Chapter 134

Chapter 134

That evening, the leader of the Rockball Sparrows and the people of the Mountain Water Tribe discussed until late into the night before departing. Even so, A Rong and A Ying were still full of energy. After being on the run for so long, they didn't seem tired at all at this moment.

At Rong Shan's words, A Rong and A Ying bid farewell to everyone and left. Neither of them transformed into their Beast Forms. A Rong held the fire striker Feng Yan had given him, and by its faint light, he and A Ying walked shoulder to shoulder, leisurely making their way toward the back mountain.

Neither of them spoke, quietly taking in the scenery along the path. This would be their new home from now on.

At this thought, their hearts, which had just calmed down, began to race again. Both of them had a gut feeling: joining the Mountain Water Tribe was definitely the right move for their clan.

That night, the Rockball Sparrows could finally sleep soundly.

The night passed, and the sweltering hot season that had annoyed the beastmen finally began to fade. There was finally a bit of temperature difference between morning and evening, no longer oppressively hot all day long.

The withered plants of the hot season sprang back to life. Overnight dew had condensed into tiny droplets on the leaves. As a gentle breeze blew, the trembling droplets reflected the first rays of morning light.

When the first wolf howl signaling the time echoed through the tribe, the beastmen began a new day.

"Xue Tuan—time to get up—"

Early in the morning, the clamor of kits sounded outside the arctic fox family's cave. A series of footsteps followed closely, nearly colliding with Feng Yan, Rong Shan, and Bing Qiu who were about to leave.

"Hello, Chief!"

"Good morning, Brother Bing Qiu!"

The kits hastily stopped in their tracks, standing properly to greet them, playing the part of "well-behaved kits."

"Hello to you too." Rong Shan smiled, knowing they had come to play with Xue Tuan again, and didn't stop them.

Once the adults left, the kits excitedly rushed into the cave in a noisy rush—they could go play with Little Snow Fox!

"Xue Tuan—"

However, as soon as they ran in, they saw a black figure firmly squatting in front of the bamboo bed, motionless.

Sha Hu: "Ah, it's you again..."

Hearing the noise, the little black lion turned his head, glanced at the kits by way of greeting.

"Heh heh, you came so early, Zhong Yan." Xiao Shu forced a dry laugh. Today, as soon as they heard the wolf howl, they had gotten ready as fast as they could and ran to find Xue Tuan, yet they were still late?

Seeing the little black lion turn his attention back without a word, the kits quickly gathered around too.

On the bamboo bed, a light linen quilt was slightly puffed up, with a small, white, fluffy figure curled up inside. A soft, fluffy tail was exposed, its tip occasionally twitching gently.

As if infected, the kits also sat down one by one around the bamboo bed. The entire cave became extremely quiet; no one wanted to make a sound and disturb Little Snow Fox's sweet dream.

After who knows how long, Little Snow Fox's ears twitched. Then, on instinct, he stretched out his front paws, his tail lifting as well. He was finally awake.

As soon as Little Snow Fox opened his eyes, he found his bed surrounded by little kits, all craning their necks to look at him. What was going on? Why was he being watched?

Little Snow Fox's eyes still held a hazy, watery gleam; having just woken up, he looked both dazed and adorable.

Le Le propped his chin on his hands, his eyes shining as he looked at the awakened Little Snow Fox: "Xue Tuan, you're awake?"

The Ringtailed Marten kit and the little pink bear kit also shuffled forward two steps, getting closer. They watched Little Snow Fox's adorably bewildered expression, wanting to observe his just-woken-up appearance up close.

Sha Hu stood up, hands on hips, and said loudly: "Great, Xue Tuan's awake, we can all go out together now!"

"Hmm...?" Little Snow Fox's ears twitched twice as he climbed out of bed, looking somewhat confused at the little black lion who had already come to his side.

The little black lion lifted a front paw onto the edge of the bed, letting Little Snow Fox steady himself to jump onto his back: "Today the tribe is going to gather chestnuts."

Oh right, gathering chestnuts!

The chestnuts on the back mountain were ripe. Pu Ying had led a team of beastmen to harvest them. How could the kits miss such excitement? Naturally, they wanted to participate actively.

The early autumn wind blew gently through the forest, rustling the leaves. The chestnut trees on the hillside were laden with round, green, spiky balls. To the uninformed, it might look like little hedgehogs had climbed the trees.

Before even reaching their destination, the kits heard "thump, thump" sounds coming from the woods. The adults who had arrived before them had already started working.

"Let's hurry." The red fox cub couldn't wait any longer, quickly darting toward the source of the sound.

The kits, some carrying bamboo baskets, others with linen bags, all quickened their pace and excitedly ran over.

"Xue Tuan, look! So many chestnuts!" The kits looked up at the trees, their shouts echoing through the woods.

The adults not far away laughed upon hearing them. They held long bamboo poles, knocking against the high branches of the chestnut trees. With each strike, leaves and branches rustled, and spiky balls fell to the ground.

"Don't just shout. Be careful when the spiky balls fall later," Pu Ying reminded the kits with a smile.

"Don't worry, Dad! We'll be careful!" Xiao Shu said, already going to help pick up the spiky balls. Everyone knew the spines could prick, so unless the shell was already wide open, they shouldn't try to peel them barehanded.

Xiao Shu trotted over, skillfully stepping on one of the spiky balls. With a "crack," the spiky shell split open a seam. Xiao Shu bent down, using two thin bamboo chopsticks to pry open both sides of the shell, revealing the chestnut inside.

"Look how fast I peeled it!" Xiao Shu proudly held up the few chestnuts he had collected, happily saying to the other kits.

Under the sunlight, the chestnuts' brown shells appeared glossy and plump, looking very fresh.

"Just you wait, we haven't even started yet." With that, Sha Hu, carrying a small bamboo basket, ran off to find other spiky balls. He first gathered all the spiky balls he could see into a pile, then planned to peel them one by one slowly.

"Heh heh, this pile is mine, don't you come snatch it!" Sha Hu finally used his brain a bit, knowing to claim the spiky balls first to avoid the quick-handed ones peeling them all.

Seeing Sha Hu's method wasn't bad, the other kits copied it directly, starting to grab spiky balls first. They were going to compete to see who could peel the most chestnuts!

For a moment, the woods became a chaotic scene, filled with the lively sounds of kits scrambling for spiky balls.

"Hahaha, I'm faster! Move aside!"

"I saw it first! It's mine!"

Just then, everyone suddenly heard the sound of flapping wings. Little Snow Fox turned his head and saw several Rockball Sparrows flying toward them.

However, as they drew near, the Rockball Sparrows landed on a tree about ten meters away.

The Rockball Sparrows' hearing must be quite good. They probably heard the commotion here, so a few flew over to see what was happening.

For the timid Rockball Sparrows, this was already quite remarkable. Usually, they wouldn't have such curiosity.

These few Rockball Sparrows had come over only after encouragement from their chieftains.

Actually, they themselves knew they should interact more with the beastmen of the Mountain Water Tribe. So, Xiao Jian led a few clansmen to fly over this way.

"Do you think... they want to eat chestnuts?" After landing on a tree he deemed close enough to the beastmen, Xiao Jian asked his companion in a hushed, almost furtive tone.

"Definitely. Didn't you see those spiky balls?" another Rockball Sparrow whispered back.

Little Cocoon: "Then, should we go over and help them?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Little Cocoon curled himself into a ball.

"G-go, go, go?" The Rockball Sparrow stammered suddenly at the thought of approaching beastfolk from another tribe.

The few Rockball Sparrows spent a long time chattering and psyching themselves up, while the tribespeople of the Mountain Water Tribe had long assumed they were just there to watch and had gone back to their own tasks.

Unexpectedly, after a while, the Rockball Sparrows suddenly flew over toward them.

After flying over, the Rockball Sparrows each landed on branches laden with spiky chestnut burrs. With a casual peck from their unique beaks, the burrs went *thud* and fell to the ground.

They moved swiftly and precisely from branch to branch, quickly pecking down all the burrs from this chestnut tree.

In just a few moments, having finished the job, the Rockball Sparrows flew off as one, heading back toward their temporary base as if fleeing from some ferocious beast.

"Thank you—!" Seeing the adorable Rockball Sparrow people silently do a good deed and leave without a word, the cubs quickly shouted in unison.

The Rockball Sparrows wobbled in their flight, flapping their wings even faster.

Watching their round, fleeing forms, the little snow fox silently hoped in his heart that they could adapt to life in the Mountain Water Tribe soon, and that their Human Forms could also become as healthy as their Beast Forms.

As the burrs fell one after another, the cubs resumed their friendly scramble, swarming to gather the burrs into piles, inexplicably competing to see who could build the highest pile...

The little snow fox shook his head, leisurely sitting on the little black lion's back, thinking: *Don't be in such a hurry, the little black lion is about to unleash a big move too.*

"Tuantuan, stand farther away," the little black lion said, glancing back at the little snow fox on his back.

"No problem," said the little snow fox, leaping down from the little black lion's back. He turned and ran to a spot a bit farther away to watch.

The little black lion stood silently under a chestnut tree, placed his front paw on the trunk, took a deep breath, and then suddenly began to exert force.

In an instant, the entire tree trembled, its leaves rustling loudly. Birds in the tree were startled into flapping away.

The next moment, a shower of burrs came raining down, bouncing all over the ground.

"Whoa, it's raining burrs, run!" the cubs screamed, scattering in all directions.

The little black lion: ...

The little black lion withdrew his front leg and coughed dryly twice. The imagined scene of cubs scrambling for the burrs didn't happen right away.

"Hahaha!" The little black lion's awkward and disappointed expression successfully made the little snow fox laugh so hard he nearly fell over. The cubs weren't actually foolish; faced with such a dense downpour of burrs, running for cover was definitely the wise choice.

However, having witnessed the entire "burr rain," the little snow fox couldn't help but want to lift his front paws and applaud for the little black lion. It was yet another exhilarating display of raw power; the little black lion was just too useful.

The chestnut trees in the Beast World were different from ordinary ones—tall and sturdy. Most beastfolk didn't want to bother shaking the trees in their Beast Forms, thinking using bamboo poles to knock down the chestnuts was plenty fast.

Yet, after seeing the black lion cub's method, the beastfolk could only feel admiration: ...respect.

Of course, after the burr rain stopped, the cubs all sprang into action, quickly starting to divide up all the fallen chestnut burrs.

"Zhong Yan! Give us a heads-up next time!"

"Yeah, yeah, let us be prepared!"

"But still, thanks! Hahaha, so many burrs!"

The cubs cheered, all applauding for the "Mighty Little Black Lion," each promising they wouldn't miss a single burr!

The little snow fox's front paws were also wrapped in beast hide, so he could help the cubs gather the burrs together.

With just a few more rounds of "burr rain," they could finish work early today with baskets full of chestnuts.

The morning passed, and the little snow fox announced today's results: "No one won today, let's try again next time!"

The scene later had indeed become quite chaotic, making it truly hard to determine a winner. The cubs all happily agreed with this outcome.

The little snow fox continued, "Everyone, put the partially filled ones together." He directed everyone to pour the contents of the baskets that were only half-full into one, which could be carried back to the tribe by the Mighty Little Black Lion.

The cubs all wanted to hurry back and eat fresh chestnuts, so they obediently chorused, "Okay!"

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

-----------------------