Chapter 228: Little Tiger’s Roar in the Beast World – 17 (Arc End)

Sheng walked over with a stern face. As soon as the two cubs heard his familiar footsteps, they instinctively hid behind their grandfather.

Before they could even peek out to see what was happening, Sheng had already grabbed them by the scruff of their necks.

When it came to disciplining the children, Sheng was quite impartial. Both cubs received a swat on their tiger behinds. Afterward, Sheng couldn’t help but recall how his uncles used to pat his backside when he was little. Succumbing to nostalgia, he gave the cubs’ rears a gentle rub. Indeed, the feel of a tiger’s backside was quite satisfactory.

The two cubs, feeling wronged but unable to escape, quickly ran to their grandfather as soon as Sheng let go. They leapt into his arms, clinging to his arm with all four paws, and gazed tearfully at Xie Hui.

Xie Hui had no intention of interfering with his son’s way of teaching the children, especially seeing Sheng, usually so mild-tempered, this upset. He could guess that the cubs had snuck out on their own.

Placing them on the animal hide, he gently ruffled each cub’s head with his hands. Then, he evenly divided the leftover meat and let them each take a piece to gnaw on in a corner.

“Be good, Grandpa will be back soon.”

After comforting the two cubs, Xie Hui waved Sheng over. Despite being a grown beastman, Sheng still stood as properly as he did when he was a child in front of his father.

“Father, they snuck out on their own.”

“I know.”

Xie Hui picked a small flower, initially just out of boredom, but Sheng, seeing this gesture, instinctively transformed into a tiger and nudged his head over.

“When you were little, you loved to wander and hide. There were many times I couldn’t find you.”

“Young cubs are very curious and mischievous. No matter how busy you are, you must take some time to play with them.”

Sheng nodded his large head. He knew he should spend more time with the cubs, but sometimes he was so exhausted from work that he could barely keep his eyes open, only thinking of resting.

Seeing the two cubs coming over to nuzzle him, he almost wanted to swat them away.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how hard it must have been for his father. He remembered being quite a handful when he was young too.

One of his most vivid memories was when he was about the same age as the cubs. His father left without him, and in his anger, he dug a hole with his paws and buried himself in it, leaving only his head exposed.

He remembered it so clearly because he got quite a beating for it.

“Father, I know I was wrong.”

Xie Hui looked at the tiger he had raised with his own hands, his voice gentle.

“It’s not that you were wrong. It’s just that this is your first time being a father, and it’s normal not to think of everything.”

After saying all this, Xie Hui turned to head back to the cave, reminding Sheng that the cubs would stay with him today.

“Alright, if they cause any trouble, just call me over, and I’ll come and discipline them!”

The two Little Tigers, who had been happily bouncing around on all four paws, tucked their tails and ran into the cave upon hearing their father’s words.

They didn’t even want to look at him! So annoying!

Nowadays, Xie Hui rarely went out hunting, but one day, he remembered Sheng’s birthday was approaching. Secretly, he joined the tribe’s hunting party to the forest and caught Sheng’s favorite prey.

After catching it, he helped the hunting party with other beasts. Once, as the Tribe Leader, he could single-handedly take down a buffalo. This time, facing a wild boar, his slower reflexes due to age caused him to be knocked down.

Sheng, who was teaching the cubs not to eat random plants, was so shocked by the news brought by another beastman that he immediately transformed into a tiger and dashed out, leaving the cubs behind.

Xie Hui was taken to the Priest by the beastmen, and the Priest, with her fully white hair, examined him.

She prescribed some herbs for Xie Hui and instructed others to take him back to rest.

Seeing his father lying on the animal hide, Sheng felt a sudden pang of emotion.

The father who once took him to the sea and had the energy to pick a beautiful flower for him seemed to have aged without him noticing.

Lying there with his eyes closed, he looked no different from the elderly beastmen in the tribe.

Sheng had previously insisted that his father not go hunting, thinking that now that he was grown, his father could finally relax a bit.

In his heart, his father was always the invincible figure of his memories.

After applying the herbal medicine for his father, Sheng prepared to fetch a few things. The beastmen who had gone hunting with the Tribe Leader handed Sheng the cooled prey.

“The Tribe Leader said tomorrow is your birthday, and this is what you loved to eat as a child.”

Sheng was silent on his way back, and when he returned to the cave, he couldn’t hold back his tears as he watched the two Little Tigers rolling on the ground.

As a child, he indeed loved eating this, and after trying it once, he refused to eat anything else. If his father didn’t get it for him, he’d throw a tantrum and roll on the ground.

Now grown, Sheng could shoulder the responsibility of the entire family, raising the two cubs and supporting the household with his partner.

This familiar, elusive prey with little meat made Sheng feel that no matter how old he got, in his father’s eyes, he would always be that little cub who needed care.

The next day, when Xie Hui woke up, he sighed helplessly. Indeed, aging was inevitable.

He looked around the familiar setup of the cave, took a walk, and gently touched the places where Sheng used to hide things as a child.

He stopped for a long time at the corner where Sheng loved to stash things and picked up a completely dried flower, stared at it for a while, and then put it back.

This time, Xie Hui realized that both his mental and physical strength were not what they used to be. After discussing with the Priest, he decided to pass the position of Tribe Leader to Sheng.

The Priest was getting on in years and had decided to pass on the position to the female lion she had been mentoring, a gentle creature.

When Sheng received the items from his father, they didn’t feel heavy. Yet, under his father’s expectant and trusting gaze, they seemed to weigh more than an entire buffalo.

Both young lions wore large red flowers around their necks, sitting neatly in place.

After the handover ceremony, the Priest chanted an ancient spell one last time, bowing deeply toward the setting sun. The last rays of the sunset fell upon the female lion taking over as Priest.

Having stepped down as Tribe Leader, Xie Hui focused his efforts on developing the tribe. Many matters were now being considered by the beastmen themselves.

They found more diverse ways to store food. Vegetables preferred by the females were better preserved by burying them in pits, some of which would remain fresh even through the snow.

Strange-looking houses gradually appeared in the tribe. The beastmen moved their homes from caves to these new structures.

The roads became smoother, and they discovered lighter tools for hunting. They even constructed simple carts, making it much easier to trade with others by the sea.

Before the two Little Tigers reached adulthood, Xie Hui sensed his time in this world was nearing its end.

He called Sheng over during the day and talked at length, reminiscing about Sheng’s mischievous antics from the past.

Sheng didn’t notice anything amiss. After all, beastmen tended to get chatty with age. He stayed with his father until late, leaving only when Xie Hui urged him to go.

Before they left, Xie Hui embraced the two Little Tigers again. They were getting heavier, and he could barely lift them now.

“Off you go, off you go.”

As Sheng carried his two cubs out, he paused at the door to say to his father, “Father, I’m going hunting tomorrow. I’ll catch that beast you love to eat.”

Xie Hui didn’t respond. Late at night, he picked a dew-laden flower and placed it on the table in the center of the house.

He transformed into his tiger form and returned to the cave where he had lived before, lying down in the spot where he used to play with Sheng. He closed his eyes and never opened them again.

The next day, Sheng returned with his catch but didn’t find his father. A sense of foreboding crept into his heart. After searching the house, he went to ask the Priest.

Finally, holding onto a faint hope, he returned to the old cave. As he reached the entrance, he saw an aged tiger lying in a familiar spot, lifeless.

Sheng howled in despair, tears quickly blurring his vision.

The two Little Tigers were too young to understand the meaning of departure. They would occasionally linger by the flower their grandfather left when they missed him.

They still had Sheng and Luo, who prepared beds filled with the scent of flowers for them.

But now that Sheng had become the Tribe Leader, bearing the responsibility of the entire tribe, no one would carefully select flowers from the garden just to place the most beautiful one behind his ear.

After leaving, Xie Hui spent a long time adjusting in the System Space.

Most of the time, he avoided watching the scenes after he left a world. Having raised the children himself, it pained him to see them. Yet, he couldn’t help but watch every time.

Seeing Sheng occasionally lie down next to the flower when he missed him, closing his eyes to hide his wet eyes, Xie Hui’s heart ached uncontrollably.

“Host, I’ve completed it for you~”

“Alright, let’s meet the next tasker.”

Xie Hui suppressed all his emotions and spoke to the System.

Soon, the next tasker appeared in the System Space. Upon entering, he paused, shook his wings, and walked toward Xie Hui.

Judging by his proud demeanor, he probably thought he looked quite cool.

But to Xie Hui, he looked more like a large lizard, the kind that scurried around everywhere.

“Oh, dear, I believe you can certainly help me, can’t you?”

———Arc End———