Chapter 47: Beast God’s Emissary, Little Hedgehog

Though Jiujiu told his father not to worry about him, claiming he could survive on whatever grass he found even if he forgot one day, in reality, if Jing didn’t bring him food, he would subtly prod his father, feigning nonchalance.

Life in the tribe was very peaceful. Jing found some fruits that stored well and kept them in his cave, just in case Jiujiu got hungry when the weather was bad and they couldn’t go out.

What beastmen could eat depended entirely on luck; going hungry was a common occurrence. For example, when the weather gradually turned cold and prey didn’t come out often, they would have to stay in their caves, reducing their activity to resist hunger.

During a heavy rain, lightning and thunder accompanied it. Long, long ago, beastmen believed this was the Beast God’s wrath. Every time there was thunder, they would kneel outside, begging for the Beast God’s forgiveness. Later, after understanding the cause, they stopped. The change began with a mischievous little beastman who secretly tasted cooked food and found it delicious. It took a long time for other beastmen to gradually accept this. What was once considered the Beast God’s punishment transformed into the Beast God’s blessing, and everyone wholeheartedly appreciated the Beast God’s generous gift.

Jiujiu taught them to bury embers in the ashes of a fire to keep them alive longer, and suggested they could have elderly beastmen guard the embers. As long as there was enough wood, the fire could burn continuously. Using tools, preserving fire, and domesticating prey were all carried out in an orderly fashion. If the weather hadn’t already been turning cold, Jiujiu would have even wanted his father to try farming.

In the eyes of beastmen, the only edible food was meat; plants were either medicinal or poisonous. They hadn’t had a beastman with shamanistic talent for a long time, so they couldn’t determine whether plants could heal injuries.

Jing seemed noticeably out of sorts recently, so Jiujiu stopped intentionally prodding his father. Instead, he sat beside him and asked, “Father, did something happen?”

“When the weather gets cold, I don’t know how many beastmen in our tribe will freeze or starve to death this year.”

Jing saw Little Hedgehog approach and reached out to smooth his quills. After doing so, he sighed. Even with the Beast God’s Emissary here, many conditions in the tribe had improved. However… food was still the most troublesome issue. Every winter, when prey was scarce, countless elderly beastmen would refuse to eat, or choose a favorite day to leave before the cold arrived. They did this to avoid burdening the tribe, choosing to return to the Beast God’s embrace early. No beastman felt good watching those who had raised them make such a decision.

“Prepare food?”

“Rotten food can’t be stored for too long, and after our hunted prey is distributed, there isn’t much left.”

As time went on, less prey could be caught. Food could be stored when it was cold, but then they couldn’t obtain food. Even if the weather provided convenience, it wouldn’t make much difference.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Jiujiu thought seriously, feeling that as his father’s thoughtful Little Hedgehog, he absolutely had to solve this problem for his father. At this time, the weather hadn’t turned completely cold yet; it was just harder to catch prey than before, requiring more time spent hunting each day. Jiujiu saw every day that they brought back more prey than before. All the beastmen felt that eating more now meant they could eat less in winter. Even if they didn’t eat, they could last longer. Jiujiu felt their idea wasn’t very scientific. Although they were beastmen, they were essentially humans who hadn’t fully evolved. They could endure for a while, but an entire winter was clearly unrealistic.

“Father, is there a sea here?”

That evening, when Jing returned, he suddenly heard this from Little Hedgehog.

“Sea?”

It was the first time he’d heard this, and he didn’t quite understand what it meant. Although he was used to Little Hedgehog occasionally spouting strange words, he still looked confused every time he heard them.

“It’s like, the water is salty.”

“Yes, but it’s very far, and the beastmen there are very fierce. We don’t understand their language.”

Speaking of salty water, Jing had a slight memory. When he was a young lion, he once followed the previous tribal chief to a very distant place. There, even a little water they drank tasted salty. Because the taste was so bad, it left a very deep impression on him.

“Can we go? We can exchange things with them.”

Jiujiu’s eyes lit up when he heard there was not only seawater but also beastmen nearby. He had just been thinking that if his father took him, it would take several trials to make salt, and they might not be able to return before winter. Even if they did, prey caught in the icy, snowy conditions wouldn’t need curing; the earth would be a natural refrigerator. But if there were beastmen, the difficulty instantly dropped. Jiujiu was absolutely certain that beastmen living by the sea would have a way to extract salt. Star Lord had seen the Beast God and told Jiujiu, so Jiujiu wasn’t arrogant like the Female Lead in the original plot, nor did Little Hedgehog think he was much smarter than the beastmen.

“But we can’t communicate with them.”

Exchanging things wasn’t new to Jing; they often exchanged things with nearby tribes. A while ago, he exchanged for a fox pelt, which was perfect for Jiujiu to sleep on in the cave. But exchanging things with beastmen they couldn’t communicate with was something Jing hadn’t tried yet.

“I can, Father, trust Jiujiu!”

At that time, the Beast God, in order to help all the beastmen on this continent, specifically made Jiujiu able to understand all languages and occasionally communicate in specific situations.

“Tomorrow, I’ll take you to try.”

“No, Father can’t carry enough. Exchange more. The beastmen by the sea have a way to preserve food, as long as the weather is a little cooler.” Even if the weather was too hot to meet the standard, Jiujiu had seen a very cool cave when he went out with his father a while ago. Every time he walked in, every quill on Little Hedgehog’s body seemed to shiver.

Because of the various changes Little Hedgehog brought to their tribe, Jing had no doubts. He immediately began to consider which people to take with him. He still remembered that place was where the previous tribal chief got lost and wandered for a long time to reach. Plus, Jing was a young lion at the time who needed to be carried if he walked too far, so his memory was a bit hazy. This time, the beastmen accompanying him would definitely need to be strong, and he also had to make sure not to take too many hunting beastmen away.

“Jiujiu, how many fruits do you want to bring?”

After arranging those things, Jing turned to look at the Little Hedgehog who had been waiting there. They could hunt for food on the way, but Jiujiu might not be able to pick his favorite fruits. Jiujiu, who was about to say no, thought that if he got too hungry, it might cause delays, so he sat down with his back to his father.

“Stick a fruit on every one of Jiujiu’s quills!”

Jing thought it would be difficult to follow Jiujiu’s request. He was too small, and his quills were too dense; if he stuck them all on, the fruits would be squeezed together. He pretended to count the quills on Jiujiu’s body, took out a leather bag, and put the not-fully-ripe, storable fruits inside. Under Jiujiu’s angry gaze, he took one and poked it onto a quill, successfully soothing a Little Hedgehog.

“Thank you, Father~”

All the beastmen in the tribe unconditionally believed in the Beast God. In their eyes, it was because of the Beast God that they had everything they possessed now. Therefore, Jiujiu’s identity as the Beast God’s Emissary brought him a lot of convenience. Whatever came out of his mouth, the beastmen were willing to carry out unconditionally.

Jing took the beastmen and Jiujiu and searched in the forest for a long time, but couldn’t find the sea he remembered. Finally, Jiujiu missed his fluffy little nest in the cave a bit. His father’s lion fur was also quite comfortable, but he didn’t dare to roll around on it. His quills were specially modified by Star Lord to hold fruits. Unexpectedly, after arriving in this world, he didn’t know how many fruits he had stuck, but he could indeed stick his father.

Standing on a rock, he lifted his head and sniffed the air. Jiujiu waited for his father to come over, then pointed firmly in one direction. “Father, go that way.”

The direction Jiujiu pointed was completely different from where Jing had planned to go. Jing thought for a moment and decided to trust Jiujiu.

“Okay.”

Little Hedgehog had already smelled the seawater in the air, so he kept directing them to walk in one direction. The beastmen saw their Tribal Chief walking so determinedly in one direction, thinking they would soon reach their destination, so they were full of energy.

“Tribal Chief, are we almost there?”

“Mm, almost.”

After running for an unknown amount of time, Jiujiu, who was tucked into the leather bag, finally heard the sound of waves.

“Father, listening to Jiujiu is always right!”

“Right.”

The beastmen were stunned when they saw the boundless sea. For them, beastmen born in the forest, the sea was very rare. Jiujiu also rarely saw such a magnificent scene. All the landscapes in the beastman world were filled with the wildness and charm of nature.

“Where do we find those beastmen?”

No sooner had Jing finished speaking than he heard footsteps. Before he could do anything, Jiujiu instinctively looked back, then his quills stood on end in fright.

“Father!!!”