Chapter 188
The first year of the Hundred Beasts Tribe’s courier service development passed especially quickly. In spring, the courier system was just established.
By summer, aside from the rainy season, the entire tribe was busy processing goods, expanding connections with more tribes, and building transit hubs. Autumn was the shortest and busiest time, as most of the market-related activities had gradually shifted to their tribe.
When the first snowfall arrived, everyone was finally able to take a break. However, while the others could rest, Bai Tu still had to plan for post-winter operations. The sub-beastmen fully supported Bai Tu’s work and had no complaints about relocating for work. Under Bai Chi’s leadership, they had even sorted out their assignments on their own.
Having spent so much time with Bai Tu, Bai Chi knew his personality well. He took the initiative to organize everyone’s work placements, allowing Bai Tu to focus solely on preparing for school construction. Thanks to Bai Chi’s assistance, Bai Tu’s workload lightened significantly.
Fortunately, when choosing locations for the transit hubs, they had specifically picked spacious and flat areas. Not only could they accommodate one school, but even ten schools could be built if necessary.
Bai Tu designed the school facilities based on the Hundred Beasts Tribe’s school—aside from differences in size and location, everything else was nearly identical.
To ensure the cubs’ comfort, Bai Tu made some adjustments.
If the surrounding beastmen had larger beast forms, then the tables and beds were built larger. If the neighboring tribes had smaller beast forms, the furniture would be adjusted accordingly.
The goal was to maximize comfort and satisfaction for as many cubs as possible.
Once the blueprints were drawn and the locations were selected, the construction team took over the rest. Over the past two years, the construction team had worked on livestock enclosures, transit hubs, and trading markets, so building schools was not a challenge for them. Bai Tu had complete confidence in them, so he delegated all tasks and even granted them priority access to materials like cement and bricks.
With the school plans finalized, Bai Tu briefly relaxed. However, at that moment, Hei Yan arrived with a guest—Xiang Wu, the leader of the Iron Elephant Tribe.
Thanks to the fast flight speed of the feathered tribes, not only the Black Hawk Tribe but also other winged beastmen frequently traveled between continents.
The Eastern Continent’s rapid development in just one year shocked the other continents. Last winter, the living conditions across different lands were similar. But within a single year, the Eastern Continent’s markets had grown empty—not because of a lack of trade, but because people could now stay in their own tribes and have goods delivered to them.
This astonished the winged beastmen from other continents who visited. They spread the news upon returning, and the story quickly snowballed. The South Continent’s market was still ongoing at the time, which only helped accelerate the rumors.
Xiang Wu, leader of the Iron Elephant Tribe, had heard about the courier service and planned to consult Hei Yan after the market season ended. His tribe’s beast forms were large and required substantial amounts of food. Their territory was overhunted, leaving them in urgent need of trade partners.
However, when Xiang Wu first visited in early winter, he found no one available. Most of the Black Hawk Tribe members were occupied with tasks assigned by Bai Tu. Although resource exchanges with other tribes had already been completed, their work wasn’t over yet. At the very least, they needed to transport goods from the transit hubs to the Hundred Beasts Tribe before they could rest.
Xiang Wu tried multiple times to contact them, but it wasn’t until recently that the Black Hawk Tribe finally had time to rest. After spending a few days in the Hundred Beasts Tribe with Hei Xiao, Hei Yan returned to his tribe to check on things. Only then did Xiang Wu finally meet him.
Of all the tribes seeking trade, Bai Tu realized the Iron Elephant Tribe was different.
Most tribes struggled because they couldn’t hunt enough prey. The Iron Elephant Tribe, on the other hand, couldn’t find any prey at all.
Their large beast forms brought both advantages and disadvantages:
Food consumption was high. They caused significant destruction when moving in and out of their territory. Most plants in their homeland were trampled by their own people. Fewer plants meant fewer animals in their hunting grounds
Based on past experience, when prey became scarce, the tribe would migrate to new lands.
However, circumstances were different now.
At fifty-something years old, Xiang Wu was still in his prime, as elephant beastmen lived longer than most other beastmen. When he was young, the Iron Elephant Tribe had around 100 members. Now, their numbers had grown to over 400.
When Xiang Wu was young, his tribe was the only one in the area. But now, the surrounding land was nearly encircled by other tribes.
It wasn’t just the Iron Elephant Tribe that had grown—other tribes had also increased in numbers, and the total number of tribes had multiplied several times over the past decades.
Relocating to a new territory was nearly impossible. Finding a landmass as large as their current one was out of the question, unless they resorted to taking it from another tribe by force.
In the past, they wouldn’t have hesitated to fight for territory—after all, everyone did it. But seeing the Hundred Beasts Tribe’s development, Xiang Wu suddenly realized there was another way.
If they could cooperate with other tribes, like the Hundred Beasts Tribe did—transporting goods in exchange for food—that would be far better than seizing unfamiliar lands.
Some Iron Elephant Tribe members believed they should simply take a food-rich territory by force. With their sheer size and strength, few tribes could resist them.
But Xiang Wu saw the bigger picture.
If they took a territory by force, they wouldn’t just anger the tribe they attacked—The neighboring tribes would become wary of them, leading to isolation. In the end, they’d be hated by all.
It wasn’t worth making enemies with so many tribes just for a piece of land. The Black Forest Tribe and the West River Tribe had already made that mistake—despite their numbers, they were still defeated. Their failure proved that a tribe couldn’t survive alone.
However, cooperation wasn’t something they could achieve overnight. The Iron Elephant Tribe had been isolated for so long that reaching out now might seem suspicious to other tribes.
After thinking it over, Xiang Wu decided the best course of action was to ask Bai Tu for help.
Bai Tu had previously avoided working with the Iron Elephant Tribe due to their massive size. Transporting goods for them would require special roads.
But now that they had come seeking cooperation, Bai Tu reconsidered.
Since they had chosen diplomacy over conquest, he shared his plan, “Our tribe can offer you jobs, but first, you’ll need to build roads. The work will be tough.”
Xiang Wu replied immediately, “We don’t fear hard work.” With their large numbers and strength, there wasn’t much they couldn’t handle.
Bai Tu liked straightforward negotiations, so he pulled out his blueprints and pointed to several paths:
After winter, they would clear these roads. Some routes connected the Hundred Beasts Tribe to various transit hubs. One road led directly to the Southern Continent.
His long-term plan was to expand the courier network across the entire Beast God Continent. With the Eastern Continent’s infrastructure complete, it was time to move outward—both the Western and Southern Continents had potential for development.
The fastest route to the Southern Continent was through the Black Hawk Tribe. As for the Western Continent, they already had previous contacts there.
The Feathered Tribes had no issues with terrain, as they could fly over mountains.
But horse, deer, and other land-based beast tribes needed proper roads. Without them, they’d have to detour around mountains, adding one or two extra days to their journey.
Bai Tu knew how powerful the Elephant Tribe was. After all, when drugged elephants attacked the Black Hawk Tribe, they flattened an entire mountain.
He didn’t need them to destroy another mountain—he just needed them to carve roads through the terrain, making travel easier for everyone.
“You’ll get the same benefits as our tribe members,” Bai Tu explained.
“We’ll provide food for free and give daily wages in the form of points.”
While the Iron Elephant Tribe would do the physical labor, the courier system was still under the Hundred Beasts Tribe’s control.
The Hundred Beasts Tribe would handle all wages and food. In return, they would maintain control over the roads once completed.
Xiang Wu didn’t know Bai Tu’s full plans, but he was thrilled.
His worries had barely left his mouth before he was given a solution. This proved that coming to the Hundred Beasts Tribe for help was the right decision.
Had they chosen to invade another tribe, it would have wasted time and resources, leading to war and making enemies across the entire continent.
One wrong move, and they could have ended up like the Black Forest or West River Tribes—completely destroyed.
Resolving the tribe’s food issue through peaceful means had always been Xiang Wu’s greatest wish. Now that it was settled, he was naturally overjoyed.
Although the roadwork was planned, it wouldn’t begin until spring. In the meantime, Bai Tu paid an advance salary to the Iron Elephant Tribe, ensuring they stayed well-fed through winter so they’d be in good condition for work when spring arrived.
After seeing Xiang Wu off, Bai Tu stretched. Most of the necessary arrangements had been made, and as for the Iron Elephant Tribe’s tasks, he had already mapped out their routes earlier. There was nothing more to adjust.
With free time on his hands, Bai Tu started missing his cubs. Glancing outside to check the time, he decided not to work overtime today and headed home.
All the cubs were at home.
Winter was a season of contradictions for them—it was both their favorite and least favorite time of the year.
They loved it because of the snow—it was fun to watch and even more fun to play in, especially for the little white wolf cub, who became unusually excited every winter.
But they hated it because the younger cubs could only watch from inside, while only the two older ones were allowed to go outside and play in the snow.
Even those who could play outside had restrictions— If the snow started melting or if the snow in the courtyard became too thin, then no one was allowed outside.
Even when the snow was thick, they were only allowed to play for a short while before being dragged back inside for a hot bath by their two fathers.
That year, the snowfall was heavy. The cubs lined up at the windowsill, staring longingly at the snow outside.
The moment Bai Tu returned, the cubs lit up with excitement—which usually led to accidents.
As the gray wolf cub jumped up in excitement, he accidentally bumped into the glass, instantly dizzying himself. After a while, he shook off the daze and jumped onto a nearby chair. The black wolf cub was already waiting there, seated calmly.
The white wolf cub, unaware of what his brother was doing, stared at the window in confusion. Then, in an attempt to copy him, he bumped his own head against the glass—and immediately looked pitiful.
Hearing the commotion from the courtyard, Bai Tu hurried inside.
The scene that greeted him: The white wolf cub staring resentfully at the window, the gray wolf cub, still dazed, wobbling on the chair, and the black wolf cub, the only one behaving normally.
Bai Tu stepped forward and, as usual, rubbed their little heads one by one. The first cub was fine. But when he rubbed the gray wolf cub, the little one yelped in pain.
Bai Tu lowered his head and noticed a small bump forming—not big, but on the small cub’s head, it was very noticeable.
He picked him up for a closer look. It seemed to be from the impact earlier. Bai Tu turned to Lang Qi and asked, “Did the cub get hurt?”
Lang Qi paused briefly before explaining what had happened.
Bai Tu didn’t know whether to feel sorry for the one in his arms or laugh at the one still trying to headbutt the window.
In the end, he simply gathered all three cubs into his arms.
Then, noticing two were missing, he turned to Lang Qi.
“Where are the other two?”
“Playing hide-and-seek,” Lang Qi replied.
The two older cubs had learned the game at school, but it was too advanced for their three younger, still beast-formed brothers. Since they couldn’t play together, they had roped Lang Qi into it instead.
Lang Qi didn’t want to participate in such a childish game. However, if he refused, the cubs would complain to Bai Tu when he got home.
The cubs were getting better at talking, and when they tattled, they never exaggerated by just a little—they could turn one mistake into ten. So in the end, Lang Qi had no choice but to play along.
Right now, the two older cubs were hiding, waiting for Lang Qi to turn around as per the rules.
As for the headbutting incident, Lang Qi’s philosophy was simple— Let them fall a few times, and they’ll learn.
Unlike Bai Tu, who worried over every little bump, Lang Qi didn’t intervene in situations that weren’t truly dangerous.
Bai Tu rubbed the gray wolf cub’s belly, then decided to find the missing cubs himself. But they weren’t in this room. They also weren’t in the other two rooms.
Since he couldn’t find them, Bai Tu broke the game’s rules:
“The cubs are missing.”
He wasn’t actually worried—with Lang Qi at home, they couldn’t have run outside. He just didn’t know where they had hidden.
Given Lang Qi’s sharp hearing, he had probably already heard their movements.
Bai Tu walked around the room, but the cubs still didn’t appear.
He suspected they had gotten so caught up in hiding that they had forgotten about the game entirely—probably forgot about Lang Qi too.
Lang Qi finally stood up, walked to the bedroom, and opened the wardrobe.
Inside, the two little wolf cubs were curled up at the bottom, sound asleep.
When the wardrobe doors opened, a slight gust of wind blew in—instinctively, the two cubs huddled even closer together.
Bai Tu: “…?”
After a moment of silence, Bai Tu handed the three cubs in his arms over to Lang Qi, then bent down and lifted out the two sleeping ones from the wardrobe.
It was obvious that the inside was warm, as the moment they were taken out, the cubs shivered slightly from the sudden change in temperature.
Bai Tu wrapped them snugly in his clothes, then tucked them into the blanket.
He glanced at the three smaller cubs and asked, “Do you want to eat?”
It was already their usual mealtime, and the cubs were getting hungry.
They wanted to take another look at the snow outside, but from their current position, they couldn’t see it. Feeling a little aggrieved, they reluctantly agreed—food first.
As Bai Tu watched the snowfall through the window, he decided that after some time, he would take the two older cubs outside for a snowball fight.
As for the three younger ones—not this year. They would have to wait until next year at the earliest.
Bai Tu gave each cub a kiss, and their disappointment over not being able to go outside vanished instantly.
Now that they were happy again, they didn’t want their father to hold them anymore—they wanted their dad instead.
Bai Tu reached out to pick up the gray wolf cub and checked the bump on his head.
Young cubs healed astonishingly fast—logically, a bump like this should look even worse after some time, but within just a short while, it was already smaller than before.
“Looks like we won’t need any medicine,” Bai Tu said.
The gray wolf cub, completely unaware that his father had been worried about him, wasn’t bothered by the bump at all. In fact, within just a few moments, he had completely forgotten about it and was already looking for another cub to play with.
Lang Qi watched the gray wolf cub for a moment.
Something about this felt familiar—as if he had seen a similar scene somewhere before…
