As soon as everyone cleaned up the new house, Qi Bai walked in, leading a sheep and quacking ducks.
Several kids were already sitting on the kang, stretching their necks to smell the aroma of the mutton soup in the pot. They all jumped off the kang when they saw Qi Bai coming over with Chuan Chuan and the ducks.
Bao Xing even hugged Chuan Chuan’s neck directly. “Brother Bao Bai, why did you bring Chuan Chuan and the ducks here?”
In the newly built brick house, besides the young children, only Shu Lin and a ew others could stay to take care of the children who hadn’t transformed into human form yet.
Everyone else still needed to go back to the cave to rest, but this time, Qi Bai gave everyone a very detailed escape tutorial. Even if an earthquake occurred again, the beastmen’s agility and hearing meant they should all be able to escape safely.
However, Qi Bai had to consider the safety of Chuan Chuan and the ducks. After all, no matter how smart they were, they were still wild beasts that couldn’t communicate properly. In order to ensure their safety, Qi Bai applied to let Chuan Chuan and the ducks live in the new house temporarily.
Qi Bai smiled. “Isn’t it good to let them be your companions?”
“Good!”
”Great!”
The children happily gathered around when they heard this. The beastmen children who just arrived at the tribe even secretly touched Chuan Chuan and the ducks.
As the beastmen children grew up, they rarely encountered wild beasts that were close to beastmen. So everyone was very curious when they saw Chuan Chuan and the ducks.
“Baa~”
Chuan Chuan had long been accustomed to such scenes and was very respectful. He would occasionally lower his head and rub the children’s faces with his nose.
Qi Bai smiled and walked to Hu Xue and She Li, holding out two green duck eggs. “There are only these two. Cook them and give them to Xiong Shan’s group of four.”
Hu Xue held the eggs in both hands and asked in surprise, “Where did you get the duck eggs?”
Qi Bai pointed to the three gray ducks that held their necks high and said proudly, “These are the eggs laid by the ducks.”
This was the first time the ducks laid eggs. The only pity was that one of the eggs was broken during the earthquake.
But it didn’t matter. After the first time, there would be more eggs in the future. Qi Bai’s poultry farming was truly on the right track.
On the side, Shu Lin said quickly, “Then we can’t eat these eggs. We have to keep them to hatch more ducklings.”
Shu Lin had helped Qi Bai hatch eggs before, so he knew that these ducks were born from eggs.
Qi Bai smiled and said, “Don’t worry about eating them. These eggs won’t hatch ducklings.”
Shu Lin was puzzled. “Why?”
“Um.” Qi Bai considered his words before saying, “Ducks are the same as us beastmen. It is only when two ducks of different genders live together that they can give birth to children. My three ducks are all female. The eggs they lay alone can’t hatch ducklings.”
Shu Lin, who was always confused about other things, unexpectedly understood the meaning immediately. He said meaningfully, “In other words, ducks also need to mate.”
Hu Xue placed the two eggs that Qi Bai gave her next to the stove, and bumped Shu Lin’s shoulder with a wicked smile. “He is still young. How can he know about mating?”
After saying this, the two of them looked Qi Bai up and down. Then they looked at each other and burst out laughing again.
She Li also came over and sniffed hard around Qi Bai, asking, “Bao Bai is almost an adult, right?”
Qi Bai was so shocked by She Li’s actions that he almost jumped up. No, how could she tell if he was an adult or not just by smelling him?
Zhu Zhu, who was passing by, patted She Li hard. “Don’t learn blindly from her. Only partners can smell this scent. You will know it when you have a partner.”
Hu Xue smiled. “You look like this, are you tired of Ma Ling and want to find a new partner during the courtship season?”
“There are quite a few good new beastmen in the tribe. It isn’t impossible to consider them.” She Li pretended to think deeply. Then she turned to look at Qi Bai. “But don’t worry, I won’t compete with you for them.”
Qi Bai’s face was full of embarrassment. He had discovered that once winter came, the only thing on the beastmen’s minds besides eating was probably ‘sleeping.’
Everyone had a very open and frank attitude toward this.
It wasn’t difficult to understand. After all, in such a harsh living environment, continuing the bloodline and multiplying the race might be the most noble mission in the subconscious of every beastmen.
Late at night, the figure lying on the bamboo bed tossed and turned.
The heat from his lower abdomen quickly spread to his limbs, the itching sensation behind him was impossible to ignore.
Qi Bai threw away the animal skin blanket covering his body and looked up at the ceiling with a look of despair.
Why was it that every time he thought he had completely accepted the outrageous settings of this world, the god of transmigration always gave him a blow on the head, letting him know that he was still too young.
Would this sub-beastman’s estrus period ever end?
He was clearly analyzing Lang Ze’s possible current location, but as he was thinking, his body started to deviate.
He really blamed others wrongly. With such a state, it was no wonder that their minds were filled with such things in winter.
Qi Bai wanted to cry but had no tears. He used his feet to pull up the animal skin that he had just thrown away. He covered his head with it and stretched his hands behind him…
The life of the tribe went back on track.
The earthquake that everyone feared didn’t happen again, but the atmosphere of the tribe was tense.
The salt-seeking team, which was originally supposed to return to the tribe three days ago, still had no news. In this time of sudden disaster, it was hard not to think too much.
“Ouch, Bao Bai, your hand!”
Qi Bai lowered his head in confusion, only to see that his hand was cut by a bone knife. Streams of blood oozed out of the wound, mixing with the red juice on the stone slab.
Qi Bai threw down the fruit in his hand and put his finger into his mouth. IT wasn’t until he tasted the faint flavor of blood that he realized it was a bit painful.
She Li poured the red fruits beside Qi Bai into his rattan basket and said, “Don’t cut the red fruits. It is too scary to watch you…”
Before she could finish her words, she quickly grabbed Shu Lin’s arm. Shu Lin had almost thrown away the flesh and put the core on the winnowing basket.
Seeing this, Yang Luo tapped the two people on the back with his bear bone staff and said, “Can you do it? If not, leave quickly and don’t waste the things here.”
The two of them nodded absentmindedly. Yang Luo sighed secretly and had to turn around and leave.
Hou Yan, who was waiting in front of Yang Luo’ cave, looked at Qi Bai and Shu Lin in the distance. He consoled Yang Luo, “Lang Ze and Xiong Feng are both in the salt-seeking team. Don’t blame them for being anxious.”
Yang Luo glanced at him. “Shu Lin is anxious about his partner Xiong Feng, so I can understand. But Bao Bai and Lang Ze haven’t formed a partnership yet.”
Hou Yan shook his head. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Qi Bai and Lang Ze were destined to be together, but Yang Luo was the only one who was denying it.
Hou Yan changed the subject and asked, “What about the Xishui Tribe?”
Yang Luo had just gone to see Qi Bai about the matter of the Xishui Tribe.
After all, according to the agreement made in spring, the Xishui Tribe should exchange salt with the Black Mountain Tribe after the hunting season ended.
Now, not only the salt-seeking team but also the Xishui Tribe’s arrival time had been delayed.
Yang Luo sighed and waved his hand. “Forget it. We can’t even take care of ourselves now. Whatever happens with the Xishui Tribe, we should just follow the arrangement of the Beast God.”
The animal skin boots made a crunching sound as they stepped on the snow, which was particularly loud in the silent night.
Xi Zhou, who was on night duty, poked his head out of the observation tower and saw Qi Bai slowly walking in the snow. “Bao Bai, why are you here?”
Qi Bai smiled at him, “I couldn’t sleep, so I came to take a look.”
Xi Zhou wanted to say something, but was pulled by the person next to him. Then Hu Qiao’s head popped out. “Okay, do you want to come to the lookout? We have a fire here, so it will be warmer.”
Qi Bai shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll just take a look and will be back soon.”
Hu Qiao nodded. “Okay, just be careful.”
Xi Zhou frowned. “Why did you stop me?”
Hu Qiao shook his head. “You won’t understand this type of emotion.”
Then he lowered his head dejectedly. To be honest, he was a bit envious of Lang Ze. If he had known earlier, he would’ve gone out with the salt-seeking team. It would’ve been better than seeing Quan Nan worried about Lang Ji.
The two were in the lookout, watching the beastman climb up the wall and silently look at the flat snow surface in the distance.
The snowflakes fell on his white hair, making it difficult to tell the thickness of the snow on his head.
It wasn’t until late at night that the sub-beastmen shook off the snow on his body and turned to walk toward his cave.
Hu Qiao said to Qi Bai’s back, “Bao Bai, just wait in the tribe. As soon as we see Lang Ze, we will go back and inform you.”
Qi Bai paused before saying, “Okay.”
Having said that, it was the eighth day after the earthquake and the fifth day after the date the salt-seeking team was supposed to return.
Qi Bai no longer had the patience to wait.
Qi Bai filled the rattan basket with food from the cave. However, when he was carrying the rattan basket down the mountain, Shu Lin stopped him and asked, “Where are you going?”
Qi Bai said, “It is hard to find prey these days. I’m afraid they don’t have enough food. I want to go and give them some food.”
Qi Bai didn’t specify who ‘they’ were but he believed that Shu Lin would be able to understand.
Just when Qi Bai wanted to persuade Shu Lin not to stop him, he saw Shu Lin turn around and carry an animal skin bag from the cave. “Let’s go. We will go together.”
Qi Bai looked at Shu Lin’s serious little round face. He never expected that Shu Lin, who had always been living in everyday life without caring about anything, would have a day when he was so resolute and decisive.
Just then, a short whistle came from the lookout on the wall.
Like a thunderclap, it exploded in the tribe in an instant.
This wasn’t the whistle of tribe members returning.
It was the whistle of a stranger approaching.
Qi Bai and Shu Lin looked at each other, threw away the rattan baskets on their backs and hurriedly ran toward the wall.
Yang Luo and Hou Yan also ran out of the cave in a panic. “What’s going on? What’s going on?”
Xi Zhou said anxiously, “A large group of beastmen are approaching.”
As the two were talking, Qi Bai had already climbed up the observation tower and saw a team of nearly a hundred beastmen slowly marching in the snow at the foot of the Black Mountain. They were heading toward the Black Mountain Tribe.
“It is the Xishui Tribe and the Xiaoniu Tribe!” Hu Qiao exclaimed. “How did they get together?”
Hu Qiao had dealt with the Xiaoniu Tribe before and immediately recognized the identity of the visitor.
However, the familiar beastmen didn’t dispel everyone’s doubts.
“Even if it is the salt exchange teams from the Xishui and Xiaoniu Tribes, there can’t be so many people,” Hou Yan said in a deep voice. “I’ll take the hunting team to negotiate with them first.”
He turned his head and glanced at Yang Luo, who immediately understood and nodded.
If this team wanted to take the opportunity to attack the Black Mountain Tribe, they definitely wouldn’t just wait for death.
“No, the Xishui Tribe and the Xiaoniu Tribe know our strength. They can’t attack the Black Mountain Tribe now. Grandpa Priest, I’ll go with you and take a look.”
After Qi Bai finished speaking, without waiting for Yang Luo’s consent, he jumped off the wall and followed closely behind Hou Yan’s team.
After approaching the group, Qi Bai confirmed the guess in his heart.
He saw that all the horned beastmen were carrying worn out animal skin packages.
Under the animal skins, there were worn-out stone tools hung with straw ropes, which made clanging sounds as the horned beastmen walked.
In addition, behind these horned beastmen, there was a group of sub-beastmen covered in tattered animal skins, who were cowering as they looked at the Black Mountain people in front of them.
This group of people with their family didn’t look like an attacking army at all, but like refugees fleeing for their lives.
However, before the two sides could say a word, a gray shadow rushed between the two groups.
Hou Yan and Qi Bai were both shocked to see Lang Ji. As a member of the salt-seeking team, Lang Ji wasn’t with the other team members at this time. Instead, he rushed back to the tribe in such a hurry. Everyone had a bad feeling in their hearts.
Sure enough, the next moment, Lang Ji turned into human form and shouted hoarsely, “Barbarian bulls, barbarian bulls are heading toward the tribe!”
As if to confirm Lang Ji’s words, a rumbling sound like thunder was heard in the distance. The gravel on the ground underfoot was shaken.
Everything indicated that danger was coming.
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