Chapter 158
Whether Hu Bu could truly foresee the future was now impossible to verify—after all, Lang Qi had long since eliminated him.
Bai Tu didn’t feel any regret about that. Given Hu Bu’s talent for causing chaos, if he were still alive today, who knew what kind of trouble he’d be stirring up? The lesson from back then had been more than enough. If Hu Bu had just kept a low profile for a while, things wouldn’t have escalated the way they did. But considering the potential havoc he could have wreaked, Bai Tu would rather leave the truth of his so-called foresight unexamined.
However, one thing Xiong Chong mentioned—this year’s heavy snowfall—was worth paying attention to. Better to be prepared than caught off guard.
In an instant, Bai Tu was already thinking about multiple things: food supplies for the tribe, the current state of their buildings, and how everyone’s work should be adjusted during winter.
These matters would need to be gradually managed. Looking at Xiong Chong, Bai Tu continued questioning him—specifically about what he had done after overhearing Hu Bu’s conversation and which tribe the beastman Hu Bu had spoken with belonged to.
The Chiwen Tribe originally didn’t live on the Eastern Continent. Their homeland was on the Northern Continent. Though the overall environment of the Beast God Continent had four distinct seasons from south to north, the conditions weren’t exactly the same everywhere.
For example, the Northern Continent was colder than the other three continents, while the Southern Continent was the warmest of them all.
If it weren’t for the heating systems they had installed in their tribe, Hei Xiao wouldn’t have been able to stay here for such a long time.
Compared to the Snow Rabbit Tribe, the Black Hawk Tribe was actually better suited for incubating eagle cubs, but since their conditions were different, it wasn’t fair to compare them directly.
Right now, even though the temperatures had begun to drop, the heated kang beds kept places like Hei Xiao and Ying Mian’s rooms warm, making them feel as cozy as summer. And inside the incubation boxes, the temperature was even more stable.
That said, these conditions only applied indoors. Outdoors, the Eastern Continent was still colder than the Black Hawk Tribe’s homeland on the Southern Continent. Meanwhile, the Northern Continent, where the Chiwen Tribe used to live, was even colder than the Snow Rabbit Tribe’s territory.
For example, right now, the temperature in the Eastern Continent was only slightly lower than in summer, still far from freezing. But in the Northern Continent, some areas had already begun to ice over.
If the snowfall this year was really as extreme as Xiong Chong had overheard, with temperatures dropping more drastically than usual, then the tribes of the Northern Continent would be the ones suffering the most.
That was precisely why Xiong Chong had led his tribe to urgently migrate to the Eastern Continent, even attempting to follow Hu Bu’s plan of stockpiling food and seizing a large tribe’s territory.
But his planning had been… flawed, to say the least.
He only considered the size of the target territory, choosing the largest tribe available. What he didn’t take into account was that those tribes had dozens of times more people than his own.
Honestly, they were lucky they hadn’t made a move yet—otherwise, it was hard to say what their fate would have been.
The Chiwen Tribe wasn’t particularly weak in hunting. And since the Eastern Continent wasn’t as cold as the North, there was more prey available. The moment they arrived, they managed to hunt successfully, which boosted their confidence tremendously.
However, their methods of food storage remained as crude as ever.
To prevent their stockpile from being stolen, they relied on a method that nearly no other beastmen could tolerate—coating their food in filth to mask its scent.
As for the beastman who had spoken with Hu Bu, he was from a White Bear Tribe located not far from the Chiwen Tribe. However, his tribe wasn’t the same as the White Bear Tribe that had moved to the Eastern Continent long ago. Instead, his people were called the White River Tribe, named after the fact that their land was covered in snow for half the year, turning everything into a vast white expanse.
Unlike the White Bear Tribe, which had relocated early on, the White River Tribe had long adapted to life in the Northern Continent.
Their tribal customs included a key restriction:
Since cubs were typically born at the start of winter and remained hidden in caves until winter ended, the White River Tribe’s cubs had to stay in hiding for at least four to five months.
In contrast, winter on the Eastern Continent lasted only three to four months, making it shorter than in the North.
This posed a potential problem for the White River Tribe—they worried that if the snow melted too soon, they wouldn’t be able to protect their cubs properly.
Thus, they had no intention of moving to another continent, let alone following Hu Bu’s suggestion to invade other tribes.
Sure, bears were powerful fighters, but attacking another tribe’s territory? That was practically declaring war against an entire region of beastmen!
With these concerns in mind, the White River Tribe refused to listen to Hu Bu.
The Chiwen Tribe, however, didn’t think things through at all and rushed headfirst to the Eastern Continent.
The more Bai Tu listened, the more exasperated he felt.
The White River Tribe’s reasoning is exactly what a normal beastman should have.
Meanwhile, the Chiwen Tribe heard one vague rumor and immediately charged into another continent, invading someone else’s territory.
Honestly, there was probably no second tribe on the entire Beast God Continent as reckless as them.
And indeed—there wasn’t.
Now that Bai Tu had questioned Xiong Chong thoroughly, he could confirm that the so-called crazed beastmen stockpiling food, spotted earlier by the Black Eagle Tribe, were all from the Chiwen Tribe.
The Chiwen Tribe had a total of just over two hundred members, but they had carefully planned their hunting efforts to maximize their food supply.
After arriving on the Eastern Continent, they didn’t act as a single unit. Instead, they split into two teams, with each team occupying a separate territory and hunting frantically. Only once they had stockpiled enough food would they regroup.
Logically speaking, with such small numbers, they shouldn’t have been able to catch that much prey. However, their tribe had very few elderly and children, with most of their members being young, able-bodied beastmen, making their hunting efficiency much higher than in other tribes.
Moreover, because they masked the scent of their food with strong odors, even wandering beastmen and passing tribes avoided them when given a choice. As a result, they faced little competition and managed to capture an unusually large amount of prey.
The Chiwen Tribe wasn’t picky about food at all. Considering they could stomach meat covered in their own excrement, they obviously didn’t care about freshness or proper cooking either.
Ever since arriving on the Eastern Continent, they had spent nearly every waking moment hunting, with only a few brief hours of sleep.
Bai Tu fell silent for a moment.
Back when he first heard about two groups of beastmen hunting like mad, he had assumed they were from large, powerful tribes.
He never imagined that the entire operation was carried out by a tribe of fewer than three hundred members.
At least the White River Tribe hadn’t listened to Hu Bu. Otherwise, the situation would have been far worse—after all, the White River Tribe had a much larger population than the Chiwen Tribe.
Bai Tu waved his hand, signaling Bai Qi to escort Xiong Chong back to their settlement.
The Chiwen Tribe’s temporary residence was within the residential area, but it was set far apart from the others. Their smell was simply too distinct, and until they learned to control it properly, it wasn’t suitable for them to live in the central part of the community.
“Make sure to bring them food every day,” Bai Tu instructed.
There was no way they would dig up the Chiwen Tribe’s old food stash, but with so many people—including young children—they couldn’t just leave them to starve.
The number of cubs among them wasn’t large, but Bai Tu still couldn’t bear the thought of them going hungry.
There was also another reason…
How should he put it?
The Chiwen Tribe’s beastmen were uniquely foolish, to the point that anyone dealing with them would find themselves unintentionally more tolerant.
After all, they hadn’t even done anything yet—and they had already scared themselves half to death.
Bai Qi agreed and delivered food to them later that night.
Of course, he didn’t bring them the same food as the tribe’s own members.
After all, these were captured enemy beastmen, not guests.
Instead, Bai Qi gave them the same food that the punished beastmen from the Black Forest and Red Eagle Tribes were eating.
However, since the tribe still needed these laborers to work, the food wasn’t bad—it just wasn’t as high quality as what the tribe’s own people ate.
The meals consisted primarily of high-yield crops like corn, with meat making up only a third of the portion.
Tu Mu, who managed several dining halls, ensured that even the meals for the punished beastmen were properly prepared.
For this meal, they steamed corn, wheat, and a few other grains together, making them the day’s staple food.
As for the meat, chicken was the most abundant in the tribe, since chickens hatched the fastest.
Normally, the Snow Rabbit Tribe and Blood Wolf Tribe ate dishes like spicy chicken, fried chicken cutlets, braised chicken wings, and crispy drumsticks.
But for the Chiwen Tribe, things were kept simple.
The whole chickens were cleaned, chopped into pieces, thrown into a pot with potatoes and other ingredients, then simmered until tender. Once ready, it was ladled out one bowl per person.
What no one expected was that this simple meal completely won over the Chiwen Tribe.
Despite capturing so much prey, the Chiwen beastmen had never truly savored their food.
Xiong Chong had been so focused on seizing territory that he never allowed much time for proper meals.
If they could cook their food at all, that was already considered good enough—flavor was a luxury they never even considered.
On top of that, fearing that others might steal their food, the Chiwen Tribe had skipped the market for two consecutive trips, which meant their salt reserves were critically low.
They rationed salt down to individual grains, so one could imagine just how bland their food tasted.
But the Snow Rabbit Tribe was entirely different.
Even when preparing simple meals, their food was far superior.
This one-pot chicken and potato stew was nothing fancy, but compared to the inedible slop the Chiwen Tribe was used to, it was on a completely different level.
The potatoes had absorbed the rich broth, turning soft and flavorful, bursting with the essence of chicken in every bite.
As for the chicken itself, after simmering for so long, the meat had begun to fall off the bones. Whatever seasoning had been added completely masked any gamey or bloody scent, leaving behind only the mouthwatering aroma of cooked chicken.
A cub from the Chiwen Tribe clutched a bowl almost as big as his face, licking up every last drop of chicken soup. The smaller bones were chewed and swallowed whole, while the larger ones were licked clean of every last scrap of meat before being reluctantly set aside.
Everyone devoured the delicious chicken first before finally turning their attention to the second bowl of food.
Inside were several different-colored grains. Two of them were familiar—they had seen them growing on plants outside when they were captured. However, those plants had been densely packed, whereas in the bowl, these larger grains were mixed with other types in smaller proportions.
The beastmen leaned in to sniff at the unfamiliar food. It didn’t smell as enticing as the chicken soup, but it had a pleasant aroma nonetheless. One beastman took a bite.
It wasn’t the savory richness of meat, but neither was it bad—in fact, it had a slight sweetness to it.
Seeing that he didn’t complain, the others immediately started digging in.
Within moments, they fell in love with the subtly sweet and chewy grains.
The two bowls of food had completely different flavors, but one thing was the same—they were both delicious.
For the first time, the Chiwen Tribe’s beastmen weren’t just eating to survive—they were truly enjoying their food.
After finishing their meal, a thought suddenly struck them.
“…They’re not fattening us up so they can eat us later, are they?”
It was said that happy prey tasted better, while unhappy prey had a tougher, less pleasant flavor.
Could it be that these two tribes were making sure they were content while eating, only to slaughter them afterward?
At this realization, panic resurfaced on their faces.
“They don’t eat people.” A beastman spoke up firmly. “I don’t smell human blood on them.”
Not just Bai Tu and Lang Qi, but also the wolves who fought them earlier, and even the rabbit beastmen who brought them food—none of them carried the scent of human blood.
Beastmen who ate raw meat always had a distinct, lingering blood scent.
Before, they had been too scared to notice, but now that they had been washed clean, even their own scent had faded.
Now, they could clearly smell the beastmen feeding them—and there was no trace of blood.
Which meant… they didn’t eat raw meat.
And if they didn’t eat raw meat, they definitely wouldn’t eat people.
“Really?” Xiong Chong finally started to relax. As long as they didn’t eat raw meat, that was good enough for him.
Then, suddenly, a child spoke up.
“Chief… can we stay here?”
The boy’s voice was timid, but the words were firm.
To him, the chicken he had just eaten was the best food he had ever tasted.
He had never dared to say it before, but in reality, the food they ate in the Chiwen Tribe had always been awful.
If there had been any other choice, he never would have eaten it.
But now—after tasting the food of the Snow Rabbit Tribe—he never wanted to go back to the way things were.
A beastman, a little older and already an adult, echoed the sentiment.
“Chief, I think the food here is really good. Why don’t we stay?”
“Yes, Chief! Living in the Snow Rabbit Tribe is much better than joining another tribe.”
“The food here is so much better than ours!”
One of them finally built up the courage to speak the truth.
Normally, if someone said this, the rest would strongly deny it.
After all, their food was the result of their own hard work, caught through countless hunts—how could they call it bad?
But now—having just experienced what real food tasted like—no one could bring themselves to argue.
They had to admit…
Their stockpiled food really wasn’t that great.
The bold beastman continued hesitantly.
“Chief… next time we catch prey… can we not…”
He trailed off, but everyone understood what he meant.
The first thing they did with freshly caught prey was mask its scent, before handling it any further.
But now, looking back… was that really the right way?
After all, it wasn’t just the Blood Wolf Tribe—even other beastmen who had seen their food had said it smelled awful.
Xiong Chong fell into deep thought.
This method… the one he had learned from his father…
Was it really wrong?
By the second day, the Chiwen Tribe’s beastmen had already started expressing their desires—they wanted to join the Snow Rabbit Tribe and become part of their community.
“Tu, what should we do?” Bai Chen asked.
With so many of them, there was no way he could make this decision alone. Bai An was currently busy figuring out how to distribute some of the tribe’s salt before the next market day, so this matter fell solely on Bai Chen’s shoulders.
Bai Tu rubbed his head.
Letting them stay wasn’t the issue—the real problem was how to arrange them.
The Black Forest Tribe’s troublemakers were easy to deal with; they had committed actual crimes, so punishing them was straightforward.
The Chiwen Tribe, however, was a different story.
If they punished them too severely, it would feel unfair—after all, aside from daydreaming about conquest, they hadn’t actually done much wrong.
Their foolishness had led them to ally with the wrong people—who, incidentally, all had ties to the Snow Rabbit Tribe.
Even if Lang Qi hadn’t intervened, they wouldn’t have been able to cause much trouble anyway.
But if their punishment was too light, that wouldn’t be fair either.
The Chiwen Tribe had hunted an excessive amount of prey, taking a significant portion of the Eastern Continent’s resources.
If they had eaten everything, that would have been one thing—but the problem was, most of it went to waste.
The stench of their rotting meat was so unbearable that even the young wolves refused to dig it up to use as fertilizer.
…Huh?
Bai Tu suddenly thought of a solution.
If the wolves refused to do it, then why not have the Chiwen beastmen handle it themselves?
After all, they didn’t mind the smell of their own food.
So why not have Xiong Chong lead his people to deal with the waste and bury it as fertilizer?
It would be better than leaving all that meat to rot, and it could at least serve a purpose in the fields.
With this plan in mind, Bai Tu discussed it with Bai Chen and then called for Bai Qi.
Technically, he could have asked Lang Ze to handle this, but…
After being traumatized by the Chiwen Tribe’s stench, the young wolves now avoided them at all costs.
There was no way they would be willing to return to that place with them.
By comparison, Bai Qi was much easier to talk to.
Bai Tu also sent a message to the textile team, asking them to prepare fabric for masks and scarves.
With this double-layered protection, they could at least filter out some of the smell.
“We’ll wait until the snow starts falling before we send them,” Bai Tu added.
Right now, it was only slightly cooler than summer, so the stench would still be overpowering.
Waiting until it got colder would reduce the smell, making the work more bearable for the beastmen.
After settling that issue, Bai Tu turned his attention to another problem—they couldn’t just let the Chiwen Tribe sit around doing nothing all winter.
They needed jobs.
After considering it for a while, Bai Tu finally made a decision.
“For now, let’s assign them to the patrol teams and the livestock area.”
Since they had come from the Northern Continent, the Chiwen Tribe’s beastmen were more resistant to the cold compared to the Snow Rabbit Tribe.
This made them well-suited for patrol duty in the snow.
The livestock area was also a good fit—even if some of them smelled bad, it wouldn’t matter much there.
The livestock pens were well-ventilated, making them more tolerable than most buildings.
With the work assignments settled, Bai Chen immediately went to deliver the news.
Originally, he thought the Chiwen beastmen might hesitate.
But the moment he announced it, they agreed on the spot—as if they were afraid that delaying even a second would make him change his mind.
Xiong Chong grabbed the metal bars outside his temporary housing and eagerly asked:
“Chen, when can we start working? And… when will food be delivered?”
Bai Chen: “……”
Even though the first thing he asked about was work, anyone could tell that his real focus was the second half of the question.
“…In about two hours,” Bai Chen replied.
When he had left Bai Tu’s place, he had checked the time.
It had only been three hours since breakfast, and the kitchens still needed another two hours before lunch was ready.
“Sigh…”
Hearing that, Xiong Chong released the iron bars and slowly sat down on the ground.
A young beastman rubbed his stomach.
“I really want to see what’s for lunch today.”
As one of the younger cubs, he had been getting special treatment.
The Chiwen Tribe’s young beastmen were now given: Two eggs for breakfast, an extra chicken cutlet for lunch and an extra drumstick for dinner
Thinking about the delicious meals he had eaten over the past few days, the young boy touched his lips… and sure enough, he found drool there.
These past few days in the Snow Rabbit Tribe… have been the happiest days of my life!
Xiong Chong was also craving the delicious meals and decided to test the waters with Bai Chen.
“Chen, aren’t you guys too busy? Is that why cooking takes so long? How about we help you in the kitchen?”
Bai Chen had told them that work would start in a few days—for now, they had only confirmed the types of jobs available but hadn’t assigned specific shifts yet.
For example, the patrol teams didn’t need everyone to go out at once every day.
Not to mention, the young wolves still had strong opinions about the Chiwen beastmen, so they definitely couldn’t be scheduled to patrol together.
Of course, Bai Chen didn’t explain the real reason—he simply told them that they could rest for two days.
His intention was to get them to focus on preparing for work instead of thinking about food all the time.
But he never expected that their first reaction would be to volunteer for kitchen duty.
Bai Chen immediately shook his head—absolutely not.
That was way too dangerous.
What if they saw the food and, out of habit, decided to “mark” it?
That would be beyond horrifying.
Even though Bai Chen had never personally seen the Chiwen Tribe’s food, he had heard enough stories from other beastmen in the tribe to vividly imagine the horrifying scene.
It was a widely accepted rule among the Snow Rabbit Tribe—
Under no circumstances should the Chiwen Tribe be allowed near their food.
*
Meanwhile, Bai Tu didn’t stay home for long after settling the Chiwen Tribe’s affairs—he headed straight for Hei Xiao’s residence.
Hei Xiao’s cubs were about to hatch.
For Eagle-Rabbit hybrids, hatching typically took around three months, but the incubation period wasn’t exactly the same for all eggs.
Just like how sub-beastmen’s cubs were slightly smaller than those born to female beastmen, sub-beastmen’s eggs were also smaller than normal eagle eggs.
To compensate for this difference, their incubation time was usually longer.
Bai Tu had been keeping track of the days—Hei Xiao’s three eggs had been incubating for 104 days, and today was day 105.
At last, there were signs of hatching.
By the time Bai Tu arrived, Hei Yan and Hei Xiao were both in the room.
Seeing Bai Tu enter, Hei Xiao immediately kicked Hei Yan out.
“Now that Tu is here, you can wait outside,” Hei Xiao said.
“What?! I just want to watch the cubs hatch with my own eyes!” Hei Yan protested.
Why did Bai Tu get to stay, while he had to be sent away?
Hei Jian’s decision was final.
“You talk too much,” he said bluntly.
Initially, Hei Xiao had only felt a little nervous about the cubs hatching.
But Hei Yan kept asking questions every few minutes, making his heartbeat race faster and faster.
Hei Xiao decided that Hei Yan should wait outside.
Even if all three cubs hatched at once, he and Bai Tu could handle it on their own.
“No way!” Hei Yan immediately refused.
“I’m staying right here! I won’t say another word!”
He even gestured a “zip my lips” motion and went completely silent.
Hei Xiao noticed that Hei Yan’s eyes were locked onto the eggs, hesitated for a moment, and finally allowed him to stay.
Bai Tu, meanwhile, stepped forward to check on the eggs’ condition.
They were definitely about to hatch—even without picking them up, he could already hear the cub inside pecking at the shell.
“When did it start?” Bai Tu asked in a soft voice.
Hearing his calm tone, Hei Xiao relaxed considerably.
“They started pecking this morning, but it wasn’t this loud before.”
Now, the pecking sounds were strong and urgent, making it clear that the cub inside was eager to break free.
“It won’t be long now,” Bai Tu predicted.
He had never incubated an eagle, but he had hatched plenty of chicks before, so he could estimate the timing fairly well.
As soon as he spoke—
A tiny crack suddenly appeared on the middle egg in the incubator.
The crack was small, but since all three of them were staring at the eggs, they noticed it immediately.
In that instant, all three men held their breath.
Inside the egg, the cub had no idea that its family was anxiously cheering it on.
It only knew that it had to keep struggling.
Bit by bit, the crack widened—
Finally, a tiny cub’s head pushed through.
Bai Tu remained completely still, careful not to make any sudden movements.
Hei Xiao and Hei Yan were the cub’s fathers, while Bai Tu was only distantly related.
If he made too much noise, he might startle the cub.
But the little cub was completely unbothered.
After resting for a moment, it continued pushing and struggling, slowly freeing its wings from the shell.
Next came its small, fragile body.
Once both wings had emerged, its tiny form finally squeezed out completely—
The hatchling collapsed onto the fur-lined nest, completely exhausted.
At the same time, a crack appeared on another eggshell nearby.
Just as the three men had let out a breath of relief, their attention immediately shifted to the second egg.
The second cub took about the same amount of time as the first to hatch.
Both cubs were similar in size, each no bigger than an adult’s fist, and their bodies were covered in a thin layer of downy feathers—making them look much better than newly hatched chicks.
After allowing the two cubs to adjust to the temperature, Bai Tu carefully moved them into the nest beside them.
The nest had been crafted by Hei Xiao, using a combination of cotton and Hei Yan’s feathers.
In the Black Hawk Tribe, it was customary to line nests with one’s own feathers, but since only one of them was from the Eagle Tribe, and his beast form was too small, they had to rely entirely on Hei Yan’s feathers.
That said, cotton was just as soft as eagle down, and the two cubs immediately took a liking to the warm and cozy nest.
Surrounded by familiar scents, they curled up and quickly fell asleep, having exhausted all their energy in breaking free from their eggs.
While Hei Yan stayed behind to care for the newborn cubs, Bai Tu and Hei Xiao turned their attention to the last remaining egg.
They were happy that two cubs had hatched successfully, but there was still one more to go.
Yet, even after waiting half a day, the final egg showed no signs of movement.
Hei Xiao turned to Bai Tu.
“Tu, what should we do?”
This was exactly why Hei Xiao had asked Bai Tu to be here—he was worried about the possibility of a dead egg.
There had been cases in the tribe where everything had gone smoothly throughout the entire incubation period, only for the cub to fail to hatch at the last moment.
Beastmen were helpless when faced with stillborn cubs.
And among the Feathered Tribes, even if they could sense that a cub was struggling to hatch, there was nothing they could do.
Despite being careful throughout the entire incubation process, it was common for some cubs to be unable to break out on their own.
And the worst part?
They couldn’t interfere.
Forcibly breaking the shell had never worked—every single cub that had been pulled out manually failed to survive the winter.
Some didn’t even last half a day.
Even though two cubs had already hatched successfully, Hei Xiao still hoped that the last one could make it as well.
Bai Tu carefully picked up the last egg and held it against his ear.
Faintly, he could hear something inside.
“There’s sound.” Bai Tu spoke softly.
Hearing movement was a good sign—it meant the cub was still alive.
“Let’s give it one more day.” Bai Tu placed the egg back into the incubator.
“If it doesn’t hatch by tomorrow, we’ll have to intervene.”
Hei Xiao nodded, hoping that the cub would break free on its own within the next day.
*
Unfortunately, the results were disappointing.
By midday the next day, the egg was still unhatched—not even a crack had appeared.
Even worse, the sound inside had grown weaker.
Noticing this, Hei Xiao panicked and immediately ran to find Bai Tu.
The moment Bai Tu heard the news, he rushed to Hei Xiao’s residence.
Unlike Hei Xiao, who was hesitant to break the shell, Bai Tu quickly assessed the situation.
His best guess was that the cub was in the wrong position, making it unable to push through the shell.
It was similar to difficult labor in beastmen—sometimes, birds could end up in awkward positions, preventing them from moving properly inside the shell.
Without the strength to break free, they would suffocate inside.
If no action was taken, the cub wouldn’t survive.
Bai Tu quickly pulled out a set of tools—a small set of scissors and pliers—which he had asked Bai Hui to prepare in advance.
Before coming over, he had already sterilized them with alcohol.
Taking a pair of small scissors, Bai Tu carefully tapped at the air cell of the egg.
Hei Yan, watching this, looked horrified.
He hadn’t expected Bai Tu to directly intervene and was just about to stop him—
Only to be blocked by Hei Xiao.
“Tu knows what he’s doing!” Hei Xiao said firmly.
If the cub didn’t hatch soon, there were only two possible outcomes.
- Waiting it out—but in most cases, the cub’s movements would stop completely before long.
- Shell removal—a risky but necessary procedure.
Of course, Hei Xiao knew that most cubs that had to be helped out of their shells didn’t survive long.
But since it was Bai Tu handling it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his younger brother might surprise him.
Bai Tu heard Hei Yan’s protests, but with Hei Xiao standing guard, there was no chance that Hei Yan would be able to stop him.
So Bai Tu ignored him completely, keeping his hands steady as he continued tapping lightly on the eggshell until he managed to create a tiny hole.
The structure of an eagle egg was similar to a chicken egg, so Bai Tu carefully cut away a section of the outer shell in the air cell area, revealing the cub inside, still breathing.
Bai Tu gently sprinkled a few drops of warm water onto the exposed membrane before carefully placing the egg back into the incubator.
“Keep it like this for now. We’ll check again tonight,” he instructed.
He wanted to see if the cub had the strength to hatch on its own.
Just moments after he spoke, the tiny cub inside suddenly twitched.
Now that there was no eggshell in the way, they could see its movements clearly.
Bai Tu and Hei Xiao exchanged a glance, both of their eyes lighting up with excitement.
If the cub could struggle on its own, it would be far better than needing full intervention.
Bai Tu didn’t interfere further, keeping his gaze locked onto the egg.
The cub shifted inside, as if realizing that one side was much softer than the rest.
Instinctively, it repeatedly attacked that weak spot, until finally—
The thin inner membrane tore open.
“…It’s out.”
Hei Xiao let out a deep sigh of relief.
No matter how many cubs there were, each one was precious.
From yesterday until now, he had been agonizing over whether this last cub would ever make it out.
Now, seeing it alive and struggling, he couldn’t have been happier.
Hei Xiao held his breath, watching the cub slowly free itself.
After a while, the newborn was finally fully emerged, and Bai Tu carefully moved it into a clean nest.
The other two cubs were also in separate nests.
Aside from the brief moment right after hatching when they had been placed together, they had been kept apart the entire time.
The newborn cubs hadn’t even opened their eyes yet, but they had already started instinctively attacking anything around them.
“Good thing we didn’t put them together,” Bai Tu sighed.
He watched as the two larger cubs pecked at the feathers lining their nests, a reminder that instincts were difficult to change.
Even before their eyes opened, these little ones were already aggressive.
If a smaller cub had been nearby, it definitely would’ve been injured.
Bai Tu glanced down at the smallest cub lying closest to him.
Even though he was sure Hei Xiao would be careful, he still couldn’t help reminding him—
“Make sure they are never housed together.”
“Don’t worry,” Hei Xiao nodded.
He had been mindful of this from the very start—even the night before, he had kept the two cubs completely separate while they slept, one on the left side of the room and the other on the right.
Not only had he separated their nests, but he had also set up the protective barriers that Bai Tu had brought.
Of course, these weren’t the large enclosures meant for older cubs—instead, they were small wooden barriers built into a circle larger than the nest itself.
This way, even if the cubs crawled out of their nests, they wouldn’t be able to get past the barriers to fight each other.
To prevent injuries, Hei Xiao and Bai Tu had considered every possible precaution.
Now that the cub count had increased to three, Hei Xiao decided that at night, he and Hei Yan would each sleep beside one cub, while the third would be placed in the center.
Hearing this plan, Bai Tu nodded in agreement.
This was the only way to handle it.
“Remember to switch their positions every day,” Bai Tu reminded.
After speaking, he glanced at the three cubs and fell silent for a moment.
The cubs in his family had always been easy to distinguish—if not by size, then by color.
But these three eagle- cubs were almost identical, except for slight differences in size.
Both Hei Yan and Hei Xiao’s beast forms were black, and their cubs were just as pitch black as their fathers.
Since they had been born from eggs, the three eggs had been nearly identical in size.
Even the last cub to hatch was only slightly smaller than its older brothers—after a couple of meals, it would probably catch up completely.
Same color, similar size—Bai Tu couldn’t help but sympathize with Hei Xiao.
He was going to have a hard time telling them apart in the future.
Only now did Hei Xiao realize this issue as well.
In fact, it wasn’t just his three cubs—
Nearly all the cubs in the Black Hawk Tribe were black.
That’s why the tribe was named after black hawks—other fur colors were extremely rare.
Normally, only one cub hatched per nest, so parents never had to worry about distinguishing their offspring.
With just one cub, as long as the scent was familiar, there was no chance of confusion.
Even in rare cases where multiple cubs hatched, the Eagle Tribe didn’t bother distinguishing them—
Because only the strongest one survived.
What was the point of identifying second place when only the first place cub would make it?
But this nest was different.
Eagle beastmen lived on cliffs, where nests were small and couldn’t separate multiple cubs.
Here, though, their homes were spacious—
Not only could they house three cubs comfortably, but even if there were three more, they could still be kept apart.
And unlike the Eagle Tribe’s usual customs, these three cubs would all be raised properly—
They would do their best to ensure that not a single one was lost.
With that in mind, establishing their birth order became important.
It wasn’t that they cared about seniority, since each cub would be treated equally.
Rather, it was for practical purposes—like feeding and bathing.
If they didn’t have a clear system, things could get chaotic—
One cub might get fed three times in a row, while the other two went hungry all day.
Even twins were easy to mix up, let alone triplets.
Bai Tu examined the cubs, letting out a soft sigh.
Not only were they identical in size and color, but even their markings were exactly the same.
Among feathered beastmen, wing patterns were usually as unique as fingerprints, but these three were too young—there were no visible differences yet.
Since relying on markings wouldn’t work, Bai Tu checked their paws instead.
Finally, he found a solution—he tied three different-colored strings around their legs.
“The red one is the eldest, the orange one is the second, and the yellow one is the youngest,” Bai Tu declared.
After finishing, he put away the remaining colored strings— He planned to use them later for marking Ying Mian’s cubs as well.
Thanks for the update!