Building a Civilization and Raising Cubs in the Beast World – CH46

Chapter 46

In the Beast God Continent, tribal races were generally referred to by collective names. For instance, the Snow Rabbit Tribe was named after snow rabbits, but in reality, the tribe included members with long fur, short fur, pure white, and silvery-white coats. 

Similarly, the Blood Wolf Tribe had members in black, gray, white, and even yellow. Even among the wolf brothers Lang Qi and Lang Ze, who were both black wolves, there were distinct differences. 

The Black Hawk Tribe also had both black-feathered and gray-feathered hawks. Most tribes in the Beast God Continent shared this kind of diversity.

So, when Bai Tu suddenly encountered a group of beasts that were strikingly uniform in appearance, it felt jarring for a moment. But this brief sense of disorientation didn’t diminish the shock he felt—this was a group of Black-Footed Cats.

The name “Black-Footed Cat” came from the distinctive black pads on their paws. Their fur colors weren’t entirely uniform; the group before Bai Tu had coats in shades of tea brown, pale yellow, tawny, and white, all adorned with black spots. 

Bai Tu was only able to confirm that they were all of the same species by observing their similar body sizes.

True to their reputation as the smallest of cats, the black-footed cats maintained their diminutive size even in the Beast God Continent, where most beast forms were significantly larger. The largest of these cats barely weighed 1 kg, making them exceptionally petite.

But their small size didn’t mean they were gentle. Seeing so many people outside, the dozen or so black-footed cats bristled defensively, their fur puffing up as they prepared for any threat.

Bai Tu, well aware of the black-footed cats’ combat prowess, waved his hand to signal everyone to step back, careful not to agitate them further. He turned to Bai An, feeling it would be more appropriate for the tribe leader to handle negotiations in this situation.

However, when Bai An saw the group of feline beasts, he hesitated. “This…”

Beside him, Mao Kang also grew visibly tense.

Confused, Bai Tu looked at Bai An, who seemed to be weighing something in his mind. 

Unsure of what was going on, Bai Tu turned to Lang Qi with a questioning look, silently seeking guidance. As someone not deeply familiar with the intricacies of the Beast God Continent, he decided to remain quiet for the time being.

Lang Qi glanced at the feline group and leaned in to whisper to Bai Tu, “There’s a belief that beastmen whose forms cannot grow larger are considered a race abandoned by the Beast God.”

Bai Tu was stunned—not just by the absurdity of the belief, but also because of what it implied. If this belief was widespread, then he himself might also be in danger.

Noticing Bai Tu’s mood shift from cheerful to alarmed, Lang Qi quickly added, “Don’t believe it. It’s nothing more than an excuse for invasion.”

Some beastmen were never satisfied with the territory their tribe occupied and sought to invade others. But launching an unprovoked attack would alarm neighboring tribes. 

Having a convenient excuse, like claiming the other tribe was “abandoned by the Beast God,” could solve half the problem. Some tribes even garnered praise for such actions. 

Lang Qi didn’t believe in these justifications, but he understood why Bai An was hesitant. Whether or not they acknowledged this belief, if the Rabbit Tribe accepted the Cat Tribe, the surrounding tribes would view the two as a single entity. It would provide them with a pretext to attack.

Lowering his voice, Lang Qi continued, “We can take them in.” The Wolves’ ability to provide support was fast and reliable. With Lang Ze guarding the Rabbit Tribe, any nearby tribes that tried to stir up trouble wouldn’t stand a chance. The Wolves were Bai Tu’s greatest backing.

Bai Tu lifted his head, catching the reassuring look in Lang Qi’s eyes. Honestly, having such a dependable ally truly made him feel at ease.

“Chief, should we talk with the Cat Tribe first?” Bai Tu gently reminded Bai An. 

Letting things drag on like this wouldn’t solve anything. The dozen black-footed cats ahead were growing even more nervous than before; any further delay might lead to conflict.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Bai An hesitated briefly before asking, “Tu, are you sure you want to take them in?”

Lang Qi answered for Bai Tu. “Yes, bring them back.”

With Lang Qi’s firm support, Bai An no longer wavered. 

After a brief moment of contemplation, he stepped forward and began negotiating with the Cat Tribe. “Who is the leader of your tribe?” he asked. 

As soon as he finished speaking, he sighed. How could they negotiate? The group before them was entirely in beast form, except for Mao Kang, who was a captive of the Wolves.

“I am.” A pleasant voice sounded from behind a tree. Moments later, a young girl, about twenty years old, stepped into view. “My name is Mao Lin, and I am the leader of the Black Cat Tribe.”

“Mao Kang said your tribe is willing to join the Snow Rabbit Tribe. We’re here to bring you back,” Bai An said. 

Once he had decided to accept the Cat Tribe, his attitude became noticeably more amiable—after all, they would all be part of the same tribe from now on.

Mao Lin stared warily at Lang Qi, who was standing beside Bai Tu, and the other wolves behind him. 

Her voice was firm and resolute: “We will not live with the Wolf Tribe!” It was clear they hadn’t done enough digging before coming here. 

The relationship between the Wolves and the Rabbits had grown to such a close degree—something Mao Lin had not anticipated. Quietly, she reached out to signal her injured tribespeople to retreat for now.

“We are the Rabbit Tribe. The Wolves are only temporary guests,” Bai An explained, adding, “They will not harm you.”

Even so, Mao Lin remained on guard. Her gaze swept over the group, lingering momentarily on each individual before finally settling on Bai Tu. “What is your role?” she asked.

“He’s another leader of our tribe,” Bai An answered. 

Bai Tu refused to acknowledge the title of healer, and since the Black Cat Tribe might soon be joining their ranks, referring to Bai Tu as a leader was a fitting explanation.

Some tribes had secondary leaders, so Mao Lin didn’t doubt the statement. She turned her attention back to Bai Tu and, after a moment, said to Bai An, “We’re willing to join the Snow Rabbit Tribe, but he has to be the one in charge.”

Bai Tu was utterly stunned. 

After all that silent scrutiny, this was what she came up with? He couldn’t help but feel incredulous. 

He wanted to tell her: Young lady, you do realize this could be considered stirring up trouble, right? If they had a leader with a smaller tolerance for dissent, this might have caused immediate chaos in the Rabbit Tribe.

Fortunately, Bai An was not like Shi Hong, the kind of leader who couldn’t tolerate others. 

Hearing Mao Lin’s request, he actually felt relieved. “Very well. From now on, you’ll follow Bai Tu’s arrangements.” 

Since the Cat Tribe would need to hunt, and Bai Tu spent more time in the tribe, entrusting the Cats to him was the best option.

Lang Qi’s gaze lingered on Mao Lin for a moment after hearing her words. Then, he called Lang Ze aside. When Lang Qi rejoined the group, everyone had already prepared to head back to the tribe, including the injured members of the Cat Tribe.

The Cats reverted to their beast forms for easier movement, and once negotiations with Bai An were settled, the other Cats stopped hiding. They retreated to a concealed area, where they transformed back into their humanoid forms.

Due to their small size, coupled with days of hunger and fear, the Cats looked collectively frail. 

One of them handed a group of five cubs over to Mao Lin. Bai Tu glanced at them. Black-footed cat cubs were about the same size as rabbit cubs but far more nimble. Their inherited wariness made them quick to hide the moment they saw so many beastmen around, moving with incredible agility.

They can’t be raised together for now, Bai Tu thought. 

Rabbit cubs, like their adult counterparts, were harmless and lacked any aggression. 

If they were suddenly placed with these black-footed cat cubs, they’d likely suffer for it. It would be better to wait until the two groups were more familiar before attempting to have them interact. Still, having the cat cubs around could be a perfect opportunity to start teaching hunting skills early.

In the span of a few breaths, Bai Tu had already drafted a training curriculum for the cubs in his mind. Meanwhile, Bai An had taken the initiative to introduce the Rabbit Tribe to the Cats.

Communication between tribes was sparse, and most of the information they had about each other came from word of mouth. 

Neither tribe had a complete understanding of the other. Bai An mainly focused on explaining one critical point: the Rabbit Tribe had no intention of harming the Cats. Additionally, their tribe was genuinely short on beastmen.

Mao Lin intended to leave the rest of the discussion to Bai Tu, but before she could even bring it up, Lang Ze cut her off. “You’ve joined the Snow Rabbit Tribe, not merged your tribe with theirs. How dare you pile everything on Bai Tu?! It’s already outrageous enough to have him this busy. Why does he have to be the one to tell you everything?!” Lang Ze snapped, his tone laced with irritation. 

He and the Wolves were careful not to overburden Bai Tu—he was soft, delicate, and needed to be protected. The thought of Bai Tu being made to do more than walk during their journey was already too much.

In fact, Lang Ze wanted to shift into his beast form and carry Bai Tu on his back all the way home. Unfortunately, nobody would agree to such a suggestion—especially his older brother, Lang Qi, who nearly resorted to violence at the mere mention of the idea.

Lang Ze pursed his lips in annoyance. 

Wasn’t shifting into his beast form to go hunting a normal thing? It wasn’t like they were the only ones who did it. Why was everyone so dismissive of his beast form? His and Lang Qi’s beast forms were practically the same—just different in size.

Bai Tu gave Lang Ze, who had spoken up for him, a light pat. 

Though Lang Ze’s tone wasn’t great, Bai Tu appreciated his loyalty and decided he’d make something special for him tonight. After all, the effort he’d put into feeding Lang Ze all this time wasn’t for nothing—it was clear from his attitude how much it had paid off.

Still, Bai Tu didn’t want to create too much tension with the Cat Tribe, so he interrupted before Lang Ze could say more, explaining, “I’m not as familiar with these things as the Chief is. It’s better if he explains it to you.”

After all, he had joined the tribe midway and had no memory of events prior to waking up from his coma. 

He wasn’t entirely sure about the protocols for integrating other tribes, either. Bai An, on the other hand, was much more suited to handle this. Bai Tu’s responsibility was simply to arrange housing and manage follow-up tasks.

Hearing his and Bai An’s words, Mao Lin dropped the idea of having Bai Tu handle the explanations. However, her impression of the Wolf Tribe soured even further. She glared at Lang Ze with a stony expression. As expected, wolves are the most detestable race.

When her eyes met Bai Tu’s calming gaze, Mao Lin swallowed her anger, resisting the urge to lash out and start a fight.

Lang Qi, noticing Mao Lin’s reaction, narrowed his eyes slightly and scrutinized her from head to toe with an assessing look.

Mao Lin abruptly averted her gaze. 

No matter how she looked at it, the gap in strength between the Cat Tribe and the Wolf Tribe was glaringly obvious, both in numbers and individual combat ability. 

The Cats might be able to take down a small wolf quickly, but they stood no chance against larger wolves. 

If Lang Ze’s sharp tone escalated into a physical confrontation, it would at worst end in a fight. However, the way Lang Qi was sizing her up gave Mao Lin the fleeting impression that he was genuinely considering making a move.

She had no desire to find out what the full strength of an adult wolf, especially a wolf king, was like. Mao Lin suppressed her rising tension, fully aware of the overwhelming disparity between their tribes.

After comforting Mao Lin, Bai Tu found himself once again contemplating the issue of size. It seemed he would need to be more cautious in the future. Fortunately, apart from that one time he had secretly shifted into his beast form, he hadn’t done it again. Though he had occasionally been tempted to join the cubs while they played, their joy infectious, he had always refrained out of concern for being discovered.

With a sigh of relief, Bai Tu decided that when they returned, he would replace the miniature wobbling doll in the cubs’ area. 

When he’d carved it, he’d thought it was amusing and had made it even smaller than the cubs—about the size of his own beast form. 

While most wouldn’t pay attention to the size of a wobbling doll, leaving it there felt like leaving a dangerous time bomb just waiting to go off.

Lang Qi noticed that Bai Tu had been unusually quiet today. 

Ever since they had encountered the Cat Tribe, Bai Tu’s mood had been subdued. Even now, back in the Rabbit Tribe, he still seemed down. Puzzled, Lang Qi glanced at Lang Ze.

Lang Ze, who had been planning to check out the Rabbit Tribe’s territory, was so startled by his brother’s sharp look that he nearly jumped. “Brother? What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing.” Lang Qi shook his head, then remembered that the Rabbit Tribe hadn’t rested in two days. “You should go rest,” he said.

Like the Rabbits, the Wolves hadn’t rested much either. 

Between hunting and eating, they had stayed busy, and now, after making this trip, there had been no time to relax. 

For a beastman with abundant energy, going without sleep for two days wasn’t a big deal, but weaker beastmen would start to feel the strain.

“I was just thinking I’d wait for dinner—” Lang Ze began but trailed off mid-sentence when he noticed his brother’s gaze shift again. 

His instincts told him it was better to stop talking. He quickly nodded in agreement, “Alright, I’ll go rest now.” Forget about dinner—he could check out the room the Rabbit Tribe had prepared for them instead.

For Lang Ze, this was the first time in his life that he would be staying in another tribe’s territory. 

Growing up, the only time he ever left the Blood Wolf Tribe was for salt exchanges. Otherwise, he’d spent all his time in the mountains, where everything from when they could leave to when they could howl was strictly regulated.

Now, being allowed to stay in the Rabbit Tribe was an entirely new experience for him. Overcome with excitement, Lang Ze shifted into his beast form and began rolling around on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Cat Tribe, led by Bai An, was making its way to the cave prepared for them. 

As they passed the Wolves’ dwelling, Mao Lin caught sight of Lang Ze rolling wildly around inside the cave, and her lips twitched. Wolves are still as insufferable as ever.

Lang Ze noticed the gaze from the entrance but paid it no mind. After rolling a couple more times in the clean cave, he stood up, shook off imaginary dust, and walked proudly into the cave’s interior.

Most cave entrances weren’t fully blocked, and even if there were coverings, they didn’t completely obscure the opening. 

When digging caves, beastmen often considered privacy, designing the largest section not at the entrance but further inside, typically around a corner. Some even deliberately left a large boulder opposite the entrance as a barrier to block the view of the cave’s interior.

Lang Ze was currently inspecting this part of the cave. Although the Wolves had claimed they would provide their own materials and could modify the cave themselves, the Rabbit Tribe had gone out of their way to express their hospitality to these friendly allies.

The cave was spotless, cleaned more thoroughly than it had been since it was first excavated. 

Any areas that couldn’t be properly cleaned had been dug out again in beast form. To combat the summer heat, Bai Tu had even prepared herbal sachets for every cave to repel mosquitoes and insects.

Initially, Lang Ze had been excited about the idea of moving. Now, after seeing the cave, he liked it even more. As a junior leader, Lang Ze had been given his own cave, complete with a large stone slab in the middle. He could shift into his beast form and run around freely inside the cave.

Delighted with his new living space, Lang Ze let out a howl before running out to find his brother. “Brother! The cave Bai Tu prepared is amazing!” His face lit up with excitement. “The Rabbit Tribe is great—I like it here!”

“Hmm?” Lang Qi responded absentmindedly, as though he had heard something but wasn’t really paying attention. His gaze remained fixed on Bai Tu, who was speaking with Mao Lin a short distance away. Whatever was on his mind, he kept it to himself.

Lang Ze, however, instantly recognized the telltale signs of his brother zoning out. While he didn’t understand why Lang Qi had been doing this more often lately, he knew better than to ask. For the sake of his own safety, Lang Ze kept his curiosity in check—his brother’s punches didn’t kill, but they hurt enough to leave a lasting impression for years.

Meanwhile, Bai Tu had just finished tending to the Cat Tribe’s injuries. 

Out of their thirty-two members, nearly half were injured. 

Seven had minor wounds that didn’t hinder hunting, but four were almost completely immobilized. On top of that, due to the rainy season, many of the injuries had been exposed to water and were starting to show signs of infection. 

One injured beastman had been unconscious for days, and when Bai Tu examined him, he discovered a misaligned leg bone.

“I’ll do my best, but I can’t guarantee a full recovery,” Bai Tu said honestly. 

Bone injuries were what he worried about the most. 

In modern times, such cases required specialized equipment and trained doctors. 

Bai Tu had some knowledge of medicine and pharmacology, but he wasn’t a professional. 

Treating external wounds was relatively straightforward—stop the bleeding, prevent inflammation, and keep the area clean. 

With sufficient food, a beastman’s natural healing ability could handle the rest. But bone injuries were a different story. 

All Bai Tu could do was apply a splint to stabilize the bone and hope it stayed in place. The long-term recovery was beyond his control.

“Even applying medicine is already a huge help,” Mao Lin replied, her tone much softer than before. 

Injured beastmen had been unable to rest properly for days, and their constant hiding and fleeing had only worsened their condition. 

The fact that Bai Tu had medical skills was an unexpected blessing. As for the extent to which the injured could recover, the Cats had no complaints. Someone who had been unconscious for days and might now survive was already a miracle in their eyes.

The cat with the misaligned leg was the most complicated case. 

For the others, the main issue was external injuries that had worsened due to exposure to rain and continued movement. 

Even with beastmen’s exceptional healing abilities, the infections had made their injuries look far worse than when they first occurred. Bai Tu carefully cleaned each wound, using a heated knife to remove the necrotic flesh before applying medicine. Then he handed over the task of brewing herbal decoctions to Bai Qi.

Once he was finally done, Bai Tu stretched his arms and neck. 

Concentrating for so long had left him fatigued, and on top of that, he hadn’t rested properly for two days. As he rubbed his wrists, something soft started climbing up his body, using the folds of his animal-hide clothing as a makeshift ladder.

Bai Tu looked down and found a black-footed cat cub with a white coat speckled with black spots. The little one was fearlessly clinging to his clothes, its eyes filled with curiosity.

“Meow?” Bai Tu gently grabbed the cub by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up. “Where did you come from?” he asked as he cradled the tiny creature in his hands. Holding the kitten close, he walked outside to find the beastman responsible for watching over the cubs.

Lang Qi, observing the joy on Bai Tu’s face as he discovered the cub, seemed lost in thought.

Author’s Note:
Lang Qi: Adds this to my little notebook.