Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – CH39

Chapter 39

Just as the Rabbit Tribe was itching to try the soup, Hei Xiao successfully pushed Hei Yan aside. “Sit down.”

Hei Yan reluctantly moved out of the way but continued to stare warily at the Rabbit Tribe, especially Bai Tu.

Bai Tu: “…” Forget it, I won’t hold a grudge.

Hei Xiao was the first to pick up a bowl. 

Under the watchful eyes of the Eagle Tribe, he took a sip and let out a long, satisfied sigh. 

“Delicious!” Hei Xiao didn’t know how to describe the taste of the mushroom soup, but it was far more flavorful than any soup he’d had in his tribe. 

He hadn’t eaten for two days, and while he had just eaten some dried meat and fruit, nothing compared to the soothing nourishment of a bowl of hot soup.

Seeing Hei Xiao drink, the rest of the Eagle Tribe members eagerly followed his lead. 

They didn’t fail to notice the envious looks on the faces of the Rabbit Tribe members watching them. 

As for Hei Yan, who had been grumbling about not drinking the soup, no one cared what he thought—especially since he had his mate, Hei Xiao, to speak for him, leaving no room for him to argue.

Bai Tu noticed Bai Qi looking so anxious that he was practically pulling his hair out. He reassured him, “The rest is for you all to share. The next pot will be ready soon.”

Since Bai Tu hadn’t been sure when the hunting team would return or how many people would want the soup, he had only prepared a third of the total amount. However, the remaining broth and meat were ready to go, so the next batch wouldn’t take long.

Hearing this, the Rabbit Tribe members gathered around the stone pot. 

Knowing it was the first batch, they were careful not to take too much—each person only ladled out half a bowl to make sure everyone got a taste. They’d wait patiently for the next pot.

The rich and savory mushroom soup lifted the spirits of those who had been discouraged by a lackluster hunt. When the second batch was ready, Bai Qi happily drank two bowls in a row.

Since the Rabbit Tribe had started drinking the soup, Hei Yan hadn’t mentioned the word “poison” again. However, he still refused to drink it himself. Even after Hei Xiao tried to feed him twice, Hei Yan firmly rejected it with a serious face. “I can’t eat it!” He insisted on staying alert. That way, if the Rabbit Tribe tried anything sneaky, he could immediately grab Hei Xiao and leave.

Hei Xiao didn’t need him to say anything; he already knew what was going through Hei Yan’s head. Feeling both amused and exasperated, he sighed, “Just keep chewing on your dried meat then. Don’t starve yourself dumb.”

Worried that their trade partners might go hungry, Bai Tu asked Bai Qi to bring out more dried meat. If nothing else, the tribe had plenty of dried meat to go around. 

Even after the rainy season, there was still a surplus of food, and the harvests were decent. Adding a few more beastmen to the mix wasn’t a problem.

Once everyone had finished eating, many of the beastmen automatically began planning to go to the back mountain to gather mushrooms. Bai Tu quickly stopped them. “I’ll take you tomorrow to gather mushrooms.” 

Mushrooms, unlike plants, were harder to distinguish. 

Many looked similar but were vastly different—some were edible while others were toxic. 

For beginners, it was nearly impossible to tell the difference. Even with the afternoon’s introduction to mushrooms, Bai Tu didn’t dare let the others gather them unsupervised.

In the Rabbit Tribe, there were two main ways of foraging for food. The first was collective action, such as the gathering and hunting teams that went out together during the day. For example, Bai Tu often organized groups to harvest weeds, and any food collected was treated as communal property to be distributed by Bai An.

The second was individual effort. 

Beastmen with free time could go out hunting or gather wild fruits on their own. Anything they brought back this way didn’t have to be handed over to the tribe and could be kept for themselves. 

Many beastmen saved up small private stores of food this way. Although going out alone usually meant they couldn’t catch large prey, finding a wild chicken or some eggs was enough for a nice bonus meal. If they didn’t want to eat it right away, they could save it for the snow or rainy seasons.

The beastmen planning to go to the back mountain now were clearly aiming to gather mushrooms for their own meals. 

While Bai Tu had picked a good amount earlier, there were a lot of mouths to feed in the tribe, and with the Eagle Tribe members joining in, each person had only gotten about half a bowl. 

The hunting team members got slightly more, but even they weren’t fully satisfied. Bai Qi only managed to drink extra because he got Bai An’s share. White Chen, who had recently recovered, gave up his portion entirely to his pregnant mate, Bai Bing.

Whenever Bai Tu created a new dish, it would spark a craze throughout the tribe. 

For the next few days, nearly half the tribe would be obsessed with the new food until Bai Tu developed his next culinary masterpiece. 

Today’s mushroom soup was no exception. For the next three or four days, it would undoubtedly remain the tribe’s favorite dish. However, since the mushrooms in the back mountain were limited, many beastmen worried that if they waited until tomorrow to gather, there wouldn’t be any left. 

Some were already planning to sneak off to pick mushrooms early.

Bai Tu was well aware of their intentions. Letting the beastmen pick mushrooms on their own and immediately cook them into soup was far too dangerous. He warned them, “No one is allowed to pick mushrooms on their own. If anyone sneaks off, they’ll be eating nothing but roasted meat for a month. Don’t worry, there’ll still be soup tomorrow.”

At these three sentences, the restless beastmen instantly settled down. 

None of them dared to challenge Bai Tu’s authority. 

Bai Tu typically didn’t interfere much with tribal matters, but when he did speak, whether it was Bai An, Bai Chen, or anyone else, they would follow his words to the letter. If he announced a punishment, there was absolutely no chance of leniency.

In the past, eating roasted meat for a whole month would have been considered a luxury—something the tribe could only dream of. But the meaning behind Bai Tu’s words was entirely different: for a whole month, they’d only be allowed to eat roasted meat and wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of the new dishes Bai Tu came up with. 

Mushroom soup was delicious, but the punishment was far too severe. It was better to follow his orders. Besides, Bai Tu had already mentioned that some mushrooms were poisonous. 

Remembering the tribespeople who had been poisoned in the past from eating random mushrooms, everyone quickly calmed down.

The Hawk Tribe members, unfamiliar with the context, were left scratching their heads. “Eating roasted meat for a month? How is that a punishment?”

Only Hei Xiao remained calm and quietly sipped his bowl of soup. 

Bai Tu even served him another half bowl. Hei Xiao was already feeling full, but the mushroom soup was too good to pass up. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to drink it once he returned to his tribe, he figured he might as well enjoy as much as he could now.

Although the hunting team hadn’t caught any prey today, the tribe still had some food reserves. 

Mushroom soup was filling for now, but hunger would return soon. Bai An led the majority of the beastmen to the back mountain to divide up the remaining prey.

Hei Xiao finished the last drop of his soup, placed the bowl down, and turned to Bai Tu. “Let me show you the iron ore,” he said. After all, that was the real purpose of their visit.

Bai Tu followed him. The iron ore Hei Xiao had brought was indeed the type he needed—it was hematite, one of the easier types of ore to refine.

The moment Bai Tu saw the hematite, he knew he’d chosen the right trade partner. 

“This is it! This is exactly what we need!” he exclaimed, leading Hei Xiao to see the medicine he had prepared for the Black Hawk Tribe in exchange.

It had to be said that their deal was built entirely on trust. 

Neither side had done much inspection before agreeing to the trade. 

Thinking back to how impulsive they had been at the market, Bai Tu admitted it had been a bit risky. 

But in the end, the risk had paid off. 

Even if the iron ore had less than 50% iron content, the few large baskets of ore would still produce enough tools to be worthwhile. And this was only the first batch. Bai Tu was already looking forward to the results once the iron furnace was completed.

That said, Bai Tu wasn’t in a hurry to start smelting iron. 

He planned to spend the next few months stockpiling iron ore and wait until winter, when heavy snowfall would seal off the mountains, to begin refining. 

There were two benefits to this plan. First, it wouldn’t interfere with hunting season, as food was the top priority at this time of year. 

Second, after the snow season, plants outside would wither, leaving no place for anyone to hide. With the snow-covered terrain making travel nearly impossible, it would be much harder for nearby tribes to infiltrate.

Although they currently only had one hostile tribe to worry about—the Wild Lion Tribe, which wasn’t in great shape—Bai Tu still didn’t dare to let his guard down. After all, hadn’t the Wild Lion Tribe just sent people to secretly infiltrate their territory after the rainy season? 

This time, they came looking for someone, but next time, they might sneak in to scout or track them. They had to stay vigilant.

Bai Tu considered the idea of discussing matters with the Rabbit Tribe and asking the Wolf Tribe to send a small team to help with defense. 

The Snow Rabbit Tribe’s numbers were too small, and they would need outside support. If they could offer the wolves food and lodging, along with some iron tools or extra food as payment, there should be wolves willing to come help. 

The two tribes already had several ongoing collaborations, so Lang Qi was unlikely to refuse such a request.

As Bai Tu mentally mapped out his winter iron-smelting plans, he simultaneously explained the uses of the various medicines to Hei Xiao: “The one wrapped in yellow leaves is a painkiller. You can take it when the pain becomes unbearable after an injury. The one with red leaves is a hemostatic agent—you sprinkle it directly on the wound. The one wrapped in green leaves is for internal injuries—you boil it and drink it after being hurt.”

The Beast God Continent didn’t have written language, and since the medicines Bai Tu prepared often had more than one use, he simplified things by wrapping them in different-colored leaves for easy identification. 

The large basket of medicine might seem impressive at first glance, but most of it was actually semi-finished products that needed to be brewed before use. 

Painkillers and hemostatic agents were in much smaller supply. Even so, this batch of medicine was enough to last an entire tribe for several months. 

Beastmen had naturally strong constitutions and rarely treated minor injuries, only seeking medicine for larger wounds.

Hei Xiao couldn’t hide his astonishment as he listened to Bai Tu categorize and explain each medicine. “Were all these medicines taught to you by that wandering healer you mentioned?” 

Bai Tu had previously said he had learned from a healer who traveled from place to place and had a particularly unique way of making medicine.

“Mm,” Bai Tu nodded. The real reason was far too complicated to explain. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Hei Xiao, but the truth was so unbelievable that no one would likely believe him. If he hadn’t experienced it himself, even he wouldn’t believe it—let alone anyone else.

“Besides iron ore, is there anything else you need?” Hei Xiao asked. 

In his opinion, Bai Tu’s medicines were far more useful than the black medicine typically used by healers. Black medicine was only effective for treating external wounds, whereas Bai Tu’s medicines were highly diverse, with each one tailored to specific situations.

As for whether the medicines were as miraculous as Bai Tu claimed, Hei Xiao had already formed his own judgment. 

When they first landed, he had seen a beastman with a scar on his leg. Although the upper part of the scar was covered by animal hide, leaving only the knee and the lower portion visible, his experience allowed him to gauge how severe the injury must have been. 

That scar looked like it had only recently healed, yet the beastman was already able to join the hunting team. A wound that severe healing so quickly was proof enough of Bai Tu’s abilities.

On the way back, Hei Xiao had asked Bai An about the scar and learned that Bai Tu had treated the injury. 

Bai Tu had even stopped the bleeding of a beastman from another tribe at the market. However, to avoid drawing attention from other healers, Bai Tu hadn’t swapped out the initial medicine with a different one.

Hei Xiao was well aware of the rivalries between healers. 

On the Southern Continent, the relationships between healers were particularly complicated. Many didn’t want other healers operating within their territories. 

Bai Tu’s abilities were impressive, and his youth likely made him a target for jealousy. 

There was a high chance that he had been suppressed by other healers in the past. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he even mention his teacher? It had to be a form of self-preservation.

Thinking of this, Hei Xiao’s gaze moved from the medicines to Bai Tu’s face. 

A surge of protectiveness welled up in him. He said earnestly, “Bai Tu, come back to the Black Hawk Tribe with me. The Black Hawk Tribe might not be one of the top-tier large tribes, but it’s more than capable of protecting a healer. That way, you wouldn’t have to work so hard.”

Just as he finished speaking, Bai Qi stepped into the cave and froze. “???” Why is this happening again?!