Chapter 118: Side Story

Chapter 118: Side Story

In the blink of an eye, two years had passed, and autumn arrived once more.

This year's rainy season was exceptionally long. While autumn usually brought one to two months of rain, this year saw a relentless downpour for three full months, much to the zebra tribe's dismay. The green grass they cut with stone knives not only failed to dry properly, but the continuous dampness caused much of it to mold. Moldy grass was inedible and would sicken them, leaving their dried grass reserves for the Snow Season woefully insufficient.

Ban Yun gazed at the incessant drizzle outside the cave, sighing worriedly. "Grandpa, if this rain doesn't stop, we'll have to brave the heavy snow during the Snow Season to dig for roots."

Hearing this, the old Chief of the zebra tribe was so troubled he felt his fur falling out.

Ritual Shaman Ban Feng, usually quiet and unobtrusive, glanced outside and said softly, "Not only that, but our tribesmen's fur is short and can't withstand the cold of the Snow Season. If we go out in the wind and snow to dig for roots, many will freeze to death."

Normally, during the Snow Season, they would huddle in their caves, gnawing on dried grass when hungry and drinking lake water when thirsty. To venture out in heavy snow for roots meant certain death by freezing, yet not going out meant starvation. Faced with this grim dilemma, both the old Chief and Ban Feng were deeply troubled.

Ban Yun suddenly spoke, "Grandpa, Wind Shaman, let's go to Wen Ran, the Sage! He's sure to have a solution for us!"

The old Chief and the Wind Shaman's eyes immediately lit up. *Oh, right!*

...

After understanding their predicament, Wen Ran quickly resolved it. A drying tower? He had built water storage towers; a few drying towers were no challenge. As long as he had gold coins, he could acquire anything from the mall.

Upon learning the detailed construction process for a drying tower, Wen Ran found it too cumbersome. The parts alone would cost a fortune, and a self-assembled version wouldn't be as good as a pre-built one. It was better to just buy it. However, the drying tower was quite expensive, and he was reluctant to simply give it to the zebra tribe. He also wanted his own Beast City tribe to use it, as the prolonged rainy season wasn't just affecting the zebra tribe's grass; their collected wheat, fruits, and vegetables were also difficult to dry and preserve.

Upon hearing this, the zebra tribe deliberated and eventually decided to join the Beast City tribe, becoming one people. This way, everyone could conveniently use the drying tower. Wen Ran thought it was an excellent idea. And just like that, the Beast City tribe expanded further, and its territory grew larger.

...

After the zebra tribe settled in Beast City, Wen Ran resumed his annual tradition of trading at the Wanxiang City tribal market. The market, always bustling with beastmen, invariably brought him pleasant surprises. Some foods unavailable in their territory were abundant in other regions.

At the market, they also encountered beastmen from the brown bear tribe. This time, it was Xiong Lei, the new Chief, leading them. The old Chief trusted him implicitly.

This was Hu Di's first year accompanying Wen Ran and Lang Zhi on their expedition. Wen Ran had initially hesitated to bring him, as he was newly adult and somewhat impulsive. But after several years of training as a guard captain, Hu Di had matured considerably. It was time for him to gain real-world experience and meet beastmen from other tribes.

Unexpectedly, this seemingly ordinary outing led to Hu Di catching Xiong Lei's eye, forever altering his sexual orientation.

Xiong Lei's gaze was fixed on Hu Di, and he murmured in astonishment, "What a beautiful beastman! A tri-colored fox, a goddess among foxes!"

Hu Di: "..." Even if his fur had three colors, making him a tri-colored fox, he was still male. What the hell was a "tri-colored goddess"?!

Xiong Lei continued to call Hu Di his "tri-colored goddess," which made Hu Di scowl and call him a lunatic, his fox face twisting in anger as he insisted he was male!

Xiong Lei didn't mind Hu Di's cursing. In fact, a look of pure bliss spread across his bear face, as if being cursed by his "goddess" only made him happier. He doggedly followed at Hu Di's heels.

Hu Di shuddered in disgust, rubbing the goosebumps on his arms. This male beastman from the brown bear tribe was clearly deranged—enjoying being scolded, feeling more pleased the more he was yelled at, his expression growing increasingly blissful.

This went on for over half a month. Even when Wen Ran and the others were preparing to return to their tribe, the bulky brown bear beastman continued to follow him.

Hu Di pouted unhappily, "Can you stop following me? With all those muscles, isn't there something better you could do? Stop lurking around like some rogue beastman trying to corner people! I'm a male!"

"Exactly, I like males!"

Hu Di: "..."

Wen Ran, munching on sunflower seeds, was here for the drama. "Oho, a forced play scenario!" He loved it! More, please!

Hu Di: "..."

Embarrassing! So damn embarrassing! And he had to lose face in front of the Chief!

Flustered and furious, Hu Di rushed forward and tightly covered Xiong Lei's mouth. The latter looked at him triumphantly, bearing his teeth in a wide grin at Hu Di's embarrassed and angry expression, which made Hu Di so angry he saw stars.

Seeing Hu Di's determined "I'll-show-them-I'm-not-a-coward" look, Wen Ran knew Hu Di was about to unleash his big move. Sure enough, Hu Di removed his hand from Xiong Lei's mouth, crossed his arms, and looked down at him disdainfully, saying darkly, "If you keep following me, I'll kill you!"

He thought this would scare Xiong Lei off, but instead, Xiong Lei's eyes lit up even brighter, as if this had hit some strange nerve. Immediately, he pressed his large paw against Hu Di's spine, kissing and licking him.

Hu Di, a weaker beastman, was completely immobilized by the bear beastman's absolute strength, his entire fox face flushing red with heat.

"Let me go! I haven't finished speaking!" Hu Di struggled to push Xiong Lei's face away, gritting his teeth. "If you don't let go, I'll ask our Chief to deal with you!"

Xiong Lei reluctantly released him, licking his paw while staring at Hu Di, which made Hu Di's skin crawl. In desperation, Hu Di blurted, "If you keep following me like this, do you want to form a cave with me?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Forming a cave is fine, but we're from different tribes. I can't go to your tribe! If you insist on forming a cave with me, then you have to join our Beast City tribe. Will you join? If you join, swear to the Beast God that you'll never betray us or leave. Then I'll form a cave with you immediately!"

Hu Di thought to himself, as a Chief of his tribe, how could Xiong Lei possibly join another tribe? That would be betraying the brown bear tribe.

To his surprise, the words were barely out of his mouth when Xiong Lei looked up at him, both shocked and ecstatic. "There's such a good thing?! I'll join! Right now! I, Xiong Lei, swear to the Beast God that I, Xiong Lei, will lead the brown bear tribe to voluntarily join the Beast City tribe, willingly follow the lead of Wen Ran, Chief of Beast City. If I break this oath, may I freeze to death in the Snow Season, drown in the Rainy Season, and die of thirst in the Dry Season!"

Hu Di: "..."

Wen Ran: "..."

Looking at Hu Di's thunderstruck expression, Wen Ran couldn't bear to watch. It was his fault for bringing the young one out too late—Hu Di hadn't seen enough of the world to realize how desirable their Beast City tribe was in the eyes of other tribes.

By now, every tribe knew how good life was in Beast City. Many longed to join, and some females and Lesser Females from other tribes even cooked up schemes to deceive their male orcs into forming caves with them. By having a few cubs, they could permanently stay in Beast City, enjoying a worry-free life of food, clothing, and safety.

Among them, the cub of Cat Tooth and Hu Lai was one of the victims. Completely spellbound by a female from another tribe, whenever he saw anything good in Cat Tooth and Hu Lai's cave, he'd haul it off to that female. Cat Tooth and Hu Lai were so angry they could grind their fangs to dust, but what could they do? Their cub was a willing participant.

However, since the oath had been made, and beastmen held the Beast God in reverence, never joking about such matters, Xiong Lei and Hu Di formed a cave together.

From then on, besides Lang Zhi, Xiong Lei became the second most powerful fighter in Beast City. He could single-handedly lift a tree trunk so thick it would take over a dozen people to embrace it, and he could knock out a Tiger Beast with one punch—the real deal when it came to brute strength. Moreover, the beastmen of the brown bear tribe were all strong beastmen, with many females and Lesser Females. Their joining strengthened the tribe's combat capabilities, and the females and Lesser Females helped balance the previously male-dominated population. However you looked at it, it was a win!

Xiong Lei even competed with Lang Zhi to see who was stronger. Although Xiong Lei was stronger, Lang Zhi was more agile and nimble. In the end, Xiong Lei fell slightly short, but through this competition, he was utterly in awe of Lang Zhi. Male orcs were like that—they respected strength. If you were stronger, they would follow you.

Hu Di proudly flicked his tail. "See? I told you our tribe's wolf beastmen are stronger! You? Not good enough. You're just a little brother~"

Having spent so much time with Wen Ran, Hu Di had picked up all sorts of cheeky phrases. "You're just a little brother" was something Wen Ran had told him was a term of contempt, and it fit this bulky bear perfectly.

Gazing at his delighted tri-colored goddess fox, Xiong Lei, who had adored tri-colored beastmen since birth, looked at him with profound intensity.

Seeing the sudden depth in Xiong Lei's eyes, Hu Di panicked and tried to cover his rear and flee, but he was caught by his slender waist, thrown over a shoulder, and carried back to the cave with a swagger amid everyone's catcalls and whoops.

Humiliated beyond measure, Hu Di flailed his claws wildly, beating the foolish bear while screaming, "Ahhh! Let me down!"

"Pervert, you stupid bear! Let me go! Ahhh, what nerve did I hit this time?! Ahhh, let me go! It's broad daylight and it's not even mating season—why are you in heat every single day?!"

"I want you to have my cubs!"

"!!!"

"Are you insane?! I'm a male orc, how the hell am I supposed to give birth?! Ahhh, let me go, you're gonna break my ass!"

...

Hu Di didn't leave the den for several days. When he finally emerged, he was radiating a strong male orc scent. Every beastman who passed by exchanged knowing looks and smiled.

Hu Di, easily embarrassed, retreated back into the den and launched into a flurry of clawing and biting at Xiong Lei—only to be pinned down on the kang and thoroughly taken care of once more. His cheeks were flushed, his fox eyes glistening, still lost in the aftermath... Xiong Lei covered his bare shoulders with a fur pelt, then left the den contentedly to go hunting. In high spirits, he even greeted Lang Zhi, who, seeing his thoroughly satisfied expression, returned an equally knowing and content smile.

Wen Ran, holding his sore lower back, made his way to Hu Di's den. As he walked, he cursed the big wolf in his mind for becoming more and more inhuman, pressing and bullying him relentlessly—his legs were so weak he felt like he could do the splits.

Wen Ran had come to ask Hu Di how he truly felt about Xiong Lei. If Hu Di was genuinely unwilling, even though Xiong Lei had sworn to the Beast God, Wen Ran could help resolve the situation and prevent Xiong Lei from forcing him. After all, his soul was from modern society, where free love was advocated—coercion was unacceptable.

But seeing Hu Di lying on the kang, eyes shimmering, acting shy and speechless after what happened—this was far from unwilling. He was clearly very willing and satisfied, but too proud to admit it, putting up a tough front.

Wen Ran smiled in understanding.

...

And so, Beast City encompassed four major tribes: the Sand Cat Tribe, the Black Wolf Tribe, the Zebra Tribe, and the Brown Bear Tribe. The number of beastmen surpassed that of Wanxiang City for the first time, making it the largest tribe in the beast world. It was also the first powerful, multi-tribal autonomous tribe, with ever-expanding territories, a growing city, and increasingly lush farmlands. The beastmen's lives kept getting better and better.

This prosperous beast world was finally as Wen Ran had wished.

[The End]