Chapter 539

They stared in disbelief at that familiar small figure standing not far away; beside the little one stood several males holding spears, their bodies quite 'stalwart'.

However, those males merely gave them a bland look, lowered their heads and said something to the youngster, then turned and left.

But the youngster A You tightly held the thing in his arms and walked toward the crowd, his small face full of a delighted smile: 'Father, Chief, I've brought food back.'

His voice was full of joy, and immersed in happiness, he did not notice the strange atmosphere.

Knowing that his thin little butt had been slapped hard several times, pain spread through his body, and his dark eyes unconsciously filled with tears.

"Father~"

The little one called out aggrievedly at the male who had hit him before him, his big eyes full of doubt and resentment.

He didn't understand why he had brought back food, yet still got beaten by his father.

"Who let you leave the cave? Do you know how worried your A Mu is?"

His father's scolding made the youngster, who had just been full of resentment, instantly lower his head; he timidly poked out his little head to look toward the cave behind his father: 'A Mu...'

The little one's round eyes were full of worry.

The chief walked over from the side and patted A You's head: 'Next time you must not run out randomly, understand?'

The little one nodded seriously: 'Mm-hmm, I understand, Chief.'

Next time I go out, I will definitely tell A Mu.

If the chief and the males knew what the little one was thinking, a sound spanking would definitely be unavoidable.

Seeing his father's expression ease, A You's mood brightened a bit, and he carefully handed over the thing he had tightly held in his arms to his father: 'Father, this is the food I earned by working today.'

"Food earned in exchange?"

The people gathered there were stunned, glancing at the little one who was still shorter than their chests, then at the not-so-small bundle in his arms, and they felt doubtful.

"Is this really food? It couldn't be just dry leaves the little one brought back from outside, could it?"

It's no wonder they doubted; all things had just revived, food was still scarce, and although many beasts now roamed the forest, for people like them who lived by gathering, hunting was utterly impossible at this time.

Those medium and small tribes were somewhat better off, but not by much; now they mostly gathered wild vegetables as well.

But because they had their own territory, they were far better off compared to wanderers.

Seeing his father and the tribespeople frozen there, lacking the usual joy and excitement at seeing food, A You felt a bit disheartened, wondering if everyone was unhappy that he had obtained food.

Thinking of the taste of the food in his arms, the little one gulped, and his dark little claws slowly opened the dry leaves wrapping the food.

But because the corn cake had cooled, it didn't give off the imagined sweet aroma; the little one pouted, broke off a piece, and held it to his father's mouth: 'Father, try it; this is the food the tribe's grandma gave me, it's delicious.'

His little claws were dirty and still had dirt on them, but Gan had no qualms; he opened his mouth and ate the food.

The next moment, his eyes widened instantly; the unusually sweet taste in his mouth fascinated him, and he swore to the Beast God that he had never eaten such delicious food before.

So meat isn't actually the most delicious food after all!

Gan, immersed in the deliciousness, was startled awake the next moment by his youngster's wailing cries; looking down, he saw the little one being held by the arm and spanked on the butt by his mate, who had somehow woken up.

A thin little face was covered in tears, extremely aggrieved.

"The Beastman Sir and the Shaman said the corn cake is edible; I and the Snow Moon Tribe's people have eaten it, it's not poisonous, it's edible!"

The little one's howling was pure aggrievement, and he kept glancing with his eyes at the motionless father.

Having come to his senses, Gan met his youngster's aggrieved little gaze, feeling guilty as he bared a big white tooth: 'I'm fine; it's just that A You's brought-back food was too delicious, so I was a bit stunned, hehe.'

As soon as he finished speaking, he received from the gathered tribespeople a series of blaming yet expectant looks.

A You's A Mu knew he had wrongly blamed the youngster and felt a bit embarrassed, but adults' thick skins are not something youngsters can understand; just a moment ago the father and A Mu were fierce, the next moment they laughed and led the teary-eyed youngster toward the cave.

The golden corn cakes were placed near the fire, and as the flames roasted them they gradually gave off a tempting aroma, but nobody dared let the scent disperse; they immediately took the cakes down and placed them on the dry leaves before the chief.

"Who knows what beasts the scent might attract; we might as well just eat them like this."

The chief gave a wry smile.

Everyone certainly knew their situation, nodding eagerly, but their gaze fixed unwaveringly on the pile of corn cakes before him.

The chief smiled as he broke several corn cakes into even pieces and distributed them to the tribespeople.

As the sweet corn cakes entered their mouths, everyone finally understood why Gan had been stunned moments before; this food was truly delicious, sweeter than the best meat they had ever eaten.

Although A You had brought back many corn cakes, when divided among everyone each person got only about half a palm's size; this was still because the Snow Moon Tribe had ample food and gave extra.

"A You, are the pure humans who came with you today the tribe members from the place where you worked today?"

The chief swallowed the piece in his mouth and asked aloud.

A You listened to the elder's question, obediently nodding his little head: 'Yes, they saw me going alone to work, and since it was too late and unsafe, they escorted me here.'

He added proudly, puffing out his little chest: 'There was also a Half-Beast Warrior who came along, but he didn't come to our cave.'

Everyone stared wide-eyed in shock: 'There's even a Half-Beast Warrior!'

Wanderers often go work for various tribes, but they usually see only some squad leaders or the like, and they're always pure humans; as for Half-Beast Warriors—

Heh...

They indicated they had no intention of meeting any wandering pure humans at all.

A You wrinkled his nose, and even a flush appeared on his thin cheeks: 'Today in the Snow Moon Tribe, I not only saw a Half-Beast Warrior, but also several Beastman Warriors and a noble Shaman.'

'I was able to stay and work in the tribe only because that noble Shaman agreed.'

At this moment, describing the feelings of the wanderers' gathering as 'one wave not settled before another rises' could not be more fitting.

Each with heavy breathing, they looked at the proud little one: 'Have you seen Beastman Warriors and the noble... Shaman?'

It's no wonder they were surprised; even for tribes living in this forest, shamans are extremely mysterious and noble figures.

Seeing the tribespeople's incredulous looks, A You excitedly leapt from his A Mu's arms and began to gesticulate animatedly as he recounted what had happened today in the Snow Moon Tribe.

"You say the food we just ate is made from dried fruit seeds!"

The chief's white-haired eyes instantly brightened.

A You nodded, then his eyes filled with envy as he said: 'The Snow Moon Tribe's gathering team that collected the most fruit today received half a piece of giant-antlered deer meat.'

In the cave, everyone's breathing grew heavy again.

After all, he was young; once little A You's excited mood had settled, he drooped his head like the other cubs and began to doze off.

Seeing this, Gan beside him felt both pity and amusement, picked up the little one and brought him to the dry grass nest that his mate had already prepared earlier, then set him down.

Seeing him rub against the dry grass and fall asleep, he then got up and returned to the fire side.

The silent leader over there, seeing him return, spoke again: "I think the fruit A You mentioned is an opportunity for our tribe; we've seen plenty of this fruit when gathering food in the forest, but since we can't bite into it, no one eats it."

Now the powerful Snow Moon tribe needs such fruit, and besides, hearing what A You said today, the Snow Moon tribe won't just kill us wanderers at random.

So we can gather some of this fruit and go trade it for food with the Snow Moon tribe.

The female sitting beside the leader suddenly spoke up: "Since grinding that fruit into powder can make tasty food, why don't we just go gather it ourselves and make the food?"

It's hard work to gather it back and then go trade, and we don't even know how much food the Snow Moon tribe would give us in return.

The female said somewhat reluctantly.

Gathering that yellow fruit is extremely difficult for them pure humans, because the spines on the fruit are truly too many; a little carelessness will get them pricked, and it's quite painful.

"Yes, chief, after we gather it back, can't we keep it in the tribe and grind it ourselves into that food called corn flour? Anyway, A You already told us how to make it."

Not only a few females thought this way, but even the ordinary males around the fire showed signs of being moved.

The preciousness of this new food is known to anyone living in the forest.

The white-haired leader gave them a cold look and said: "If you all think like that, this gathering place probably won't last much longer."

We wanderers are not accepted by any tribe in the forest to begin with, but now the Snow Moon tribe kindly gave A You work and let him bring back so much food, showing that the tribe's shaman and chief are good people.

We should be grateful.

The female and male who had just spoken couldn't help but lower their heads; although they knew in their hearts this was wrong, they were doing it for the survival of the people in the gathering.

Seeing their expressions still somewhat resentful, the leader's face grew even colder.

"If we do this just because the Snow Moon tribe is kind, and grind corn flour to make food without their permission, no tribe will forgive such behavior, and we might even be hunted down by the powerful Snow Moon tribe."

A tribe that has a shaman and Beastman Warriors only has a dead end waiting for us; are you trying to bring disaster upon the gathering?

As soon as those words landed, the few people who had just spoken turned pale and lowered their heads; this time they truly understood the seriousness and dared not come up with any bad ideas.

Gan beside him also quietly let out a breath; after all, the method for this corn flour food was brought back to the tribe by his own child, and if the leader agreed to their approach, the Snow Moon tribe would certainly not let A You off.

But thinking of the leader's earlier words about going to trade for food, Gan hesitated, then finally said: "Leader, the matter of this fruit was told to us by A You; will the Snow Moon tribe..."

He still worried that the Snow Moon tribe would be displeased because A You told the gathering that the fruit could make tasty food.

The leader frowned slightly, then after a moment shook his head: "It shouldn't be; if we couldn't tell others about this fruit, A You wouldn't have returned to the tribe today."

Gan's heart tightened; he looked back at the spot where his own cub lay, and a feeling of relief welled up—truly the Beast God's protection, that this little one had encountered the Snow Moon tribe.

"We haven't eaten the food we brought back today, so tomorrow we'll all go together into the forest to gather this fruit, then head to the Snow Moon tribe to see if we can trade it for food."

Although everyone felt worried inside, the thought of being able to trade for more food made their hearts heat up a bit.

Meanwhile, A You, who was having a sweet dream, didn't realize that because of him, the tribe had made such an important decision.

The next day, a familiar group arrived at the Snow Moon tribe.

The original small tribe's members who were on patrol looked at the people before them, somewhat dazed.

What's going on, this Half-Beast Warrior from the Dong Sang tribe is back again?

"Reporting to the several Beastman Warriors and the honored Shaman, I come by the chief's order to invite the Snow Moon tribe."

The Dong Sang tribe's Half-Beast Warrior looked at the Snow Moon tribe, which had changed greatly; indeed, a tribe possessing Beastman Warriors and a Shaman had developed to this size in such a short time.

"Captain, the Shaman and Beastman Sirs have allowed the Dong Sang tribe's people to enter."

The few pure-human males on patrol made way for the entrance, and the pure-human male who had just come to report turned around and led the way ahead.

The Dong Sang tribe's Half-Beast Warrior walked all the way in shock toward the nearby unfamiliar yet familiar cliff, seeing the many 'houses' that had sprung up around, his eyes almost popping out.

The Dong Sang tribe's Half-Beast Warrior looked at the Snow Moon tribe, which had changed greatly; indeed, a tribe possessing Beastman Warriors and a Shaman had developed to this size in such a short time.

The few pure-human males on patrol made way for the entrance, and the pure-human male who had just come to report turned around and led the way ahead.

The Dong Sang tribe's Half-Beast Warrior walked all the way in shock toward the nearby unfamiliar yet familiar cliff, seeing the many 'houses' that had sprung up around, his eyes almost popping out.