LSLFBW: Chapter 40

The tribe was about to distribute the ten day supplies to the tribe members for the second time. Yang Luo and Hou Yan had been counting the supplies since yesterday.

Not only did they have to sort out the food that needed to be distributed next time, but they also needed to check whether the food had been stored properly. If there was any rotten food, they had to take it out and eat it quickly.

As Lang Ze walked into the collective cave, Yang Luo and Hou Yan had just finished counting a batch of food and were warming themselves around the brazier.

Hou Yan asked solemnly, “Are you sure?”

“I just took a look from a distance, but based on the traces left, the fire should’ve been left after the snow fell.”

The people in the tribe wouldn’t go so far to hunt. Most importantly, there was no need to make a fire unless they were spending the night in the wild. The location of the fire was only half a day’s distance away from the tribe. It was impossible for it to be left by the members of the Black Mountain Tribe.

“Since they have entered the territory of our tribe, it is only a matter of time before they discover our existence,” Yang Luo said in a worried manner.

The north might be a place that all races were reluctant to step foot in easily, but this didn’t mean there were no beastmen living here. They themselves were the best example.

The last time it snowed was six or seven days ago. If it was true as Lang Ze said, then there was someone wandering very close to their tribe, and they knew nothing about it.

The best case scenario now was that the other party had just passed by here and didn’t notice their presence.

Of course, everyone was worried about another possibility. It was that they had been targeted. These people were scouts. Once they returned to their tribe, they might lead more people to attack the Black Mountain Tribe.

The Black Mountain Tribe was too weak. In the world of beastmen, the weak ate the strong. Only the strong could survive and reproduce.

Winter was hard to endure. It would be fine if the enemy only robbed their food. However, there were many brutal tribes in the Beastman Continent that ate people…

Hou Yan rubbed his forehead hard with his cracked hands. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

Even though Hou Yan had become the chief of the Black Mountain Tribe, it didn’t change the fact that he was just an ordinary beastman in the tribe more than a month ago. He was an honest and simple man. According to Yang Luo, he was honest to the point of being bullied, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken the initiative to leave the tribe to save food when the tribe was in danger.

He could ensure fairness when leading everyone to hunt and when distributing food to everyone. But once he encountered a major event that concerned the life or death of the tribe, Hou Yan didn’t know how to make a decision.

Seeing that his partner couldn’t be relied upon, Yang Luo felt reluctant, but he still asked for the opinion of Lang Ze, who seemed to be the calmest person present.

“What do you think?”

Lang Ze didn’t care too much about Yang Luo’s feelings, nor did he care that Hou Yan was the chief of the Black Mountain Tribe. He said directly, “Give me a few people. I will chase them and find out their purpose.’

Yang Luo hadn’t expected Lang Ze to have such courage. “You have to think carefully. If the other person is a powerful tribe, you will probably anger them if you rush over.”

“Will we not be discovered if we hide here? Rather than leaving our fate in their hands, we should take the initiative. If they try to do something to us….”

Lang Ze didn’t finish his next words, but Yang Luo already felt Lang Ze’s determination to fight to the death, as well as his subtle hatred.

Hou Yan said, “Lang Ze’s words make sense, but he is still too young. Let me lead the team.”

Yang Luo shook his head. “As the tribe leader, you must not leave the tribe at this time. We must prepare for the worst. If someone really harms the tribe, the tribe members will only have the confidence to fight back if you are in the tribe.”

However, Yang Luo didn’t immediately agree with Lang Ze’s opinion. He asked, “If I let you choose, who would you take with you?”

Lang Ze answered without hesitation. It was obvious that he had thought about this on the way back. “Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao.”

Lang Ze didn’t intend to take away the adult horned beastmen. It was just as Yang Luo said. It was also full of danger for the people in the tribe to stay where they were. If he deviated due to the direction of pursuit, he might not be able to come back in time for support. Thus, he only planned to take two underage horned beastmen with him.

Yang Luo pondered on it for a moment before saying, “Add Hu Meng.” Even though he accepted Lang Ze’s proposal, he still couldn’t fully believe him.

Lang Ze simply nodded. “Yes.”

The tribe members outside the cave were still enthusiastic.

Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao could hardly hide their excitement. Lang Ze had already asked for their opinions, and they almost immediately agreed to follow Lang Ze out.

For them, going out to explore wasn’t a dangerous thing but a sign of Lang Ze’s trust and recognition in them.

Qi Bai was absentmindedly putting venison into a wicker basket. The moment he saw Lang Ze coming, he quickly put down the basket and trotted over to meet him.

“How is it?” Qi Bai asked in a low voice.

“It is similar to what we guessed. Priest Yang Luo asked Hu Meng to go along as well,” Lang Ze replied.

Qi Bai smiled. “He must be afraid that you would kidnap Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao, so he asked Hu Meng to watch over you.”

Lang Ze shook his head indifferently. The two of them said a few more words before Lang Ze called Xi Zhou and the other two and returned to the collective cave. They still needed to discuss more details.

Qi Bai sighed imperceptibly as he looked at Lang Ze’s back. Then he stretched his arms and legs and started to move the meat to his cave.

After sending away the tribe members who came to help, Qi Bai didn’t stop for a moment. He turned around and started to get busy.

According to what Lang Ze discussed with Qi Bai on the road, their trip would take at least ten days. It was possible that they would be outside for more than 20 days, so Qi Bai had to prepare more food for Lang Ze.

The beastmen carried jerky with them when traveling only for the convenience of carrying. For this reason, they roasted the moisture in the meat strips directly over a high fire. In the end, there was no need to mention the taste of the jerky. It took a lot of effort to bite off the meat when eating.

Qi Bai couldn’t go with them, but he could at least help them with some preparations. For example, making some dry food that tasted better.

He soaked and washed the venison he just divided. Then he cut it into long strips along the grain of the meat. He added seasoning and braised it over low heat for half an hour.

Qi Bai placed all the usable stone slabs in the cave, brushed some butter on them, neatly arranged the venison, and dried the moisture in the venison over a low fire.

After thinking for a while, he took another piece of animal skin, sat in the moonlight, watched the meat strips drying, and started to sew the animal skin bag.

Qi Bai had obtained four animal skins in total, two of which had been made into clothes and one into a mattress. The one he took out now was the one that Leather had covered him with last night. It hadn’t been washed, but it was the cleanest compared to the others.

Qi Bai used a bone knife to divide the animal skin into four parts. He cut some small holes around the outside of the skin, threaded the animal skin straps into the holes, tied the bag by pulling it tightly, and tied a long strap to make it a cross-body style. In this way, Leather and the others could carry the rattan basket on their backs while also wearing the animal skin bag across their body.

By the time Lang Ze came back with Hu Meng and the others, Qi Bai was putting sweet potato chips into an animal skin bag.

He steamed the sweet potatoes, cut them into strips, and placed them on a winnowing basket to dry halfway. Then he would get soft and glutinous sweet potato strips. If Qi Bai was hungry but it wasn’t time to eat, he would use these sweet potato strips to fill his stomach. This meant he didn’t make much. Now there was even less to share among four people.

Qi Bai saw that everyone was carrying a lot of things and asked, “Did the tribe distribute supplies to you?”

Lang Ze nodded. Yang Luo gave every person an extra piece of animal skin and four pieces of salted meat.

These supplies weren’t too much. After all, it wasn’t known when they could come back. At the very least, they definitely wouldn’t be able to catch up with the next supply distribution in the tribe, which was done every ten days.

Hu Meng looked at the sweet potato chips and animal skin bags that had been packed and asked happily, “Can I have one of these animal skin bags too?”

“Okay.” Qi Bai demonstrated how to use the animal skin bags to them.

However, when Hu Meng reached out to take it, Lang Ze stopped him. “Exchange it with your animal skin and food.”

“Oh yes.” Hu Meng scratched his head and handed over the animal skin he had just received.

Qi Bai didn’t refuse. But when he packed food for them later, he stuffed the animal skins into the wicker basket. They had to spend the night in the snowy wilderness. How could they keep warm without warm animal skins?

By the time Lang Ze discovered it, they had already walked a long way. However, he always kept this in mind. After they returned to the tribe, he would specially use the animal skins they brought back to replenish the ones that Qi Bai had taken out.

At this time, everyone obviously had no time to care about the animal skins. Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao smelled the aroma of dried meat in the air and hurriedly asked if they could bring their meat to be processed together. Qi Bai naturally agreed with a smile.

Thus, a new round of busyness began in Qi Bai’s cave. Qi Bai drove them back to rest once it was late at night.

Everyone had decided to set out early tomorrow morning. Now they needed to recharge their batteries.

At daybreak, Qi Bai stuffed an extra kettle filled with hot water into Lang Ze’s rattan basket. He sealed the mouth of the kettle with animal skin, but he didn’t know if it could prevent leakage.

Qi Bai walked out of the cave, tilted his head back, and yawned loudly. Suddenly, he felt a chill on his eyelids. Qi Bai opened his eyes and saw sporadic snowflakes in the sky.

Due to the snow, the originally scheduled departure time was brought forward. Lang Ze and his group didn’t even have breakfast. They carried rattan baskets on their backs and wore the animal skin bags. They left the tribe quietly while most of the tribe members were still asleep.

Perhaps he was too tired, or perhaps it was because yesterday’s collaboration made Qi Bai full of confidence in them. After seeing them off, Qi Bai returned to the cave and fell asleep almost as soon as his head touched the bed. He had no idea that Yang Luo had been waiting for him anxiously the whole day.