Chapter 18: The Three Cubs’ Mother, Mao Yue

Chapter 18: The Three Cubs' Mother, Mao Yue

Hu Di shrieked and spun to flee, but Wen Ran stunned him with a taser.

Wen Ran dragged him by one leg deep into the cave. The three cubs swiftly bound his limbs with rawhide strips and covered his eyes with animal hide. When Hu Di awoke, everything was pitch black; he couldn't see a thing. This would heighten his fear and deter reckless action, while also preventing him from discovering items like the iron pot and tent.

Wen Ran gazed at the stunned fox beastman, shaking the taser. He didn't know what to say, beyond the adage that dying for a beauty is a fate many would welcome.

Hu Lai glared angrily at Cat Tooth. "Why did you kick Hu Di?"

Cat Tooth curled his lip, retorting irritably, "He's openly trying to replace me. Can't I even kick him?"

Hu Lai paused abruptly, tilted her head, pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Well, I guess you can. I understand how you feel."

Cat Tooth: "..."

Wen Ran: "...Pfft."

Wen Ran nearly rolled on the ground laughing, feeling another wave of sympathy for Cat Tooth. He marveled again at how utterly devoid of emotional and intellectual intelligence Hu Lai was—how could there be such a foolish, nasty, yet beautiful idiot?

Putting aside Hu Lai's actions, purely in terms of looks, it had to be said: if she washed the yellow sand off her face, her large, curved eyes were actually quite pretty. After all, the fox clan had always produced seductive beauties; truly ugly ones were rare.

But her brain just wasn't up to par. Her actions were both stupid and laughable, as if her head were full of air. Her petty schemes were transparent at a glance—so foolish it was almost pitiable, so nasty it was almost funny. Wen Ran was genuinely impressed by her complete obliviousness and insensitivity to the feelings of others.

"Without a leader, the hunting party will struggle to catch prey. The clan will starve. I need to return to the hunting party now. Should I take you back to your cave first?"

"Fine."

Hu Lai glanced reluctantly at Lang Zhi's cave, feeling gloomy. "Why doesn't Lang Zhi like me? Why won’t he join my cave? I’m such a beautiful, kind-hearted fox female, and I can give you cubs too."

Cat Tooth's handsome face twisted for a moment. Stiffly, he said, "Mistress, could you try to understand your Alpha's feelings right now?"

"That’s a bit difficult."

Hu Lai sighed. "I’m not in a great mood either. How many times has it been now that I’ve failed to win over Lang Zhi? Ah, I’ve lost count."

"..." Cat Tooth took a deep breath and asked through gritted teeth, "Aren’t you going to do anything about Hu Di?"

"No need. He’ll come back on his own. Wen Ran doesn’t eat beastmen."

"...Fine. You’re something else. Well done." Cat Tooth gave her a thumbs-up.

......

The night passed, and by the time Wen Ran woke again, the sun was high in the sky. Sure enough, staying up late the night before made it impossible to get up early the next day. He was groggy and had a headache from poor sleep and was in a foul mood. He irritably unzipped the tent, glanced at Hu Di tied up in the corner of the cave—hunched over, trying to make himself inconspicuous—and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Just as he was feeling annoyed, a commotion erupted outside the cave.

Wen Ran looked out and saw Mao Yin trembling all over, curled up on the inflatable mattress like a newborn cub. His body was tense as he stared warily toward the cave entrance, hissing lowly. His claws were extended, his tail puffed up, his ears flattened like airplane wings, and his big, blue cat eyes were wide open as if he’d seen something terrifying.

Mao Yin was scared!

Round Cat and Mao Xuan, shielding Mao Yin closely behind them, also wore tense expressions as they stared outside, their bodies trembling slightly.

Wen Ran snapped awake instantly and frowned as he looked toward the cave entrance.

Suddenly, Mao Yin let out a piercing cry, unsheathed his claws, and frantically grabbed at anything nearby before lunging toward the cave entrance.

But inside the tent, aside from the mattress, there were only sleeping bags and animal hides—nothing easy to grip. Mao Yin accidentally caught his claw on the tent’s steel frame, snapping off half a claw. He didn’t even notice the bleeding wound.

Wen Ran gasped, realizing the little cat was having a stress reaction.

Without caring whether Mao Yin might scratch him, he quickly picked up Mao Yin and held him close, gently smoothing his fur. Mao Yin slowly stopped trembling but remained curled up, his claws digging firmly into Wen Ran’s clothes, unwilling to let go.

Wen Ran softly reassured him until Mao Yin gradually calmed down. Then he took out some Dragon Blood Tree sap and applied it to his nail to soothe the pain.

As Wen Ran comforted Mao Yin, he faintly heard Lang Zhi’s voice. Had Lang Zhi been injured while hunting?

This thought made Wen Ran restless. He quickly bundled the three cubs into the sleeping bag, zipped up the tent, and hurried outside.

Hearing footsteps, Hu Di, huddled to the side, let out a series of whimpers and grunts. Wen Ran ignored him completely.

"Lang Zhi, you did it on purpose! Don’t try to deny it!"

The speaker was an adult gray cat beastman. His skin was darker than Lang Zhi’s, and he was a head shorter, around six feet tall. His muscles were bulging and powerful, but his expression was somewhat crazed, his cat eyes bloodshot.

The noise outside the cave had drawn a crowd of beastmen, all chattering excitedly. As Wen Ran emerged, he saw that the once remote and spacious area outside the cave was now packed with beastmen, most there just to watch the spectacle. Even Mao Fei stood beside Lang Zhi, holding his large belly, clearly taking Lang Zhi’s side.

When he saw Wen Ran, Mao Fei gave a friendly smile, revealing a row of small white teeth.

Wen Ran nodded back at him.

Lang Zhi stood with his arms crossed, silent, letting the gray cat beastman shout outside the cave. Only when he saw Wen Ran come out did he stride over and ask with concern, "Did we wake you?"

Wen Ran shook his head. "It’s fine. Who is this, and why is he causing a scene outside our cave so early in the morning?"

Lang Zhi’s heart skipped a beat when Wen Ran said "our cave," as if something had gently bumped inside him. He explained softly, "This male is called Mao Lu. Mao Yue is the mother of Round Cat and his two brothers. Mao Lu is one of Mao Yue’s males. He’s the one who held Mao Yin’s head underwater, nearly drowning him and sending him to meet the Beast God. I broke one of his legs. It’s only fair."

Lang Zhi’s voice was steady, and he didn’t shy away from admitting he’d broken Mao Lu’s leg. His actions were as straightforward as his character—he did it, and he wouldn’t deny it.

Wen Ran admired that about him. He was a real man!

Mao Lu made a strange, sharp, piercing sound. "Who held that little Lesser Female underwater?! Don’t you slander me! Where’s the chief? I want the chief to judge this! This outsider is lying!"

Wen Ran watched as Mao Lu avoided Lang Zhi’s gaze, his eyes darting nervously, and he repeatedly fiddled with his hair. It was clear this beastman was guilty—he was the one who’d bullied Mao Yin and nearly killed him. No wonder Mao Yin had such a strong reaction!

Hearing Lang Zhi’s words, Cat Tooth, who had been glowering nearby, shouted angrily, "If you broke Mao Lu’s leg for bullying Mao Yin, fine! But what about me? Why did you deliberately let the camel beast injure me!"

Mao Lu: "?" What did he mean, "if you broke Mao Lu’s leg for bullying Mao Yin, fine"? Mao Lu glared darkly at Cat Tooth.

Cat Tooth bared his teeth angrily, completely ignoring Mao Lu’s attitude. He didn’t even spare him a glance, instead fixing his furious gaze on Lang Zhi. The scrapes and bruises had marred his face—how was he supposed to compete for favor with Hu Lai now?!

Lang Zhi innocently spread his hands. "That's completely untrue. Your injury from the camel beast has nothing to do with me. It was just bad luck."

Cat Tooth: "???"

Lang Zhi added nonchalantly, "During the hunt, I was originally assigned to block the camel beast. But you suddenly insisted on switching positions with me, threatening to report to the chief if I refused. If you hadn’t forced the switch, I would’ve been the one injured. You brought it on yourself. It’s not my fault."

Wen Ran looked at Lang Zhi, who winked at him.

Suddenly, Wen Ran understood—Lang Zhi had deliberately taught Cat Tooth a lesson. That day, Cat Tooth had given him a hard time, but unlike Mao Lu, he hadn’t directly threatened his life. So Lang Zhi had only given him a mild punishment.

Wen Ran suddenly realized this Big Black Wolf was also a sly, cunning wolf—both shrewd and fiercely protective!

A wave of emotion washed over Wen Ran, and his eyes grew slightly warm. He was used to enduring things on his own, biding his time for eventual payback. But when someone actually stood up for him, he couldn’t help but feel like crying. How pathetic!

Only now did he truly feel that Lang Zhi and the three cubs were like family. They cared about him, and he cared about them too.

In this beast world, they huddled together for warmth, no longer alone!

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Wen Ran collected himself and looked Lang Zhi over head to toe, afraid of missing any wounds on him.

"There are some minor scrapes on my arm, scratched by gravel and thorns. It's fine."

Though he called them minor scrapes, they were still bleeding.

Wen Ran avoided the crowd and hurried back into the cave, taking out some Dragon Blood Tree sap from his storage space. He applied a thick layer carefully over Lang Zhi’s wounds, and soon the bleeding stopped, and the pain vanished.

Everyone who witnessed this stared in amazement, their jaws dropping.

"This Lesser Female actually knows how to treat wounds! He can even use Witch Medicine!"

"Look, as soon as that blood-red Witch Medicine was applied to Lang Zhi’s arm, the bleeding stopped! His Witch Medicine works even better than Ritual Shaman Hu Xiu’s!"

"The bleeding actually stopped! Just applying a layer of that blood-red sap made the wound stop bleeding so quickly! It’s incredible!"

"Is this Lesser Female a Ritual Shaman envoy from the main city, Vientiane City, traveling through? Otherwise, how could he use such powerful Witch Medicine?"

In the Beast God’s sacrificial temple of the main city, Vientiane City, the High Priest dispatches a group of Ritual Shaman envoys every three years to travel to various tribes, to gain experience, and treat injured beastmen. It is said that the more beastmen they heal, the stronger their ability to communicate with the Beast God becomes.

The Ritual Shamans in each tribe only learn the basics about Witch Medicine and the methods of communicating with the Beast God for sacrifices and prayers after being taken as disciples by these envoys.

"But Vientiane City is so far from our tribe. Could such a frail Lesser Female really have traveled through several tribes alone to reach ours?"

"If this Lesser Female had come to our tribe earlier, perhaps my Alpha Male, Mao Yan, wouldn’t have died!" A female in the crowd covered her mouth and sobbed bitterly.

Someone in the crowd comforted her, "Mao Yan was gored by a Grunting Beast’s tusks, his intestines spilled out. I’m afraid even this Lesser Female’s Witch Medicine wouldn’t have helped..."

......

"Lang Zhi, you outsider wolf beastman, how dare you injure my Male Orcs!"

A shrill shout rang out, and Wen Ran turned to see a female in her thirties, dark-skinned, thin, and petite, with a cold expression. She looked like a wrinkled, dark little potato, and Wen Ran couldn’t help but smirk at the sudden comparison that popped into his mind.

Lang Zhi whispered in his ear, "That’s Mao Yue, the mother of Round Cat, Mao Xuan, and Mao Yin."

Wen Ran felt tickled by the warm breath Lang Zhi exhaled near his ear. Scratching his ear, he took a closer look at the female before him. This was the first time since arriving in this beast world that Wen Ran had seen Mao Yue, the biological mother of the three little ones.