Chapter 231
Lang Huo’s personality was just like his name—fiery and quick-tempered. When he found out that his mate was pregnant with a new cub, he rushed to share the good news with Lang Qi, not considering that Lang Qi might reject the unborn cub.
However, Lang Qi was indifferent to the good news. He even covered the little rabbit’s ears and disdainfully shooed his father away, saying, “Get out.”
Lang Huo: “?” He stared at his son, who was showing no regard for him, and for a moment thought he must have made a mistake. This couldn’t be his cub—no cub would be this dismissive of their father.
Lang Huo glared at Lang Qi, but Lang Qi ignored him. Furious, he stormed out of the cave and went back to his own cave to complain to Lang Shui. “He actually told me to leave!”
Lang Shui: “……” Lang Shui didn’t feel like dealing with his mate’s complaints about the cub.
Though his son had dismissed him, it didn’t stop Lang Huo from wanting to boast. One cub may not care for him, but he still had another.
Lang Yu, who was ten years old and lived in a separate cave: “……”
Lang Yu thought for a moment, then solemnly promised his father, “I won’t hit the new cub.” He didn’t even hit Lang Qi, so there was no way he would hit the new cub.
Lang Huo was shocked: “Did Qi ask me to leave because he plans to hit the new cub?”
Lang Yu: “……” Could it be that he just didn’t want to listen to you talk?
……
A few months after the cub’s birth, it had grown a little, though due to being a sub-beast, the little rabbit still looked smaller than other cubs. Some cubs in the tribe stayed with their parents, while others lived in vacant caves and were cared for by female beastmen and sub-beasts. The tribe had always rejected careless male beastmen for the role of caring for cubs.
When Lang Qi was a bit younger, he would spend the day with the other cubs and be picked up by Lang Shui at night. Now, he stayed in Bai Luo’s cave.
As a shaman, Bai Luo’s cave was bigger than most, with several separate areas. Bai Luo had initially intended to sleep with the cubs at night, but Lang Qi wouldn’t let the little rabbit leave, and the little rabbit trusted Lang Qi so much that Bai Luo simply arranged for both cubs to stay together.
The little rabbit was much easier to care for than other cubs. It hardly ever cried and spent most of the day sleeping. The few times it was awake, it played quietly with Lang Qi. When it got hungry, it would softly call out. Bai Luo didn’t have to worry much, only preparing food for the cub. As long as he placed the cub nearby when he needed to do something, Lang Qi would follow along.
Except for the first time when he uncontrollably transformed back into his beast form, Lang Qi had always been able to control his transformations. Most of the time, he stayed in his human form because only in this form could he hold the little rabbit. In his beast form, he couldn’t carry it.
However, Lang Qi soon realized that in his beast form, he couldn’t carry the little rabbit or pick it up, but he could let it climb onto his back, which allowed him to carry the cub outside.
Thinking of this new solution, Lang Qi transformed into his beast form, urged the little rabbit to climb onto his shoulder, and went outside the cave.
The little rabbit was still too young to play outside the cave, but it could at least watch the view from the cave entrance.
Bai Luo, hearing the sounds of the cubs, saw Lang Qi stop at the entrance of the cave. Knowing Lang Qi wouldn’t take the cub far, he slowly withdrew his gaze. Even if Lang Qi wanted to go farther, it wouldn’t be successful. As a shaman, even if he didn’t want it, the tribe still arranged for several beastmen to protect him. Now, these protectors took turns watching the cave, and when the cubs went outside, they kept an eye on them. In fact, Lang Qi had no intention of going far and only wandered around the cave entrance.
The little rabbit had hardly ever been outside since its birth. The only time it had been outside was when other beastmen surrounded it. This time, it was the first time the little rabbit observed the outside world.
In the summer, the mountain was full of plants, and the little rabbit looked at one plant after another, almost running out of space in its eyes. Seeing a plant nearby, it tried to climb down from Lang Qi’s back to grab it. Lang Qi felt the little rabbit moving on his back and found a clean rock for it to climb onto. Once the little rabbit climbed onto the stone, it tried to run toward the plant it had seen earlier, but Lang Qi stopped it.
Holding the little rabbit, Lang Qi transformed into human form and carried the cub in his arms to find the plant. After finding it, he transformed back into his beast form, carrying the cub back.
When they returned to the cave, the little rabbit held the plant it had bitten off and went to find its father.
Upon receiving the plant brought by the little rabbit, Bai Luo, who was preparing medicines, dropped everything and immediately hugged the little rabbit, showering it with kisses.
Many sub-beasts knew about herbs, but the more gifted ones learned about them earlier. Bai Luo had only started learning from the previous shaman when he could just transform into his human form. However, the little rabbit clearly knew more than he did.
The little rabbit, sensing his father’s joy, nuzzled against his cheek to show that it was happy as well.
When Lang Qi returned with the little rabbit, he saw Bai Luo’s actions and his fur instantly stood on end.
Bai Luo, who was happily holding his cub, saw his reaction and couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, alright, I’ll give him back to you.” He kissed the little rabbit again before placing it on Lang Qi’s back.
Lang Qi, who had been bristling with anger, immediately calmed down and, with the little rabbit on his back, turned around to head for their usual resting place. He circled the little rabbit, ensuring that no one could take it away before settling down to rest peacefully.
Bai Luo smiled and shook his head as he watched the two cubs leave. Lang Qi would take care of the cubs, but after all, they were only three or four years old, so he could be a bit too domineering.
Nine months later, the tribe experienced a fresh round of heavy snow, signaling the season for cub births. The roles of Lang Shui and Bai Luo had reversed, with Bai Luo now helping Lang Shui prepare food. After giving birth, Bai Luo had remained in his beast form, guarding against almost all the beastmen, including his own mate.
Lang Fire anxiously waited outside the cave, knowing the cubs had been born and that there were two of them, but he was not allowed inside. He could only cling to the entrance and peer in. However, Bai Luo, who was bringing food, had not seen Lang Shui or the cubs, and Lang Fire could not see them either.
The little rabbit, unaware of what the adults were doing, found Lang Fire’s frantic pacing amusing and watched for a while, only to have its eyes covered.
Lang Qi covered the little rabbit’s eyes and said seriously, “You can’t look, it will make you dumb.”
The little rabbit, now able to understand many things, knew that getting dumb was bad, so it cooperated and closed its eyes.
Despite the anxiety, Lang Fire’s senses hadn’t dulled. Hearing his son’s words, he looked around in confusion.
What could looking at something make you dumb? He certainly didn’t want the new cubs to see it.
Lang Qi, holding the little rabbit in one arm and covering its eyes with the other, led the little rabbit to another place.
About a year after the little rabbit’s birth, Lang Qi had become much more skilled in carrying cubs and walking. He no longer needed help, and others no longer found it surprising or concerning when they saw him.
Lang Qi brought the little rabbit back to the cave, scooped out the food Bai Luo had left, and fed the little rabbit spoonful by spoonful before eating his own meal.
By the time Bai Luo returned after delivering the food, the little rabbit had eaten and was asleep.
Bai Luo, who had become accustomed to such routines over the past year, covered the two cubs with a light animal hide and went back to rest in his own space.
Lang Shui’s two cubs were quite weak, especially the male cub, who was smaller than any non-sub-beast cub he had ever seen. If Bai Luo hadn’t been sure that Lang Fire and Lang Shui couldn’t produce a sub-beast, he might have thought that the cub was a sub-beast.
But since Lang Shui had just given birth, he had only had a brief glimpse of the cub while Lang Shui was eating. The cub was very small, but before he could look more closely, Lang Shui had started shooing people away.
Bai Luo wondered how such a small cub could survive. Newborn wolf tribe cubs were usually very alert and wouldn’t eat just anything. Did it mean he would have to wait for Lang Shui to recover before preparing more food for the cubs?
The cubs, unaware of the adult worries, lived simple lives, eating and sleeping all day.
However, the little rabbit had been thinking more. It hadn’t seen that auntie for a long time.
Wanting to see Lang Shui, the little rabbit expressed to Lang Qi that it wanted to visit another cave.
Lang Qi knew that the mother didn’t welcome anyone right now, but not wanting to disappoint the little rabbit, he decided to take it there.
To avoid the little rabbit being upset if it didn’t see anyone, Lang Qi first grabbed a few milk fruits before leaving.
Every year, sub-beasts in the tribe gave birth to cubs, and there were many milk fruits around. Sub-beast cubs could get their share before they turned three. As the shaman’s cub, the little rabbit got the most milk fruits.
Recently, though, there had been some confusion. Although the number of sub-beasts giving birth was about the same as in previous years, the number of milk fruits was much higher than usual.
While people were puzzled, it didn’t make sense to leave the fruits on the trees, so they were picked. As a result, there were many milk fruits, and the little rabbit had more than it could eat. To make sure the little rabbit ate plenty, Lang Qi even treated the fruit as snacks, giving them to Bai Luo to warm up with hot water. When Lang Qi took the little rabbit outside, the fruit was ready to drink, with the right temperature.
Lang Qi, holding the little rabbit, went to the cave he hadn’t visited in a while, and as expected, he saw his anxious father, Lang Fire. Lang Fire was cautiously standing at the entrance, testing the waters with one foot, then another, moving with great care.
But before his second foot could even land, a low growl of anger came from inside the cave. It was Bai Luo, who had just given birth. Lang Fire had no choice but to retreat outside again.
Lang Qi looked down at the little rabbit, intending to explain that they couldn’t go inside.
However, hearing the familiar voice, the little rabbit got excited—it was a familiar sound!
Lang Qi thought for a moment, then decided to move forward with the little rabbit.
They entered the cave, but instead of being kicked out, they weren’t sent away. Lang Shui, though weak, was inside. Beastmen on the Beast God Continent usually had strong cubs in their first few litters, but as they continued to give birth, the cubs grew weaker. This particular litter was already weak, and with two cubs, they were even weaker.
The cubs were weak, and when Lang Shui saw her energetic mate, she became angry. Nearly half a month had passed, but she was still upset.
She would get angry at her mate but not at the cubs. When she saw the cubs come in, Lang Shui didn’t drive them away. Instead, she moved to the other side to create a warm spot for them.
Seeing that her mother wasn’t angry, Lang Qi immediately placed the little rabbit on the warm animal hide, took out a milk fruit, bit it open, and placed it in front of the little rabbit.
The little rabbit, holding a milk fruit bigger than itself, looked up at Lang Qi, wanting to tell him that it wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to eat.
But Lang Qi didn’t care whether the little rabbit was hungry. In his view, once they came from the outside back into the cave, it was time to eat and replenish. The little rabbit was still too small and needed to eat more.
Witnessing the first thing his cubs did was to feed the little rabbit, Lang Shui sighed: “…” Forget it, she wouldn’t argue with the cubs.
Having used some strength to warn Lang Fire earlier, Lang Shui saw that the cubs were behaving well, so she closed her eyes to rest. Since the only beings in the cave besides her cubs were the little rabbit, there was no danger, and she slept soundly.
Lang Qi took over watching the cave entrance, in case someone came in.
Meanwhile, the little rabbit was still struggling with the milk fruit, looking troubled.
As the little rabbit was pondering, it suddenly felt a bump. Turning around, it saw a small wolf cub, roughly the same size as itself, lying on the ground, its eyes fixed on the milk fruit in front of it.
Seeing that the other cub wanted to eat, the little rabbit’s eyes lit up.
