“What about Feng Xun? What happened to Feng Xun in his past life? Did his leg heal?” Fan Zhou continued to ask.

Upon hearing this, Feng Xun turned his head and glanced at him, then looked at Que Yu, a flicker of curiosity passing over his face.

Que Yu secretly glanced at Feng Xun, and when their gazes met, he stiffened and quickly lowered his head.

He no longer had the confidence and arrogance he once did. He knew just how much Feng Xun disliked him.

Lowering his eyes, he said softly, “His leg didn’t heal. It stayed lame. After he got injured, it dragged on for too long, and later, even when beast spirit flower was found on the Holy Mountain, it still couldn’t be cured.”

“He lived on the Holy Mountain. Anyone who wanted to go up the mountain had to get his permission. He rarely spoke and often stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing into the distance.”

“He had no partner and wasn’t close to anyone.”

Fan Zhou: “……”

He took a deep breath. As expected, the white wolf had not found the beast spirit flower of the Waterfall Tribe in the previous life.

How much suffering did he have to endure…

He looked toward Feng Xun. Feng Xun was also looking at him. Seeing the pain on his face, Feng Xun smiled slightly and gently shook his head. “I was strong. Even if one leg was lame, it didn’t matter.”

“……”

Idiot.

He had previously guessed that the white wolf was a big shot in the beastman world, an extraordinary figure—so Que Yu had set his sights on him.

But the white wolf had become a big shot while limping. Just how much pain and suffering he had endured in between, only the white wolf himself knew.

Without his help, how did the white wolf make it to the Waterfall Tribe?

How did he clumsily try to hunt, try to search for food?

This process—he didn’t dare think about it in detail. Even though Feng Xun was now sitting safely in front of him, he still ached so much he wanted to cry.

Moreover, after becoming a big shot, the white wolf had been so lonely he could only gaze off into the distance.

The white wolf was different from the other beastmen. He didn’t make filling his belly his greatest goal, nor did he fool around after eating his fill.

When one’s stomach was full, the mind wandered. After resolving basic survival needs, the white wolf still had spiritual needs.

But other beastmen couldn’t provide that.

The white wolf could only remain alone.

More importantly, aside from his personal spiritual needs, the heavy weight of reality would have made the white wolf suffer in extreme agony.

In the previous life, without him, with the white wolf’s limited knowledge not even equal to that of a primary school student, he wouldn’t have understood why beast spirit flowers became extinct, why food grew scarcer, or why beastmen caught strange illnesses.

He would have been completely helpless, forced to watch as things got worse and worse.

In the previous life, how bitter, how painful must the white wolf have felt while gazing off into the distance…

Taking a deep breath and pushing down his heartache, he looked at Que Yu again, “When you were reborn, was Feng Xun still staying safely on the Holy Mountain?”

“Yes.” Que Yu nodded.

After being driven off the Holy Mountain, he had stayed nearby.

Because only the Holy Mountain offered a chance of survival—going anywhere else was a dead end.

“Then how did Feng Xun find the Holy Mountain? Tell me about those things from the past life in detail,” Fan Zhou asked with a furrowed brow.

“I don’t know the specifics. I only heard from beastmen of the Waterfall Tribe. After food grew increasingly scarce, Feng Xun led them away from the Waterfall Tribe. Then they ended up near the Holy Mountain. Feng Xun was able to climb the Holy Mountain. He discovered beast spirit flowers there, and so they settled on the Holy Mountain.”

“Beastmen from other places—when their own tribes had no food left, they left too. Afraid of catching the strange illness, they scattered everywhere. Later, they heard that the Holy Mountain was blessed by the Beast God and could support life, so everyone rushed to the Holy Mountain.”

Que Yu had done the same—aimlessly searching for a way to survive. When he heard there were beast spirit flowers on the Holy Mountain, he rushed there.

But the space on top of the Holy Mountain was truly small. He had racked his brains to curry favor with Bao Su, and only then was he allowed to climb the mountain.

In the end, all he did was take a little food from the beastmen at the foot of the mountain—and he was kicked out. He had deeply resented the beastmen of the Waterfall Tribe for that.

But over the past half year, after personally witnessing how powerful this mysterious Tu Zhou was, he no longer dared to resent this one or that one.

He only wished that one day he could return to the Holy Mountain and not starve to death.

Fan Zhou asked many more questions, until Que Yu had nothing new left to say. Only then did Fan Zhou prepare to let him leave.

However, he was not the original Tu Zhou.

He had no right to forgive on behalf of the original.

In the past life, without Que Yu’s instigation, Bao Su had not wanted to marry the original and had used a delaying tactic. The original’s affection for Bao Su had gradually worn away. So when Bao Su broke off the engagement, the original had not been very sad.

The original had followed Feng Xun to the Holy Mountain and lived well all along.

But in this life, the original had died.

Que Yu could not escape responsibility for the crime of negligent manslaughter.

He said to Que Yu, “I won’t bring up the matters of the previous life, but in this life, you instigated Bao Su to break off the engagement. Although Bao Su was scum to begin with, you did indeed hurt me.”

“Seeing as you told me this information, I won’t hold too much against you. After spring begins, you will join Hu Rong and the others in reformation through labor. The reformation will last until the autumn of the year after next. As long as you work honestly during this period, I will allow you to stay in the Waterfall Tribe.”

“But if you have any other thoughts, then Yang Da and  Xiang Er’s outcome will be yours as well.”

Que Yu: “……”

He was dumbfounded.

He really hadn’t expected Fan Zhou to still bring up the engagement with Bao Su—especially with Feng Xun sitting right there!

He stared blankly at Fan Zhou, only regaining his senses after quite a while. He instinctively wanted to shout: Why?! All he did was make Tu Zhou fall—why punish him for so long?!

But seeing Fan Zhou’s cold expression, he shivered and lowered his head.

His whole face wrinkled up like a bitter melon. He didn’t want reformation through labor—working was too exhausting. But thinking of the situation ahead and the hardships of his past life, he hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly gave a grunt and walked off with his head hanging low.

As soon as he left, Fan Zhou looked toward Feng Xun.

Feng Xun was a little confused: “Isn’t that punishment a bit too heavy?”

It made it seem like the rabbit really cared about the engagement with Bao Su…

He fidgeted with the charcoal pen in his hand, staring at Fan Zhou with confusion and grievance in his eyes.

They were already bonded as partners—why was he still thinking about past things?

“Not heavy at all—just two years of labor reform.” Fan Zhou understood exactly what was on his mind. He sighed softly and reached out to hold his hand. “Come, let’s go upstairs. I have something to tell you.”

It was time to come clean about where he came from.

This person had already finished reading the history of human development he had written.

Back in the mountaintop cave, he had Feng Xun sit on the bed while he picked up a tree stump stool and sat across from him. “You’ve been curious about where my hometown is, right?”

“My hometown really isn’t here.”

Feng Xun was stunned. His heartbeat suddenly quickened—those things the rabbit had said before, the ones he didn’t understand—now the rabbit was willing to tell him?

He asked somewhat urgently, “Then where is it?”

“In another world. I’m not the original Tu Zhou. The original Tu Zhou died. Then the Beast God pulled me from my original world and put me into Tu Zhou’s body.”

Although he wanted to confess, Fan Zhou didn’t plan to reveal everything. He was worried Feng Xun wouldn’t understand.

So he brought in the Beast God as a cover.

Sure enough, when he heard it was the Beast God who brought the rabbit over, Feng Xun didn’t react too strongly. He just furrowed his brows: “The original Tu Zhou… died?”

“Yes. The night Bao Su broke off the engagement, he was too heartbroken. He ran out, hit his head, and died. Que Yu and Bao Su killed him. Tell me—should Que Yu be punished?”

“Yes!” Feng Xun nodded without hesitation.

“In my hometown, causing someone’s death through negligence also warrants punishment. Sentencing him to two years of labor reform is already lenient. He told me about the past life, so that counts as meritorious service to offset his crime.”

Feng Xun nodded. “Your punishment is very reasonable.”

Before Fan Zhou could say more, he immediately asked, “Then who were you originally? What was your hometown like?”

“My name is Fan Zhou. In our world, there are no beastmen, only beasts and humans.”

Afraid Feng Xun wouldn’t understand, Fan Zhou began explaining from the human history he had compiled. In the beginning, there were only beasts in the world. Later, the beasts evolved into humans—there was no middle stage like beastmen.

Feng Xun listened, dazed.

But it wasn’t completely incomprehensible. He already understood what evolution meant. Like how the Rabbit’s tail couldn’t retract, the was so small she could be held in one hand, while Hu Sheng’s beast form stood three meters tall.

Life was diverse—only the fittest survived.

The beastman form wasn’t suited to the rabbit’s homeland, so it had been eliminated.

Humans grew smarter and more capable, while animals that couldn’t become human remained stagnant. In the end… they became pets.

He knew what “pet” meant—it was like the bird he raised. One of them was white with beautiful feathers. He couldn’t bear to eat it and kept it around.

That was a pet.

He was dazed for a while before finally speaking: “No wonder you treat the other beastmen like cubs. So it turns out, in your eyes, you and them aren’t even the same kind.”

“But you are the same kind as me.” Fan Zhou immediately grasped his hand and said with a serious expression, “I see you as my kind. From the moment I agreed to you, I already regarded you as my kind.”

Feng Xun blinked: “Then what about before I confessed?”

“Before the confession, I saw you as a cute, handsome, powerful, fluffy one. But you looked so good. When I found you, you were in human form, and your face was so good-looking that it made my head spin. So, in my heart, you were always closer to human.”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have accepted you so quickly.”

As soon as he said this, the corners of Feng Xun’s mouth curled up instantly. He knew how much the rabbit liked his face.

“Then what about Xiong Jing?” he asked.

“Giant pandas are our national treasures—they’re my favorite animal. Some of them live in the wild, nurtured by nature. Some are raised by humans.”

“I see…” Feng Xun nodded lightly, drawing out his tone, the corners of his mouth unable to suppress their upward curl.

He understood.

No wonder when the rabbit spoke to Xiong Jing, his voice was always soft and sweet.

So he was a national treasure.

The rabbit had never thought of making Xiong Jing his mate.

The one who could become the rabbit’s mate had always only been him.

“If you want to laugh, just laugh. No need to hold it in.”

Fan Zhou reached out and tugged the flesh at the corners of his mouth on both sides.

His heart felt a bit complicated.

Looking at the person in front of him, he couldn’t help but think of the White Wolf from the previous life—it really made his heart ache…

“I’m not laughing. Always competing with Xiong Jing over this isn’t very good. You see Xiong Jing as a cub, and Xiong Jing only sees you as a good companion.” Feng Xun shook his head and grabbed his hand that was messing around.

Seemed like he was the one overthinking.

Of course, he was still happy—very happy. He had finally figured out the root of why the rabbit liked Xiong Jing.

From now on, he would never fight over this with Xiong Jing again!

He exerted a little force and pulled Fan Zhou into his arms, then fell back onto the bed behind him.

Feeling the warmth of the person in his arms, he couldn’t help but hold him tighter: “Compared to the me from the previous life, the me now is too lucky.”

Fan Zhou: “……”

He had thought this person hadn’t realized how much the him of the past life had suffered.

But both he and the person in front of him were powerless.

He kicked off his shoes and curled completely into Feng Xun’s embrace, speaking softly: “I’m very lucky too. Lucky I found you. Otherwise, I definitely would’ve ended up the same as you in the previous life.”

Feng Xun of his previous life, due to lack of knowledge, was lonely, confused, and distressed. But setting those emotions aside, he still lived on.

This life was different. His great life had just begun, only to be thrown into a primitive world. If he hadn’t met Feng Xun, he would’ve become depressed, gone mad.

After hearing this, Feng Xun couldn’t help but reach out and pat his back. The rabbit’s homeland was far superior to this place—it was like a beastman from the Holy Temple being suddenly banished to the barbaric continent. No one would accept that willingly.

And the rabbit’s situation was far worse than being exiled to the barbaric continent—thousands of times worse.

Thinking this, he also kicked off his shoes, pulled over the blanket behind them, and wrapped Fan Zhou up tightly with the quilt and his own body: “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

“I’ll learn everything about your homeland. Every word you say—I’ll understand.”

“From now on, I’ll miss your home with you.”

Fan Zhou: “……”

His eyes felt a little hot. He burrowed upward and poked his head out from under the quilt.

Seeing Feng Xun looking at him so tenderly, he tugged up the corners of his mouth into a smile, let out a quiet “mm,” then pressed his forehead against Feng Xun’s and said nothing more.

He wanted to go back. He wanted everything from his past life—he wanted it badly.

Feng Xun didn’t speak either. He gently patted his back, occasionally kissing him.

It made Fan Zhou feel both like laughing and crying.

Feng Xun was coaxing him like a cub.

But he was still happy—very happy. This person had finally drawn close to him in soul and was now willing to make the effort to get even closer.

When Feng Xun’s lips came down again, he grabbed Feng Xun’s shoulders and exchanged a soft kiss with him.

It was warm under the quilt, and after the kiss ended, both their cheeks were flushed from the heat. They looked at each other for a while, then hugged again, neither saying a word.

The cave quieted down.

After a long while, Fan Zhou let out a deep sigh and buried his face in Feng Xun’s neck hollow. He asked, “When are we going to the Holy Mountain to take a look?”

Although the Holy Mountain was probably just an ordinary mountain, they still had to go check it out.

“Next autumn,” Feng Xun said. Thinking of the situation in a few years, his mood grew heavy too.

“Alright.” Fan Zhou thought for a moment and nodded.

After autumn, there would be no major affairs in the tribe. In winter, heavy snow sealed the roads, and beastmen seldom went out, but he and Feng Xun wouldn’t be much affected. The two of them could take the opportunity to go on a long trip.

Since in the future food would become more and more scarce, then once spring arrived, they would farm more land.

And the Giant Bear Tribe, the Treehouse Tribe—those few tribes—also had to be told to farm more land and raise more livestock. It was just a pity that the beastmen of the White Flower Tribe, after receiving the beast spirit flower, had returned with Xiong Wu, Lu Xin, and the others, without staying in the tribe long.

If he wanted to notify them to prepare for farming, he could only wait until spring came.

Sigh…

Fan Zhou couldn’t help squirming around in Feng Xun’s arms. He had thought that being thrown into a barbaric world was already miserable enough, but it turned out there was something even worse—this world was on the verge of collapse!

What could he even do with that bit of spiritual spring water?

If he used it to plant beast spirit flowers, it would indeed cure the beastmen’s strange illnesses.

But with food growing increasingly scarce, if famine broke out, problems would definitely arise.

Yet if he used it to grow food, it would be even more like a drop in the ocean.

What a headache.

Feng Xun naturally didn’t have any better solutions either. The two of them discussed for a long time, and after they finished dinner, they went to find Lang Tian.

By the time they arrived in the tribe, most of the beastmen had already eaten and were squatting by the water pool washing their pots and bowls. The two of them went straight to Lang Tian’s cave.

Lang Tian was drinking porridge. When he saw them coming, he put down the bowl in his hand: “Why are you two coming at this hour?”

“I have a suggestion.” Fan Zhou pointed at Feng Xun and explained the plan he and Feng Xun had just agreed upon.

After spring came, Feng Xun would go out hunting and bring back lots of prey. These prey could be handed over to the beastmen in the tribe for breeding.

In addition, he hoped that the beastmen in the tribe would farm more land.

That is to say, after spring, he hoped that the Waterfall Tribe would live by farming and livestock raising, no longer relying on daily hunting and gathering like before.

Lang Tian was very surprised when he heard this. Not hunt, not gather? That was simply unimaginable!

But when he thought about how comfortable this winter had been, he hesitated.

In the past, there was never enough food to eat in winter. He never dared to eat his fill, and he would even sleep during the day to reduce his activity level.

But this winter, thanks to farming, he could drink warm grass seed porridge every day, and from time to time he could even add a hard nut into it.

If he got tired of sweet porridge, he could switch to savory porridge.

Sprinkle a bit of salt in, cut some meat— it was still delicious.

And every few days, he could go to the livestock pen and catch a prey animal, butcher it, and eat fresh meat.

That kind of good life had never existed before!

But…

This decision was too major.

He looked at Fan Zhou and asked, “Didn’t we say we’d choose a new chief this winter? Why don’t we make Feng Xun the new chief? If Feng Xun becomes the new chief, then all tribal matters will be decided by you two.”

“…Alright.” Fan Zhou nodded.

“Great!” Lang Tian was overjoyed.

He rushed out of the cave and called for all the beastmen to come out of their caves, then loudly announced Feng Xun’s succession as the new chief.

Once his words fell, not a single person objected. After all, it had already been decided that a new chief would be chosen this winter, and everyone had seen Feng Xun’s strength with their own eyes.

No one could defeat him.

Since that was the case, then the position of tribe chief naturally had to be taken by Feng Xun.

Feng Xun saw that no one objected, so he cleared his throat and explained Fan Zhou’s plan: from now on, no more hunting; from now on, farming and breeding.

This decision came too suddenly—everyone was shocked.

Fan Zhou then stepped forward and laid out the facts and reasoning. In the past, they lived by hunting and gathering, going out every day to work hard, and only when luck was especially good could they hunt a lot of prey.

Only when the amount of prey hunted was abundant could the hunting team rest.

Over the past half year, he had seen how busy Xiong Jing was—there wasn’t even a single day off in a whole month.

It was just too exhausting.

But if they switched to breeding, things would be much more relaxed. As for farming, it didn’t require them to work in the fields every single day either.

So overall, farming and breeding would definitely be easier than hunting and gathering.

More importantly, farming and breeding yielded more food, and all the beastmen in the tribe could eat their fill!

Fan Zhou broke everything down and explained it clearly to the beastmen. All the beastmen understood. Comparing to the past, this winter had indeed been very comfortable.

All the beastmen supported Fan Zhou’s decision.

It passed unanimously, and Fan Zhou continued to explain his plan: since everyone had free time anyway, they might as well go and clear land.

If they cleared more land now, then once the snow melted next year, they could immediately plant seeds.

This suggestion also met with no opposition from the beastmen.

Right now, they ate three meals a day, and each meal they could eat to fullness. There was no issue of lacking energy. Instead of lying in their caves sleeping or fooling around outside, they might as well go clear land.

This way, next year they could plant grass seeds twice!

This year in summer, they had planted too late, so they only planted once. But Tu Zhou had planted twice, and the harvested grass seeds filled several large caves! Who wouldn’t be envious of that?

Who would ever dislike having too much food?

This year, they too would plant grass seeds twice!

The beastmen of the Waterfall Tribe were full of motivation. The next day, after eating breakfast, they grabbed their tools and went out to clear land.

The beastmen from the Axe Tribe quickly heard of this. They came to find Fan Zhou, saying they also wanted to go clear land. They hadn’t planted grass seeds this past summer, and they’d regretted it for a long time. Now that the Waterfall Tribe was going out to clear land, they wanted to go too.

Even if they didn’t have the stamina, they still wanted to go.

Next year, they also wanted to plant grass seeds—plant a whole lot of grass seeds!

Seeing how enthusiastic the Axe Tribe was, Fan Zhou naturally encouraged them. The Axe Tribe didn’t have much grass seeds left now. Once winter passed, they’d be left with not even a single grain.

But he could lend them seeds. Once they harvested the grass seeds, they could return what they had borrowed.

He wasn’t into usury or anything like that—borrow what you need, return the same amount.

If they couldn’t pay it back, then they could use mud bricks to pay the debt, or work for him.

With these words from Fan Zhou, the Axe Tribe became even more motivated. Once the snow melted, they’d plant the grass seeds as soon as possible!

As the beastmen worked busily, day after day passed quickly. Before they knew it, fresh green grass shoots peeked out from the earth—spring was coming.

Fan Zhou specially made a large piece of bark paper and hung it at the head of the bed. He began marking the days by writing tally marks.

Even though he didn’t remember the 24 solar terms or how the calendar was divided, he could still generally distinguish the four seasons. To manage farming, at the very least he had to get a rough idea of how many days were in a year.

When the beastmen saw the grass sprouting, they were overjoyed and came one after another to ask Fan Zhou when they could start planting grass seeds.

They couldn’t wait!

With the ground thawing and the temperature rising, it was indeed time to begin planting.

This winter, the beastmen had cleared over a thousand mu of land. Adding the few hundred mu they cleared last year, it totaled nearly two thousand mu.

Currently, the combined population of the Waterfall Tribe and the Axe Tribe was just over a hundred. The White Flower Tribe had over two hundred people. Adding in the prisoners from the Holy Temple, there were fewer than four hundred people here in total.

With the current manpower, it was just enough to farm this much land.

But overall, the Waterfall Tribe was still very weak—the Giant Bear Tribe had more than two thousand people.

Just as Fan Zhou was wondering whether he should borrow some manpower from the Giant Bear Tribe, the first visitor of the year arrived at the tribe:

Bao Cheng came.

Bao Cheng had come to deliver prisoners to Fan Zhou.

This group of prisoners were beastmen from the Holy Temple, numbering over fifty.

When winter began last year, these beastmen arrived at the side of the Siguo River. They couldn’t find Xiong Ye, Hu Rong, and the others, nor did they discover any trace of the squad originally stationed there. So they crossed the Siguo River and entered the Wildlands in search of clues.

They went to the Treehouse Tribe.

Just like before, they were arrogant and overbearing, barking orders at Bao Cheng, demanding that he provide them with food and drink. With the road blocked by heavy snow, they couldn’t return to the Holy Temple, so they planned to stay at the Treehouse Tribe for the winter.

Bao Cheng was furious. As Lord Tu Zhou’s most loyal subordinate, how could he allow himself to be bossed around by traitors from the old Holy Temple?

So, he pretended to flatter them, bringing them the freshest meat. Then, once these people were full and sleeping soundly, he led the beastmen of the Treehouse Tribe and captured them all.

By then, the snow had already fallen, and it wasn’t suitable to travel far. So Bao Cheng kept these beastmen imprisoned through the winter. Even though he gave them only the bare minimum of food each day, Bao Cheng was barely holding on.

So, as soon as the grass began to sprout, he couldn’t wait to send them to the Waterfall Tribe.

These prisoners could serve their labor reform sentence at the Waterfall Tribe!

Moreover, he had also forced out some information: these beastmen had crossed the Siguo Bridge into the wild continent partly to search for the whereabouts of Xiong Ye, Hu Rong, and the others, and partly to investigate the whereabouts of Feng Xun.

The Holy Temple’s High Priest wanted to know whether Feng Xun was truly dead.

After hearing Bao Cheng’s words, Fan Zhou instantly flew into a rage. They wanted to know if Feng Xun was dead?

Fine, he would make a trip to the Holy Temple right now.

Bao Cheng had come at just the right time—he could stay behind in the Waterfall Tribe to hold the fort. On the way, Fan Zhou would have Xiong Wu send some manpower over from the Giant Bear Tribe.

The Giant Bear Tribe had many people, and half of them were bears with formidable combat power. With those people stationed in the tribe, he could rest assured and set off on a long journey with Feng Xun.