Bonus chapter thanks to acupfullofbees and an anonymous donator, thanks for your support!

The stones carried by the four beastmen—Niu Shan, Niu Li, Xiong Li, and Mao Yu—were as heavy as small mountains. In addition to the scorching heat, the group’s speed was very slow.

This worked to Feng Xun’s advantage, as he leaned on a cane and couldn’t walk fast.

After two days of travel, they were still a long way from the waterfall tribe. That evening, they stopped to rest and planned to hunt and camp for the night.

Niu Shan was responsible for hunting today. He and Niu Li were partners and usually worked together.

Mao Yu and Xiong Li lay exhausted on the ground. Fan Zhou looked at the “bear patty” and “cat patty” on the ground and felt somewhat helpless.

There were too many red stones dug up. He didn’t recommend carrying them all back, but Niu Shan and the others thought that since they had worked so hard to dig them up, it would be a waste not to bring them back.

So, the four beastmen continued on with their heavy loads, and every time they stopped to rest, they collapsed to the ground and lay motionless.

Shaking his head, Fan Zhou looked at Feng Xun, who was resting against a tree. “Lang Xun, let’s go catch some fish.”

Feng Xun looked at him in confusion. “Catch fish?”

“He’s limping, how can he catch fish?” Mao Yu lazily swayed his tail and kept his eyes shut.

“We can use a wooden spear. If we’re fast enough, we’ll definitely catch the fish,” Fan Zhou said, holding up a freshly whittled wooden spear.

Mao Yu lifted her eyelids. After seeing the wooden spear, she tilted his head. It was the first time she had seen such a weapon.

Feng Xun had already propped himself up against the tree and walked over to Fan Zhou, taking the wooden spear and carefully inspecting it.

“I’m not saying you’re just freeloading or urging you to work. I’m making this because I want you to know that even if you’re injured, you’re still incredible.”

Fan Zhou explained.

Since he had already decided to hire this Lang Xun to guard their home, it was necessary to drive away the white wolf’s depression.

Over the past two days, Feng Xun had quietly kept up with the group, only speaking when Fan Zhou asked him something, otherwise remaining silent, almost as if he didn’t exist.

This wasn’t good.

For most beastmen, not being able to move was fatal, but this man was an exception.

“Good?”

Feng Xun paused for a moment, then nodded.

He was in such a sorry state, yet every time this rabbit looked at him, his eyes always seemed to sparkle…

“Let’s go then, we can’t fall behind Niu Shan and Niu Li.”

Fan Zhou smiled and moved to help him.

The place they chose to rest was by a small river, just a few steps away. The river had fish, but they were only about the size of an adult’s palm.

Fan Zhou wasn’t expecting to rely on these fish to fill their stomachs; he just wanted the white wolf to know that, even with a broken leg, he was still capable of surviving.

Feng Xun stood at the riverbank, watching the small fish in the water. He took a deep breath, just like he had done countless times before, calming his breathing and focusing his gaze on the fish in the river.

Fan Zhou felt as if something flashed before his eyes. The next moment, a small fish pierced by the wooden spear was held up right in front of him.

“Wow, amazing!”

He sincerely exclaimed, “I didn’t even see how you did it, and the fish was already caught. You can definitely feed yourself just fine!”

Feng Xun instinctively curved his lips. Of course. He was the fastest man on the Central Continent, and “Feng” was his former name.

The prey he caught could pile up like a mountain. However, the fish didn’t have much meat and were full of bones, so they weren’t very satisfying to eat. He rarely caught them before.

He placed the fish into the wooden bowl and said, “I’ll catch a few more.”

The prey he caught fed everyone well, but when it mattered most, they stabbed him in the back.

This rabbit in front of him was much better. He wanted to catch more fish for the rabbit to eat.

“No need to catch too many. These fish are too small, not satisfying to eat.”

“Not too many? Don’t you like them?” Feng Xun asked, somewhat disappointed.

After his injury, it was the first time he had felt motivated…

“Uh, I like fish, but I don’t like grilled fish.”

Fan Zhou immediately reassured him, “We’ll catch some more when we get back to the tribe. Once we have them, we can fry them in oil and make fried fish fillets.”

But from what he had observed, beastmen didn’t use such a cooking method as frying.

Feng Xun didn’t quite understand, but seeing Fan Zhou’s expression as he spoke, clearly filled with longing, he nodded and said, “You know so much.”

He had never heard of frying even in the Holy Temple.

Fan Zhou cleared his throat lightly and said, “I just figured it out myself. Hurry up and catch some fish, Niu Shan and Niu Li will be back soon.”

Feng Xun’s attention was immediately diverted, and he gripped the wooden spear tightly.

After trying to catch fish, Feng Xun no longer quietly followed behind during their journey the next day. His gaze was constantly scanning around, and he had developed an interest in his surroundings.

Fan Zhou was quite satisfied. Not bad, primitive people are simple. He didn’t have to put too much effort into comforting him, and he had already improved.

To encourage Feng Xun to hunt more, Fan Zhou made another spear.

This spear was made from bone and was relatively sharp.

After getting the spear, Feng Xun’s energy and spirit clearly improved. He was eager to try catching birds from the branches.

At first, Feng Xun was a bit shy. After throwing the spear, he had to retrieve it. When Fan Zhou said he would pick it up, Feng Xun had no more concerns and would strike when he had a clear shot.

At first, his aim wasn’t very good, but after throwing a few times, he gained experience. Whether it was birds flying or animals running on the ground, he could catch them.

However, the spear wasn’t sharp enough, so he could only catch small animals. But that was enough to amaze the other beastmen, especially Niu Shan and the others.

It was the first time they had seen a limping beastman who could catch his own food!

Amazing.

Every day, Feng Xun focused on perfecting his hunting technique, and he no longer had time to think about the past.

After six days of travel, Fan Zhou’s group finally returned to the waterfall tribe.

It happened to be evening, and the beastmen from the gathering and hunting teams had all returned. When they saw that Niu Shan and the others had brought back so many red stones, every beastman was happy.

There was enough salt to last them years!

Fan Zhou didn’t enter the tribe. In the afternoon, Feng Xun had caught a small mud beast. Since it was hot, and meat didn’t store well, he took Feng Xun directly back to the cave.

It had been half a month, and the cave looked just as it had before.

“I’ll go cut some grass and smoke the cave,” Fan Zhou said to Feng Xun.

“What can I do?” Feng Xun asked while surveying the furnishings inside the cave.

“You rest.”

Hearing this, Feng Xun’s gaze fell on the small bed inside the cave.

It couldn’t be called a bed; it could only be described as a thick bundle of dry grass.

The cave wasn’t very large, and inside it were wooden buckets, wooden basins, wooden bowls, stone basins, backpacks, dry firewood, and other items. The entire cave was crammed full.

If he wanted to sleep here, there was no space.

But that rabbit never said he had to sleep here.

When Fan Zhou came back holding a bundle of grass, Feng Xun picked up some firewood and walked over to help start the fire.

After smoking out the cave, Fan Zhou dragged the small mud beast to the creek and checked the fish basket he had set earlier.

There were only two fish in the basket, and he wasn’t surprised.

Before leaving, he had specifically asked Xiong Jing to take any fish if they wanted some.

Just as he was about to have Feng Xun help skin the mud beast, Xiong Jing appeared, carrying a large animal skin bag.

The bag was filled with hard nuts, and Fan Zhou had asked Xiong Jing to collect the daily supply of hard nuts for him before he left.

“Mao Yu said you needed to take Lang Xun back to the cave, so I brought these over,” Xiong Jing said, setting the bag down and curiously eyeing Feng Xun, who was sitting under a small tree.

Feng Xun silently observed the beastman, wondering if this was Xiong Jing—the panda who had generously been given three Beast Spirit Flowers as mentioned by Mao Yu?

“Ah, I told you I would get it later, you didn’t have to bring it here yourself. Thank you, Xiong Jing. Here, eat some hard nuts,” Fan Zhou said with a smile as he opened the skin bag and handed a piece of hard nut to Xiong Jing.

Feng Xun: “…”

This rabbit had said many times that he would give him hard nuts once they returned to the tribe… For some reason, the wound on his leg started to hurt more.

He lowered his head.

But soon, a hard nut appeared in front of him. “Lang Xun, you eat too.”

He quickly lifted his head and met Fan Zhou’s crescent-shaped eyes. His mood improved a little.

He took the hard nut.

He glanced at Xiong Jing, who was sitting properly with his paws holding the hard nut, and his eyes shifted. He called out to Fan Zhou, who was about to turn around, “Tu Zhou.”

“Huh?” Fan Zhou turned back when he heard the call, and a beautiful and majestic Lang Xun appeared in his line of sight.

Fan Zhou was somewhat confused: “Why did you transform?”

The beast form couldn’t use a cane, and this Lang Xun rarely shifted forms.

“My leg hurts a little.”

Leg pain?

Fan Zhou immediately placed the animal skin bag in front of the white wolf. “Then eat some hard nuts, eat some more.”

“…Okay.”

Feng Xun looked down at himself in confusion.

Was his beast form not good-looking?

It was clearly very good-looking.

But this rabbit only cared about his leg injury…

Xiong Jing silently gnawed on the hard nuts without saying anything.

Fan Zhou examined Feng Xun’s wound and then turned to ask, “Is Que Yu in the tribe?”

“He said yesterday that he was going to collect herbs further out. He hasn’t returned yet,” Xiong Jing replied.

Fan Zhou furrowed his brow. He didn’t trust Que Yu’s medical skills, but he was completely unfamiliar with the herbs in this world.

In the past few days, Feng Xun’s wound had been left wide open without any treatment, other than the spiritual spring water Fan Zhou gave him daily.

But this Lang Xun hadn’t cried out in pain except when he mentioned his leg hurting while working with the stone slabs. At other times, he never complained.

The wound hadn’t become infected or suppurated; it had already scabbed over and was visibly healing. Now, when he complained of pain, was it a sign of the injury worsening, or something else…?

“I’m fine with just eating the hard nuts. It’s nothing,” Feng Xun said, seeing the worry on Fan Zhou’s face. He felt a bit guilty.

He had actually gotten used to the pain.

“Then hurry up and eat,” Fan Zhou urged.

Feng Xun lowered his head and tried to hold the hard nut with both paws, like Xiong Jing. But he had never used this position before, and the hard nut nearly fell to the ground.

He felt a bit relieved. Fortunately, he was in beast form, so the rabbit and the panda couldn’t see his expression.

One hard nut later, the intense pain that had tormented him for many days finally eased.

Fan Zhou knew that Feng Xun was no longer in pain, so he first had Xiong Jing check the Beast Spirit Flower, then went with Xiong Jing to the creek to gut the small mud beast.

Feng Xun quickly shifted back into his human form and followed them.

He was now very skilled at handling the mud beast. When it came to this kind of task, he was particularly useful.

With Feng Xun’s help, Fan Zhou started by cutting a piece of fat to begin refining oil. Although this was his first time doing such a thing, luckily, nothing went wrong.

When the oil residue came out of the pot, Xiong Jing couldn’t stop sniffing the air, and Feng Xun also stared intently at the wooden bowl in his hands.

After dividing the oil residue into three portions and sprinkling some salt, he smiled and invited Xiong Jing and Feng Xun to eat quickly.

Xiong Jing held the wooden bowl with his paws, burying her large face into it.

Feng Xun, although already proficient with chopsticks, completely forgot about them at that moment and just used his hands to pinch two pieces of food and popped them into his mouth.

After chewing for a bit, his eyes lit up as he looked at Fan Zhou. It was crispy, fragrant, and delicious!

This rabbit was amazing.

Fan Zhou also found the oil residue to be salty, crispy, and extremely tasty. Of course, it would have been even better with some other seasonings.

After finishing the delicious oil residue, it was already dark. Before frying the fish, Fan Zhou wanted Xiong Jing and Feng Xun to first roast some large pieces of meat to fill their stomachs.

Feng Xun shook his head. “Fried fish, as you said, they’re really delicious.”

Xiong Jing was also craving fried fish since she was very hungry. A bowl of oil residue was just to whet her appetite. She went to get a piece of meat and started roasting it.

By the time she had finished roasting the meat, the fish was also fried. She ate the roasted meat and tried a couple of pieces of fried fish. After filling her stomach, she headed back to the tribe.

After frying the fish, Fan Zhou and Feng Xun stir-fried some mud beast meat. When the stir-frying was almost done, Feng Xun took a large piece of meat and started roasting it.

By the time both of them had eaten their fill, it was already quite late.

Feng Xun patted his stomach and, with a hint of hesitation, asked, “I see that the bed is very small, should I stay in the communal cave in the tribe?”

The beastmen in the tribe had surely all gone to sleep by now.

If he went over, he would wake everyone up.

“It’s too late, you can stay in my cave,” Fan Zhou said, shaking his head when he thought of the communal cave’s conditions.

Actually, even until they returned to the tribe, he hadn’t figured out where to let Feng Xun stay. The communal cave had very poor conditions, and he couldn’t bear for the beautiful and majestic Lang Xun to suffer.

But his cave was very small, and he wasn’t used to sharing the same bed with someone.

But now, it was so late, so they could squeeze in for tonight. At worst, he would just shift into his beast form.

Feng Xun heard what Fan Zhou said and immediately felt secretly happy.

Not bad, it seemed that the hunger from earlier wasn’t for nothing. By dragging it out to this point, he had finally heard the words he wanted to hear from this rabbit.