Early the next morning.

Xiong Hua was too excited to sleep all night. As soon as dawn broke, she urged Xiong Zhuang to go hunting and headed straight to the Tribe Leader’s house.

Before leaving, she instructed her chubby cub, Xiong Qiu, “Stay at home today, and don’t go anywhere.”

That little vixen, Hu Jiao Jiao, always held grudges, and Xiong Hua feared she might come to steal things from their house.

Xiong Qiu (Bear Ball), true to his name, was as round as a ball. After going hungry all night, he was too weak to protest, so he lazily nodded, “Got it, Mom.”

Even if they asked him to go out, he wouldn’t want to.

Not long after Xiong Hua left, Xiong Qiu suddenly smelled the aroma of meat.

His stomach grumbled loudly again. He licked his lips and couldn’t resist standing up and heading toward the door.

“Oh, this meat smells so good. Too bad some poor beasts are still starving…”

“Baji, Baji~”

Outside, Long Ling’er was munching on a piece of beef with Long Yao, the two taking turns enjoying their meal.

Xiong Qiu’s eyes widened when he saw the meat, and drool started dripping down his mouth.

“Long Ling’er, give me that meat! That’s my family’s meat!”

Seeing that it was just a female and a little cub that has not yet transformed, Xiong Qiu’s malicious side emerged, and he charged forward to snatch the meat.

He was starving, so why should that little brat get to eat?

Long Ling’er had anticipated this. Before Xiong Qiu could get close, she nimbly dodged out of the way.

Making a face at him, she taunted, “Come and get it if you dare!”

Xiong Qiu, overcome by hunger, forgot all about Xiong Hua’s warnings. His large, black, bell-like eyes were fixed on the meat in Long Ling’er’s hands.

“You said it! Little bastards, hand it over!”

“Little Five, run!”

Long Ling’er threw the half-eaten piece of meat forward. In the next second, Long Yao shot out like a rocket and snatched it up.

The two cubs dashed into the nearby woods, one after the other.

“Stop right there! Little bastards, don’t run…” Xiong Qiu quickly gave chase.

He ran and ran until he saw Long Ling’er and Long Yao standing ahead, seemingly out of breath.

Elated, he sped up despite panting heavily, his fat cheeks bouncing as he neared them.

“Got you, little bastards! Let’s see where you run now!”

Once he caught them, he planned to beat them until they cried for mercy! How dare they flaunt their meat in front of him?

But just as he was about to grab Long Ling’er, the ground suddenly gave way beneath him, and he fell into a deep pit.

“Big brother, third brother, he really fell in!”

Three little heads popped up from the edge of the pit, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Ah… you bastards, you tricked me!”

Dazed from the fall, Xiong Qiu tried to curse, but before he could finish, countless small stones rained down on him from above.

“Ow! How dare you throw rocks at me…”

“We’re throwing them at you, of course! You’re the bastards! Your whole family are bastards! You always bully us, and if you try it again, I’ll smash your head into mush!”

The three cubs threw stones even harder. Even Long Yao, who was slower, picked up stones with his mouth and tossed them into the pit. But since he was too slow, after thinking for a moment, he simply flew over the pit.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated…

“Splash…”

A loud, unmistakable sound echoed, and the three cubs immediately pinched their noses, glaring at Long Yao in disgust.

“Little Five, you had diarrhea…”

Long Yao, still a small beast, didn’t feel embarrassed at all. He shook his tail to wipe himself clean, then proudly flew back to hide behind Long Yu.

He had helped teach the bad guy a lesson, so surely his mother would reward him with lots of meat, right?

Thinking about the meat he might get, Long Yao was filled with determination and continued to stand tall.

At the bottom of the pit, Xiong Qiu had been hit so hard by the stones that he was howling in pain. When he opened his mouth to scream, something slimy slipped in…

An indescribable stench filled his nose, and his face instantly turned black. He tried to spit it out but ended up choking.

Gulp…

He swallowed a big mouthful by accident.

“Urgh…”

Xiong Qiu fell to his knees in the pit, retching, while Long Yu, Long Zhong, and Long Ling’er, disgusted, dry-heaved from above.

They couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Pinching their noses, they quickly dragged Long Yao away.

Meanwhile, after leading Xiong Qiu out of the house, Hu Jiao Jiao appeared, carrying a bucket of gasoline. She skillfully poured it all over the walls of Xiong Hua’s house.

She had found the gasoline on a new shelf the previous day.

With a strike of a match, she tossed it onto the gasoline.

“Whoosh!”

Flames roared to life, and the red fire blazed like an unfeeling beast, devouring the small wooden house in seconds.

Hu Jiao Jiao clapped her hands, stowed the empty bucket back in her space, and left before the others arrived.

At the same time…

Xiong Hua arrived at the Tribe Leader’s house, twisting the truth to tell him how Hu Jiao Jiao had stolen the fire-making method.

“Are you sure?” The Tribe Leader’s face turned serious at Xiong Hua’s words.

“Absolutely! I saw her start the fire with my own eyes! She even tried to burn me with it! We can’t let a thief like her stay in the tribe!”

Stealing was an unforgivable crime in the beastman tribe.

Especially if what was stolen belonged to the Tribe Leader.

The Tribe Leader’s face darkened. With his hands behind his back, he walked out the door. “Let’s go see what’s going on.”

Despite her eagerness, he hadn’t been rash enough to convict Hu Jiao Jiao based solely on Xiong Hua’s words.

Xiong Hua smirked secretly and hurried after him.

If Hu Jiao Jiao was guilty of stealing from the chief, she might be exiled from the tribe!

They had barely stepped outside when a male beast rushed over.

“Xiong Hua, something terrible has happened! Your house is on fire!”

“What! How could my house be on fire?”

Xiong Hua was dumbfounded.

“I don’t know, but you’d better go check it out!” The male was just there to relay the message.

“Oh no! Xiong Qiu is still inside!”

Remembering how she had told Xiong Qiu to stay home, Xiong Hua’s face turned pale, and she hurried back home.

When she arrived, her house was already engulfed in flames. Her eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted.

Luckily, some nearby beastmen caught her just in time. “Xiong Hua, are you alright?”

“Xiong Qiu! Xiong Qiu is still inside! Someone put out the fire and save him…”

Hearing her desperate cries, the surrounding beasts rushed to the river to fetch water to put out the fire.

“Don’t worry, Xiong Hua, they’re putting out the fire.”

“Maybe Xiong Qiu already made it out safely…”

Some of the females nearby tried to comfort her, feeling sorry for her.

Soon, the beastmen returned with buckets of water, pouring them over the fire one after another.

But the flames didn’t die down at all and continued to blaze fiercely.

“This fire won’t go out… What’s going on?” After pouring dozens of buckets of water, one of the beasts realized something was wrong.

Seeing them stop, Xiong Hua lost her mind and shoved the female supporting her aside, rushing forward and screaming.

“Why are you stopping? Keep fetching water! If you can’t even put out a fire, what good are you?”

“If anything happens to my Xiong Qiu, you’ll all have to pay for it!”