Chapter 487

A Mu, haven't the chief and Father come back yet?

A Yue's tiny voice echoed in the pitch-black cave, making the already silent cave even more deathly still.

The females and elders were filled with worry; the night forest was the hunting ground of fierce beasts, and pure humans cannot see in the dark like half-beast and beastman warriors, so encountering a fierce beast would be very dangerous.

Pure humans always return to the tribe before it gets dark; only strong half-beasts and beastman warriors dare to run and hunt in the night forest.

"The chief must have found lots and lots of fruit, which is why they're late; let's wait a bit longer."

A Yue, after all just a young cub, felt reassured by A Mu's answer, played with the other little companions for a while, then fell asleep in the dry grass nest beside A Mu.

After anxiously waiting until deep night, heavy footsteps finally came from outside the cave.

The large stone blocking the cave entrance was moved aside; the tribe inside and the males outside locked eyes, and both sides relaxed.

The females rushed forward: "Why did you come back so late today?"

The chief's partner slapped his companion hard on the body; the chief stumbled involuntarily, gave a wry smile, and looked at his partner: "We found a large grove of fruit trees in a valley, so we filled all the large leaves we brought; isn't it to exchange more food tomorrow?"

They turned and walked into the cave, then continued to block the entrance with that large stone; by now an elder had lit a fire inside the cave.

"Wow! So much fruit!"

A tender exclamation rang out in the cave; the females busy preparing food turned toward the sound and saw the few little cubs who had just been snoring in the grass nest now scrambling all over the small pile of yellow fruit, their eyes toward the males full of admiration.

Both females and males laughed loudly, not only because the cubs were cute but also from the joy of a bountiful harvest.

At night, A Yue's A Mu lay in her partner's embrace, voice laced with worry: "Gan, if we take the fruit to trade, will the Snow Moon tribe be angry? A Yue told us about the food."

Gan reached out and patted her back: "Don't worry, the chief said the Snow Moon tribe can let A Yue return, so they won't worry about the food matter leaking."

Hearing her partner's words, the female's tightly clenched heart eased a little, but as long as these fruits weren't exchanged for that food one day and she didn't know the Snow Moon tribe's stance, she couldn't truly relax.

In the early morning, insect chirps and bird calls rang through the forest; the breeze carrying a faint Qingcao scent blew through the crevices of the boulders into the cave.

The male sleeping at the edge sniffled, showed an expression of enjoyment, then slowly opened his eyes.

After listening carefully for a moment, he then woke the males beside him and pushed open the massive stone blocking the cave entrance.

"Ah~ah, what fine weather today; I hope we can obtain enough food through trade."

"Haha, certainly; I'll go fetch some water."

The other tribe members had already awakened when the boulder was moved aside; even the little cubs followed behind their fathers and A Mu toward the nearby thicket to relieve themselves.

"The stone I just used to wipe my rear was too rough; it still hurts a bit."

A Yue and the companions emerged from the thicket, their little faces scrunched.

The little cub beside him chuckled smugly: "I found several smooth stones yesterday while playing outside the cave; wiping my rear with them feels so nice, so nice."

The lovely morning thus began with the topic of a stone for wiping one's rear.

"Yesterday nobody went out to find food, so now we only have some wilted wild greens; let's make them all into Ye Cai Zi for the males to take when they leave."

The chieftain's partner, using the hand that had just wiped his rear, kneaded the wild greens while speaking to the females nearby.

The females all nodded: "The males need to take all the food with them when they go."

"Hehe, don't worry; when I just went to fetch water, I found a small patch of wild greens; we'll go gather them back later."

"There's new food nearby!"

Upon hearing this, the females' eyes instantly lit up like two little suns, and their hands sped up involuntarily.

After eating, the tribe left two males behind to protect the females; the remaining males, including little A Yue, were taken along as they headed toward the Snow Moon tribe.

Though young, the little one had a good memory; perched on his father's neck, his tender voice continually guided everyone's direction.

The Snow Moon tribe and the gathering place weren't far apart; the group set out at dawn and reached the Snow Moon tribe's encampment by noon.

The guarding males naturally recognized these wanderers who work in various tribes to exchange for food.

"Are you here looking for work? The gathering party's tribe members haven't returned yet; you've come early."

Recently the only task needing manpower in the tribe has been husking the corn fruit.

The chief stepped forward, performed a respectful salute, then took a familiar fruit from the large leaf bundle in his embrace: "Last time our tribe's cub worked in the Snow Moon tribe and exchanged for delicious food."

Our surrounding forest also has such fruit, so we gathered them, wanting to ask if we could exchange them for some food.

The inspecting male's eyes lit up; he quickly stepped forward, took the fruit from the chief's hand, and saw it was indeed corn fruit.

He lifted his gaze to the group of males behind the chief; each male's embrace held several large leaf bundles, presumably all containing corn fruit.

The joy in his eyes flashed away, and the male instantly flew into a rage: "Your tribe's cub learned new food in our tribe, yet you casually taught it to your own people, and now you dare to come trade food!"

He suddenly pointed his spear at the wanderers: "Put down all the food, scram back to your tribe, or else wait to be annihilated by our Snow Moon tribe."

The Beastfolk's voice was cold and harsh, the spear pointed at them glinting with a chill light, making the chief and the males behind him feel as if doused with icy water in winter, their whole bodies beginning to tremble.

The abandoned ones dare not raise their voices against the tribe; seeing the inspecting male's fury, little A Yue's thin little hands clapped tightly over his mouth, not daring to cry out.

The chief's face turned deathly pale as he turned to look at the weary tribe behind him: "Leave the fruit behind; we're leaving."