Chapter 48: Beast God’s Envoy, Little Hedgehog

Jiujiu thought that the snake-like beastman he had seen before was the epitome of ugliness, but he never expected the beastmen in this place to look even more terrifying.

Saying “ugly” might not be appropriate. Jiujiu didn’t discriminate against people who weren’t good-looking. “Strange” would be a more fitting word.

“Father, woo-woo-wah, where’s the bag? Where’s the bag? Jiujiu wants to go in.”

Jiujiu’s quills were trembling. Jing instinctively took out the animal skin bag that Jiujiu usually slept in during their travels. As soon as he opened a small gap, Jiujiu very proactively burrowed inside.

Jing signaled the beastmen to step back, indicating that they had no intention of invading their territory.

“We just want to exchange some things with you.”

After Jing spoke, the beastmen in front of him chattered a lot of things he couldn’t understand, making him instinctively glance at the Little Hedgehog who was still trembling inside the animal skin bag.

These beastmen had quills, but they weren’t as delicate and beautiful as Little Hedgehog’s. And they were purple, with a row of quills on their backs, plus some scales still remaining on their faces, which indeed looked very bizarre.

“Jiujiu, he doesn’t understand what I’m saying.”

Little Hedgehog tremblingly poked his head out, covered his eyes with his paws, and began to translate for his father, trying to make his voice clearer.

“Father, they… they want to see the things.”

The only thing to be grateful for was probably that they really had the salt they wanted to exchange, and in considerable quantity. Judging by their willingness to take it out, it was clearly not a particularly valuable item.

Jing had Xiu, who was behind him, take out all the items they had brought, and had Jiujiu explain their uses to these beastmen.

From the expressions of these unfamiliar beastmen, it was clear that they were very satisfied with these items.

“Father, they… they went to get it. Can I… can I go back now?”

Jiujiu still felt safer inside the animal skin bag. He had only come out to help his father, but now that his father had finished, he should be able to go back… right?

“Go back first.”

Jing reached in and rubbed Jiujiu’s very soft belly.

Although his quills were sharp, his belly and paws were very soft and felt good to the touch. Jing often used this method to coax him when he wanted to.

Or, when Jiujiu was in a normal mood, he would gently stroke his quills downwards.

“Father, they want you to take the bags over.”

It seemed they hadn’t fully learned to use tools yet, and they didn’t have animal skin bags for the time being. They sent the animal skin bags over, filled them with a lot of salt, and brought them back.

Not only were all the items they brought exchanged, but some animal skin bags were also left there, in exchange for some salted fish they had made.

“Father, they said they look forward to your next exchange, woo-woo.”

Jiujiu’s voice was already tearful. He really didn’t want to come back next time. These people were purple all over, with strange quills and scales, even stranger than the most unique exotic beasts he had ever seen.

“When we go back, you can teach me their language.”

On the way back, Jing suddenly said this to Jiujiu. Hearing the aggrieved cry in Jiujiu’s voice, he began to reflect on whether he had placed too much responsibility on Jiujiu due to his status as a Beast God’s Emissary.

Being called a Beast God’s Emissary sounded quite impressive, but he was just a small hedgehog who would tremble when encountering even slightly scary beastmen.

“Jiujiu, you’ve worked hard.”

“Not hard, Jiujiu helping Father is not hard!”

On the way back, Jing kept feeding Jiujiu, putting fruits to his mouth. This was the first time Jiujiu had such supreme treatment, and he recalled that it was because he had handled that matter well.

“Father, cut the meat, then coat it with this white salt, and put it in the coldest cave to air dry. It can be preserved until winter.”

“Okay.”

Jing firmly remembered what Jiujiu said and planned to try it as soon as they returned to the tribe.

“But, it might not taste very good.”

Jiujiu thought about it and decided to tell his father this as well. Most beastmen liked fresh meat, but cured meat was somewhat different from fresh meat.

It was best to make cured meat in the twelfth lunar month, but by then they wouldn’t be able to catch food, and the purpose of making cured meat was for preservation.

The winter environment in this place was too harsh. Slight spoilage of meat did not affect consumption, as long as it could fill their stomachs and help them survive.

“It’s okay.”

The way back was easy, and they didn’t even need the chief to help identify the route. The young beastmen could accurately find their way back using their keen sense of smell.

Jiujiu had basically eaten all the fruits brought from the tribe. Occasionally, he found some on the way, but Jiujiu tasted them and found they didn’t taste good.

So he chose to curl up in the animal skin bag and sleep soundly. After several naps, he heard his father call his name, rubbed his eyes, and unfurled his curled-up hedgehog ball.

He poked his head out of the animal skin bag and saw that they had already reached the entrance of the tribe.

“Jiujiu is hungry.”

“Go back to the cave, there should still be fruits there.”

Jing handed the items to the other beastmen and hurried towards the cave with Jiujiu. Jiujiu, who had been hungry for several meals, ate all the remaining fruits in the cave clean.

The beastmen outside were a little confused when they saw what the chief had brought back. One beastman even dared to taste a bite and immediately spit it out from the saltiness.

After settling Little Hedgehog, Jing went out and announced the use of the salt to the beastmen.

Upon hearing that it could help them have food in winter, all the beastmen, after recovering from their shock, instinctively knelt down and chanted ancient incantations in unison, thanking the Beast God for his grace.

Jing first experimented with the meat brought back from hunting that day, as Jiujiu had instructed. He coated a piece of the best meat with white salt and cured it in a stone basin.

Unlike other randomly placed meat that spoiled, it didn’t show much change.

The coolest cave wasn’t too big. Three beastmen plus Jiujiu could barely turn around, with no other space for anything else.

The meat was placed there during curing, and after being taken out, the excess salt was cleaned off, and it was then placed in a ventilated area to dry.

After confirming that it really hadn’t spoiled, all the beastmen cheered. This was definitely the best news for them.

During daily hunts, except for those beastmen who absolutely couldn’t leave the tribe, almost everyone went, bringing back an unprecedented amount of prey.

During a tribal exchange of goods, Jing specifically told them this news and method, and was willing to exchange the salt he had painstakingly brought back for their items.

For all the tribes on this land, they shared the same faith and all believed themselves to be children of the Beast God.

They helped each other in times of difficulty and were happy to share benefits.

If it weren’t for Jing saying this, the chiefs of the other tribes might have thought he was crazy. How could there be such a strange method?

The news of the Beast God’s Emissary had not spread before. This time, to increase the credibility of his words, Jing proactively revealed Jiujiu’s existence.

The beastmen in other tribes heard that the Beast God’s Emissary had actually descended upon the Sky Tribe, and it would certainly be a lie to say they weren’t envious.

“Beast God’s Emissary, did you bring him today, Jing?”

Facing the question from the chief of the neighboring tribe, Jing calmly shook his head and replied:

“The Beast God’s Emissary said he doesn’t wish to appear.”

“He never wishes to appear?”

The chiefs of the other tribes were inevitably disappointed to hear this answer. They had no chance to see the Beast God, and now they couldn’t even see the Beast God’s Emissary.

They truly wished they could be like Jing, always interacting with the Beast God’s Emissary.

“Only temporarily.”

There was a reason he didn’t come today. Jiujiu had played with a butterfly too late last night and simply couldn’t get up. When Jing reached out to poke him today, he fiercely pricked him with his quills.

He pricked and snored at the same time, looking quite fierce.

“That’s good. I hope next time we meet, we can also see the Beast God’s Emissary.”

“I will try my best to ask for his opinion and bring him over.”

Next time, before exchanging goods at the tribe, he would absolutely not let that Little Hedgehog play too late again.

The beastmen from the Sky Tribe left with the beastmen from other tribes, receiving the warmest hospitality. They hoped to teach their own tribes.

When Jing returned to his cave, he saw Little Hedgehog playing with the little butterfly from yesterday, lying there teasing the butterfly while leisurely gnawing on a fruit.

Jing clearly remembered that when he brought the fruits back yesterday, he had specifically told Jiujiu to save them to eat.

As the weather turned colder, not only would their food decrease, but Jiujiu’s would too. Those few fruits were found by Jing with great effort.

At the time, Jiujiu had seriously agreed, but he didn’t expect that as soon as he left, Jiujiu would secretly eat one.

As this thought just popped into Jing’s mind, he then saw a fruit core next to Jiujiu’s paw. He walked straight over, and his footsteps startled Jiujiu, who pushed the half-eaten fruit in front of the little butterfly.

“Father, it ate it.”

The bewildered and innocent little butterfly remained there until it noticed a beastman approaching, then it flew away, preparing to leave.

“It ate it?”

“Mm, good hedgehogs never steal food.”

Jing reached out and grabbed Jiujiu’s paw. The cub caught doing mischief didn’t dare to move now, letting his father hold him, trying his best to pretend he really hadn’t done anything.

“Then you can’t be considered a good hedgehog.”

“No, Jiujiu is a good hedgehog.”

The cub, firm in his belief that he hadn’t stolen food, would absolutely not be swayed by his father’s few words.

“Tell the truth, and I’ll let you eat one more today.”

Little Hedgehog hugged his father’s finger with his paws, a flattering smile on his face.

“It was Jiujiu who did it, hehehe.”