Bang, bang, bang!
The battle lasted for several hours, with the horns colliding nearly a hundred times, leaving mottled bloodstains on the snow.
The two four-eared sheep separated again, each taking a few steps back, both breathing heavily.
The four-eared sheep leader paced back and forth, moving his body that had been locked in a stalemate for a long time.
This brief pause had happened countless times. It was only by quickly recovering his strength that he could muster the power for his next attack.
Then the seemingly motionless Chuan Chuan suddenly lunged forward, his two horns slamming heavily into the four-eared sheep leader’s forelegs. In the instant when the sheep leader lost his balance, Chuan Chuan raised his forelegs and stomped on the four-eared sheep leader’s back.
With a loud thud, the four-eared sheep leader, a size larger than Chuan Chuan, was forced to the ground. He lay there while letting out pained sounds. His forelegs were bent strangely and he was clearly unable to continue fighting.
Chuan Chuan shakily stood up and walked to the open gate of the thorny fence.
The final blow to the four-eared sheep leader had exhausted all his strength, but he still forced himself to stand and bellowed at the flock behind the fence.
“Baa~”
The sheep, overwhelmed by Chuan Chuan’s imposing presence, lowered their heads uneasily, only daring to glance out of the corner of their eyes at the four-eared sheep leader, who lay paralyzed on the ground.
Shu Lin didn’t dare to breathe, his fingers digging into Xiong Feng’s arm. “What… does this mean?”
Qi Bai didn’t even dare to blink, ready to rush forward and rescue Chuan Chuan at any moment.
There was a moment of silence.
Then the four-eared sheep, standing at the front of the flock, stepped to the gap in the thorny fence. It stretched its head towards Chuan Chuan. After waiting a long time without any reaction, it tentatively stretched out its tongue to lick the blood from the corner of Chuan Chuan’s mouth.
“Roar!”
The beastmen let out deafening roars.
Xi Zhou jumped high on the spot, shouting, “Well done! Chuan Chuan!”
These past few days, Lang Ze had been helping at the kiln and Xi Zhou had been training Chuan Chuan almost the entire time. Seeing this scene, he was as excited as if he had won a victory himself.
It was as if the sheep had acknowledged Chuan Chuan’s existence. Qi Bai sniffed, feeling a strange moisture welling in his eyes.
The flock received Chuan Chuan’s command and slowly made their way back to the middle of the valley.
Qi Bai quickly ran forward and carefully examined Chuan Chuan’s wounds. Fortunately, he was just exhausted. The most serious injury was a bruise on his face. The blood had been mostly licked away by the sheep that had come earlier.
Tun Quan excitedly ran to the four-eared sheep leader. “Priest Yang Luo, this sheep probably won’t survive. Can we eat him?”
Yang Luo glared at Tun Quan. On the Beastman Continent, keeping wild beasts in captivity wasn’t common. How could he possibly know what to do?
Moreover, Yang Luo remembered that Lang Ze had said last year that the remaining sheep wouldn’t survive if the four-eared sheep leader was killed.
Yang Luo remained silent and no one dared to touch the four-eared sheep leader on the ground. They could only look at Lang Ze.
Lang Ze nodded. “Take him back.”
Last year, the reason they kept the four-eared sheep leader was to maintain order in the flock. Even if they killed him, a new leader would emerge and the new leader might not be as willing to stay in the valley for winter as the previous one. It would be counterproductive.
Now it was different. Chuan Chuan had become the new leader of the four-eared sheep flock. There was no need to keep this lazy former leader.
Xi Zhou and the others immediately agreed loudly. Three to five people dragged the four-eared sheep leader back to the tribe.
Qi Bai glanced at the sheep in the pen and said to Tun Quan and Niu Cheng, “Chuan Chuan has just joined the flock. Let it stay in the thorny enclosure for a few days until the flock is completely settled before moving it to the stone sheepfold. It will be a bit of a hassle for you two to stay here.”
Actually, if conditions allowed, Qi Bai wanted to stay and guard the flock himself. However, as a sub-beastman, his beast form was too small. He wouldn’t be able to do anything if the flock made any moves.
Niu Cheng grinned foolishly. “It isn’t hard work. We eat better here than the rest of the tribe. It is just watching the sheep. It isn’t tiring at all.
There were four horned beastmen guarding the sheep in the thorny enclosure. This was the hardest job for the tribe, so they received extra food allowances.
Yang Luo had even promised a leg from the four-eared sheep that had just been carried away. The four-eared sheep leader was quite large, and one leg would be enough for them to eat. This delighted Tun Quan and Niu Cheng, who were present today.
However, Lang Ze didn’t relax. “Chuan Chuan isn’t a four-eared sheep raised in this tribe. There could be challengers among the flock at any time. You all need to be vigilant day and night these next few days.”
Tun Quan immediately stopped smiling and replied loudly, “We definitely won’t slack off.”
Chuan Chuan had regained his energy after resting for a while. He nudged the animal skin bag on Qi Bai’s body with his head.
Qi Bai smiled., “Your nose is sharp.” The animal skin bag contained Chuan Chuan’s food that Xi Zhou had given to Qi Bai before returning to the tribe.
Qi Bai placed the hay Xi Zhou had brought near Chuan Chuan’s mouth and tidied the somewhat disheveled fur. “If you encounter danger, you must run out immediately, understood?”
Of course, Chuan Chuan couldn’t understand Qi Bai’s words. In Qi Bai’s presence, it seemed to have become the little sheep that once relied on him.
Once the wooden gate of the thorny fence was opened, Chuan Chuan leaped into the valley.
The four-eared sheep in the valley hadn’t fully adapted to the presence of the beastmen. Whenever the beastmen appeared, they wouldn’t approach the outer edge of the thorny fence. Qi Bai knew they couldn’t stay there indefinitely. Whether they could successfully tame the entire flock depended on Chuan Chuan himself.
Meat was being distributed in the center of the square when Qi Bai and Lang Ze returned to the tribe.
Winter prey wasn’t easy to find, especially after the earthquake. This year, there were significantly fewer prey around the tribe than last year. Even so, hunting teams would still bring back some occasionally.
However, this meat wasn’t enough for everyone in the tribe. Yang Luo and Hou Yan would collect it and add it to the supply distribution every ten days.
The ration distribution was originally scheduled for tomorrow, but taking advantage of Chuan Chuan’s victory, they decided to share the joy and distributed the food early.
As Chuan Chuan’s herder, Qi Bai also received an extra large piece of fresh mutton
However, this mutton clearly didn’t stop Qi Bai from being anxious. Lang Ze watched Qi Bai pacing around the room, and reached out to wrap an arm around his waist. It seemed it was time to do something else to distract Qi Bai.
Qi Bai said, “…I don’t need it.”
Lang Ze murmured, “Hmm.”
“Ugh.”
The next day, Qi Bai went out at dawn.
Lang Ze heard the sound of the door next door opening and opened his eyes.
He had been too restless the day before and was kicked out in the middle of the night. Lang Ze was too lazy to light a fire when he got home, so the whole house was ice cold.
Lang Ze obviously wasn’t afraid of the cold. He got up briskly, grabbed the animal skin coat next to him, put it on and went out as well.
Qi Bai, who was walking ahead, heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and made a face when he saw it was Lang Ze. He immediately started running ahead.
Lang Ze smiled, kept a distance that was neither too close nor too far. He slowly followed behind Qi Bai.
On the Beastman Continent, children usually only lived independently when they reached adulthood. This was slightly different in the Black Mountain Tribe. According to the rules they set when they distributed caves last year, any children over the age of fourteen who wanted to live alone could be allocated a house.
It was precisely due to this that the tribe built many extra houses, and several were still vacant. These empty houses had been repurposed.
For example, the one in the northeast corner of the tribe had been used as a temporary warehouse for the four-eared sheep fodder. The inner room was used to store fodder while the outer room contained many stone basins used to crush vegetables and soak the fodder.
The four-eared sheep in the stone sheepfold were cared for by the young beastmen, who fed the flock every noon. The sheep in the thorny fence were different. They were more wary of beastmen and more dangerous, so they were always fed by the adult beastmen.
Qi Bai arrived and saw a cart parked in front of the fodder storage room, a white horse waiting at the door.
Qi Bai looked into the room. Sure enough, he saw that Tu Ya and She Li had already arrived.
Upon seeing Qi Bai, Tu Ya smiled and said, “You’re up early today.”
Qi Bai smiled somewhat shyly and asked, “What can I do for you?”
She Li pointed to the few remaining rattan baskets in the room. “We just need to load these baskets onto the cart.”
As they spoke, Lang Ze also entered the room. The group loaded the remaining baskets onto the cart.
Ma Shu flicked his tail and slowly pulled the cart through the snow.
Qi Bai asked, “How many days will this fodder last?”
Qi Bai wasn’t responsible for feeding the four-eared sheep, so he wasn’t sure about calculating the fodder.
“This is three days’ worth of fodder,” Tu Ya explained. “The sheep in the thorny fence are much pickier than those in the stone sheepfold. We need to move this fodder to the steep cliff and let it dry for a few more days.
Qi Bai nodded. This wasn’t surprising. After all, he knew firsthand how difficult it was to care for the first batch of four-eared sheep when they arrived at the Black Mountain Tribe.
Tu Ya looked at Lang Ze. “Usually, we let the sheep graze for five days. However, Lang Ze said that the flock might be moving into the stone sheepfold for a few days, so we moved less.”
It wasn’t fully light when the group arrived at the thorny fence. A faint light emanated from the thatched hut halfway up the mountain.
The feeding device that Qi Bai had made was still there. The group placed the food that had been dried a few days ago into the valley. They spread out the fodder from the cart to dry in the sun again.
Qi Bai waited on the mountain until dawn. Then the sheep gradually emerged from the hut.
Qi Bai stood by the thorny fence, shaking the hay in his hand. It was food he prepared separately for Chuan Chuan.
Chuan Chuan seemed to be in good spirits. Upon seeing Qi Bai, he wagged his tail and came closer as if saying he was doing well here.
However, Qi Bai soon realized that Chuan Chuan’s behavior wasn’t just to reassure his father.
Just a few days later, Chuan Chuan wouldn’t be eating the food Qi Bai had prepared alone. Behind him was a smaller, beautiful ewe.
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