Chapter 174
Bai Tu carefully carried the wolf cubs out of his embrace, but as soon as they left their daddy’s warmth, they instinctively extended their little paws and latched onto his clothes. Not wanting to hurt them or damage his clothing, Bai Tu simply tucked them back into his arms and softly asked Lang Qi, “Did you hear anything just now?”
Bai Tu was puzzled. He was fully aware that he had been asleep, with his eyes closed, yet the sounds had seemed so close—especially the cubs’ cries, which still echoed in his ears, as if they had been real. But the moment he woke up, everything went silent. That made it seem like it had only been a dream.
“I didn’t hear anything.” Lang Qi gently massaged Bai Tu’s brow, lowering his voice as he repeated his earlier question, “Did you have a nightmare?” The moment he entered the room, he had noticed Bai Tu looking anxious. Worried it was a nightmare, he had woken him up before doing anything else.
Bai Tu thought back to what had happened and shook his head. “It wasn’t a nightmare… I just… dreamed that someone was arguing.” But before the argument could escalate, that familiar voice had stopped it. After that, he had been too focused on the cubs to pay attention to what had happened next.
Looking down, Bai Tu saw the three little ones nestled back in his arms, sleeping even more soundly than before. The gray wolf cub even stretched lazily before rolling over and continuing to sleep, never even opening its eyes. Its peaceful slumber was enviable.
Bai Tu wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t rested well, but he felt a little dizzy—like he had forgotten something important.
Lang Qi continued rubbing Bai Tu’s temples and softly suggested, “Why don’t you sleep a bit longer?”
He could see how exhausted Bai Tu was. Now that the tribe’s most pressing matters were taken care of, Lang Qi had taken over all the remaining tasks and kept others from disturbing Bai Tu. But despite that, Bai Tu still hadn’t rested well. Lang Qi glanced at the cubs sleeping in Bai Tu’s arms and added, “Tomorrow, I’ll take the little ones with me.” That way, Bai Tu could finally get some proper rest.
Just as Bai Tu was about to refuse, the gray wolf cub suddenly jolted awake. It turned toward Lang Qi and started barking fiercely, as if he were the most wicked villain imaginable.
Lang Qi stared at his little one, who was baring its teeth at him.
The gray cub showed no fear. Its barks woke the other two—without a word, the black cub rushed forward and bit Lang Qi’s hand. The white cub, seeing its brothers acting out, chose a different strategy—it turned around and tattled to Bai Tu.
The sounds Bai Tu had heard in his dream played out once again. He paused for a moment. The cries he had heard while sleeping had seemed familiar—now he knew why. They were almost identical to what was happening now.
The gray cub was the loudest, the black cub had a lower, more aggressive growl, and the white cub played the role of the whiny instigator. Each had its own job, working together like a well-rehearsed team.
Rubbing the white cub, who was acting all pitiful in his arms, Bai Tu reached out to pry the black cub off Lang Qi’s hand, then scooped up the gray cub as well. He comforted them gently, “Alright, alright. Father was just saying that—he’s not actually taking you away.”
He had thought the cubs were fast asleep and wouldn’t have heard their conversation. He and Lang Qi had both spoken softly, yet the cubs had picked up on everything. Next time, they would have to discuss such things away from the little ones.
The white cub nuzzled against Bai Tu with a pitiful whimper. The gray cub, still unconvinced, let out two more warning barks at Lang Qi, as if issuing a threat. Meanwhile, the black cub stayed silent, but the way it stared at Lang Qi made it clear—it was just waiting for another chance to sink its teeth into him.
Bai Tu wrapped all the wolf cubs in his arms, blocking the hostile stares being exchanged between the father and his three little ones.
“I’ll stay home with the cubs,” Bai Tu said. “I just need to rest for two days. The cubs are very well-behaved and won’t disturb me.” They truly were obedient. Earlier, even though they had been happily playing, they had stopped immediately to nap with him when he felt sleepy. Such well-behaved cubs could never be a bother.
Lang Qi nodded, dropping the idea of taking the cubs outside. Instead, he changed the topic, “What do you want to eat?” Bai Tu had just woken up, and Lang Qi didn’t want him going out again, so he planned to fetch food from the dining hall.
“Anything is fine,” Bai Tu replied, not being picky. But then he remembered that the vegetables he had planted were starting to need thinning, so he added, “Get something with greens.”
Lang Qi agreed and took some utensils to the dining hall.
As the tribe’s population grew, the previous system of using communal dining utensils—where people would take food home and then return the dishes—became too inconvenient. The limited number of utensils meant people often had to wait in line, staring at the food while waiting for a clean plate. Since each beastman typically needed several plates, the delay caused by taking them home and returning them was as long as half a mealtime.
To solve this, Bai Tu spoke with the woodworking and pottery teams and had them make a batch of personal tableware for each household. Now, anyone who wanted to take food home simply brought their own utensils. As expected, this change eliminated the issue of lacking communal tableware. Though it added a small hassle—having to remember to bring a lunchbox before heading to work—Bai Tu observed that no one seemed to mind. In fact, they enjoyed it. After all, for most people, their entire day revolved around working for their next meal. Seeing their lunchbox with them meant food wasn’t far off, which made them even happier.
Seeing how quickly everyone adapted, Bai Tu was reassured. He even had the teams make extra sets for future newcomers to the tribe.
Once Lang Qi left, Bai Tu carried the cubs to wash their paws. Whether they were in human or beast form, Bai Tu maintained the habit of cleaning them before meals.
Just as he was about to step outside, his eyes fell on a cup on the table, and he suddenly remembered what he had forgotten—he had meant to ask Lang Qi about the Beast God.
He had been keeping it in mind, but his poor sleep had caused him to forget. Yawning, Bai Tu finished washing the cubs’ little paws and then carried them to the dining area to sit down.
By the time they were settled, Lang Qi returned, bringing food that Bai Tu and the cubs liked.
Bai Tu glanced at the meal and placed the pure meat dishes in front of Lang Qi.
Due to their high activity levels, most beastmen preferred eating meat. Bai Tu, however, liked a bit of everything. Among the cubs, Lang Sui and Lang Ying—the two older ones—also favored meat, while the white cub had tastes similar to Bai Tu. The only difference was that while the others ate plain meat, the little white wolf liked to have some vegetables with it.
Lang Qi remembered each cub’s preferences, so their food was already portioned accordingly. Bai Tu placed their respective dishes in front of them.
After setting down the meal boxes, Lang Qi went to fetch some of Bai Tu’s homemade meat sauce and preserved food. Bai Tu often prepared long-lasting foods in advance and stored them in the kitchen. Both he and Lang Qi enjoyed them—and occasionally, Lang Ze would come by to snag some as well.
Bai Tu preferred spicier food, but since the dining hall had to cater to the tastes of most beastmen, it wasn’t possible for all the dishes to be made particularly spicy. Without some added chili, he wouldn’t be satisfied with his meal.
Though he initially made his own spicy sauce just for seasoning, it contained more than just chili—he also added beef, winter bamboo shoots, and other ingredients, making it almost a dish on its own.
With two adults and three cubs, their food covered nearly half the table. Bai Tu started feeding the cubs first and casually asked about something on his mind while doing so. “Did the wolf tribe ever have a separate cave for worshiping the Beast God?”
Lang Qi paused. “Why are you asking about that?”
“Chi came by today and asked when we were going to prepare a room for the Beast God.” Bai Tu briefly explained what had happened earlier. “I don’t really remember how the Mink Tribe handled it before.” Asking Bai An would be a hassle, so it was easier to ask Lang Qi.
“Yes, there was one,” Lang Qi nodded, “but it hasn’t been used in many years.”
“Hm?” Bai Tu was puzzled. So did they believe in the Beast God or not?
“A long time ago, the tribe’s shaman used to perform the offerings, but later, our tribe lost its shaman. The next one we had was…” Lang Qi hesitated. “It was Wu Jiu.”
Bai Tu immediately remembered—Wu Jiu was the so-called shaman who had tried to molest wolf cubs and had his legs broken by Lang Qi.
“Father didn’t let him enter that cave,” Lang Qi explained. “But only shamans have the right to make offerings to the Beast God.”
Bai Tu understood now. The last time the wolf tribe had officially worshiped the Beast God was before Wu Jiu ever arrived. Since then, the cave had remained untouched because the tribe had no healer.
Bai Tu suspected that the Snow Rabbit Tribe was in a similar situation. He glanced at the sky outside and discussed with Lang Qi, “Should we ask Chen about it tomorrow?”
Now that the tribe lived in brick houses, they couldn’t just use a simple cave or a single room for worship anymore. Plus, if only healers could perform the offerings, did that mean the tribe needed to select a new healer?
Bai Tu had a bit of a psychological aversion to the word “shaman.”
Lang Qi agreed.
Early the next morning, Bai Tu arrived at the meeting room, where Bai Chen and the others were discussing the day’s plans. Everyone was surprised to see him—after all, Bai Tu had just said two days ago that he wanted to take a break. They had all seen how exhausted he had been recently and hadn’t expected him to show up so early.
Bai Tu wanted to rest, too, but there were some things that simply couldn’t be delayed. The rainy season was only a month away, and if they waited any longer to discuss this matter, they definitely wouldn’t be able to prepare in time. He disliked putting off things that could be dealt with immediately.
The moment Bai Tu mentioned the Beast God, everyone immediately became serious.
“Tu, do you want to worship the Beast God?” Bai An was the most excited, his face filled with disbelief. After all, only shamans were qualified to worship the Beast God, and Bai Tu had always disliked being associated with that title.
He had even refused to let others refer to him as a healer. The only exception was when he had temporarily accepted the title to save Bao Duo, but once the two tribes got to know each other better, he quickly clarified his stance.
Bai An had personally witnessed Bai Tu’s aversion to the term “healer,” which made this moment even more surprising.
What shocked him even more was that Lang Qi hadn’t objected.
Bai An had always wanted the tribe to worship the Beast God, but since Bai Tu was the one responsible for planning the residential areas, and he had never brought it up, no one else dared to mention it either—especially since Bai Tu, from the very beginning, had never shown the same deep reverence for the Beast God and shamans/healers as others did. Now that Bai Tu had brought it up himself, Bai An was so eager that he wanted to start preparing immediately.
Seeing everyone’s reactions, Bai Tu already had his answer.
It wasn’t just Bai Chi who wanted a room dedicated to the Beast God—everyone else had been thinking the same thing but had simply remained silent.
When the shamans’ deception was exposed before, it was because they had truly done terrible things, so people easily believed the truth. But the Beast God was different—the Beast God was revered by all in the Beast God Continent, and since the deity wasn’t a real, tangible being, there were no mistakes to expose. Bai Tu understood that even if he tried to convince them not to believe in the Beast God’s legends, it wouldn’t work.
Since that was the case, Bai Tu thought for a moment, exchanged a glance with Lang Qi, and did not object. Instead, he nodded. However, just as Bai An was about to express his excitement, Bai Tu added, “It’s not just me worshiping—it’s the entire tribe together.”
Bai An swallowed back the words he was about to say. “The entire tribe together?”
Bai Tu nodded. “Yes. There is no distinction between healers/shamans and ordinary beastmen. Since everyone is a child of the Beast God, then everyone has the right to worship. The Beast God can hear the voices of all.”
If they had to establish a place for worship, Bai Tu wanted to change the way it was done. This would prevent future situations like Wu Jiu and his followers using the excuse of offering tributes to the Beast God to hoard food. If everyone participated in worship, it meant each person could simply pray in their own hearts.
As for the offerings: “The food will be provided by the tribe as a whole.” After all, it was just for display—whatever was placed there could later be taken back and eaten. It would simply be recorded in the tribe’s communal account.
But no one paid attention to the last part about food. They were still processing the words Bai Tu had said before.
Everyone is a child of the Beast God. Everyone has the right to worship the Beast God…
No one had ever said that before. The long-standing tradition of the Beast God Continent was that only shamans/healers had the right to perform worship. That was exactly why Bai An had been so shocked earlier—agreeing to worship the Beast God usually meant Bai Tu had decided to become a healer himself or appoint someone else for the role. No one had expected Bai Tu to take this approach instead.
Although it was something they had never heard before, upon careful thought, they realized that Bai Tu wasn’t wrong.
The Beast God was supposed to bless everyone, so naturally, the deity could also hear everyone’s prayers. They could pray to the Beast God themselves without needing a healer as an intermediary… If anyone else had said this—even if it had been the current chief, Lang Qi, or Bai Chen—people might not have accepted it so easily.
But it was Bai Tu who had said it.
Ever since Bai Tu had woken up two years ago, every decision he had made had been for the benefit of the tribe. Not a single one had harmed them.
What did this mean? It meant that if the Beast God truly existed, Bai Tu would undoubtedly be the one most blessed by him. Since Bai Tu had said so, then it must be right.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Bai Tu began planning the location of the Beast God’s temple. Should it be called a temple? Bai Tu wondered. Since there wasn’t a fixed name for it, he decided to go with that.
Currently, the tribe’s residential area was built in a circular pattern—the further inward, the more important the buildings became.
Since this place was meant for worshiping the Beast God, it couldn’t be placed somewhere easily overlooked. However, the center of the settlement was already packed with buildings. If everyone came to worship, it would inevitably cause disruptions.
For one, the school for the young cubs would be affected. Even though they had taken human form, many still retained old habits—like immediately looking outside whenever they heard a sound.
As Bai Tu was thinking, the others had already started arguing.
Some believed the temple should be at the very center of the tribe because, in the past, the place of worship had always been in the middle of a settlement. Now that they had moved down from the mountains, the location for worship shouldn’t change. Others argued that the center was inconvenient—since Bai Tu had just declared that everyone could worship the Beast God, those living in the inner circle wouldn’t have to walk far, but those at the outermost part of the settlement would have a much longer journey.
Both sides were firm in their stance, each believing their suggestion was the best. Even Bai Chen and Bai An, father and son, had different opinions and turned to Lang Qi to see which side he would support.
Lang Qi, however, simply averted his gaze, ignoring them both. Instead, he looked at Bai Tu, using his actions to show that he would only listen to Bai Tu’s decision.
“Tu, what do you think is best?” Bai An asked.
He supported placing the temple in the center. For so many years, their tribe hadn’t had a healer—let alone a place to worship the Beast God. They had always envied other tribes for it. Now, he wanted other tribes to envy them. If conditions allowed, Bai An would have even preferred placing the temple on the highest mountain.
Bai Tu thought for a moment, then drew two circles on the tribe’s residential map—one smaller, positioned centrally, and one larger, located further out.
“We’ll build two—one for everyone’s worship, and one for the Beast God to rest.” The first one would be large, meant for public prayer. The second, representing respect for the Beast God, could be smaller.
The moment Bai Tu said this, everyone fell silent.
His suggestion was, without a doubt, the best solution so far. While there was space in the center, constructing a building large enough to hold the entire tribe for prayer would be difficult. Meanwhile, placing the temple on the outskirts would feel disrespectful, as if they had just chosen any random spot.
By building two, both concerns were addressed—one would be large enough to accommodate worshippers, while the other would remain at the center as a sacred site.
A hush fell over the group. No one opposed the idea. After all, it was Bai Tu who had made the proposal. By now, everyone had an almost instinctive trust in him—even if he hadn’t explained his reasoning, they would have agreed. But in this case, he had considered both sides’ concerns.
Naturally, since Bai Tu was the one who brought up the idea, he would be the one to design the Beast God’s residence.
Bai Tu didn’t have any particularly brilliant ideas. He simply asked everyone about how their tribe or other tribes had worshiped the Beast God in the past.
When he realized that it was similar to the Taoist temples and shrines he had seen in his past life, he just sketched something similar—a large open space in front of the hall, with several rooms in the back dedicated to the Beast God. As for the smaller temple, the only difference was a reduction in the size of the open space, while the rooms remained about the same.
“Did the tribe ever have statues or anything like that?” Bai Tu asked.
His question left everyone stunned. Statues?
Bai Tu paused for a moment. “You mean there’s no statue of the Beast God?” So Wu Jiu and his kind had managed to fool people using just an empty room?
Bai An, realizing that Bai Tu was referring to the cave where the Beast God was worshiped, looked a little embarrassed. “We… never saw anything like that.”
As beastmen from a small tribe, it was already rare for them to even see a medicine apprentice. Meeting a healer was even harder, let alone entering the sacred place where the Beast God was worshiped. Even members of larger tribes weren’t always allowed inside, so naturally, they had never been given the chance.
Bai Tu turned to Lang Qi.
Lang Qi said, “I can take you to see it.” The Blood Wolf Tribe still had their old place of worship.
Bai Tu nodded. “Alright.”
He had assumed that, since no one had entered the cave in years, it would be a messy and abandoned space. However, that wasn’t the case at all. The cave used for worship in the Blood Wolf Tribe was spotless, as if someone had been cleaning it regularly.
“Some of the older members of the tribe come here to clean,” Lang Qi explained. “The wolf tribe despises shamans from Wu Jiu’s lineage, but they still respect the Beast God. Even though we don’t have the right to conduct formal worship, people still clean the cave and leave offerings of food.”
Hearing this, Bai Tu felt relieved. He had been worried that people had an irrational, blind faith in the Beast God. But it seemed that, while they respected the Beast God, they remained rational about it. As long as he kept an eye on things, there shouldn’t be a repeat of someone impersonating the Beast God to cause trouble—after all, everyone in the tribe still remembered that the serpent Si had once pretended to be the Beast God to deceive them.
Inside the cave, there was a long stone table with some fresh fruit placed on top. Since it wasn’t peak fruit season yet, the beastmen who had come here had left their most precious offerings.
Aside from the stone table, the cave was empty—except for some lines drawn on the stone wall at the very back.
Bai Tu: “?”
“This was left behind from long ago,” Lang Qi explained. Since he couldn’t describe it well, he had simply brought Bai Tu here to see it for himself.
Bai Tu stared hard at the lines, which were apparently meant to represent the Beast God, but no matter how he looked at them, he couldn’t tell what kind of creature it was supposed to be.
This was a mistake.
He had suggested building a Beast God Temple before even figuring out what kind of beast the Beast God actually was.
“Let’s build the temple first… I’ll ask around and find out more.” Bai Tu had interacted with so many tribes—he refused to believe he couldn’t uncover the Beast God’s true form.
The cave in the Blood Wolf Tribe vaguely depicted a long-bodied creature with four legs, though the details were too blurred to make out. However, there were countless four-legged animals on the Beast God Continent. Even the Hundred Beasts Tribe alone had dozens of species that matched this description, so it would be difficult to determine the exact form of the Beast God based on this alone. It would be better to check the symbols used by other tribes.
If he still couldn’t find any clues, Bai Tu glanced again at the lines on the wall. If all else failed, he could simply draw something random—after all, no one had actually seen the Beast God.
As he was thinking this, a sudden gust of wind blew through the cave.
Lang Qi immediately shielded Bai Tu, only lowering his guard when the wind stopped.
“Is it going to rain?” Bai Tu looked outside. The sky didn’t look like rain was coming. It was strange to feel such a cool breeze in this kind of weather.
Before leaving, he glanced once more at the patterns on the cave wall. Was it just his imagination? The lines seemed clearer than before, and… was there an extra claw?
Bai Tu blinked. The middle part—was that a tiny animal? A cub? Or a companion? He stepped closer to examine it, feeling as though the markings had subtly changed. But when he looked again, they appeared just as they were before.
Am I seeing things? Bai Tu frowned and turned to Lang Qi. “Do you notice anything different?”
Lang Qi followed his gaze, then shook his head in confusion. “Different? What do you mean?”
“…Never mind. I must’ve imagined it.” Now that he was looking properly, the markings looked the same as before. That brief difference must have been an illusion.
The two left the cave, and Bai Tu took the opportunity to check on the eagle tribe nearby.
The Black Hawk Tribe’s houses were still under construction, and they had to wait until everything was finished before they could return. Despite the help from many beastmen of the Hundred Beasts Tribe, the progress was slower than that of other tribes. However, Hei Yan had mentioned last time that they would finish before the rainy season.
For now, the temporary settlers had started preparing food to last through the rainy season.
Since the Hundred Beasts Tribe had domesticated prey animals, they didn’t need to go hunting as often. However, just because they weren’t actively hunting didn’t mean prey stopped coming to them—especially after they started growing crops, which attracted large numbers of wild animals.
The eagle tribe helped drive these animals away from the fields while hunting at the same time. They had even caught so many animals that some were being kept in the livestock pens the Blood Wolf Tribe had built earlier.
Although this livestock area was smaller than the ones the Hundred Beasts Tribe had now, it was more than enough for the eagles’ needs.
Seeing that they had plenty of food, Bai Tu felt satisfied.
Since the eagle tribe’s settlement was far from the main residential area, they focused on work that could be done locally, such as spinning thread, weaving cloth, making clothes, and crafting baskets. Any tasks that required going into the main residential area were difficult for them—the long round-trip commute took nearly half a day, making daily travel impractical.
Right now, the work they were doing was relatively easy, so the corresponding points they earned were lower. If they relied solely on these tasks, the food they could exchange for during the rainy season would be limited. But with the addition of the prey they had caught, things were different. Moreover, these captured animals could later be traded with the Hundred Beasts Tribe for young prey animals. If they brought those young animals back to their tribe and everything went smoothly, the Black Hawk Tribe could return to normal by the second half of the year.
In the past, rebuilding a destroyed tribe took a very long time because they had to find a mountain similar to their previous one within their territory, which was quite difficult. Not all territories had multiple mountains—some only had one. And finding a suitable mountain wasn’t even the hardest part. The real challenge was excavating living spaces within it large enough to house the entire tribe. Tribes with natural digging abilities, like the Rabbit Tribe, had it easier, but for the Eagle Tribe, it was a difficult and exhausting task. And just digging homes wasn’t enough—they also had to prepare storage areas for food.
This process could take months to complete. Furthermore, if their original mountain was destroyed, it meant all the local prey would flee, making hunting even more difficult than before.
But now, all of these problems were gone.
Instead of searching for another mountain, they simply built houses. Worried about ground-level safety? They learned from the Hundred Beasts Tribe and dug underground tunnels, ensuring that if anyone approached, they could detect them immediately. Not enough food? The Hundred Beasts Tribe provided aid, and the Eagle Tribe had also caught a large amount of prey. Even after setting aside the portion meant for the Hundred Beasts Tribe, they still had plenty left.
When hunting in the Hundred Beasts Tribe’s territory, even though they had permission, they still had to give a portion—typically one-third—of their catch in return. This year, prey was more abundant than last year, and since the Hundred Beasts Tribe only went out hunting every few days, the Eagle Tribe was able to catch a lot. Even after giving away a third, they still had enough to sustain themselves.
The Eagle Tribe was recovering quickly, which made Bai Tu happy—but also a little disappointed.
Hei Xiao had been staying with the Hundred Beasts Tribe since before winter, and since the Black Hawk Tribe’s houses weren’t finished yet, he was still living in the house Bai Tu had assigned to him. But once the Black Hawk Tribe’s new homes were completed, Hei Xiao would have to return.
Bai Tu calculated the time and figured that after the rainy season, Hei Xiao would take the young ones and leave.
Even though they didn’t see each other every day, it was comforting to know that Hei Xiao was nearby. But once he returned to his tribe, it would take six or seven days just to visit. Thinking about that made Bai Tu feel stifled.
Lang Qi noticed that Bai Tu’s mood had suddenly changed. He had been happy just moments ago—so what happened?
Bai Tu sighed and placed a hand on Lang Qi’s shoulder. “After the rainy season, my brother is going back.” And who knew when they’d see each other again?
Lang Qi thought for a moment. “There’s still one month until the rainy season.” Which meant there were still over two months left before it ended.
“You don’t understand,” Bai Tu shook his head. Two months sounded long, but in reality, it would fly by in an instant.
It was a strange thing—the more you didn’t want a day to come, the faster it arrived. But when you were looking forward to something, time seemed to crawl unbearably slow.
Back in his past life, a seven-day holiday always seemed to pass faster than a five-day workweek—one moment it had just started, and the next, it was already over.
Thinking about the past, Bai Tu sighed again. Would he ever have the chance to go back and see it again? To be honest, after two years in this world, he still missed his old neighbors.
“What are you thinking about?” Lang Qi asked as he lifted Bai Tu onto his back. Since they were talking, he didn’t shift into his beast form, but simply carried him as he walked slowly.
“…I was thinking about the past,” Bai Tu murmured softly.
He wasn’t thinking about this life’s past, but rather about his past life—a simple yet somewhat warm existence. However, when he thought about Lang Qi and the five young cubs in this life, as well as Hei Xiao, who would always help him whenever he needed it, the faint sadness in his heart gradually faded away.
If he had to choose, he would undoubtedly pick Lang Qi and the cubs. The friends and neighbors from his past life? Even without him, they still had other friends and family. But his real family was here.
Bai Tu rested his head on Lang Qi’s shoulder and said, “I was thinking about you.”
Lang Qi’s footsteps halted for a brief moment. Then, without warning, he shifted into his beast form and sprinted away at a speed Bai Tu had never experienced before.
Bai Tu reacted quickly, grabbing onto the thick fur on Lang Qi’s neck to avoid slipping off. But knowing how careful Lang Qi was, he was sure Lang Qi had only started running after sensing that he had a firm grip.
Instead of taking the underground tunnels, they ran across the open land, slowly making their way back. Lang Qi knew Bai Tu enjoyed looking at the scenery, so after sprinting for a while, he slowed his pace. The journey from the Blood Wolf Tribe’s old cave to the Hundred Beasts Tribe’s settlement took about half a day.
Spring was the season for planting, and Bai Tu’s two months of hard work had not been in vain. As they traveled, they passed through field after field. Since the crops had been planted at different times, their heights varied, but they all looked healthy.
Seeing the flourishing plants, Bai Tu began pondering another issue—soil fertility.
Currently, the tribe’s composting method was quite basic: they piled up food scraps and other organic waste, let them decompose naturally, then dug up the fermented compost and mixed it into the soil. This method worked, but the amount of compost was too limited. Food waste and organic trash weren’t enough—they needed more fertilizer. If this problem wasn’t solved soon, the soil would become more and more depleted over time.
Bai Tu had already thought of crop rotation and green manure plants to improve the soil—both were already being tested.
But was there an even better way? Bai Tu started thinking.
Animal manure, food scraps, crop rotation with legumes, planting cover crops for green manure… What else could be used?
Suddenly, he remembered something—pond sludge.
That was an excellent natural fertilizer. Plus, dredging the ponds would help fish grow better. However, the tribe didn’t have enough fish farms yet. Bai Tu decided that when they returned, he would arrange for more ponds to be dug.
Improving the soil wasn’t something that could be done overnight, so as soon as he got back, Bai Tu went to find Hei Xiao.
Thinking about how they only had two months left together, Bai Tu couldn’t help but feel a deep sadness.
He actually wanted to ask Hei Xiao if he would consider staying in the Hundred Beasts Tribe permanently, but then he thought of Hei Yan and shook his head.
Putting himself in Hei Xiao’s shoes, if Hei Xiao wanted him to stay in the Black Hawk Tribe, leaving Lang Qi alone in the Hundred Beasts Tribe, how would he feel?
Bai Tu didn’t want to be separated from Lang Qi, so in the end, this was Hei Xiao’s decision to make. What Bai Tu could do was spend more time with him over the next two months, especially since he didn’t have anything urgent to handle right now.
As for the Beast God’s true form, that wasn’t something that could be uncovered in just a short time.
When Bai Tu arrived at Hei Xiao’s place, he found Hei Xiao just about to head out.
“Brother, where are you going?” Bai Tu asked. Hei Xiao rarely went out, so Bai Tu hadn’t expected to come over just in time to see him leaving.
Hearing Bai Tu’s voice, Hei Xiao smiled and stepped back inside. “I was actually going to look for you. Come in quickly—why are you out in this blazing sun?”
“I went to check out the wolves’ old cave,” Bai Tu explained. Then he asked, “Did you need something?”
Hei Xiao had just said the same thing Bai Tu was about to ask. Knowing Hei Xiao wouldn’t go out at this time of day unless it was important, Bai Tu was curious.
“I wanted to give you something,” Hei Xiao said seriously, pulling a small wooden box from his pocket.
The box was just slightly larger than a palm, and Bai Tu immediately recognized it as the work of the tribe’s woodworkers. They often made storage boxes of various sizes—the bigger, the more expensive. But this one seemed custom-made, since Bai Tu had never seen this specific size among their usual options.
While Bai Tu was still pondering, Hei Xiao had already opened the box. Inside, a layer of cotton cloth wrapped something carefully. Seeing how much importance Hei Xiao placed on it, Bai Tu also grew serious.
Hei Xiao lifted the cloth.
“A rabbit?” Bai Tu looked inside—it was a small jade rabbit, about the size of their beast form, and pure white. Even without any knowledge of carving, Bai Tu could tell the craftsmanship was exquisite—so refined that it didn’t even seem like something from this era.
“This was left behind by our father,” Hei Xiao explained. “Back when Yan and I were bullied, we hid it away and never took it out again. When our home was destroyed, Yan found it and brought it to me.”
Hei Xiao looked at Bai Tu and continued, “I thought about it for a long time and decided that it should belong to you. This rabbit… it’s probably you.”
Though rabbit beastmen all looked similar, there were still subtle differences. The more Hei Xiao looked at it, the more it resembled Bai Tu, not their father, Bai Luo, from his memories.
Hei Xiao gazed at the small jade rabbit inside the box. Bai Luo had left too suddenly—he had gone out as usual one day and never returned. This rabbit was the only thing left behind.
But Hei Xiao felt that this rabbit suited Bai Tu more. Whether it represented Bai Tu or their father, Bai Luo, he wanted Bai Tu to have it—because Bai Tu had lost their father at a much younger age.
Bai Tu looked at the rabbit and shook his head.
This was the only item their father had left behind—it didn’t matter which brother kept it. Besides, Hei Xiao had lost their father from a young age too, unlike Bai Tu, who had no memories of their first ten years. Hei Xiao was the one who should keep it.
“I was just a little kid back then—there’s no way this rabbit is me,” Bai Tu reasoned. He believed it was their father, Bai Luo, since he himself had been too small at the time for Bai Luo to carve a rabbit in his image.
“You keep it.”
But Hei Xiao firmly placed the rabbit in Bai Tu’s hands, refusing to take no for an answer.
“You can also give it to the little ones.” Hei Xiao glanced over at the tiny eagle chicks resting on the bed. He decided not to give them anything right now—after all, the more he looked at them, the more they reminded him of Hei Yan when he was young.
After saying that, Hei Xiao turned to send Bai Tu away, leaving no room for refusal.
Bai Tu, who had originally come over to spend time with his brother, quickly spoke up.
“Wait, Brother! I have something to ask you.”
Hei Xiao finally stopped and turned back.
“What is it?”
“Do you know the Beast God’s true form?” Bai Tu asked. Since Hei Xiao had traveled to many places, he might have heard something about it.
Hei Xiao glanced at him.
Bai Tu was puzzled.
“There are so many elder sub-beastmen in the tribe, and you’re asking me?” Hei Xiao tapped Bai Tu on the forehead. “Go ask Bai Chi and the others—any one of them would know!”
Bai Tu: “…”
He had almost forgotten—Bai Chi and the others were once apprentice healers.
Because of Wu Jiu and his group, Bai Tu had a bad impression of healers, and he had subconsciously overlooked the fact that there were plenty of knowledgeable people he could ask.
Now that he had figured that out, he felt a lot more at ease.
If they were going to build the Beast God Temple, they needed to make it the best possible representation. Bai Tu wanted to restore the image of the Beast God as the beastmen saw it—and with so many sub-beastmen from different tribes living here, he could get a more complete and accurate depiction.
Bai Tu reached out and hugged Hei Xiao. After a while, he let go and headed off.
“I’ll go ask them!”
“Go ahead,” Hei Xiao said with a smile, ruffling Bai Tu’s hair.
The sub-beastmen’s housing wasn’t far from there, so Bai Tu arrived quickly.
When he got there, Bai Chi was in the middle of scolding two young cubs.
“What’s going on?” Bai Tu asked as he walked over.
The two cubs were still very young, clearly at the age when they should be in school. Normally, if they misbehaved at school, Bai Chi would deal with it there—he rarely disciplined them outside of school.
“These two snuck out of school by climbing over the fence,” Bai Chi explained. “The teachers searched for them all morning and nearly panicked.”
The cubs were usually well-behaved, but sometimes they could be little troublemakers. That morning, after breakfast, they had found an opportunity to climb over the school’s back fence and sneak out.
They had played outside for an entire morning, completely unaware of how worried the teachers had been.
The tribe was much larger now, no longer just a small hilltop settlement. With multiple layers of territory, searching for two small cubs in such a vast area had almost driven the adults to their wits’ end.
Since young cubs didn’t have strong personal scents, and the school was full of them, their scents had mixed together, making it impossible for even the keen-nosed Bear Tribe to track their escape route.
In the end, after playing all morning, the cubs got hungry and went to the canteen to eat. That was when Tu Mu spotted them.
Such young cubs were never supposed to leave school unless they were sick—and Tu Mu hadn’t heard of any cubs being ill recently.
Moreover, the two cubs hadn’t brought any meal cards or food tokens—they had just gone to eat directly, assuming the canteen worked the same way as the school’s meal system.
Realizing they must have snuck out, Tu Mu immediately notified Bai Chi.
Bai Chi rarely got angry at cubs, but sneaking out of school was something no adult beastman could tolerate.
Bai Tu hadn’t expected to stumble upon this situation. He looked at the cubs and said, “Mark them down for a warning. If they do this again, send them back to their home tribe.”
They absolutely couldn’t let truancy become a trend—if all the cubs started sneaking out, even twice the number of teachers wouldn’t be able to handle them.
After handing down the punishment and having someone escort the cubs back to school, Bai Tu turned to Bai Chi and asked about the Beast God.
“The Beast God?” Bai Chi was surprised by the question. He thought for a moment before answering.
“The Beast God has no true form. Every tribe paints the Beast God in their own image.”
He had assumed Bai Tu already knew this.
Bai Tu thought about the variety of beast and avian species in their tribe and fell silent.
Bai Chi also realized the issue—the Hundred Beasts Tribe wasn’t a single-species tribe, or it wouldn’t have been named that way.
Bai Tu frowned. “So we’re just supposed to make up an image?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a loud clap of thunder rumbled outside.
The sudden booming sound startled Bai Tu, and then—the entire outside world fell into a dead silence.
