LSLFBW: Chapter 28

Lang Ze’s gaze was still focused on the distance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure rushing towards him like a small cannonball.

Qi Bai had already reacted and happily rushed towards Lang Ze. He stood on tiptoe and hugged the giant wolf’s head tightly with both hands. “Lang Ze, I knew you would be able to come back on time. You really did it. You are really amazing!”

Qi Bai’s human form was around 1.8 meters tall. This was considered relatively tall among the sub-beastmen. Nevertheless, he was still more than 10 centimeters shorter than Lang Ze’s human form, not to mention that Lang Ze was more than 2 meters tall in beast form.

Lang Ze raised his hind legs before stopping them in mid-air, as if he was afraid of disturbing the sub-beastman who was holding him.

It would’ve been fine if Qi Bai just hugged him. Lang Ze never thought that after saying these words, Qi Bai would actually bury his head deeply in Lang Ze’s fur, rubbing his face against it and even inhaling a few times as if he couldn’t help himself.

Qi Bai was content while immersed in a world of fur. Even flowers and plants weren’t allowed in his hospital room, let alone small animals. He was extremely envious every time he saw other people petting cats and dogs crazily in videos.

He might’ve gradually adapted to his beast form, often holding his tail and playing with it, but sucking himself wasn’t as interesting as sucking others, not to mention that Lang Ze’s beast form was tall and majestic. He had been coveting it for a long time. Finally, he got the chance. He must take the opportunity to suck enough. However, before Qi Bai could enjoy it, the head in his arms started to struggle slightly. Qi Bai had to reluctantly let go.

At this time, everyone had gathered and surrounded the giant wolf and bison. Qi Bai heard the exclamations of the little beastmen and saw many people secretly looking at Lang Ze with admiration. At this time, no one cared about Lang Ze’s slave status. They just had simple awe towards the strong.

Lang Ze changed into human form. He walked to the center of the square with a cold look on his face, surrounded by the crowd.

Yang Luo pretended to be calm as he looked at Lang Ze, who was standing opposite him.

The whole day, he was thinking about how to deal with the result of the competition. He never expected that Lang Ze, who looked like he had just reached adulthood and wasn’t very strong, would actually have such great strength.

At this time, Yang Luo only had regret in his heart. He regretted that he shouldn’t have allowed these slaves to join the tribe. He should’ve only led ordinary beastmen to live here. However, regret couldn’t change anything. The Black Mountain Tribe had become a whole. It was impossible to separate the beastmen in the tribe again.

Now Yang Luo clearly realized that everything was escaping from his control. He seemed to have seen Lang Ze growing up and stepping on him.

Unlike Yang Luo, who was trembling with fear, Hou Yan was also surprised at Lang Ze’s achievement today. It was just that he was more relieved. During the days when he hunted with Lang Ze, Hou Yan had already vaguely sensed the difference in Lang Ze. What Lang Ze lacked now was only time and experience.

Hou Yan couldn’t help sighing in his heart. If Lang Ze wasn’t a slave but an ordinary beastman, he would definitely be the strongest warrior in the tribe. He looked at Lang Ze, who was looked at with admiration by everyone, but who wasn’t humble or overbearing. He had to admit that as the tribe leader, he had never enjoyed such treatment…

Yang Luo subconsciously leaned towards Hou Yan, but Hou Yan’s honest appearance didn’t make Yang Luo feel at ease. No matter how unwilling Yang Luo was, he no longer had any choice. Lang Ze’s gaze was like a substance that stared at him closely. He could only announce the result of the competition as agreed upon before.

The results on the beastmen side were obvious. Lang Ze’s performance was obvious to all. He became the well-deserved first place. Huan Ping was second place. The other two young beastmen slaves were third and fourth. Hu Meng lived up to expectations and ranked fifth.

As for Zhu Ya, who entered the competition at the beginning, it wasn’t a surprise that he came in last place since he only found a wild mouse. However, Hu Meng didn’t have the leisure to make fun of Zhu Ya because he was following Lang Ze with admiration on his face.

There was a small episode where Ma Shu and Ma Ling also hunted a goat. But since they only brought back one prey, they were ranked behind Hu Meng.

Qi Bai silently observed the expressions of the people. He found that the ordinary tribe members didn’t seem to care much about the presence of slaves in the rankings. They were more concerned about the beastmen’s strength itself. However, the slaves were stunned, especially the Ma Shu brothers. They had never owned their own private property. They listened to Yang Luo’s words in disbelief, and their lips trembled with excitement.

Due to the results of the horned beastmen, Yang Luo no longer had much hope for the performance of the sub-beastmen. Unexpectedly, several gathering team leaders gave him a surprise.

Diao Lan and Luo Guo, who were experienced in gathering, were ranked first and second among the sub-beastmen. They were also collecting sweet potatoes, but Diao Lan and Luo Guo had returned to the tribe earlier and collected the most sweet potatoes. After them was a row of ordinary beastmen. Niu Xi was ranked third, Hu Xue was ranked fourth, She Li was ranked fifth, and Tu Ya was ranked sixth.

This was really beyond Yang Luo’s expectations. After all, when he chose the gathering team leaders, he didn’t choose according to gathering experience. He just let the four of them be captains because they were ordinary beastmen. Unexpectedly, after these days of training, they were already able to stand on their own.

As for Qi Bai, he was ranked 11th as expected. Shu Lin was a bit worse than him and was ranked 13th. Still, there was nothing to be depressed about. The stone mountain was so big that as long as one had the strength, they could carve out a three bedroom, one living room house anywhere. There was no need to consider the area and housing problem. There was nothing to worry about even if they were ranked low.

Yang Luo finally found the only thing that made him happy today. He discovered that even though the old beastmen in the tribe didn’t participate in hunting today, they got even more prey, and the gathering team collected a lot more food than usual.

In particular, the bison brought back by Lang Ze was as big as the wild boars they had hunted before. What made Yang Luo feel a bit relieved was that even though Lang Ze looked unfriendly, he didn’t make things difficult when Yang Luo tried to take away his prey. He just gave way with an indifferent expression. He seemed to be no different from other tribe members, letting Yang Luo deal with the prey.

Regardless of Lang Ze’s plan, Yang Luo was still very satisfied with today’s harvest. Thanks to these prey, they no longer had to worry about food for the winter. He had to organize them well.

The snowflakes in the sky were getting bigger and bigger. The meat that the old beastmen had processed during the day was carried over and roasted on the campfire. Everyone ate dinner happily and moved food that couldn’t get damp, such as sweet potatoes, back to the cave.

As for the prey hunted today, the live ones were tied at the entrance of the cave to prevent them from escaping. There was no need to deal with the dead prey in a hurry. Just put them outside the cave and cover them with hay. The heavy snow would freeze the meat.

The bonfire outside the cave had been covered by heavy snow, so everyone worked together to clear out a space in the middle of the cave to make a fire. Looking at the increasingly crowded cave, Qi Bai really wanted to run out and dig at the stone wall right now.

Qi Bai found that Lang Ze was avoiding his gaze tonight, and he didn’t know what was going on. As he thought about it and sorted out the tools for tomorrow, he inadvertently saw Shu Lin looking for Yang Luo alone. The two of them said a few words. Shu Lin looked in Qi Bai’s direction happily before walking over awkwardly.

Qi Bai thought that Shu Lin wanted to talk to him. However, Shu Lin didn’t even look at him and walked straight towards Xiong Feng in the corner.

Today, the big guy Xiong Feng was very depressed. The reason was very simple.

Xiong Feng’s result in today’s competition was even worse than Zhu Ya’s. He didn’t even qualify as the last one because he returned to the tribe empty-handed.

It wasn’t that Xiong Feng didn’t find prey today. He tracked down a roe deer not far from the tribe. However, Qi Bai didn’t know whether the bones of the beastmen would be affected when they transformed between human and beast form. He had previously expressly forbidden Xiong Feng to change into beast form. Thus, Xiong Feng could only watch the roe deer he targeted run away. Even after running a long way, it looked back with its butt sticking out to see why he didn’t catch up.

After that, Xiong Feng dug four or five more hares in succession as if he was deliberately going against him. All the holes were empty, which resulted in him being the only beastman to be empty-handed when he returned to the tribe at night.

In fact, Qi Bai felt it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Xiong Feng to stay in the collective cave. Digging a cave required a lot of arm strength, and it would take a hundred days to heal a broken bone. Xiong Feng could stay in the collective cave quietly this winter and take good care of his arm. It wouldn’t be too late to move out next year.

Of course, Xiong Feng obviously didn’t think so. He stayed in the corner silently as if reflecting on his mistakes. If he had been more careful when hunting, he wouldn’t have been injured. If he had not been injured, he could’ve hunted prey. Then he would have a chance to get a piece of the stone wall tomorrow.

At this time, Xiong Feng felt someone walking in front of him. He looked up and saw Shu Lin with red cheeks. For some reason, Xiong Feng suddenly became a bit nervous. He stood up and looked at the sub-beastman in front of him, somewhat at a loss.

Shu Lin cleared his throat and said with some lack of confidence, “I have already told the priest and the chief that you belong to me this winter. Starting from tomorrow, you will live with me. Even though you don’t have your own cave, the priest will give you the same amount of food as other slaves.”

Xiong Feng took some time to react. Then his face turned red. “Sir… Sir Shu Lin, I…”

Shu Lin retracted his wandering gaze and puffed out his round cheeks. “Why? You don’t want to?”

Xiong Feng waved his hands quickly, even forgetting the splint on his arm. “No, no, it isn’t that I don’t want to.”

After hearing Xiong Feng’s words, Shu Lin’s previous momentum disappeared again. He said in a stuttering voice, “Okay, then… wait for me tomorrow morning and go with me to find a stone wall that can be excavated.” Then he left without looking back.

Qi Bai stared at Shu Lin with wide eyes. His mouth opened in a big ‘oh’ shape. Shu Lin saw him like this when passing by, so he bit his lip and leaned over to pinch Qi Bai’s face.

Qi Bai burst out laughing immediately, saying ‘yo yo yo’ continuously. He hadn’t expected that Shu Lin, who looked heartless, would be the first person in the tribe who wanted to find a partner.

Qi Bai remembered that due to the long winter, the beastmen couldn’t go out hunting and gathering. This meant many beastmen and sub-beastmen liked to live together at this time. The beastmen had no concept of love. What they hoped for most was to get pregnant with children as soon as possible, as children were the hope of the tribe.

It usually only took three or four months for a sub-beastman to be pregnant. This meant they could give birth in time for the arrival of spring when food was plentiful. It was a good time to raise children.

Qi Bai’s teasing made Shu Lin even more embarrassed. Shu Lin glanced at Lang Ze next to Qi Bai. Suddenly, he leaned close to Qi Bai’s ear with ill intentions and whispered, “Do you know what question I asked the priest just now?”

Qi Bai looked at him vigilantly. “What?”

Shu Lin said in a smaller voice, “Priest Yang Luo said that as long as the child is an ordinary beastman, the child can become a member of the Black Mountain Tribe, even if their other father is a slave.”

He winked in the direction of Lang Ze before sighing. “Oh, you are still young. It will take several years if you want to conceive a child.”

Qi Bai hurriedly covered his mouth. “I’m not. Don’t talk nonsense.”

Qi Bai’s heart was beating wildly. What was Shu Lin saying? Would Lang Ze hear it? He really didn’t mean that!

Shu Lin saw Qi Bai’s panicked look, and his shyness disappeared. He walked briskly into the cave.

It wasn’t long after Shu Lin left here that Xiong Feng came over with his arm in a sling. Qi Bai usually helped Xiong Feng check if his bones were displaced or his splints were loose every two or three days. Today was almost the time for the check-up, but unlike his usual nervousness or excitement, Xiong Feng was particularly anxious today. “Sir Bao Bai, I don’t feel any pain in my arm any longer. Can I change into a beast now?” It was obvious that he wanted to dig three caves right away.

The brown bear was one of the few animals that could use tools. If he could transform into his beast form, he would definitely be able to dig the largest and most beautiful cave for Shu Lin.

Qi Bai had long been shocked by the beastmen’s amazing recovery ability. In less than half a month from the time Xiong Feng’s arm was injured to today, it had almost gone back to normal. Qi Bai asked Xiong Feng to try and stretch out his hand to make a fist. He didn’t see anything unusual.

Qi Bai pondered for a moment before shaking his head. Even though his bone seemed to have healed, the new bone still needed to be nurtured. How could he go and dig a cave?

Qi Bai was afraid that Xiong Feng would be overwhelmed by the sudden love, so he looked at Yang Luo and started talking nonsense. “We are now in the habitat of the Beast God. Due to the gift of the Beast God, your arm has a chance to grow back. If you move without permission and your arm is broken again, the Beast God will be angry. Then no one will be able to save you.”

The moment these words came out, Xiong Feng really had no doubts. He trembled as he put his arm away and carefully held the splint in his hand. He thought back to the day when he was so anxious that he wanted to throw away the splint and transform into a beast to hunt, and he still felt a bit scared. Fortunately, he didn’t do that in the end.

However, since Xiong Feng was going to spend the winter with Shu Lin, he still hoped that he could help as soon as possible. He asked, “Sir Bao Bai, how long will it take my arm to fully heal?”

Qi Bai had no idea how long it would take to fully heal, so he said vaguely, “It will take at least five or ten days. I will tell you when the time comes.”

Qi Bai saw off the somewhat melancholy Xiong Feng and secretly glanced at Lang Ze. Seeing that he seemed not to have heard what Shu Lin said, he felt at ease and turned into a beast. Then he crawled into the small bed.

Ever since Lang Ze came back and slept on his outside, the wind blowing from the mountains was blocked. He became warmer when sleeping. Unfortunately, the beast forms of Lang Ze and the other horned beastmen were too big. There wasn’t enough space for them to transform in the collective cave. After all, the human forms didn’t have thick fur to keep warm.

The arrival of the first snow heralded the end of their busy life in the tribe. After today, no one needed to go out hunting and gathering. As usual, the beastmen would transform into beasts and the cats would spend the winter in caves. Now everyone was gearing up to dig their own caves.

Qi Bai listened to the rustling sound of falling snow. He thought that he would soon be separated from Lang Ze. At the same time, he was looking forward to his future home in his mind and unknowingly fell asleep.