LSLFBW: Chapter 131

The sound of people talking came from afar. Qi Bai quickly put down the wooden stick he was holding, got up from the stove and went outside.

In the twilight, a group of people turned the corner in the midst of the fine snowflakes.

The white wolf dragged a dozen large bamboo poles by straw ropes, leading the way.

Beside him were two other people. They weren’t Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao, who had come to call them out earlier. Instead, they were Qi Bai and Lang Ze’s new neighbors, Tu Ruo and Quan Liu.

Tu Ruo was carrying several large, still steaming bamboo tubes. Upon seeing Qi Bai, he quickened his pace and said, “These are your food for tonight.”

Qi Bai took the bamboo tubes belonging to him and Lang Ze, thanked them and reminded them, “After tomorrow, the tribe will no longer prepare food for everyone. Understand?”

Tu Ruo nodded. “I understand.”

Qi Bai smiled and said, “Remember to collect your supplies at the tribe’s warehouse tomorrow morning. The tribe’s food is distributed every ten days. If you can’t remember which day it is, come to my house.”

Tu Ruo gripped the bamboo tubes in his hands, nodding gratefully.

Tu Ruo and Quan Liu were originally slaves. They had been in the Black Mountain Tribe for over a month but they were still very careful with their words and actions.

Qi Bai understood their anxiety. Since they were now neighbors, he tried to remind them of anything he could think of.

Lang Ze had already unloaded the large bamboo at the doorway. He watched Qi Bai and Tu Ruo talk while squatting beside Qi Bai, occasionally scratching Qi Bai’s back with his large tail.

Qi Bai was bothered by Lang Ze and couldn’t concentrate at all. He waved to the two of them, picked up the large bamboo tubes and led the clingy white wolf home.

Qi Bai finally realized that their house didn’t have a table for eating.

Qi Bai thought for a moment before rummaging through a rattan basket by the wall. He found four large winnowing baskets. These were the baskets Qi Bai used to dry fruit and he always washed them clean after use.

He turned the baskets upside down on the kang, patted them and found they were quite sturdy. They could temporarily serve as small tables.

After tidying up the baskets, Qi Bai looked up and saw Lang Ze staring intently at him. The room was warm from the fire. Lang Ze’s animal skin coat was set aside , leaving only the white beast skin skirt made from his own animal skin.

Qi Bai tilted his head and said quickly, “Put your clothes back on. No acting like a hooligan.”

Lang Ze chuckled, stepped forward, grabbed Qi Bai’s waist with both hands and placed him on the animal hide. Then he leaned his whole body over Qi Bai and asked in a low voice, “I don’t understand. Tell me what it means to act like a hooligan.”

Qi Bai was pinned down by Lang Ze and reached out to push him away, but his hand touched a smooth chest.

Qi Bai was scalded by the heat and quickly withdrew his hand, muttering, “What don’t you understand? I think you understand very well.”

Lang Ze nuzzled against Qi Bai’s neck. “Tomorrow, I’m taking the hunting party out to find new flocks of sheep.”

Qi Bai was taken aback. “Going out so soon?”

Lang Ze smelled the fragrance in Qi Bai’s hair. He hadn’t known before that his sub-beastman smelled so good. “Yes, it will be very troublesome to find their tracks after the heavy snow.”

Qi Bai wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about hunting, but he knew that Lang Ze’s choice was definitely the best for the tribe. “How long will you be gone this time?”

Lang Ze’s voice was a bit muffled. “Maybe ten days or so.”

Seeing Lang Ze’s somewhat aggrieved look, Qi Bai reached out and rubbed his ear. Then he gently kissed Lang Ze’s lips, softly coaxing him. “I made lots of delicious food. After dinner, get some rest. Tomorrow…”

However, food was completely useless now. Lang Ze followed Qi Bai’s lips and kissed him.

Both were somewhat aroused when they separated again.

Qi Bai pushed Lang Ze away, quickly got up and jumped to the ground. He ran to the kitchen without looking back.

The animal skin on the doorframe behind him was lifted, and Lang Ze had obediently put on the animal skin clothing. Lang Ze licked his lips when he saw Qi Bai looking at him in a somewhat flustered manner. Then he said, “It is delicious.”

Qi Bai knew that Lang Ze was referring to tonight’s dinner, but he still felt a buzzing in his ears when hearing these words.

Qi Bai touched his uncontrollably pounding heart. If this continued, he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

Fortunately, the aroma from the kitchen brought them back to their senses. Lang Ze was particularly captivated by the exquisite dishes in the earthenware pot.

Today was their housewarming party. Qi Bai had managed to put together six hot dishes and two cold dishes using the limited ingredients available at home.

The hot dishes included smoked meat and mushrooms, pickled meat and bamboo shoots, salt and pepper ribs, shrimp paste taro, steamed sweet potato chips and a main dish of roasted meat. The cold dishes were seaweed salad and salted red bird eggs.

There was also the added stewed and braised meat from the tribe.

The two of them placed the dishes on a winnowing basket on the heated kang. Qi Bai exclaimed softly, “That makes ten dishes.”

Lang Ze asked, “Is there any special meaning to ten dishes?”

Qi Bai actually didn’t understand these customs. Usually when there was a happy occasion in the family, the elders would prepare an even number of dishes. This was why he had prepared eight dishes.

However, it was ten dishes. Qi Bai said, “Ten dishes is perfect in every way.”

Lang Ze looked a bit confused.

Qi Bai held up ten fingers. “Ten is everything we have. With ten, we have everything and everything is wonderful! Today is our first meal in our new home and things will only get better from here on out.”

Lang Ze looked at Qi Bai’s smiling face and smiled as well. Things would definitely get better.

Early the next morning, Qi Bai and Lang Ze arrived at the entrance of the tribe’s warehouse.

This time, the adult beastmen in the tribe would receive six pieces of pickled meat every ten days, plus a small basket of plants.

This amount of food was more than double what it was last year.

In addition, each person received a piece of animal hide and a small tube of salt.

Of course, the system of exchanging points for food and supplies remained effective in winter. It was just that currently, not many people had extra points to exchange for supplies since everyone needed to accumulate one hundred points to qualify as a member of the Black Mountain Tribe.

So when everyone saw Qi Bai exchange three points for a small half-bag of unappetizing wheat celosia, they couldn’t help being curious. Despite their curiosity, no one intended to exchange any to try. After all, hard celosia didn’t look very delicious. They were more interested in saving their points to exchange for pickled meat.

After distributing the food, Lang Ze announced that he would lead the horned beastmen team out to find sheep.

The reason for targeting the sheep was twofold. Firstly, after a year of domestication, the Black Mountain Tribe had gained extensive experience in raising sheep, especially four-eared sheep.

Secondly, the herbivorous beasts on the Beastman Continent were all quite large. Large beasts like bulls, which could easily knock down fences, were definitely not within the Black Mountain Tribe’s considerations at the moment. On the other hand, four-eared sheep were of medium size. Building sheepfolds to keep them in captivity was much easier.

Therefore, from any perspective, four-eared sheep were the Black Mountain Tribe’s first choice for animal husbandry.

However, wild sheep didn’t stay in one place for long. It was unknown if the hunting team would find suitable prey on this trip or not.

This time, Lang Ze planned to lead a team of fifty people.

Qi Bai had thought that it was such a cold winter and the mating season was just over, so not many horned beastmen in the tribe would be willing to venture out.

The reality was completely different. Apart from a few elderly or injured individuals who couldn’t move quickly, almost all the horned beastmen, regardless of age or whether they had just gained mates, stepped forward immediately.

“We will definitely bring back more pregnant ewes for the tribe!”

“That’s right!”

“Our children will definitely be very strong!”

Qi Bai smiled and shook his head. Yes, this was the Black Mountain Tribe.

Everyone came together in hardship and would work together to make the tribe stronger. So even though everyone knew that the winter wilderness was extremely dangerous, they had no fear in their hearts because they wanted to ensure their unborn children had enough food.

The hunting team’s purpose this time wasn’t hunting. They needed to move as quickly as possible. Therefore, Lang Ze selected mostly wolves and horses skilled in swift movement across the snow.

Instead of the carts, the group carried enough dry rations for ten days. This wasn’t for the next few days, but a lifeline in case they encountered danger and had to retreat.

Qi Bai wrapped the hay tightly in animal hides and placed it in the middle of Lang Ze’s rattan basket along with the hand drill.

There was snow everywhere, so finding completely dry hay for starting a fire in the wild wouldn’t be easy. Qi Bai couldn’t go out with the hunting party, so he could only prepare everything he could think of for Lang Ze.

The giant wolf gently nuzzled Qi Bai’s cheek. Then he gave a command, turned and led the fifty beastmen out of the tribe’s gate.

The tribe members stood still waiting for their figures to disappear into the endless snowfield before slowly closing the tribe’s gate.

The biggest project in the tribe, building winter homes for all members, was completed. This didn’t mean the tribe members had nothing to do.

After seeing the hunting party off, Lu Guo and Hu Huo led several small teams away to make pottery pots and wooden doors. They were urgently needed supplies for the tribe members, and they needed to make them as soon as possible.

Before everyone left, Qi Bai called out a few names.

Inside a large vacant room beside the square.

Tu Ya’s eyes widened in surprise. “You want me to be a teacher? How can that be?”

Qi Bai retorted, “Why not? You are the best math student among the adult beastmen.”

Even when they first arrived at the Black Mountain, Qi Bai had noticed Tu Ya’s strong learning ability, especially after teaching math at the tribe for several months. Tu Ya always kept up the pace, making her an outstanding student among the adult beastmen.

Tu Ya’s cheeks flushed slightly. “You said yourself that I am an adult beastmen, and I can’t learn the multiplication formulas as quickly as Ta Yun and Bao Yue. I think they should be the teachers.”

“They learn very quickly but knowledge alone isn’t enough to be a teacher,” Qi Bai said with a smile. “You were my first gathering team leader and you taught me to recognize many plants. I know you have patience and a teaching ability that others don’t have. I believe you can handle this job.”

Qi Bai added, “Moreover, most of the students you will be facing in the future are newly joined tribe members. Our main goal right now is to teach everyone to count. This shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”:

These things weren’t too difficult. Tu Ya glanced at Yang Luo and finally raised the courage to nod.

At this moment, Shu Lin frowned, counted on his fingers and asked in confusion, “But Bao Bai, Tu Yu is teaching everyone to count and Diao Lan is teaching everyone to identify herbs. They are both very useful. Then why do you want me to teach everyone to draw/ This is useless.”

Qi Bai shook his head. “Drawing is certainly useful knowledge. Hunting teams need to leave marks in the wild, and the land we walk on needs to be drawn into maps. Many things that can’t be described in words need to be shown through drawings. This is also a very useful subject.”

Shu Lin scratched his head as if he understood. “Even so, you are the best at drawing among us. Why do you want me to teach you?”

Qi Bai smiled. “I will teach everyone a new skill.”