“I’m back.”
Xiong Xuan was breathing heavily, his expression tense.
“How is Xiong Qi?”
Xiong Yuan’s expression relaxed. He grabbed Xiong Xuan’s arm, tears glistening in his eyes.
“He’s fine. Lu Xuan saved him.”
Xiong Xuan walked over to Lu Xuan and said sincerely: “Thank you.”
Lu Xuan quickly said: “No need to thank me. What happened to you?”
Xiong Xuan had blood marks of all sizes on his body and looked quite battered, but these marks were trivial for a beastman.
His expression heavy, he said: “We can’t stay here anymore.”
Tian Xuan’s brow furrowed: “What exactly happened?”
Xiong Xuan: “Another wave of exile beasts has appeared outside the Wasteland Forest. We got into a conflict while hunting. Their beast forms are varied, and their actions are too crazy and despicable. Xiong Qi fell into their trap. In three more rotational cycles, the cold period will arrive. When that happens, food will become scarcer. In order to survive, none of us knows at which moment we might become someone else’s food.”
Tian Xuan raised his brow, his voice resolute: “Go deep into the wasteland.”
Everyone was startled, then fell silent.
The wasteland was recognized across the beastman continent as a truly desolate place.
It was barren, cold, teeming with wild beasts, and had little food. It was the true place of exile for exile beasts.
But the Wasteland Forest was long, narrow, and dangerous. Because of its existence, the border guards were unwilling to take risks. Basically, they just drove the exile beasts to the other side of the forest and left it at that.
Day after day, year after year.
More and more exile beasts gathered around the Wasteland Forest. Fights were happening every moment. There were also wandering beastmen who had been expelled by various major tribes, coming specifically to these surrounding areas to look for a chance to survive.
Lu Xuan suddenly realized that the original owner’s tribe had been living a secluded existence in the zone between the wasteland and the Wasteland Forest.
No wonder they had been targeted by wandering beastmen. In such a barren territory, suddenly a piece of fat meat appears, who could resist?
The original owner didn’t understand the world outside the tribe, and Lu Xuan was even more clueless.
But one thing was certain: they couldn’t stay here. The depths of the wasteland might be a place they could go.
“Seeking survival in the cracks, we might as well give it a try.”
Everyone looked at Lu Xuan, surprise in their eyes.
This sub-beastman was truly bold.
A flicker of softness passed through Tian Xuan’s expression. Then he said to the others: “Do any of you have a better place to go?”
If they had a better place, why would they still be here?
Determination showed in Xiong Xuan’s eyes: “Once Xiong Qi wakes up, we’ll go to the wasteland.”
Since the decision was made to go to the wasteland, preparations for departure had to begin.
Xiong Yuan stayed behind to take care of the cubs. Tian Xuan, whose wounds hadn’t healed, looked after Xiong Qi. Xiong Xuan focused on hunting. Xiong Yan took Lu Xuan and Xiong Yue to gather herbs and anything edible.
Three days later, early in the morning, Xiong Qi and Tian Xuan each leaned on a thick wooden stick as a crutch. Xiong Yuan carried the two little bear cubs. Lu Xuan brought the three cubs.
Xiong Xuan pushed a wheelbarrow. Xiong Yan carried two large hide bundles on a pole. The group, with its injured and cubs, began their exodus.
When Lu Xuan’s gaze swept over the wheelbarrow yet again, he still couldn’t suppress his shock. He had never imagined Xiong Yan had this skill.
He was more and more curious about the level of productivity on the beastman continent.
Xiong Yue walked along while twisting thread. As he twisted, he asked Lu Xuan: “Doesn’t your tribe have wheelbarrows?”
Lu Xuan’s gaze fell on Xiong Yue’s hands: “Oh, no.”
Ever since Lu Xuan had jokingly told the awakened Xiong Qi that because the bone needle and thread were too thick, the scar after the stitches were removed would look like a centipede, Xiong Yue had started figuring out how to make the thread finer.
He was experimenting with all kinds of fur.
Just being able to twist various furs into thread was a real skill in itself.
Lu Xuan was both speechless and full of admiration.
At noon, they passed by a clear pool of water that was transparent to the bottom. Ten paces away was a sparse grove of small trees, with red wild fruits on them, each the size of a green date.
Xiong Yue put down his bundle, very excited, and ran over. The three cubs wanted to go too. Lu Xuan felt it was safe, so he agreed.
He didn’t want to move at all. He found a spot to drink some water and quench his thirst, then washed his face.
Sigh. This hair was really getting in the way.
It wasn’t long, yet it wasn’t short either.
A figure appeared beside him. Lu Xuan looked up, and suddenly an idea struck him.
He said: “Tian Xuan, where’s your bone knife? Let me borrow it to deal with my hair. It’s too long, past my neck now.”
For someone who had always worn a buzz cut, this hair had already taken him several days to get used to.
Tian Xuan handed him the knife: “I can see you like it. Keep it. No need to return it to me.”
Lu Xuan’s brows curved into a smile: “That’s a bit embarrassing.”
That’s what he said, but his hand wasn’t slow at all in taking the knife.
Tian Xuan let out a soft laugh and took out an even smaller knife. It occurred to him that his own messy hair and beard also needed tidying.
Lu Xuan sat by the fire, gesturing at his hair with the knife over and over again, but he just couldn’t bring himself to cut.
Tian Xuan grabbed his own hair, faced the water, and directly shaved it off with the knife.
With a silent sigh, Lu Xuan gave up. He could just tie his hair back if it was long. It didn’t matter if it was ugly. But getting tetanus would be bad.
He turned his head, whoa, who was this?
Lu Xuan fell back onto the ground in disbelief.
“Tian Xuan? The black bear?”
Tian Xuan: “Yes, it’s me.”
Lu Xuan’s gaze circled Tian Xuan again and again. His messy hair down to his neck was now reduced to mere stubble hugging his scalp. His beard had also been completely shaved off.
His sharp eyebrows and eyes, his cold hard features, everything was now fully revealed. His chest muscles were full, his abs well-defined, his arms thick and solid. His overall musculature was even more developed than when they first met.
All over his body, he wore only a piece of animal hide around his vital parts.
Wild. Fierce. Powerful.
Lu Xuan was envious. Jealous.
Gripping the knife, he faced the water with fierce determination. He was going to shave all his hair off too.
With one slice of the knife, he cut a gash in his scalp. Blood flowed down.
Clutching the wound, he shoved the knife back into Tian Xuan’s hand and glared at him: “Help me.”
“Apply medicine?”
“Shave my head!”
Tian Xuan couldn’t talk him out of it, so he had no choice but to cut Lu Xuan’s hair just like his own.
Lu Xuan felt his freshly baked kiwi-style hairstyle and was very pleased. He even held a torch to look at himself in the water from left to right, admiring it from every angle.
“Ah! Lu Xuan, how could you make your hair look like that?”
Xiong Yue was so shocked that the fruits in his arms scattered all over the ground.
With that one shout, everyone’s eyes turned to Lu Xuan’s head.
Pfft~
Xiong Yuan couldn’t help it.
Once one laugh escaped, a second followed. Amid the laughter, Lu Xuan looked at himself in the water again and said in confusion: “What are you laughing at? I think it looks pretty tough.”
Everyone laughed even harder.
Unconvinced, he pulled Tian Xuan over: “Why aren’t you laughing at him? He just shaved his head too.”
Not saying anything might have been better, but now Xiong Yue was laughing so hard he couldn’t stand up straight.
Lu Xuan’s skin was very fair, his features delicate. With his black hair down to his shoulders, combined with his unique hide clothing, he looked like a legendary, reclusive beast god attendant.
But now his bald head looked like a peeled bird’s egg, hilarious no matter how you looked at it.
Tian Xuan suppressed the smile at the corners of his mouth: “I think it looks good.”
A sub-beastman so fond of cleanliness, now he could wash his face and his head together, three times a day if he wanted.
Lu Xuan felt a little better. Tian Xuan hadn’t laughed at all. He believed what he said.
“You’ve got good taste.”
Tian Xuan’s lips tightened as he nodded. Just then, ripples spread across the surface of the water.
His expression changed. He pulled Lu Xuan forward, took a few running steps, then leaped and fell to the ground. He grabbed Lu Xuan, wrapped his arms around him, and quickly rolled across the ground several times.
When Lu Xuan lifted his dusty, messy head, the thing in the pool had just slid back from the spot where they had fallen.
Just a little more, and they would have been dragged into the water by that thing.
The others tensed up. Xiong Yue ran over and asked: “Are you two okay?”
Lu Xuan: “We’re fine. What was that thing?”
Tian Xuan said coldly: “I’ll go kill it.”
Lu Xuan disagreed: “It’s already gone back into the water. How are you going to kill it?”
Wait a minute, they had just drunk water from that pool. Lu Xuan felt a wave of nausea.
“Is that water okay?”
The sub-beastman’s look of wanting to vomit but not quite managing it was actually rather amusing. The murderous intent in Tian Xuan’s heart dissipated a little.
A hint of a smile tugged at his lips: “It’s not poisonous. You won’t die.”
So it’s still not clean, right?
Lu Xuan bent over and dry-heaved. He couldn’t hold it in anymore.
What kind of godforsaken place was this?
Xiong Yue scratched his head: “Why are you throwing up? Want some blueberries?”
Ever since Lu Xuan had said the little wild fruits were blueberries, everyone had been calling them that.
Lu Xuan couldn’t eat anything right now. With a defeated look on his face, he walked over to Xiong Yuan and the other two, collapsed onto the ground, looking like someone who didn’t know if he would live or die.
The three cubs were very curious about Lu Xuan’s freshly hatched bird-egg head and crawled all over it, exploring.
“Aow aow aow~~”
“Aah aah aah~~~”
Daddy’s hair is gone?
Daddy’s head looks like an egg white.
Daddy’s head is long and round.
Thanks to Lu Xuan’s unremitting efforts, the little cubs now said “Daddy” very smoothly.
The wounded heart found a little comfort.
Suddenly, with a loud splash, Lu Xuan sat up only to catch a glimpse of black.
He couldn’t believe it: “Tian Xuan jumped in?”
Xiong Yue nodded: “Yep.”
There was no worry on his face at all. The others also continued with their own tasks, showing no sign of tension.
Lu Xuan couldn’t stay calm. He said urgently: “His leg isn’t healed yet.”
Xiong Yue smiled: “It’s fine. That thing can’t hurt Tian Xuan.”
Lu Xuan was puzzled: “Then why was he so tense just now?”
Xiong Yue explained: “He was afraid it would hurt you. That thing is called a ground water snake. It swallows its prey whole, but it doesn’t like eating things with fur. Its whole body is slippery, and the mucus on it is very sticky. But its skin is excellent material for making shelters, waterproof, and it stays dry without getting damp.”
The pool boiled as if it were cooking, bubbles rising nonstop. Then came splashing sounds as the black bear and the ground water snake tumbled and rolled in the water.
Lu Xuan’s heart was in turmoil. Since Xiong Yue and the others weren’t worried, he forced himself to stay calm.
The churning in the pool grew more violent. Lu Xuan craned his neck and paced about. He really couldn’t understand why that black bear had to go kill the ground water snake.
What good would killing it do them?
That thing didn’t pose a threat to them. As long as they stayed away from the pool, why go through the trouble of killing it?
And to go into the water with his injuries to kill it, who knew how deep the pool really was?
With a loud thud, the thing was slammed onto the shore.
The black bear climbed out of the pool. After a few steps, he transformed into human form, picked up the wooden stick from the ground, and walked toward Lu Xuan.
“Take a look at me. My leg hurts.”
Lu Xuan glared at him, wanting very much to say “serves you right.”
Tian Xuan laughed: “Scared silly?”
Lu Xuan shot him a dirty look: “Why did you have to kill it?”
If he had to describe it, Lu Xuan felt it was like a Godzilla version of an earthworm.
Covered in transparent, soapy mucus, truly nauseating.