Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – CH161

Chapter 161

Bai Tu had heard about this tradition from Hei Xiao—among the eagle tribe, it was customary for the parents of unhatched eggs to personally throw them away. The reason behind this practice was to leave a lasting impression, a painful lesson that would make them more cautious the next time they incubated eggs.

Watching a dead egg shatter before their eyes would undoubtedly make the memory stick, but the heartache would also be permanent.

However, even if Ying Mian didn’t smash the egg himself, he would still be just as careful in the future. Whether or not he physically discarded it didn’t matter anymore. There was no need to deepen his grief over such a small matter.

Ying Mian, who had been struggling with the thought of doing it himself, immediately looked at Bai Tu as if he were his savior. However, instead of handing the egg over right away, he carefully wrapped it in a cloth he had originally prepared for his hatchlings before finally passing it to Bai Tu.

The feather sub-beastman witnessed this but remained silent. Just as Bai Tu had thought, this tradition wasn’t necessarily a good one. Ying Mian had successfully hatched four eaglets—an outcome far better than most eagle beastmen. There was no need to deepen his sorrow further.

With three people tending to four newborns, they could manage. Bai Tu had already been here the entire day—he definitely couldn’t stay the night as well. Taking the egg, he prepared to leave.

“Take good care of the hatchlings, Mian. I’ll take the egg with me. Chi, Nuo, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

The eaglets had just hatched, so Bai Chi and Bai Nuo couldn’t leave yet. If Bai Tu hadn’t needed to care for his own cubs, he would have stayed to help as well.

“Don’t worry,” Bai Chi assured him. Compared to Bai Tu, they had more free time. “If I get busy, I’ll arrange for someone else to come over.”

With so many sub-beastmen in the tribe, it wouldn’t be hard to find two more to help.

Bai Tu nodded and reminded Ying Mian that Tu Mu had prepared food for the hatchlings—either he or Xiong Liao could go pick it up whenever needed.

There were many younglings in the tribe, but not all parents knew how to cook. Some beastmen had cooking skills similar to Lang Ze—hit or miss. Others, like the rabbit beastmen, often had two or three offspring at a time, leaving them too exhausted to prepare meals.

To ensure the young ones had proper nutrition, Bai Tu had specifically asked Tu Mu to regularly prepare baby food so that parents who didn’t have time to cook would have access to it.

As Bai Tu stepped out of Ying Mian’s home, he found Lang Qi already waiting at the door. He walked over and, noticing Lang Qi’s empty arms, asked in confusion, “Where are the cubs?”

It was unusual—Lang Qi never went anywhere without them. Would those little troublemakers really agree to stay home?

Lang Qi reached into his right pocket and pulled out a tiny white wolf cub, placing it into Bai Tu’s arms. Then, he reached into his left pocket and took out two more.

Bai Tu waited for the last two, but when they didn’t come, he rubbed the little cub burrowing into his chest and asked, “What about Sui and Ying?”

Lang Qi was silent for a moment before replying, “They’re at home.”

Bai Tu was surprised. “They’re willing to stay home? How well-behaved.”

The cubs were great in every way—except for how clingy they were. Almost every time Bai Tu or Lang Qi left the house, they insisted on following. Even when they left the cubs with Lang Ya, the little ones would struggle to escape and only give up once they confirmed their parents had gone far enough.

But today, Lang Sui and Lang Ying hadn’t chased after them. They had obediently stayed at home instead. Bai Tu was genuinely shocked. “Looks like the daycare is working wonders.”

Right now, the tribe’s daycare was essentially just a supervised play area for the young ones. At this stage, most of the cubs spent their time in their beast forms, and there wasn’t much that adult beastmen could teach them. The main responsibility was simply keeping an eye on them to prevent injuries.

For the parents, having a daycare also meant saving themselves a lot of trouble—after all, three clingy cubs were still easier to handle than five.

Lang Qi glanced at him, hesitating as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know how.

Bai Tu immediately sensed something was off. He lowered his voice and asked, “Wait… so they didn’t suddenly become well-behaved?”

If they hadn’t learned discipline, then what had stopped them from following their parents outside?

Lang Qi sighed and finally answered, “They got into a fight with the other cubs… and got too exhausted.”

It turned out Lang Sui and Lang Ying had spent the entire day fighting other wolf cubs at daycare. By the time Lang Qi arrived to pick them up, they had collapsed onto the teacher’s desk, fast asleep.

The other cubs had also fallen asleep in various sprawled-out positions.

Apparently, this was the quietest their classroom had been all day.

It was peaceful—because every single one of them was out cold. Not a single cub was awake.

Lang Qi had brought the two exhausted cubs home and fed them. They were so tired that they ate with their eyes closed, then immediately flopped down and fell back asleep.

Bai Tu: “……”

How should he put it? It was unexpected, yet also perfectly reasonable when it came to cubs. After all, besides eating and sleeping, the only other thing they seemed to do all day was play and roughhouse with the other young ones.

But being so tired from fighting that they fell asleep mid-meal… Bai Tu felt like he had seen this happen before, but he just couldn’t remember where.

The cubs in his arms started squirming again. Worried they might fall if they wriggled too much, Bai Tu gently held them down. “Forget it, let’s go home first.”

It wasn’t an urgent matter, so there was no need to rack his brain over it. Besides, Bai Tu glanced down at the restless little ones in his arms—none of them had stopped moving since they got to him.

They were probably hungry.

He hadn’t eaten much since morning either. Xiong Liao had gone to fetch food for them, but the eaglets hatching had taken priority over everything else. Everyone had been too anxious to even think about eating, as if they needed an extra pair of eyes on every egg at all times.

Even though the eggs weren’t theirs, they had all been just as nervous.

Now that four eaglets had successfully hatched, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

As for the last egg… Bai Tu reached into his pocket and sighed softly.

“It’s not looking good?” Lang Qi asked.

Bai Tu walked slowly, shaking his head. “Four hatched successfully.”

In any tribe, that would be considered amazing news—four eaglets in one clutch was rare. But the fact that the fifth egg was lifeless had overshadowed their joy.

“When I checked it a few days ago, everything seemed normal.”

He had been regularly inspecting the eggs, and they had all appeared fine. Ying Mian had also listened to them every day. However, now that Bai Tu thought about it, this particular egg had always been quiet. It had never made a sound.

This morning, he and Ying Mian had both noticed that it was the only one without any movement. Bai Luo, being a feather sub-beastman, had picked up on it right away as well. But none of them had said anything.

They had all been holding onto hope—thinking that as long as time hadn’t run out yet, there was still a chance.

But in the end, the reality was undeniable.

The other four eaglets had already hatched, yet this last egg remained silent.

At this point, there was no more room for self-deception.

This chick wasn’t like Hei Xiao’s third eaglet, which had been delayed in hatching but was still alive. These eggs had been incubated under identical conditions, and the other four had all hatched around the same time. That meant everything had been carefully monitored.

For this one to still be silent today meant it was a dead egg.

A chick that had made it all the way to the final stage of hatching, only to stop just two days short…

Even Bai Tu found it hard to accept—it was just too unfortunate.

“When we get back, we’ll find a place to bury it,” Bai Tu said.

The embryo had survived all the way to the hatching stage—it had made it far enough to be considered a chick. That was different from eggs that had died after just a few days or weeks of incubation. That was why he had taken it from Ying Mian—so he could bury it properly tomorrow.

“Alright.” Lang Qi knew Bai Tu felt sorry for the lost chick, so he agreed without hesitation. “I’ll find a place tomorrow.”

Bai Tu exhaled, trying to shake off the sadness.

What was done was done—the chick’s fate had already been decided. Dwelling on it now would only bring more grief.

Still, the next time they incubated eggs, they would have to be even more careful.

With three cubs in tow, Bai Tu returned home.

Lang Sui and Lang Ying were still fast asleep.

Even in their sleep, they instinctively reacted to Bai Tu’s presence, shifting slightly toward him.

Bai Tu carefully pulled the cubs out of his arms. The two larger ones were willing to let go, but the smallest white cub clung stubbornly to his fur-lined coat, refusing to let go.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Tu rubbed the little one’s head. “Let me eat first, then I’ll stay with you, okay?”

The tiny cub let out a couple of soft whimpers but still wouldn’t release its grip.

Bai Tu didn’t want to force it down and risk hurting it, so he gave in, adjusting his hold to keep it securely in place as he carefully made his way to eat.

Lang Qi had already prepared the food.

Seeing Bai Tu still carrying a cub on him, he reached out to pick it up.

Sensing danger, the little white cub instantly burrowed deep into Bai Tu’s arms, disappearing in a flash.

Its reaction was so quick that it didn’t even seem like a wolf cub anymore—it looked more like a rabbit.

“Let it stay,” Bai Tu said.

He had initially thought the cubs were hungry, but after returning home, they were much quieter than before. Their small bellies were also round and full, which meant Lang Qi had just fed them not long ago—so hunger wasn’t the issue.

Since they didn’t need to eat, the cubs had more freedom. If they wanted to play, they could play. If they wanted to cling to him, that was fine too. A single cub weighed less than half a pound—even if a few more clung to him, it wouldn’t tire him out.

Hearing Bai Tu’s words, Lang Qi withdrew his hand and helped portion out the food.

Dinner had been picked up from the communal kitchen. Some of it was semi-prepared—like pre-fried chicken cutlets, drumsticks, and nuggets that only needed reheating before eating. There was also pre-made meatball soup that just needed to be boiled for a short time. This system had been devised by Bai Tu and Tu Mu together.

Most of the tribe’s work started in the morning, ended in the afternoon, and was followed by a break in the evening. Mealtime was generally around the same time every night.

However, some jobs were exceptions.

For example, kiln firing required constant supervision once started. Other tasks, like glassmaking, couldn’t be paused mid-process. And now, there was the underground tunnel project—although digging could technically be started and stopped at any time, most people were eager to get it done quickly.

Beastmen working these jobs couldn’t always take breaks at fixed times, which made meal planning at the communal kitchen more complicated.

If they prepared too much food, they risked having too few people show up to eat. If they prepared too little, they might not have enough to go around.

Beastmen had flexible appetites, but there was still a limit. They couldn’t just overstuff themselves for the sake of avoiding waste.

Some foods didn’t reheat well, and since workers came at different times, food that had been repeatedly reheated simply couldn’t compare to fresh meals.

On top of that, the communal kitchen used large pots, and lighting the fire each time consumed a significant amount of firewood and coal. While the tribe wasn’t lacking in these resources, wasting them still felt like a shame. After all, every piece of fuel had been gathered and transported back by hardworking beastmen.

To solve this issue, Bai Tu had made further improvements to the kitchen by adding several smaller stoves. Each stove could hold four pots, which were slightly larger than the ones used for preparing food for the cubs.

Instead of preparing full meals in advance for night-shift workers, the kitchen now set aside pre-prepped ingredients that only needed a quick final cook.

With four pots heating food simultaneously, workers wouldn’t have to wait long, and the kitchen wouldn’t need to keep extra staff on duty. A single fast worker could handle everything alone.

This way, the food was always freshly prepared and tasted much better.

For those who didn’t want to eat at the kitchen, they could take the semi-prepared meals home and cook them themselves. It was much more convenient than grabbing raw ingredients from the storage and trying to figure out what to make.

Most beastmen, however, preferred to eat at the kitchen directly. Bai Tu’s situation was different—Lang Qi always liked to prepare food for him in advance.

So, before picking him up, Lang Qi had already brought some semi-prepared food back from the kitchen and finished cooking it. By the time Bai Tu arrived, the meal was ready—not too hot, not too cold, just perfect to eat right away.

This method worked well for the current season, but once the weather got colder, it wouldn’t be as practical.

Still, in winter, people generally stayed indoors more, so food wouldn’t need to sit for long before being eaten.

As Bai Tu ate, he thought about expanding the preparation of semi-cooked meals.

It would be especially useful for beastmen who disliked going outside in winter. Some beastmen really weren’t skilled at cooking, and having meals that only required boiling or quick reheating would make things much easier for them.

The little white wolf cub wriggled restlessly in Bai Tu’s arms. Halfway through his meal, Bai Tu paused and decided to take it out.

However, just as he was about to set it down beside him, his hand was immediately latched onto. The cub clung to him with all four paws, refusing to let go.

Bai Tu sighed helplessly and simply rested his arm on his lap, letting the cub hold on as it pleased. He could eat just fine with one hand anyway.

Seeing that Bai Tu was no longer trying to pry it off, the little white wolf cub instantly loosened its grip and scurried toward his pocket.

“Hmm?” Bai Tu immediately sensed something was wrong.

The cub was heading straight for the pocket where he had placed Ying Mian’s egg.

“You can’t touch that,” Bai Tu warned. This wasn’t something for cubs to play with.

No wonder they had all been so restless since climbing onto him—Bai Tu now suspected they simply disliked the scent of the egg.

The little white wolf cub let out a few disgruntled whimpers.

Bai Tu glanced at the tightly wrapped eagle egg in his hand, then carefully placed it inside the bedside cabinet.

Only then did the cub finally settle down, occupying the spot in his pocket instead.

Bai Tu: “……”

So all that fuss was just because you wanted to get inside my pocket.

Now that the little one was calm, Bai Tu could finally eat in peace. His appetite had never been particularly big, and he couldn’t finish all the food. But with Lang Qi around, he never had to worry about leftovers.

When Bai Tu returned to the bedroom, the other wolf cubs were already fast asleep.

Looking down at the white cub still curled up in his pocket, Bai Tu noticed that its sleeping posture was slightly different from the others, but it was completely asleep as well.

Young cubs slept a lot. Bai Tu gently lifted the tiny white wolf from his pocket and placed it on the bed.

Although it wasn’t the spot it originally wanted, the scent was familiar, so the little cub didn’t resist. It simply shifted positions and continued sleeping.

Bai Tu: “……”

The other cubs had been lined up neatly, one after the other.

Now, with the white cub adjusting its position, they were arranged perfectly in order from largest to smallest—so evenly spaced that it looked deliberate.

After settling the cubs in, Bai Tu grabbed a change of clothes and went to take a bath. When he passed by the cabinet and saw the egg again, he let out a soft sigh.

By the time he finished washing up, it was already midnight. Between dinner and cleaning up, he had taken longer than expected.

As soon as he lay down, he fell asleep almost instantly.

Lang Qi pulled the blanket over him, then checked on the cubs to make sure that even if they woke up in the middle of the night, they wouldn’t roll off the bed.

Satisfied, he wrapped an arm around Bai Tu and closed his eyes.

Lately, with so much going on in the tribe, neither of them had had much rest. Even when Lang Qi got home early, he rarely felt like sleeping.

But as long as Bai Tu was by his side, he could fall asleep. Otherwise, something in his heart felt empty.

Holding Bai Tu close, Lang Qi finally drifted into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, there was a faint rustling sound.

Lang Qi’s ears twitched slightly. His grip around Bai Tu instinctively tightened for a moment, confirming that the most important person in his arms was still there.

Once reassured, he sank back into deep sleep.

Wolves were highly alert even while resting, but not every sound was enough to wake them.

Their subconscious minds could distinguish between harmless noises and threats. If a sound wasn’t dangerous, they would ignore it. Otherwise, with their sharp hearing, even the slightest conversation nearby would keep them from sleeping at all.

Years of living in a pack had trained them to instinctively recognize whether a sound came from a tribe member or an intruder. If it was someone from the tribe, they wouldn’t react. But if it was an outsider, they would attack without hesitation.

Since there was no unfamiliar scent in the air, Lang Qi and Bai Tu slept soundly.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Lang Sui and Lang Ying had been maintaining the same position for a long time.

Once they were sure they hadn’t disturbed their father or papa, they exchanged glances.

The two cubs, who had only recently learned to walk properly, had shifted back into their human forms.

After spending the morning fighting other cubs and then sleeping through the afternoon and evening, they had been force-fed dinner by their father.

Now, they were wide awake and full of energy.

Lying still no longer interested them. They wanted to do something.

Being the only ones awake while everyone else slept was oddly thrilling.

The two cubs looked at their sleeping father and papa, then at their younger brothers beside them.

Finally, their eyes landed on the wardrobe across the room.

The past few days at daycare had not been wasted—the fights they had been in had taught them valuable skills.

Previously, the nursery’s fences had been tall enough to keep the cubs inside. In their beast forms, they couldn’t climb over, and in their human forms, the fence reached their shoulders, making it difficult to escape.

But now…

They had learned a new technique.

The two wolf cubs raised their little paws and grabbed the top of the railing.

This action wasn’t particularly dangerous—if Bai Tu saw them, he wouldn’t have said anything, since only their shoulders and heads were sticking out above the fence.

Once they had a firm grip on the horizontal bar, the two cubs suddenly exerted force and shifted into their beast forms.

Their beast forms were much smaller than their human forms. But right now, their front paws were already hooked onto the top bar—something they normally couldn’t reach in beast form. Now, they could easily climb up.

Beast forms were more agile than human forms. Using their front paws for leverage, the cubs pulled themselves up onto the top rail.

And just like that, they were free.

The two cubs turned to glance at their father and papa, then quietly jumped onto the bed outside the railing.

They made their way toward the bedside cabinet, where a different scent lingered in the air.

The cabinet was partially open, used for storing clothes for the next day and a few miscellaneous items that didn’t need to be put away.

And now, there was an egg on it.

The height was a bit challenging for the cubs. In either their beast or human forms, they couldn’t quite reach.

Lang Sui looked at his younger brother.

Lang Ying looked at his older brother.

After a moment, they seemed to reach a mutual understanding.

Lang Sui suddenly crouched down.

Lang Ying climbed onto his brother’s back, his front paws resting on Lang Sui’s head and his hind paws on his shoulders.

Then, Lang Sui shifted into his human form.

Lang Ying, now dangling from Lang Sui’s head, huffed and scrambled up until he perched on top of his brother’s head. Then, he tensed his muscles, preparing to jump.

Wolf cubs didn’t have the same jumping ability as feline cubs, but this height wasn’t a problem.

Lang Ying successfully leaped onto the shelf where the egg was placed.

Landing softly on the fur pelt, he made no sound as he approached the egg.

However, now that he was here, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

This was something their papa had brought back.

It even carried his scent—Lang Ying could tell just from the smell.

They couldn’t let their papa raise another baby.

That was what Lang Sui and Lang Ying both thought.

But how could they get rid of the egg without their papa noticing?

This problem stumped both of them.

One cub above, one cub below, they locked eyes for a long time.

Their twin-like understanding allowed them to read each other’s confusion.

The cubs stayed silent for a while before Lang Ying finally moved.

He opened his mouth, gently biting down on the egg’s protective covering, and dragged it toward the edge.

At this point, all he had to do was give it a push, and the egg would fall and break.

But he hesitated.

Instead of letting go, he held onto it and carefully tested his way down.

Even though he was slightly bigger than his younger brothers, jumping down with an egg in his mouth wasn’t easy. Lang Ying adjusted his position multiple times before finally finding a good angle.

Lang Sui moved directly beneath him, raising his tiny chubby hands, ready to catch him.

One cub wobbled below, preparing to receive.

One cub hesitated above, preparing to jump.

They had no skill—just courage and absolute trust in each other.

Finally, Lang Ying shut his eyes and leaped.

Lang Sui caught the egg, and his brother tumbled down, sliding off his hands and landing on the floor.

Good news: The bed was too soft, so there was no sound of impact.

Lang Sui sat down, cradling the egg.

Lang Ying shifted into his human form.

Now, two chubby little naked wolf pups stared at the egg between them.

Lang Sui reached out with a pudgy hand and gave it a little push.

Lang Ying did the same, poking it with a tiny finger.

This was their first time seeing an egg that looked just like the ones they ate every morning.

Curious, they pushed it back and forth for a while, but nothing changed.

After all that effort, they were getting tired. The cubs let out little huffs and turned back into their beast forms to conserve energy.

Beast form = less energy used, but also less convenience.

Now, they just wanted to go back to sleep with their younger brothers.

After expending so much effort, they weren’t as energetic as when they had first woken up.

Glancing at the tall railing, they decided it wasn’t worth climbing back in.

They’d just sleep outside.

It was still the bed—what difference did it make?

As long as they didn’t wake up their papa, they wouldn’t get scolded.

Absolutely not.

Just as the two cubs were about to curl up near the railing and sleep— The egg moved.

Both cubs immediately jumped to their feet.

The fur on their backs bristled as they stared intently at the egg.

However, after that single movement, it didn’t stir again.

They watched it for a long time, but there was no further change.

Lang Sui and Lang Ying, unable to understand what had just happened, hesitated for a moment.

Then, they pushed the egg close to them and lay down next to it.

If they didn’t understand it…

They’d just keep watching.

Being over three years old, these two cubs were already in their second growth phase, making them noticeably larger than their younger siblings.

They curled up around the egg, encircling it with their bodies.

As the sky lightened with the first traces of dawn— A sharp “CRACK” shattered the silence.

It woke up all seven members of the family at once.

Midnight awakenings weren’t unusual in this household.

Even Bai Tu, held securely in Lang Qi’s arms, had gotten used to it.

Normally, as long as it wasn’t about food, they rarely got up to check on the cubs.

By now, they could even sleep through the cubs’ nightly parkour sessions.

After all, the cubs played all day—but the adults didn’t get to rest all day.

Last night, Bai Tu had eaten late, and the cubs’ dinner hadn’t been much earlier than his. Since both he and Lang Qi had planned to feed them again in the morning, they weren’t too concerned.

With no need to wake up for feeding, plus having been busy all day, the two of them slept especially deeply, instinctively tuning out any noises in the middle of the night.

Even the three smallest cubs were already over six months old. If they were hungry, thirsty, or uncomfortable, they would call out. If they woke up and didn’t call, it just meant they were playing—there was no need to check on them constantly.

So the faint noises in the middle of the night hadn’t been enough to wake them.

But the sound in the early morning was different.

Bai Tu had just seen Ying Mian’s eaglets hatch, so he was particularly attuned to the sound of an egg cracking.

Lang Qi, on the other hand, smelled a change in the air and snapped his eyes open instantly.

Lang Sui and Lang Ying, who had been sleeping while hugging the egg, jumped to their feet, their fur standing completely on end. Their reaction now was far more intense than it had been at midnight.

Before, the egg had only moved slightly.

But now? This was not just a slight movement.

The egg had originally been wrapped in a protective covering, but sometime during the night, the two cubs had kicked it aside in their sleep.

Now, all that remained was a bare, unprotected egg.

The three smaller cubs, who had been sleeping not far from it, also heard the sound.

Their sharp senses immediately picked up on the presence of an unfamiliar hatchling.

And since they were no longer in deep sleep and were already a bit hungry, the combination of the strange sound and scent woke them up completely.

Lang Qi’s gaze locked onto the source of the new scent.

Once he confirmed there was no threat, he slowly relaxed.

Bai Tu, meanwhile, took in the sight of the cracked egg and the two startled cubs beside it, then fell silent.

The cubs were staring at the moving eaglet as if facing a great enemy.

Under the watchful eyes of the entire family of seven, the eagle hatchling pushed against the half-shell covering its head—then suddenly stopped moving.

Lang Qi had never seen an eagle hatch before, so he looked at Bai Tu in confusion.

“Midway break,” Bai Tu explained.

Eagle hatchlings often hatched in stages, moving for a bit, then resting before continuing. It was perfectly normal. Both Hei Xiao’s and Ying Mian’s eaglets had hatched the same way—it could take half a day for a single eaglet to fully emerge.

“I’ll go prepare food.”

Since it wouldn’t hatch immediately and there was no immediate danger, Lang Qi had no intention of staying to watch.

He only cared about his cubs.

As for someone else’s young? He’d keep an eye on it for Bai Tu’s sake, but that was the extent of his concern.

As long as the eaglet was alive and Bai Tu was happy, that was all that mattered to him.

Bai Tu nodded and pulled the two cubs closest to the egg into his arms.

Lang Qi wasn’t there anymore, so if the cubs suddenly lunged at the egg, Bai Tu wouldn’t be fast enough to grab them in time. It was better to hold them down from the start.

The three smaller cubs, seeing their papa holding their older brothers, started scratching at the bed inside the fence.

Climbing over from above? Impossible.

Instead, the three tried to squeeze through the fence.

Bai Tu quickly scooped them up before they could get stuck.

“Alright, alright. You can stay here, but stay still and behave.”

To avoid disturbing the hatching eaglet, Bai Tu didn’t even move the egg’s position—he just held the cubs firmly in place.

The cubs were extremely curious about the egg.

But with their papa restraining them, all they could do was stretch their heads forward to get a better look.

They watched, and watched, and watched…

And yet, despite all their staring, the egg didn’t move again.

The wolf cubs, who had been on high alert at first, slowly started to relax.

It’s been so long, and it still hasn’t come out to fight us… Is it really alive?

The most confused ones were Lang Sui and Lang Ying.

After all, they had felt the egg moving and knew it was alive.

But if it was alive…

Why wasn’t it trying to fight them?!

Tiny heads, big questions.

Wolf cubs wouldn’t attack their own siblings like eagle hatchlings sometimes did, but they had a strong sense of territory.

The very first thing wolf cubs did upon entering daycare was fight—and sometimes, they had to fight for a long time.

Beyond simple play, these fights were also a way to establish hierarchy. The cub that won became the leader, and the others had to follow its lead.

Lang Sui and Lang Ying had already fought countless times at daycare.

To them, this egg was also an outsider.

They had to be wary of it.

And if it moved while they were sleeping—that was a sneak attack.

The only problem was… they had never seen a hatchling that attacked once and then didn’t move again.

Bai Tu had no idea that the cubs were waiting for a fight.

He was just waiting for the eaglet to finish its rest period.

But he waited and waited…

Lang Qi had already brought in breakfast…

And the egg was still in exactly the same position as when Lang Qi left.

“It’s still resting?” Lang Qi asked.

So eagle hatchlings really needed this much rest? No wonder Bai Tu had stayed at Ying Mian’s place for so long yesterday.

Bai Tu: “……”

Yesterday, he had stayed because there were four hatchlings, and at the start, none of them had even begun breaking out of their shells.

But this one?

Breakfast was already ready, and it still hadn’t moved?

This was a first for him too.

If he hadn’t been able to faintly see the chick’s chest rising and falling, Bai Tu would have started worrying about whether it was even alive.

“Could it be too cold?” Bai Tu frowned and turned to Lang Qi. “Go to Ying Mian’s and bring back the incubator.”

Normally, an egg that had already cracked open wouldn’t need extra warmth anymore.

Once an eagle sensed that its chick was hatching, they usually stood up to watch, and the temperature in their room—especially on the heated bed—wasn’t much different from an incubator.

The cubs loved sleeping directly on the bed and often kicked the blankets off. Even though it wasn’t winter yet, the entire area where the cubs slept had a heated platform—only the section where Bai Tu and Lang Qi slept had a normal temperature.

Bai Tu felt the fur pelt beneath him.

The temperature was definitely warm enough.

But since this eaglet was clearly different, it wouldn’t hurt to try putting it in the incubator and see if that helped.

Lang Qi left immediately to find Xiong Liao.

As the leader of the White Bear Tribe, Xiong Liao shouldn’t have been away from his tribe for too long…

But hatching eaglets was a major event.

The White Bear Tribe had already come to terms with the fact that their chief was going to have several eagle offspring.

Now, they were just hoping he’d have more of them.

As a result, Xiong Liao had been granted five days of “paternal leave” by the other high-ranking members of his tribe.

He was probably the first White Bear beastman to ever enjoy maternity leave.

Unfortunately, despite having all this time, he still hadn’t been able to spend much of it with his eaglets.

With three sub-beastmen—Ying Mian, Bai Chi, and Bai Nuo—taking care of them, Xiong Liao hadn’t even had the chance to hold them.

All he could do was watch from the side while delivering food.

If he so much as tried to reach out, and the eaglets showed the slightest sign of discomfort, he would immediately be kicked out of the room.

After all, he was a White Bear.

His scent was completely different from theirs.

Even if the eaglets carried his genes, they still instinctively rejected him.

When Lang Qi arrived, Xiong Liao was in the courtyard.

He looked busy but wasn’t actually doing anything particularly useful.

“Xiong Liao,” Lang Qi got straight to the point. “We need the incubator. It’ll help.”

Bai Tu had specifically instructed not to mention that Xiao Wu was hatching.

The eaglet’s condition was too uncertain.

Even after raising chickens for an entire year, Bai Tu had never encountered a situation like this one.

He was worried that the chick might be unhealthy or develop other complications.

So he had decided to wait until it successfully hatched before informing Ying Mian—just in case it turned out to be a false alarm.

If not for the fact that all the other incubators in the tribe were already in use—and new ones required assembly—he wouldn’t have asked Lang Qi to get Ying Mian’s.

As soon as Xiong Liao heard that Lang Qi needed the incubator, he didn’t hesitate and went to fetch it.

Since the eaglets had hatched, the heated brick bed in the room had been lit, making the temperature inside much warmer than outside. Their nest was placed directly on the bed, eliminating the need for the incubator.

While an incubator could precisely regulate temperature, healthy eaglets didn’t require it anymore.

Besides, with four eaglets to care for, if they relied on incubators, they’d constantly have to heat and change the water—far less convenient than the heated bed.

The incubator had been idle since yesterday, sitting in the corner of the room.

Hearing that Lang Qi needed it, Ying Mian naturally assumed that another newborn had arrived in the tribe.

Some of the rescued sub-beastmen had been pregnant when they were brought back, leading to an unusually high number of births in the tribe this year.

However, the sub-beastmen’s lives had only improved at the start of the rainy season. Their bodies hadn’t fully recovered in just a few months, and since sub-beastmen naturally gave birth to smaller offspring, many of the newborns were born frail.

Although the beastmen of the tribe hated those from the Black Forest and West River Tribes, their feelings toward the infants were more complicated.

Even if they weren’t as overjoyed as they would be for the children of their own mates, they also couldn’t just stand by and watch a living being die before their eyes.

So, whenever possible, they did their best to save them.

Ying Mian had Xiong Liao take the incubator away.

Behind him, Bai Chi and Bai Nuo exchanged glances.

Ying Mian might not have realized it, but they knew the truth.

Yes, many of the rescued sub-beastmen had been pregnant—but it had already been over three months since the rescue.

Which meant… all of them had already given birth.

If any of them were still pregnant, Bai Chi and Bai Nuo wouldn’t have stayed at Ying Mian’s place all night—they would have been with the last frail newborn that had been using Hei Xiao’s incubator.

But now, there were no sub-beastmen giving birth.

And there weren’t that many feather beastmen in the tribe.

Aside from Hei Xiao and Ying Mian, no one else had been incubating eggs recently.

The answer was obvious.

Still, the two of them shook their heads in silent agreement.

Since Bai Tu hadn’t mentioned anything, it meant he wasn’t certain yet.

If the hatchling was normal and healthy, Bai Tu would have informed Ying Mian immediately.

On the other side, Bai Tu sighed as he watched the unmoving eaglet.

“Little one, could you at least move a bit?“

It was alive, but at least let him see if it had all its limbs!

It wasn’t like Hei Xiao’s third hatchling, which had needed help breathing—this one had already pushed off half of its shell, meaning it was strong enough.

Yet, despite having the strength to hatch, it refused to come out completely.

It was frustrating but unavoidable.

Bai Tu had only helped Hei Xiao’s chick because its life was in danger.

But this little eaglet clearly had the ability to hatch on its own.

If he interfered, it would be like pulling a sprout to make it grow faster—completely unnecessary.

Still… Bai Tu was about to lose his patience with this slowpoke of a chick.

But the eaglet itself was in no hurry.

By the time Lang Qi returned with the incubator, Bai Tu carefully placed the egg inside, exactly as it was, without disturbing it.

The eaglet still didn’t move.

Bai Tu examined it from every angle and even sprayed a little water inside to keep the membrane from drying out. Then, he turned to Lang Qi and said, “Let’s eat first.“

He had a feeling they’d be waiting a while.

And sure enough…

They ended up waiting for half a day.

Bai Tu stayed with the unhatched eaglet the entire time, refusing to leave.

Finally, just as they sat down for lunch, the eaglet—without the slightest urgency—gave a final kick and broke free of its shell.

Healthy.

With a head, a beak, wings, and two legs.

After thoroughly checking the hatchling, Bai Tu let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, we can tell Ying Mian now.“

It was a perfectly healthy eaglet.

The moment it broke free, the hatchling began chirping loudly.

Bai Tu immediately brought over the prepared warm water and food.

He had already been ready for this moment.

First, he let the hatchling drink a little warm water. Then, he started feeding it.

The first meal wasn’t too big.

Once the eaglet realized there was no more food coming, it closed its beak, tilted its head—

—and promptly collapsed.

Bai Tu had just set the bowl down when he turned around and saw this scene.

His heart clenched instantly.

“Wasn’t it just fine a second ago?!“

Meanwhile, on the bedside cabinet—

The wolf cubs, who had been neatly lined up in a row, stared wide-eyed at their papa’s new hatchling.

Their eyes widened even further as they watched it suddenly fall over.

The new cub… died again?!