“Wow! What kind of strength is that?!” Bing Qiu was utterly shocked. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed what he was witnessing.
The fact that the little black lion was slightly larger than his beast form already made Bing Qiu a little uneasy. But knowing that Chong Yan was actually a year younger than him made Bing Qiu even more annoyed.
However, he never expected Chong Yan’s strength to be so immense, and almost already comparable to an adult beastman. It was simply too exaggerated, he couldn’t imagine what he would be like when he grew up.
Xue Tuan was also astonished. He had heard from Qing Miao about the little black lion’s great strength, but he never imagined it was like this.
Bing Qiu and Xue Tuan excitedly ran towards the little black lion. Bing Qiu, seeing the ice hole that had appeared, vigorously slapped the little black lion: “Good on you!”
“This saves us a lot of trouble.”
With that, Bing Qiu quickly placed the prepared fish basket into the river, and held the vine rope with his other hand, hoping for a fish to “take the bait.”
Chong Yan watched as Bing Qiu placed the somewhat strange-looking vine basket into the river. What was he doing?
However, Chong Yan didn’t let Xue Tuan stay there. Instead, he grabbed Xue Tuan’s fur coat and led him to a dry spot on the bank to wait.
Then the little black lion naturally lay down beside him, his eyes looking expectantly at Xue Tuan.
Seeing the obedient little black lion lying beside him, Xue Tuan’s hands itched again. He looked so docile, and completely different from his fierce ice-smashing demeanor just now. And that shiny black fur—it must be incredibly warm.
Qing Miao had told him that the little black lion couldn’t transform back into human form due to a strange illness, and had even become mute. Xue Tuan felt sorry for it since the little black lion wasn’t as lucky as he was.
Xue Tuan tentatively placed his little hand on the little black lion’s back, and gently stroked it.
Seeing that the little black lion didn’t resist at all, he continued to push his luck. He scratched and clawed here and there, happily stroking its fluffy fur.
The little black lion seemed to enjoy Xue Tuan’s touch, its eyes narrowing in pleasure, and occasionally rubbing its head against Xue Tuan’s palm.
Xue Tuan now felt it was a pity that he was too small to lift the little black lion. But lying on its fluffy body didn’t seem so bad.
Gray pecked at Xue Tuan’s shoulder, indicating its presence. It hopped around on its feet, and tilted its head to look at Xue Tuan. Then it looked towards Bing Qiu’s direction, its clear little eyes shining brightly.
Xue Tuan casually patted Gray’s head while happily petting the little black lion, when suddenly he felt a weight lighten on his shoulder.
Xue Tuan turned to look and saw Gray flapping its wings and soaring into the air, tracing a graceful arc.
At that moment, Gray’s eyes sharpened, and showed the focused gaze of someone poised to pounce on prey.
Just then, a silvery-white fish swam by, its scales shimmering briefly in the sunlight.
In the blink of an eye, Gray’s wings folded shut, and its body plunged into the water like an arrow.
With a splash, water sprayed everywhere. Gray had precisely caught the fish’s body. The fish struggled desperately in the water, and its tail fin flailed wildly in an attempt to escape, but Gray’s powerful beak held it firmly in its mouth.
A few moments later, Gray flapped its wings and flew back, tossing the fish it had just caught to Xue Tuan’s feet.
Bing Qiu was dumbfounded.
This fish was supposed to be in his fish basket…
Gray perched on Xue Tuan’s shoulder, and hopped around with its head held high. It lightly pecked Xue Tuan, awaiting praise.
“Gray, you’re so amazing!” Xue Tuan snapped out of its daze, and happily rubbed Gray with his fingers. Gray reminded him of the birds in his past life that were skilled at catching fish.
“You, you, you bird.” Bing Qiu muttered, surprised that the little bird had such abilities.
The whole process happened so fast that before Bing Qiu and the others could even react, Gray had already caught the fish.
Bing Qiu was about to say something when he suddenly felt the vine rope in his hand twitch.
He instinctively pulled the fish basket upwards.
“Fish!” Bing Qiu exclaimed, “Sweetie! We caught fish!”
Bing Qiu excitedly moved the fish basket in front of Xue Tuan, and showed him the fish inside: “We really caught some!”
Catching fish meant the river hadn’t been overfished, and there were at least still fish to eat.
Having Gray, who was skilled at fishing, was certainly good, but the fish basket made from a wicker basket also proved useful. It meant they had another way to fish.
Bing Qiu couldn’t help but pick up Xue Tuan and give him a big kiss: “Xue Tuan! You’re not some reincarnation of the beast god, are you?!”
The great beast god had not only cured Xue Tuan’s health but also made his younger brother increasingly intelligent.
Chong Yan also stood up in shock, and stared blankly at the fish basket. He had never seen anyone catch fish during the cold season before.
He couldn’t believe this strangely shaped thing could actually catch fish. The little black lion looked at Xue Tuan and the others with admiration.
Although Chong Yan was still a cub, he had already stockpiled enough small beast meat before the weather turned cold to last him and grandfather elder through the cold season.
He also regularly collected fruit, so he wasn’t worried about their survival during the cold season.
However, he hadn’t expected Xue Tuan and the others to be so capable, and managed to harvest so many fish in the cold season with just a “strange vine basket.” Even their parents had caught a White Feather Beast yesterday—what an amazing family!
Once they caught one, they caught another. By the end of the day, Xue Tuan and Bing Qiu’s baskets had caught over a dozen fish with several of which were caught by the capable Gray.
“I’ll give you an extra treat when we get back!” Bing Qiu tried to pet Gray like Xue Tuan had, but Gray nimbly jumped away.
“Hmph, fine, if you won’t let me touch you, then don’t.” Bing Qiu pouted.
Xue Tuan had wanted to share some fish with the little black lion, after all, the little black lion had helped them break open the ice cave where they fished. However, the little black lion didn’t accept the fish Xue Tuan offered. It just kept pushing them towards Xue Tuan before running off in a flash.
“Never mind, let’s invite him over for dinner next time. Sweetie, hold on tight to my beast clothes.” Bing Qiu needed to get something, and since he didn’t have Xue Tuan’s hand, he had to let his younger brother hold onto his clothes so he wouldn’t get lost.
Bing Qiu returned home laden with fish, carrying a basket on his back and in his hands.
While the tribe was only slightly surprised that Feng Yan and Rong Shan had hunted a giant white-feathered beast yesterday, the fact that the two cubs of the Snow Fox family had caught over a dozen fish today left the other beastmen speechless with astonishment.
In their eyes, it was good enough if the cubs didn’t cause trouble during the cold season, even helping the gathering team gather some food was considered a great help. No one could have imagined that cubs could catch fish.
“Look! They’ve caught so many fish!”
“Am I seeing things? How is this possible?”
A collective gasp of astonishment filled the tribe. No one could believe what they were seeing since this was something two cubs couldn’t possibly do. The beastmen, whose food supplies were running low, instinctively began to swallow hard just looking at the fish.
During the cold season, the river was frozen, and everyone assumed there were no fish to eat. Fishing was only done when the river was about to thaw, and the idea of violently breaking the ice was completely unthinkable.
“Is that a bird? I saw one in another tribe when I was wandering. That kind of bird is a spirit beast that can catch fish!”
Amidst the envious voices, an older beastman said.
“That bird didn’t look special, but it’s actually a spirit beast.”
“Fishing beasts aren’t common. It seems our chances of catching fish ourselves won’t be so easy.” Before they even started, some were already backing down.
“Sigh, why am I not so lucky to catch a fishing beast?” The others coveted the bird, but it was clearly a private spirit beast, and they couldn’t possibly hand it over.
“Is that a vine basket the cub is holding? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Some sharp-eyed people noticed the strange “vine basket” in Bing Qiu’s hand, speculating whether it had some special use.
No one really believed that a cub and a spirit beast could catch so many fish on their own so the adults at home must have taught them. Some curious people went to find the elders to inquire.
However, Feng Yan and Rong Shan hadn’t returned yet, so the elders naturally didn’t know what was going on, but they were also surprised to hear what the tribespeople were saying.
So, when Feng Yan and Rong Shan returned empty-handed, it was the elders who came to their house.
At first, they thought the elder had come to ask for food, but generally, newcomers like them only needed to hand over food once every one or two days, and demanding it every day was too much to ask.
However, Rong Shan and Feng Yan, who hadn’t even entered the house yet, were startled by the elder’s purpose.
“Bing Qiu and Xue Tuan caught fish?”
They had thought their two cubs had gone out to play, but they hadn’t expected them to bring back food. The parents patted the two cubs on the head affectionately for their competence.
The elder knew he was being a bit shameless. He had already taken a large piece of hind leg meat from them yesterday, and if it weren’t for the tribe’s pleas, he really wouldn’t have dared to come again.
But if they really had a way to catch fish, it would indeed be good news for the tribe.
Under pressure from everyone, the elder had no choice but to come and ask Feng Yan and his family for advice.
While the actual situation disappointed the elder, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He genuinely liked the Snow Fox family and couldn’t bear to keep taking advantage of them.
Feng Yan: “Since the two children caught it, we should ask them what they think.”
Bing Qiu didn’t hesitate and directly reported to the adults how they caught the fish that day. However, Bing Qiu played a trick, only saying that the main credit went to Gray.
Gray was a private spirit beast so even if they knew Gray caught the fish, no one dared to do anything to Gray.
The Snow Fox tribe was no stranger to fishing, but hearing that the children had actually broken the ice directly on the cold season river, Feng Yan and Rong Shan both frowned in unison.
Feng Yan gave Bing Qiu a warning look: Taking his younger brother to do such a dangerous thing, it seems he hasn’t been properly disciplined.
Noticing his father’s sharp gaze, Bing Qiu shrank his shoulders and trembled, then slipped behind his mother.
“I see,” Elder Mu Shi replied. If it were a fish-catching beast, it would be more difficult. Spirit beasts are always rare and hard to come by, so he still had to persuade the beastmen in the tribe to think of another way.