Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Xue Tuan, having lived deep in the mountains in his past life, had modest material demands. He didn't expect to instantly transform the tribe into a modern society; that would be far too challenging. If they could gradually achieve ancient-era living standards, he would consider it a great success.

Yun Lu affirmed, "Yes, I believe so too. The tribe undoubtedly has a promising future."

He had been uncharacteristically emotional today, but the thorn that had festered in his heart for over a decade was finally removed. Yun Lu felt reborn.

Composing himself, Yun Lu gently asked Xue Tuan, "Xue Tuan, would you like to rest for a while?" Yun Lu believed that deciphering the Beast God's stone slabs must be mentally taxing, and the little cub looked so frail—he mustn't be overworked.

"Okay," Xue Tuan replied. He, however, felt that Uncle Yun Lu was the one who needed rest; such intense emotional fluctuations were not conducive to good health.

Yun Lu carefully set aside the stone slab Xue Tuan had finished interpreting.

"I heard from your father that you only drink hot water. Let me fetch you a cup."

Yun Lu now understood that the little cub from the arctic fox family was indeed a precious treasure and needed exceptional care. So, he personally went to check if there was any freshly boiled water.

"Thank you, Uncle," Xue Tuan responded obediently, quite content to relax for a while. It would be even better if he had a fluffy companion to cuddle and knead at that moment.

Interpreting the stone slabs, of course, didn't demand much mental effort from him, but being alone here was a bit lonely.

He had initially assumed the High Priest's teachings would be highly secretive, with no outsiders allowed. But now that he and Uncle Yun Lu had opened up to each other, surely it would be acceptable to ask for a little assistant?

Most of the cubs were still being "tormented" by toothbrushes at Elder Grandpa's place. His older brother, Bing Qiu, had likely left with their father after dropping him off. That left the little black lion as the obvious choice.

The little black lion was a natural heater, and in this chilly cave with insufficient charcoal, Xue Tuan desperately needed one.

So, when Yun Lu returned with a cup of hot water, Xue Tuan asked, "Uncle Yun Lu, could Zhong Yan come over?"

Gazing into Xue Tuan's bright, wide eyes, Yun Lu's heart softened, and he couldn't bring himself to refuse. Still, he inquired, "Why do you want him?"

Xue Tuan pondered for a moment before admitting, "He can warm my hands."

Yun Lu was taken aback, never having expected such a reason. But then he remembered that Xue Tuan couldn't transform into his beast form, making his cold resistance naturally weaker than other cubs. Understanding dawned, and with a touch of sympathy, he said, "No problem, I'll call him over right away."

Yun Lu knew Xue Tuan and Zhong Yan were very close. As the elder's cub, Zhong Yan was a sensible and well-behaved child. There was no need for special instructions when calling him over.

Indeed, no special instructions were needed; Zhong Yan was more than eager to be by Xue Tuan's side.

While the other cubs enthusiastically crafted toothbrushes, the little black lion could only assist Elder Grandpa by handing him tools.

He had grown accustomed to helping his grandfather since childhood, knowing what tool his grandfather would need next with just a glance.

So, while the little black lion was physically beside the elder, his mind began to wander. If only he could play with Xue Tuan as usual...

The elder glanced at the little black lion, noticed his absent-mindedness, and chuckled softly. "Come here. Didn't you ask me for something last time?"

Mu Shi rummaged through the table and pulled out a claw-sized stone flake, handing it to the little black lion.

Upon hearing this, the little black lion finally snapped back to attention, looking at the grinding tool before him.

"Your claws can't grip it properly. Let me tie it for you with a thin vine rope." This was the elder's last resort, as the cub was determined to grind it himself despite warnings.

"I can only give you a small leftover piece of material," Mu Shi said, handing him a thumb-sized piece of beast horn. "You already know how to grind things, right?"

Having spent so much time with the elder, the little black lion had picked up a bit of everything.

"Thank you, Grandpa!" The little black lion looked at the grinding tool tied to his claw, wiggling uncomfortably. He would need some time to adapt.

Just as the little black lion had one claw pressing down on the material and the other getting used to grinding in this position, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"Zhong Yan! The High Priest is calling for you!" A beastman delivered the message and hurried off, likely just passing by.

The little black lion immediately jumped down from the stool. The High Priest was calling him? The only reason he could think of was that Little Dumpling was there!

Seeing his excitement, the elder simply said, "Go ahead. You can continue another time."

"Okay." Before the word was fully out of his mouth, the little black lion had already dashed out of the cave.

When Xue Tuan heard the sound of animal footsteps approaching the cave, he knew his fluffy companion had arrived. Xue Tuan thought he should invite more companions in the future—being alone here was too lonely.

"Zhong Yan!"

Xue Tuan hugged the little black lion as he rushed over, his eyes crinkling with joy.

"Tuan Tuan!" The little black lion didn't know why he was called here, but he felt that as long as he could be by Xue Tuan's side, it was enough.

The arrival of the little black lion seemed to energize Xue Tuan, whose mood visibly lifted.

Yun Lu thought to himself, "Cubs really do need to be pampered."

Yun Lu also realized that Xue Tuan preferred to be with the other cubs. Interpreting the stone slabs was something only Xue Tuan could do for now, so Yun Lu wanted to create an environment that Xue Tuan would enjoy.

Let the little one rest for a while. Yun Lu left the space to the cubs and went to find Tree Clothing and the others to help continue sewing fur clothing.

The little black lion was clearly a clean cub. His fur was fluffy and soft, making it extremely comfortable to lie on.

Xue Tuan sniffed the air. "Did you bathe with soapberries?" They both carried a faint scent of plants, similar to the soapberries they had picked.

"Mm," the little black lion replied, wagging his tail happily.

The previous day, all the cubs had taken soapberries home. When they bathed that evening, they went wild with excitement because the soapberries produced lots of bubbles in the water, and the cubs had a blast.

If it weren't for the inconvenience of constantly heating water for baths during the cold season, and their families pulling their ears while scolding them, the cubs would have played for even longer.

Remembering the sounds of the cubs' playful laughter from the previous night, Xue Tuan couldn't help but smile.

Xue Tuan leaned against the little black lion, stroking his fur while chatting with him. But before he could relax for long, Yun Lu suddenly returned: "By the way, Xue Tuan, did the Beast God mention how we should transport the ice after we break it from the river?"

At that moment, several beastmen from the Mountain Water Tribe were standing by the riverbank.

Every beastman knew that ice would melt when temperatures rose, and once the cold season ended, the ice would disappear.

So when Deputy Chief Rong Shan relayed the message, the beastmen were stunned.

"Can it really be stored? I find it hard to believe..."

"If we can store it, we’ll have ice to use during the hot season."

Rong Shan said calmly, "This is what Xue Tuan learned from interpreting the Beast God’s stone slabs."

"Oh! So that’s how it is!" With that, no one had any further objections.

"Xue Tuan must truly be sent by the Beast God, right?" The tribe members chuckled cheerfully, feeling incredibly fortunate.

The Beast God’s messenger is right here in our own tribe! It gives us even more hope for the future!

Feng Yan and Rong Shan watched the beastmen before them, realizing that everyone had already accepted Xue Tuan's identity in their hearts and welcomed him gladly.

They hadn't misjudged the people of the tribe after all. There was no need for them to worry so much anymore. Clearly, no one saw Xue Tuan as a monster—instead, they liked him very much.

"Should we hurry and get started now?" the leopard beastman asked.

An Tu: "Yes, yes, let's get to work, Chief." They couldn't wait any longer. Having ice to cool down in the hot season—it sounded unbelievable, but in their tribe, it was about to become reality.

The Cold Season was more than halfway over, and the time for the ice to melt was approaching. This was their last chance to store ice. There wasn't enough time to dig a new cellar, so Shi Hu was put in charge of directing the other beastmen to renovate one of the deepest caves in the tribe.

The beastmen gathered by the ice river, holding various tools—some had sturdy stone axes, others sharpened animal bones.

Using beast form wasn't suitable at this point. Beast form would violently shatter the ice, not only breaking it into unusable pieces but also causing waste.

"I'll begin now."

Several strong beastmen spread out and began chopping at the ice surface with stone axes. Their movements were steady and powerful, the sharp cracking of ice echoing through the air.

Soon, a proper block of ice was cut out—longer than an adult's arm, crystal clear.

As soon as the ice block was freed, two beastmen stepped forward and worked together to carry it to the riverbank.

"Be careful, don't fall into the ice river." When the first block of ice was successfully cut out, Feng Yan reminded everyone to watch their footing.

"Don't worry, Chief, we know what we're doing." Big Tiger responded loudly. He and his brothers might not be as skilled at chopping as the others, but carrying things was no problem for them.

They got the hang of it. The beastmen became more and more adept at chipping ice, and soon more and more ice blocks piled up on the bank. But then they hit a snag.

Transporting the ice blocks was the most troublesome part of the process.

Originally, they planned to wrap the ice in animal hides and carry it back to the cave. But the cold from the ice easily penetrated the hides and froze their hands. The beastmen's hands turned red from the cold, and they couldn't carry the ice for long—it was very inefficient.

Transforming into beast form didn't help either—it was just too cold, and many beastmen couldn't stand it. Forcing themselves to carry the ice might make them sick after just a few trips.

It was at this moment that Yun Lu arrived with Xue Tuan. The beastmen following them carried many wooden strips.

"High Priest! You're here!"

"Yes, we knew you'd have trouble moving the ice, so we came as quickly as possible."

Under Yun Lu's guidance, everyone began making transport tools. Of course, he had also learned this from Xue Tuan's interpretation of the Beast God Stone Slab, but as the Priest, he was conveying the instructions.

Bing Qiu had been fishing with Hui Hui further down the river. When he saw the Little Black Lion carrying Xue Tuan over, he finished up his work and headed their way.

"Did you come up with a good solution?" Bing Qiu had originally wanted to help transport the ice, but it was too cold for his hands, so his father sent him back to fish. His fishing team already had several beastmen, and together they had opened a few more holes in the ice further down.

Hui Hui spotted Xue Tuan and flapped his wings, flying into his embrace. Xue Tuan held out his hands, letting Hui Hui snuggle in his arms. Hui Hui had grown quite a bit recently and was noticeably heavier.

"Yes, we have an idea." Xue Tuan watched as they planned to create a basic sled.

How simple? They went to Elder Grandpa and brought back suitable wooden slats and vines.

First, they placed two long wooden slats parallel as runners, spaced at an appropriate distance.

Then, following Yun Lu's instructions, the beastmen used shorter wooden slats as connectors, placing them horizontally across the front, middle, and back of the long slats, securing them firmly with vine ropes.

That was the basic shape of the sled. Additionally, they laid a layer of dry grass on top to reduce wear on the ice.

There wasn't time to reinforce the sides for protection, so they decided that one person would transform into beast form to pull the sled from the front, while another would stay in human form at the back to prevent the ice from tipping over.

Once the simple sled was ready, two beastmen tested it first.

An Tu volunteered, transforming into a sun bear; Big Tiger, who was fast on his feet, stayed in human form to protect the ice from behind.

"I'm setting off!" The sun bear bit down on the vine tow rope, leaned forward, dug in with its claws, and ran forward with force.

At first, the sled slid slowly over the snow, but as they reached a downhill slope, it picked up speed.

"Whoo-hoo!" An Tu let out a roar from his throat, racing ahead excitedly.

"Wait, wait, slow down!" Big Tiger's legs pumped wildly, his arms waving as he tried to keep up.

The other beastmen transformed into their beast forms and chased after them, following along to watch the excitement.

"You're almost at the cave, stop!"

The sun bear came to an abrupt halt, stopping steadily at the cave entrance. Big Tiger panted heavily behind, almost passing out from exhaustion.

"My turn, my turn!"

"Let me try next!"

The adult beastmen who had chased after them acted like cubs seeing a new toy, all eager to be the next "sled puller."

An Tu ignored them and ran back to report the results: "Ha ha! Chief! Priest! This method is fantastic! It works!"