Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – CH40

Chapter 40

Just as Bai Tu was about to ask if Hei Xiao could help him trade for an iron knife, he heard Hei Xiao’s sudden invitation. 

Before he could refuse, he caught sight of Bai Qi standing at the entrance, his face full of shock. Bai Tu couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated.

“I’m doing fine in the Snow Rabbit Tribe.” Bai Tu repeated his usual response. 

He truly had no plans to leave the Snow Rabbit Tribe. Other than the nearby Wild Lion Tribe, whose intentions were less than friendly, there was nothing here that he was dissatisfied with.

Hearing Bai Tu’s reply, Bai Qi finally let out half a sigh of relief—but only half. He couldn’t relax completely. What was with these people? Why was it that every single one of them wanted to take someone from their tribe away? 

Thankfully, Bai Tu wasn’t the kind of beastman who would casually leave just because he got an invitation.

Knowing that this was Bai Tu’s polite way of refusing, Hei Xiao felt a bit regretful. “Then be careful.” One look at the Snow Rabbit Tribe, and it was clear that they couldn’t defend themselves. If a healer came looking for trouble with Bai Tu, he wasn’t sure this group of beastmen would be able to protect him.

Bai Tu nodded earnestly. He could tell Hei Xiao was genuinely concerned for him. The incident back at the market had proven as much, when Hei Xiao had worried that he had been kidnapped by other beastmen.

The Beast God Continent wasn’t peaceful everywhere. 

Some beastmen from weaker tribes were sent to wealthier tribes in exchange for food. 

Once taken to a new tribe, these beastmen were given the lowest status, even worse than beastmen who had willingly joined other tribes. 

Beatings and abuse were common. Some beastmen, desperate for food, resorted to kidnapping beastmen from small tribes and selling them to larger tribes. When Bai Tu first learned of this, he had been shocked—it was essentially the beastmen world’s version of human trafficking.

Bai Qi had come into the cave to deliver some fruit to Bai Tu. 

The hunting team hadn’t had much luck today, but the gathering team had gathered a lot of fruit. Everyone knew Bai Tu liked eating fruit, so of course, they had to send him some fresh ones. Although Bai Tu had already been given some during dinner, Bai Qi had taken the time to wash them after eating, so he was delivering them a bit late.

Bai Tu picked out a few sweet ones and offered them to Hei Xiao. “These are pretty sweet.” 

The environment of the Beast God Continent was broadly similar, but there were some regional differences. 

Crops were scattered, and certain fruits could only be found in specific areas. For example, the large cherries here seemed to be a specialty of the Snow Rabbit Tribe. Bai Tu hadn’t seen any of them at the market.

Seeing Bai Tu enthusiastically share the fruit with him, Hei Jian found a new topic of conversation. “You like fruit? Next time, I’ll bring you some of the black fruits from our tribe. There’s also a large yellow fruit that’s really delicious, but unfortunately, it spoils quickly. By the time we get it here, it would already be rotten.” Hei Jian frowned slightly. 

The distance between their two tribes was too far. Even if an eagle beastman flew nonstop, it would take several days. The large yellow fruit started to emit a foul odor only a few days after being picked. It was only fragrant and tasty when freshly harvested.

This was a common issue. On the Beast God Continent, without refrigerators or freezing technology, food that could last two or three days was already considered good. Anything longer than that was difficult to preserve, unless it was cooked first. 

Fruits, which had particularly short shelf lives, were usually only brought to the market by nearby tribes like the Horse Tribe, who could travel quickly over short distances. Most tribes, like the Snow Rabbit Tribe, only brought meat to trade.

Still, it wasn’t impossible to try those fruits one day. 

Bai Tu reassured Hei Jian, “I’ll come visit your tribe in the future.” 

Staying in one place for too long would inevitably grow tiresome. 

Bai Tu planned to explore other places after the Snow Rabbit Tribe’s affairs were fully in order. 

While traveling, he also wanted to learn more about the healers of this world—those who genuinely sought to help others, not the ones who exploited their abilities to deceive and manipulate.

Hearing this, Hei Xiao began to form new plans in his mind. 

When the time came, he could continue persuading Bai Tu to stay in their tribe. 

Compared to the Snow Rabbit Tribe, the Black Hawk Tribe was larger and stronger, more than capable of protecting Bai Tu. Not to mention, the Black Eagle Tribe had more prey. 

If the Rabbit Tribe couldn’t catch anything with so many beastmen, what would they do in winter? 

Most beastmen were strong and could endure hunger, but Bai Tu, already so thin, couldn’t afford to go hungry.

Bai Tu had no idea that Hei Xiao was already strategizing future persuasion tactics. 

After talking about fruit, Bai Tu shifted the topic back to the earlier conversation. “Hei Xiao, can you help me trade for an iron knife?” The stone knives he used just weren’t sharp enough. 

Bai Tu had almost completely stopped doing tasks that involved cutting food because it was so exhausting. Every time he finished chopping, his arms would be sore for an entire day. Spending half an hour on a task and then needing half a day to recover—his efficiency couldn’t possibly get any worse.

Most of the time, Bai Tu could teach others to handle these tasks, but occasionally, when he wanted to experiment with new dishes, it was too much trouble to rely solely on descriptions to instruct other beastmen. 

In those moments, he had no choice but to do it himself. And every time he did, he couldn’t help but miss the sharp and versatile knives of the modern world.

The tribe wouldn’t have the manpower to forge iron tools until the snow season. For now, he could only trouble Hei Xiao to help him trade for two iron knives.

Hearing this, Hei Xiao reached down to the horn sheath at his waist, pulled out a short iron knife, and handed it to him. “I happen to have one right here.”

Iron knives were incredibly expensive, and even more so because in recent years, the Iron Elephant Tribe had stopped trading iron knives with outsiders. Even the Black Hawk Tribe only had a few of them, and they were rarely taken out. 

Hei Xiao had no intention of telling Bai Tu this. The truth was, when he first saw Bai Tu at the market, he’d planned to give him a knife, but thanks to Hei Yan’s antics, he’d forgotten a lot of things that day. 

This time, even if Bai Tu hadn’t asked, he would’ve given it to him—it had just slipped his mind momentarily.

Among beastmen, gifting weapons was an act of deep trust and intimacy. For example, the bone knife in Bai Tu’s possession had been a gift from Bai An on the day Bai Tu saved Bai Chen. 

Bai Tu hadn’t expected Hei Jian to give him a weapon meant for self-defense, and he froze for a moment.

Hei Xiao is being way too kind to me. Even though Bai Tu had always held goodwill toward Hei Xiao, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy about such a casual gifting of a weapon. 

“You should keep it for your own protection,” Bai Tu said seriously. 

He wanted an iron knife for convenience, but Hei Xiao obviously needed it for self-defense. Clearly, Hei Xiao needed it more than he did.

“I have Hei Yan to protect me,” Hei Xiao replied without hesitation, shoving the horn sheath containing the short knife into Bai Tu’s arms. “You’re the one who needs to protect yourself.” 

Hei Xiao was well aware of how dangerous it was for a young, talented healer to live in a territory controlled by small-minded and ill-tempered healers. The Eastern Continent was practically ruled by Wu Jiu, and Bai Tu’s situation was far more perilous than his own.

To prevent Bai Tu from lingering on the subject of the knife, Hei Xiao changed the topic. “Give me more of your medicines. We’ll send over any excess iron ores as soon as possible.”

This was clearly a more pressing matter, and Bai Tu agreed readily. “Alright.” 

They had already discussed trading medicines for iron ore before the rainy season, and Bai Tu had been steadily collecting a variety of herbs ever since. 

The gathering team brought back plenty of herbs every day, and they’d even managed to collect some from areas near the Blood Wolf Tribe. Giving Hei Xiao extra wasn’t an issue at all.

However, Bai Tu couldn’t help but feel curious. “Does your tribe get injured often while hunting?” 

By logic, eagle beastmen should find hunting easier than the rabbit tribe. In fact, rabbits were even part of the eagles’ diet. But judging by Hei Xiao’s tone, it seemed like injuries were still quite common.

“The Eagle Tribe often encounters fully beastified Fallen Beasts during hunts. For the safety of the tribe, they have to drive them away,” Hei Xiao explained. 

In truth, they didn’t just drive them away—they killed them. But Hei Xiao didn’t want to scare Bai Tu, so he didn’t tell the full story.

“Fully beastified? Fallen Beasts?” Bai Tu was startled. This was the first time he’d heard these terms. Bai Qi had never mentioned them before.

Hei Xiao explained, “Some adult beastmen, as they age, lose control of their abilities. They spend more and more time in their beast forms until they eventually become fully beastified, turning into Fallen Beasts. Fallen Beasts lose their rationality and attack other beastmen. For the safety of the tribe, they have to be locked away.”

However, not every tribe was capable of doing this. 

Some tribes chose to kill Fallen Beasts directly. Others turned a blind eye, letting the Fallen Beasts roam free to attack other tribes. There were even tribes that intentionally sent Fallen Beasts into the territories of neighboring tribes.

Recently, the Hawk Tribe had frequently encountered fully beastified Fallen Beasts within their territory. 

Some would leave after being driven away, but others relentlessly attacked the Hawk Tribe, fighting until death. 

For the sake of the tribe, they had no choice but to kill these Fallen Beasts. However, Fallen Beasts were incredibly powerful attackers, seemingly impervious to pain. They bit, clawed, and pounced with relentless ferocity, resulting in numerous injuries among the Hawk Tribe.

“Are there Fallen Beasts on the Eastern Continent too?” Bai Tu asked.

Hei Xiao hesitated for a moment. He hadn’t wanted to scare Bai Tu, but he decided to tell the truth. “Yes, but when a Fallen Beast appears in some tribes, they won’t tell anyone. They’ll secretly kill the individual and say it’s the Beast God’s punishment.” 

Many tribes believed that Fallen Beasts were a form of divine retribution from the Beast God. 

If they didn’t kill the afflicted individual, they feared that punishment would fall upon the entire tribe. To avoid being targeted by other tribes, they deliberately concealed the existence of Fallen Beasts.

Bai Tu’s expression turned thoughtful. 

From his perspective, beastification was clearly caused by some underlying disease. However, due to the small number of cases and deliberate secrecy, no one had been able to study the root cause of beastification.

Since he’d already brought it up, Hei Xiao decided to offer a warning. “In the past, Fallen Beasts were rare—maybe one would appear every few years. This year, we’ve already found three within our territory. Your tribe should be cautious.” 

Although the two tribes were far apart, something about this year’s situation felt unusual. Hei Xiao wished he could bring Bai Tu back to his tribe to protect him, but since Bai Tu refused to leave, all he could do was warn him to be careful.

Bai Tu nodded seriously. 

The symptoms—loss of rationality, inability to distinguish friend from foe, and almost no sensation of pain—already made Fallen Beasts sound terrifying. He understood the need to remain vigilant. His tribe had low combat strength, so they would need to focus on improving their defenses.

That evening, after arranging accommodations for the Black Hawk Tribe in one of the unused caves, Bai Tu went to find Bai An.

“Hei Xiao mentioned that they’ve found three Fallen Beasts in their territory. Chief, could we face the same issue here?” Bai Tu asked. 

He was particularly concerned about one scenario—if the Fallen Beasts came from other tribes, they could prepare to defend themselves. But what if a Fallen Beast emerged from within their own tribe?

“Fallen Beasts?” Bai An’s expression immediately darkened upon hearing this. “How could so many appear?” 

While some of the younger beastmen didn’t understand the severity of the situation, Bai An was well aware. Fallen Beasts were always powerful animals with massive, ferocious beast forms. If defenses weren’t properly in place, an entire tribe could be wiped out by one.

After listening to Bai An’s explanation, Bai Tu was even more shocked. “It’s that serious?” 

This situation was far worse than Hei Xiao had let on. No wonder Hei Xiao wanted to persuade him to move to the Black Hawk Tribe. Encountering three Fallen Beasts and only suffering injuries was a testament to the Hawk Tribe’s impressive strength.

Bai An sighed. “Seven years ago, a Fallen Beast appeared in a brown bear tribe on the Eastern Continent. It killed seven members of the tribe, five of whom were its own cubs. In the end, it took over twenty beastmen working together to subdue it.”

The brown bear tribe was known for its difficult temperament, and since this was their internal matter, word about it hadn’t spread widely. 

Older beastmen knew of the incident, but they avoided discussing it openly for fear of provoking conflicts with the brown bear tribe. If the younger beastmen spoke carelessly, it could lead to inter-tribal disputes. Thus, few ever brought up the topic.

Even at the market, no one discussed these incidents. After all, you couldn’t tell what someone’s beast form was just by looking at them in their humanoid form. 

Talking about the brown bear tribe in the wrong place could cause serious trouble if someone nearby happened to belong to that tribe. 

Bai Tu now understood why Bai Qi hadn’t told him about this—it was one of those unspoken but widely understood taboos among beastmen.

Realizing how serious the problem was, Bai Tu felt even more strongly about improving the tribe’s defenses. 

If even members of the brown bear tribe—known for their strength—could be killed by a Fallen Beast, then a weaker tribe like the Snow Rabbit Tribe, whose beast forms had no advantage in combat, would be in grave danger no matter where the Fallen Beast came from. The question now was how to prepare their defenses.

“Should we increase patrols outside the tribe?” Bai Tu suggested, but Bai An sighed at the mention of this.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Tu asked with concern. He had already noticed earlier, when the hunting team returned, that Bai An’s expression seemed off. However, at the time, Hei Xiao’s arrival and the presence of the Black Hawk Tribe members made it inconvenient to ask.

“There’s too little prey this year,” Bai An said, clearly troubled. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to catch enough food to last through the winter.”

Based on past experience, this period after the rainy season should have been when prey was most abundant. 

The rains had nourished the land for an entire month, causing an overgrowth of vegetation, which usually attracted plenty of animals. 

But since the end of the last snow season, Bai An had noticed a decline in the number of prey near the tribe. 

Bai Tu’s improvements to their hunting methods had helped them catch a few animals, and the production of jerky and the salt trade with the wolf tribe had actually left them with more salt than before. However, the food situation remained dire.

After the rainy season, the tribe no longer had to worry about salt, which was something to be happy about. However, Bai An quickly realized that something was wrong—there were far too few prey animals. 

The numbers were similar to what they were before the rainy season, and significantly lower than after last year’s rainy season. Today, in particular, the hunting team had visited several locations and hadn’t spotted a single animal.

This was highly unusual—so unusual that it frightened Bai An. 

The situation this year was worse than in previous years. In the past, even if they came back empty-handed, it was usually because they had failed to catch the prey they saw. At least there were animals around. But this year, the prey itself was growing scarcer and scarcer.

“Could it be that other tribes have already hunted everything?” Bai Tu asked, his concern growing. 

A decline in prey was no small matter—it was a threat to the survival of the tribe. 

While Bai Tu was working on ways to increase the tribe’s food reserves, meat was still an essential part of the diet. 

While wild vegetables, corn, and mushrooms were edible, a purely vegetarian diet wouldn’t suffice for beastmen. Suddenly switching from a balanced diet to a plant-only one simply wasn’t feasible.

But something about the situation felt off. Bai Tu suggested, “Here’s what we’ll do: if tomorrow you go out and the number of prey is still unusually low, go to the Blood Wolf Tribe and find Lang Qi. Ask him about the situation on their end.” 

This way, they could determine whether the problem was confined to the Snow Rabbit Tribe’s territory or if it was affecting the entire region.

Bai An nodded. He had been thinking the same thing.

“Oh, and about the Fallen Beasts,” Bai Tu added, “remind them to be cautious as well.” 

If beastified individuals appeared, the wolf tribe was likely in even more danger than the rabbit tribe. However, since the true cause of beastification was still unknown, it was hard to take preventive measures.

When Bai Tu returned to the cave, he began pondering how to improve the tribe’s defenses. 

Patrols were a decent method, but they had clear drawbacks. Sending out patrols every day meant those beastmen couldn’t join the hunting team the following day. 

Since patrols couldn’t be made up of weaker beastmen, this inevitably reduced the number of hunters. Even with the use of traps, too few hunters would severely affect their hunting efficiency.

Still, doing nothing to bolster their defenses wasn’t an option.

Even putting aside the Fallen Beasts, which were reportedly stronger than ordinary beastmen, they also had to guard against the Wild Lion Tribe. 

Bai Tu always felt uneasy whenever he thought of that tribe. 

Even though they hadn’t done anything to the Snow Rabbit Tribe yet, they remained a dangerous threat. However, eliminating them outright wasn’t feasible either. 

Tribes that actively started wars rarely ended well, and the Snow Rabbit Tribe was weaker than the surrounding tribes.

The best solution would be a physical barrier—something that could provide lasting defense. It wouldn’t involve initiating attacks, but it would keep others from getting in. As Bai Tu thought about it, his mind wandered to the ancient city walls of human civilizations. However, building a wall was an almost impossible task for the tribe in their current state. The sheer amount of stone required, let alone the time and labor to construct it, was beyond their capacity.

They needed a different approach, ideally something suited to the rabbit tribe’s abilities. Then it hit him—traps… digging… moats! A trench defense system! It was practically tailor-made for the Snow Rabbit Tribe.

The area below the mountain where the tribe lived was an open space that served as their communal dining area. Beyond that was a forested area similar to other regions, dense with vegetation.

The night watch beastmen already focused on this area, as it was the most important spot to monitor. 

With such a large territory, it was impossible to patrol everything in a single day. If they tried, the entire tribe would have to drop everything else, and even then, they might not finish patrolling the entire area in one day.

Bai Tu suddenly sat up and grabbed a half-burned tree branch to draw on the ground. Without pen and paper, charcoal from the firepit was one of the most convenient tools for recording ideas, and there was plenty of it lying around.

He began by sketching a rough outline of the mountain where the tribe lived, circling the area to represent the proposed trench. 

He calculated the feasibility of the idea. The trench would need to be deep and wide enough—at least deeper than the traps they used for catching prey.

Once the trench was dug, they could leave a single entry point—a path that the beastmen could use to enter and exit the tribe. At night, they would only need to guard this one spot, focusing all their efforts on watching the road. 

This would eliminate the need to send out patrols. While the initial workload would be significant, in the long run, it would be far more efficient and beneficial.

If they wanted to make it even safer, they could forego leaving a permanent path altogether. Instead, they could use a large wooden bridge that could be slid into place when needed. 

When someone needed to enter or exit, they could slide the bridge across the trench. Once the person left, they could slide it back, making it impossible for outsiders to enter without permission.

The most crucial point was that the Eastern Continent had almost no feathered beastmen. 

Nearly all beastmen capable of flight were concentrated on the Southern Continent. A trench defense would be effective against 99% of the beastmen on the Eastern Continent. 

And as for the South Continent’s feathered tribes, they were unlikely to cross such a vast distance just to cause trouble for them.

The more Bai Tu thought about it, the more viable the idea seemed. He was too excited to sleep and decided to find Bai An to discuss it immediately.

Bai An never expected that Bai Tu would return so soon after leaving, this time with a fully thought-out plan for defense. After listening to Bai Tu’s idea, Bai An thought it over carefully.

Digging a trench around their settlement was no small task. Even with the entire tribe working on it, it would still take one to two months to complete. And since they still needed to hunt and forage, only half of the beastmen could work on the trench, primarily at night.

But the proposal was undeniably tempting. Once the trench was completed, it would provide long-term protection. 

They wouldn’t need to send out patrols every night, and even the number of night guards could be reduced. 

Ever since Tu Cheng had left, only six beastmen remained to stand guard at night. No one ever knew if a beastman might sneak out or sneak in from some unknown corner, so this plan could solve a lot of problems.

After thinking it through, Bai An nodded decisively. “We’ll dig!” 

If they could build a defense system that worked for years with a single effort, there was no reason not to do it. Bai An was the type to take swift action, so early the next morning, he gathered all the tribe’s beastmen to discuss the plan for digging the defensive trench.

Bai Tu didn’t join the meeting because he was busy cooking. Hei Xiao had come all this way, and it might be at least half a month—or even longer—before he visited again. Naturally, Bai Tu wanted to prepare something delicious for him to try.

Hei Xiao sat on a stool, curiously examining the rocking chair nearby. “What’s this?”

“A rocking chair. Try sitting on it,” Bai Tu replied.

“Did your tribe make all these tools?” Hei Jian was starting to think that while the Rabbit Tribe’s combat abilities were indeed on the weaker side, their quality of life was quite good. He was beginning to understand why Bai Tu wanted to stay here.

“I came up with the ideas, and the tribe members helped me make them,” Bai Tu explained. 

Most beastmen didn’t pay attention to these kinds of things, but Bai Tu was accustomed to wooden furniture. During the latter half of the rainy season, when everyone had more free time, they had managed to make a lot of things: tables, chairs, benches, and cabinets. 

The only thing left was a proper bed, which he planned to work on during the snowy season. For summer, though, sleeping directly on the ground was much cooler and more comfortable.

In truth, Bai Tu hadn’t made a bed yet because he had another idea in mind—he missed the heated brick beds (kang) from his past life. 

In winter, lying on a heated kang was far more comfortable than anywhere else. 

The cave was spacious, and even if they lit fires, it wouldn’t heat up quickly enough. Plus, lighting fires in an enclosed space was dangerous without proper ventilation. 

Winter wouldn’t be comfortable in such conditions. But with a heated kang bed, this wouldn’t be an issue. The smoke outlet could be placed outside to avoid the risk of poisoning, and if the firewood feeder was also outside, they could keep the fire burning as long as they wanted.

These were all just preliminary ideas, and he’d need time to implement them. But things were already much better than before. 

Bai Tu pointed to a wooden cabinet not far away and said, “That’s where I store my medicines. You can make one for your tribe too when you go back. It’ll help keep things organized, instead of having animal hides and food scattered everywhere.”

Beastmen generally piled their supplies haphazardly in various corners of their caves without much thought to organization. Bai Tu, however, couldn’t stand the mess and always felt compelled to tidy things up. His cave wasn’t the largest in the tribe, but it was definitely the most orderly.

Hei Xiao looked around, growing increasingly fond of the cozy and well-organized space. After a while, he suddenly said, “Why don’t I just stay in your tribe?”

Bai Tu froze for a moment, then asked very seriously, “Are you sure about that? Are you sure Hei Yan won’t charge over here and kill me?”

Hei Xiao could clearly read the unspoken second half of Bai Tu’s question in his gaze. After thinking it over seriously, he sighed regretfully. “Sigh… forget it. Tu, just promise me one thing: never randomly pick a mate in the future.”