Bonus chapter thanks to SweetLittleBunny on Kofi, thanks for your support!

___

Fan Zhou and Feng Xun took a long time to finish this meal. The stone pot heated their food slowly, and more importantly, the stone pot used to fry the eggs had cracked open.

Fan Zhou had no choice but to use a stone bowl as a small frying pan.

The thin pancakes fried in the stone bowl were only the size of a palm. They could be rolled up and eaten in one bite, but they didn’t satisfy the craving or fill the stomach.

The two of them ate more and more.

There were also steamed cornbread, only six could be steamed in one pot, and they looked like mooncakes. Fan Zhou was okay; he could eat three in one go and that would suppress his cravings.

But Feng Xun had a big appetite, and he had never had them before. For him, three steamed cornbread were just like appetizers before a meal. He could eat one in two bites.

So, after finishing one pot, they immediately steamed another.

In this way, they ate in small portions repeatedly, and surprisingly, they managed to finish all the grass seed flour and honey.

In fact, after the two baskets of grass seeds were threshed, there wasn’t much left—just over ten pounds in total. If Feng Xun had been really hungry, he could have eaten it all by himself.

From noon to evening, by the time the two of them had washed the stone pot, stone bowls, and utensils, the sun was almost setting.

They both felt a little unsatisfied.

Feng Xun was still not full.

Fan Zhou was thinking about 180 different ways to cook flour-based foods.

Although the only seasonings were oil and salt, there were so many ways to prepare them that he wanted to try them all.

Before he could speak, Feng Xun asked first, “How about we trade some hemp cloth for grass seeds?”

Fan Zhou immediately smiled, “I’ll go right now.”

“I’ll keep making hemp cloth.”

Feng Xun was full of energy.

Actually, he had never eaten grass seeds before; they were too hard on the teeth and made his throat dry. He had hunted enough to make a mountain of prey, and ever since he learned to hunt, he never lacked meat.

He had no interest in grass seeds.

But now, he was a little worried: the grass seeds from the Waterfall Tribe probably wouldn’t be enough for both him and the rabbit to eat…

Fan Zhou packed all the hemp cloth into a large animal hide bag and cheerfully left the cave.

Feng Xun, being a diligent beastman, had woven two more pieces of hemp cloth during the afternoon while cooking and eating.

These hemp cloths were about to be used up.

At that moment, the hunting team returned and was entering the tribe. Xiong Jing was trailing behind, with a small animal hide bag hanging from her neck.

“Jingjing!”

Fan Zhou called out loudly.

Xiong Jing was walking with her head down. When she heard Fan Zhou’s voice, she turned her head and saw him waving at her. She immediately ran toward him.

The small animal hide bag bounced as she ran.

“Tu Zhou, I found a fruit that makes you feel awful after eating it.” Before she reached Fan Zhou, she spoke up.

“Huh? What fruit?” Fan Zhou became alert.

“It’s in the animal hide bag.”

Xiong Jing reached Fan Zhou and lifted her head.

Fan Zhou took the animal hide bag from around her neck, opened it, and immediately became overjoyed. “Chili?”

He picked up a green chili, about the length of a finger and shaped like a crescent moon. Without bothering to wash it, he shoved it straight into his mouth.

“It’ll make you feel awful and roll on the ground!”

Xiong Jing raised a paw, trying to stop him.

Fan Zhou had already put the chili in his mouth. Of course, he only took a tiny bite, and the familiar spicy taste spread in his mouth. He was so excited, he almost wanted to cry.

Damn it, after eating bland food every day, his mouth was about to become as tasteless as a bird!

“Tu Zhou, are you alright?” Xiong Jing’s round, shiny eyes were filled with concern.

“I’m fine. Good job, Jingjing, this fruit you found is really helpful to me. Where did you pick it?”

Fan Zhou swallowed the chili quickly and asked eagerly.

“I found it in a very far place.”

Today, the hunting team didn’t have much luck. They didn’t find any prey the entire morning, so they kept walking forward and ended up in a place they rarely went.

By chance, Xiong Jing saw this strange-looking fruit. Each one looked quite beautiful, so she picked one and put it in her mouth. But as soon as she did, it felt like she had been poisoned—she was in so much pain that she rolled on the ground!

But thinking about how Fan Zhou needed all sorts of strange-tasting plants, she picked a few and brought them back.

“No wonder the beastmen from the hunting team were all walking with their heads down,” Fan Zhou realized. It turned out that the harvest had been poor today.

“Let’s go, I saved something tasty for you.” He smiled and waved at Xiong Jing to follow him back.

He had specifically saved two steamed cornbread and two small pancakes for her.

“No need, I need to go back. The chief is about to distribute the meat.” Xiong Jing turned and ran, feeling too guilty to keep eating after Fan Zhou had given her so much.

Fan Zhou had to go back to the cave alone. He poured the chillies from the animal hide bag and stuffed the two steamed cornbread and two small pancakes into it.

The honey was already used up, and tomorrow’s steamed cornbread wouldn’t taste as good as today’s.

Feng Xun watched Fan Zhou’s actions but didn’t say anything. He just quickened his pace in weaving the hemp cloth. 

Two steamed cornbread? He had eaten twenty-four today. Hmph.

Fan Zhou slowly made his way into the tribe.

The atmosphere in the tribe wasn’t as lively as usual. The hunting team had only caught a single big-big-horned beast, weighing just over a hundred pounds.

There were more than sixty beastmen in the tribe, so it wasn’t nearly enough to divide among them.

The hunting team had the hardest job, and every time meat was divided, they were at the front and received the largest portions.

Fan Zhou glanced at the line and saw that Xiong Jing was at the back. He walked over to her.

“Why did you only give me this much meat? I’m injured and need more to recover.”

Suddenly, a voice from the front of the line cut in sharply. It was Bao Su.

Fan Zhou turned to look. He had only noticed Xiong Jing earlier, but now he saw that Bao Su was there as well.

“You didn’t go hunting today, so you can only get this much meat.” Lang Tian said as he shoved a piece of meat, about the size of a palm, into Bao Su’s hand. “If it weren’t for your injury, I wouldn’t have given you any. You should go drink from the big pot of soup.”

The “big pot of soup” was the food given to the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled. They couldn’t hunt, so every time there was meat distribution, they only got some leftover offal and bones. That amount of meat wasn’t enough for a beastman.

So, they gathered some plants and mixed them with meat in a big stone pot to cook. They didn’t have other seasonings, only salt, so the soup tasted terrible.

Bao Su looked down at the big pot of soup and shouted, “When Xiong Jing was injured, she got the same amount of meat as the other beastmen. Why am I only getting a small piece?”

“When Xiong Jing was injured, the hunting team caught more prey. Today, we only got a big-big-horned beast, and the hunting team barely has enough to go around. You didn’t go hunting, and now you want more meat?” Lang Tian was getting irritated.

“Other beastmen aren’t as strong as me! If I don’t recover quickly, what if the Axe Tribe comes to attack?” Bao Su was also angry.

He was one of the strongest beastman in the tribe, and yet they only gave him such a small piece of meat!

“Stop trying to scare everyone.”

Fan Zhou couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted. “Before you joined the tribe, the Axe Tribe’s beastmen never dared to attack us.”

“Exactly.”

Lang Tian looked at Bao Su’s shoulder. The wound had already scabbed over. Although there was a three-finger-wide piece of flesh missing, this kind of injury wasn’t serious for a beastman.

He snatched the piece of big-big-horned beast meat from Bao Su’s hand. “Your injury isn’t severe, and since you didn’t go hunting today, you can’t eat meat. You’ll drink from the big pot of soup.”

Bao Su didn’t realize it in time and was stunned when Lang Tian took the meat. When he finally reacted, he was furious. “Chief, is this how you treat your warriors?”

“When you fight at the front like Niu Shan, I’ll give you meat,” Lang Tian replied coldly.

“You!”

Damn it.

Was he not afraid of Bao Su joining the Axe Tribe?

But Bao Su didn’t dare to ask this openly. If he did, during the winter when a new chief was chosen, the other beastmen definitely wouldn’t select him.

“You won’t get any meat if you don’t go hunting in the future,” Lang Tian emphasized again.

At this moment, the other beastmen waiting in line behind Bao Su were getting impatient. They were all hungry!

Niu Shan grabbed Bao Su and pulled him aside. “Don’t disturb the meat distribution.”

Bao Su felt deeply humiliated, but when he looked at Niu Shan, who was as large as a tower, and felt the pain in his shoulder, he realized that he couldn’t afford to clash with Niu Shan right now.

He was injured, and his strength had decreased.

Niu Shan didn’t notice Bao Su’s angry gaze. His eyes were fixed on the big-big-horned beast meat in Lang Tian’s hands, and he rubbed his stomach.

He was so hungry.

The meat he will have today won’t be enough. He would have to eat some of the dried meat he had saved up from before.

The other beastmen from the hunting team didn’t pay much attention to Bao Su. He stood there for a few seconds, fuming, before returning to his cave, still angry.

He wasn’t going to drink the big pot of soup. It tasted horrible.

Fan Zhou watched the whole scene with great satisfaction and quickly walked over to Xiong Jing. He hung the animal hide bag around her neck.

A sweet fragrance immediately reached Xiong Jing’s nose.

Even the male beastmen ahead of her in line could smell it. “What’s that? Something sweet?”

Originally wanting to decline, Xiong Jing instinctively raised a paw to cover the animal hide bag.

Fan Zhou chuckled at her reaction. “Go back to your cave first. I’ll help you get your share of meat.”

Xiong Jing hesitated for a moment, but the sweet smell was too tempting. She thanked Fan Zhou and turned to run off.

“Tu Zhou, what did you give Xiong Jing?” A male beastman ahead of her couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s a little pancake made from grass seeds and hard nut.” Fan Zhou opened the large animal hide bag in his hands and took out the hemp cloth, raising his voice. “Who wants to trade hemp cloth with me? Two baskets of grass seeds for one piece of hemp cloth.”

“Wow! I’ll trade!”

The male beastman immediately forgot about the question of what the little pancake was. He was from the hunting team and hadn’t heard about how Lang Tian had traded grass seeds for hemp cloth earlier. Now, hearing Fan Zhou, he was overjoyed.

Compared to the prey and strange-tasting plants, grass seeds were the easiest to get.

Two baskets of inedible grass seeds for one big piece of hemp cloth? Tu Zhou was too generous!

The beastmen from the gathering team also thought Fan Zhou was incredibly generous. They had heard from Lang Tian that grass seeds could be traded for hemp cloth and were planning to look for Fan Zhou after the meat was divided to see if he would still trade. They hadn’t expected him to offer it first!

Fan Zhou was quickly surrounded by the beastmen.

Those who received hemp cloth wore wide smiles.

Fan Zhou, having received the grass seed ears, was also all smiles.

Now he had grass seed flour.

He also had seeds to plant them.

Tomorrow, they could begin clearing land.

That night, the beastmen of the Waterfall Tribe were all very happy. Even though the hunt hadn’t yielded much today, they had received hemp cloth!

Just as Mao Yu had said, it was light, breathable, and much more comfortable than animal skin.

So, by noon the next day, when Que Yu returned to the tribe, he saw almost every beastman in the gathering team wearing hemp skirts and couldn’t help but rub his eyes, wondering if he had entered the wrong tribe.

What was going on?

Was he just so tired that he was hallucinating?

How could the beastmen of the Waterfall Tribe be wearing precious hemp clothes already?