Chapter 63
Bai Tu recalled how the two little wolves had reacted strongly to the unfamiliar scent the previous night and replied, “I’ll deliver it to the weaving team after breakfast.”
The feathers needed to be sorted, so he planned to explain the process personally.
“Alright,” Lang Qi said, steadying the restless cubs in his arms.
The little black wolf poked its head out and howled twice toward the baskets of feathers.
Lang Qi gently rubbed the little black wolf’s back and casually asked, “Where are these from?”
“Hei Yan brought them,” Bai Tu answered, briefly explaining the source. “I plan to make two down comforters for Hei Xiao.”
“Down comforters?”
“It’s made by selecting the softest down feathers and sewing them into silk fabric casings. It works like a blanket, keeping you warm during winter.” Bai Tu elaborated.
The comforters would definitely be warm. Likely due to the low winter temperatures here, the insulating properties of the beastmen’s fur surpassed most materials he’d encountered in his previous life.
A down comforter made from these feathers would naturally be warmer than an ordinary duck-down comforter.
“What about you? What do you use to stay warm in the winter?” Lang Qi asked suddenly.
“A blanket, probably,” Bai Tu replied after a moment’s thought.
The tribe currently had only a few types of materials suitable for insulation.
There was no way they could make a second batch of down comforters this year.
The tribe’s duck population was too small, and it would take at least another year for large-scale breeding.
Animal hides were the tribe’s traditional go-to for warmth, but Bai Tu wasn’t fond of them. No matter how skilled the tanning process was, even in tribes that specialized in it, tanned hides often retained a faint, lingering odor.
If conditions allowed, Bai Tu planned to try tanning hides himself, but this would require alum as a raw material. Unfortunately, the tribe didn’t have any, and he hadn’t seen it at the market either. It would have to be found elsewhere.
There were many items the tribe needed to improve or develop. For now, tanning hides remained on his to-do list, but it would have to wait until the necessary materials were found.
Bai Tu put the matter aside for now and focused on preparing breakfast for the two adults and the two little wolves.
After setting aside his own meal, he carried the cubs to the table. Noticing the little black wolf still staring at the baskets of feathers, he couldn’t help but laugh.
He picked them both up one by one and rubbed their heads. “Alright, alright. I’ll deliver it later. It’s just a basket of feathers—why are you so worked up?”
The previous night had been too late to deliver the feathers to the weaving team.
Unlike the silkworm caretakers, they didn’t have night shifts, so there was no one to receive the delivery. It wasn’t yet work time this morning either, so Bai Tu planned to deliver it after breakfast. Still, he hadn’t expected the little wolves to react so strongly.
Lang Qi paused at Bai Tu’s comment and glanced at him.
When Bai Tu coaxed the wolf cubs, his entire demeanor radiated a unique gentleness. Lang Qi stared for a while before casually getting up to serve himself breakfast.
After Bai Tu finished feeding the wolf cubs and had eaten his own breakfast, he asked Lang Qi to carry the feathers while he carried the two little ones.
When they arrived at the weaving site, Bai Tu handed the cubs to Lang Qi and explained the sorting and processing steps to Tu Wan, one of the weaving team leaders.
The process was simpler than weaving wolf or rabbit fur. All they needed to do was sort out the down feathers, wash them thoroughly, and let them dry. However, Bai Tu warned about the lightness of the down feathers.
“Make sure to work in a place with no wind,” Bai Tu instructed.
Down feathers were so light that even a slight breeze could scatter them. If they were lost, there was no way to replace them. The beastmen’s sharp noses might detect the difference if substitutes were used.
“Don’t worry, Tu. I’ll handle it carefully,” Tu Wan promised, determined to sort and clean the feathers meticulously.
Bai Tu trusted the team leaders implicitly. Even the most unreliable of them, Lang Ze, had never made a mistake in hunting.
Wait—Lang Ze? Bai Tu suddenly realized something and turned to Lang Qi. “Where’s Ze?”
Lang Qi froze for a moment before shaking his head. “I haven’t seen him.”
“He should have returned by now, shouldn’t he?” Bai Tu frowned.
Normally, Lang Ze would return to the tribe much earlier than Lang Qi.
While Lang Qi needed to first stop by the Wolf Clan and organize things there before heading to the Rabbit Tribe, Lang Ze’s hunting team would come directly back after their hunts. Even if their hunting speed was slightly slower, they should have been back by sunrise at the latest.
Young wolves are at the peak of their energy levels.
After returning from a hunt, even just one or two hours of rest is enough for them to regain 70-80% of their stamina. At that point, they’d be up and about looking for food, their howls echoing across the tribe.
The Rabbit Tribe’s cubs, who used to be frightened by the sound of wolves howling, had grown accustomed to it by now. They could even roll over and go back to sleep after being woken by the noise. If nothing else, their courage had definitely been trained.
“I haven’t seen Lang Ze and his team either,” Tu Wan chimed in. No wonder things had felt off today—it was too quiet without their usual noise.
Bai Tu frowned with concern. “Could they have run into danger?”
“Impossible,” Lang Qi replied, shaking his head as he passed the cubs to Bai Tu. “If there was danger, they’d call for help.” Just like the time they were stung by bees and screamed loud enough for the entire tribe to hear.
The young wolves weren’t the type to suffer in silence.
If they had encountered any real danger, it would’ve been anything but quiet.
The fact that they’d been gone all night without making a sound likely meant they either failed to catch any prey and were avoiding coming back or had gone off somewhere to play again.
Bai Tu thought about it and realized Lang Qi had a point.
The young wolves wouldn’t stay this quiet if they were in trouble.
With safety concerns ruled out, Bai Tu relaxed a little.
If the wolves were younger, he might have gone out to search for them. But they were nearing adulthood, at an age where some independence was necessary. They couldn’t be monitored every moment. Growing children needed their own space and privacy.
The two wolf cubs clung to Bai Tu’s hands, their little tongues licking off the unfamiliar scent.
Feeling the wetness on his hand, Bai Tu glanced down at them and couldn’t help but chuckle. “How about I wash my hands, okay? Be good—my hands are dirty, you can’t lick them.”
After washing his hands, Bai Tu also rinsed the cubs’ mouths and tapped their noses as he instructed, “Don’t go licking random things, got it?”
“Awwooo!” The little black wolf stared intently at Bai Tu’s finger, locked onto his target, and suddenly pounced, grabbing his hand in its little paws.
The gray wolf took advantage of the moment to wiggle into Bai Tu’s palm, resting its head on his wrist.
Its tiny belly rose and fell as it quickly drifted into a peaceful sleep. The black wolf settled down beside its sibling, resting its head on the gray wolf’s belly.
With the cubs snuggled together, there was no way to continue the lesson.
Smiling, Bai Tu gently rubbed their little bellies before carrying them along to check on the medicine and supplies prepared for the Black Hawk Tribe.
With the issue of the fallen beastmen resolved, the Black Hawk Tribe no longer needed as much medicine.
The Snow Rabbit Tribe’s medicinal herbs weren’t unlimited, so Bai Tu planned to transition the trade to include iron tools or other resources instead.
The forging of sponge iron was going well.
While they hadn’t yet managed to craft the fabled blades that could cut through iron like mud, the current knives—after repeated hammering—were far superior to stone tools. However, the production was still too low, and none of the beastmen had received any yet.
Since the Black Hawk Tribe had recently acquired several new knives from the Iron Elephant Tribe, they weren’t in urgent need of more. Delivery could wait until after winter.
Still, Bai Tu couldn’t let them return empty-handed.
While aesthetics were secondary, the time and effort it took to make the trip would be wasted if they didn’t take back some supplies. Since the Black Hawk Tribe wasn’t short on salt, Bai Tu decided to send them some of the food grown by the Snow Rabbit Tribe.
Fruits were heavy and not urgently needed, so Bai Tu ruled them out.
Corn, on the other hand, was an ideal choice due to its high yield and ability to stave off hunger.
They had already given some during the last visit, so he planned to send more this time. Additionally, he included a batch of walnuts for Hei Xiao.
“Walnuts are good for the brain,” Bai Tu explained. “Eat more of them. You can shell the walnuts, grind them into a paste, and cook walnut milk for the cubs. Or you can give them to pregnant beastmen—they can shell and eat them as they like.”
Bai Tu emphasized this to prevent anyone from carelessly consuming half a basket in one sitting. He wanted them to understand how valuable the walnuts were.
At the mention of “good for the brain,” both Hei Xiao and Hei Yan turned to stare at the basket of walnuts.
Hei Xiao asked, “Tu, are there more?”
Hei Yan immediately grabbed the basket of walnuts and declared, “I’ll take all of them!”
Hei Xiao glanced at Hei Yan and couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride and relief.
Bai Tu watched as Hei Yan suddenly grew excited and Hei Xiao’s expression turned complicated over a mere basket of walnuts.
He couldn’t quite understand their obsession. Sure, walnuts were good for the brain, but was it really worth this level of enthusiasm?
To prevent any misunderstandings or future rumors turning walnuts into some kind of miracle cure, Bai Tu patiently explained, “The effects aren’t particularly miraculous. They’re just relatively nutritious. The tribe still has a few more baskets. I’ll give you two-thirds of them, and the rest will be reserved for the cubs and pregnant beastmen.”
After hearing Bai Tu’s explanation, Hei Xiao nodded, mentally calculating how many walnuts he could keep. Would one bowl a day be enough for Hei Yan?
Hei Yan stared at the walnuts, wishing he could take the entire lot. However, he knew that Bai Tu’s decision was final, and there was no room for bargaining.
Two-thirds would have to do. It was still enough to feed Hei Xiao. With such a supply, his future cubs were sure to be the smartest in the tribe—especially smarter than wolf cubs.
Hei Yan glanced at the two wolf cubs, who had been glaring at him and growling since they laid eyes on him. He snorted. What’s so great about wolf cubs? They’re not as cute as Hawk Clan hatchlings. Of course, the cutest of all was me when I was little.
If Hei Xiao could hear Hei Yan’s thoughts, he would’ve exposed him on the spot. Unfortunately, no one could read minds, so Hei Yan’s little schemes remained unnoticed.
Lang Qi stayed silent throughout, his gaze lingering briefly on Bai Tu and the basket of walnuts.
*
After sending off the Black Hawk Tribe, Bai Tu calculated the time left until the next market gathering.
The salt they had exchanged last time was still more than half unused, so whether they traded for more salt this time wasn’t a priority. Instead, Bai Tu planned to focus on scouting for any useful items or crops.
He had expected the young wolves to return by noon, but even after the Black Hawk Tribe had departed, there was still no sign of them.
Bai Tu couldn’t help asking Lang Qi, “Are you sure they’re okay?”
Normally, by this time, the young wolves would already be clamoring for their second meal of the day, loudly complaining about being hungry. Yet now, they’d been gone for a whole day and night without a sound.
Worry gnawed at Bai Tu as he sighed. Part of him knew he shouldn’t interfere, but he couldn’t help feeling concerned.
Lang Qi had been about to brush it off, but seeing how worried Bai Tu was, he relented and said, “I’ll have Yang go look for them.”
As for why he wouldn’t go himself—well, howling aimlessly to summon the pack was a job better suited to Lang Ze’s team.
Not long after Lang Qi left, Bai Tu heard the first howl echoing from the foot of the mountain.
About half a minute later, a distant answering howl replied, followed by another, and then another. It was as if they were reporting in, one voice after the other, howling dozens of times before finally quieting down.
Lang Qi, who hadn’t moved since the first howl, remained silent for a moment after the sounds ceased. Finally, he told Bai Tu, “There’s no danger. They’ll be back soon.”
Lang Qi had always been reliable, and if he said they’d return soon, Bai Tu trusted him.
He took the cubs to the newly built dining hall and instructed the cook to prepare food for the wolves.
The Wolf Clan had large appetites, and cooking too early in the heat risked spoilage, so meals for them were typically prepared upon their return.
The wolves would usually eat right after waking from their naps. Since they hadn’t shown up today, the kitchen hadn’t prepared anything.
However, when the wolves finally returned, covered head to toe in mud, Bai Tu wished he could take back all the worry he’d felt.
