LSLFBW: Chapter 37

On the big rock beside the waterfall, a little snow leopard stretched out his limbs. He leaned his body backward and made a launching gesture. Without giving himself time to hesitate, he catapulted into the air and fell straight into the pool.

Just as the ripples on the water surface slowly subsided, a white head jumped out of the water, breaking the tranquility.

“Hiss!”

It was too cold!

Stimulated by the cold water, Qi Bai’s not-so-clear mind suddenly sobered up.

He shook his head and continued to sink into the water. It was really too cold, so he had to stretch his muscles. The best exercise in the water was to catch fish.

The little snow leopard lay motionless in the water, watching the fish swimming back and forth. Suddenly, he pounced forward. Once he emerged from the water again, he had a small fish in his mouth. He shook his head with some pride, threw the fish directly onto a big rock, and dived back into the pool.

After catching a few fish back and forth, Qi Bai felt that the water in the pond was no longer cold. His whole body had warmed up, and he started to swim happily in the water.

He had been dealing with mud every day for the past few days, and his whole body was covered with dirt.

The pool under the waterfall was only about one meter deep. However, for Qi Bai, who was half a meter tall, it was like a natural swimming pool tailor-made for him.

Qi Bai jumped onto the shore only after he felt that all the dirt on his body had been washed away.

The little snow leopard stuck his butt out and shook his body vigorously to get rid of most of the water. Then he curled up his hind legs, propped his front legs in front of him, and started to lick his fur slowly and leisurely.

As early as the first time Qi Bai licked his fur, he discovered that he was surprisingly proficient in this skill. He just had to open his mouth, and the next action was almost an instinctive reaction.

Only this time, the moment his tongue touched his thick paw pads, he subconsciously recalled the scene when Lang Ze licked his wounds.

The little snow leopard’s ears moved. The touch was quite warm and comfortable…

Then he thought again that it was no wonder why Lang Ze was losing his fur. Lang Ze didn’t have barbs on his tongue like Qi Bai, so he must not be able to lick his own fur normally.

In addition, his beast form was so large. If he was shedding fur, then there would be a lot of fur flying around his cave.

Once the water on his body was almost dry, Qi Bai changed into the animal skin clothes that were placed on the side. This was the animal skin clothes he had made a few days ago. This time, Qi Bai had made his new clothes into a two-piece set.

The top consisted of two pieces at the front and back, plus two sleeves. The pants were cut into two pieces according to the shape of the hips and legs, and also spliced together with animal skin ropes.

Compared to the previously hastily put together piece of clothing, the new set of clothes had denser stitching. Once worn, the cold wind could hardly penetrate, and it was very warm.

Of course, most importantly, it fit the body better and made working much more convenient.

Qi Bai tucked his shirt into his trousers and tightened it with the animal skin leather rope on his waistband.

He comforted himself that this was the earliest form of three-dimensional tailoring. Just look at the material. Even if the style was a bit ugly, there was nothing to complain about.

He rubbed the clothes he had taken off repeatedly with the wood ash he brought. Then he rinsed them in clean water.

Wood ash was okay for washing clothes, but Qi Bai didn’t dare to use it for bathing or washing hair. After all, he was furry now. He needed to take care of his fur.

Qi Bai remembered that people in the past seemed to use soapberries to take a bath. He didn’t know if soapberries could be found in the beastmen world.

Qi Bai gutted a few small fish he had just caught. Then he pulled out a vine and strung the fish together.

He held a wrung-out animal skin in one hand and a fish in the other. Then he walked towards the tribe.

Before he could walk far away, Qi Bai saw a figure standing in the distance.

The tall boy was standing under the tree, stroking something in his hands.

He seemed to have been waiting for a long time. There was a thin layer of snow on the top of his head and shoulders. His long eyelashes seemed to be covered with frost.

He heard footsteps and turned slightly with anticipation in his eyes.

Everything around him seemed to have lost its color, leaving only the young man’s slender figure. It was so beautiful that it didn’t seem like a scene that should have appeared in reality.

After seeing Qi Bai, Lang Ze straightened his posture and walked towards him quickly. Once he was only a few steps away from Qi Bai, he slowed down again.

The two of them looked at each other for a while. Then Lang Ze took the lead in breaking the deadlock. He handed the thing in his hand to Qi Bai.

Qi Bai took it and found that it was actually a bone knife with a sheath.

The bone knife was around 30 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide. The hollow scabbard was integrated into the bone and looked like it was carved out directly in the shape of the bone.

The scabbard and handle were engraved with delicate patterns that Qi Bai wasn’t familiar with.

Qi Bai pulled out the knife. The bone knife was snow-white all over, with only a thin red blood groove on the front of the blade.

The blade was sharp, but the bone carved on the handle had been polished to be very smooth. It could be told at a glance that the person who made this bone knife was very attentive.

“This… is made of red bird bones?”

“Yes.”

Qi Bai picked up a leaf casually. He cut it with the bone knife, and the leaf broke into two halves.

Qi Bai couldn’t help admiring it. “It is a good knife.”

“Do you like it?”

Qi Bai’s own bone knife was only the size of a palm. It could be seen that it was once a gift for children and was often of little use. Qi Bai now mainly used it to cut vegetables.

Lang Ze’s bone knife was of just the right size, suitable for both self-defense and daily chopping.

“Of course. How could anyone not like such a beautiful knife?”

Qi Bai looked at it lovingly. He wanted a bone knife like this in the future.

However, when Qi Bai returned the bone knife to Lang Ze, Lang Ze didn’t reach for it. Instead, he just looked at Qi Bai seriously. “This is for you.”

“Give it to me?” Qi Bai shook his head. “I can’t accept such a valuable thing.”

The bones of the red bird were extremely precious. He had already tried it and found that even high temperatures couldn’t melt the bones. Qi Bai didn’t know how Lang Ze made the bird bones into a bone knife, but he thought it must not be easy.

Lang Ze was silent for a while. Then he asked in a muffled voice, “You don’t want to accept my gift. Is it because you are still angry?”

Qi Bai was stumped by the question and turned his head away in confusion.

Lang Ze’s question was confusing, but Qi Bai immediately understood what he meant.

He was asking about the day he hunted the bone bird.

Qi Bai hadn’t expected Lang Ze to be so sensitive that he noticed something wrong with Qi Bai’s emotions.

To be honest, he himself didn’t know what was wrong with him.

His heart was filled with worry when he saw Lang Ze falling from a tree more than 20 meters high.

However, when Lang Ze was standing on the ground with only some scratches on his body, the feeling of worry disappeared and it was replaced by an inexplicable emotion.

He felt that he wasn’t angry but a bit depressed. Even though several days had passed since that incident, Qi Bai still felt uncomfortable every time he thought about it.

This emotion came for no reason. He had no reason to interfere with Lang Ze’s behavior, so he didn’t say it out loud.

Of course, he felt that he didn’t show it either.

It just so happened that Qi Bai had been busy making pottery these days. He went out early and came back late every day, so he didn’t go to look for Lang Ze.

Over time, the two of them might’ve lived on the same platform but it seemed like they didn’t have a good conversation for a long time.

Qi Bai kicked the stone at his feet. “I’m not angry.”

Lang Ze waited silently.

“Only…”

Qi Bai stared at the ground. This road led to the waterfall. Since there were many people walking on it, the snow in the middle of the road had long been stepped on. Qi Bai stared at it for a long time without staring at anything.

Qi Bai frowned. He had never been a person who dragged his feet.

There was nothing to hide from his friends. It would be even worse if the two of them were estranged due to this small matter.

Qi Bai took a breath, raised his head and met Lang Ze’s beautiful eyes. Finally, he blurted out the words he had been holding back for a few days. “I’m not angry. I just think that your attack that day was too dangerous. If you fall from such a high place without doing a good job of buffering…”

Qi Bai wanted to say, ‘Do you know that if you fall from such a height, a concussion is the least you will receive?’ But he felt that this was a bit unlucky. He swallowed the depressing words and muttered quietly, “Next time something like this happens, you might as well let me go. I’m a snow leopard. I’m definitely better than you dogs.”

“…Of course, I also know how difficult hunting is. Thus, I’m not angry.” Qi Bai emphasized.

Qi Bai saw Lang Ze’s stern expression gradually soften. Finally, he lowered his head and smiled.

Unlike Qi Bai, who had a smiling face all day, Lang Ze didn’t smile often.

Perhaps due to him not smiling often, QI Bai looked at Lang Ze’s eyes and lips and had a strange feeling.

So strange… he wanted to run away a little bit…

Lang Ze felt warm in his heart. It turned out that Qi Bai wasn’t angry because Lang Ze didn’t take him to find prey. Instead, Qi Bai was worried about his safety.

The sub-beastman in front of him seemed to be more timid than ordinary sub-beastmen. It was also the same at the river before. He would scare Qi Bai just by climbing a tree.

“In that case, can you accept this bone knife?” There was barely perceptible joy in Lang Ze’s voice.

“But the making of the bone knife…” Qi Bai stopped talking halfway.

No one would teach a slave to make a bone knife. Obviously, this was a skill that Lang Ze had learned before becoming a slave.

“It isn’t as difficult as they saw. If you like, I will make more bone knives for you in the future.” The smile in Lang Ze’s eyes faded a bit. His voice was a bit low, “So, accept it, okay?”

Qi Bai didn’t know that for beastmen with powerful physical fitness, even the sharpest bone knife would always have a symbolic meaning that was greater than its practical use. Therefore, he didn’t understand the meaning of Lang Ze’s words.

Perhaps Lang Ze didn’t want him to understand so early.

Suddenly, a big hand touched Qi Bai’s head and pressed down gently. “Seeing you nod, I will take it as your agreement.”

Qi Bai, who was nodding passively, pursed his lips and agreed.

He held the bone knife close to his chest, and suddenly thought of a question. “Can I use this bone knife normally? Will it affect you?”

After waiting a long time, Qi Bai turned his head. “Lang Ze?”

“Yes.” Lang Ze rubbed the wetness on his fingertips, which was the moisture left on Qi Bai’s hair.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, I’m listening. Feel free to use it. Don’t worry.”

After returning to the cave, Qi Bai saw a red bird bone placed next to the charcoal basin.

He touched the bone knife in his hand. The corners of his mouth subconsciously curved up in a smile.

Qi Bai hadn’t seen Lang Ze using fire. It seemed that the bird bone really couldn’t be processed by refining metal. He just didn’t know what method Lang Ze used…”

“Bao Bai, are you there?”

“Bao Bai…”

Qi Bai’s thoughts were interrupted. He looked outside the cave and saw Hu Xue coming over with a few people to bring him bamboo.

Ever since Qi Bai said at the kiln that he needed bamboo, people came to deliver bamboo to him every day recently. Qi Bai made it very clear at the time that only one bamboo would be needed from each person, but Qi Bai received far more than that amount.

Qi Bai quickly picked up four small bags of leaves tied with straw ropes and went out.

Seeing that Qi Bai was going to give them food again, Hu Xue refused, “These bamboo were originally sent to thank you. How can we accept your things?”

Regardless of Hu Xue’s words, QI Bai insisted on stuffing the small package in his hand to the four of them. “These are just some pickles. It didn’t take much effort. I’m very happy that you like them, so don’t refuse.”

Wrapped in the leaves were the pickled radish that Qi Bai had dried over the past two days.

He put the salted radish roots on the bamboo winnowing basket and dried it outside for two to three days. Then it became a very strong pickle.

It was very delicious, no matter whether it was eaten with meat or cooked directly in the pot.

It was impossible for Qi Bai to take the bamboo sent by his tribe members for free. He prepared these small gifts early and waited for someone to give him bamboo.

In the end, several people accepted Qi Bai’s pickles. After all, Qi Bai said that if they didn’t accept it, he would drag the bamboo to their homes and return it to them.

“I have only marinated meat before. This is the first time I am seeing pickled vegetables. It is really delicious.” Hu Xue sighed.

Qi Bai wasn’t surprised. After all, in the previous tribes, salt was much more valuable than wild vegetables. There wasn’t enough to marinate meat, so how could there be any left over for pickling?

“I am also trying it for the first time,” Qi Bai said with a smile.

She Li looked at the pile of bamboo at the entrance of his cave and asked in a confused manner, “Bao Bai, why do you want so much bamboo? It is too much to use all of them to weave winnowing baskets.”