The one who spoke was Yun Lu, the tribe’s priest.
Upon hearing the priest’s words, those watching couldn’t help but interject:
“We can’t even hunt enough food ourselves so how can we possibly have any left to share with you?”
This sparked a chorus of voices from the other beastmen:
“Exactly! We don’t even have enough to eat ourselves!”
“Go try your luck elsewhere.”
Those who remained silent were also thinking to themselves: This family doesn’t look like they’ve ever suffered hardship so who knows how much they consume in terms of food and supplies.”
Those standing closer to elder Mu Shi offered their advice, generally disapproving of taking in more people at this time, and feared these outsiders would take their food.
The deputy chieftain to the elder’s left with a cross-shaped scar on his face stood with his arms crossed. He observed coldly without offering any opinion as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
Mu Shi waved his hand, and the noise in the crowd gradually subsided. He sighed inwardly, shaking his head, “With the cold season approaching, our tribe’s food reserves are dwindling. It’s difficult to accommodate even a few more people…”
Feng Yan replied, “We can hunt for ourselves and are willing to contribute some of our food to the tribe.”
Hearing Feng Yan’s boastful words, the tribespeople stared at them, momentarily speechless.
Ignoring their incredulous looks, Feng Yan calmly addressed the elder, “Just give us a place to stay.”
In fact, Feng Yan and Rong Shan still carried some dried meat. They had been hunting and storing food along the way to reach this point.
If it were just him and Rong Shan, Feng Yan wouldn’t mind wandering. But now, with two children in tow, he and Rong Shan wanted to find a relatively stable place to rest briefly. They would make other plans after the cold season.
However, the crowd began to whisper again, and the argument seemed to be escalating. Even after Feng Yan said this, the other beastmen still didn’t believe him. Who knew if they were just boasting to get a place in the first place?
The invisible pressure seemed to make the elder’s hunched back bend even more. He looked at Feng Yan, and although he thought the two adult beastmen were strong and healthy, he wasn’t actually optimistic about their ability to find prey.
However, in the Beastman World, there’s an unwritten rule: regardless of tribe size, all traveling beastmen should be welcomed.
Especially those with great strength, they’ll befriend them unconditionally. This is because traveling beastmen usually bring news from different regions, and some are even messengers or trade agents for other tribes.
Offending one is tantamount to offending everyone. If traveling beastmen no longer visit, it will be a significant loss for the tribe.
Their tribe hasn’t had any traveling beastmen for a long time, and many have probably forgotten this rule.
Besides, since they’ve already said so, refusing would be somewhat unreasonable, and it would be bad for the tribe if word got out.
The elder looked at the family before him, his thoughts in turmoil, and remained silent for a moment.
Then, the elder gestured again, signaling everyone to be quiet. He glanced at the deputy chieftain and the priest. Seeing that neither of them voiced any further opinion after meeting his gaze, he said:
“We have an empty thatched hut here. If you can truly solve your own food problem, then stay. If you insist on staying in the tribe, we’ll have someone escort you out.”
These words both indicated that they wouldn’t let them stay in the tribe for free, and also made it clear that if they didn’t keep their word, they would be kicked out.
Sure enough, after Mu Shi said this, the dissenting voices diminished considerably, and the crowd gradually dispersed.
Feng Yan looked at Rong Shan, and seeing Rong Shan nod slightly, he said, “Okay, thank you very much.”
Then Mu Shi assigned a small sub-beastman who lived near the thatched hut to take the Snow Fox family to settle in.
“Hello, I’m Qing Miao, please follow me.” Unlike the other reluctant beastmen, the small sub-beastman who led the way was very enthusiastic, and had a faint smile on his face. He looked to be about the same age as Bing Qiu.
Qing Miao, with his cheerful personality, gave them a general overview of the tribe along the way.
Their tribe was composed of beastmen of different races. The elder they had just met was the first chief that had served for decades. Even without the current chief, many beastmen were still willing to obey him.
Their tribe had always been small, initially settling wherever they could find shelter, and only settling permanently here a little over a decade ago.
The thatched hut allocated to the Snow Fox family had been vacant since the previous inhabitants left the tribe.
Qing Miao chatted incessantly while leading Feng Yan and the others towards a corner of the tribe. His eyes were secretly observing the cub Rong Shan was holding.
So cute!
That was Qing Miao’s first reaction. Although there were cubs in the tribe, whether in beast or human form, most were mischievous and always dirty.
Unlike this human cub that was so fair and tender, he really wanted to pinch its cheeks.
As if sensing his gaze, Qing Miao saw the little cub’s round eyes look in his direction, then suddenly curve into crescent moons.
The little cub smiled at him!
The little cub’s eyes were like stars in the night sky, pure and sparkling. Qing Miao’s heart melted. He unconsciously raised his hand towards the little cub, thinking…
“Are we almost there?” Bing Qiu suddenly asked.
Qing Miao snapped back to reality, a blush rising to his cheeks. He immediately changed direction, pointing to a spot not far ahead, saying, “It’s there.”
The group looked in the direction Qing Miao was pointing. It was a dilapidated little thatched hut. The roof had a hole, and the thatch was scattered, leaving only a thin layer.
Looking at the thatched hut before him, Qing Miao felt a strange sense of unease. He felt it was somewhat incongruous to have these beastmen whose clothes and demeanor seemed so unusual living there.
But Feng Yan and his family showed no disdain, instead, they thanked Qing Miao.
This made Qing Miao even more embarrassed. He quickly waved his hand, saying, “No need to be so polite. I live diagonally across from you, so I’m practically a neighbor. Feel free to come find me if you need anything.” Then Qing Miao went back home, his younger brother was waiting for him.
The Snow Fox family remained, and calmly faced the somewhat dilapidated thatched hut.
They had endured wind and rain all their journey, what kind of place hadn’t they slept in?
Finally, they had a place to rest peacefully. Feng Yan and Rong Shan both breathed a sigh of relief.
Feng Yan unloaded his luggage, glanced at his eldest son, and said to Rong Shan, “Let’s go cut some new wood.”
“Be careful,” Rong Shan said as he took their luggage. He also needed to tidy up the interior of the thatched hut.
The dried meat they had brought would last them two more days so they could get the place ready first. It seemed the tribe wouldn’t expect them to hand over food today, so the hunting trip could be postponed for a day.
After handing the bundle to his father, Bing Qiu went to his younger brother and pinched his cheek. “Xue Tuan, be a good boy and stay with mother. Brother will go find you something fun.”
He often did this, helping his father with chores while looking for something interesting for his brother. In Bing Qiu’s mind, finding unusually shaped stones or unfamiliar flowers and plants could make his brother happy.
“Okay,” Xue Tuan replied.
Then he turned his little head, rescuing his face from his brother’s clutches, and waved, meaning: Brother, go on!
Feng Yan and Rong Shan both laughed.
Now the family knew Xue Tuan was becoming more and more lively, often willing to speak on his own initiative. The whole family was very happy and always wanted to get him to talk more.
Bing Qiu crouched down, gave his younger brother a tight hug, and flicked the head of the little bird perched on Xue Tuan’s shoulder.
The little bird knew this was a reminder that it could go out to find food so it flapped its wings and flew to Bing Qiu’s head.
Xue Tuan named the little bird Gray. Gray was very intelligent, it would find food on its own and sometimes bring it back for Xue Tuan as if it knew Xue Tuan was a young bird that needed feeding.
Watching his father and brother leave, Xue Tuan looked at the thatched hut in front of him.
This thatched hut had indeed been abandoned for a long time, it looked dilapidated and would probably be completely destroyed by another strong wind and rain.
No wonder his father and mother wanted to reinforce the hut properly first.
Xue Tuan looked inside the hut. It wasn’t big. In the corner were two old wicker baskets, several worn stone slabs, and even a tool that looked like a stone sickle.
“My darling, why don’t you stay here and watch mother tidy up the house, okay?” Rong Shan placed a small wooden stool he’d taken from his bag under a withered tree not far from the thatched hut, indicating that Xue Tuan could sit and rest there.
Tidying up the thatched hut would generate a lot of dust and smell, and Rong Shan didn’t want the little one to be choked by it.
Seeing the little one obediently nod, Rong Shan affectionately stroked the little one’s soft hair and slipped a piece of dried meat into his hand, letting him eat slowly.
Rong Shan thought that if he worked quickly, at least their family could move into this little hut tonight.
Inside the hut were brooms made of various large leaves which could be used to sweep the interior clean first.
Rong Shan was quick and efficient, and since the hut wasn’t large, he quickly tidied it up. The tribe usually kept dry grass, and Rong Shan had Qing Miao take him to the elder to get some. Once the clean dry grass and animal hides were laid out on the ground, it could be used as a bed.
Hu Li had no doubt about the Snow Fox family’s resourcefulness, and compared to the clothing and lifestyle of this small tribe, their family was indeed better off.
His mother was very skillful. He custom-made many small items for him such as small wooden stools, bowls, and spoons. His spare bowl even had a lifelike simple fox head carved on it, and the ivory decorations on their clothes were also his mother’s work.
Hu Li held a thin piece of dried meat barely smaller than his face in both hands, and chewed slowly with his cheeks puffing out.
His health was actually recovering quite well. From initially being unable to eat meat, to gradually being able to eat some well-stewed lean meat, and now being able to eat thin pieces of dried meat, all were proof of his progress.
He pondered how to subtly improve his family’s life. Currently, they were only using simple methods like roasting over a fire and boiling in water—the variety was too limited.
As Hu Li was pondering this, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black figure out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw… a small black lion?
Hu Li’s eyes lit up instantly. It was furry!