
They had been complimenting Bai Tu, so why were these two wolves looking so happy?
They didn’t dare ask outright and could only exchange glances among themselves.
Thinking they might not have said enough, the young man tried another approach.
“On our way here, we heard people say that Lord Bai Tu is even more powerful than your tribe’s leader.”
“By the way, has your tribe officially changed its name to the Snow Rabbit Tribe now?”
Lang Ze, who had been walking ahead, suddenly slowed his steps and turned to look at them.
The people behind the young man wore puzzled expressions, but internally, they were ecstatic.
Yes! Yes! Get angry!
Only the young man at the front felt uneasy—he had a bad feeling that Lang Ze wasn’t going to react the way they expected.
And sure enough, Lang Ze just said one thing, “Why do you all talk so much?”
Lang You chimed in immediately, “Is that why the rogue beastmen beat you up?”
“Exactly.” Lang Ze nodded in agreement. “Talking too much is one thing, but not even getting to the point is another.”
They had already walked halfway back, and these people were still rambling about things they had heard on the way.
Lang Ze actually did enjoy listening to people praise Bai Tu.
But these guys were terrible at it.
They kept repeating the same few lines, over and over. He was already sick of hearing it.
He was just about to mock the most talkative one when he suddenly realized—none of these people had even introduced themselves.
Muttering to himself, he said, “They’ve been here this whole time and haven’t even told us their names.”
Hearing Lang Ze’s complaint, the group immediately looked embarrassed.
They had been so focused on trying to stir up trouble between the wolves and Bai Tu that they had completely neglected to introduce themselves.
Now that Lang Ze had pointed it out, they couldn’t pretend not to hear him.
So, they began introducing themselves.
The leader of the group, like Lang Ze, was also from the Wolf Tribe, but his beast form was different—he belonged to a smaller wolf species and was a sub-beastman. His name was Lang Qian.
Among the others, there was a younger boy from the Fox Tribe, as well as several from the Cat Tribe, Deer Tribe, and more.
In total, the ten or so individuals represented six or seven different species.
“Our tribe has all kinds of beastmen with different beast forms,” Lang Qian said casually, gesturing to the people behind him. “And there are many other teams like ours in our tribe.”
Lang Ze stared at him.
What was that supposed to mean?
Was he implying that their tribe was stronger than his?
Was he trying to pick a fight?
Lang Ze glanced at the group of beastmen, curled his lip, and felt that even if all of them teamed up, they still wouldn’t be able to beat him.
Without bothering to engage any further, he led them to the tribe and handed them straight over to Bai Qi, who was in charge of this kind of situation. Then, he turned around and left to find Lang Qi and Bai Tu.
The outsiders, suddenly discarded like baggage, were left dumbfounded.
“Aren’t you going to take us to him?” one of them asked, stepping forward as if to leave, only to be blocked immediately.
“You’re outsiders. Why would you be allowed to meet Bai Tu directly?” Bai Qi looked at them strangely. With a wave of his hand, he had the others surround them and lead them to a different location.
The group exchanged glances, first looking at Bai Qi—who didn’t seem to be lying—then at Lang Ze and Lang You, who were walking further and further away.
Not wanting to expose their intentions too soon, they had no choice but to follow along as instructed.
Bai Qi led them to a room where beastmen soon arrived with food and water.
One of the beastmen in Lang Qian’s group eyed the food hesitantly and whispered, “Qian, can we eat this?”
To make their disguise more convincing, they had actually gone several days without eating. They had assumed that showing weakness and forming bonds through food-sharing would be an easy way to win the wolves over.
But Lang Ze and the others hadn’t fallen for it at all.
Now, their hunger was real.
Only after Bai Qi and the others left did Lang Qian lower his head to inspect the food in front of him. After a brief pause, he nodded. “Eat half for now. We’ll eat the rest when we find a chance to get out.”
After saying that, he looked around at his companions, confirming that they were all on the same page. Then, from his chest pocket, he pulled out a small leather pouch. Inside were two smaller packets of medicinal powder. He took out the one wrapped in leaves, which contained several small doses, and distributed them.
“Make sure to mix this into their food later,” he instructed.
This was their real mission.
“But weren’t the snake beastmen supposed to escape and meet up with us?” one of the beastman muttered, dissatisfied. “We still haven’t seen them.”
Too many things had gone wrong today.
Not only had the wolves failed to get angry at Bai Tu like they had hoped, but now, the snake beastmen who were supposed to meet them hadn’t shown up either.
Still, they had to admit that this residential area was far better than they had imagined. It was so well-built that they couldn’t help but feel envious, already fantasizing about how they would divide it up once it became theirs.
For now, though, their priority was linking up with the snake beastman. They were new here and didn’t know their way around.
The tribe had plenty of food, but compared to what they had seen the wolves eating earlier, the rations they had been given now seemed almost unbearable.
They were all beastmen of the same age—so why did those wolves get to eat so well while they were stuck with this?
Recalling the instructions they had received before setting out, the beastman beside Lang Qian reminded the group once again, “Remember, be flexible. The more of the drug we can sneak in, the better.”
Once everyone was drugged and unconscious, they could take over the tribe effortlessly.
Their confidence soared as they waited for Bai Qi’s return, already scheming about how to convince him to take them to the main food stores or the tribe’s dining area.
But they waited and waited… and waited.
And Bai Qi never came back.
One of the beastmen behind Lang Qian abruptly stood up and strode to the door, reaching out to pull it open.
However, no matter how he yanked at it, the wooden door didn’t budge.
It was just wood, yet it was strangely sturdy. No matter how much force he used, it refused to move.
“What’s with this door?” the beastman grumbled.
Hadn’t people been boasting about how powerful the Snow Rabbit Tribe and the Blood Wolf Tribe were?
Was this really what they called a proper door??
Lang Qian suddenly asked, “Did they lock us in?”
The beastman at the door tried shaking it again, but there was still no response—no movement, nothing. Peering through the gap between the door panels, he could make out faint silhouettes in the distance.
They could hear people outside, yet no one was coming to open the door.
In that instant, they understood.
They had been deliberately locked in.
So… those wolves had noticed something was off?
The beastmen near the door exchanged uneasy glances.
But how?
They hadn’t done anything!
*
Meanwhile, Lang Ze was complaining to Bai Tu.
“They even tried to eat our food. So greedy!”
“And the whole way here, they kept flattering you to get on my good side. Those compliments were obviously something they learned from other tribes—not sincere at all!”
“They didn’t even tell me their names but kept trying to trick me into giving them information. Do they think I’m stupid?”
“Trick you?”
Bai Tu and Lang Qi exchanged glances, both seeing the same surprise in each other’s eyes.
Lang Ze had actually managed to recognize that they were trying to get information out of him?!
“Of course!” Lang Ze nodded, looking even more irritated. “They kept asking where our tribe’s food is stored. They even asked if we have a lot of food. It’s obvious they came just to steal our food!”
So, the moment they entered the tribe, Lang Ze had simply handed them over to Bai Qi and had them locked up.
Bai Tu: “…”
Lang Qi: “…”
Bai Tu fell silent for a moment.
He hadn’t expected Lang Ze’s entire reasoning for suspecting them to be because of food.
Sure enough, when evaluating Lang Ze’s decisions, one should never focus on how he reached his conclusions—or what he was actually thinking. Just look at the result.
And in the end, the result was perfect.
Feeling pleased, Bai Tu smiled. “What do you want to eat tomorrow? I’ll cook for you.”
The escaped snake beastman still hadn’t been found, so Bai Tu planned to stay in the tribe the next day. In fact, not just him—any beastman who was slightly weaker would also be staying put.
Although they had caught the infiltrators, they still didn’t know what their next move was.
Lang Ze’s eyes instantly lit up at the mention of food. His mind filled with countless delicious possibilities.
But then… he glanced at Lang Qi.
He knew that if he asked for anything too complicated, he’d definitely get smacked.
So he sighed. “Anything is fine.”
If only my brother weren’t here, he thought. Then I could ask for anything I wanted.
“Alright, then I’ll decide,” Bai Tu nodded. Lately, he had been working on a few new dishes that he hadn’t had the chance to make yet.
For a long time now, the way they ate meat had been too simple. Even though he had introduced a few variations, it was still the same basic dishes over and over. They had been eating the same way for so long that even he was getting tired of it.
Fortunately, he had recently extracted a bit of starch from sweet potatoes. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make crispy fried pork or stuffed fried lotus root slices.
Turning to Lang Ze, he asked, “How many did you catch in total?”
“I didn’t count. Maybe fourteen or fifteen?” Lang Ze thought back. He had been too busy rolling his eyes at them. After bringing them back, he had handed them straight to Bai Qi and hadn’t bothered counting.
“But I definitely didn’t let any of them escape!” he added proudly. “I watched them closely!”
“Good job,” Bai Tu praised.
While Bai Tu was preparing food to reward Lang Ze, Lang Qian and his group were still struggling to figure out how to escape.
A short while ago, they had been complaining about how flimsy the tribe’s doors seemed.
Now, they realized just how sturdy those doors actually were.
No matter how much they pushed, the door wouldn’t budge.
It was just wood… or at least, that’s what it looked like. But no matter how hard they shoved, it wouldn’t move an inch. Some of them even shifted into their beast forms and tried ramming into it—only to crack the wood slightly.
If any of them had been from the Snow Rabbit Tribe, they would have known the truth—while the outer layer was wooden, inside the door was a steel plate.
No matter how hard they crashed into it, they were only damaging the surface. The steel underneath remained completely intact.
Although they had successfully captured the infiltrators, the missing snake beastman still hadn’t been found.
Bai Qi, Baichen, and the others spent the entire night searching, but there was no sign of him.
In the end, they returned to Bai Tu to ask, “What should we do next?”
Everyone was worried that the snake beastman might attack someone in the tribe. But continuing to search aimlessly without finding him was also not a solution—there was too much other work to be done.
At the same time, they couldn’t afford to stop searching either. No one knew where the snake beastman might suddenly appear from, and besides, the drug Bai Tu had given him would only last for so long. Once the effects wore off, he would become an even greater threat.
“Search northward,” Bai Tu instructed. The infiltrators they had captured yesterday had come from the north, so if the snake beastman was looking for them, he would likely head in that direction.
The group agreed and began their search toward the north.
Meanwhile, Lang Ze was still debating whether or not to eat more food.
Even though they had made thorough preparations, Bai Tu still couldn’t fully relax. He had been so restless that he hadn’t slept all night and had started preparing food before dawn.
Golden, crispy fried pork bites, stuffed fried lotus root slices bursting with juicy meat—Lang Ze had been eating since Bai Tu pulled the first batch out of the oil and didn’t stop until everything was done. In between, he had also eaten plenty of food from the cafeteria. Otherwise, all of Bai Tu’s work might not have been enough to satisfy him.
But he hadn’t just thought of himself—he also considered the wolf cubs who hadn’t tried this food yet.
Once Bai Tu, Lang Qi, and the young cubs had all finished eating, Lang Ze set aside a few extra plates.
“I’m taking these over for them,” he declared confidently as he packed the food.
However, it didn’t even take half a day before Lang Ze started feeling the urge to open the pack and eat a little more himself.
In the end, his loyalty to the wolf cubs won out over his hunger, and he decided to wait and share with them later.
“I had the storage workers pick out some good sweet potatoes for roasting,” Bai Tu reminded him, knowing Lang Ze wouldn’t stay long.
From the warehouse keepers, Bai Tu had learned that when the wolf cubs grabbed sweet potatoes, they never paid attention to size or shape. Later on, they had at least started choosing bigger ones, though they still picked plenty of rounder ones for roasting.
The cubs were too impatient to sort through them properly. Expecting them to carefully pick out the best ones was impossible. The fact that they had even started choosing larger ones was already progress.
Rather than relying on the cubs, Bai Tu decided to assign some contribution points and have the warehouse keepers handle the selection instead.
But in the end, the warehouse keepers refused the points. They had too much free time anyway, so they didn’t mind sorting through the sweet potatoes when they weren’t busy. It wasn’t just for the cubs—having them pre-sorted also made it quicker for everyone else who came to grab some.
And when it came to packing up sweet potatoes for the cubs, they were more than happy to do it. Since the cubs usually set out at night, sorting the sweet potatoes in advance saved them time.
Lang Ze agreed and went to call Lang You, along with a few cubs who had stayed behind in the tribe. Soon, a small squad set off toward the north.
Halfway there, they spotted a group of wolf cubs gathered near the hole they had previously dug.
A section of the tunnel had collapsed, but the rest remained intact. However, because of Bai Tu’s warnings, no one had dared to go inside again.
“Boss, there’s something in there,” one of the cubs reported as soon as Lang Ze arrived. “Bai Tu told us not to go in, but he hasn’t come out this whole time.”
And whatever was inside was smaller than them. No matter how they tried to look, they couldn’t see where it was hiding.
“Someone’s hiding?”
Lang Ze leaned in for a closer look.
He didn’t see anything, but he did catch the faint scent of a snake beastman.
“Bai Tu said a snake beastman escaped. So this is where he ended up!”
Lang Ze instantly concluded that this must be the missing fugitive.
But now, they had a problem—how were they supposed to get him out when he was hiding so deep inside?
“Should we sneak in and take a look?” one of the cubs suggested, eager to go down and see where the snake was hiding.
Lang Ze shot him a look. “You’re not afraid of Bai Tu finding out?”
The moment Bai Tu’s name was mentioned, the cubs fell completely silent.
Having lived in the tribe long enough, they all knew—between angering Lang Qi, Lang Ze, or Bai Tu, the worst choice was disobeying Bai Tu.
No one dared to take that risk.
Bai Tu had strictly forbidden them from doing anything dangerous. If any of them dared to go down into that hole, Bai Tu would punish them first, and then Lang Qi would punish them again.
No matter how gentle their chief seemed in front of Bai Tu, everyone knew better than to underestimate his temper.
So, going down into that hole was absolutely not an option.
“Then what do we do?” The wolf cubs immediately fell into a dilemma.
They wanted to catch the snake beastman, but if the guy refused to come out and they couldn’t go in, how were they supposed to capture him?
Lang Ze studied the multiple exits carefully.
After confirming that the fugitive wouldn’t be able to escape anytime soon, he simply shrugged it off. “Forget it. Let’s eat first.”
Sure, he had already eaten a lot back at home, but hadn’t he just walked all this way?
That meant he was hungry again.
Plus, his basket was still filled with the fried lotus root slices, crispy fried pork, and freshly made snacks from the cafeteria that Bai Tu had packed for him.
These foods needed to be eaten quickly before they went bad.
The moment the cubs heard there was food—especially food that Bai Tu had made for them—they were happier than ever.
With the addition of the sweet potatoes they had brought along, the group eagerly began gathering firewood.
It was summer, so there were plenty of dried branches and leaves that had fallen to the ground earlier in the year. Cooking outdoors was no trouble at all.
To prevent the snake beastman from escaping, the wolf cubs stationed themselves at every possible exit.
Each entrance was guarded by two or three wolves. When one of them had to leave to check something, the others stayed in place, keeping watch.
After piling up enough firewood, they started the fire.
However, summer had one downside—the heat.
Especially when cooking, the fire gave off so much heat that the cubs’ faces were quickly flushed red.
“Where’s the fan?!”
The wolf cubs immediately started calling out, passing the message around.
The fan was another invention Bai Tu had taught them.
It was made from a type of plant that didn’t grow in their region but was common in the Southern Continent. Each leaf was several times larger than a human’s face, and once the edges were trimmed and smoothed, it became a perfect hand fan.
Despite its massive size, the fan was incredibly lightweight. A dozen of them stacked together in a basket weighed almost nothing.
To prevent them from getting lost, the fans were always collected after each meal and stored away until the next cooking session.
Each fire pit was given a fan, and the cubs started furiously fanning the flames.
Since they were also keeping an eye on the cave entrances, they had positioned themselves facing the tunnels.
And as they fanned the flames, all the smoke and heat blew straight into the cave.
Before the meal was even ready, they heard a series of coughing sounds from below.
Not long after, a soot-covered snake beastman crawled out of the tunnel.
“Ugh, so ugly.”
One of the wolves wrinkled his nose in disgust.
They had no problem with the Feather Tribe—although their feathers weren’t as smooth as the wolves’ fur, they at least had a soft layer of down.
But snake beastman? They were completely hairless.
Seeing the bare-skinned figure slither out of the cave, the cubs all shook their heads in disapproval.
The snake beastman had barely made it out before he was insulted.
He was so enraged that he almost crawled back into the tunnel.
But he knew what the inside looked like now—no matter where he hid, he wouldn’t be able to escape the smoke.
His only option was to come out.
Still, he hadn’t expected the first thing to greet him would be the disdain of these wolf cubs.
From childhood, he had always been praised for his beauty.
How could he tolerate this humiliation?!
Furious, he instantly shifted into his humanoid form.
The moment he transformed, the wolf cubs all immediately covered their eyes.
Sure, they also switched between their human and beast forms freely, but only when they were surrounded by their own kind.
Who would shamelessly transform into human form in front of so many people without even feeling embarrassed?!
The cubs huddled together, whispering complaints.
The snake beastman, who hadn’t even fully completed his transformation yet, was furious.
With a sharp hiss, his powerful tail lashed out at the closest wolf cub.
Before, they had only been mocking him.
But the moment he attacked—
All of the cubs immediately switched into battle mode.
Lang Ze reacted the fastest.
In an instant, he shifted into his beast form, lunging forward and clamping his jaws directly over the snake beastman’s heart.
The snake beastman froze on the spot, terrified that if Lang Ze bit down any harder, his life would be over.
Lang Ze, however, didn’t kill him outright.
Instead, he held him still until the other cubs swiftly tied him up.
Once the snake beastman was securely bound, Lang Ze shifted back into his human form.
They tied up his hands and feet, then coiled his tail several times to secure it, ensuring that he couldn’t escape whether he transformed into his human or beast form. Only after confirming this did everyone clap their hands in satisfaction and head off to eat. In the short time it took, some of the little wolves’ roasted meat had already burned, but it was still edible. As for the roasted sweet potatoes, they were even easier to deal with—just peel off the outermost layer.
After finishing their meal, Lang Ze led the captured snake beastman back.
“This is so annoying,” Lang Ze grumbled.
They had originally planned to stay here until nightfall, but now they had to escort this guy back to the tribe. Not sending him back wasn’t an option either—everyone in the tribe was waiting. If they didn’t return with him, people would keep worrying.
The little wolves, who had been away for only half a day, returned in a grand procession, this time bringing along someone new—not from the previous group, but a snake beastman.
When the beastman responsible for guarding the snake tribe came over to confirm, it was indeed the escaped snake beastman. In less than two days, the whole issue had been unintentionally resolved by the little wolves.
Bai Tu specially gave the little wolves two days off to enjoy themselves and, at the same time, became even more certain of one thing: these little wolves had absolutely no interest in finding mates. After an interrogation, he had uncovered the truth—Lang Qian and his group had attempted to use seduction as a tactic, trying to lure some beastmen first, then infiltrate the tribe and find an opportunity to poison the food.
Bai Tu had already noticed that the male beastman population in Beast God Continent was relatively high. After facing persecution across several continents, the number of sub-beastmen had dropped to less than half of what it had been, while female beastmen made up only one-third of the male beastmen population, with some tribes having even fewer. As a result, many male beastmen struggled to find mates, and it was usually the males who actively pursued their partners.
This kind of situation was common in nature. Among Lang Qian’s group, there were sub-beastmen, female beastmen, and even handsome male beastmen. Whenever they encountered a small group of travelers, they would deliberately act pitiful and tell sob stories.
Very few groups could resist such an approach, as they never asked for anything outright or demanded to be taken in. Instead, they would make small requests—exchanging some supplies for food, asking for an escort for a short distance… Eventually, after enough interaction, some beastmen would take the bait.
However, this strategy was completely ineffective against the little wolves. Instead of falling for it, the little wolves remained wary of them, afraid they would steal their food.
Lang Qian and his group now deeply regretted choosing to target the little wolves. If they had picked another group of beastmen, they might have actually succeeded. But the moment they entered the tribe, they were immediately captured, without even a chance to react.
They were beastmen from the Western Continent. Their leader had sent them over after hearing that the Black Forest Tribe had been taken over by an alliance of other tribes. Their mission was to gather intelligence and, ideally, eliminate the leading tribes in one swift move.
Bai Tu had guessed correctly about one thing—this rumor had indeed been fabricated by the shamans of multiple continents working together. Using this false information, they had managed to capture nearly all the sub-beastmen across four continents.
“In the Western Continent, hiding sub-beastmen is punishable by extermination,” Lang Qian admitted. He knew exactly what was best for his survival. Once he realized he was captured and had no chance of escape, he chose to tell the truth without hesitation.
Not that he had a choice—another group was already on their way. If those newcomers were captured just like them, then Lang Qian’s group would lose all value. After all, the newcomers knew just as much about the connections between the continents as they did.
Having spent time around the shamans, Lang Qian understood one thing very well—those who were no longer useful were the first to be killed. He had no desire to die. He also knew that given his status, as long as he told the truth, the worst punishment he would face wouldn’t be death.
Once he confirmed he had been captured, Lang Qian completely abandoned the idea of escaping. Unlike the shamans of the Eastern Continent, the shamans of his own tribe were far more ruthless. If they found out that his group had failed to complete their assigned mission, the only fate awaiting them would be death.
Lang Qian wanted to live. Along the way, he had overheard many praises about Bai Tu and the Snow Rabbit Tribe. From those conversations, he had learned that the Snow Rabbit Tribe didn’t kill people—not even the captured beastmen from the Black Forest Tribe had been executed.
That was more than enough for him.
Lang Qian wanted to trade the information he had gathered for his life, so of course, he held nothing back.
Bai Tu hadn’t expected the interrogation to be this easy. After separating Lang Qian and his group, the answers he received were almost identical, though their knowledge was limited. For example, when asked which shamans had been involved, how many people were part of the operation, and what the ultimate goal was, most beastmen just shook their heads in confusion, completely clueless.
Lang Qian knew a little more, but even he could only give a rough estimate of the number of shamans. As for their true purpose, he had no idea. However, one thing was certain—the claim that sub-beastmen brought misfortune was false. In fact, within their tribe, the chief and shamans had specifically raised a group of sub-beastmen. They were among them.
“You often pretended to be pitiful to seek help from other tribes? Were the snake beastmen doing the same thing?” Bai Tu asked.
Lang Qian nodded. “There are even fewer sub-beastmen in the Western Continent, so the beastmen there are easier to deceive.”
The punishment for hiding sub-beastmen was much harsher in the Western Continent, which meant that many tribes didn’t even dare to secretly shelter them. Beastmen like Lang Qian, who shared the same status, used this fact to their advantage, luring others into their trap. By claiming to be wandering beastmen who had no intention of joining a tribe and were merely looking for some food or supplies in exchange for goods, they found that most beastmen wouldn’t refuse such a small request.
For tribes like the deer tribe, where female beastmen were in charge, they sent young, strong, and handsome male beastmen instead. The method remained the same—only the personnel changed.
The largest tribe in the Western Continent, which was also Lang Qian’s original tribe, was called the West River Tribe. It was no smaller than the Black Forest Tribe, and its management was even stricter. Unlike the power struggles between Wu Jiu and Bao Ren in the Black Forest Tribe, the chief and the shamans of the West River Tribe had no such conflicts—they were brothers. Their bond was much stronger.
However, their unity was used entirely for oppressing other tribes. Unlike the Black Forest Tribe, which directly absorbed other tribes’ beastmen into their ranks, the West River Tribe enforced a tribute system. Any smaller tribe had to send a fixed amount of food to the West River Tribe every year—if they failed to do so, the West River Tribe’s shamans would refuse to pray to the Beast God for their protection.
Any tribe that dared to resist the West River Tribe inevitably suffered disasters—either their cubs mysteriously died, or their beastmen fell ill in large numbers…
Because of the shamans’ powers, the beastmen placed great trust in them. Under the West River Tribe’s rule, very few beastmen ever dared to rebel.
Listening to Lang Qian’s explanation, Bai Tu couldn’t help but be a little curious. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“I want to live.” Lang Qian’s answer remained the same—he wanted to survive.
Bai Tu still found it strange. “Why not wait for your tribe’s shamans to come rescue you?”
The Black Forest Tribe’s beastmen had been captured for a long time, yet they still believed they had a chance to escape. When they learned that reinforcements had arrived, they even risked exposure to try and meet up with Lang Qian.
But Lang Qian?
He had only been captured for two or three days, yet he had already confessed everything—going beyond what Bai Tu had even thought to ask.
This was Bai Tu’s first time encountering such a cooperative beastman.
Lang Qian’s attitude was open and straightforward. “Because they were liars to begin with.”
Although he had grown up in the West River Tribe and had been indoctrinated by the shamans and the chief with the belief that shamans were supreme, he understood that those teachings were just a way to fool other beastmen.
“They gave us two types of medicine—one that kills cubs and another that makes people sick.” Lang Qian mentioned the drugs that had been confiscated on their first day here. “I’ve only ever used the one that makes adult beastmen sick.”
Even if they weren’t his own cubs, he couldn’t bring himself to be that ruthless.
“I’ve done wrong, but my crimes, in your eyes, are not deserving of death.”
Bai Tu was a little surprised. Had Lang Qian already planned his way out while on the road?
“They provided us with food and shelter, and we worked for them—but we never intended to serve them forever,” Lang Qian said.
It wasn’t that he had only started planning his escape route on the way to the Snow Rabbit Tribe. Rather, every time he received a new order, he would consider his way out. He had never intended to work for the West River Tribe indefinitely.
That was also why, while others took the easy route by targeting cubs, he had only ever used medicine that made adult beastmen sick.
“You’re quite smart,” Bai Tu remarked, impressed by how thoroughly Lang Qian had thought things through.
“Of course—I’m a sub-beastman.” Lang Qian’s voice carried a hint of pride.
“Sub-beastman?” Bai Tu looked at him—not because of his identity, but because of the shift in his tone.
What was the connection between the two?
Thank you for the chapter!