Lin Qiu gave chase in silence, gradually becoming aware of his own rapid breathing and realizing that his stamina was beginning to fail him.

The members of the hunting and gathering teams were selected from among the tribe’s strongest and healthiest beastmen—those who were not only sub-beastmen but also possessed great endurance. Lang Bei, the leader of the gathering team, was the first to notice Lin Qiu’s condition.

He still had a long way to go, and there was no prey to be found here. Lin Qiu couldn’t keep this up.

Lang Bei slowed down, signaling the other beastmen to catch up with the hunting party ahead.

“Qiu, hop on my back.”

Lin Qiu looked up at the black wolf standing beside the pack; the wolf was looking right at him too. Lang Bei said, “Hey, the King will carry you.”

Lang Bei ran off to catch up with the group.

Lang Yan stood in front of Lin Qiu; even in wolf form, he was half a head taller than Lin Qiu. He lowered his head and nudged Lin Qiu’s ear with the tip of his nose.

Lin Qiu’s ears twitched, and he watched as the wolf turned sideways and crouched down.

Lin Qiu hurriedly shifted back into human form and put on the animal-skin coat from his backpack. Without the fur to shield him, his earlobes were already bright red. 

Lang Yan: “We’re about to run far away.”

Lin Qiu didn’t dare hesitate; he climbed onto Lang Yan’s back, unsure where to place his hands.

Lang Yan stood up. “Lie down, clamp your legs tight, and wrap your arms around my neck.” Lin Qiu said nothing; he simply did as he was told.

“Let’s go,” Lang Yan said. “Mm-hmm.”

The black wolf began to run slowly; the pack had already disappeared into the distance, looking like black mushrooms growing in the grass—cluster after cluster.

Lang Yan was gradually picking up speed; the wind whipped past his sides so fast that Lin Qiu could barely keep his eyes open. He crouched low, pressing himself completely against Lang Yan’s back.

His fair, slender fingers sank into the long black fur, almost completely hidden. His cheek pressed against the wolf’s fur—it was a bit prickly—but the fur his fingers clung to felt soft and fluffy.

In a few moments, Lang Yan caught up with the group.

The lead beastman was gauging the prey’s direction and adjusting their course at any moment; Lang Yan knew Lin Qiu was shy, so he simply followed behind.

Lin Qiu was getting a bit tired from holding his body so tense. His arms were aching, and he couldn’t keep his legs clamped tightly together. Lang Yan said, “We should be there soon.”

Lin Qiu silently turned his face to the side, his nose brushing against the wolf’s fur as he took a shallow breath.

“Mm.”

Finally, just as Lin Qiu began to feel a stinging pain from the sun on his back, the beastman slowly eased up and eventually lay down in front of a grassy slope. Lin Qiu was completely exhausted.

Lang Yan walked slowly toward the beastman.

Lin Qiu buried his face in the wolf’s fur, relaxed his limbs, and hung limply against Lang Yan.

The beastman was used to this by now.

Qiu had rolled into the King’s den several times before; when he’d been reminded of it, the King had merely given him a warning look.

When Qiu woke up in the wolf king’s den, he realized what he’d done while asleep, but he still didn’t move to a different den.

Hmm… No beastman could resist the King’s charm.

Lang Yan stopped at the beastman’s head and lay down. Lin Qiu rolled sideways down the slope, his body touching the slightly cool grass. He lay there for a few seconds before silently sitting up.

A fleeting expression crossed Lang Yan’s face; he didn’t dare let Lin Qiu see it. He was too shy.

He stared at the herd of prey the beastmen had spotted in the distance and whispered to Lin Qiu, “Follow the wolf cubs as they forage. Rest when you get tired.”

Lin Qiu looked at the big black wolf’s erect ears, all fluffy. He lowered his gaze and quietly hid the black wolf hair he’d accidentally plucked from his hand.

“I know.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The gathering party was right here with the hunting party.

Lin Qiu recovered from his wobbly legs and hands, watching the sub-beastmen shift back into human form. They tightened the belts of their animal skin skirts—one by one, they were slender-waisted with long legs, light on their feet and lean. 

He had a wicker basket slung over his shoulder and was all set.

Lang Bei was up front, briefing the beastmen on today’s gathering tasks. When he turned and saw Lin Qiu looking around, he didn’t assign him any work. As the beastmen set off, Lin Qiu followed along.

“Qiu, I’ll be gathering on the grasslands today and will also head over to the riverbank over there. See if you can find any plants you need,” Lang Bei said as he walked over. 

Lin Qiu: “Okay.”

The foraging party usually followed the hunting party; when they went to the forest, they foraged in the forest; when they came to the grasslands, they foraged on the grasslands. As Lin Qiu watched the beastmen disperse, he immediately began searching.

The wild vegetables the beastmen gathered were varied and numerous; aside from wild chives, he didn’t recognize most of them.

The plants on the grasslands lay spread out before him, rising and falling in varying heights.

Lin Qiu didn’t know where to start at first, but after a quick glance, it seemed there wasn’t anything suitable. He looked at the plants the beastman was gathering and decided to follow suit, gathering as he searched.

Wild chives had a strong flavor; beastmen used to eat them raw, so he wasn’t particularly fond of the taste. He had his own list of plants to forage—whatever was edible, he’d dig up. Lin Qiu observed that beastmen almost instinctively ignored the wild chives. Since there was nothing else nearby, he half-heartedly grabbed a couple.

Lin Qiu crouched down and gathered all the wild chives the beastmen had left behind into his hand.

Pulling the wild chives produced a crisp snap as the leaves snapped off—a satisfying “pop” that was quite stress-relieving. Lin Qiu found himself getting a bit hooked on it, and since wild chives were plentiful on the grasslands, he had half a back basket full in no time.

“Qiu.”

Lin Qiu was crouched in the grass, happily plucking away, occasionally grabbing a nearby wild grass to examine it. When he looked up, a young female beastman was walking toward him, holding some grass stems.

She placed the grass stalks in her hands in front of Lin Qiu, glanced at the wild chives in his basket, and whispered, “Qiu, these aren’t very tasty.” Not knowing how to explain that he’d gotten hooked on plucking them, Lin Qiu simply said, “I actually kind of like them.”

Lang Qing nodded and pointed to the grass stalks on the ground. “The leader sent me to find these—they’re the kind of grass on the prairie that’s hard to snap, just like you said.” 

“Okay, thanks.”

Lang Qing gave him a bright, radiant smile and ran off again to gather more.

Lang Qing was a female gray wolf beastman, about the same age as his original form. She was always level-headed and very studious.

When it came to the plants collected by the gathering team, aside from Lang Bei, who kept a complete record, she was the most knowledgeable. So even though she was the youngest in the team, everyone respected her deeply.

Lang Bei was also making a special effort to mentor her.

There were many insects in the grass. Lin Qiu watched as one crawled up to his ankle, flicked it away casually, and then applied some of the insect-repellent powder provided by the tribe to his body. He tipped his backpack over, sat on it, and examined the grass stems Lang Qing had brought.

It was a low-growing weed, no taller than an arm’s length. In spring, the stems were at their most tender—not yet fully grown, so delicate they snapped at the slightest touch. Lin Qiu spent a long time trying to pick them, but couldn’t find any suitable ones.

The timing was off—even if he found any hemp-like plants now, they wouldn’t be mature enough to harvest yet. In the distance, the beastmen from the foraging party had already scattered. 

Lin Qiu wandered around a bit more; it was already getting late.

A breeze gradually picked up across the grasslands; it was strong enough to billow his animal-skin coat.

Lin Qiu was submerged in the grass from the knees down; his long hair fluttered in the wind, prompting him to casually pluck a blade of grass to tie it back.

Lin Qiu gazed into the distance at the edge of the vast lake—like a piece of jade embedded in the grasslands—where beastmen moved with the undulating grass, already in pursuit of their prey.

The wolf pack had surrounded the herd of prey and was closing in step by step.

The main body of the prey was quietly allowed to escape the encirclement, while the three trapped animals were once again driven to run by beastmen. The encirclement closed in, forming three distinct groups.

From a distance, they looked like three small balls surrounding a white dot.  

The horns of the animal were extremely sharp, so the beastmen avoided direct confrontation, choosing instead to attack from the sides and from behind.

Lin Qiu gazed into the distance and spotted Lang Yan.

He aimed for the prey’s neck and, with a single strike, slashed through the Horned Beast’s throat.

The surrounding beastmen seized the opportunity to swarm forward, ensuring the fallen Horned Beast had no chance of getting back up. The wind howled fiercely, making it difficult for Lin Qiu to keep his eyes open.

His long hair, tied back with grass leaves, came loose again, whipping haphazardly against his face, and for a moment he could no longer make out what was happening in the distance.

Beastmen are actually very quick at catching prey; the reason it takes so long is that prey is scarce and they have to search for it.

Otherwise, given the wolf beastmen’s hunting prowess, it would have been a breeze for them to develop into a large tribe during times of abundant food. Similarly, the scarcity of prey dealt them the heaviest blow.

Catching horned beasts wasn’t difficult; before long, three of them were hauled up.

Only then did Lin Qiu realize why Lang Bei had rushed to start gathering as soon as they arrived—the hunting party had given him very little time. However, capturing prey takes a huge toll on the beastmen in the hunting party.

Now that the prey had been carried up and tossed onto the ground, they all collapsed onto the ground, unwilling to move.

The little they’d eaten that morning hadn’t been enough to sustain them during their run, and after that final burst of effort, their stomachs were now completely empty. While they rested, the gathering team took the opportunity to search the area, and their wicker baskets were nearly full.

It must be afternoon by now; the wind was blowing clouds and mist that obscured the sun. Standing on the grassland, Lin Qiu felt a chill creeping over him.

He slung his backpack over his shoulders, ready to head back with the beastmen.

Before long, the foraging party returned, their wicker baskets overflowing. The beastman resting on the ground turned green with envy.

Seeing that the most they’d gathered was still that long-leaved, pungent grass, they all seemed to catch a whiff of it and turned their heads to one side, sneezing in unison.

“Bei, why did you pick so much bitter grass?! I’m not eating it!”

Lang Bei: “Qiu likes it.”

The beastman, who had been about to howl in protest, immediately changed his tune. “If Qiu likes it, then pick more.”

Lin Qiu, having overheard their conversation, looked over at the gathering team’s wicker baskets, which were almost entirely filled with large bundles of wild chives.

This left him feeling a bit uneasy.

When Lang Qing had asked him earlier, he’d just answered off the cuff—after all, that was the only kind he knew.

Lang Yan walked over to Lin Qiu and whispered, “It’s fine. When it comes to green leafy plants, beastmen either dislike them or really dislike them—there aren’t any they actually like.”

Lin Qiu’s gaze fell on Lang Yan’s pointed ears.

“I’ll… try to make it taste good.”

Lang Yan crouched down. “Let’s head back. It’s going to rain.”

As soon as Lang Yan said this, the beastman shook his fur and stood up.

The sooner they got back, the sooner they could lie down on Wolf Mountain, still breathing in the scent of the meat Lang An was cooking. Even if they had to go to sleep on an empty stomach and have a short dream, it would still be a sweet one. The foraging party turned around and set off first.

The hunting party, shouldering their game, followed one by one.

Lin Qiu took a couple of steps, then looked back at Lang Yan, who was still lying on the ground and glancing up at him. “I’m going to run for a bit,” he said.

Lang Yan: “You’re not hungry yet? You’ve still got energy?”

He wished he hadn’t said that—the moment the words left his mouth, his stomach gave a sharp twinge.

In the end, Lin Qiu still climbed onto Lang Yan’s back, clinging tightly to his neck. The wind was growing stronger by the minute; only by burying his face in Lang Yan’s fur could Lin Qiu barely keep his eyes open.