Chapter 77: Fierce Beast?
The three brothers, Bai Mu, Bai Lin, and Bai Sen, had come out hunting.
In fact, they rarely came to the forest to hunt.
After all, their tribe’s daily food came from the sea.
They had been searching aimlessly in the forest for a long time and hadn’t found any prey to bring back.
Just as the three brothers were hungry and tired, they smelled a very strange fragrance.
Following the scent, they found what—
A two-legged beast was sitting by the campfire, roasting meat!
Bai Sen drooled and said, “Third brother, look at that human, that human has meat to eat!”
Bai Lin wiped his mouth: “Should we go ask where he got his meat?”
Bai Mu frowned his small brow: “Humans appearing in our ‘Frost Shadow Hills’? That’s too abnormal!” “Don’t rush, I’ll see if this human is a bad person first.”
Bai Sen and Bai Lin both felt that their eldest brother’s words made perfect sense and nodded repeatedly.
So the three brothers hid in the shadows of the birch trees, cautiously observing the two-legged beast of unknown origin.
“Third brother… that, that two-legged beast’s shoulder… is that a cat head?” Bai Sen looked for a long time and asked in a low voice, as if scared silly.
Bai Mu took a closer look and was also so shocked that all his white fur stood on end: “Really! What a shameless two-legged beast! Actually showing off its prey like that!”
Bai Lin didn’t say anything but secretly tugged on Bai Mu’s sleeve: “Second brother, look over there…”
“Over there, that monster tree floating in the air, look at its branches, don’t they look like whips?”
“Look under the monster tree, there, there are two beasts fighting!”
Bai Lin “ah-ed” and covered his mouth: “Brother, the one being beaten is a bunny!”
Bai Mu and Bai Sen were also stunned.
Bai Mu gritted his teeth: “As expected of a despicable two-legged beast, hunting cats as trophies to show off, and watching beasts fight for amusement—”
At this moment, Bai Sen whispered, “Brother, that bunny, I think it looks like, it doesn’t look like an ordinary bunny…”
Sure enough, the bunny pressed down by the capybara was rhythmically making “roar roar roar” sounds, and its front and hind paws were constantly hitting the ground.
This reaction was not something animals without intelligence could do!
Bai Lin immediately became furious: “Since it’s a bunny with intelligence, we, as brave warriors, can’t just stand by and watch it being bullied like this!”
Bai Mu urged, “Wait, don’t rush—”
However, Bai Lin had already rushed out, muttering and holding his spear.
“You damn two-legged beast!”
“Let go of that rabbit!”
Bai Mu and Bai Sen could only chase after Bai Lin, pointing their bows and arrows at the capybara that was holding down the bunny.
*
Little Can raised an eyelid but didn’t directly make a move.
Chu Jiu tilted his head curiously: three snow-white fur balls, slightly larger than Rawr Rawr Rabbit, with the same puffy three-lobed mouth as Rawr Rawr Rabbit. However, their ears were different from Rawr Rawr Rabbit’s; instead of long rabbit ears, they had small triangular ones. The most eye-catching thing was their tails: large, fluffy, and soft tails unique to foxes.
Chu Jiu knew what they were.
But why would they appear in the forest? Could it be that the records in “Folk Legends” were wrong?
While he was curious, the fur ball holding the spear shook his voice and repeated loudly, “You, tell that capybara to let go of the bunny—”
Before he finished speaking, several “ropes” flew through the air, knocking away the fur balls’ weapons and also tying up their paws.
The one who made the move was naturally Gulp-Glup.
“Gulp glup glup glup, good children should be polite, don’t shout as soon as you come.” Glup-Glup said very gently.
However, to the fur balls, this flying sapling only made a series of Glup-Glup sounds.
They could guess that the sapling was speaking, but they had no idea what it was saying, and could only look at this “two-legged beast’s accomplice” in extreme fear.
What terrified them even more was that the cat head decoration on the two-legged beast’s shoulder actually came to life!
The black cat raised its head, opened its eyes, and was surveying them with an displeased look.
That aura was even more terrifying than the chieftain in their tribe, making the three fur balls’ short legs start to tremble uncontrollably.
At this time, Kakaba and Rawr Rawr Rabbit had already stopped wrestling.
Rawr Rawr Rabbit rolled over and jumped in front of the fur balls controlled by Glup-Glup: “Roar roar roar? What race of spirit beasts are you?”
Seeing that the bunny had temporarily gained freedom and was trying to communicate with them, Bai Lin, although he couldn’t understand at all, still shouted, “Don’t mind us, you run!”
“You are a bunny with intelligence, you shouldn’t be bullied by humans like this!”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit: “…Roar roar, roar roar?”—”What are you saying, who’s being bullied?”
Chu Jiu sighed, put the skewers on the stone slab to keep warm, stood up, clapped his hands, walked to the four “bunnies,” squatted down, and said:
“Let me introduce myself, I am a pioneer from a human village. This is my partner, the spirit beast Rawr Rawr Rabbit.”
“It was just playing wrestling with another spirit beast, no one was bullying it.”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit: “Roar!”
Chu Jiu propped his chin up and continued, “Rawr Rawr Rabbit, these are ‘Snow Beastmen,’ they probably misunderstood something just now and rushed out.”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit: “Roar!”
The three fur balls, seeing that Chu Jiu recognized their identity, all turned into frozen fur balls in a daze.
The one who looked slightly older stared at Chu Jiu suspiciously: “You… know ‘Snow Beastmen’?”
Chu Jiu: “I know. You are a very outstanding race.”
Chu Jiu still remembered the passage about the Snow Beastmen in “Folk Legends”:
[In the distant north, there lives a race that fears no cold.
They have mouths like rabbits, and ears and tails like foxes.
It is said that their ancestors were half snow rabbit and half snow fox. From this combination, the current “Snow Beastmen” were born.
But what is even more amazing is that both snow rabbits and snow foxes are completely terrestrial races, both hunting on land. But Snow Beastmen all hunt in the sea!
Their movements on land are not considered agile, but once they are in the sea, their speed is astonishing!]
Hearing the human in front of them say that “Snow Beastmen are an outstanding race,” coupled with the previous explanation about Rawr Rawr Rabbit, Bai Sen immediately let down his guard and said happily, “Ah, so that’s how it is—”
His brothers stopped him.
Bai Mu still looked at Chu Jiu suspiciously: “Spirit beast? What race is a spirit beast? I have never heard of it.”
“You wouldn’t be deceiving those little bunnies who just gained intelligence, and the capybara, and… the sapling, right?”
Chu Jiu: …
Being accused by such a fur ball with a three-lobed mouth, triangular ears, and a big tail, Chu Jiu really couldn’t get angry.
Instead, he said with a smile, “Why don’t you say I also deceived a kitty?”
Little Can: “Meow!”
Bai Mu looked up at the little black cat, then at Chu Jiu: “It’s very powerful, you can’t deceive it.”
Little Can: “Meow meow!”
Chu Jiu: “…”
He coughed softly: “I didn’t deceive these spirit beasts. As for where they came from, I cannot tell you.”
Suspicion still lingered in Bai Mu’s eyes.
Chu Jiu thought for a moment, then looked at Rawr Rawr Rabbit beside him: “Rawr Rawr Rabbit, I’m not sure if I put enough seasoning in the skewers just now, can you help me taste if it’s salty enough?”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit immediately hopped over.
It picked up a skewer of grilled chicken leg, held it with its small paws, and ran its three-lobed mouth along the bamboo stick—
The bamboo stick was instantly as clean as if it had been washed.
Rawr Rawr Rabbit half-closed its eyes, happily chewing, “Roar roar roar, the saltiness is just right! This bamboo flower chicken meat is so tender and fragrant…”
Even if the three Snow Beastmen couldn’t understand Rawr Rawr Rabbit’s words, they could tell from its expression and movements that it was enjoying its meal.
Not to mention the particularly strong aroma of roasted meat wafting through the forest.
The three Snow Beastmen’s red eyes became even redder.
The youngest, Bai Sen, once again shamelessly drooled.
Chu Jiu smiled at Rawr Rawr Rabbit, “Don’t worry, I have a lot more meat here.”
The three Snow Beastmen: !
What! He actually had a lot more meat!
Chu Jiu then said to the Snow Beastmen, “Since you came to stand up for Rawr Rawr Rabbit, why don’t you join it for some barbecue and chat?”
“That way, you can judge for yourselves whether Rawr Rawr Rabbit was really being ‘bullied’?”
The three Snow Beastmen: !
What! Eat barbecue together!
The three Snow Beastmen completely forgot that they didn’t speak the same language as Rawr Rawr Rabbit, so how were they supposed to “chat”?
At Chu Jiu’s signal, Glup-Glup released its tentacles, and Rawr Rawr Rabbit waved a whole grilled chicken leg at the three Snow Beastmen: Come on!
The three Snow Beastmen: ……
Well, since they were going to investigate whether the bunny was being bullied, they would reluctantly go over.
So, the four spirit beasts and the three Snow Beastmen sat in a circle around the campfire and the grill.
Grilled chicken, grilled pig trotters, grilled cotton sheep, grilled lizard ribs, grilled skinless frog…
Everything could be grilled.
The three Snow Beastmen ate with greasy mouths.
Only once, when Bai Sen tried to grab the grilled flying fish skewer, before he could even extend his paw, Chu Jiu had already taken it and handed it to the kitty.
Bai Sen: ?
Never mind, the grilled chicken was super delicious anyway!
Finally, Bai Sen happily wiped his mouth and said, “Second brother, third brother, I think this person isn’t a bad guy.”
“His grilled meat is so delicious.”
“And the bunny and the others are eating happily too.”
The only slight regret was that this human told them that these prey weren’t caught today, but were caught in other forests or canyons and brought over in his backpack.
Unfortunately, they still couldn’t find out where to catch so much meat.
Bai Lin next to him burped and didn’t say anything.
Bai Mu stood up and said, “I’m sorry!”
“I now believe that you weren’t bullying the bunny!” “I apologize for the rudeness of the three of us just now.”
The other two, seeing their second brother apologize, also obediently stood up and followed Bai Mu in apologizing.
Chu Jiu didn’t have any ill feelings towards these three Snow Beastmen in the first place, so naturally he wouldn’t make things difficult for them. He only said, “Since we’ve run into you, I’d like to ask, do you know how to get through the ‘Frost Shadow Hills’ to directly find the entrance to the ‘Azure Icefield’?”
The Frost Shadow Hills region was bordered by the sea to the east, and the middle was a mix of forests, swamps, and ponds.
With such complicated terrain, if they went in the wrong direction, they would probably greatly delay their time entering the Azure Icefield.
The three brothers looked at each other, and finally Bai Mu said, “We don’t know for sure, but our tribe’s chief should know.”
Chu Jiu said, “Hmm… according to your rules, how can I meet the chief?”
Bai Sen: “Rules? We don’t have any rules.”
“If you’re willing to bring some barbecue, he’ll be very happy!”
Bai Mu scolded, “Bai Sen! Don’t talk nonsense!”
He said to Chu Jiu, “We really don’t have any special rules, and you don’t need to bring barbecue.”
“If you need to see the chief, I can take you to see him tomorrow.”
Bai Lin nodded: “Yeah, eldest brother doesn’t need you to bring barbecue.”
Chu Jiu: “……Eldest brother?”
Bai Mu: “The chief is our eldest brother, and also the most outstanding warrior in our tribe!”
So that’s how it was.
After agreeing to see the chief the next day, Bai Mu and the others left Chu Jiu’s camp.
However, half an hour later, as Chu Jiu and the spirit beasts were warming themselves by the campfire and sipping some herbal tea, they heard another rustling sound. The three little Snow Beastmen emerged from the bushes in a disheveled state.
Bai Mu said, “Excuse me… could we borrow a torch?…”
Bai Sen looked up pitifully: “It’s too dark, I’m scared…”
Bai Lin immediately pulled Bai Sen and quickly said, “It’s not that we’re scared, it’s… it’s too dark, we don’t know the way.”
We brave Snow Beastman warriors wouldn’t turn back because of fear!
Chu Jiu looked at the dark coniferous forest and said helplessly, “It’s very late now, our tent is spacious, why don’t you spend the night with us?”
After speaking, he added, “It’ll be perfect to have breakfast with us tomorrow morning.”
“Rawr Rawr Rabbit’s breakfast is braised chicken legs.”
Braised chicken legs!
Bai Sen’s eyes lit up instantly.
Although he didn’t know what “braised” was, it sounded very delicious!
He immediately nodded: “Okay! Then we’ll trouble you!”
Then, this youngest Snow Beastman didn’t even bother to look at his brothers’ expressions and ran straight to Rawr Rawr Rabbit, “Bunny, what are you drinking? Can I have a sip too?”
Bai Mu and Bai Lin: ……
Sometimes they really didn’t want to admit this was their own younger brother.
But… they were warming themselves by the fire, it was so warm…
Just like that, the three little Snow Beastmen sat down by the campfire again.
*
The sun set very early here.
Although it had been dark for a while, it wasn’t actually bedtime yet.
The fire was warm, the tea was hot, and the roasted chestnuts Chu Jiu conjured were sweet.
The three brave Snow Beastman warriors were comfortably warmed, lying softly on the ground, chatting with Chu Jiu.
Seeing that the three little ones had completely relaxed, Chu Jiu asked the question he had been curious about from the beginning:
“Aren’t you Snow Beastmen best at hunting in the sea? Why did you run to the forest on land?”
And judging from the fact that they were afraid to walk at night, they should be completely unsuited for jungle hunting.
Bai Mu used his big tail as a blanket and replied:
“Because… the fish in the sea have been getting fewer and fewer recently…”
“Sometimes we swim in the sea for an hour and don’t catch a single fish, so we thought we’d try our luck in the forest.”
Bai Sen: “But we can’t catch anything in the forest either.”
“If Chu Jiu hadn’t let us eat barbecue, we would have gone hungry today!”
Chu Jiu sensed something was wrong and said, “Is there something going on in the sea?”
Bai Mu: “It’s those striped sea beasts… they were clearly very docile before, and they would even cooperate with us to catch fish…”
“But their leader seems to have gone crazy recently, biting everything it sees, and not even eating what it bites—”
At this point, Bai Sen interjected, “I heard that the leader almost bit one of the little sea beasts in their group last time. It was the sea beast mother who saved the little one.”
Bai Mu: “Sigh. Yes.”
“Anyway, ever since the sea beast leader became like this, this sea area has become very dangerous, and even the fish are afraid to come.”
Chu Jiu once again sensed something was off and said, “You just said that you can’t even catch a fish after swimming in the sea for an hour—then during this hour, won’t the sea beast attack you?”
Bai Mu hesitated and said, “That… it won’t. Kaja has swam right next to us several times, and then swam away on its own.”
At this moment, Bai Lin, who had been silent, suddenly said loudly:
“Kaja wouldn’t hurt us!”
“It’s a brave sea beast warrior, and a good friend of us Snow Beastman warriors!”
Bai Mu’s voice suddenly became stern: “Bai Lin, don’t always say that.”
“Kaja is a ferocious beast now, and ferocious beasts should be treated like ferocious beasts. Stop always thinking of Kaja as our friend.”
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Chu Jiu stood up and said, “Alright, let’s go take a look at your hammocks.”
After the little Snow Beastmen obediently nestled into the hammocks, Kakaba, relying on the fact that the little Snow Beastmen couldn’t understand his words, said to Chu Jiu, “Dang dang dang, I think Bai Mu, as the older brother, don’t let his deliberately fierce appearance fool you, he actually cares a lot about that ‘ferocious beast’!”
“Otherwise, he wouldn’t keep calling it ‘Kaja’ instead of ‘ferocious beast’.”
Chu Jiu nodded in agreement.
*
The next day.
After daybreak, the Snow Beastmen indeed knew the way.
They led Chu Jiu out of the coniferous forest and onto a lush green plain.
On the plain were small houses with rounded arched roofs. These small houses were all built with seaside reefs, with a special kind of mud from the ponds here plastered in the cracks. It was late spring, and all the frost in the mud had thawed, and the seeds in the mud had sprouted small flowers of various shades, decorating the entire house into a veritable “flower house.”
Looking from afar, the small houses covered in flowers were like flower balls falling on the green grass, full of spring and wonderfully interesting.
Even though Chu Jiu had already seen the dwarf beastmen’s miraculous secret passage and underground city, and visited the Feathered Clan’s exquisite palace built on a cliff, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow, so cute!”
This scene, these colors, made it hard for Chu Jiu not to think of the cartoons he had watched on Earth.
Just then, two small Snow Beastmen crawled out of a flower house and ran quickly on the grass, their snow-white fluffy tails swaying constantly behind them.
Chu Jiu couldn’t help himself again: “These little fur balls! These tails! So cute!”
Little Can looked at Chu Jiu, who was mesmerized with stars in his eyes, then at the swaying fox tails, frowned its little brow, leaned close to Chu Jiu’s cheek, and swept his face with its own furry but less fluffy tail.
Hmph, it’s just a tail, everyone has one!
*
Entering the house.
The chief’s flower house was in the center of this plain, several times larger than the other small houses, and even Chu Jiu could step over the threshold without any effort. Although Bai Mu had told Chu Jiu that there were no special rules for meeting the chief, when they actually arrived here, Chu Jiu realized that there were quite a few people waiting to see the chief, forming a long queue inside the house.
Although Bai Mu and his brothers were the chief’s younger brothers, they were also very disciplined, obediently waiting at the end of the line with Chu Jiu.
Most of the Snow Beastmen queuing to see the chieftain were complaining about how insufficient their food was at home.
The chief was a Snow Beastman half a head taller than Bai Mu, and his expression was much more solemn than his brothers’.
He sat on a wooden chair, patiently listening to the other Snow Beastmen’s grievances.
After they finished speaking, the chief would have a guard-like Snow Beastman behind him lead them to receive some food.
Chu Jiu noticed that most of this food was fish that had been buried in the ground and had begun to ferment, not any fresh or delicious food.
It looked like… the Snow Beastmen were experiencing a severe food shortage.
Finally, it was Bai Mu’s turn.
Bai Mu quickly recounted the events from last night until now, including the fact that Chu Jiu had a “bunny” by his side, how the misunderstanding occurred, and that Chu Jiu wanted to know how to cross the Frost Shadow Hills to reach the Azure Icefield.
The chief stood up and sized up Rawr Rawr Rabbit, who was perched in the side pocket of Chu Jiu’s backpack.
Knowing that the other was looking at it, Rawr Rawr Rabbit wasn’t afraid. Instead, it poked its head out, perked up its ears, and made a “heart” gesture.
The chief frowned and said to Bai Mu, “This isn’t a bunny at all, it’s a kind of strange beast I’ve never seen before.”
Bai Mu: “Ah…”
Chu Jiu: “……?”
Huh? Isn’t Rawr Rawr Rabbit a bunny?
The chief waved his small paw: “Forget it, at least you didn’t really cause any trouble.”
“I ask you, you said you went to the forest to find food, did you find any? Did you bring back even one prey?”
Bai Mu immediately became a little hesitant: “N-not yet.”
Chief: “You’ve been searching in the forest for a month, haven’t you?”
“A whole month, and you, as the most outstanding fish hunters in our tribe, have returned empty-handed from the forest. Do you really think the path of ‘letting everyone hunt in the forest’ is feasible?”
Bai Lin suddenly interjected, “Not even a month! Only 27 days!”
The chief glared at him.
Bai Lin lowered his head sullenly.
Chief: “Alright, let’s say you have three more days.”
“After three days, if you return empty-handed again, then fulfill your oath—”
“Go to the sea and kill Kaja, so that everyone can fish again!”
Bai Lin suddenly raised his head and shouted, “Brother! That’s Kaja! Have you forgotten what Kaja has done for us?!”
Bai Mu stretched out his arm to stop Bai Lin: “Stop talking!”
“Since… since we swore an oath, swore before the ancestors that ‘if we cannot find food on land, we will eliminate the ferocious beast as warriors of the tribe,’ then we cannot break our oath.”
Bai Lin trembled, and in the end, he could only clench his fists and lower his head.
The chief looked at his silent brothers and then turned to Chu Jiu again: “Human.”
“I do know how to reach the Azure Icefield.”
“But I cannot tell you the method.”
