Chapter 44: The Outside World

Yun Li, having food, wasn't picky; she sat back down and saw Leng Xiu also start busying himself.

"Is this black bean? Brother, where did you find it?"

Leng Xiao saw the black beans, and after a moment he recalled what they were; as children they also didn't know what they were, and they were picky eaters.

Their father would scold them while thinking of ways to satisfy them whenever he made food.

These black beans were also something they ate as children, though they were usually used to stew meat, and made into meat patties that were their father's food.

If the two of them ever ate two bites of the meat patty, their father would smack their heads and say something like, "Male youngsters only grow stronger by eating meat."

Now, suddenly seeing the black beans and recalling that time,

Leng Xiao felt doubtful, wondering if his father had hit his head too many times when he was young, otherwise he wouldn't always be inferior to his brother.

"Yeah, it's black beans. Do you remember how Father used to stew meat with black beans?"

Leng Xiu didn't know his younger brother was wondering whether their father had dulled his brain by hitting it; seeing him recall what the black beans were, he immediately handed half over to him to make stew.

Leng Xiao gave a snort-laugh, "Of course I remember—just peel them, wash them with water, then put them in the pot with the meat to stew. I was young back then, but not oblivious."

"What do you mean 'not oblivious'? What are you talking about?"

Yun Li, waiting nearby for food, hearing them talk, couldn't help but interject, "I seem to hear you talking about Father?"

Although Leng Xiao complained that the female had been playing with him all morning, when she spoke up he immediately replied, "We were talking about how to stew meat with these black beans—Father used to look for these black beans to make food for us when we were little. But we were too young then, so we didn't remember many things."

Yun Li: "Oh, I see. I've never heard you talk about your father before."

Leng Xiao laughed and said, "Father passed away long ago—talking about what he did is pointless, but he used to be quite capable."

According to the tribe's elder beastman, the tribe originally had no salt or weapons; back then it had only over a hundred beastmen, most of whom were females and young, so everyone was as thin as grass and life was very hard.

Later, their father brought them past the tribe; seeing the tribe's females kindly give food to the two brothers, he decided to stay.

Under his leadership, in less than three years the tribe's population more than doubled, and they gained salt, stone tools, and ample food—only their father's health began to deteriorate in his fifth year.

The tribe's first witch doctor was captured around that time, but even he couldn't save Father, who eventually died.

So when they were seven, they had to learn hunting from the tribe's elder beastman, after which they gradually became independent.

After hearing Leng Xiao's account, Yun Li's eyes lit up involuntarily: "Was your father really that capable? Then how could he have been a wandering beastman who brought you here?"

Upon hearing that, Leng Xiao thought carefully and said, "Some elder beastmen said our father came from a great tribe, but he brought us here fleeing after being pursued."

A great tribe!!

Yun Li immediately seized on the point: "Are there great tribes out there?"

"Not only are there great tribes, there are also cities."

Leng Xiu, seeing her interest in these topics, also added a few remarks.

Although too much time has passed and he only remembers a little, since A Li likes to hear it, he just tells her everything he knows.

"There are many great tribes out there; I've heard their tribes also have purple-rank beastmen, and blue-rank beastmen are not few either. Some occupy an entire city, while others demarcate a large tract of land as their territory."

"The beastmen of those great tribes, whether female or male, are strong in strength, and basically no other tribe dares to offend them."

Yun Li felt a little yearning, though she also knew those things were currently beyond her reach; still, learning more is never harmful—"Then, was your father really a beastman from a great tribe? If he came from a great tribe, how did he end up in the Heiyan Mountains and stay in our previous tribe?"

"...... The questions you're asking—our father never told us about them either."

Leng Xiu fell silent for a moment, then said, "I just feel that our father wasn't a beastman from a great tribe."

In his memory, when their father spoke of the great tribe, his expression was the same as Yun Li's now—full of longing and yearning—but when he looked at them, his eyes were full of gratification and pride.

Leng Xiu never figured out why their father would feel proud seeing how weak they were, as if their existence proclaimed he had accomplished something remarkable.

But none of that matters now; his most important task is to get along well with Leng Xiao and take good care of A Li.

Leng Xiao, standing nearby, also nodded in agreement: "What my brother said is right—if our father were a beastman from a great tribe, he wouldn't hide our past from us; behind the tribe's beastmen's backs, he'd have been boasting to us all along."

Leng Xiao now tends to be talkative and thick-skinned; in fact, part of that comes from his father's influence—after all, anyone who, as a child, faced a father who loved to nag them will have their personality somewhat affected.

As for Leng Xiu's habit of being one way to your face and another behind your back, that too can be blamed on their father, who outwardly acted steady but inwardly liked to lose his temper and swear.

Yun Li, listening to them talk about childhood, found it quite amusing; she turned over the original owner's memories again, picking out a couple of things she could share to tell Leng Xiu and the others.

"Your father is also quite entertaining—no wonder you, A Xiao, turned out like this. My father, however, is different; he's a fox beastman, yet when he talks about fox beastmen with other beastmen he acts unlike them, his personality is very dull, and he always does things in a rigid, by-the-book manner..."

Yun Li, when talking about the original owner's father, spoke as if she were describing an unrelated stranger.

But it's unclear whether it's precisely because of her current demeanor that Leng Xiu and the others come to think Yun Li truly doesn't care about her father.

Leng Xiao felt heartbroken to the point of unbearable; if it weren't for the deep wound her father had inflicted on her, A Li wouldn't speak of her father without showing a trace of sorrow.

"A Li, don't speak of him—he simply doesn't deserve to be your father. When you were that small, he abandoned you, a beastman, in the tribe."

"If it weren't for those years when the tribe's life had already improved, you probably would have starved to death in the tribe."

What a coincidence—when Yun Li was born, Leng Xiu's father had already been in the tribe for three years.

And when Yun Li turned six, the tribe's development was flourishing; Mu Qing, who had wandered outside for a long time, also joined at that point—though he was clearly only thirteen, he had already been wandering for twelve years.

Who would have thought that a few beastmen who had lost their parents would become a family seventeen years later?

Seeing Leng Xiao feel sorry for herself, Yun Li's heart stirred slightly, though her expression didn't show it; she merely muttered a reproachful sentence:

"How long ago was all that? I'm doing fine now—I was just casually chatting with you guys."

"If you don't want to hear it, then I won't bring it up again in the future."