Chapter 2

Fighting is not worth it.

In the tribe, when the sub-beastmen playfully tussle, it can be characterized as ‘playing.’ From the beastmen’s perspective, when sub-beastmen fight, it’s similar to kindergarten children pushing each other around or pulling hair—more of a nuisance than a real threat.

However, there are times when fighting is absolutely off-limits. Exempting the food-storing period before winter, the tribe strictly prohibits any form of combat.

Zhuo Yan has some memories from his original self, and he recalls that the tribe leader established this rule for a reason. There must have been past incidents where beastmen and sub-beastmen got into fierce fights over food. Not only do injuries hinder the progress of food gathering, but the fear of winter for the original self also stems from the fact that starving beast packs may attack the tribe.

The tribe needs strong and healthy beastmen to guard against the harshness of winter.

Upon hearing Zhuo Yan’s warning about reporting them, the once-arrogant sub-beastmen team immediately deflated. Right in front of Zhuo Yan, they muttered, “You are such a nuisance,” “No wonder no beastmen like you,” and “You won’t survive this winter without a beastman to support you.”

Zhuo Yan smiled cheerfully and taunted, “Then why don’t you come and hit me? If you beat me up, all your food will belong to me! Go ahead, hit me~”

His words couldn’t harm them in the slightest. On the contrary, it was his taunts that hurt their pride deeply.

The sub-beastmen opposite him were seething with anger, their faces turning dark with rage.

Victory was his!

Aman chuckled, giving Zhuo Yan a playful slap on the shoulder. Zhuo Yan winced, thinking, Ouch, that hurts!

“Brother Aman, I know you like me, but I’m so delicate~”

At this, the smile on Aman’s face froze, and he quickly pulled his hand back. “Who likes you?!”

“Sub-beastmen will starve if they stay together,” Stone reminded them.

Xiao Xian opened his mouth to speak: “Well—”

Before he could finish, Zhuo Yan reached out to pinch Xiao Xian’s cheek. Xiao Xian, startled, ran off with his fluffy ears twitching. After their playful antics, they each formed their own teams for foraging. The other group, having a greater number, occupied the best spots for fruit. Qiao glanced around and said, “Let’s move to another place.”

“Why? If we leave, they’ll be so happy!” Aman protested, displeased.

Zhuo Yan fully supported Qiao’s decision, tugging at Aman as they walked. “There’s hardly anything left here. We need to gather food to survive the winter; fighting with them won’t fill our bellies.”

“Exactly!” Xiao Xian chimed in, his ears wobbling as he spoke softly.

Aman thought for a moment and then cheerfully slung his bamboo basket over his shoulder, saying, “Let’s go then.”

During this season, no foolish beasts would wander into the tribe—after all, that would just be delivering meat to the villagers. The entire tribe was situated on a hillside, with the leopard people’s caves scattered throughout the mountainside. Not far below was a winding river, and the territory within its banks was the safest area, filled with many trees bearing fruit.

The area outside the river required a longer trek and was less secure, but it wasn’t particularly dangerous either. The beastmen had marked the territory, and the scent of their kind would deter large wild animals from coming near.

Having made their decision, the five of them didn’t say much. They carried their bamboo baskets and skirted around the wide river until they reached a narrow section shallow enough to cross. Zhuo Yan took off his “socks” and tucked them into his arms, as getting them wet would be uncomfortable; besides, it was warm now.

To be honest, the original body had been a bit lazy and timid, rarely venturing far enough to cross a small river for foraging. So, for Zhuo Yan, this was his first outing, and he found the outside “world” quite fascinating.

“Once we cross this grove, my father said there’s a grassland beyond,” Aman said. It was only then that he noticed Zhuo Yan had been holding his hand the entire time, and he widened his eyes in surprise at him.

Zhuo Yan looked innocent. “Brother Aman, did you forget you were holding my hand just now?”

Aman huffed angrily, “I’m not! I just forgot.”

“Let’s get to foraging,” Qiao interjected, interrupting what was about to become a petty squabble.

The group quickly got to work, and Aman stopped complaining. “Look at all these dudu fruits! My mom loves these.”

Dudu fruits grew on tall trees that reached seven to eight meters in height, their branches thick and leaves lush. However, Aman had mentioned that his father and several brothers would venture further into denser forests when hunting, where the trees would be even taller and more abundant.

Zhuo Yan’s understanding of the tribe and the areas beyond came mostly from listening to his friends.

Aman, Qiao, Zhuo Yan, and Shitou were all young sub-beastmen who came from families with both parents and older siblings. Because of the leopard tribe’s solitary nature, once the children formed partnerships, they would dig their own caves and move out to establish their own households.

In the tribe, the underage individuals who have not yet formed partnerships continue to live with their parents.

Typically, everyone manages their own affairs, but as winter approaches, the capable elders will check in on the younger generation to see if they need meat or if they have enough food stocked. The reverse is also true, with the youth sometimes inquiring about their parents’ needs.

Strong and robust young male beasts, after ensuring they have enough provisions for their own small families, will also prepare additional supplies for their parents’ caves.

Even in this primitive world of beasts, where bloodlines and lineage are significant, the concept of familial bonds still holds weight.

Someone like Zhuo Yan, an underage sub-beastman living alone in a cave without a partner, is a rarity in the tribe. From the memories of his previous self, Zhuo Yan recalls that his beast father passed away five years ago during winter.

It was a fierce beast attack; his father sustained severe injuries while protecting the tribe and ultimately did not survive. Following that incident, Zhuo Yan’s mother took care of him for a year. When winter returned the next year, the challenges became even more pronounced. As a single sub-beastman raising a young sub-beastman, even though the tribe’s chief allocated some food, their situation remained incredibly difficult.

Single sub-beastmen can consider forming partnerships with beastmen, but due to the traditions of the leopard tribe, very few beastmen are willing to care for the young of other beastmen, especially sub-beastmen, who are unable to hunt.

At that time, Zhuo Yan was still small and fragile. Without his mother, it would have been incredibly challenging for him to survive and grow up alone. So, his mother stayed behind, and the two of them relied on each other for support. Occasionally, uncles would help out, but unfortunately…

Zhuo Yan’s fear of winter was not unfounded.

When he first began to receive fragmented memories from his previous self, young Zhuo Yan felt a desperate madness as he anxiously searched for beastmen, terrified of the coming winter. However, in the tribe, the aesthetic appeal of beastmen was exemplified by figures like Aman, Stone, and Qiao—tall, healthy, and muscular, representing a physical ideal.

Zhuo Yan, on the other hand, was too thin and too small. When beastmen looked at him, they saw a child, and no beastman would develop romantic feelings based on their aesthetic preferences for a partner toward someone as small as Zhuo Yan.

Fortunately, he had some luck in that regard.

At this point, he was only sixteen or seventeen, and the most crucial aspect was that sub-beastmen could bear children! If he were to come through to this world and find himself with a bigger belly, it would be utterly devastating—he might as well just starve to death.

“Hey, you pesky beastman, do you want some dudu fruit?”

The voice from above interrupted Zhuo Yan’s deep thoughts. When he looked up, he saw Aman had climbed to the top of the tree, skillfully finding the right spot on a branch to sit down. He pulled out a stone knife from his pocket.

“I want some, but you pick some for yourself first. I’m going to dig up some mud beans,” Zhuo Yan replied.

“Don’t call me that! It sounds too strange.”

“Okay, Aman gege~” Zhuo Yan deliberately raised his tone, making it playful.

The distance was too high and too far, yet he could keenly see the vivid expressions on Aman’s face. His eyesight was surprisingly good.

Aman mumbled to himself, finally concluding that he wouldn’t argue with the pesky beastman any longer. Winter was approaching, and who knew what would happen…

Down by the tree, Zhuo Yan thought, Wow~ his hearing is also excellent.

Previously, he had thought it was just that everyone spoke openly, but it turned out that it was also due to his own heightened sensitivity.

It felt like he had a bit of mutation, and although he had changed, he hadn’t changed completely. Zhuo Yan reassured himself that he had gained “superpowers”; this journey had not been in vain, and he was already starting to work.

Dudu fruits were up in the trees, while mud beans were buried underground, waiting to be dug up.

For the past ten days, Zhuo Yan had been the clingy one, actively sticking to this small team led by Qiao. The four of them worked separately; Aman and Xiao Xian climbed the trees quickly, while Shitou and Qiao were responsible for digging up the mud beans.

At first, Qiao ignored him and didn’t drive him away.

Today, Qiao asked, “Zhuo Yan, can you dig for mud beans in this area?”

“Of course, of course! I’m very skilled at digging this; it’ll be quick,” Zhuo Yan replied confidently.

“What do you mean by ‘skilled’?” Aman called out from the tree, casually tossing a full basket of dudu fruits down. He climbed down and emptied the basket of fruits.

Zhuo Yan answered first, “It means I’m very efficient and experienced at this kind of work.”

The dudu fruits had a hard shell, about the size of a child’s fist, and were clustered together like grapes, only in a larger version. When dropped from a height, the fruits would scatter and some might crack. To store them properly, they were placed in the bamboo basket first, which minimized the chances of them scattering or cracking, making it easier to carry them back.

“Then what do you mean by ‘skilled’?” Aman asked, still perched in the tree.

“‘Skilled’ means I’m very adept at it,” Zhuo Yan clarified.

Aman repeated this phrase, “You talk so strangely.” After emptying the basket of fruits, he continued climbing the tree. Zhuo Yan didn’t say much more and started pulling vines in the area designated by Qiao.

The mud beans—beans that grew in the ground—were somewhat similar to potatoes. Zhuo Yan had also dug up taro before; both types were about the size of an adult’s fist. While there were differences in texture and taste, the tribe generally referred to them all as mud beans.

Throughout the morning, everyone worked diligently, occasionally chatting a little. Before long, two piles of food—dudu fruits and mud beans—had formed on the flat ground.

During a break, everyone went to the riverbank to drink water and eat the food they had brought along.

Zhuo Yan wiped the sweat from his brow as the wind blew by, carrying away the heat. He noticed that the breeze had indeed become cooler. As he looked up and scanned the surroundings, he was surprised to see, a few hundred meters away—

“There’s an animal drinking water,” Zhuo Yan said, squinting his eyes for a better look. “Is that a little pig?”

“It’s a baby wild boar,” Qiao replied.

Aman showed a look of regret on his face. “Why am I not a beastman? If I were, we could have roasted pig for lunch today.”

“Exactly!” Zhuo Yan chimed in.

Stone also stared intently at the wild boar in the distance, swallowing hard.

“Five of us should be able to take on a baby wild boar, right?” Zhuo Yan suggested eagerly. “If worse comes to worst, we could always set a trap or something.”

Aman looked at Zhuo Yan with a somewhat speechless expression, and Qiao explained, “Wild boars have a very keen sense of smell. If the baby is drinking water, its mother is likely nearby.”

“Among us, Stone is the fastest,” Aman said, pointing to a spot ten meters away. “If he goes over there, the baby will definitely notice him, and its screams will attract its mother.” He gestured to emphasize his point. “You’ve never seen a wild boar, have you? Their mothers have long tusks, and they’re incredibly strong. They could easily impale a person.”

Zhuo Yan listened in surprise, not realizing that wild boars had such a keen sense of smell.

“So, can beastmen catch them?” he asked.

This question seemed like a joke, and even Stone couldn’t help but smile. Aman, feeling a bit lazy about explaining, gazed regretfully at the baby wild boar.

Qiao said, “Beastmen can catch them. I’ve seen my older brothers bring back three wild boars before.”

“Three?” Zhuo Yan was taken aback.

Qiao nodded, smiling as he recalled that time when their family had plenty to eat.

“So, this is what you’re planning? Hey, annoying one, Qiao’s older brother has paired up and moved out, so his second brother wouldn’t be interested in you,” Aman suddenly interjected.

Zhuo Yan: ???

“Aman, why are you so worked up? Does Qiao’s second brother like you? Or do you like him?” He tossed the question back at Aman, who immediately blushed, stammering about how he was just joking.

Zhuo Yan shrugged, saying, “I’m just talking nonsense like you.”

“What are you two talking about?”

Stone suddenly spoke up. “Look over there.”

The playful banter among the group came to an abrupt halt as they turned their attention back to the location of the baby wild boar. To their surprise, another figure had appeared—was it another baby?

It was a silver-white creature with distinctive patterns, resembling a leopard, but it was much smaller in size.

It didn’t look like an adult beastman.

Zhuo Yan initially thought it was an underage beastman from the tribe. This was his first time witnessing a beastman in their beast form while hunting, and he felt a mix of excitement and curiosity. In the words of the tribe’s sub-beastmen, beastmen were renowned for their exceptional hunting skills and prowess.

He eagerly looked over and exclaimed, “This is the first time I’ve seen a white-haired leopard! Is that a snow leopard?” Though, in reality, snow leopards aren’t actually white-haired.

However, since they had entered a primitive beastman world, it was only natural that it would differ from modern animals.

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘snow leopard.’ That…” Aman’s tone was complicated, filled with a mix of disdain and pity.

Zhuo Yan noticed this and turned his head, observing that everyone’s expressions were different.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t that baby white-haired leopard one of our kind? Is it really a wild beast?”

If it were, they would need to run.

He realized that it wouldn’t be wise to stick around and become someone else’s lunch.