Kudos to SweetLittleBunny for the kofis. Thank you for your support!

Fan Zhou didn’t go out hunting again.

He wasn’t lacking food now. The beastmen in the tribe treated him as a priest, and every time food was distributed, they would set aside a portion for him—always the best cut of meat from the hunt.

To prevent him from refusing, Lang Tian specifically sent Xiong Jing to deliver the meat.

Xiong Jing would either drop off the meat and run away or stare at him with her round eyes until he accepted it.

The water pouches he made were very popular. Now, every member of the hunting team had one, and they traded meat for more of his water pouches. Since he and Feng Xun couldn’t finish all the meat, he turned it into jerky.

He wasn’t short on meat now.

Feng Xun and Ying Xiao had left after lunch. Since he didn’t have the habit of taking naps, he sat under the thatched hut to weave hemp cloth.

Hemp cloth was a consumable with many uses. If Niu Shan managed to bring back cotton this time, he planned to make bedding.

Straw mats were ultimately not as good as cotton bedding.

Around this time on other days, Lang Xun would sit beside him, either talking about things from the Central Continent or quietly working alongside him.

But Lang Xun wasn’t here today. He scratched a spot where a small bug had bitten him, feeling a bit restless.

He went down to the cave to feed the birds.

After feeding them, he climbed back up to check on the snow chicken eggs. He had taken five eggs for hatching, and three of them had already developed visible proof.

Satisfied, he put the eggs back and glanced around the cave, frowning—it was a bit messy.

He grabbed a broom, found a rag, and cleaned up. By the time he finished and looked up, the sun was still hanging high in the sky, showing no signs of setting.

Days in this world were at least thirty-six hours long, making the afternoons feel quite drawn out.

Standing under the thatched hut, he gazed northward, feeling a bit melancholic. His domesticated fluffy companion had gone off on an adventure, injured no less—how could he not worry…

By evening, Xiong Jing arrived carrying a piece of meat.

She had eaten Beast Spirit Flowers the day before and had now transformed into her human form. She was still not fully grown, with chubby cheeks but a thin body. The hemp cloth clothes Fan Zhou had made for her looked a bit loose.

She didn’t just walk—she hopped along. Having just turned into a human, everything felt new and exciting to her.

She climbed up to the cave with practiced ease and saw Fan Zhou catching fish in the stream, but Feng Xun was nowhere to be seen. She asked curiously, “Where’s Lang Xun?”

Fan Zhou walked over and told her about catching Ying Xiao today.

“That’s great! Another Beast Spirit Flower!” she said excitedly.

Aside from her, there were still many half-beastmen in the tribe who couldn’t transform. They all needed Beast Spirit Flowers.

Even though they had nothing valuable to trade for them, just having hope was enough to bring joy.

Fan Zhou nodded and took the meat from her hands. “Jingjing, stay and have dinner here.”

“I already told Mao Yu I’d be over—she’s going to teach me how to braid hair. I have to go.” Thinking about Mao Yu’s neat braids, Xiong Jing didn’t hesitate at all, immediately turning to leave the cave.

Fan Zhou watched her bouncing away and inexplicably sighed.

Eating dinner alone was such a hassle—he didn’t feel like cooking.

He salted the meat Xiong Jing had brought and casually ate some jerky instead.

As the sky darkened, he washed up and wandered into the cave.

He didn’t shift into his beast form. With no one to share the bed tonight, he could roll around as much as he wanted. After a few rolls, he sprawled out in a “大” shape.

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes, frowning slightly.

Has Lang Xun eaten? Did he find a suitable campsite? Such a stunning man, such beautiful fur, roughing it out in the wild…

A cool breeze drifted into the cave, making the air a bit chilly.

He wrapped himself in a beast pelt, tossed and turned for a while, and finally fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up, it was still dark outside. Everything was silent—no footsteps, no sound of chopping wood.

He got up sluggishly. There was no ready-made breakfast today—if he wanted to eat, he had to make it himself.

Breakfast. Weaving hemp cloth.

Lunch. Weaving hemp cloth.

By evening, the gathering team delivered a large amount of “teeth-grass” piling it up under the cave. Staring at the small mountain of grass, he suddenly felt exhausted.

The next day, he continued weaving hemp cloth. Xiong Jing came by after dinner to play, and he taught her how to weave.

On the third day, he still wove hemp cloth.

On the fourth day, after lunch, he stood under the thatched hut for a while, watching the small road in front of the tribe, then went to the grass seed field to water the seedlings with spiritual spring water.

Of course, he also took care of the chili seedlings. He had planted the chili seeds next to the grass seeds field, giving them extra attention.

After watering the crops, he went to the stream to catch fish and shrimp. Lang Xun had left in such a hurry that he hadn’t been able to prepare any travel snacks for him. Now that Lang Xun might be returning soon, he needed to fry more.

He stayed busy until nightfall, but Lang Xun was nowhere in sight.

He stood under the thatched hut for a while, then went to the stream to wash up.

To be honest, that place was near the Axe Tribe, and under normal circumstances, a round trip would take five or six days.

He had specifically reminded Lang Xun not to run too fast, that his health was the priority. If Lang Xun really came back this soon, he would definitely give him a stern look.

On the fifth day, Fan Zhou wove hemp cloth while gazing at the small road in front of the tribe.

On the sixth day, Fan Zhou wove hemp cloth while gazing at the small road in front of the tribe.

On the seventh day, Fan Zhou couldn’t weave anymore. The fried fish and shrimp from a few days ago were all gone, so he went to the stream to catch more.

Evening arrived quickly, but Lang Xun was still nowhere to be seen.

Xiong Jing came by to deliver meat. Seeing the tight furrow of his brows and his unconcealed worry, she comforted him, “Lang Xun is very strong, and he has two Beast Spirit Flowers with him—he’ll be fine.”

She had seen Feng Xun’s strength firsthand—Hu Sheng and the others had no chance against him. Even if the entire Axe Tribe attacked at once, they might not be a match for Feng Xun.

Besides, two Beast Spirit Flowers! And they were still at full potency. No matter how badly injured he was, he could be saved. At the very least, they would help him hold on until he returned to the tribe.

Fan Zhou knew this, of course. He forced a smile. “Maybe something delayed him on the way.”

If he had known this would happen, he never would have let Lang Xun go out alone.

“Jingjing, do you want to stay for dinner?” he asked.

Xiong Jing nodded. “Okay.”

Tu Zhou seemed to be in a terrible mood, so she decided to stay and keep him company.

Thinking about how much Tu Zhou liked her beast form, she shifted back.

Her beast form had grown plumper. Ever since she met Tu Zhou, he had been sneaking her extra treats—there was never a shortage of snacks. Now, when she sat down, her belly looked round. Mao Yu even said that from behind, she looked like a ball.

Hmm… That should be cute, right?

Seeing the chubby Xiong Jing, Fan Zhou instinctively smiled, his mood lifting considerably. “Let’s have hard nuts stewed with meat tonight.”

“Okay, I’ll tend the fire.” Xiong Jing’s voice also became more cheerful.

Just then, in the distance, Mao Yu’s excited voice rang out: “Niu Shan! Niu Shan is back!”

Niu Shan?!

Fan Zhou’s face lit up with joy. “Jingjing, let’s go take a look.”

Niu Shan was finally back!

In truth, Niu Shan and the others weren’t late—if anything, they had returned earlier than expected.

The main goal of their trip to the Giant Bear Tribe was to trade for seeds. Fan Zhou had wanted as many as possible, so he had asked them to remove the grains before coming back. That meant their trip should have taken longer.

But unexpectedly, they returned so soon. The beastmen, who had been preparing to eat dinner, all rushed out.

By the time Fan Zhou and Xiong Jing arrived at the tribe’s entrance, Niu Shan and his group had already unloaded the beast hide sacks onto the ground.

The beastmen opened the sacks, revealing the threshed grass seeds inside.

There was also some cotton—this was what they had traded for Fan Zhou.

“So many grass seeds,” Lang Tian remarked, grabbing a handful to inspect. He was a little surprised.

Given the amount of salt and hemp cloth that Niu Shan’s group had brought, they shouldn’t have been able to trade for this much.

“The Giant Bear Tribe really liked Fan Zhou’s large hemp cloth bags, so I traded them for more seeds,” Niu Shan explained with a grin.

Hemp cloth was a rare commodity on the Wild Continent.

“They didn’t understand why we were threshing the seeds, so I made grass seed porridge for them. I added some chopped hard nuts in exchange for more seeds. After tasting it, they thought it was delicious, so they asked me to teach them how to thresh seeds. They were happy to trade more for the knowledge.”

The Giant Bear Tribe did know how to grow grass seeds, but their eating methods were as primitive as those of the Waterfall Tribe. Learning a new way to prepare them was valuable enough that they willingly paid for the lesson.

Fan Zhou examined all the beast hide sacks and was also a bit surprised. The amount of grass seeds they had traded for was a third more than he had expected.

It seemed that the Giant Bear Tribe really liked hemp cloth.

“Chief, let’s plant more seeds,” he said to Lang Tian.

“Alright.” Lang Tian nodded with a broad smile. These days, he made a habit of walking around the grass seed fields every day, feeling more reassured the more he looked at them.

“How about we plant all of these grass seeds?” he suggested.

“Huh? We don’t have enough manpower,” Fan Zhou quickly shook his head.

Even with rough planting methods, necessary irrigation and weeding were still required. His spiritual spring water was limited—it could serve as a nutrient, but he couldn’t use it to water such a vast grass seed field.

With the small number of people in the Waterfall Tribe, who also needed to hunt and gather, there simply weren’t enough hands to farm.

Lang Tian scratched his head, understanding how exhausting farming was.

But when he thought about the neatly growing green seedlings, he was unwilling to give up. “If we put in some effort now, we won’t have to go hungry in the winter. Besides, Hu Sheng and the others have already cleared a large patch of land—that’ll save a lot of work. Let’s have the whole tribe stop hunting and plant the grass seeds first.”

As for what would happen after planting, even wild grass seeds could grow on their own, let alone theirs, which had the benefit of the little sweet water.

When the other beastmen heard Lang Tian’s words, those who could survive on just plants nodded without hesitation.

But the meat lovers all pulled long faces.

No more hunting? Just eating wild vegetables?

How miserable.

Honestly, even after being hulled, grass seeds didn’t taste great…

But at least they could fill their stomachs.

There was nothing more important than eating enough, so despite their wailing, the beastmen quickly agreed.

Seeing this, Fan Zhou could only agree as well.

For the beastmen, they could just plant the seeds and leave them alone, treating them like the wild grass seeds.

But could he really just ignore them?

What a headache.

The Waterfall Tribe was still too small—they lacked strong laborers.

Forget it, he’d deal with it later. Worst case, he’d just push the beastmen to be more diligent.

Just as he was about to discuss the detailed plan with Lang Tian, the sound of heavy footsteps suddenly echoed from the distance.

He immediately looked toward the small road.

There, Feng Xun was sprinting toward the tribe’s entrance. The setting sun bathed him in an orange glow, making him look even more striking.

In his left hand, he held a rope, and trailing behind him were seven or eight beastmen. Their hands were bound, preventing them from running fast, so they stumbled along as he dragged them forward.

However, the moment he saw Fan Zhou, he immediately tossed the rope aside and shouted excitedly, “Tu Zhou!”

“Feng Xun!”

Fan Zhou was overjoyed and took off running toward him.

Mao Yu squinted at the beastmen behind Feng Xun. A few seconds later, she exclaimed in surprise, “Huh? Isn’t that Bao Su?”