Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The speaker was Yun Lu, the tribe’s priest.

As soon as the priest spoke, the onlookers couldn’t help but interject:

“We can’t even hunt enough food for ourselves; how can we spare any for you?”

This remark stirred up a hornet’s nest, and other Beastmen eagerly joined in:

“Exactly, we don’t have enough to eat ourselves.”

“You should try your luck elsewhere.”

Even those who remained silent grumbled inwardly: This family doesn’t look like they’ve ever known hardship—who knows how much food and resources they’d consume.

Those standing closer to Elder Mushi offered their advice, mostly opposing the idea of taking in more people at such a time, fearing these outsiders would deplete their already scarce food supply.

The Deputy Chief, standing to the elder’s left, had a cross-shaped scar on his face. He stood with arms crossed, observing coldly, offering no opinion, as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

Mushi raised a hand, and the murmurs in the crowd gradually subsided. He sighed inwardly, then shook his head, saying, “As the cold season sets in, our tribe’s food reserves are dwindling. It’s difficult to feed a few more mouths…”

Feng Yan replied, “We can hunt for ourselves and are willing to contribute a portion of our food to the tribe.”

Hearing Feng Yan’s bold claim, the tribespeople stared at them in disbelief, momentarily speechless.

Ignoring their incredulous gazes, Feng Yan calmly addressed the elder: “We only ask for a place to stay.”

In fact, Feng Yan and Rong Shan still carried some dried meat. They had hunted and stored food along their journey to sustain themselves until now.

If it were just him and Rong Shan, Feng Yan wouldn’t mind living as nomads. But with two children, he and Rong Shan sought a relatively stable place for a temporary respite. They planned to wait out the cold season before making further arrangements.

However, the crowd began murmuring again, and the arguments grew increasingly heated. Even with Feng Yan’s offer, the other Beastmen remained skeptical. Who knew if he was just making empty promises to secure a place to stay?

Yet, on the Beastman continent, there was an unwritten rule: regardless of a tribe’s size, traveling Beastmen should be welcomed.

Especially those with strong abilities—tribes would often seek to befriend them unconditionally. Traveling Beastmen typically brought news from different regions, and some even served as messengers or traders for other tribes.

Offending one meant offending all. If traveling Beastmen ceased their visits in the future, it would undoubtedly be a loss for the tribe.

Their tribe hadn’t seen any traveling Beastmen in a long time, and many had likely forgotten this custom.

Moreover, since the other party had made such an offer, an outright refusal would seem heartless and would harm the tribe’s reputation.

The elder looked at the family before him, his thoughts a jumble, and remained silent for a moment.

Then, he raised his hand again, signaling for quiet. He glanced at the Deputy Chief and Priest on either side, and seeing that neither offered further objections, he said:

“We have an empty thatched hut here. If you can truly provide for yourselves, you may stay. But if you become a burden to the tribe, we will have to ask you to leave.”

His words made it clear that they wouldn’t be allowed to stay for free and that they would be expelled if they failed to keep their promise.

Sure enough, after Mushi spoke, the objections quieted, and the crowd gradually dispersed.

Feng Yan looked at Rong Shan, who gave a slight nod, and said, “Alright, thank you.”

Mushi then assigned a young Sub-Beastman who lived near the thatched hut to guide the arctic fox family to their new home.

“Hello, I’m Qing Miao. Follow me,” said the young Sub-Beastman, who, unlike the other reluctant Beastmen, was very enthusiastic and wore a faint smile. He appeared to be around the same age as Bing Qiu.

Qing Miao had a cheerful personality and filled them in on the tribe’s situation as they walked.

Their tribe comprised Beastmen of various races. The elder was the tribe’s first chief and had served for decades. Even in the current chief’s absence, many Beastmen still respected his authority.

The tribe had always been small and had moved around frequently before settling in this location over a decade ago.

The thatched hut assigned to the arctic fox family had been vacated when its previous residents left the tribe.

Qing Miao chattered away as he led Feng Yan and the others to the edge of the tribe, but his eyes secretly observed the cub held in Rong Shan’s arms.

So cute.

That was Qing Miao’s first thought. Although there were cubs in the tribe, most were mischievous and often dirty, whether in Beast Form or human form.

Unlike this little human-form cub, who was pale and soft. Qing Miao couldn’t help but want to pinch his cheeks.

As if sensing his gaze, the cub’s round eyes turned toward him, and then his eyes curved into crescents.

The little cub was smiling at him!

The cub’s eyes were like stars in the night sky—clear and bright. Qing Miao’s heart melted, and he unconsciously raised his hand toward the cub, wanting to touch him.

“Are we almost there?” Bing Qiu suddenly asked.

Qing Miao snapped back to reality, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks. He quickly redirected his outstretched hand, pointing ahead and saying, “It’s right over there.”

Everyone followed Qing Miao’s finger to a run-down thatched hut. The roof had a hole, and the thatch was sparse, leaving only a thin layer.

Looking at the hut, Qing Miao felt a bit awkward. He couldn’t help but feel that it was a bit mismatched for this group of well-dressed and dignified Beastmen to live in such a place.

But Feng Yan and the others showed no signs of disdain. Instead, they thanked Qing Miao.

This made Qing Miao even more embarrassed. He waved his hands and said, “No need to be polite. I live diagonally across from you, so we’re practically neighbors. If you need anything, feel free to come find me.” With that, Qing Miao went home—his younger brother was waiting for him.

Left alone, the arctic fox family calmly faced the somewhat rundown thatched hut.

They had slept rough on their journey—what kind of place hadn’t they stayed in before?

Finally having a stable place to rest, Feng Yan and Rong Shan let out sighs of relief.

Feng Yan unloaded their packs, glanced at his eldest son, and said to Rong Shan, “Let’s go cut some new wood.”

“Be careful,” Rong Shan replied as he took their luggage. He also needed to clean up the inside of the hut.

The dried meat they had brought with them would last another two days, so they could focus on setting up their living space first. The tribe likely wouldn’t expect them to start contributing food immediately—hunting could wait another day.

After handing his bundle to his father, Bing Qiu walked over to his younger brother and pinched his cheeks. “Xue Tuan, be good and stay with Father. Brother will go find something fun for you.”

He often did this—while helping his father with chores, he would look for interesting things to bring back for his brother. In Bing Qiu’s mind, even unusual-looking rocks or unfamiliar plants could bring joy to his brother.

“Okay,” Xue Tuan replied in his childlike voice.

Then he turned his little head, freeing his face from his brother’s grasp, and waved his hand as if to say, “Go on, Brother.”

Feng Yan and Rong Shan both smiled at the exchange.

By now, the whole family knew that Xue Tuan was becoming more and more lively, often initiating conversation on his own. Everyone was delighted and always loved to coax him to talk more.

Bing Qiu crouched down, gave his little brother a tight hug, and flicked the forehead of the little bird perched on Xue Tuan’s shoulder.

The bird knew this was a signal that it could go find food, so it fluttered its wings and flew onto Bing Qiu’s head.

Xue Tuan had named the bird Gray. Gray was clever and could find food on its own; sometimes it would even bring some back for Xue Tuan, as if knowing Xue Tuan was a cub that needed feeding.

Watching his father and brother leave, Xue Tuan turned his attention to the thatched hut in front of him.

The hut had indeed been abandoned for a long time and looked like it could collapse at any moment. It seemed just one more strong wind or heavy rain would leave nothing standing.

No wonder his father and Dad wanted to shore up this hut first.

Xue Tuan peeked inside. The space wasn’t large, with two worn-out wicker baskets piled in the corner, a few weathered stone slabs, and even a tool that looked like a stone sickle.

“Good boy, how about you stay here and watch Daddy tidy up the house?” Rong Shan took out a small wooden stool from the luggage and placed it under a withered tree not far from the hut, motioning for Xue Tuan to sit there and rest.

Cleaning the hut would stir up a lot of dust and strong odors, and Rong Shan didn’t want the cub to be bothered by it.

Seeing the cub nod obediently, Rong Shan affectionately ruffled the cub’s soft hair and gave him a piece of jerky to nibble on.

Rong Shan thought that if he worked quickly, his family might at least be able to move into this little hut by tonight.

Inside the hut was a broom made of large leaves, which could be used to sweep the place clean first.

Rong Shan was deft, and the hut wasn’t large, so he soon had it tidied up. The tribe usually stored dried grass, so Rong Shan asked Qing Miao to take him to the elder to get some. After spreading clean dried grass and animal hides on the floor, it could serve as bedding.

Xue Tuan never doubted the arctic fox family’s capability. Compared to the clothing and lifestyle of this small tribe, his family indeed had better means.

His Dad was clever and skillful, often crafting custom-made little items for him—small wooden stools, bowls, and spoons were no trouble at all. His spare small bowl even had a simple yet lifelike fox head carved on it, and the ivory decorations they wore were also made by his Dad.

Xue Tuan held a piece of jerky that was almost as big as his face but very thin, chewing it slowly, his cheeks puffing out with each chew.

His body had actually recovered quite well. From initially being unable to eat meat, to slowly being able to consume well-stewed lean meat, and now being able to eat thin dried meat—each step was proof of his progress.

He pondered how to gradually improve his family’s life. For now, their cooking methods were limited to simple roasting and boiling, with little variety.

As Xue Tuan was lost in thought, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black figure out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw a… little black lion?

Xue Tuan’s eyes instantly lit up—something fluffy!