Chapter 59

A new activity had emerged in the cave.

Zhuo Yan was teaching A-Yin how to speak and even a bit of math, since they had plenty of time on their hands. Compared to having the handsome A-Yin clinging to him all day, their little lessons felt much more serious and structured.

“Ahem, no hugging the teacher,” Zhuo Yan said firmly.

A-Yin looked confused, tilting his head. “Awwoo?”

“It means you need to focus on class,” Zhuo Yan replied, shaking his head. Who lets their students hug them like this? If this were the modern world, parents would definitely be complaining about me harassing you—he suddenly remembered that he was, in fact, A-Yin’s guardian.

That made it even worse!

No favoritism allowed. With a serious face, Zhuo Yan corrected himself. “A-Yin, you should say ‘why.’ Repeat after me: why.”

“Wai awo.”

“Not ‘awoo.’” Zhuo Yan was surprisingly patient, worried that A-Yin might lose interest. He scooted closer and repeated, “Why?”

“Wai semo.”

“Very good!” Zhuo Yan praised him. “A-Yin is really smart and learns quickly.” It was just a small pronunciation issue. They could work on it.

A-Yin beamed at the compliment, and when he was happy, he loved to nuzzle his head against Zhuo Yan or wag his nonexistent tail. Instead, he pressed his head against his brother affectionately.

Zhuo Yan thought to himself, thank goodness I’m his guardian; otherwise, I’d be in serious trouble for this!

Life in the cave during winter was simple. Usually, Zhuo Yan would wake up to untangle himself from the mess of limbs. On the rare occasions when A-Yin was still in his furry form, Zhuo Yan would breathe a sigh of relief and snuggle with the warm, fuzzy A-Yin in bed, feeling blissfully cozy.

After waking, if A-Yin was in human form, he would take on chores—opening doors, shoveling snow, and checking on the animals in the neighboring cave. Zhuo Yan would start a fire to heat water, and they would wash up and brush their teeth before cooking.

The cave was stocked with plenty of supplies: a large stash of smoked meat, a whole basket of fish, four or five chickens, and a mountain of potatoes. The rabbits had been devoured. They had planted the potatoes last autumn by the riverside, and the generous half-beast who lent them the seeds had returned to share his bounty.

Plus, there were wild potatoes in the surrounding forest. Overall, this year, the cave was overflowing with potatoes.

Zhuo Yan mixed pig feed with potatoes and their leftover meat for the boar. The chickens could eat it too, and the rabbits could nibble on grass or potato roots.

Their diet varied from time to time, alternating between fresh and smoked meats, along with fish soup.

Life was leisurely—Zhuo Yan often felt a tickle in his throat from indulgence. To keep things interesting for both of them, he sought out meaningful activities. A-Yin was genuinely innocent; he couldn’t take advantage of A-Yin, who knew nothing. But of course, he also…

Sometimes found it difficult to resist the handsome man who clung to him every day.

He felt that his feelings were becoming harder to hide.

So, he busied himself with crafting. Over the past month, he had turned the teeth of the large beast they had been given into needles and planned to send them to Qiao and the others come spring. He had also sewn scraps of hide into capes.

Winter was entering its second stage of fierce storms and biting cold.

The two rarely ventured outside, balancing work and lessons. A-Yin had already begun to communicate simply; though, when he got excited or anxious, his words would be interspersed with “awoo.” Zhuo Yan repeatedly reminded him that being human meant maintaining some decorum, not just jumping up and hugging or licking him—

To which A-Yin only heard “jump, hug, lick.”

Zhuo Yan thought to himself, sometimes he really wondered if A-Yin was deliberately misunderstanding him.

“Brother likes it,” A-Yin said, nuzzling close.

Zhuo Yan gazed at A-Yin’s long eyelashes and handsome face, his heart skipped a beat. Maintaining a stern expression, he replied, “Who said I like it? I never said that.”

He felt a bit hypocritical, but he had his moral boundaries. A-Yin was someone he had rescued when he was ill. He had sincerely wanted a companion, never intending to raise A-Yin to be a “child bride.”

Now that A-Yin had become human, he couldn’t exploit the situation.

He needed A-Yin to understand emotions and relationships before discussing anything else. Ahem. In truth, he struggled with his own feelings; kissing A-Yin made him feel as if he were taking advantage of him.

After all, A-Yin was only seventeen or eighteen!

There was also the fact that when he had found A-Yin and named him, he had imagined his own fluffy silver tabby cat. Whenever A-Yin was sick or in pain, he found himself thinking of old fatherly instincts and maternal care.

…In such a scenario, if the cat he raised suddenly turned into a handsome man, and something were to happen, that would be a betrayal.

Zhuo Yan was a good young man who abided by the law and held moral standards.

That night, the lights had already gone out.

“Brother,” A-Yin murmured.

Zhuo Yan was in a drowsy haze and simply replied with a sound of acknowledgment. A-Yin snuggled up close, resting his head on Zhuo Yan’s, just like he did in his beast form. After being cuddled this way for over half a month, Zhuo Yan had grown accustomed to it. He appreciated how A-Yin’s head shielded his from the cold wind.

Wait, was that a tongue twister?

“Semmo?” Zhuo Yan mumbled, his words a bit slurred.

A-Yin carefully licked his brother’s cheek.

Zhuo Yan: …He wasn’t even asleep yet! Just licking away, huh? Clearly, A-Yin was getting bolder!

“Brother, the boar is squealing!”

Zhuo Yan was just about to drift off to sleep, snuggled warmly under the covers. He responded to A-Yin with a vague mumble, “Is it hungry?”

That didn’t make sense—they had just fed it during dinner.

“Could it be pecked by a chicken?”

A-Yin tilted his head and listened carefully; the boar continued to howl. Something felt off. He cautiously threw back the covers and began to get up, but even his careful movements allowed the cold wind to seep in, jolting Zhuo Yan awake.

“What’s wrong?”

“Brother, something isn’t right.”

Seeing A-Yin’s furrowed brows and confused eyes, Zhuo Yan quickly understood: A-Yin sensed that something was amiss but couldn’t pinpoint it. Animals were especially sensitive to danger.

“Put on your hide. I’ll go with you.”

At the cave entrance, a massive stone had been placed there by the tribe before the snow season, meant to block the door for added security. Even after winter had set in, Zhuo Yan still needed to care for the animals in the neighboring cave, so he kept the stone nearby instead of blocking the entrance completely.

Now, as Zhuo Yan put on his hide, he lit a piece of wood to provide some light. A-Yin opened the door, and a gust of wind and snow rushed in, extinguishing the flame and nearly knocking Zhuo Yan over.

“I’ll handle it, brother,” A-Yin said, taking charge.

“I’ll help you,” Zhuo Yan replied, dropping the wood and they both worked to move the stone. However, it was heavy, and with the snow on the ground, Zhuo Yan turned back to grab a shovel to clear away the snow. A-Yin transformed into his beast form, growled, and pushed the stone toward the entrance, wedging it tightly in place.

“You can’t get back in!” Zhuo Yan quickly said. “Transform back into human form and slip in through the top. There’s a gap up there!”

Outside, the blizzard howled as the silver snow glimmered coldly. Zhuo Yan felt a tremor and spotted distant flickers of red light—

Those moving red lights were rapidly approaching from the forest outside the tribe, a multitude of them converging toward the river.

A beast tide!

Flashes of horrific images filled Zhuo Yan’s mind—memories of his childhood when his beast father was torn apart by a similar tide. “A-Yin, A-Yin, hurry! Human form!”

He pushed against the stone at the entrance.

There were some gaps on either side of the stone, and Zhuo Yan saw the red dots drawing closer. He reached out, desperately trying to push the stone out of the way. “Come back, come back!” He would rather not block this stone, even if it meant being trapped under the wooden door with A-Yin.

“Hurry, A-Yin!”

“A-Yin!”

Zhuo Yan watched helplessly as the red dots advanced toward their cave. Just as he was about to scream in despair, A-Yin transformed back into human form and slipped through the gap in the stone, narrowly avoiding the beast with red eyes that had charged in, howling in frustration.

Then came its companions, a head popping out from the corner below the stone. Zhuo Yan clearly saw the frantic beast—a red-eyed leopard with sharp teeth, drool dripping from its mouth.

Zhuo Yan froze for a moment, and A-Yin stepped back, clutching his brother, before transforming back into beast form and letting out a furious roar at the intruder. Zhuo Yan snapped back to reality. “Shut the door! Close it!”

These leopards were devoid of reason, their eyes filled with a murderous intent to tear them apart.

The red-eyed leopards crashed repeatedly against the stone, their heads poking through the gaps left by the stone, and soon they would manage to get inside, yowling excitedly.

Zhuo Yan’s hands trembled as he struggled to close the door, but a thin leopard managed to slip through, forcing its way inside. Thankfully, A-Yin lunged at it, pinning it to the ground without hesitation, ending its life swiftly.

Blood spread across the floor, exciting the leopards outside even further.

The howling of the leopards drowned out the howling wind and snow outside; not just their cave, but all the caves were under attack.

Once one arrived, more would surely follow. The leopards clawed and pushed against the stone, desperately trying to squeeze their heads inside. A-Yin lowered his front paws, adopting an aggressive stance, and roared repeatedly, attempting to drive them back, but it was futile—the red-eyed leopards were mindless with frenzy.

“Awooo—” Brother is leaving.

A-Yin quickly realized Zhuo Yan didn’t understand, so he transformed back into human form, crouching naked on the ground to face the incoming beasts. He turned his head and said, “Brother, get to the bed.”

“Don’t worry about me, be careful—” Just then, another leopard squeezed in from above.

Zhuo Yan ran back, trying to keep A-Yin from worrying, and grabbed his bone knife for defense. The stone had wedged itself tighter against the entrance, while the leopards pushed and shoved from all sides… there were just too many.

How could there be so many leopards?

Upon closer inspection, these leopards were smaller than the beastmen and looked in terrible condition. Their pupils were blood-red, frenzied with madness, devoid of any clarity.

Zhuo Yan tried to hide further back as A-Yin transformed into beast form. They had the upper hand for now, taking down one at a time, but there were just too many of them. Through the howling wind and snow, Zhuo Yan could faintly hear a rhythmic banging sound.

A-Yin roared, the wind and snow mixing with the cries of other beastmen.

“Brother, close the door! I’m going out!” A-Yin said, pushing against the stone. It rolled a few times, crushing the red-eyed leopards that lunged at them. A-Yin stood in front of the entrance, blocking the incoming beasts, giving Zhuo Yan the chance to slam the door shut.

A-Yin faced off against the horde of red-eyed leopards outside.

Zhuo Yan braced the door, his mind numb with a single thought: A-Yin must not get hurt. He peered through the gaps, his eyes glued to A-Yin, who was effortlessly dispatching the red-eyed leopards, but there were just too many.

Don’t let anything happen to him.

As his hands and feet grew numb from the cold and his face stiffened, the howling wind could not mask the overwhelming scent of blood. A-Yin’s fur was soaked crimson, the area around the cave entrance littered with the corpses of red-eyed leopards.

A-Yin let out a fierce roar, and Zhuo Yan could hear him respond.

【Are you okay?】

【Both A-Yin and I are fine.】

“Brother, the piglet is howling!”

Zhuo Yan, just about to drift off to sleep, felt the warmth of the blankets enveloping him. His response to A-Yin was dismissive and vague, “Is it hungry?”

But that couldn’t be right; they had fed it during dinner.

“Could it be that the chickens pecked its rear?”

A-Yin listened carefully, realizing the piglet was still howling. He sensed something was off and gently peeled back the covers to get up. Despite being cautious, a chill breeze slipped in, jolting Zhuo Yan awake.

“What’s wrong?”

“Brother, something’s not right.”

Seeing A-Yin’s furrowed brows and confused eyes, Zhuo Yan immediately understood that A-Yin sensed something was amiss but couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Animals often become particularly sensitive before danger strikes.

“Put on your fur coat; I’ll go with you.”

At the entrance of their cave lay a massive rock, moved there by the tribe before the snow season. It was meant to block the entrance securely. After winter set in, Zhuo Yan had to care for the animals in the neighboring cave, allowing them to come and go freely for fresh air, so the rock remained by the entrance, not properly blocking it.

Zhuo Yan quickly donned his fur coat, lighting a piece of wood for illumination. A-Yin opened the door, and the wind and snow rushed in. The flickering light from the wood was extinguished in an instant, and Zhuo Yan almost got blown over.

“A-Yin, let me help,” Zhuo Yan said, dropping the wood. Together, they struggled to move the heavy rock. But it was enormous, and with the snow piling on the ground, Zhuo Yan had to grab a shovel to clear the snow beneath it. A-Yin transformed into his beast form, letting out a low growl, and the rock rolled to the entrance, wedged tight.

“You can’t get in!” Zhuo Yan exclaimed. “Change back to your human form and squeeze in from the top; there’s room up there!”

Outside, the storm howled, and the silvery snow gleamed ominously. Zhuo Yan felt a tremor and caught sight of distant red lights flickering—

Those red lights were moving fast, swarming from the forest outside the tribe, heading toward the river, numerous and dense.

A beast tide!

Flashes of chaotic, bloody memories surged through Zhuo Yan’s mind, memories of little Zhuo Yan watching his beast father torn apart by a beast tide. “A-Yin, hurry, back to human form!”

He pushed against the rock blocking the entrance.

There were small gaps beneath the stone, and Zhuo Yan saw the red dots drawing closer. He reached out to push the rock harder. “Come back! Come back!” He would rather not block the stone at all, preferring to huddle with A-Yin beneath the wooden door.

“Hurry, A-Yin!”

“A-Yin!”

Zhuo Yan watched helplessly as the red dots approached. Just as despair washed over him, A-Yin transformed back into human form and squeezed through the gap above, while a snow-covered red-eyed beast lunged but missed, beginning to howl in frustration.

Then came its companions. A head emerged from the corner beneath the rock, and Zhuo Yan clearly saw the frenzied beast—red eyes, sharp teeth, drool dripping, resembling a leopard.

Zhuo Yan froze for a moment, while A-Yin stepped back and transformed into his beast form, roaring fiercely at the stone. Zhuo Yan snapped back to reality. “Shut the door! Close it!”

These leopards were mindless, driven only by a thirst for blood, eager to shred them to pieces.

The red-eyed leopards repeatedly slammed against the massive stone, their heads squeezing through the gaps left behind, with more pushing from above, howling excitedly.

Zhuo Yan’s hands trembled as he fought to close the door, while in the corner, a lean leopard managed to squeeze inside. Luckily, A-Yin lunged at it in beast form, swiftly overpowering the creature without hesitation, ending its life in an instant.

Blood pooled on the ground, spurring the other leopards outside into a frenzy.

The howling of the leopards drowned out the howling winds and snowstorm outside. It wasn’t just their cave under attack; other caves were likely suffering the same fate.

Once one appeared, more followed. The leopards clawed madly at the rock, desperate to get in. A-Yin lowered his front paws in a defensive stance, issuing powerful roars to scare them off, but it was futile; the red-eyed leopards were crazed.

“Awwoo—” The brother was gone.

A-Yin quickly realized his brother couldn’t understand him, transforming back into human form and crouching on the ground to face the beasts outside. He turned to Zhuo Yan and said, “Brother, go to bed.”

“I can’t sleep! Be careful, listen to the tribe leader. If another beast tide comes and you can’t fight them off, just run!”

A-Yin had wanted to nuzzle his brother affectionately, but as he moved closer, he remembered the blood on him and hesitated. Zhuo Yan noticed and reached out to stroke A-Yin’s ear, making A-Yin brighten up.

“Go on; I’ll wait for you to come back for dinner.”

“Okay, brother~”

A-Yin first picked up the corpses inside the cave and threw them outside, then began transporting them. Zhuo Yan shut the door, propping it closed with a wooden stick. The floor of their home soaked in dirt mixed with blood, and Zhuo Yan sprinkled ash over it, planning to throw it out once A-Yin returned.

Snow continued to fall steadily, and the cave filled with a rusty scent.

Zhuo Yan found it hard to sleep, keeping watch by the stove. As the temperature increased, his frozen brain began to function again. He couldn’t understand why the beast tide consisted of red-eyed leopards; the leopard-men from the past had never hunted leopards—he knew real leopards existed.

Previously, A-Yin had struggled to transform, and people in the tribe mocked him, saying he was just a leopard beast.

Back to the point—what could have driven these leopards to madness, to attack with such desperation?

Outside, the storm began to subside, but A-Yin had not yet returned. When morning broke, A-Yin howled for his brother. Zhuo Yan opened the door to find A-Yin covered in snow, and the blood that had clung to his fur was gone?

“You took a cold water bath?!” Zhuo Yan touched A-Yin and found his fur frozen solid. After a night of restless thinking, he felt a surge of anger and lightly swatted A-Yin.

“Taking a cold bath on a freezing day? You’re going to give me a heart attack!”

A-Yin rubbed against his brother, suddenly realizing he was a walking snowdrift and stepped back, worried about freezing Zhuo Yan. Zhuo Yan felt a pang of concern and hurried to add more charcoal to the stove. “You sit by the fire and warm up. I’ll boil some hot water for you to wash with.”

He draped a large fur coat around A-Yin.

A-Yin transformed back into human form, sitting bare on a stool.

“Brother, where’s my little skirt?” That was the small leather skirt Zhuo Yan had made for him.

“It’s here; I put it away for you.” Zhuo Yan stroked A-Yin’s hair, which was full of ice. “Put on the bear skin first, and I’ll check your body.”

A-Yin pulled the bear skin aside, standing up to show his brother.

Zhuo Yan: …

At this moment, he had no other thoughts. Zhuo Yan inspected A-Yin, relieved to find that aside from a bruise on his forehead, he wasn’t injured anywhere else.

“Okay, let’s warm up.”

Outside the cave, the snow piled deep, completely covering the blood from the night before. Zhuo Yan began shoveling the snow down the slope—A-Yin still wanted to help, but Zhuo Yan scolded him to sit still and not move.

Beneath the layers of snow, traces of blood could be seen.

Seeing this, Zhuo Yan couldn’t help but think back to the previous night. Those red-eyed leopards were truly mad. He grabbed a bucket, ran outside to gather snow, and brought it back to boil for A-Yin to wash off.

After everything was done, the storm outside hadn’t ceased.

A-Yin was cooking meat and offering pieces to Zhuo Yan. He took a hearty bite and asked, “What about the bodies? How did you deal with the hyenas?”

“I killed them all. The bodies are buried in the snow outside the forest.” A-Yin took a bite and continued, “The tribe leader said hyenas are vindictive. If we let even one escape, they’ll haunt the tribe next year, disrupting our hunts.”

Zhuo Yan nodded, “And what’s the deal with those red-eyed leopards? Why were there so many?” There had been more than ten at the entrance of their cave.

He asked, knowing A-Yin likely wouldn’t have the answer.

To his surprise, A-Yin replied, “Brother, there’s a story about the gods.”

“?” Zhuo Yan raised an eyebrow. “What story?”

A-Yin spoke seriously, “Once, the gods had a fruit tree, and the four tribes guarded it. Some beastmen stole the fruits and were punished by the gods, forced to remain beasts forever, unable to transform back into human form.”

There was this story? Zhuo Yan thought

Later, Zhuo Yan realized that those red-eyed leopards were likely driven by jealousy over the blood-red eyes of the leopard people. Every few years, the majority of beast waves attacking the tribe were caused by these frenzied leopards, just as other tribes experienced similar assaults.

All four tribes shared a common rule: they didn’t use the skins or consume the meat of their kind. In ancient times, according to the tales of the deities, they were considered equals.

Thus, these leopards claimed their territories, having no real enemies, and they proliferated vigorously. As long as they didn’t go extinct, they would launch surprise attacks on the tribes every few years.

This year, the corpses of the red-eyed leopards were taken outside and buried under the snow.

In the aftermath of the beast attack, the gossip within the caves varied.

“Has A-Yin learned to speak like a human?”

“Really?” A-Da replied to Qiao. “I heard it myself!”

“Can he transform into human form?” Qiao asked eagerly. It would be fantastic if A-Yin could take human form; otherwise, Zhuo Yan would suffer during the spring—beast form was still too large and unsuitable for bearing offspring.

Ah Da shrugged. “I haven’t seen him in human form. Now that you mention it, I’m not even sure if what A-Yin said was truly human speech.”

“Come on, think again! You just said A-Yin could talk like a person.”

“The wind and snow were too strong. Maybe I didn’t hear correctly. When we were bringing back the red-eyed leopard corpses, A-Yin jumped into the snow and was rubbing his fur. I think he called out ‘brother,’ but I can’t be sure.”

“…Did he say it or not?”

Faced with his partner’s serious inquiry, Ah Da couldn’t guarantee it either.

Meanwhile, in another cave, Ah-Tou and Ah-Ri, the brothers, insisted on how strong A-Yin was. “He fights fiercely!” one declared. “His cave had the most corpses; I didn’t expect him to be so formidable!” “It must be thanks to Da-Ya!” “Da-Ya really likes A-Yin!”

In Aman’s cave:

“Your partner is fine; A-Yin took care of those crazy leopards.”

“That kid really has skills. No wonder Da-Ya scolds him the most during hunts,” Huoxia remarked. He understood that the fiercer Da-Ya scolded someone, the stronger that person was.

Aman’s younger brother clung to his father’s arm. “I can do it too! It’s my brother who stops me, otherwise I would—”

“You’d be torn apart by those mad leopards,” Aman interrupted.

Huoxia nodded. “You’re still young; you can play with A-Yin more in the future.”

“He doesn’t like me,” Aman’s brother said.

Huoxia was puzzled. Based on his interactions, A-Yin had a good temperament. Even when Da Ya scolded him, A-Yin didn’t seem bothered. “Why doesn’t he like you?”

“He keeps staring at me. If I get too close to Brother Zhuo Yan, he looks at me like that.” Aman’s brother pointed to his own eyes, widening them and trying to look fierce.

Aman burst into laughter.

Now he understood! Next time he saw Zhuo Yan, he needed to tell him that A-Yin had a strong possessiveness. He had only introduced his brother to Zhuo Yan, but Zhuo Yan had turned him down and hadn’t done anything else—no need to scare his brother anymore.

Laughter echoed through the cave.

After the beast wave, there were no casualties this year. In previous beast assaults, without wooden doors to block the way, it was just a large stone at the entrance. If a single beastman was inside, smaller red-eyed beasts might sneak in, and if their numbers grew, the beastmen wouldn’t be able to respond in time, leading to casualties.

…

The days settled back into calm. The snow had been falling for half a month, and Zhuo Yan had shoveled it repeatedly. The slope at his doorstep was almost level with the entrance of his cave, a testament to how deep the snow had become.

The once pungent scent of blood had long dissipated.

A-Yin, dressed in a little leather skirt and knee-high “boots,” fed the pigs, chickens, and rabbits, turning to his brother to say, “Brother, the chicken—”

“What about the chicken? Did it die again?” Zhuo Yan, who had been outside shoveling snow, hurried over with his bucket. The last time the beasts attacked, a red-eyed leopard had invaded their animal shelter. In the chaos, two chickens had died, possibly from being scared or trampled, and when Zhuo Yan checked the next day, he found them lifeless with no visible wounds.

The hen had dropped the two chicks at the cave’s edge, frozen stiff.

“No, brother, it’s eggs! The hen laid eggs!” A-Yin exclaimed, his face brightening.

Zhuo Yan leaned closer and, to his surprise, saw two eggs nestled in the hay. He couldn’t help but admire their hen—impressive, laying eggs in such harsh conditions!

Indeed, it was right to let the rooster roam free while protecting the hen.

“Today, I’ll give you all a little extra treat,” Zhuo Yan said enthusiastically. Turning back, he noticed A-Yin’s beaming face, his eyes sparkling. “Brother, the hen has babies now!”

Zhuo Yan: … While he was thrilled about the eggs, he thought A-Yin was being a bit too cheerful. He tentatively asked, “Would you like to eat scrambled eggs?” Was it inappropriate to mention that in front of the hen at the cave entrance?

“!” A-Yin paused, confused.

Zhuo Yan realized his mistake—A-Yin hadn’t been thinking about eating scrambled eggs.

“I saw you looking so happy; I thought you wanted that.”

“No, brother! The hen has new babies!” A-Yin looked earnestly at Zhuo Yan.

Still puzzled, Zhuo Yan continued, “I know, I saw them. Come on, let’s head back. We’ll give them some extra food—fish and meat chopped up.” A-Yin seemed so fond of them; “You can feed them later.”

Perfect, as he was feeling lazy about leaving the cave.

A-Yin nodded in agreement.

After lunch, the two took a nap. Zhuo Yan slipped off his leather skirt and rolled inside, yawning. A-Yin, now in human form, crawled into bed, snuggling up against Zhuo Yan. “Sleep now,” Zhuo Yan murmured.

Even though he was used to it, A-Yin, don’t be too spoiled! Don’t shake my moral foundation!

A-Yin rested his head on Zhuo Yan’s, hugging him as he drifted off.

Zhuo Yan yawned again, completely falling asleep, while A-Yin, with a glint in his eyes, stealthily kissed his brother’s forehead, now transformed into a beastman, no longer merely a beast.

“Brother smells so good.”

Zhuo Yan was completely unaware of A-Yin’s behavior, lost in a deep sleep. Another monotonous day slipped by, and after more than ten days of dreary weather, the wind and snow outside the cave finally began to calm. Sometimes, the sun would peek through the clouds, and Zhuo Yan no longer felt the same boredom that had left him drowsy for days. A-Yin could now carry him out for a stroll, sticking close to the tribe but enjoying the nearby surroundings.

They even took to ice skating on the river, though fishing was off the table now—the ice had thickened so much over the winter that it couldn’t be broken.

One day, after a wild play session, Zhuo Yan was still buzzing with excitement, brainstorming ideas for a sled that A-Yin could pull him around on. He mentioned it, and A-Yin simply agreed, “Sure, I’ll listen to my brother.”

The next day, however, Qiao, Ah Da, Xiao Xian, and Zhuo Yan’s second brother came to visit.

“Zhuo Yan, are you home?”

“Zhuo Yan, we’re here!”

The voices echoed from down the slope.

Zhuo Yan and A-Yin, still indulging in their lazy slumber, vaguely heard Xiao Xian and Qiao’s calls, and a wave of panic washed over him, as if he’d been caught in an embarrassing moment (but not really). For some reason, he felt a little guilty—

After all, he and A-Yin were perfectly innocent; nothing had happened.

As this thought crossed his mind, he muttered to himself to stay calm. But when he glanced at their current situation, he found himself sprawled on A-Yin’s solid chest, with what looked suspiciously like drool stains—his own? He’d been sleeping so soundly.

Under the blankets, it was even worse; they had twisted together like a pretzel.

“A-Yin, don’t move! I’ll handle this. Just stay still while I get dressed; Xiao Xian and Qiao are coming!” Zhuo Yan’s legs shot out from the blanket as he fumbled for his leather skirt to wrap around himself.

The sounds at the entrance grew closer.

Despite the chaos, Zhuo Yan never even considered asking A-Yin to revert to his beast form—wouldn’t that just make it seem like nothing untoward had happened?

But Zhuo Yan didn’t say a word.

A-Yin was a true beastman, and that was a good thing.

“Brother, I’m dressed! I’ll go open the door,” A-Yin announced.

Zhuo Yan was still hurriedly wrapping himself in the leather skirt, confused about why he felt so flustered, as if he were a person caught in an affair with a beloved pet he had raised himself.

No! What was he even thinking? There was nothing inappropriate happening here!