Chapter 108

Chapter 108

Zhong Yan led the little arctic fox toward the back mountain. Glancing down, he noticed the fox had that familiar look again—eyes staring blankly, completely silent.

He guessed the little fox was probably deep in thought again.

Zhong Yan ran his fingers through the fox's fluffy back, without disturbing him, and focused on leading the way.

Whether they were talking or not, he always enjoyed the time spent alone with the little fox.

While the fox was lost in thought, Zhong Yan was thinking too. Now that he had returned to his human form, tonight he could continue transcribing the little fox's "notebook."

The sun gradually sank westward, scattering light like shattered gold across the hillside, while the scents of various plants drifted in the warm breeze.

After a long silence, the little fox suddenly spoke up: "Let's go check over there."

Zhong Yan paused and looked in the direction the fox's paw was pointing.

Amid a patch of low grass grew clusters of small purplish-red flowers, with slender leaves underneath that had slightly fuzzy edges.

As Zhong Yan brought the fox closer, the fox could see more clearly: "Isn't this Prunella vulgaris?"

The little fox patted Zhong Yan's arm: "Let's pick one to take back." He could ask Uncle Yun Lu to send some people to dig up more, dry them, and brew them into a cooling tea to help beat the heat.

"Got it." Zhong Yan carefully plucked one of the plants and stored it in his bag.

He seemed to recall seeing this grass before. So, according to the little fox, it could be brewed into tea? Grandpa would probably like that.

The two continued forward. Passing by the silkworm room, the little fox recalled that it was about time for the silkworms to start spinning their cocoons.

However, he and Zhong Yan spotted a small figure crouching not far from the silkworm room, holding a wooden stick and seemingly digging in the soil.

Zhong Yan led the fox over, deliberately making their footsteps a bit heavier to avoid startling the child.

Hearing the sound, the young cub turned around. Seeing it was Xue Tuan and Zhong Yan, he listlessly greeted them.

The little fox looked closely and realized this cub was a friend of Brother Qing Miao. He remembered his name was Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei's fathers were the main people in charge of the plantation and the silkworm room.

During the cave meeting earlier, the little fox had seen them in the corner, though it hadn't been their turn to speak yet.

The little fox glanced at the small mound of soil Xiao Wei was tending to and asked, "Xiao Wei, what are you doing?"

Xiao Wei drooped his eyes, looking sad: "These silkworms didn't make it. I wanted to bury them." Meaning, the silkworms he was burying were the ones that hadn't survived.

Raising silkworms was never an easy task. The beastmen had little experience, so it was natural to face difficulties at the beginning.

The little fox hopped down from Zhong Yan's arms and walked over to Xiao Wei's side.

He raised his front paws, resting them on the cub's knees, and said, "It's okay. We'll learn from this experience and create a better environment for the silkworms, so they won't leave us so quickly next time."

"For example, when we feed them mulberry leaves, we must make sure they're completely dry after washing before giving them to the silkworms."

"They're very sensitive and don't adapt well to sudden temperature changes, so we need to be extra careful during daily care."

Xiao Wei wiped his eyes and nodded obediently: "Okay, thank you, Xue Tuan. I'll remember. When my fathers come back, I'll tell them."

Xiao Wei leaned his head forward, and the little fox raised a paw to pat his head, comforting him not to be sad.

The little fox said, "Zhong Yan and I will head off now. Bye-bye."

"Bye-bye, Xue Tuan." Xiao Wei waved vigorously as he bid farewell. Comforted by the little fox, his mood had improved a lot. He was determined to work hard and raise these silkworms well, hoping everyone could have silk to use sooner.

The young cubs of the Mountain Water Tribe were all very obedient and adorable. Every time the little fox saw these well-behaved cubs, he couldn't help but want to pet them.

In good spirits, the little fox was taken by Zhong Yan to the secret base. However, the moment he saw the empty space at the secret base, his mood immediately soured.

"What's going on?" the little fox murmured.

Zhong Yan was also surprised. He had long regarded the little fox as something like a reincarnation of the Beast God. Only the Beast God could make the lifeless soil of their beast world grow fresh plants.

The little fox had succeeded every single time before—how could he fail this time?

"Zhong Yan, dig up the soil and let me take a look," the little fox said.

Hearing this, Zhong Yan quickly dug up all the spots where seeds had been planted earlier.

The little fox clearly saw the seeds lying there completely unchanged, with no signs of sprouting.

This could only mean one thing: his special ability had failed.

For a moment, the little fox felt lost. Normally, his ability shouldn't have disappeared so quickly.

He lowered his head to look at his paws. Was it because he was currently in his Beast Form?

Or... was it related to the fever he had many days ago?

After that fever, although he hadn't been able to return to his human form, he could clearly feel that his body, mind, and soul had become more integrated into the beast world.

Perhaps that fever had caused his ability to disappear prematurely...

Seeing Little Dumpling standing there, silent for a long time, Zhong Yan understood that something must have gone wrong with the current situation.

For some reason, he suddenly and inexplicably remembered the story Uncle Li Xing had told—about that mysterious figure who appeared and disappeared suddenly, also seeming like a "reincarnation of the Beast God."

The little fox snapped back to reality and shook his head: "It's nothing."

After another long silence, the little fox finally said, "Let's go."

There was nothing they could do. He was just a little fox who couldn't transform. The only hope left was to wait until he could take human form again and try once more.

Zhong Yan led the little fox down the mountain. Seeing the fox still looking downcast, he racked his brains to come up with a topic to bring up.

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed something and said to the little fox, "Tuan Tuan, look over there—the sun is about to set."

Zhong Yan changed direction, taking the little fox to a more open area where they could watch the sunset.

He sat down cross-legged and began to admire the beautiful sunset with the little fox.

The setting sun dyed the mountain ridges with golden-red edges, and the clouds were illuminated a fiery red, like burning flames, deepening the colors of the sky in clusters.

The little fox stood on Zhong Yan's legs, gazing intently at the magnificent natural scenery in the distance. It seemed as if all the worries of the world had drifted away in that moment.

A small breeze blew behind them, and Zhong Yan instinctively hunched over, wrapping the little fox in his arms. Once night fell, the mountain winds would turn cold.

The little fox's mood improved slightly, and he said to Zhong Yan, "It's time to eat. Let's head back."

"Alright." Zhong Yan gave the arctic fox's head a couple of affectionate ruffles with his large hand, and in return, he received a few nuzzles from Little Dumpling.

Zhong Yan's brows relaxed as he continued walking down the mountain, saying, "Tuan Tuan, should we continue our copying tomorrow?"

Zhong Yan had already reverted to his human form and expressed his willingness to continue transcribing the arctic fox's "notebook."

The arctic fox happily replied, "Sure." He also thought it was feasible and decided to resume their morning copying routine.

When the two returned to the cave, the tribe's cooking fires were already lit, their smoke curling upward.

Various dishes were laid out on the table, and the arctic fox and Zhong Yan arrived just in time.

"Tuanzai, come here, sit over here." Bing Qiu beckoned, asking Zhong Yan to bring the arctic fox over.

The arctic fox was placed in his "cub seat," his eyes sparkling at the food on the table. Besides some freshwater catches, there were steaming hot rice crepes and mung bean and lily porridge.

With the onset of the hot season, the tribe had started cooking various porridges to beat the heat, and mung bean and lily porridge was just right. The mung beans were simmered until soft and creamy, while the lily petals remained pure white and clear. It tasted soft, glutinous, and refreshing, with a fragrant aroma that soothed the senses.

They were also drinking more porridge because rice and wheat were scarce.

The rice and wheat provided by the Browneared Leopard Tribe had to feed the entire tribe, so they only ate it every few days.

Everyone agreed with this distribution because there was still a long time until the fruit season. If they finished the remaining grains too quickly, it wouldn't just be a matter of going without for a day or two. No one wanted to spend the remaining days longing for rice and flour-based foods.

The crepes were thin pancakes made from glutinous rice and alfalfa. The glutinous rice was soaked in advance to make grinding easier. The tender alfalfa leaves were washed clean, chopped finely, and mixed into the rice batter. After thorough stirring, a pinch of salt was added, and they were then cooked like pancakes.

Those who wanted to add other ingredients could place them on top and roll them up. If not, they could simply roll them up and eat them, enjoying the fresh grassy aroma that felt like tasting summer itself.

Everyone had been very busy that day, and they all focused intently on enjoying the delicious meal. After dinner, they bid each other farewell and returned to their caves to rest, as there were many tasks awaiting the beastmen tomorrow.

They slept dreamlessly that night, and when they woke up the next day, the arctic fox and Zhong Yan resumed their daily copying routine.

However, the arctic fox made it harder on himself by wanting to add more illustrations to make things clearer and more understandable, though this significantly slowed down his progress.

With the addition of illustrations, Zhong Yan's transcription naturally became more challenging as well. Fortunately, he was very patient and stayed even-tempered.

The arctic fox had high hopes for Zhong Yan and often encouraged him, saying, "Keep writing well, you have great potential."

Zhong Yan was often praised so much by Little Dumpling that he felt shy, but he took it to heart and worked even harder.

Zhong Yan said, "By the way, Tuan Tuan, Grandpa wanted me to ask you what this page is all about." He flipped to one of the pages as he spoke.

"Grandpa? Can Grandpa understand it?" The arctic fox was greatly surprised and asked uncertainly.

"It was after I reverted to my Beast Form. One day, Grandpa saw me flipping through the transcribed book and asked me about it..." Zhong Yan explained. Later, it evolved into Grandpa often asking him to explain a page before he would go to sleep at night.

But Zhong Yan only gave simple summaries, as he didn't understand many of the characters or terms himself. Surprisingly, the two of them managed to chat about it despite their limited understanding.

They both knew this was content from the Beast God Stone Slab, which the arctic fox had simply recorded in advance. Therefore, unless it was necessary for the tribe to act on it, they wouldn't specifically trouble the arctic fox to explain everything all at once.

This led to a situation where, even though the workshop had many tasks to do every day, Elder Grandpa often felt a nagging curiosity and couldn't help but ask Zhong Yan to inquire about the content of a particular page.

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Author's Note: Thank you, treasures, for the nutrient solution [heart].