Chapter 216: Little Tiger’s Roar in the Beast World – 5

When it was time to distribute food, the Priest announced that they would attempt to cook with fire. Many of the beastmen were apprehensive until she explained that this was guidance from the Beast God, which calmed the unrest.

The beastmen from across the sea had a special method for storing Fire Seeds. Following the Tribe Leader’s instructions, Luo gathered some dry leaves. When Xie Hui lit them, the flames startled Little Tiger, who was clinging to his father, causing his fur to stand on end.

The fear of fire seemed ingrained in the bones of beasts, and Little Tiger, who hadn’t yet transformed into human form, was no exception.

With all four paws tightly wrapped around Xie Hui’s leg, even his tail coiled around Xie Hui’s ankle.

Luo piled the dry wood collected from the forest on top. As the fire burned, Xie Hui marinated a piece of meat with sea salt, skewered it on a stick, and roasted it over the flames.

As the meat cooked, its aroma gradually spread.

Most of the strong beastmen were indifferent to the smell, but the young female beastmen and the elderly began to subconsciously swallow their saliva.

Xie Hui handed the fully cooked meat to the Priest. Being a very strong beastman himself, he understood why other male and female beastmen of his age were not particularly moved by it.

They still preferred raw meat, enjoying the sensation of tearing and chewing large chunks.

Beside him, Little Tiger remained somewhat frightened, like a small ornament hanging from Xie Hui’s leg.

After tasting the meat, the Priest found it indeed better than before.

As she aged, her teeth were no longer as strong as they once were, making it difficult to chew raw meat. The roasted food was much softer and easier to eat.

Additionally, the High Priest noticed the warmth near the fire. While it might not be useful now, when the weather turned cold, having a fire in the cave would make the harsh winter days much more comfortable.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad thing.

Initially, some in the tribe were reluctant to embrace fire due to their natural fear, but after the elderly beastmen found the roasted food tastier, they forced themselves to overcome their prejudice.

The strongest beastmen now found the elderly beastmen very familiar, remembering how they were protected by these elders when they were young.

A tiger, very afraid of fire, trembled as it roasted meat for the elderly beastmen each day, its tail swaying nervously yet never considering stopping.

Raising rabbits, apart from their love for burrowing, posed no significant issues.

The elderly beastmen and the mischievous young cubs worked together to gather grass daily, feeding the rabbits until they were plump.

Most of the cubs, upon learning that the rabbits were being raised for their consumption, eagerly caught them and diligently gathered grass every day.

Various small animals lined up outside the rabbit pen, synchronously watching the rabbits eat grass, silently praying they would grow even fatter.

As the weather cooled, fewer beastmen stayed in the tribe each day. Almost every beastman went out hunting daily, consuming part of the catch immediately and preserving the rest with sea salt, hanging it to dry in a ventilated area.

Initially, some beastmen were careless, resulting in spoiled meat.

However, this was not an unbearable issue for them.

When prey was scarce, beastmen would eat naturally deceased animals, even if they had begun to rot in the heat, when they were extremely hungry.

Despite this minor flaw, they valued the method’s ability to preserve difficult-to-store meat.

As the weather turned colder, they used salting methods. When frost appeared outside, Xie Hui noticed temperatures had dropped below freezing, and most prey were reluctant to venture out. He instructed the beastmen to store the prey in the coldest cave.

The cave acted like a natural refrigerator.

The colder it got, the harder the meat froze.

In the past, beastmen would store food this way during winter, but only the strongest could manage to eat it when winter came.

The elderly beastmen collected dry wood and gathered dried grass, the former for warmth and the latter to keep the rabbits warm.

Previously, whenever the Priest attempted to raise food, it would die within fifteen days.

The fact that these rabbits had survived this long was already a remarkable outcome.

Even if they died now, their meat could be preserved in that place, helping them through the winter.

When the first snow fell, there were no animals active outside.

Occasionally, with great luck, they might spot a few, but they would disappear before anyone could approach.

As Xie Hui had predicted, this winter was exceptionally cold. Fortunately, they had Fire Seeds, and every family’s cave had a small fire burning.

Xie Hui, who had been focused on food, noticed the stones blackened by smoke. With nothing else to do during the snowy days, he pondered solutions to the problem.

In this primitive beastmen world, many things were absent, and some were entirely different from what Xie Hui remembered.

The plant he found, resembling dry rice, turned out to be a unique herb rather than usable rice.

Moreover, this was Xie Hui’s first year here, and everything was just beginning.

Despite the cold outside, Little Tiger was as lively as ever. After a wild romp outdoors, he returned to curl up by the fire, squinting his eyes in comfort. The warmth made him hum contentedly.

Since it was uncertain how long winter would last, they typically ate once every two days.

To Xie Hui, the food didn’t taste particularly good, but it was far better than the memories of the Original Host, who would conserve energy by staying still in a cave. The environment didn’t allow for pickiness, and even the failed attempts at cooking meat were kept by the Priest as food was too precious to waste.

In winter, even the small rabbits, usually overlooked by most beastmen, became treasures.

Every couple of days, Xie Hui would check on the elderly beastmen in the tribe.

When the snow first began to fall, most of the Elderly Beastmen started refusing food. Even if food was placed right by their mouths, they would silently turn their heads away.

Their thoughts were to leave the food for the stronger beastmen and the young ones. This was nearly universal among the Elderly Beastmen.

It wasn’t until the Priest showed them the food storage, with its mountains of meat, numerous rabbits, and dried fish filling five caves, that they felt reassured enough to eat.

Today, when Xie Hui went to check if they were eating properly, the little cub he usually left with Luo insisted on following him.

The tiger’s paws left delicate plum blossom prints in the snow, standing out vividly.

The snowfall here was so heavy that the paths Xie Hui had taken just a couple of days ago were now completely obscured.

Most beastmen stayed lazily in their caves, only the guards and patrols trudged through the snow with difficulty.

Originally, Xie Hui had Little Tiger perched on his back. But the mischievous cub, thinking his father wasn’t paying attention, tried to roll around. After a tumble, he lost his grip and fell into the thick snow.

The snow was already quite deep. On the days when it snowed less, it wasn’t so bad. But on other days, when Xie Hui visited the Elderly Beastmen, only his head was visible above the snow.

Feeling the sudden lightness on his back and hearing Little Tiger’s startled cries, Xie Hui instinctively turned around. Seeing the hole in the snow, he used his paw to dig out the mischievous cub.

After scolding him lightly and listening to his subdued whimpers, he tossed him back onto his back.

Once he confirmed that the elderly beastmen were eating on time, Xie Hui felt at ease and headed back. As they approached the cave, some restless beastmen had come out to clear the snow.

Another light snowfall had left just a thin layer.

Little Tiger struggled off his father’s back, and as Xie Hui walked ahead, the cub placed his paws in the prints left by his father.

Because Xie Hui’s strides were large, Little Tiger often stumbled after just a few steps.

After each fall, he quickly got up, shook the snow from his fur, and continued placing his little paws in his father’s larger prints, tumbling all the way home.

Once inside the cave, Little Tiger seemed to realize the cold, sitting on the small stool his father made for him, warming his paws by the fire.

The snowflakes that hadn’t been shaken off his fur melted into water by the fire, making the once adorable Little Tiger look a bit bedraggled with his damp fur.

Xie Hui turned to the food storage area, recalling Little Tiger’s envious look when he saw the neighbor’s jade rabbit yesterday.

The rabbits were at the bottom, and as he searched, he glanced over to ensure Little Tiger was sitting obediently by the fire, which reassured him.

He took out a frozen rabbit, placing it by the fire to thaw for Little Tiger’s dinner.

Turning around, he saw Little Tiger sitting too close to the fire due to the cold, with a portion of his beautiful fur singed.

It proved that even a moment’s inattention was too much.

Xie Hui could already smell the burnt fur, yet Little Tiger was still there, stretching his paws with eyes half-closed in contentment, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.