Chapter 215: Little Tiger’s Roar in the Beast World – 4

Little Tiger pounced over, hugging Xie Hui’s leg and rubbing his head against it affectionately, as if acting spoiled.

While the Tribe Leader was away, Luo had been taking care of Sheng. Seeing him like this, Luo couldn’t help but tease, “Sheng, you don’t look like this when you’re fighting with Yu.”

Yu was the little leopard who had a good relationship with Sheng in the tribe. Since they were both young, they often had minor scuffles, practically getting into a fight every day.

Missing his father, Sheng lay on the soft grass, covering his ears with his front paws, indicating he didn’t want to hear Luo’s teasing.

When the Tribe Leader returned, someone went to fetch the Priest. Upon seeing the several animal skin bags placed there, the Priest lost control, dropping her wooden staff, and hurried over to open the bags, examining the contents carefully.

“Tribe Leader, would you like to try it?”

“The Beast God said we should wait until the weather starts to turn cold before storing food in that way.”

Hearing this, the Priest’s previously excited mood gradually calmed down. Calculating the days, it wasn’t long until the weather would turn completely cold. She instructed several beastmen to move the items into an unused cave.

After settling these matters, Xie Hui took Sheng back to the cave. As soon as they sat down, Sheng came out from the corner where he usually hid things, carrying a piece of meat.

He pushed the meat towards Xie Hui with his paw and let out a howl.

“I hunted a wild boar on the way back and have already eaten.”

Upon hearing it was wild boar, Little Tiger scrunched up his face. In any tribe, young ones were pampered, always given the tastiest parts of the food. Even if they caught a wild boar, they wouldn’t give the meat to the young ones. Wild boar meat was tough to chew and didn’t taste great.

Ever since Sheng curiously buried himself in a wild boar’s belly and took a bite, he had been extremely averse to wild boars.

Xie Hui leaned in and bit off a corner of the meat, then pushed it back. “I’m already full.”

Sheng stared intently at Xie Hui, seemingly trying hard to discern if he was telling the truth. After a while, he finally felt reassured and lowered his head to eat the piece of meat he had hidden.

Xie Hui sorted through the tools they had exchanged for, finding sharper knives. To his surprise, there was even a Fire Seed among them. He had been pondering how to start a fire. Many beastmen died each winter not only due to insufficient food but also because of the extreme cold. If they could use fire for warmth, it would be much better.

Xie Hui carefully stored the Fire Seed, planning to test it publicly that evening.

Turning his head, he noticed a flower inside. After Sheng finished eating, he placed the flower on Little Tiger’s ear. He had seen the flowers on a tree on the way back and picked the prettiest one to bring back.

Little Tiger was initially confused, using his paw to swipe the flower off his ear. Seeing it fall to the ground, he ran to Xie Hui, urging him with a wave of his paw.

Xie Hui helped him put the flower back on. Little Tiger sat there, proudly shaking his head slightly.

When the beastmen returned from hunting in the evening, two young ones started fighting again in the grass. The cause was Yu trying to play with Sheng as usual, accidentally knocking the flower off his ear. Angered, Sheng pounced and pinned Yu’s neck with his paw, growling fiercely.

Upon hearing the familiar sound, Xie Hui instinctively looked over. His Little Tiger was using his still-pink paw pad to smack Yu’s face fiercely.

Many beastmen who witnessed this found it amusing, including Yu’s father. He had a good relationship with the Tribe Leader. As a child, he could never beat the Tribe Leader, always getting beaten instead. Now, his son was also getting beaten by the Tribe Leader’s son.

Yu’s father turned away helplessly, seeing his son getting beaten and not knowing how to fight back.

After distributing the meat, Xie Hui went over to help put the flower back on Sheng’s ear. Yu, whose face was a bit swollen from the beating, ran to his father, pointing at Sheng with his paw.

Yu’s father, seeing this gesture, misunderstood and tapped Yu’s head with his paw. “I won’t get involved in fights between young ones. Asking me for help is not what a future warrior should do.”

The little leopard shook his head, took a few steps, then turned to roar at his father, signaling him to follow.

They walked to where Sheng was gnawing on meat, and Yu pointed at the flower on Sheng’s ear with his paw.

“I’ll see if I can find one for you after tomorrow’s hunt.”

Yu wasn’t satisfied with his father’s answer, growling twice before running off with his meat to find Luo.

Although Luo was a male, he had a good nature, and most of the young ones in the tribe loved playing with him.

Yu, with his swollen face, carried his share of the prey and followed Luo back to his cave, ignoring his father completely.

Xie Hui had only considered his own son at the time, not realizing that other young ones would also want a flower after seeing his son’s.

On the way back to the cave, Xie Hui watched Little Tiger bounding ahead with an extra spring in his step, a deep smile in his eyes.

That evening, among the returning hunters, one of the beastmen was injured, and Xie Hui didn’t have the chance to take out the Fire Seed.

Although they had the Fire Seed, Xie Hui believed it would mostly be used for warmth rather than cooking food.

Xue, having grown up entirely in modern society, didn’t understand many things and thought cooked food was healthier. However, in this primitive beastmen world, that wasn’t necessarily true.

Especially for a beastman like the Client, who was a tiger. For him, raw meat provided far more energy than cooked meat.

The Client later died from blood loss after being gored by prey during a hunt, partly because he lacked the stamina, which was linked to this dietary issue.

However, for females, cooked food was indeed more suitable than raw meat.

The next morning, when Sheng woke up, he saw the little flower he had placed there before sleep had wilted. He widened his eyes in disbelief and gently pawed at it.

This time, when Xie Hui awoke, he saw Sheng lying there, staring eagerly at the withered flower.

“I’ll bring you a prettier one when we hunt today.”

“Roar.”

This promise didn’t quite cheer up Little Tiger, who rubbed his head against Xie Hui’s paw in grievance.

That day, while out hunting, Xie Hui stumbled upon a plant that resembled dry rice. He dug some up, roots and all, and brought them back.

In addition, before the hunt, Xie Hui assigned Little Tiger a particularly challenging task.

He asked him to catch some small prey, preferably rabbits, without killing them.

In the Client’s memory, he had tried raising animals, but most died because they didn’t like the food provided.

The Priest had attempted many times, continuing to try despite repeated failures.

Xie Hui analyzed the situation and concluded that the main issue was the food, and also the choice of prey. Animals like wild boars weren’t suitable for captivity in the tribe.

But rabbits, being small and rapidly reproducing, were ideal for domestication. Their food was easy to procure, and the Elderly Beastmen in the tribe could manage it.

With Xie Hui around, they always returned with a bountiful hunt. As they carried the game back, Little Tiger came running over, a rabbit clamped in his jaws by the scruff.

A purple flower was tucked behind his furry ear.

Beside him, a small leopard also carried a live rabbit, with a blade of grass lazily placed on its ear.

Xie Hui set down the game, looking at the two rabbits, now barely clinging to life, and then at the two cubs standing proudly with their heads held high. He offered a compliment.

“Not bad.”

The Priest, seeing the rabbits in the grass, walked over with a disapproving frown.

“By the grace of the Beast God, we are forbidden to mistreat living creatures.”

In the beastmen world, it was important to kill but not to torture.

Seeing the Priest’s misunderstanding, Xie Hui hurriedly explained:

“The Beast God once advised me to try raising some small animals.”

Raising animals for food was traditionally the Priest’s responsibility. By invoking the Beast God, Xie Hui avoided any harsh words from the Priest.

“But these rabbits are so small…”

“But they reproduce very quickly.”

This statement dispelled the Priest’s doubts, and she nodded.

“It’s worth a try.”

While Xie Hui and the Priest were talking, Little Tiger and the small leopard began wrestling again, burning off their excess energy through playfighting.

“Does the Beast God have any other guidance?”

“Yes, the Beast God also said that the females in the tribe could consider using fire to cook food and keep warm during the winter.”

Mentioning fire, even though Xie Hui prefaced it as the Beast God’s suggestion, the Priest’s expression changed.

To her, fire was not a pleasant memory. After the rainy season, lightning had struck the forest, causing a great fire, which she always believed was the Beast God’s punishment.

“Perhaps we can try it tonight when everyone is gathered? Just as an experiment.”

Ultimately, the Priest’s faith in the Beast God overcame her fear, and she decided to try as Xie Hui suggested.

Nearby, the small leopard accidentally knocked the flower off Little Tiger’s head, earning a beating from Sheng. Afterward, Sheng ran back to his father, and Xie Hui picked him up, placing him on his back, and ran off in another direction.