Chapter 155

Chapter 155

“I’m not hurt!” Xue Tuan shouted immediately as Chong Yan turned around—volunteering his status to avoid distracting him.

“Roar—!” The colossal black lion unleashed a furious roar, his patience with the venomous beasts all but exhausted.

Those nearby who heard the roar suddenly slowed their crawl, as if struck by an invisible force.

“I can’t take it anymore! They stink!” Sha Hu was convinced the stench would kill him before the beasts did!

Sha Hu and Xiao Shu, standing close together, coordinated to clear the venomous beasts encircling them—yet more kept swarming in.

“Will they ever stop?!” Xiao Shu’s razor-sharp claws cleaved a foolish beast—dumb enough to leap—clean in half!

These venomous creatures were even dumber than ordinary animals. As long as one avoided being bitten, they posed little real threat—except for their sheer numbers!

This isn’t working…

Xue Tuan, who had been observing from the treetop, swiftly sheathed his arrows and slung his bow across his back.

He turned and nimbly climbed higher. Once high enough, he finally spotted the source of the swarm!

“Chong Yan!” Xue Tuan fired an arrow to guide the black lion. “Over there!”

Hundreds of meters away—a cave. That was the nest!

The giant black lion didn’t hesitate. He surged forward in the direction the arrow vanished, sweeping aside every venomous beast blocking his path.

Hui Qiong and Zheng noticed Chong Yan’s movement and followed closely, dispatching the beasts drawn to him with single, decisive strikes.

Feng Yan grasped Chong Yan’s intent. He ordered Er Hu and San Hu to fill the gap, then rushed over himself to eliminate beasts obstructing the lion’s advance.

Feng Yan: “Leave this area to us!”

The black lion didn’t reply. He’d already spotted the nest—the base of a massive tree split open like a gaping maw, precisely where the venomous beasts emerged!

The tree was thick and sturdy, half its root system buried underground, the other half a tangled knot above.

Without pause, the black lion first severed all visible roots with his sharp claws. Then, ignoring everything else, he slammed his massive paws against the trunk. His forelimb muscles bulged; his hind legs dug deep into the earth—and with a tremendous heave, he uprooted the entire colossal tree!

Dirt exploded everywhere, fully exposing the venomous beast nest! With all his might, the black lion hurled the uprooted tree—flattening an entire line of beasts instantly.

“Leave this to us!” Hui Qiong and Zheng lunged forward together, slaughtering beasts emerging from the nest to buy Chong Yan time.

Meanwhile, the black lion stood to the side, driving his claws deep into the ground. With a thunderous roar, he ripped up enormous clods of earth and hurled them at the cave entrance—sealing the nest airtight!

Then he heaved a massive boulder from a nearby hillside. With a ground-shaking *CRASH*, the colossal rock landed squarely atop the sealed nest! Now, the venomous beasts could only suffocate inside.

“Success!” Seeing Chong Yan destroy the nest, Xue Tuan’s face lit up with joy. He’d worried his arrows wouldn’t reach—but it was done. *That’s my mighty, peerless big black lion!*

Feng Yan had been monitoring Chong Yan’s progress. At his success, he shouted, “The nest is destroyed! Everyone—stay vigilant! Eliminate every remaining venomous beast!”

“Roger!” The beastmen roared back, spirits soaring! Without the nest replenishing them, the venomous beasts could no longer wear down the beastmen. Victory was within reach!

After destroying the nest, Chong Yan rushed back to rejoin the group in battle.

“Amazing, Chong Yan!”

“Chong Yan—well done!”

Even before returning to Xue Tuan’s tree, he was hailed and praised by beastmen along the way. Calm and composed, Chong Yan merely nodded in acknowledgment.

All he wanted was to get back to Xue Tuan’s side quickly. With the endless waves gone, the black lion fought with even greater ease.

Xue Tuan remained perched in the tree, seizing the chance to fire another arrow—helping his companions pick off stragglers—while staying alert, ensuring no rogue beast slipped past his guard again.

Fortunately, these venomous spider-beasts couldn’t spin webs. Without their overwhelming numbers, they weren’t so difficult to handle.

In just a short while, the remaining venomous beasts were wiped out by the beastmen.

Xue Tuan climbed down. First, he gave the big black lion his customary hug, patted his head, and whispered quiet praise into his ear—telling him he’d done exceptionally well.

The black lion nuzzled his large, furry head against Xue Tuan, eyes gleaming as if he’d received his most cherished reward.

Feng Yan gave the beastmen no time to catch their breath. “Anyone injured? Check your gear—we need to leave this place *now*!”

Moreover, the stench from the countless dead venomous beasts was utterly unbearable. Every beastman was eager to flee.

Sha Hu hoisted his pack—and casually grabbed Xiao Shu’s too: “Whew—exhausted, but *so* satisfying!” During past training expeditions, he’d never encountered so many venomous beasts. But fighting alongside everyone? Absolutely fantastic!

Xue Tuan walked over, checking each companion one by one: “Was anyone bitten?” He held out the “antidote blocks”—formulated by the Priests’ wisdom, effective against various poisons.

Xiao Shu spun around for inspection: “Don’t worry—we’re all fine!”

Sha Hu even thumped his own chest twice to prove he was unharmed.

Xue Tuan nodded, skipping over the already-checked Chong Yan, and moved on to examine the others.

Fortunately, only three beastmen bore bite wounds on their arms. Xue Tuan administered the antidote blocks—immediately improving their complexions.

“Thank you, Junior Priest!”

Xue Tuan waved it off, then went to check on Feng Yan, Hui Qiong, and the rest.

These individuals truly lived up to their reputation as powerful, battle-hardened beastmen—not only unscathed, but already breathing steadily again.

“Little one—how are you?” Seeing Xue Tuan approach, Hui Qiong stepped forward, patting him all over to confirm he wasn’t hurt.

“I’m perfectly fine.” Xue Tuan replied, glancing deliberately toward Feng Yan.

Feng Yan nodded and affectionately patted his beloved child’s head. Feeling unusually shy, Xue Tuan took A’fu’s hand and casually mentioned how he’d dealt with a sneaky venomous beast.

Seeing was believing. Witnessing firsthand that Xue Tuan possessed sound self-preservation instincts—and hadn’t been injured while with the group—Feng Yan was completely reassured.

The group reformed their ranks. Shifting into their Beast Forms, they sprinted out of the venom-contaminated mud and raced forward at full speed.

This time, they didn’t stop. Finally, before sunset, they burst out of the jungle. Only a stretch of barren land now lay between them and the salt lake.

Sha Hu flopped onto the ground, panting: “Now we can rest, right?”

Xiao Shu strode over to the packs and began rummaging: “Tents aren’t even set up yet—what rest?”

Xue Tuan smiled, watching the two bicker. Meanwhile, Chong Yan had already retrieved all necessary tent components.

The tent parts were likely the bulkiest items in their entire gear loadout.

Without modern technology, rapidly erecting a practical tent in the wild meant pre-fabricating the frame, disassembling it, and carrying it—all in advance.

Fortunately, everyone was beastfolk rather than ordinary people; otherwise, such tents would only become a burden.

After discussions between Xue Tuan and the elders, the Mountain Water Tribe designed the tent frames to be collapsible, similar to the opening and closing of an umbrella.

The drawback, naturally, was that the larger the tent, the bulkier and heavier the frame was to carry.

Faced with this drawback, if Zhong Yan had to choose, he still opted for a tent large enough to accommodate his Beast Form.

Watching Zhong Yan set up the large conical frame, Sha Hu tsked in disbelief, muttering under his breath, "Such a grown man still prefers sleeping in his Beast Form, tsk."

Zhong Yan paid no mind. He was already working with Xue Tuan, each grabbing one side of the "canvas" to slide the central hole over the top of the frame.

The "canvas" was made of animal hide cut to fit the frame's shape. Aside from the pungent smell of the tung oil mixture, it was extremely sturdy and durable.

Originally, Father had wanted to sew in an additional fluffy lining, but Xue Tuan stopped him, not wanting Father to tire himself out.

Next, Xue Tuan and Zhong Yan used specially made wooden wedges to secure the canvas to the frame, making it fit more snugly.

Finally, they just needed to stake down the bottom edges. Since the corners were already reinforced, Xue Tuan handed over the hardwood stakes, and Zhong Yan drove them in with his bare hands, making a hammer unnecessary.

"Done!" Xue Tuan clapped his hands. Now they could haul their gear inside the tent.

He turned and saw that Xiao Shu and the others hadn't finished setting up theirs yet, so he wanted to go help, but Xiao Shu stopped him: "No need, no need! We'll be done soon!"

Xue Tuan stopped in his tracks and didn't push it. "Then we'll start the fire first. Once you two are done, join us for dinner."

"Okay!" Xiao Shu responded, then hurried to find the missing wooden wedges and worked with Sha Hu to fasten the canvas again.

Their tent was located in the very center of the camp. Xue Tuan ran to find Father and Grandfather, wanting to invite them to join for the meal, but they declined, saying they "still had things to talk over," and told him to eat first.

Xue Tuan pouted. He didn't care; he'd just have Zhong Yan deliver the food to them once it was ready.

Knowing everyone was tired and hungry, Xue Tuan made a quick "hodgepodge stew," cooking as much as possible and distributing it to the beastfolk who hadn't gotten a fire going yet, so they wouldn't have to go through the trouble.

It wasn't until late at night that Xue Tuan finished with all the chores. He had originally wanted to go listen to what Father and the others were discussing, planning to rest his eyes for just a moment before getting up, but once he closed his eyes, he fell into a deep sleep.

When Zhong Yan returned, he found Xue Tuan already fast asleep. Inside the tent, only the lit lantern cast a soft glow.

Outside, the temperature difference was significant; the temperature had dropped sharply, and the occasional howl of the cold wind could be heard.

The tent, crafted after numerous experiments by the beastfolk, stood firmly in the wasteland.

Zhong Yan pulled the nearby cotton quilt over Xue Tuan, then transformed into his Beast Form, contentedly curling his entire body around Xue Tuan.

Xue Tuan's cheek pressed against the thick fur, and he snuggled into it comfortably.

Perhaps because he had grown accustomed to it since childhood, he didn't find the fur itchy at all.

The black lion's tail, as usual, deftly wrapped around Xue Tuan's exposed wrist.

Even when Xue Tuan turned over in his sleep, the tail didn't hinder his movements at all, as if it were part of his hand.

Xue Tuan's hand unconsciously grasped his favorite furry companion, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Gazing motionlessly at Xue Tuan's peaceful sleeping face, the black lion's bright eyes finally closed as well.

He rested his massive head beside Xue Tuan's cheek, as if this brought him great comfort. Gradually, his breathing steadied, and he drifted into sleep.

Inside the tent, it was extremely quiet, with only two warm breaths keeping each other company, their breaths intertwining.

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Author's Note: Thanks for the paw prints [head pats].