LSLFBW: Chapter 25 Part 1

Qi Bai was awakened by the cold. He opened his eyes and looked around in a daze.

There was a campfire without a single spark and a wild boar that had mostly been eaten.

Qi Bai finally remembered who he was and where he was.

Okay, he actually fell asleep while eating yesterday. Judging from those around him, there were quite a few people like him. It seemed that everyone was exhausted. This was all thanks to the beastmen’s strong bodies. If it was a human from Earth, they would’ve been seriously ill after sleeping outside for a night and waking up the next day.

Qi Bai felt that his vision was very low, and he realized that he had turned into a beast without realizing it.

He struggled to stand up. He felt like he had a hangover even though he hadn’t drunk any alcohol. His limbs and paws swayed on the ground for a few times before he stood firm. Thinking of how Zhu Ya cried and laughed last night, perhaps this was what they called ‘alcohol doesn’t make you drunk, but you make yourself drunk.’

Qi Bai stretched his stiff body. There was a crisp sound from his bones. He rubbed his paws with some disgust. It turned out that his pillow was a bone that he hadn’t finished eating. No wonder why he had a sweet dream all night. However, now he had a sticky feeling all over his body.

A huge furry creature was lying not far from him, apparently trying to shield him from the wind blowing in from outside.

Qi Bai looked at the fur floating in the sky quietly and curiously scratched the gray wolf’s fur with his pink little paws.

He withdrew his paws and opened his claws, only to see patches of fur flying away from between the claws.

The little snow leopard lowered his head and licked his fur. Fortunately, his fur was still quite strong.

Qi Bai thought silently in his heart, ‘Ze, I was wondering why you have been looking thinner despite eating better than when we were fleeing. It turns out that you are losing fur. But you are losing fur so badly in this cold weather. If you continue like this, you will become bald…’

Of course, Qi Bai had no intention of discussing such a sad topic with Lang Ze face-to-face. He looked up at the dim sky, nimbly walking around the scattered beastmen lying on the ground. He ran in the direction of the waterfall.

The air in the early morning was still carrying water vapor. With a deep breath, the fresh air filled his entire body. Qi Bai’s limbs stepped lightly on the fallen leaves like an elf running in the forest.

After carefully washing off the grease on his body, Qi Bai returned to the square.

At this time, the wild vegetables and pork stew were being cooked in two large stone pots in front of the cave. Many tribe members had woken up, but everyone tacitly agreed not to make loud noises.

Qi Bai was right. The only time they could eat meat to their heart’s content was last night. Once they woke up in the morning, they immediately returned to their poor days.

Everyone got up very late today. So by the time the meal was ready, the sun had already risen high in the sky. The people sleeping in the square woke up to the warm sunshine and the aroma of food. They ate a simple breakfast. Then Yang Luo and Hou Yan gathered everyone together.

“Winter is coming soon. In order for the tribe to spend the winter safely, we need to go to further places to hunt. Most importantly, we need to go and get salt again.” Yang Luo’s voice rang out in the middle of the crowd.

Hou Yan nodded. “This time, it isn’t only the adult beastmen who will go to the sea. I will also select some underage beastmen to go with the hunting team.”

The moment Hou Yan said this, he saw several older beastmen children, including Hu Meng and Niu Yong, rubbing their hands together in preparation for a fight.

They might be older, but in fact, they were only around 14 or 15 years old. But they were already the oldest horned beastmen among the ordinary beastmen.

The number of ordinary beastmen who could participate in hunting in the Black Mountain Tribe was pitifully small. In the age group of 16 to 50-60 years old, when the beastmen had the strongest fighting power, there was only Hu Huo and the tribe leader, Hou Yan. However, Hu Huo wasn’t suitable for long-term hunting battles.

Did this mean that they had no beastmen to fight?

No, among the slaves, there were not only five strong adult horned beastmen, but also five or six older beastmen children.

However, Hou Yan and Yang Luo didn’t dare to use these people in the past. In other words, they couldn’t let them feel that the tribe was relying on these slaves.

This was what the two of them had been worried about. The strength of the slaves in the tribe was far greater than that of ordinary beastmen. Once they united, they could turn ordinary beastmen into slaves.

Of course, they had no idea if the slaves wanted to overthrow them or not. However, as the chief and priest of the tribe, they had to consider this in advance.

No matter how worried they were in their hearts, the current situation of the tribe was like this. They would inevitably need to involve the slaves as long as hunting was necessary.

Therefore, on this trip, the two of them discussed it and Hou Yan decided to take some slaves who were close to adulthood out of the tribe. On the one hand, it was to test their thoughts. On the other hand, he was worried that they would become disloyal when he was on longer in the tribe.

Hou Yan first selected five people from the hunting team to stay, including Huan Ping, Ma Shu, and an old horned beastman called Quan (dog) Lie. In addition, there were the seriously injured Xiong Feng and Hu Huo.

During the days when Hou Yan went to the beach, Quan Lie and the other two wouldn’t go out hunting. Their main role was to stay and guard the tribe.

In this way, only Lang Ze, Xiang Yu, and Ma Ling, who had been to the beach last time, were left in the group to lead the way.

Hou Yan looked around. “Any beastmen children who want to follow the hunting team can stand up now.”

In the tribe, it was the honor of every beastmen children to be able to go out hunting with the hunting team. Everyone was full of excitement.

As expected, Hu Meng and Niu Yong rushed out.

Hou Yan looked at the slaves who didn’t dare to speak. “Even slaves can follow the hunting team on this trip. You don’t need to be bait for the prey. I will bring everyone back to the tribe.”

The eyes of the originally hesitant people widened.

Slaves in the tribe generally weren’t allowed to follow the hunting team. Even if they were allowed to follow, they were usually used as bait for prey. It would be good if two out of ten could come back alive. Unexpectedly, the chief made such a promise. Finally, five slaves who were around 16-17 years old stood up.

This didn’t surprise Qi Bai. What surprised Qi Bai the most was that, at the last moment, Zhu Ya actually raised his hand in a trembling manner. “Chief Hou Yan, I want to go with you too.”

This time, even Sun Qing looked at Zhu Ya a bit more. After all, the two of them had been exiled from the tribe. They were mixed in the crowd now, but he was still worried. At this moment, Zhu Ya had the courage to ask, which made Sun Qing look at him with admiration. After all, if Hou Yan agreed to take Zhu Ya out, it would be a disguised acknowledgment of their identities.

Zhu Ya was only 12 years old, and it wasn’t suitable for him to go hunting far away. However, Hou Yan wanted to teach this kid a lesson. Otherwise, he would be a trouble in the future due to his cowardly appearance. Finally, Hou Yan nodded. “Okay, but I will throw you out if you complain about being tired on the way.”

Zhu Ya was obviously frightened by Hou Yan’s tone. He looked at Sun Qing, who was watching him coldly. Finally, he gritted his teeth and nodded.

Seeing that Zhu Ya was allowed in the team, the 10 year old Bao Yue also raised her hand to follow. She might be young, but she felt that she could fight two Zhu Yas alone. She was a bit unconvinced at this moment. Unfortunately, having Zhu Ya in the team was enough to worry Hou Yan. Bao Yue’s request was directly rejected by Hou Yan.

In this way, those who would go on the trip were decided upon. Including Zhu Ya, there would be a total of 13 beastmen.

The beastmen always did what they said. So at this brief separation, they wouldn’t even mention the word goodbye.

Similarly to Qi Bai and the others last time, there was no need to prepare too many things. Yang Luo gave each beastmen a large piece of meat. Everyone carried rattan baskets and prepared to set off under the leadership of Hou Yan.

As a sub-beastman, Qi Bai naturally couldn’t go out hunting with the hunting team. He looked at Lang Ze in the crowd, and a feeling of grievance suddenly surged in his heart.

He had been with Lang Ze from the moment he came into this world. In his heart, Lang Ze wasn’t only the benefactor who saved his life but also the closest one to him in this world. He had never been separated from Lang Ze for more than 12 hours. He felt empty in his heart when he thought that Lang Ze might be away for more than ten days.

At this time, Lang Ze turned his head and looked into Qi Bai’s eyes. His heart seemed to be scratched by something, and he nodded somewhat stiffly at Qi Bai.

Qi Bai didn’t notice Lang Ze’s nervousness at all. After seeing Lang Ze nod, he suddenly relaxed. He smiled widely and mouthed, “I’ll wait for you to come back.”

At this time, Hou Yan had already walked out of the tribe first. Qi Bai didn’t know whether Lang Ze understood what he said, but he firmly believed they would return safely.