LSLFBW: Chapter 47

Since there were too few beastmen of an appropriate age in the tribe, there were only two pairs of partners when winter came.

One pair was Shu Lin and Xiong Feng, who lived downstairs from Qi Bai. The other pair was Yang Ling and Huan Peng, who lived right next door to them.

Now Shu Ling and Yang Ling were both pregnant at the same time. This stunned Qi Bai.

He carefully recalled Mao Bai’s memories and found that the sub-beastmen, especially the male sub-beastmen, never seemed to show their pregnancy. Since Mao Bai became an orphan at a very young age, he lived in the collective tent of the cave and seldom came into contact with other sub-beastmen.

If it must be explained, it seemed that every spring, there would be many babies in the tribe. Mao Bai never felt curious about it. In his impression, they could have babies as long as they formed a pair and lived together. The process in between wasn’t important.

It wasn’t just Mao Bai but other indigenous people in the tribe. Even Zhu Zhu, who had given birth to several babies, looked confused.

Zhu Zhu thought back to when she was pregnant. Since partners were usually confirmed in the autumn before winter came, and she basically stayed in her animal form to keep warm in winter, Zhu Zhu didn’t remember much about anything else except that her belly became a bit bigger for a short period of time before the children were born.

However, the tribe members had blind trust in the priest, not to mention that Yang Luo spoke so confidently.

Xiong Feng, who rushed over in a hurry, was so shocked by the news that he stood there in a daze.

Shu Lin finally reacted this time. The little squirrel’s fur exploded like flowers. He dug into the ground with all four limbs and instantly ran to Xiong Feng. He climbed up Xiong Feng’s animal skin coat and onto his shoulders in a few steps.

Qi Bai was fortunate enough to see Xiong Feng crying for the second time. The last time was when Xiong Feng thought his arm was broken.

Qi Bai deeply realized what it meant to not judge a book by its cover. Xiong Feng, who looked the most ferocious, was actually the one with the most delicate emotions.

The little squirrel closed his eyes and rubbed Xiong Feng’s face affectionately with a tilted head.

Shu Lin had been the weakest sub-beastman in the tribe since he was a child. Even during the mating season after he became an adult, he lost to other sub-beastmen in the tribe.

Fortunately, he was open-minded and cheerful by nature. It was just that having a child of his own had always been Shu Lin’s wish. His wish finally came true.

“Roar!”

This was the roar coming from Huan Ping, who was slower in reaction. He immediately changed into beast form and happily circled around Yang Ling a few times.

The sound made the snow on the treetops nearby fall down as if celebrating with them.

“Roar!” Cheers broke out in the crowd.

“Great!” Quan Lie picked up the little dog who was standing nearby. As the little dog looked calm, he repeatedly threw the dog into the air and caught him again.

At this time, Yang Luo gestured to Shu Lin.

Xiong Feng put the little squirrel on the ground with both hands. The animal forms of Shu Lin and Yang Ling stood quietly in front of Yang Luo.

Others also came forward and surrounded them.

Yang Luo put his fingertips together and placed his index finger on his forehead. He chanted softly while slowly bending his knees on the snow. Finally, he placed his hands reverently on the two people’s stomachs.

At first glance, this scene seemed a bit inconsistent. However, Qi Bai could truly feel the anticipation of Yang Luo and everyone else in the tribe for new life.

It was because for all beastmen, children were the hope given to them by the Beast God.

Due to the news that Shu Lin and Y ang Lin were pregnant, everyone was excited for the whole afternoon as if they had been injected with chicken blood. The smiles on their faces never stopped and the strength in their hands became greater.

Every member of the Black Mountain Tribe felt extremely satisfied with their lives.

Look at their lives now. Everyone could have a cave that sheltered them from the wind and rain. In addition, the could light charcoal in the cave to keep warm. The tribe would provide food for every member of the tribe and they had countless salt and pottery.

Now they were building a wall they had never heard about before. The priest and chief had told them that as long as the wall was built, no one would have to worry about attacks from wild beasts anymore.

Now winter wasn’t even half over, and there were already children about to be born in the tribe. How could this not make people feel excited?

They must build the wall quickly to protect the new babies.

Early in the morning, Qi Bai opened the bamboo door of the cave. Outside the door was a dreamy and magnificent world of ice and snow.

Qi Bai walked on the snow on the platform and took a deep breath. He seemed to be able to smell the fragrance of snowflakes in the air.

It snowed for three days in a row and finally stopped this morning.

There were traces of a door being pushed open in front of Lang Ze’s cave. It seemed that he had already gone out.

During the time when the snow fell heavier and heavier, if the cave entrance wasn’t blocked and the snowflakes were allowed to drift down with the mountain wind, the cave would be filled with ice and snow in less than two days.

Therefore, the people in the tribe all followed Qi Bai’s example. They cut the bamboo into suitable lengths, drilled holes with a hand drill, and nailed in bamboo nails to make bamboo doors.

Those who were more particular would even follow Qi Bai’s example and drill holes in the stone walls, embed bamboo doors in the mountain walls, and make them look like they could be opened.

Of course, more tribe members directly blocked the entrance of the cave with a bamboo door and moved it away and back every time they went out. This was also a good idea.

Due to the natural growth patterns of bamboo, it was difficult to find bamboo that could be completely pieced together. This meant there would still be gaps in the bamboo door that allowed air to leak in. Still, it didn’t matter. They could just use tree bark to fill the gaps.

It was only after making sure that the wind and snow had really stopped that Qi Bai returned to the cave.

The water in the pottery jar was already warm. Qi Bai poured half of it into the bamboo cup and wooden basin for washing.

He put the remaining half a can of water back on the charcoal basin. Then he poured in the shredded sweet potato and picked pork. He covered the pot and boiled it into a broth.

Qi Bai poured the water he used for washing directly into the bamboo tubes containing onions and garlic. The garlic seedlings that had been pinched off were still growing. However, it was too cold outside, and Qi Bai hadn’t moved them out to bask in the sun for a long time. Now the newly grown seedlings had turned yellow.

As he waited for the broth, Qi Bai sat at the table. He pricked the grayish-white hair in the dustpan with a bone needle.

There was already a grayish-white little head in Qi Bai’s hand. Qi Bai had never made wool felt before, but he studied sculpting. As long as he mastered the basic principles and slowly poked it with a bone needle according to the ideas of painting, he could gradually make it the way he wanted.

Qi Bai looked at the few remaining fur in the basket and thought silently in his heart, ‘So many days have passed. Lang Ze should be shedding fur again. That’s right. It is time to comb his fur again. It is definitely not because I don’t have enough materials to make the wolf fur felt.’

He finished drinking a full bowl of salted meat and sweet potato soup. Then Qi Bai carried the rattan basket on his back and took a walk around the place where the wall was being built.

The foundation of the wall had already been laid. Now all they had to do was make the wall higher and wider.

Every morning, the beastmen would go to the kiln and load the clay bricks into the rattan baskets. Then they moved them to the side of the wall and piled up the bricks layer by layer with mortar. They didn’t stop working even during the heavy snowstorm a few days ago.

After mastering the bricklaying technique, everyone was now adept at doing this job and no longer needed Qi Bai to keep an eye on it.

By the time Qi Bai arrived here, the basket next to Lang Ze was already half empty.

Qi Bai saw that there was nothing for him to do and walked towards the kiln.

Unlike the other side of the wall where everyone was working quietly, it was much more lively here at the kiln.

Qi Bai came over and happened to see everyone unloading the clay that Xiang Yu had carried.

He quickly ran to the wooden shed, put down the rattan basket he was carrying and rushed to help.

He poured out the clay and hung the wicker basket filled with clay back on Xiang Yu’s back. Xiang Yu shook his nose and walked towards the stream. The horned beastmen who stayed there were still digging clay, waiting for him to go back and load it a second time.

He now had to deliver two loads of clay to the kiln every day to keep up the pace of making bricks.

After seeing Xiang Yu off and driving away the children who wanted to help in the wooden shed, Qi Bai and the sub-beastmen in the tribe started to mix mud and make bricks.

The temperature dropped even lower after the snow in the past few days. Qi Bai estimated that it was at least -10 degrees Celsius. Even though the kiln was relatively warmer due to the continuous firing of bricks, Qi Bai still didn’t dare to let the children get started out of fear that they would catch a cold.

Since Shu Lin and Yang Ling were pregnant, Qi Bai also classified them as those who needed special protection. Therefore, they didn’t need to interfere in these matters.

However, they weren’t the type of people who could sit idle. Qi Bai turned around and saw Shu Lin piling up a few bricks and standing on tiptoe on the bricks, trying to use a stick to knock the snow off the wooden shed.

The snow had stopped now but what if it snowed again in a while? Their wooden shed was collapsed by the snow a few days ago.

Qi Bai looked at the crumbling bricks and felt that he would have a heart attack sooner or later because of them.

Previously when he saw Yang Luo kneeling and caressing their bellies, Qi Bai thought that the tribe would take good care of pregnant people like in modern times.

Who would’ve thought that ceremony would only be performed one time? Then after that, they would never care about the two people again.

Shu Lin and Yang Ling had no awareness of being pregnant at all. They just moved bricks and went to the ice to catch fish. In the end, Qi Bai forced them to do the job of adding fire to the pottery kiln.

Just like then, he only glanced away for a moment, and Shu Lin was already doing these difficult moves.

Qi Bai was anxious but didn’t dare to shout loudly out of fear of startling him. He had to throw away the bricks in his hand, run over, and hug the other person. “Come down quickly. You don’t need to do this. We will sweep it after we finish the bricks. Be careful not to fall.”

Shu Lin was held by Qi Bai and moved to the ground. He obviously didn’t understand Qi Bai’s concerns and even looked a bit unconvinced. “I won’t fall. I can jump down from any high stone platform.”

Qi Bai was really convinced. He pointed to the sky and said, “This is the will of the Beast God. Pregnant sub-beastmen aren’t allowed to fall. If you do such a dangerous thing, the Beast God will be angry.”

Shu Lin’s expression really became serious. He shook his head repeatedly and said in a low voice, “Don’t be angry.”

At this time, Qi Bai was afraid of scaring him and quickly comforted him. “Then you need to be careful in normal times. It is only one winter anyway. You will be fine after you give birth.”

Qi Bai felt relieved when seeing Shu Lin finally nod obediently. He now understood the importance of the gods. All the things that couldn’t be explained could be solved perfectly as long as he asked the Beast God for help.

However, as soon as Qi Bai turned around, he saw Yang Luo looking at him in shock.

Oops, he forgot to check if Yang Luo was around when fooling people just now.

Just as Qi Bai was thinking about how to cover up his lie, Yang Luo seemed to have figured something out. He looked at Qi Bai with awe in his eyes before he left while muttering to himself.

Qi Bai: “……”

It seemed like he was misunderstood, but he didn’t want to explain it.