Chapter 483

The males felt some guilt; they had returned late today in order to hunt all the great-antlered deer, and the tribespeople must be starving.

"We're back from the hunt!"

Finally, a male couldn't help but shout loudly.

That shout finally drew the attention of the tribespeople in the clearing, but the next moment...

"Oh!"

"Go wash up quickly."

"There's so much game!"

There was none of the expected cheering and adoration; the bland greetings left the males utterly puzzled.

"They're carrying meat! This is meat!"

But no matter how loud the great-antlered deer on their shoulders made, it failed to draw even a glance from the females.

This little mood has become somewhat complicated; do the females no longer even like the sturdy great-antlered deer?

Suddenly, a somewhat dejected male sniffed, then began gulping with a "glug glug" sound: "This smell... how can it be so fragrant? What is it?"

As soon as he spoke, the males of the hunting party started twitching their noses to smell, while Yuan Lang and Teng Kun had already gone to the riverbank to wash off the blood.

The Beastfolk's keen sense of smell let them detect that enticing aroma even while still some distance from the clearing; it was somewhat like the flatbread they used to eat, but with added sweetness.

"Boss, there were lots of corn fruits placed on the clearing just now; it must be Yue who made delicious food from them."

Yuan Lang's brows and eyes held a hint of a smile; only he knew that the aroma just now must be food Yue made from corn flour.

Thinking of this, he sped up his washing a bit, while Teng Kun beside him, to save trouble, had already shifted into beast form and was rolling in the river.

Watching Tengkun rolling in the river beside him, Yuan Lang inexplicably recalled Yue's earlier saying, "Bathing is all about shaking."

Thinking that, the disgust on his face couldn't be hidden, and he even silently shifted his steps farther away from that tiger.

At that moment in the tribe's clearing, people finally noticed the number of game the hunting party had brought back; piles of great-antlered deer carcasses lay like a small hill, and even several does and fawns with their necks bound were constantly struggling and crying out.

Ayun busily peeled the fruit in his hand while chuckling at the pile of game; their gathering team had harvested the most fruit today, and they wondered if they might get half a great-antlered deer.

If they really could get half a great-antlered deer, everyone would receive enough meat to fill their stomachs.

Around her, many tribespeople who thought the same could be seen; looking at the small hill of fruit before them and the game on the hunters' side, the creases on their faces broke into smiles.

But compared to the meat they could actually receive, they were even more eager for the food the shaman was preparing in the cave—a scent they had never smelled before.

After setting aside a portion of the gathered fruit to store in the cave, the rest was completely peeled by the tribespeople; to be able to eat the delicious food, Teng Qian and Ying Yan assigned the task of crushing the corn kernels to several half-beast warriors.

"These corn kernels must be completely crushed into what we have in our basin."

Teng Qian swung his slightly sore arm, his eyes turning as he was about to leave, and told the half-beast warriors: "Do a good job; maybe the shaman will see your crushed corn is fine and give you some delicious food."

With radish and a big stick, the half-beast warriors instantly became fired up, howling as they took turns pounding.

Having walked a distance, Teng Qian and Ying Yan saw this and couldn't help but exclaim: "They really have spirit!"

When the two reached the cave mouth, the drifting aroma grew richer; they gulped hard and hurried inside.

"Yue, is this cake made from that corn flour just now?"

Teng Qian stared in shock at a stone basin piled full of corn-flour cakes; each palm-sized golden cake gave off a rich aroma.

Wu Yue scooped a cake from the pot into the basin, then handed each of them one: "Try it; this cake's taste is simply excellent."

I had thought the seeds of this fruit would be exactly like corn, but after grinding it into powder, although it retained the sweet fragrance of corn flour, it lacked the coarseness and was very fine and delicious.

Teng Qian hehe-laughed as he took the cake she handed him, chewing and swallowing it in three bites, his eyes growing brighter and more covetous.

"This... this is too delicious, isn't it?"

As for Ying Yan beside him, there's no need to say more—the best food he's ever eaten is what the Snow Tiger Tribe has.

"Let's go build two more stoves."

Wu Yue ordered without even looking up.

She only wanted to test whether the food made from this corn flour tasted good, not to do hard labor for the whole tribe.

Building the stove was all it took; the two beastmen warriors finished in a few breaths, but the next moment, seeing Wu Yue take out two stone slabs from the back basket that they had previously used for grilling meat, they felt put upon.

What a buddy—escaped the work of crushing corn flour, but ended up being conscripted after all.

Making such simple corn-flour cakes involves hardly any skill; just make sure they don't fall into the lake.

Outside, the half-beast warriors huffed and puffed, zealously producing corn flour, while the two beastmen warriors inside the cave also wore grim faces as they made corn cakes.

By the time Yuan Lang and Teng Kun returned to the cave, the three of them had already made several basins of golden corn cakes, the aroma filling the whole cave.

"Let's keep some for ourselves to eat, and give the rest to them to try."

Wu Yue glanced at the remaining food; although all the fruit brought back today had been ground into corn flour, it wasn't enough for each tribesperson to have one, but half each was about right.

When the half-beast warriors led the tribespeople out of the cave carrying basin after basin of golden food, the clearing fell silent, with only the sound of gulping saliva heard.

"Is that really for us to eat?"

A small-tribe member originally asked anxiously, "With such a nice color and tempting aroma, isn't this wonderful food something only the shaman and the beastmen warriors can have?"

Only when a still-warm cake was placed in their hands did they believe they actually had a chance to eat the same food as the shaman.

The food had no bloody smell of raw meat, nor the bitter taste of wild vegetable dumplings; instead it carried a hint of mysterious fragrance that made their saliva keep flowing.

The corn cakes and meat were the food of the gathering and hunting teams that won today's contest, while the losing tribespeople, even if they ate wild vegetable dumplings, felt content in their hearts.

Because being able to eat enough food like this was a day they previously dared not even imagine.

Those who had eaten the food did not leave, but instead remained in place under the organization of several beastmen warriors.

Wu Yue, Yuan Lang, and a few others standing before the clearing looked at the satisfied tribespeople and said, "How was today's food?"

The tribespeople roared excitedly: "Delicious!"

"Then do you want to have such food to eat from now on?"

Everyone's eyes turned red; who wouldn't want to eat such delicious food every day?

Immediately they shouted back with an even louder voice: "Want!"

"The food we ate today is called cornbread; I believe many of our people can guess what it's made of."

Wu Yue pointed at the pile of fruit shells stacked like a small hill in the clearing: "It's made from the fruit you all gathered today."

Everyone saw how it's made: take the inside of the fruit, grind it into powder, and you can make delicious cornbread.

Teng Qian beside him twisted his mouth bitterly; thinking about corn flour really is a nightmare—he'd rather go hunting than stand there clanging away.

He never wants to see stone troughs and wooden sticks again.

Meanwhile, Ying Yan on the other side felt the opposite—his heart was even more excited than the tribespeople in the clearing.

Although I'm now with Teng Qian and them, deep down I'm still a member of the Eagle Hawk Tribe; Wu Yue and Yuan Lang are the true tribe members.

The fruit Wu Yue found wasn't hidden from anyone; she even taught me how to make corn flour. As long as I find this fruit tree in the Polar Forest, the Eagle Hawk Tribe will have this fruit to eat in the future.

When we just ate, he felt full after only a dozen or so cornbreads.

"Tribespeople!"

Wu Yue's voice cut off Ying Yan's muttering.

"From now on, when you go out, note down where these fruit trees grow. If anyone knows that a nearby territory has many such trees, we'll claim that territory as ours."

The surrounding area consists of small and medium tribes; having the noble Shamans and powerful Beastman Warriors, our people aren't afraid those tribes won't submit.

After the rally, everyone returned to their homes, full of fervor.

A few Half-Beast warriors came to the place where the left-behind tribespeople were making mud bricks; bricks piled up on the clearing, after a day of drying they were almost dry.

Sturdy, good-looking houses and tasty food made everyone's hearts burn hot.

At this moment, in a naturally formed small cave in the forest, several gaunt, almost skeleton-like pure humans sat around a fire, with some wilted wild vegetables and dried, cracked wild fruits placed beside them.

For such a wandering people's gathering place, this food was already quite abundant.

Yet at this moment, their faces showed no joy; a white-haired female kept wiping tears with her dry, dark, claw-like hands: "I only gathered some dry grass around the cave, hoping to lay it on the ground at night to keep the young warm while they sleep—who knew little A Yu would disappear, wuu wuu wuu!"

The female cried bitterly; A Yu was her and her mate's first offspring, usually staying by her side, helping her gather firewood or search for food.

Our wandering people's gathering place isn't accepted by the surrounding tribes, but we can trade our gathered goods with tribes for items, and even work in tribes for food when food is scarce.

Because we have no territory, we can only settle in poor lands that no tribe wants to occupy.

This winter, more than half of our gathering place's people died from starvation; our family was lucky to survive, but the gathering place's food has also run out.

So early this morning, the males went to the surrounding tribes to do work, hoping to get some food; they've gone three days without eating.

The females were lucky to find some edible wild vegetables and fruits around.

But when she wasn't paying attention, the eldest child A Yu disappeared; the males who returned from work knew A Yu was missing and went out to search, but now it's almost dark and still no one has returned.

The female's heart filled with sorrow; in this dangerous forest, even adult males sometimes lose their lives carelessly—her child is probably already...

The more she thought, the sadder she became; tears streamed down her dirty face, leaving two clear tracks.

Just then, a chaotic footsteps sounded outside the small cave, accompanied by the males' voices.

Her eyes lit up instantly; she sprang up with a swish and walked outward.

Her gaze didn't first turn to her companion as before; instead she scanned the surroundings, but disappointed, there was no sign of the small figure she worried about in the crowd.

"A Yu!"

The female wailed sorrowfully, her body went limp and she collapsed onto the ground.

A figure rushed out from the crowd—a similarly gaunt, dark-skinned pure human male stepped forward quickly, lifted her, sighed deeply, then carried her into the cave.

"Gan, A Yu can't be found; we can't go farther, otherwise it'll be too dangerous."

The speaker was a somewhat aged pure human male, his brows furrowed, his heart full of worry.

The gathering place's people are already few, and the young are its hope; now a young one is gone like this, and he's also a male who could go hunting, gathering, or work—this makes his heart feel terrible as well.

But the gathering place isn't just missing A Yu; we must also protect the other people, can't let all the males go out searching.

The Beastman named Gan had a face full of sorrow; he also knew in his heart that a little young one surviving this long in the forest is probably already dead.

The sorrowful-faced one nodded: "I know, chief."

The people in the cave watched the unconscious female and the male holding her, plus the small figure leaning against them, and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

The joy from today's food has all faded away.

"Father? A Mu? Chief?"