Chapter 137

Chapter 137

"Hahahaha."

"Ahem, all right, I'll stop laughing." The little snow fox, knowing he was in the wrong, quickly pushed the water cup in front of Bing Qiu. His voice was naturally prone to being hoarse and rough during this period, and his throat got dry easily too.

"Drink more water." The little snow fox said ingratiatingly. It was just a voice change period, after all. It had caused him to worry for nothing for several days.

But after laughing, the little snow fox suddenly became worried again. Once Bing Qiu's voice change period was over, he would enter the sub-adult stage. After the sub-adult stage, he would have a gigantic Beast Form. Just thinking about it was impressive, and he suddenly felt a pang of envy.

The little snow fox stretched out his paw and poked his brother's back. Seeing that Bing Qiu ignored him completely, the little snow fox turned to the little black lion and said, "Look at this person, so petty, not even letting people laugh."

The little black lion remained silent, just nodding repeatedly. The little snow fox felt something was off. He extended his paw and poked the little black lion's forehead: "What, are you learning to keep quiet too? Could it be that you're also in your voice change period? Haha."

The little snow fox's intention was just to tease the little black lion. Who would have thought the little black lion would actually nod seriously.

The little snow fox was baffled.

He looked at this little black lion in shock: "Huh? When did you enter your voice change period too? How come I didn't notice at all?"

It wasn't like they were together every single moment, but they at least saw each other every day. He actually hadn't noticed anything!

It was all this little black lion's fault! He was usually so taciturn. It turned out he'd been in his voice change period for days, and the fox had been completely unaware.

The little black lion looked at the little snow fox with an innocent expression. He was just afraid that this unpleasant voice would make Little Dumpling's ears uncomfortable. After all, he didn't like listening to it himself. This really couldn't be blamed on him, right?

"You two are really something." The little snow fox's paw poked the little black lion's forehead even harder, making his eyes droop.

Little snow fox: "What's the big deal? So you talk a little less. You don't have to go completely silent, right?" You two are even acting shy, the little snow fox silently grumbled in his heart.

And so, the little snow fox inexplicably grew angrier the more he thought about it. He simply lay down on the stone table, kicking out with his hind legs like a rabbit fighting off an eagle, and angrily kicked Bing Qiu's back repeatedly.

Bing Qiu "swished" around, a fierce expression on his face, raising his hands in an "eagle claw" pose above his head, and said to the little snow fox: "Think it's funny? I'll make you laugh!"

Seeing Bing Qiu's familiar gesture, the little snow fox quickly wriggled, intending to get up and run away.

"Want to run? Too late!" What Tuanzai feared most was being tickled. This time, Bing Qiu had grasped the little snow fox's weakness.

Bing Qiu held down the little snow fox and gave him a good tickling. Let's see you laugh at me!

"Hahaha, I don't dare anymore, I don't dare!" The little snow fox began to beg for mercy, his paws flailing wildly. "Haha, I'm going to extend my claws!"

The little black lion originally wanted to go up and stop Bing Qiu, but upon hearing the little snow fox's happy laughter, his movements halted.

The little snow fox's joyful laughter echoed in the cave, lifting the spirits of all the beastmen. The Junior Priest Lord's laughter was truly infectious.

Time passed swiftly amidst the younglings' cheerful play and laughter.

Autumn passed in the blink of an eye, and the Cold Season arrived.

The Puffbird Beastmen kept their promise, delivering all the cotton coats they had made in the last few days before the Cold Season set in.

With the addition of cotton coats, the beastmen of the Mountain Water Tribe were even more confident about surviving the Cold Season.

But the happiest among them was Xue Tuan. On the day the Cold Season began, he finally transformed back into his human form.

However, as soon as he changed back, he was caught by Rong Shan and bundled up layer upon layer with warm clothing, becoming that round little dumpling once again.

Xue Tuan's outfit was so round he could blend into the Rockball Sparrow tribe; they were all quite round anyway.

During this time, they received the final letter from Grandpa Hui Qiong. There was nothing new in the letter, but for the arctic fox family, this was good news, even if it meant Grandpa would continue wandering outside.

Furthermore, due to the low temperatures of the Cold Season, they unanimously agreed in their correspondence that Hui Hui should not continue delivering letters. Let Hui Hui stay safely with Grandpa through the Cold Season.

The beastmen who had gone to the Pink Bear Tribe also returned safely under Feng Yan's leadership. They would not leave the Mountain Water Tribe again until the Cold Season passed.

Now, during the Cold Season, an important activity for the Mountain Water Tribe was—ice storage.

Unlike before, digging ice cellars for storage was the Rockball Sparrows' area of expertise! Now everyone could confidently entrust this important task to them.

The Mountain Water Tribe unanimously agreed: with the Rockball Sparrows taking the lead and other beastmen assisting, everyone would work hard together for the tribe's "ice storage enterprise."

Having experienced the hellish heat of the previous season's natural disaster, the Rockball Sparrows were even more apprehensive, wishing they could quarry all the ice near the tribe.

Regarding the location of the ice cellar, the Rockball Sparrows were indeed more professional. They would first consider sites near the ice river for easier ice harvesting; then choose high ground with dry soil and shade, which helped avoid groundwater and rainwater seepage, extending the ice cellar's lifespan.

Next, the ice cellar needed to be dug deep enough. Otherwise, it couldn't effectively utilize the earth's own constant temperature to "insulate" the ice.

Another important point was that a drainage channel had to be set up inside the ice cellar. This was to prevent meltwater from having nowhere to go as the ice naturally melted during storage.

If this meltwater continuously soaked inside the ice cellar, the consequences were predictable. Other ice blocks would be affected, eventually making it difficult to preserve all the ice.

For insulation, the Mountain Water Tribe's straw could come in handy. It was best to line the interior completely, as still air could more easily form an effective insulating layer.

It could be said the Rock Sparrows were indeed experienced and had considered everything very thoroughly; all that was left was execution.

With the Rockball Sparrows responsible for digging the ice cellar, the Mountain Water Tribe's beastmen naturally focused on harvesting ice properly. Everyone had clear divisions of labor and performed their respective duties. They wouldn't have to fear the Hot Season next year!

Towards the end of the Cold Season, the Mountain Water Tribe welcomed the festival they had agreed to celebrate long ago—the New Year celebration.

On this day, the chief ordered that all tribe members could rest for a day.

No matter how much you were thinking about your work, or whether your tasks were finished, the entire Mountain Water Tribe seemed to have been put on pause.

Most beastmen chose to sleep soundly the whole day, free of any burdens. The beastmen in their dreams thought hazily, so after being busy for a whole year, this one day without work was actually quite enjoyable...

The younglings were different. They were almost the group with the most stable routine in the tribe. Sleeping during the day was impossible, but playing could continue.

Snowball fights, building snowmen—they played these every day, yet never seemed to tire of them.

During the day, Priest Yun Lu led some beastmen in a worship ceremony, praying for the Beast God to continue blessing them.

Among them was Junior Priest Xue Tuan. Xue Tuan, somewhat bewildered, was led by Yun Lu through the entire process. He felt like he had just participated in a mysterious ritual; it was very novel.

When night fell, the awakened beastmen discovered that red lanterns had been hung everywhere in the tribe at some unknown time.

These were made long ago during a heavy snowstorm when everyone was hiding in the caves, requiring considerable effort. Looking back now, their hands that wove the bamboo strips still ached faintly with the memory.

Not only that, they had also used up all the red pigment that Ah Lan from the Browneared Leopard Tribe had stockpiled for years.

If it weren't for Chief A Li comforting Ah Lan, promising to send people to help him collect more mineral pigments, the elderly Ah Lan might have performed a demonstration of "an adult beastman's explosive crying" that day.

Now they understood: the lanterns were saved for use on New Year's Day.

Strings of red lanterns hung under tree branches and beside cave entrances. When the cold wind blew, the lanterns swayed gently, like clusters of dancing flames, warming the entire tribe's night scene with their glow.

Everyone finally felt the festive atmosphere of the New Year; joy was everywhere. As the night deepened, it became even livelier. Countless delicious dishes were served, one plate after another, without interruption.

And the Browneared Leopard Tribe contributed their new product—sweet fermented rice. Ever since their salt usage was "regulated," these easy-to-please folks turned their attention to studying how to brew alcohol. Before the wine was fully brewed, hot fermented glutinous rice made its way to the table first.

During the bleak, cold season, they ate warm food while the burning charcoal nearby continuously radiated comforting heat. On the distant snowy ground, the firelight of the Mountain Water Tribe shone as bright as daylight.

Every beastman's face was lit up with joy. In their hearts, they silently prayed to the Beast God: We don't ask for much. Just let our Mountain Water Tribe have another good year.

After a day of play, Xue Tuan was already exhausted, curling up drowsily in his father's arms. And at the very end of the day, Bing Qiu once again quietly and stealthily plucked a strand of white fur from Xue Tuan.

He had secretly done this several times before. He was hesitating: should he tell his fathers about this? Had their little Tuanzai been too picky with food lately? Why was he always growing white fur?

The sleeping Xue Tuan remained oblivious. He drifted back into that dream of endless white. In the dream, he could almost make out a few more words of the conversation, but upon waking, he forgot everything once again.

Many of the young cubs born this year were named "Qiu" (Autumn). Beastmen believed that autumn represented harvest, meaning the tribe could live another year without worrying about food or clothes.

With the arrival of the Beginning of Spring, all things stirred. This year's spring seemed a bit warmer, and spring wheat and rapeseed were ready for harvest.

Beast fat was no longer sufficient. The rapeseed planted last autumn had now reached harvest time.

Rapeseed flowers bloomed all over the mountains and fields, a brilliant expanse of golden yellow. Moreover, after harvesting the rapeseed flowers, turning the soil once more allowed for planting peanuts—killing two birds with one stone.

Xue Tuan thought to himself that Grandpa Bai Xiang and the others could start pressing some rapeseed oil.

On this day, a crude wedge press stood in the open space before the cave.

The rapeseed to be pressed required some preparation first. After being stir-fried until fragrant in a wok, the rapeseed needed to be pounded finely, then steamed into a mash. The prepared material was poured into a wooden steamer, covered with a lid, and the steaming began.

The steamed mash was spread out on a bamboo mat, with several layers of straw laid underneath. Everyone worked deftly, scooping the material into iron rings and packing it firmly to form oil cakes.

"Pack it tightly, the tighter the better," Xue Tuan reminded, leaning against the little black lion.

Hearing this, the beastmen nodded one after another, indicating they understood. They had already learned the complete process beforehand, and now, putting it into practice, each of them felt both cautious and excited.

"Look at mine, isn't it solid enough?" Da Hu said proudly. Glancing at the cakes made by Er Hu and San Hu beside him, he felt his own was truly well-made.

Er Hu and San Hu didn't argue this time. They had to admit that Da Hu's oil cake indeed looked better.

This kind of 'packing-it-solid' work was naturally something the little black lion excelled at. Xue Tuan confidently let him go help as well.

As for the Three Marbled Polecat Brothers, they wisely avoided comparing their own oil cakes with those made by the little black lion, to avoid feeling inadequate.

Once the piles of oil cakes made by the beastmen were prepared, they were sent into the press chamber of the oil press. The press chamber consisted of thick wooden beams and a sturdy stone base. Each layer of oil cakes had to be separated by wooden pressing boards, stacked tightly layer upon layer.

The next step, "driving the wedge," was the crucial part—this determined how much oil the beastmen could extract.

Two burly beastmen stood on either side of the wedge, simultaneously swinging massive stone hammers.

"Bang! Bang!" The beastmen struck down again and again with fierce blows!

Xue Tuan could clearly hear that the initial impact sounds were relatively crisp, indicating the strikes weren't very solid yet. But gradually, the beastmen seemed to find their rhythm, and the sounds became duller.

Under immense pressure, the oil cakes were squeezed, and thread-like streams of oil began seeping from the wooden trough below.

"Oil! It's coming out!" a watching beastman couldn't help but shout out. But seeing the serious expressions on the others' faces, he quickly covered his mouth.

The initial oil was a turbid yellow mixed with foam. However, as more oil flowed out, gradually forming several thin streams, the color began to turn clear, bright, and golden.

At the very bottom of the press stood pottery jars to collect the pressed rapeseed oil. As time passed, the oil gathered in the jars grew increasingly abundant.

Even Xue Tuan couldn't help but smile. After several adjustments, the oil press was finally functioning properly.

It might still need some refinement, but compared to starting from scratch back then, this was tremendous progress!

When one of the small pottery jars was completely filled with oil, its shimmering surface was visible at a glance. For the first time, the beastmen thought: could an oil surface actually be as beautiful as a lake's?

All the beastmen couldn't hide the smiles on their faces. Smelling the faint fragrance of the oil, they had already begun imagining the scene of rapeseed oil being poured into a wok for stir-frying.

Elder Bai Xiang seemed quite satisfied with the press's performance. He nodded and instructed his subordinates, "Keep driving the wedge."

To avoid wasting even a bit of the oil cakes, the beastmen obeyed, once again lifting the stone hammers to strike the wooden wedge fiercely.

Only when the fine streams of oil gradually ceased, turning completely into drops, did Bai Xiang raise his hand and say, "Alright, that's enough."

"Excellent! Haha, excellent!" The beastmen cheered. With this oil, whether for cooking or for emergency use as lamp oil, they no longer had to worry about a shortage of beast fat!

The beastmen's laughter echoed through the tribe. It seemed even the wind carried the faint scent of oil, blowing toward every corner.

Author's Note: Thank you all for the nutrient solution [heart]

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Feels like writing a finale chapter, haha.