“Don’t be afraid, I’ll go find help!” Qing Miao shouted, then told the remaining cubs to guard the cave entrance while he went to find the adults.
The instant Qing Miao turned, he transformed into a little bear and darted off towards the tribe.
The remaining two were also panicked, but their friends were still at the bottom of the cave, and probably even more frightened than they were.
They lay down at the cave entrance and called out, “Xue Tuan, don’t be afraid, Brother Qing Miao has gone to find help.”
Xiao Shu comforted them, “Yes, yes, he’ll be back soon, don’t be afraid.”
Xue Tuan, tired from looking up at the bottom of the cave, wasn’t afraid. He responded verbally, and instead studied the bottom of the cave where he and the little black lion had fallen.
Xue Tuan picked up his little hoe and began digging at the spot where they were lying.
“What are you doing?”
Seeing the little boy struggling, the little black lion helped dig with his front paws.
Xue Tuan suddenly stopped, and stared blankly at the little black lion. The little black lion tilted its head in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“How come you can suddenly talk?!”
Xue Tuan was dumbfounded.
“Wait! How come I can understand what an animal-form beastman is saying?!”
Xue Tuan excitedly hugged the fluffy creature in front of him, and smeared mud all over the little black lion.
The little black lion blinked slowly, and realized something. Before, he had only been silently conversing with the little ball of fur in his mind, and hadn’t even realized he could speak! He was cured?!
Having not spoken to anyone for years, the little black lion tentatively opened its mouth, and nervously whispered in Xue Tuan’s ear:
“Can…can I be your friend?” His first friend in this life.
Xue Tuan hadn’t expected the little black lion to say this after regaining its voice, and its eyes crinkled with laughter: “Of course! I’ve considered you a friend for a long time.” The fluffy creature was the cutest friend.
The little black lion really wanted to pounce on Xue Tuan and play with him, but thinking about how Xue Tuan’s fragile body might be knocked away, he held back, and only nudged him with his head.
“Hahaha, okay, okay.” The fluffy lion was too enthusiastic, and Xue Tuan, remembering the strange taste in his mouth, pushed the little black lion’s head with his little hand. “Come on, help me dig this up.”
“Okay, you don’t need to do anything.” The little black lion didn’t seem to realize he hadn’t spoken in years, and deftly used his paws to dig where Xue Tuan pointed.
His strength was undeniable, one swipe of the little black lion’s paw was much faster than Xue Tuan’s laborious digging.
After a while, Xue Tuan discovered that the little black lion had unearthed some grayish-white rock.
Xue Tuan tapped it with his little hoe, and gently scraped off some white crystals with his fingers. Xue Tuan hesitated for a moment, then licked it with his tongue, immediately tasting a strong, salty-bitter flavor.
This is… salt?
“That’s like finding a treasure!”
The little black lion also noticed they’d dug something, but he couldn’t tell what it was, so he just continued digging with his paws. The deeper they dug, the more they saw the rock gradually change color from white to pale blue, and a new pale white stone appeared next to it.
Could they have stumbled upon a salt mine? Salt mines usually appear in clusters, and the deeper they go, the larger and purer the salt crystals become.
“We’ve found something good!” Xue Tuan sat down again beside the little black lion, then rummaged through the small pouch hanging on the lion’s body, pulling out a few small fruits.
Xue Tuan munched on one and fed the little black lion another, sitting calmly at the bottom of the pit: “Don’t worry, I’ll wait for someone here with you.”
“Xue Tuan—” the cubs lying at the entrance of the pit were still calling their names tirelessly, only feeling relieved when they heard a response.
After responding a few times, Xue Tuan got a little tired. He nestled against the little black lion and said lazily in a soft voice, “I’m here—”
The cub lying at the cave entrance couldn’t quite see what was below. Every now and then, it would call Xue Tuan’s name, afraid he might suddenly fall silent.
The little black lion wanted to talk to Xue Tuan again. He was excited but didn’t know what to say. He glanced at the boneless little ball lying on him that seemed tired of calling.
So, the next time a call came from above, the little black lion roared in response, indicating they were both there.
Seeing that the little black lion wasn’t flustered and was so cooperative, Xue Tuan liked him even more and buried his face in his fur, taking a deep breath.
Thinking about it now, the little black lion’s sudden loss of speech due to an incident in his childhood might have been a psychological issue? Anyway, he’s better now, and Xue Tuan is very happy for him.
As for himself, perhaps it was because he heard the furry creatures’ “howling” every day that he’d been passively “opened up”?
The little black lion looked at the little ball of fur lying so comfortably with his eyes slightly narrowed, seemingly enjoying the time alone with the little ball of fur. Even without speaking, just being together was wonderful.
“Xue Tuan—are you alright?”
This time it was Rong Shan’s voice.
“Mother,” Xue Tuan called out, looking up. He and the little black lion were finally saved.
Rong Shan, hearing Xue Tuan’s voice was normal, felt much relieved. He brought a long, sturdy vine and lowered one end down into the cave.
“You two tie the vine to yourselves.”
Xue Tuan first tied the vine to the little black lion, and let it climb up the cave wall. He would only do it after Xue Tuan was up, otherwise, who would help the little black lion tie the vine?
The little black lion clearly understood this, but while Xue Tuan was tying the vine to him, he kept “secretly” nuzzling Xue Tuan with his head.
Seeing the little black lion’s reluctant expression, Xue Tuan said happily, “We’ll see each other outside soon!”
“Okay.”
As soon as he got out of the cave, Xue Tuan was immediately hugged tightly by Rong Shan: “Mother!”
“Xue Tuan! You’re alright!” The other cubs also regained their energy, they were also worried that Xue Tuan might have gotten hurt.
Xue Tuan could feel that his mother was still trembling slightly. Although he knew he hadn’t been seriously injured, he understood that his mother must be very worried about him.
So Xue Tuan reached out and hugged Rong Shan’s neck, silently comforting his mother and telling him not to be afraid anymore.
“Be more careful next time, okay?” Rong Shan said softly. Even though his son had made a mistake, he still couldn’t bear to scold him loudly.
After calming down, he swallowed back the second half of his sentence, “Don’t leave the tribe anymore.” His Xue Tuan was so fond of “going out to play,” and he couldn’t say that he wouldn’t let his son go out in the future.
“Hmm.” Xue Tuan nodded. He knew he was frail, and it would be terrible if he couldn’t go out because of this. Fortunately, his mother wasn’t like that, but his father…
“Just in case, let’s not tell your father about this yet.” Rong Shan tapped Xue Tuan’s nose with his index finger. Xue Tuan understood and grasped his mother’s finger, nodding eagerly in agreement.
Feng Yan looked fierce and brave, but he was even more cautious around Xue Tuan, making Rong Shan shake his head helplessly.
To prevent his mother from continuing to discipline him, Xue Tuan quickly said, “Mother, Chong Yan and I found that the rocks below are salty.”
“Salty?” Rong Shan’s eyes first showed some confusion, then gradually revealed surprise.
“You found salt?” The elders of the tribe had lived by the sea before and taught them how to make salt. They had also found salt deposits in the cave.
Before Rong Shan could ask further, a voice interrupted them.
“Um, excuse me, is something wrong?” a young man’s voice called out.
Everyone turned to look and saw several unfamiliar beastmen approaching from a short distance.
They were all carrying wooden spikes and tools. Seeing that the trap had been destroyed, and looking at Rong Shan and the others with their vines and cubs, they hesitated and said, “Could it be that some cubs… fell in?”
The beastman’s expression was one of great fear, this was no small matter.
“Yes, was this the trap you made?” Rong Shan had guessed that someone had set a trap here, but instead of catching any wild animals, the trap had “hunted” two cubs.
“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! Are the cubs alright?” The newcomer was extremely annoyed and bowed deeply in apology.
They had only finished half of the trap before temporarily returning to camp. They thought they would be back soon and nothing would happen, but unexpectedly, something went wrong in such a short time.
The young beastmen quickly apologized, “It’s because our trap wasn’t finished, that’s why the cubs fell in! We’re so sorry!”
But then, realizing their words might be ambiguous, they quickly added, “No, no, no, I meant we dug the pit but didn’t mark it.” If the trap had been finished, the cubs probably wouldn’t be alive now, and he hurriedly explained.
Rong Shan frowned at the beastmen, somewhat angry at their trap-setting. Every beastman is taught from birth how to identify traps, usually by making special marks. Being able to recognize a trap is what distinguishes a beastman from a wild beast.
Besides, if it were just a pit, it would be easier to spot. With their half-hidden trap, and the white snow covering everything, it’s understandable that they didn’t notice. In short, Rong Shan was clearly on his own side.
Rong Shan’s imposing presence, despite his calm demeanor, exuded a powerful aura, making the young beastmen tremble with fear. Without thinking twice, they all bowed deeply, profusely apologizing.
Seeing that the group’s attitude was relatively acceptable, Rong Shan’s anger gradually subsided, but his tone remained serious: “You should be more careful next time.”
“Okay, okay, we’re really sorry.” If they had really caused the cub’s death, the consequences would have been quite severe.
The young beastman in the lead looked the cubs up and down and also apologized to them.
They should have wisely disappeared from Rong Shan’s sight once his anger subsided, but he still mustered his courage and said, “I know how to treat wounds. Let me take a look at the cub.”
Treating wounds? That’s a rare skill at this stage, Xue Tuan thought to himself.
But he wasn’t injured. Xue Tuan raised his arms to check himself, then looked down at the little black lion. Suddenly, he noticed a tuft of fur matted together on the little black lion’s hind leg, its color darker than the surrounding fur.